The Legal Beagle Shines

The entire point of downshifting and working from your home is to enjoy the simpler things of an ordinary life.  One of those things in the life of my family is the our beagle, Mandy.  We call her our "Legal Beagle".  Adam Schachter, one of the attorneys that works with my group, has a Barrister Basset named Langdon.  Beagles are those little hound dogs dedicated to sniffing, snoozing and snacking.  Mandy helps run our household, or at least she thinks so.  Beagles cannot much stand to be left alone, so as my family and I move around the house, Mandy follows.  As a beagle, Mandy is pretty much set on her routine.  She knows when it is time to go to work in the home office, and when it is time to tend to the personal needs of the family.  She positions herself accordingly.  She has a place in my office, just inside the storage closet, where she can also get sun from the window.  As she has gotten older she is more reserved, but she still does not care much for the FedEX man pulling up to the house.  I use to apologize for Mandy going off when I was on the phone, but it does not happen that regularly any longer.  Also, I have come to accept the fact that this is one of the "benefits" of working from home.  Besides, most of my telephone conversations are with consumer clients, and ambient noise from their homes when speaking with them is often amusing as well.  As for speaking with lawyers from big downtown law firms when Mandy speaks, I will just rack their opinions up to jealousy.  After all, not only did they have to likely endure a long commute to work, expecting to do the same after work, but they likely had to stop by the cleaners to pick up their crisp white shirts and expensive Italian suites.  This would drive anyone crazy.  You have to believe they would much prefer to be at home as well.  So far Mandy has remained silent during my telephonic hearings with the Court.