Set Sail with Kingston: Join the Legal Elite on the Shane Smith Law Cruise!

So, it was a busy end of the week, as we were getting ready to go out of town. At the beginning of the week, we had all of our normal stuff. One thing I've noticed is I've gotten used to diving in my pool in the morning, just to sort of wake myself up. Somebody recommended a cold plunge to me in November or October, I was like, “Ah, I don't know. But I do have a pool, I can dive into it." and the pool was really cold. Through time it’s gotten to where I really enjoy it and feel like it's pretty good at just waking me up and getting me ready to do my day. I actually like to do it before I work out.

As the temperatures are rising and it's getting warmer, obviously the pool is not as cold. And I looked online, and I was actually just shocked at how expensive some of the cold plunges are. And then you see a lot of the do-it-yourself cold plunges or the cheaper options, I guess. So, I'm struggling with which one to go with. I do know I want a chiller, because I wouldn't be great at putting ice in it all the time.

Somebody recommended a SoundBed to me. I've tried meditation. Meditation continues to be difficult for me to just sit and calm down, and somebody's like, "Maybe you ought to try these SoundBed things where you lay and you listen to certain types of music or certain types of sounds with these headphones, and then the bed vibrates." I saw it and I was like, "Man, well, I'd have to go try one of those before I do it," so if anybody knows anybody with a SoundBed near Charlotte or Atlanta, if you'd let me know at info@shanesmithlaw.com, that'd be great.

We also are getting ready this week for our attorney cruise for our superstars. This is a cruise we did for some of our attorneys that if they had done a great job for a bunch of clients over the course of the year and hit certain goals, they got to go on the cruise with us. And we were excited because that was coming up, so just packing and getting ready and trying to get everything ready to go and figure out when we had to leave. So there was a lot going into that, trying to pack and to get our luggage ready.

And then also though, my son Noah was taking the LSAT on Friday. That's a big test you have to take to get into law school. So that was going on because it's his last year of college in undergrad. He'll get his degree in entrepreneurship in May. So that's coming up real soon. But he had to take the LSAT because he plans to go to law school at High Point in the next year or the year after.

Then though, the boys gave us a call, because where they stay out in high point, a tree fell on their roof. Or maybe just a huge branch. But really when those trees sort of split and they get thin and they grow super tall, well, a branch that looks about 30 feet long fell and hit their house. It hit the top of the roof and broke in two and hit the other side as well. At first, we thought there was just one hole in the roof, but it turns out there are at least five holes in the roof, some a pretty decent size where those branches hit it.

We're also concerned about is there any damage to any of the rafters down below, especially on the top of the house where it hit so hard, it snapped that tree branch in two. It was a pretty big branch too. It was so big you couldn't take it off the roof without cutting it with the chainsaw.

Fortunately the boys, they have a neighbor who came down and helped them out. They just climbed up on the roof and sawed everything up and put it down. He said it didn't take them that long. And we're really thankful they have some neighbors that have sort of taken them under their wing since we couldn't get out there right away to help. So, we were stressed about what we were going to do.

Fortunately, we do have homeowners’ insurance. I recommend everybody check your homeowner’s policy. If you've got a mortgage, you're generally required to have one. But if you have paid off your house, I would still recommend you keep homeowners’ insurance for things like this. Sometimes people will let it lapse or they don't get concerned about the deductible. I would encourage you to make sure you have that. It's not uncommon for lightning strikes to hit a house and fry some electronics or tree branch fall on the roof or the house itself or something like that.

So, check your homeowners’ insurance. I'm glad we've got it. I'm glad we've got good homeowners’ insurance and it's not going to have a huge financial impact on us. We were able to get a roofer. And we found a great guy out there who came out over the weekend, checked it out. And then he also came back the next day to put some tarps and to tarp it up in a better manner than we were able to do with the kids. Because frankly, he found the other holes that they had not seen yet. It had also done a ton of damage to the gutters as well. So overall, we'll be glad to get that fixed. And we're just thankful we've got some homeowners insurance.

We ended up going to Target for some random things, and we saw these Pop! Figures. Pops! is one of those things that was an odd thing for me when they first came out, and I thought, "There's no way they're going to last." And now they've got all these licensing agreements, and they've got tons and tons of these super characters. We saw The Last Ronin, which I thought my son would like, and then I saw X-23 and Magneto as well. We didn't buy any of them. But I just thought it was cool that they've just got them out all over the place. I mean, I'm talking about a company that's just done phenomenal over the last couple of years. We'll wait and see if they continue to be super popular, but I thought these were interesting.

We will let everybody know how the cruise is next week. Also though, I will say, it was UFC 300 this week, which for me it was harder to watch because we had left on the cruise on Saturday down in Florida. So, we got up super early on Saturday morning, flew down to Florida, and boarded the boat. And then I wandered around trying to find out if any of the bars or food places in the cruise ship were going to be playing the fights. They were not. But I had bought the data package on board, so I was able to stream the fights to my phone and watch it.

Now, it wasn't ideal because it was just down on my little phone. But I was excited to watch the fights and see all of it. I didn't get to stay up all night and watch them. I was super tired halfway through the main event, so I ended up just saving two fights at the end for next morning. But I just got up and watched them in the morning before looking at anything else so I wouldn't have any spoilers.

So I was super happy. I thought the fights were good and exciting. Bo Nickal did great, obviously. Justin Gaethje versus Max Holloway, that was just a crazy fight. Max Holloway performed excellently. I'm not even a big fan of Max Holloway. Most of that's just because I'm a big fan of Volkanovski who has fought him three times. But I thought Max did great with a stunning knockout of Justin Gaethje at the very last second, I mean, it was crazy, in the middle of the ring. So that happened. That was a great fight. There was a women's lightweight belt that took place, and that was a great fight also.

We met Weili Zhang a year ago when she was not ranked nearly as high at UFX last year. So, we were excited for her to win. And then of course the main event, Alex Pereira. He just did great. Earlier in the night, we'd watched Yan win, and that was great as well. We were happy about that. We were a little nervous, but he did good.

So overall, I mean, it was a wonderful, wonderful night. If you are a UFC fan, definitely would recommend watching it on the repeat there.

And that's all we've got this week. We were happy to know none of the pets were injured when the branch fell on the roof, although I think it did scare them a little bit. But they were all totally fine. Holly and I are excited to start the cruise with the superstar attorneys and are headed that way. Stay safe out there, and remember, if you are in pain, call Shane!

Paw Offices of Teddy, Robin, & Kingston

Alright, listen up, fellow legal aficionados! It's your favorite feline, Kingston, here to lay down the law on why I absolutely must be part of the Shane Smith Law cruise for superstar attorneys.

First things first, let's address the obvious: I'm the cream of the crop when it comes to law firm employees. Sharp claws, sharper mind, and a purr-fect track record in winning cases. It's no surprise that I've earned my spot among the legal elite.

Now, about this cruise – count me in! Not only am I thrilled to escape the confines of the office, but I'm practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of warmer weather. Picture this: me, lounging on the deck, basking in the sun, with a piña colada in one paw and a legal brief in the other.

But wait, there's more! I've been brushing up on my water skills because, let's face it, a cruise isn't complete without some aquatic adventures. That's right, I've been hitting the waves on my jet ski, perfecting my maneuvers like a true sea-faring attorney.

So, Shane Smith, prepare yourself for the arrival of the coolest cat in the legal game. I'll be bringing my A-game, a dash of feline charm, and a boatload of expertise to make this cruise one for the legal history books.

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