Miscellany and WV Irish Road Bowling
Today I shall make two posts, both with the help of Dragon Naturally Speaking.
1. Recently, I had some difficulty with the document assembly program Pathagoras, so I wrote to designer/owner Roy Lazris with my complaint, and received a call within five minutes. It turned out I had made my final edits to my template on a newer version of Word, then used the older one. Roy provided tips so that I can edit variables much faster and more at accurately. Thanks Roy. (Note: recently Pathagoras was listed as one of the two best document assembly programs by ABA Solo Magazine’s Newsletter. J.B.H. 2/17/2012)
2. Today I learned something startling; that is, if I mention Pathagoras, HMU Consulting, or “The Facebook Era”, I am likely to get a post or an e-mail from the author or the owner. How can this be? Well, I learned in reading the April 2010 volume of MAXIMUMPC, “The Power User’s Guide to Google”, page 29, that I can go to http://google.com/alerts and create an “alert” for almost anything. So, I set up an alert for “J. Burton Hunter III”, “Burton Hunter”, and “Burt Hunter”. Now, if any of you mention me, perhaps I will find out (and come to get you.) Scary huh? The serious part is, especially in my divorce practice, I can p…..s people off without half trying, so web visibility is a “two edged sword”.
3. People can say bad things about me and probably will. At least I can track what they say. Sirius Radio had an ad for a product to “manage your web appearance”. Perhaps that will become a must for most of us some day.
4. Why would a small town attorney write on the subject of “West Virginia Irish Road Bowling”? It is simple. An attorney who depends upon being found by the people of his community has to be part of that community. That is why I spent 17 years as a coach in the Upshur County Youth Soccer League; not just to get clients of course, but to be part of the community. It also explains why I spent years as the President or Vice President of the Upshur County Senior Center, a member of the Buckhannon Rotary club, a board member of the Upshur County Family Resources Network, Board Member and Chair of the Upshur County United Way, Board Member of Progressive Bank, Buckhannon, N.A., a member of the choir at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, and a board member of the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, now West Virginia Association for Justice)(W.V.A.J.); and our children’s P.T.O.’s
5. I will provide more detail on West Virginia Irish Road bowling a later time, but it was fantastic on Saturday, March 20, 2010 to have perfect weather and more than 60 four person teams competing, a record, to my knowledge for any Irish Road Bowling tournament in West Virginia. You may find more at www.wvIrishroadbowling.com . Or, just send me an e-mail at hunterjb@hunterlawfirm.net , and I shall invite you to our West Virginia Irish Road Bowling Facebook group.
6. As many of you know, the West Virginia version of Irish Road Bowling came straight from the imaginative brain of our founding father W. David Powell who maintains the website above, and is always ready to discuss his favorite avocation. David has made hundreds of friends and devotees of Irish Road bowling in the eastern United States. He has helped spawn clubs in other states including the Asheville North Carolina Irish Road Bowling Organization founded by my son Justin (Justin Robert Hunter) and wife Jessica. Son Christopher, of Weaverville N.C., created their Logo!
7. Irish Road Bowling is based upon the same concept as golf, fewest throws win, and is several hundred years old. Available evidence strongly indicates that West Virginia Irish Road Bowling took place among first generation Irish soldiers in the Civil War. A client sold me a “bowl sized” cannonball which he claimed to have found in a cave in southern West Virginia, so I also claim that road bowling took place here during the civil war.
8. Although I am a “Hunter”, mostly in name only, I love to take part in those things available in my part of the country, fishing (pond, lake and stream), community festivals (Ramp, Strawberry, Forest and Irish), and hiking. Not to do so would be like failing to take in jazz in New Orleans or New York, or missing the River Walk in Savannah.
Burt Hunter
This post was written by Burton Hunter