About ten years ago, it would have been audacious for me to set a goal or target of 500 blog postings. Yet, that’s what I did. Now, last week, the 500th was published. Having reached that goal or target, I have placed my quill on the shelf, so to speak. Yes, there no longer will be weekly editions of Ruminations from this pandemic “bat cave.”
From time-to-time, we may be “moved” to Ruminate or possibly republish an oldie, but a goody. No promises.
Over all of these years, I’ve learned a great deal more from you than you could possibly have learned from my writings. After all, I am just one person, but “you” number in the thousands. So, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, and THANK YOU.
Through Ruminations, I’ve met a lot of new friends, both “virtually-online” and in person. Over the last 10 years, many readers have reached out to me by email or telephone, and I’ve been treated to meeting others at industry meetings. Once, I even met a reader who was visiting the house of worship I attend – sitting directly behind me. I guess it’s true that you have to behave at all times because you never know who will be watching. I’ll try to put that lesson into use.
Your thousands of comments of the years have enriched me. Your kind words have encouraged me. Your use of my postings in law school courses, at seminars, and in other publications has flattered me. Your proofreading and other suggestions have improved me.
And, I have a gift in return: this, the shortest Ruminations blog posting ever.
Yours for the sport (yes, that’s what I call it),
Ira
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The third (or the fifth) most used word in English is “and.” We looked at one of our “comprehensive” lease forms, one with 32,815 words and found that 1,775 (5.4%) of its words are “and.” We looked at a “national” Loan and Security Agreement (55,104 words) and found that “and” made up 3.3% of its words (1,820 of them). So, it’s about time we looked at this word. One thing for sure is that it is a “conjunction,” that “part of speech” covering words that join phrases. (A minor usage is as a noun. Witness: “He accepted the job, no ifs, ands or buts about it.”)
Benjamin Franklin might not be pleased with the way we turn-around documents. After all, to him is attributed the quotation: “Time is money.” We all know that. Why do deals, even simple ones, take too long to complete? There are legitimate reasons and there are those that shouldn’t exist. As to those that shouldn’t exist, far too often, people lie about them and create “reasons.”
A 25-page court decision out of the Supreme Court of British Columbia has triggered today’s blog posting. The decision describes a convoluted, time-extended, back-and-forth negotiation over a set of interrelated, broker-prepared offers to buy and sell. In that marketplace, such documents signed by the offering party and “accepted” by the other one become “contracts of sale and purchase.” The back and forth with these documents began in early February, After a number of handwritten changes and the addition of a couple of pages, they were finally “accepted” in late July.
Do you believe in levitation? Can a table really rise on its own, without trickery? Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? No.
We’ve written about the legal concept of “waiver” too many times to warrant furnishing any links to earlier blog postings. To sum it up succinctly, we’ll start with an example of a pretty familiar provision found in most agreements such as leases and mortgages (to keep us within the real property family). It reads as follows:
In writing for a broad audience in a somewhat breezy manner, Ruminations frequently fears it is misleading some readers. As hard as we try to incorporate appropriate caveats when expounding on legal principles, Ruminations is quite aware of a built-in shortcoming. It isn’t enough to carefully highlight the limitations of what appears in a blog posting. It isn’t enough to warn that this blog is written to provoke discussion and is not written as a substitute for real legal advice. These blog postings discuss matters of law, but the “law” means nothing in the abstract. It only matters when applied to specific facts being examined. The very same “law” applied to two different situations can produce starkly different ̶ sometimes seemingly opposite ̶ results. That’s because the law is intended to support a civil society and, in such a society, outcomes are expected to meet community expectations.
Again, we ask: “What is a structure?” We say, “again,” because Ruminations explored (mined) this topic a little more than three years ago in a blog posting titled: “What Is A Structural Component? Do You Know?” To see it (anew or again), click: 
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