Better Call Saul— For Free! (BCS 5.01/5.02)

At tthe start of Better Call Saul season 5 we see Jimmy McGill embracing his new lawerly identity of Saul Goodman. In a way he's returned to his roots working as a defense attorney for clients on the margins of society. But whereas Jimmy McGill of several years prior was walking the halls of the courthouse to find public-defender cases out of desperation to find any paying work, Saul Goodman courts the petty criminal element while sneering at them.



In the season opener, "Magic Man", Saul hosts a free phone giveaway that looks like a combination of a street sideshow and a county fair. Every stereotype of "person likely to cause trouble" is showing up. The scene is full of piercings, face tattoos, leather and chains, motorcycles, and cars with hydraulics and loud stereos.

At first I thought maybe Saul was working the crowd at a sideshow— slang for an illegal street racing event that I remembering being common back in the 00s before police started cracking down on them, hard— but it turned out this whole event was about him. He was dressed up like a carnival barker and had his own brightly-colored little circus tent.



Inside the circus tent Saul gives these people who've chosen the seamy underside of society a genuine deal: a free, prepaid cellphone. No strings. The only catch— and it's not really a catch—is that each phone is preprogrammed with Saul's number on speed dial.

As Jimmy explains to his ride-or-die, Kim, in another scene, "Pretty soon every one of these idiots is going to find themselves arrested and they're going to need a lawyer."

But does courting every stereotype of likely criminal lowlife pay? Especially when Jimmy was struggling to make ends meet picking up public-defender cases a few years ago? Episode 5.02 shows Saul's new business plan at work.

Younger lawyer Jimmy was struggling to make ends meet because he was working one case at a time. Flamboyant defense lawyer Saul quickly builds a portfolio of dozens of simultaneous cases. Then he cuts deals with the prosecutors to resolve cases without going to trial. Other lawyers are astonished at his case load. One of the prosecutors calls out what he's doing and criticizes him for it: churning clients faster so he can represent— and earn money from— more clients. It's basically a volume game for Saul.

Visiting a Friend in SF, Riding the Train

Today Hawk and I visited a friend, David, in San Francisco. He recently moved into a new apartment, and we wanted to see him now that he's settled into a new place on his own. ...Well, settled might be too a strong word, as his place is still full of moving boxes, many of them empty and flattened but some of them still full of things to unpack. And he's got a few pieces of basic Ikea furniture as temporary stand-ins (er, sit-ons?) until the nice, custom furniture he bought last month arrives in June or later.

Anyway, for our trip to visit David we started with a train ride!



David's new place is just one block from the Caltrain station in San Francisco, and the Caltrain line runs right past our house. We drove downtown, parked 1/2 block from the station where it's free on Sundays, and charged up our Clipper cards.

Riding Caltrain today was a bit of a novelty for us as it's our first time aboard since the system was electrified about 8 months ago. Living nearby we've been very aware of the work erecting the electrical infrastructure. You can see the overhead lines and an electrical substation in the photo above. But this was our first time experiencing the new train cars. They are nicely modern, clean, and definitely quieter and smoother than the old cars that were towed/pushed by diesel locomotives. Of course, we're also very aware of the fact the electric cars are quieter because they pass within 100' of our hourse; but, still, it was fun experiencing them from aboard the train rather than in our house. 😂



Arriving at Caltrain's San Francisco station at 4th & King it was an easy walk to David's apartment. In fact you can see his building from the train platform (photo above). It's the taller building in the distance.



Not only does David live within easy walking distance of this train terminal, there are two Muni lines nearby plus easy freeway access. Oh, and there's a grocery store on the ground floor of his building and plenty of restaurants nearby.

Part of the reason David's new digs are so close to many things is that he's also close to this....



Yup, that's PacBell Park SBC Park AT&T Park Oracle Park... fuck it, it's Giants' Stadium! Not that David's a baseball fan, or anything. And even from his 14th floor windows he can't see into the park, just over the rim of the upper deck. Though he does have a really nice view out across the SF Bay to the southeast.

Beautiful views aside, David seems to be doing reall\y well in his new place. It's his alone, which is a big change from his living situation of the past several years, where he's rented a room in a house with friends. The shared living situation had... tensions. Here David is on his own, plus in a central location, and is really flowering. Suddenly his calendar is positively full. And that's doubly awesome to see because David lost his spouse to cancer going on two years ago. Now he's really getting out again.