John Roberts' Stamina

[queentonic]

I have been unable to find anyone on cable or print news discuss John Roberts and his ability to manage 18-hour days for the impeachment trial. He's in his mid-sixties and will be going from his Supreme Court duties to the Congress for the impeachment trial for 18-hours straight. Will he even be allowed to have bathroom breaks? Surely he will say something about his ability to physically handle 18-hour days. What if he falls asleep on the bench? I'm curious if anyone else has thought of this.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. He's probably in better shape than some of those ancient Senators.

Anyhow, he is the one who gets to call the recesses. If he has to pee he'll call a recess.

[Hoyt]

2. L ast of my worries. He'll probably dose off or out several times

anyway. He’s more or less a referee and he can turn sticky issues back to Senate. Hope he doesn’t, but there are plenty of 60+ers who put in a lot of long days.

[dalton99a]

3. He might have another benign idiopathic seizure

but who knows

[Hekate]

5. I also thought of that health issue of his

[Tanuki]

16. Sleep deprivation can trigger seizures in individuals with epilepsy

https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/triggers-seizures/lack-sleep-and-epilepsy

"Can sleep deprivation trigger a seizure?

Yes, it can. Seizures are very sensitive to sleep patterns. Some people have their first and only seizures after an "all-nighter" at college or after not sleeping well for long periods. If you have epilepsy, lack of "good sleep" makes most people more likely to have seizures. It can even increase the intensity and length of seizures. Some forms of epilepsy are especially prone to sleep problems."

(Justice Roberts has a history of at least two reported seizures since taking the bench)

[lordsummerisle]

4. Great point

DUers should pitch in and send him one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/WIESNER-Incontinence-Clamp-Penile-Regular/dp/B00F3HZJ74/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=Incontinence+Male&qid=1579576732&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExTVpFVjc3T1I4S1dWJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTgyMzYyM00yMVdUOFdUSkNXUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDExMTkxUERNWEJIVU9aTVRLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

[milestogo]

6. Ageism, plain and simple.

That's what I think of your remarks.

[Timewas]

7. mid 60's

I well imagine he can do it , I am almost 80 and could probably do that or give it a damn good run... Hell at "mid 60's I was still running construction jobs and doing a fair mount of the physical labor to boot..Don't disparage someone because of age like that...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. That's not old.

Anyhow, he's in control of the breaks and recesses.

[arthritisR_US]

14. He won't have any breaks, he'll be the

sycophant for the repig nazis and do his “duty” to his sworn leader.

[queentonic]

9. No Disparagement intended

I'm in my mid-70's but I live a sedentary life style and so an 18-hour day is beyond my abilities. Even in my mid-60's I needed to take a break with a 12-hour day, let alone two days in a row. Unless Roberts is like RBG and works out in the gym on a regular basis, his age does become a factor if he is sedentary. That is my point. Without knowing his lifestyle, he may very well be able to do two 18+ hour days in a row, but that is not the norm for most of us.

[UniteFightBack]

10. Maybe that is a question for his wife.

[Ms. Toad]

11. This is highly offensive.

I am 8 months younger than Justice Roberts.

I am currently working 80-100 hours a week (12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week), and have been for close to a year now. I run circles around my employee (who is a bit more than half of my age). The only other "adult" in the building the last 3 days (Memorial Day weekend) was the oldest faculty member (about a decade older than I am).

My 89 year old father has now, finally, reached the age when I have more stamina than he does - and while I can outlast him at mental tasks, he might still be able to beat me at purely physical tasks.

Stamina and ability to work long hours are not dictated by age.

Gotta run now (I've been here working since noon - time to shift locations so I can spend another 4 hours or so before I head to sleep for the night.)

Ffffft. Younguns.

[Polybius]

13. No one should be working 80-100 hours a week, and never 7 days a week

Last edited Tue Jan 21, 2020, 07:16 PM - Edit history (1)

No one, not even 22 year olds. You should at the very least drop to 50 and get two days off. It leads to a much less stressful life.

I am 20 years younger than you and I'm not too happy with 45 hour weeks. Anyway, I hope I didn't come off as rude or pushy, it was not my intent. 80-100 hours just makes me crazy thinking about it, unless you're the owner of a large business where you don't have as much stress.

[Ms. Toad]

17. You are correct.

That said, the job is the only job I've ever had where at least one person every day tells me how much they appreciate what I'm doing - so (aside form exhaustion and an inablity to do it all) there is virtually no stress in the actual work I do. And because funding is very tight right now, doing the work I do (the hours that I do it) makes a real difference in the lives of those hoping to become attorneys - some of whom go on to serve really under served populations.

Since I started thsi job, I've generally had one semester in which I had these hours (and one semester in which I've had about 60 hours, with a third in which I had about 40). Unfortunately faculty (who are largely oblivious to what I do - and 1 or two who were actively trying to sabotage my job) voted to increase the workload of my department by at least 50%- at the same time they drove out one of my employees. Since that happened simultaneously with an additional budget cut, my dean decided to do programmatic planning by attrition - so rather than cut staff members who were on board he chose not to fill the position. So we've always - in the spring - had the work of 4 staff members to share among 3 of us. Now we have the work of 6 staff member to share among 2 of us (and it is now year-round, thanks to the faculty).

I've put my boss on notice that (1) we need another staff member and (2) I'm only sticking around so long as the load is merely hours - any future active sabotage without intervention on his part and I'm out of here. When I on-boarded, I made a commitment to be here 5 years (to fully replace the lowest paid years in my base pay, and increase my retirement pay significantly). It's been 6 - and now the increase in retirement income is 1.5% per year. I don't have to be here - so when the detriments of office politics consistently outweigh the appreciation I receive from my students I will be gone. If I want to continue helping on an informal basis, word of mouth will bring students to my door. (It's rare when my spouse attends an event in the legal community and doesn't encounter at least one former student singing my praises.)

So - the long and short of it is - I'll continue doing this as long I'm smiling on my drive into work.

[Polybius]

12. Come on, William Rehnquist was 74 in 1998 during Clinton's

And Roberts is in far better shape than he was in.

[DeminPennswoods]

15. There will be breaks as O'Donnell noted

on his show last night.