I mean, I work in an inner-city hospital and clinic system, so I assumed that I’ve heard most of the myths that adolescents harbor when it comes to contraception and pregnancy. Apparently, though, I was wrong.

Despite the noise and annoying passengers, being a train conductor must have its moments:

Gil Murtagh’s train from Hoboken, N.J., stops at Paterson. One day recently, a pretty girl got off and ran into the arms of a young man holding flowers. From his seat, Mr. Murtagh smiled nostalgically at the lingering embrace, mood uplifted. As the train pulled out, the conductor smiled, too. “She was smooching with some guy in Hoboken also,” he said.

Let the northeastern summer begin.

Muchas felicitaciones to Matt and Kiehl-o-rama, both of whom are back in the world of the employed. And an immense, overwhelming, awe-inspiring thanks to Matt, who sent me one of the best birthday presents I could imagine getting.

I don’t know what it is, but Bryan Garner, a Texas lawyer, has managed to get himself noticed twice in the media over the past two weeks for his contributions to making legal writing more readable by the lay public. First, the New York Times pointed to the pressure he’s put on judges and lawyers to move legal citations to footnotes, rather than placing them inline in the text. Then, the Dallas Observer published a piece about his general contributions to more accessible legal prose. The funniest part of it all is the story recounted in the Observer piece about how one of the Texas Supreme Court justices offered to will Garner his entire law library if he’d just go to law school; he declined, but then later (after the books were gone), he reconsidered and ended up getting his law degree.

Crabbiness was the word of the day, but then, the most unexpected end to the chat — “can i call you?” — led to the most open and honest conversation that I could ever hope for. Yeah, sure, I’m exhausted, all my cards are lying face-up on the table (ack!), and the little molecules of panic may be starting to stir up their comrades in revolution, but damn if I don’t feel a lot better today.

All banged up, maybe; remember, though, I’m a doctor.