Contracts and the Letter of the Law

There should be a limit as to how much goo can fit in one human skull. I mean that. As a person currently suffering from his first major cold in several years I am not at all amused by the endless supply of rebellious mucus.

There. That's my gross out for the day. It's also the reason that I'm LATE with this article. I prefer to actually have the articles written and posted before 12:00 AM and to have the system automatically post it when the time comes but for the last couple of days, that just isn;t working very well. Too much crud being generated by my body despite my best attempts to win this battle through sheer force of will and with the benefit of numerous over the counter reinforcements.

Which brings me to my observation du jour. Technically, if I were actually UNDER a contract for these articles (aside from a friendly agreement to provide one article a week for my peers at the site and for you, the readers) I would still be just fine. Because there is no clause that says the manuscript for said article must be delivered by a particular time of day. Until 11:59 PM I am not technically late.

Technicalities. I hate them. Unless, of course, they work to my advantage.

You will find that the average contract (if such a beast could be said to exist and you may rest assured that I personally have never seen one) seldom has a clause for the time of day. Of course, if every writer on the planet were to start delivering at the very last moment of the final day of the contract, the lawyers would likely change that.

As a rule you should be aware of the clauses, subclauses and addendum's on any contract. If you can't be aware of them, immediately refer to an agent or a lawyer who can interpret for you. It might well save your sanity, or just possibly your very soul, depending on who you are signing with.

Just my advice for the day. That, and avoid head and chest colds because, damn this thing is slowing me down immensely.

Keep Smiling,

James A. Moore