OK, not quite exactly. But this is my last day of work and the connection at home will be severed at some point today. I'm not sure if we will actually be finished packing by tomorrow morning, but we are giving it our best shot.
We should be down until mid to late next week. Cheers all! And wish me luck with a daddy, mommy, and toddler all in the same small cab for the next 25 driving hours!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
An almost farewell to corporate america
As I was walking from the parking garage to my building on my corporate campus, I realized, "wow, I will do this walk again tomorrow and then n'er more". Great feeling. Weird feeling. While I will still be working for this company from new city for one month, I can't help but feel that a significant part of my life here is coming to a close.
I remembered this morning the first time that I walked from the garage to my building feeling nervous and yet so proud of myself in a naive sort of way. It was really something in my mind to work for a company with name recognition in the smallest and largest cities all over the world. My parents didn't go to college nor most of my extended family. So getting a job at a place like this was really a big deal. And in some ways, having Big Corporate Monolith (BCG) on my resume will always be a good thing. I remember thinking I was coming to work with the best and brightest in my field. Um, yeah. Very naive.
I won't say that the experience has been all bad. I am very thankful for the benefits they have provided me, not the least of which was no worries while I was on bedrest during my pregnancy... or the ability to stay at home with my DD until she was almost 6 months old. I progressed. I got promoted. I got raises. For work that is frankly, usually not that hard. And for that, I will always be thankful.
On the less rosy side, I am also thankful to have re-inforced to me constantly that no company is ever going to consider "you" as a person in there master plans, so you shouldn't worry about them in yours. I have learned that I don't like corporate america. Icky. Greedy. Mostly pointless. If they went away today, the world would clamor at the shock, but given 6 months, no one would miss it. The biggest lesson that I learned though is that you shouldn't, if you have a viable opportunity to change your situation, stay somewhere where you do not like what you are doing. I see people everyday who have been with this company for 20 years or more, who HATE what they do. But well, the salary is so good now, and well, they get a bazillion days of vacation, and the pension is suhweet... "if I just stick around until I've got 30 years in, wow retirement is going to be nice" Ugh. What an awful way to motivate yourself everyday. (Not knocking people who don't have a lot of other options. I know that sometimes you are stuck where you are.)
The thing that I hate is that we have layoffs cyclically. When I started here, 7 others joined the same year. All like me in that they were 5 or fewer years out of college. None of them is left here now. It's just me. 3 were laid off. The others all left to pursue higher education in fields that have nothing to do with what we did for the corporation. And they are all much happier now than when I knew them here.
So, it's my turn. I'm getting out to persue a life-long dream. Then it's up to me to find or make a job for myself that I will love and look forward to doing.
Taking charge of your own destiny is a rush, isn't it?
I remembered this morning the first time that I walked from the garage to my building feeling nervous and yet so proud of myself in a naive sort of way. It was really something in my mind to work for a company with name recognition in the smallest and largest cities all over the world. My parents didn't go to college nor most of my extended family. So getting a job at a place like this was really a big deal. And in some ways, having Big Corporate Monolith (BCG) on my resume will always be a good thing. I remember thinking I was coming to work with the best and brightest in my field. Um, yeah. Very naive.
I won't say that the experience has been all bad. I am very thankful for the benefits they have provided me, not the least of which was no worries while I was on bedrest during my pregnancy... or the ability to stay at home with my DD until she was almost 6 months old. I progressed. I got promoted. I got raises. For work that is frankly, usually not that hard. And for that, I will always be thankful.
On the less rosy side, I am also thankful to have re-inforced to me constantly that no company is ever going to consider "you" as a person in there master plans, so you shouldn't worry about them in yours. I have learned that I don't like corporate america. Icky. Greedy. Mostly pointless. If they went away today, the world would clamor at the shock, but given 6 months, no one would miss it. The biggest lesson that I learned though is that you shouldn't, if you have a viable opportunity to change your situation, stay somewhere where you do not like what you are doing. I see people everyday who have been with this company for 20 years or more, who HATE what they do. But well, the salary is so good now, and well, they get a bazillion days of vacation, and the pension is suhweet... "if I just stick around until I've got 30 years in, wow retirement is going to be nice" Ugh. What an awful way to motivate yourself everyday. (Not knocking people who don't have a lot of other options. I know that sometimes you are stuck where you are.)
The thing that I hate is that we have layoffs cyclically. When I started here, 7 others joined the same year. All like me in that they were 5 or fewer years out of college. None of them is left here now. It's just me. 3 were laid off. The others all left to pursue higher education in fields that have nothing to do with what we did for the corporation. And they are all much happier now than when I knew them here.
So, it's my turn. I'm getting out to persue a life-long dream. Then it's up to me to find or make a job for myself that I will love and look forward to doing.
Taking charge of your own destiny is a rush, isn't it?
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
More law school book reviews
So I finished two books last night. The first was Law School without Fear, which I've mentioned here and here. Honestly, I loved the book until about the last 50 pages, which were so tediously boring and nothing that any prelaw student actually needs to read. So my final word on this one is, read it if you can get it from your library or for less than $5 online.
The second book is Slaying the Law School Dragon. This book was kind of a mixed bag for me. I love all of the cases the author uses as examples of common law. There are some really old ones that illustrate the point the author is making quite well while also being memorable. He has a different method for reading cases and retaining information than just writing up a brief. I'm not sure if it will work in school or not for me. He says to get your case books as soon as possible before school starts, get the companion book to the cases and copy the rule for each case at the top of the case in the case book. Then when you read, read it quickly about 5 or 6 times. By the 6th time, the really important stuff will be jumping out at you. Then draw a stick diagram at the top of the case illustrating the facts, so you can remember at a glance what the case was about. No need to write up a typical law school brief.
I tried that method with the cases he uses in his book, and surprisingly, it worked pretty well. But I'm still a bit skeptical. A few cases in a book that I milled around in for a few weeks is quite different than a zillion cases in several classes all at the same time. Still, it's worth trying. So the first 2 weeks of classes, I'm going to pick just one class to do this in and give it a shot. If it works, I'll adopt it in the other classes, if not, hopefully writing the briefs won't take too long.
The book also has intro chapters to civ pro, criminal law, property and torts... I think. Or was one constitutional law? Hmm... it's really early and I don't have the book at hand. In any case, the author does a great job explaining what these classes are likely to cover, some more memorable cases, and some vocabulary. I liked it.
The last quarter of the book was meh. His sections on briefing were really about writing a proper appellate brief, which I'm sure will be useful in my future, my distant future. And then he talked about types of law practice and getting started in your own practice, which was OK, but more anecdotal than anything else, and I was fresh out of anecdote patience.
The last part of this book I really loved. But it takes an odd type to get excited over it. He includes a list of recommended law review articles by topic of law. Why so special, the dates, my friends. He's got articles in there that date back to the 30s. In any case, in my geekiness, when I get to law school city, I plan to visit the law library and have a couple of good reads because some of those articles sound really interesting. Conversely, if you are only interested in current articles, you won't like his list. I'm pretty sure there is nothing more current than 1975, which well, stretches the use of the word "current" quite a bit.
So, all in all. A good read. I feel more calm about school. Oh, he had a great suggestion for vocabulary, but you'll have to read the book to get it :) I would get if from your library or pay up to $8 online for it.
My next review will be of either American Legal Systems or Law School Confidential. Law school city public library has LSC and I'm curious about it since I've read the great debates on it over at law school discussion.
The second book is Slaying the Law School Dragon. This book was kind of a mixed bag for me. I love all of the cases the author uses as examples of common law. There are some really old ones that illustrate the point the author is making quite well while also being memorable. He has a different method for reading cases and retaining information than just writing up a brief. I'm not sure if it will work in school or not for me. He says to get your case books as soon as possible before school starts, get the companion book to the cases and copy the rule for each case at the top of the case in the case book. Then when you read, read it quickly about 5 or 6 times. By the 6th time, the really important stuff will be jumping out at you. Then draw a stick diagram at the top of the case illustrating the facts, so you can remember at a glance what the case was about. No need to write up a typical law school brief.
I tried that method with the cases he uses in his book, and surprisingly, it worked pretty well. But I'm still a bit skeptical. A few cases in a book that I milled around in for a few weeks is quite different than a zillion cases in several classes all at the same time. Still, it's worth trying. So the first 2 weeks of classes, I'm going to pick just one class to do this in and give it a shot. If it works, I'll adopt it in the other classes, if not, hopefully writing the briefs won't take too long.
The book also has intro chapters to civ pro, criminal law, property and torts... I think. Or was one constitutional law? Hmm... it's really early and I don't have the book at hand. In any case, the author does a great job explaining what these classes are likely to cover, some more memorable cases, and some vocabulary. I liked it.
The last quarter of the book was meh. His sections on briefing were really about writing a proper appellate brief, which I'm sure will be useful in my future, my distant future. And then he talked about types of law practice and getting started in your own practice, which was OK, but more anecdotal than anything else, and I was fresh out of anecdote patience.
The last part of this book I really loved. But it takes an odd type to get excited over it. He includes a list of recommended law review articles by topic of law. Why so special, the dates, my friends. He's got articles in there that date back to the 30s. In any case, in my geekiness, when I get to law school city, I plan to visit the law library and have a couple of good reads because some of those articles sound really interesting. Conversely, if you are only interested in current articles, you won't like his list. I'm pretty sure there is nothing more current than 1975, which well, stretches the use of the word "current" quite a bit.
So, all in all. A good read. I feel more calm about school. Oh, he had a great suggestion for vocabulary, but you'll have to read the book to get it :) I would get if from your library or pay up to $8 online for it.
My next review will be of either American Legal Systems or Law School Confidential. Law school city public library has LSC and I'm curious about it since I've read the great debates on it over at law school discussion.
Monday, June 20, 2005
5 days and counting
Current utilities scheduled for turn off -- check!
New city utilities scheduled for turn on -- check!
Address changes made for other services -- check!
Address change to law school -- check!
Truck confirmed -- check!
Brawn for loading truck confirmed -- check, check
Finished packing -- um, um
Ok. no check there yet, but we've got 4 days to do it, right. Except, I work until the day before we move, and DD has been terribly sick, so DH isn't packing he's ferrying to doctors and labs and such. Oy! Luckily, she seems to be doing a little better. And I can't concentrate at work anyway, so if I pack late into the evening, it's not like lack of sleep could cause worse work performance :)
I would say we are half way packed now. We're packing up my sewing room and the kitchen tonight, and that will make a huge dent in the remaining stuff to be packed.
I am getting so excited. Only 3.5 more days of work in my office (will telecommute from new city for July). Happy happy, joy joy. I was surfing for some info on our new city and found their summer events program. So many fun, free things to do. Tremendous farmer's market. Every Monday and Thursday night free concerts in the park. Fabulous library. I'm as giddy as a June bride!
New city utilities scheduled for turn on -- check!
Address changes made for other services -- check!
Address change to law school -- check!
Truck confirmed -- check!
Brawn for loading truck confirmed -- check, check
Finished packing -- um, um
Ok. no check there yet, but we've got 4 days to do it, right. Except, I work until the day before we move, and DD has been terribly sick, so DH isn't packing he's ferrying to doctors and labs and such. Oy! Luckily, she seems to be doing a little better. And I can't concentrate at work anyway, so if I pack late into the evening, it's not like lack of sleep could cause worse work performance :)
I would say we are half way packed now. We're packing up my sewing room and the kitchen tonight, and that will make a huge dent in the remaining stuff to be packed.
I am getting so excited. Only 3.5 more days of work in my office (will telecommute from new city for July). Happy happy, joy joy. I was surfing for some info on our new city and found their summer events program. So many fun, free things to do. Tremendous farmer's market. Every Monday and Thursday night free concerts in the park. Fabulous library. I'm as giddy as a June bride!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
A space of my own, or what keeps you up at night?
DD has been rather sick for a while now, so sleep is not really happening consistently in my household. I find that if I get up with her at 3 am, I have a hard time really sleeping again until 6 am. What's really entertaining are the things that run through my mind during those hours.
Lately, I've been obsessing about which area of our new house I am going to declare as "the serious law student study area--MINE". DH took a bunch of digital pix of our new home that I look over at least once a day, imagining if my favorite bookshelves will actually fit on that wall or not?!? I've narrowed down my space to either a nook in our bedroom or the foyer. The foyer is enormous and has lots of bright nice windows... but it's the foyer. But then, we don't know anyone, so I wouldn't be interrupted all that much right? I've got a really long folding table that I've used for quilting in the past that I think will become my work space. I like to spread everything out. Yeah, I'm a space hog when it comes to work. And I kind of have a mental block against setting up something as potentially stressful as studying in my bedroom. I believe in the whole "sanctuary" bedroom idea. It should be a place of rest and happiness, not con law.
Hmmm. Oh the re-arranging fun we will have.
Another thought I've had are supplies. What will I want on my table? lots of pens, maybe some highlighters, paper galore, my laptop, maybe a nice desk lamp. What else? There was a thread on lawschooldiscussion requesting info for school supply ideas, but as usual, it was highjacked by "clever" people, so no actual useful info was posted. Too bad. Any ideas? One thought I have had is that I do NOT want a phone on my table.
Lately, I've been obsessing about which area of our new house I am going to declare as "the serious law student study area--MINE". DH took a bunch of digital pix of our new home that I look over at least once a day, imagining if my favorite bookshelves will actually fit on that wall or not?!? I've narrowed down my space to either a nook in our bedroom or the foyer. The foyer is enormous and has lots of bright nice windows... but it's the foyer. But then, we don't know anyone, so I wouldn't be interrupted all that much right? I've got a really long folding table that I've used for quilting in the past that I think will become my work space. I like to spread everything out. Yeah, I'm a space hog when it comes to work. And I kind of have a mental block against setting up something as potentially stressful as studying in my bedroom. I believe in the whole "sanctuary" bedroom idea. It should be a place of rest and happiness, not con law.
Hmmm. Oh the re-arranging fun we will have.
Another thought I've had are supplies. What will I want on my table? lots of pens, maybe some highlighters, paper galore, my laptop, maybe a nice desk lamp. What else? There was a thread on lawschooldiscussion requesting info for school supply ideas, but as usual, it was highjacked by "clever" people, so no actual useful info was posted. Too bad. Any ideas? One thought I have had is that I do NOT want a phone on my table.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Anyone else's school have interdept communication problems?
Honestly, how hard can it be in the age of computers? I get a student ID... that ID does not get flagged as "law" or "grad" student until my "official" registration is complete. OK. In the mean time, I get weird post cards from financial aid wanting to know why I want financial aid.
Me: Um, because I got accepted to your law school.
Them: Oh, well then... blah, blah, blah and we'll let you know in 6 weeks what your award is.
I don't care how often I call to check on my financial aid, they don't know why I'm applying, but then they do and it will be 6 weeks 'til my award... perpetually.
Another total lack of communication exists between the law school and the admissions dept for the university in general. I keep getting all kinds of "you're doomed because you didn't give us your first child" notices from admissions dept, which results in my making a hasty, somewhat panicked call to the law school. Whereupon the law school says, "Oh, just ignore that. it doesn't apply to law school students."
Sigh. It just strikes me that this really could be so much easier.
Now my big question of the day is: when to give them a change of address. I'm thinking a week and a half before I move. That way anything they send, in theory, should be there before I get there and likely won't have been waiting for me for more than a few days. Whereas, if I wait until a few days before we move in hopes that I can get the mail here because I know that they are sending something towards the end of the month, then I worry that the whole forwarding process with USPS will screw me over some how... A real puzzler, no?
Me: Um, because I got accepted to your law school.
Them: Oh, well then... blah, blah, blah and we'll let you know in 6 weeks what your award is.
I don't care how often I call to check on my financial aid, they don't know why I'm applying, but then they do and it will be 6 weeks 'til my award... perpetually.
Another total lack of communication exists between the law school and the admissions dept for the university in general. I keep getting all kinds of "you're doomed because you didn't give us your first child" notices from admissions dept, which results in my making a hasty, somewhat panicked call to the law school. Whereupon the law school says, "Oh, just ignore that. it doesn't apply to law school students."
Sigh. It just strikes me that this really could be so much easier.
Now my big question of the day is: when to give them a change of address. I'm thinking a week and a half before I move. That way anything they send, in theory, should be there before I get there and likely won't have been waiting for me for more than a few days. Whereas, if I wait until a few days before we move in hopes that I can get the mail here because I know that they are sending something towards the end of the month, then I worry that the whole forwarding process with USPS will screw me over some how... A real puzzler, no?
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
place to live in new city -- check!
Mission accomplished. DH found us an acceptable rental in our new city. What a relief. He's been emailing me pictures of places he has seen this week. Yuck and double yuck. Too small, too expensive, too dirty, too far away from everything. Sigh. But he found the perfect place today in a nice little neighborhood for our little girl. What a weight off of my mind.
Now we just need to pack, move, get a job... eh, we'll worry about that tomorrow.
Now we just need to pack, move, get a job... eh, we'll worry about that tomorrow.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Exhaustified! And why did you love the movies you did in your youth?
DH left on Friday to take one of our cars to new city. And naturally, DD got sick about 2 hours after he left. Sigh. I had all these big plans to take her to do fun "special" activities to get her mind off of her daddy being gone. But now she's too sick to go, and of course, she's fixated on daddy being gone. She refused to sleep in her room last night. And I don't mind the idea of her sleeping in my bed, but the reality is that she kicks, turns, gets dangerously close to the edge and generally is a bed hog. So I think I got about 2-3 good hours of sleep last night. Hopefully tonight will be better.
Last night we watched Gigi. I used to love, love, love this movie as a child, pre-teenish. I don't think that I understood what it was really about until sometime in my mid to late teens. Oi! Lovely movie for a young girl/woman to like. Grandmothers and aunties negotiating material goods for a way too young girl to be a lecher's mistress. Still though. I love the songs. And Leslie Caron.
Another one that I shouldn't have loved was My Fair Lady. Sickos. Sickos all of them. And yet, I still love that film. What were people thinking?
Last night we watched Gigi. I used to love, love, love this movie as a child, pre-teenish. I don't think that I understood what it was really about until sometime in my mid to late teens. Oi! Lovely movie for a young girl/woman to like. Grandmothers and aunties negotiating material goods for a way too young girl to be a lecher's mistress. Still though. I love the songs. And Leslie Caron.
Another one that I shouldn't have loved was My Fair Lady. Sickos. Sickos all of them. And yet, I still love that film. What were people thinking?
Friday, June 03, 2005
More complete review of Law School without Fear
So, I'm almost to the end of this Law School without Fear. I still like it... even better than I did when I first wrote a review on the first few chapters last week. Last night I read a section about economics and the law. Really informative stuff, especially if you end up with a law prof who reads law through economics-colored glasses.
The material in the book is all at an understandable level, even if you don't have a background in econ. My DH was an Econ major in undergrad, and it was fun to kick around some of the concepts that were a little harder to understand with him, like Coase's Theorem. I think that I am going to get an econ primer from the library after we move, just to get some more in depth info on econ.
The material in the book is all at an understandable level, even if you don't have a background in econ. My DH was an Econ major in undergrad, and it was fun to kick around some of the concepts that were a little harder to understand with him, like Coase's Theorem. I think that I am going to get an econ primer from the library after we move, just to get some more in depth info on econ.
A final decision, um, kind of
I am 99.9% sure that I am going to Admit school now. i talked to Waitlist school earlier this week, and they said they weren't sure at this point if they would be able to admit anyone from the waitlist. Sigh. Oh well. I'm really excited about Admit school anyway. I'm still going to leave my name on the Waitlist school list. Then if I actually do get in, DH and I can look at where we are and decide if it's worth it to us to change directions.
DH is actually going to new city today. He's driving one of our cars up, getting us a lease, and flying back late next week. Can I say how relieved I am to know that we will leave a forwarding address? Or that I'll have a real address to give to Admit and Waitlist school when we move?
I just confirmed DDs spot in a really good daycare/preschool about 3 miles away from campus. She is going to love that place. And I feel really good about the quality of care, attentiveness, and selectivity of their teachers. This is so important for me so that I can really not worry about her while I am at school.
I wish that I knew more moms of younger children that are going to law school. There are so many things that I want to ask. And I guess I want to be reassured too that DD will be OK and that I can still do well in school.
DH is actually going to new city today. He's driving one of our cars up, getting us a lease, and flying back late next week. Can I say how relieved I am to know that we will leave a forwarding address? Or that I'll have a real address to give to Admit and Waitlist school when we move?
I just confirmed DDs spot in a really good daycare/preschool about 3 miles away from campus. She is going to love that place. And I feel really good about the quality of care, attentiveness, and selectivity of their teachers. This is so important for me so that I can really not worry about her while I am at school.
I wish that I knew more moms of younger children that are going to law school. There are so many things that I want to ask. And I guess I want to be reassured too that DD will be OK and that I can still do well in school.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Why do people make it their business to tell you how much law school is going to suck?
It's almost as presumptious as complete strangers coming up to you and rubbing your pregnant belly in the grocery store. On occasion, I get the "wow, you're going to law school. That's really cool" comment. But usually I get people looking at me like I've grown a third head "but why, you've got a good job now. And you know, you'll never see your kid again." Ah yes. Words of wisdom, encouragement, strength. Thanks a whole heck of a lot people. You're right. I must be a total idiot.
Yeah, I've got a "good" job now. Great pay, decent benefits (although they keep shrinking every year) and no more than 50 hours a week. But, I don't like it. At All. I don't like what I do. I don't like who I do it with. And I am pretty sure that if I just got another job doing the same thing somewhere else, I wouldn't like it either. Not to mention that I live from one round of layoffs to the next. So, what's so good about a job that I don't like and isn't stable. Should I just wait around until I get laid off to make a change?
And the whole "you'll never see your kid again" or "you'll have a hard time doing well if you're going to try to be a decent mom too." Um, exsqueeze me? baking powder? Hi. um, over here, I'm not an idiot. I'm not the kind of person who packs up my family, sells my house, moves half way across the country only to shell out thousands of dollars on something that I haven't researched. Will it be hard? You betcha. Will I have to make compromises both with school and with my family? Absolutely. Now can you tell me how that's any of your damn business?
I don't really care what people think. It just gets annoying to have buttinskys continually preaching their prayer of doom. Obviously I'm doing it... since we just talked about how I close on the sale of my house on Tuesday, you great moron.
Please keep your comments to yourself or at least gossip with someone else about it after I leave. But please, just don't open your mouth near me anymore. Honestly, didn't your mother ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything?
Yeah, I've got a "good" job now. Great pay, decent benefits (although they keep shrinking every year) and no more than 50 hours a week. But, I don't like it. At All. I don't like what I do. I don't like who I do it with. And I am pretty sure that if I just got another job doing the same thing somewhere else, I wouldn't like it either. Not to mention that I live from one round of layoffs to the next. So, what's so good about a job that I don't like and isn't stable. Should I just wait around until I get laid off to make a change?
And the whole "you'll never see your kid again" or "you'll have a hard time doing well if you're going to try to be a decent mom too." Um, exsqueeze me? baking powder? Hi. um, over here, I'm not an idiot. I'm not the kind of person who packs up my family, sells my house, moves half way across the country only to shell out thousands of dollars on something that I haven't researched. Will it be hard? You betcha. Will I have to make compromises both with school and with my family? Absolutely. Now can you tell me how that's any of your damn business?
I don't really care what people think. It just gets annoying to have buttinskys continually preaching their prayer of doom. Obviously I'm doing it... since we just talked about how I close on the sale of my house on Tuesday, you great moron.
Please keep your comments to yourself or at least gossip with someone else about it after I leave. But please, just don't open your mouth near me anymore. Honestly, didn't your mother ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything?
Friday, May 27, 2005
Another book review and time is slipping away
Maybe I shouldn't post book reviews until I am done?? The problem is that I usually have about 6 books going at once, so it takes a while to get through any one book. Oh well. You don't have to like it, right?
Law School without Fear was recommended by my Admit school's Legal Writing profs as a good intro to law school. So far, I'm impressed. Good concise overview of courts, public vs private law. The section on briefing is really good. There's no "do it this way." Rather, it gives a good summary of what kinds of material a good brief should cover and some examples. That's as far as I've gotten so far, but I would recommend it at this point.
I realized that I am under the 30 day mark now until we move. Scary stuff. I really need to put more effort into boxing stuff up. We close on the sale of our house on Tuesday. I know that I am going to feel so relieved when that happens! You just never feel like it is final until you have check in hand. DH is going to new state next weekend. I need to pack up knick knacks and breakables for him to tote along in his car. I hate packing that kind of stuff up. Which is probably why I don't have all that much of it. I hate it so much that I am contemplating giving away a crystal hurricane lamp. So beautiful. But such a pain in the butt, and I haven't been able to display it anywhere since DD was mobile anyway. I can always get a new one later? Right?
Law School without Fear was recommended by my Admit school's Legal Writing profs as a good intro to law school. So far, I'm impressed. Good concise overview of courts, public vs private law. The section on briefing is really good. There's no "do it this way." Rather, it gives a good summary of what kinds of material a good brief should cover and some examples. That's as far as I've gotten so far, but I would recommend it at this point.
I realized that I am under the 30 day mark now until we move. Scary stuff. I really need to put more effort into boxing stuff up. We close on the sale of our house on Tuesday. I know that I am going to feel so relieved when that happens! You just never feel like it is final until you have check in hand. DH is going to new state next weekend. I need to pack up knick knacks and breakables for him to tote along in his car. I hate packing that kind of stuff up. Which is probably why I don't have all that much of it. I hate it so much that I am contemplating giving away a crystal hurricane lamp. So beautiful. But such a pain in the butt, and I haven't been able to display it anywhere since DD was mobile anyway. I can always get a new one later? Right?
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Freaking recurring payments!
I'm so angry right now, I could spit nails. So, long story short. About 5 months ago the crappy web hosting service we used to host web site with pix of our DD died. It just up and died. No email, no warning, just one day no longer in business. Charming isn't it? Well, I thought, no big deal... they hadn't invoiced us for a little while so we weren't losing out.
Well irony and irritation. Last night I finally got around to picking a new and reputable hosting service and start the set up and this morning I got a paypal notification that I had made a payment to MY OLD HOST. What??!!! I look it up and paypal and it was set up as a recurring payment. Grr. Snarl. Snap. Damnit anyway. DH set that account up and doesn't remember doing recurring payment. In any case, while the company did go out of business, the paypal account that they used is still valid... and happily accepting my money. And paypal doesn't care. It's my job to cancel my recurring payments. Fine. And they do not have loss recovery or dispute resolution for recurring payments! Ooh I was so mad at that poor customer lack of service guy. So yeah, now I get to try to get $60 back from a phone number that doesn't work and a guy wiht a hotmail email address. Sigh. jerks
Ultimately, my bad for doing business with a hosting company that only accepts paypal and used a freaking hotmail account. Phooey!
On a happier note... all of the inspection repair items for the sale of our home are finally done. We close on Tuesday, or should we call it check day!
Well irony and irritation. Last night I finally got around to picking a new and reputable hosting service and start the set up and this morning I got a paypal notification that I had made a payment to MY OLD HOST. What??!!! I look it up and paypal and it was set up as a recurring payment. Grr. Snarl. Snap. Damnit anyway. DH set that account up and doesn't remember doing recurring payment. In any case, while the company did go out of business, the paypal account that they used is still valid... and happily accepting my money. And paypal doesn't care. It's my job to cancel my recurring payments. Fine. And they do not have loss recovery or dispute resolution for recurring payments! Ooh I was so mad at that poor customer lack of service guy. So yeah, now I get to try to get $60 back from a phone number that doesn't work and a guy wiht a hotmail email address. Sigh. jerks
Ultimately, my bad for doing business with a hosting company that only accepts paypal and used a freaking hotmail account. Phooey!
On a happier note... all of the inspection repair items for the sale of our home are finally done. We close on Tuesday, or should we call it check day!
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Reading Time: Confessions and a Review
I've been seeing several posts in various forums about what to read before law school lately and whether you should bother. I'd say that I'm in the middle of the two camps: I think I'll read some law school material... but not kill myself over it. But then I really enjoy reading. Of course, if you ask me what I've read lately, I might not give you a straight answer :)
True confession: I'm a fan fiction addict... and all of the lovely novel length fan fictions that I read certainly aren't meant to count toward my list of "books recently read". I'm a closet fan fic junkie. I can't help it. I try to stop, really, but some of it is just so good. Fan fic that I follow are based off of books. I get tired of one book and cycle through some others. A lot of it is crap. But then, a lot of what I think is not worth my reading time is probably helping some 13 year old author have confidence in her writing... So let them write; I'm just choosy about what I read.
As for recent books. I've been rather fixated on several books about the constitutional convention. Oddly enough, I've never studied it before in my life. It's true. And it's pretty facsinating stuff. I've read about three books on that in the last few months. One book called the Miracle at Philadelphia is a decent read. Longish, but the author is really into characterizations. So it made the participants much more real. It's always nice to know which delegates were just your standard political ass. The author gets a wee-bit long winded at times with some description, but that is what you sign up for when you get a book that is from a fly on the wall's perspective.
I've also started reading the Nutshell book Introduction to the Study and Practice of Law by Hegland. I really like this book. It seems pretty straightforward without any of the usual 1L scare tactics about "if you don't brief this way, you will die" or "if you don't outline this way, you will die" or "if you don't study 25 hours a day, you will die." And I kind of appreciate that. I like how most of the sections on practical applications (such as exams, briefs, etc.) are all just "tips". Use 'em, don't but this is the general info about them that you can adapt to suit your individual needs. The examples are great. Really helping to introduce each area of law. And there are exercises that you can try, just to see what some of the practical application is all about. There is also a fabulous overview of legal writing. For whatever reason, that is really what is intimidating me about the first semester. Maybe it's all of the horror stories you hear about that class only being a credit or two, but you end up spending a zillion hours on it. I want to work smart for that class, KWIM? It's got something for everyone. I would highly recommend it.
True confession: I'm a fan fiction addict... and all of the lovely novel length fan fictions that I read certainly aren't meant to count toward my list of "books recently read". I'm a closet fan fic junkie. I can't help it. I try to stop, really, but some of it is just so good. Fan fic that I follow are based off of books. I get tired of one book and cycle through some others. A lot of it is crap. But then, a lot of what I think is not worth my reading time is probably helping some 13 year old author have confidence in her writing... So let them write; I'm just choosy about what I read.
As for recent books. I've been rather fixated on several books about the constitutional convention. Oddly enough, I've never studied it before in my life. It's true. And it's pretty facsinating stuff. I've read about three books on that in the last few months. One book called the Miracle at Philadelphia is a decent read. Longish, but the author is really into characterizations. So it made the participants much more real. It's always nice to know which delegates were just your standard political ass. The author gets a wee-bit long winded at times with some description, but that is what you sign up for when you get a book that is from a fly on the wall's perspective.
I've also started reading the Nutshell book Introduction to the Study and Practice of Law by Hegland. I really like this book. It seems pretty straightforward without any of the usual 1L scare tactics about "if you don't brief this way, you will die" or "if you don't outline this way, you will die" or "if you don't study 25 hours a day, you will die." And I kind of appreciate that. I like how most of the sections on practical applications (such as exams, briefs, etc.) are all just "tips". Use 'em, don't but this is the general info about them that you can adapt to suit your individual needs. The examples are great. Really helping to introduce each area of law. And there are exercises that you can try, just to see what some of the practical application is all about. There is also a fabulous overview of legal writing. For whatever reason, that is really what is intimidating me about the first semester. Maybe it's all of the horror stories you hear about that class only being a credit or two, but you end up spending a zillion hours on it. I want to work smart for that class, KWIM? It's got something for everyone. I would highly recommend it.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Immunization records and other packing goodies
So is anyone else irked about retrieving immunization records. I mean, I know, it's important to verify that we are not going to wipe out our entire school with measles in one fail swoop. But hello... Some of us are older than Moses. Ok, maybe not, but when it comes to finding stuff like that, I might as well be. And it's not cheap to get your titers checked or get additional immunizations.
Well last night I had incredibly good luck. Actually I think I was deserving of said luck because I decided to be the one to pack up all of our papers/records etc. And what an icky job. Blech. Papers from 10 years ago... Manuals for VCRs that we don't even have anymore. Lease agreements from our first apartment 8 years ago. Sigh. So much freaking paper. But it did pay off. WAhoo! In the recesses of an old folder that I didn't even know I had was my beaten up, old, ugly, faded, yellow immunization booklet! Success! So now, I only have to pay to get one more measles shot... Since my Admit school requires two. That I can handle.
Immunization records for school: check!
Well last night I had incredibly good luck. Actually I think I was deserving of said luck because I decided to be the one to pack up all of our papers/records etc. And what an icky job. Blech. Papers from 10 years ago... Manuals for VCRs that we don't even have anymore. Lease agreements from our first apartment 8 years ago. Sigh. So much freaking paper. But it did pay off. WAhoo! In the recesses of an old folder that I didn't even know I had was my beaten up, old, ugly, faded, yellow immunization booklet! Success! So now, I only have to pay to get one more measles shot... Since my Admit school requires two. That I can handle.
Immunization records for school: check!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Boxes, boxes of all sizes
We started packing last night. Hurrah! My mother always told me when you move, pack one or two boxes a day and then it won't seem so bad. And you know it's not. Last night, I packed up all but two of our book shelves. Books left out: all of DDs and my Harry Snotters and legal books. The legal books consisting of about 7 books, but still.. they're out should I have the immense desire to go to sleep... uh, I mean start reading.
After I packed the books though, I realized that that is the easy part. Poo! Now I've got to find other things that I can live without for the next few months, like crepe pans, for example.
Best and most reasonable advice I've had about packing/moving with a toddler so far is pack her room and her things last... and have them unpacked first. Buy playdough. Make an empty box for her to pack and unpack to her heart's content... so she won't keep throwing little people in my french books!
After I packed the books though, I realized that that is the easy part. Poo! Now I've got to find other things that I can live without for the next few months, like crepe pans, for example.
Best and most reasonable advice I've had about packing/moving with a toddler so far is pack her room and her things last... and have them unpacked first. Buy playdough. Make an empty box for her to pack and unpack to her heart's content... so she won't keep throwing little people in my french books!
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Ponderings on gmail, privacy and freebies
Yesterday I was dorking around a bit with ye old blog, browsing templates, seeing what goodies other blogs that I like have like stat counters, the creative licensing, etc. As I was looking around, I noticed that lots of bloggers use gmail addys, which makes sense since they can hold enormous amounts of data. I am all about one stop shopping.
I remember when google first announced about gmail. My initial reaction was "I don't freaking think so". What about my privacy? What happens if they fold? It kind of creeped me out. But I did some more research into it, and it really doesn't seem to invade my privacy any more than hotmail or yahoo does, at least for the ads that display in gmail. The whole "keep all my messages for the rest of my natural life", yeah that's different and not as nice, but you can't have it all. At that time I decided that it didn't really matter to me. So what? So what if advertisers see that I mentioned that my friend's new dog is named "baby" and I get ads for cribs and bibs? I generally don't like to share information on the Internet that I wouldn't want to be public... cause duh, nothing's anonymous. (Even my blog, which I would like to have anonymous wouldn't be that hard to trace back to me or at least figure out which schools I'm talking about... But for grins, we'll pretend that my blog is anonymous. )
Back to my point and reason for getting a gmail account: I was just damn tired of changing email addys fortnightly. At least it seemed that often to me. I want all my stuff in one place... and maybe it's not so bad that it is there forever. Because you never know, maybe in 20 years I'll need to contact someone I knew in law school... and I can search them in my gmail and get a hold of them... that is, if they have gmail too :) Twenty years would be a little much for anyone using aol!
I welcome other's opinions on whether gmail goes too far.
Oooh! I almost forgot. Does anyone use Picasa for their photo organization? It can host pictures up to blogger too, which appeals to me. Anyone, anyone?
BTW--Is anyone else entertained by the fact that blogger's spell check doesn't recognize the following words:
I remember when google first announced about gmail. My initial reaction was "I don't freaking think so". What about my privacy? What happens if they fold? It kind of creeped me out. But I did some more research into it, and it really doesn't seem to invade my privacy any more than hotmail or yahoo does, at least for the ads that display in gmail. The whole "keep all my messages for the rest of my natural life", yeah that's different and not as nice, but you can't have it all. At that time I decided that it didn't really matter to me. So what? So what if advertisers see that I mentioned that my friend's new dog is named "baby" and I get ads for cribs and bibs? I generally don't like to share information on the Internet that I wouldn't want to be public... cause duh, nothing's anonymous. (Even my blog, which I would like to have anonymous wouldn't be that hard to trace back to me or at least figure out which schools I'm talking about... But for grins, we'll pretend that my blog is anonymous. )
Back to my point and reason for getting a gmail account: I was just damn tired of changing email addys fortnightly. At least it seemed that often to me. I want all my stuff in one place... and maybe it's not so bad that it is there forever. Because you never know, maybe in 20 years I'll need to contact someone I knew in law school... and I can search them in my gmail and get a hold of them... that is, if they have gmail too :) Twenty years would be a little much for anyone using aol!
I welcome other's opinions on whether gmail goes too far.
Oooh! I almost forgot. Does anyone use Picasa for their photo organization? It can host pictures up to blogger too, which appeals to me. Anyone, anyone?
BTW--Is anyone else entertained by the fact that blogger's spell check doesn't recognize the following words:
- blogger
- blog
- blogs
Monday, May 16, 2005
Exciting packets from admit school and it's here!
So Saturday was good and bad for the mail. I got the official letter from Waitlist school stating that they were not sure if they were going to admit from the waitlist after all :( But then I went to the next piece of mail and cheered right up. Lovely fat packet from Admit school... asking for money, of course, but it also included goodies like summer suggestion reading list by their profs, tentative 2005-2006 academic calendar, and tentative course schedule. Naturally, I won't get my actual course schedule until Orientation day on August 15. But it looks like Admit school breaks 1Ls into 3 or 4 sections and we all have the same classes at the same time but with different profs. Um, hello, classes end at noon on Friday! Wahoo. Looks like 3 mornings a week I will have class at 9 am, but will have class the other days at 10:30. And no day am I done after 3. Whoopee! Seriously, I looked at the schedule and said a la Legally Blonde "what, like it's hard or something?"
Now before I get people saying that it's not a cake walk, I know that. But I get to arrange the rest of my time and I love love love that. Example, the two mornings I don't have class until 10:30, I plan on spending those mornings with DD, having special mommy/daughter breakfasts and play time. One of my biggest priorities is to make sure that I spend quality time with my sweet girl. Yes, I know that those days I will need to put some serious time in after she goes to bed. But it will mean a lot to me to have some mornings that are just about her and me.
The only real unknown at this point is legal research; I assume this is the writing class. In any case, they didn't have class times for that yet. So that could throw a wrench into the whole thing, but overall I'm digging the schedule.
Which brings me to an interesting contrast with Waitlist school. They actually have their writing classes usually scheduled at or after 5 pm. Phooey. This is because most of their writing profs are adjuncts that still work fulltime at firms. Again phooey. If I get in, that will be a day care challenge since DD can only stay at daycare until 6:30 and those classes don't end until 7. We'll worry about that when we get there though. Oh, and another thing, Admit school puts your classes back to back, except for lunch break, whereas, Waitlist school schedules at least an hour between classes. Yucky. I've always been a prepared girl. I don't need time between classes to finish up for the upcoming class. I just like it all packed in. That way I am free to leave campus and study at home without going back and forth a million times.
Excited. Excited. Excited. AND DH just called and glorious, wonderful, new laptop is sitting in a box for me on my desk at home Wahoo!
Now before I get people saying that it's not a cake walk, I know that. But I get to arrange the rest of my time and I love love love that. Example, the two mornings I don't have class until 10:30, I plan on spending those mornings with DD, having special mommy/daughter breakfasts and play time. One of my biggest priorities is to make sure that I spend quality time with my sweet girl. Yes, I know that those days I will need to put some serious time in after she goes to bed. But it will mean a lot to me to have some mornings that are just about her and me.
The only real unknown at this point is legal research; I assume this is the writing class. In any case, they didn't have class times for that yet. So that could throw a wrench into the whole thing, but overall I'm digging the schedule.
Which brings me to an interesting contrast with Waitlist school. They actually have their writing classes usually scheduled at or after 5 pm. Phooey. This is because most of their writing profs are adjuncts that still work fulltime at firms. Again phooey. If I get in, that will be a day care challenge since DD can only stay at daycare until 6:30 and those classes don't end until 7. We'll worry about that when we get there though. Oh, and another thing, Admit school puts your classes back to back, except for lunch break, whereas, Waitlist school schedules at least an hour between classes. Yucky. I've always been a prepared girl. I don't need time between classes to finish up for the upcoming class. I just like it all packed in. That way I am free to leave campus and study at home without going back and forth a million times.
Excited. Excited. Excited. AND DH just called and glorious, wonderful, new laptop is sitting in a box for me on my desk at home Wahoo!
Friday, May 13, 2005
Shipment tracking is a glorious thing
Anyone else like I am? I must check about a dozen times a day any shipment tracker that I have on an item that is in transit coming to me. I am giddy knowing that my laptop left Hong Kong yesterday. Hurrah!
Over Christmas I watched a package coming from Maine go through Maine, Kentucky, Dallas, and various and sundry smaller cities on its way to me, actually to my DD. Very cute moose slippers from LL Bean for Christmas.
It's just fun to know where some things have been. After Christmas DH and I ordered ipod skins from somewhere in China and that was a fun tracking route too...
I'm getting really excited for my new laptop. Geekily enough, I can't wait to try out some open source software on it, which I can't do with my work laptop, freaking Microsoft lovers. *Sigh*
Anyone planning on using much non-Microsoft software in school. We already use open office at home, which is about to come out with a version 2 that looks really good.
Over Christmas I watched a package coming from Maine go through Maine, Kentucky, Dallas, and various and sundry smaller cities on its way to me, actually to my DD. Very cute moose slippers from LL Bean for Christmas.
It's just fun to know where some things have been. After Christmas DH and I ordered ipod skins from somewhere in China and that was a fun tracking route too...
I'm getting really excited for my new laptop. Geekily enough, I can't wait to try out some open source software on it, which I can't do with my work laptop, freaking Microsoft lovers. *Sigh*
Anyone planning on using much non-Microsoft software in school. We already use open office at home, which is about to come out with a version 2 that looks really good.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
what's in a name?
I realized that I hadn't posted about where I got"yayarolly" from. Anyone? Anyone?
I'm a Doris Day sap. It's from her movie Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson. Lovely. Charming. Hilarious.
Other than that, I've had a stupor of thought the last few days a) my DD is sick... the up all night kind of sick, so i'm dragging and b) i am so bored at my job i could die. Things could be worse.
I'm a Doris Day sap. It's from her movie Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson. Lovely. Charming. Hilarious.
Other than that, I've had a stupor of thought the last few days a) my DD is sick... the up all night kind of sick, so i'm dragging and b) i am so bored at my job i could die. Things could be worse.
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