Monday, December 22, 2008

Until next year . . .


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Worser & Worsest

This has got to be the worst week ever. Just received my gas bill & it's a whoppin' $144!!! The reason this is so outrageous is that I barely turned on my heat last month - nada. But, these idiots estimated my bill based on last year's use. Technically, I could go to my meter, read it, then call them up with an actual reading. However, a little run outside my house yesterday did not reveal where the darn meter was. It is FRIGID outside so I'll attempt another detective run in a few days but if I don't find the meter, I'll have to pay this autrocious figure. Pisses me off.

Then we receive an email from one of my professors saying that a paper that was due on Friday, is now due on Friday in his office before 4pm! I was planning to submit it to him on Fri at 11:59pm via email but now we have this change of plan. Those 8 hours make a huge difference. I'm just now getting done with paper #1 & so I don't think I'll be able to research & write paper #2 between now & Fri at 4pm. Even I have my limits.

What I wouldn't give for today to be Saturday!

Update: Despite my hysterics, everything turned out okay. Bill got paid & paper got done before the deadline.

Update 2: I just got my gas bill for January & I received a credit of $25! Yay!!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Secured Transactions

This freaking exam lived up to each & every expectation & then some. So here's how the exam was broken down:

3 hrs & all essays:
Que 1: 55 points (90 minutes)
Que 2: 15 points (30 minutes)
Que 3: 15 points (30 minutes)
Que 4: 15 points (30 minutes)

For the most part, I always start with the shorter questions & then tackle the long ones last. The long essay questions are usually very convoluted & I always end up taking too much time on them. So today was no different. Started with the shorter essays. I thought they were semi-decent because I had a clue as to what was going on in all of them. However, I misread one question and ended up having to redo it which took about an extra 20 minutes. That meant I had about 70 minutes to tackle que 1. No biggie . . . that was until I read the essay. I read it & freaked out!!! I mean literally. Couldn't make head or tail of what was going on at all!!! It was divided into sub-parts, 1(a), (b), (c), & (d). Fact pattern for (a) was about 2 pages long. Fact pattern for (b) was about a paragraph long - it built up from (a)'s facts but you were only to consider (b)'s facts, & the same happened for (c) and (d). Now I had about 30 minutes left to answer these four subparts & nothing was clicking as to how to answer them. The moral of this story: hoping, wishing, & praying I don't fail!

Just in case you are wondering why I didn't drop this class: We have one week after classes start to drop a class. After that, you cannot withdraw unless you want an "F." So in the first week, there is no way to figure out how hard a class is going to be since it's only introductory material. They butter you up & then lay it on you. To top it all off, I have two papers to write before Fri before I'm done for the semester. Don't you just envy my life right now?!

On a lighter note, my judicial externship ended last week. On the last day, I turned in my final draft for the Judge to review, edit, & enter the judgment. So yesterday in the mail, I received my edited draft with this message from the Judge, "This was really, really, excellent!" It was a 21 page draft opinion & she had made only minimal edits to it before it was filed with the court. I was totally stoked. All that research & wading through mountains of evidence was no fun at all but it paid off. Too bad this class is graded pass/fail.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Secured Transactions is hands down the hardest class I've ever had the misery of taking! The exam is on Monday & I'm desperately trying to make sense of it all with no luck. Misery. Pure unadulterated misery. I'm staring dead ahead at an "F" if my notes don't start making sense in the next few hours.


On to my next sob story. My car is acting up again. At idle, it'll warm up like normal. But as soon as I start driving, the temperature gauge drops down to "C" & remains that way until I idle the car again. So I stopped by the mechanic yesterday & told him the problem. He seemed to know what the problem was I told me to return today. Then guess what, the darn car will not repeat the problem again. The heat is working like a charm & doesn't drop when I start driving. WTF?


Friday, December 05, 2008

Friday, November 28, 2008

Not So Black Friday

I usually go to slickdeals.net to find out what the latest deals are. On Mon night, someone on slick deals listed that Best Buy had an HP laptop & printer combo listed for $278.99. Everyone on the slick deals forum thought that this was a black friday item which was mistakenly posted on the BB website but they all were going to try their luck the next morning. So who was I to be left out of this action? The next morning, I decided to skip my 10am class & go to BB instead to see if I could snag this deal before they became aware of their mistake.

So with my printout in hand, I made a mad dash to BB hoping to run into a fresh-of-the-street teenage salesperson. Guess who ended up asking me if he could help me? The freakin' store manager! Isn't being holed up in an office and not out on the floor one of the perks of being a manager? Well the short of it is, the only way I was going to get this laptop for that price was to come back on black Fri at 5am & duke it out with the rest of the masses. Keep in mind BB only had 12 of them in stock at this location. Turns out because of the slick deals posting, people began lining up at BB's everywhere & soon the stores got wind of the mistake. But some folks were able to get the laptop for that price before BB realized their mistake & corrected the price. Me, not so lucky.

So I began telling everyone who'd listen how I was going to line up at BB on black Fri at midnight in hopes of getting this deal. That's when everyone began wishing me luck because apparently BB lines begin forming on thanksgiving morning (and I mean 1am-ish)! Who're these people with no lives spoiling it for the rest of us?! Talk about a plan fizzler. But if my laptop holds up until next year, I shall be back with a vengeance for the next laptop deal - camping tent, heating lamp, food, a bat to beat off those trying to cut in line, friends to attack the store from all angles, etc. I shall not be deterred!

P.S. I did make my 10am class since I didn't end up spending as much time at the store as I had anticipated...you know, the salesperson didn't go back to get the merchandise, didn't get to ring it up, didn't try to sell me warranty, nothing. Instead, all I got was, "sorry it was a mistake bye bye."

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Presidential Matters!

We have a new president-elect . . . Barack Obama!!! This country couldn't have chosen a more qualified person to lead us out of the mess that his predecessor has left.


I have a new love - facebook! It's sooo addictive. After years of refusing to cave in to peer pressure, I finally joined because my friends would take pictures but they'd post them on FB. So the only way I was going to see them was to join. I did & haven't looked back. Writing on peoples' walls has become the highlight of my electronic day.

I tried to outsmart the system but the system outsmarted me. At the start of this semester, I needed 26 credits to graduate. So I devised a master plan . . . take 16 credits this semester & leave only 8 for an easy-breezy last semester (I get 2 credits for journal work). So I've been killing myself juggling a gazillion things for the past 3 months & then I was talking to a friend about my very smart plan. This was his response, "sounds like a great idea but I'm pretty sure the school requires us to be full-time students." WHAT?! Moral of this story, yours truly has to take 12 credits next semester so as to be a full-time student. They don't care that I'll be over my graduation requirements . . . noooo . . . "the rules are the rules." I'm still super salty over this whole situation. All that hustling & strategery for nothing.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Heater Revisited

Last year I told y'all about buying a heater in an effort to bring down my gas bill. Turned out the heater didn't do what it was supposed to do. Was very surprised by this because everyone on Amazon had raved it warms up rooms in no time. But when it got down to 30 degrees a few nights ago, I decided to break out the ol' heater to give it another try. It has a thermostat so I cranked it up to the maximum which is something I hadn't done before. The heater now works like a champ. The room warms up very fast & the heat emitted is not dry at all. I absolutely love this heater now. Let's hope I'll still love it when my electric bill comes.

What's annoying me today: Why does Cindy McSame feel it necessary to stand right behind her husband so that she's always captured in the picture? All she does is stupidly nod & smile in agreement with McSame even when he has freudian slips. Maybe it's time you moved off to the side Cindy. Don't confirm for us what we already know.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Colin Powell Endorses Senator Obama



Thought the lead up to his endorsement of Barack Obama was fantastic! The highlight was when he addressed the Obama-is-a-muslim talk by the GOP. . . "What if he was?" Finally someone with the balls to stand up for muslims in this country. Based on this endorsement speech, his presentation at the U.N. for why the U.S. should invade Iraq is fast becoming a very hazy memory!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Movie Reviews

"Body of Lies" - The plot was good but the ending was horrendous. Skip it!

"Traitor" - Interesting . . . but you'll feel like you've seen it before. OK.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Obama Rally

Barack was in Columbus for a rally this afternoon & yours truly was front & center. People were very fired up. However, even though the venue was in a park, it was rather small for the crowd that showed up. They had roped off a large section of the park for security purposes so everyone was forced into one area. But the atmosphere & weather was fantastic so all was forgiven. The highlight though was when we were leaving. A truck was stuck in traffic right by the venue & guess what was printed all over it . . . "McCain/Palin!" The people on the streets of downtown Columbus went bananas. We started chanting, "O-ba-ma"..."O-ba-ma." People even started honking their horns to the beat of our chants. The poor guy driving the truck took it all in stride. Was waving & smiling at us the entire time. It was great! Obama/Biden '08.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Free cable t.v.!

I was telling my brother-in-law about how I had disconnected my cable. He asked me if my t.v. was still able to receive the local channels - NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC. Told him I'd tried but got no reception. Then he asked me the 'duh' question of the day. . . "have you connected the cable wire to your t.v.?" Long story short, I am now happily receiving 80+ crystal clear channels of cable t.v. for free!

Friday, October 03, 2008

Fall Break!

It's about time. No school or work for one week. I tried making it through the v.p. debate last night but kept muting out Palin. She's was just too cutesy for me with all her winking, joe six pack, & hockey mom references. The thought of going through this kind of nonsense for the next 4 years is . . . indescribable. Obama/Biden '08!

Monday, September 29, 2008

This F#*%$@^ Economy

My co-worker & I were watching on CNN as the House voted for the bailout plan. We couldn't believe it when it failed & we were in even more disbelief when the GOP choked its failure to a partisan speech given by Speaker Pelosi prior to the voting. I mean. These old geezers must've not gotten the memo that they're not in kindergaten anymore. Nobody cares about your hurt feelings. Somebody also didn't get the memo that the market as it is right now cannot correct itself. Gone are those days. So the sooner these [insert creative noun] face this reality, the faster the world markets can recover - and my little 401K. What an embarassment.

Of course, this for sure will cause McPalin to suspend the V.P. debate on Thursday. They're both needed in Washington this time. Since one didn't fare so well after rushing to Washington last week, maybe tag-teaming will do the trick this time. This would be hysterically funny if there wasn't a distinct possibility that it might just happen.

My little 401K is almost non-existent at this point. I haven't had the kahunas to look & see how it's been fairing over the past few months since if I was getting out I should have done it 8 months ago. But figured today was as good a day as any to take a peak. Christ. When the Dow falls 700+ points, there's a reason why every trader on wallstreet looks so depressed.

Oh . . . speaking of my co-worker. Imagine a guy who's 6' 4", buff, articulate, well-dressed, nice, outgoing, etc. So I noticed a ring on his finger & asked him what his wife does for a living. This was his response: "You mean what does my husband do for a living?" I almost fell off my seat! My gaydar continues to let me down.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Nothingness

Today I took the bus to downtown for my judicial externship. I usually drive because the last express bus (uses the freeway instead of side streets) gets me to the courthouse too early - at about 8:10am but I'm not supposed to be in chambers before 8:45am. But aujourd'hui I had an errand to run before heading down to the courthouse so I took the bus. Now the first express bus for returning home comes around 4:50pm so I planned on leaving the courthouse about 4:40pm to give myself time to make the quick hike. But the judge's law clerk wasn't having it. At 4:37pm, as I was hurriedly packing up, the clerk decided to come up & start chatting about what was going on in the courthouse for the next week, what my weekend plans were, the weather outside, etc. This was really appreciated but the whole time we were talking I was thinking "please hurry up I have a bus to catch." So finally, about 10 minutes later, the chat concluded & I just about broke into a sprint trying to catch the 4:50pm bus. Wasn't my lucky day. The bus was pulling away from the stop as I was getting there. Nothing I could do except wait . . . for 1 whole freaking hour!!! . . . for the next bus.

Tomorrow we're supposed to be having a "watch-the-debate" party with my Obama supporting friends. Now that seems to be up in the air since McScared doesn't want to show up to the clinic that's fixin' to be put on him by Obama. Or perhaps he doesn't want lipstick Palin to debate next week because they're starting to realize seeing Russia from an island in Alaska doesn't really count as foreign policy experience. But perhaps we're just giving him too much credit. Maybe he has no rime or reason for wanting to postpone this debate. Just pure unadulterated senility. "Friends, if I don't want to debate then I'm not going to debate." Idiotic on every level.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'm looking forward to the winter 2009 tv season lineup. Season 7 of '24' starts Jan 2009. However, there's going to be a pre-cursor to the new season on Nov 23 that seems like can't miss tv. 'Damages' season 2 also premiers winter 2009. My cable service will be reconnected sometime late December in anticipation. Can't wait.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Wishing Everyone . . .

A HAPPY FALL!


Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Does Racism in America Still Exist?

Would Barack Obama still be a presidential candidate if . . .

1. Barack had an affair while he was still married to the mother of his kids?
2. Barack divorced his wife to marry his mistress?
3. Barack had graduated fifth from the bottom of his class (894/898)?
4. Michelle was addicted to pain killers?
5. Michelle was having a physician write illegal prescriptions to support her drug habit?
6. Michelle had gone to 6 colleges in 6 years? or
7. Michelle's daughter was pregnant at 17?

So why is it that a candidate who . . .

1. was raised by an 18 year old single mom
2. graduated from Columbia University & Harvard Law School magna cum laude;
3. was the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Law Review;
4. taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years; and
5. has been faithfully married to his wife for 16 years;

. . . is the one whose qualifications are being challenged? Hmm.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Over-Extended

In my infinite wisdom, I signed up for 6 classes this semester. Figured I could hack it since only 2 of them will be exams - rest will be paper finals. But as the semester trudges along, I'm not sure I'll be able to crank out four 35-page papers, complete my journal assignments, and keep my sanity. So I disconnected my cable a few days ago to deal with the sanity part. I feel more calm when I don't have to watch idiotic pundits salivating all over lipstick Palin. But then what did I do? Turned around & signed up for yet another job.

Let me back up. Job 1: I have one job already which I work one day a week. It's a laid back atmosphere & I can do my homework if it's slow - which is often the case. Job 2: I had huge gaps of time between my morning & evening classes so I would go home because I hate being in school. But once I got home, I would do nothing except surf the web, nap, watch, tv, etc. So I figured why not look for a job to fill this time instead of doing absolutely nothing. Didn't get any takers when I sent out an email to some employers. So I settled into my going-home-in-between-classes-and-doing-nothing routine. Then a few days ago one of the employers contacted me & asked if I was still interested in working. What did I say? Yes. I could've kicked myself as soon as I agreed to interview but hoped they would hate me on sight. No such luck. Yours truly now has 2 jobs, 6 classes, & no cable. Even I feel sorry for myself for getting myself into this situation.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Color me Worried

When McCain first announced that Sarah Palin would be his V.P., I thought it was a brilliant move. For the first 5 minutes. Then as her paltry record as governor began emerging, I still thought this was a brilliant move by McCain but for a different reason - his ticket would go downhill faster than you could say "barracuda." Figured in no time, Obama would regain his seat at the change throne & this little hiccup would be a thing of the past. That was until this week. When people in Lebanon, Ohio gathered in large crowds yesterday to hear the Palin/McCain [sic] ticket speak, this worried me. Alot. Prior to the Palin pick, McCain couldn't fill a town hall if his life depended on it. Now he has crowds coming in droves to hear her speak even though she has nothing to say except, "In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers and then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."


There's a huge percentage of uninformed voters out there who do not care that she's not said one thing of substantive value in the 2 weeks since she's been on the ticket. And guess what . . . they'll be racing to the polls to vote for Palin just because they like her glasses, upswept hairdo, and the color of her lipstick. So, for those of you who are quick to dismiss Sarah Palin because she adds nothing of value to the republican ticket, think about these uninformed voters who will heading out in droves to the polling stations come November 4. Obama/Biden '08.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Keeping Them Honest!

Saturday, September 06, 2008

FEDEX

I had some extra tickets to the Lion King so I put them up for sale on StubHub. Once the sale was complete, stubhub sent me a link to download a fedex shipping label to use to ship the tickets with - for tracking purposes. The shipping label showed the person that bought the tickets to be located about ten miles from where I live. So imagine my surprise when I tracked the package today to find that it was sitting in a fedex distribution facility located in Memphis, TN. After a quick google search, turns out that that most all fedex packages shipped via air are routed through Memphis for distribution to their final destination. Even if that destination is a ten minute drive from the shipping location. Go figure.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Faux Coffee?

I love mcdonald's coffee & drink it on the regular. But I started noticing something. First, a little background. I used to have a sweet tooth growing up but as I aged, I lost it. The sweet tooth that is. Eating a box of cookies in a sitting wasn't unheard of but now I'll have one or two & I'm done. The only sweet thing I still enjoy is cake but even that is limited to an occassional slice. Chocolate's my favorite. Same thing with beverages - cold and hot. Used to love Sunkist orange soda but now can't stand the stuff because of it's too sweet. Used to put a ton of sugar in my tea and coffee but no more.

A few days ago, I noticed that everytime I drank mcdonald's coffee, I would put in a lot more sugar than I would if I bought the coffee elsewhere or made my own. So I decided to test my theory. Brewed my own coffee and put it in a mug. Noted how much sugar I used. Then poured mcdonald's coffee in the same mug & noted the amount of sugar used. Three times what I did when I made my own coffee! Hmm. Maybe the sugar disparity was from using different types of coffee and/or the strength of the brew. Maybe. I watched "Supersize Me" so I'm not exactly infused with confidence as to why I use so much more sugar in the mcdonald's coffee just to bring it to taste.

I know what you're thinking - that I should get a life. That's exactly what I was telling myself as I ran my little experiment.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The "Real" John McCain

McCain likes to illustrate his moral fibre by referring to his five years as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam. And to demonstrate his commitment to family values, the 71-year-old former US Navy pilot pays warm tribute to his beautiful blonde wife, Cindy, with whom he has four children.

But there is another Mrs McCain who casts a ghostly shadow over the Senator’s presidential campaign. She is seldom seen and rarely written about, despite being mother to McCain’s three eldest children. And yet, had events turned out differently, it would be she, rather than Cindy, who would be vying to be First Lady. She is McCain’s first wife, Carol, who was a famous beauty and a successful swimwear model when they married in 1965.

She was the woman McCain dreamed of during his long incarceration and torture in Vietnam’s infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison and the woman who faithfully stayed at home looking after the children and waiting anxiously for news. But when McCain returned to America in 1973 to a fanfare of publicity and a handshake from Richard Nixon, he discovered his wife had been disfigured in a terrible car crash three years earlier. Her car had skidded on icy roads into a telegraph pole on Christmas Eve, 1969. Her pelvis and one arm were shattered by the impact and she suffered massive internal injuries.

When Carol was discharged from hospital after six months of life-saving surgery, the prognosis was bleak. In order to save her legs, surgeons had been forced to cut away huge sections of shattered bone, taking with it her tall, willowy figure. She was confined to a wheelchair and was forced to use a catheter.

Through sheer hard work, Carol learned to walk again. But when John McCain came home from Vietnam, she had gained a lot of weight and bore little resemblance to her old self. Today, she stands at just 5ft4in and still walks awkwardly, with a pronounced limp. Her body is held together by screws and metal plates and, at 70, her face is worn by wrinkles that speak of decades of silent suffering.

For nearly 30 years, Carol has maintained a dignified silence about the accident, McCain and their divorce. But last week at the bungalow where she now lives at Virginia Beach, a faded seaside resort 200 miles south of Washington, she told The Mail on Sunday how McCain divorced her in 1980 and married Cindy, 18 years his junior and the heir to an Arizona brewing fortune, just one month later.

Carol insists she remains on good terms with her ex-husband, who agreed as part of their divorce settlement to pay her medical costs for life. ‘I have no bitterness,’ she says. ‘My accident is well recorded. I had 23 operations, I am five inches shorter than I used to be and I was in hospital for six months. It was just awful, but it wasn’t the reason for my divorce. ‘My marriage ended because John McCain didn’t want to be 40, he wanted to be 25. You know that happens...it just does.’

Some of McCain’s acquaintances are less forgiving, however. They portray the politician as a self-centred womaniser who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to ‘play the field’. They accuse him of finally settling on Cindy, a former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons.

McCain was then earning little more than £25,000 a year as a naval officer, while his new father-in-law, Jim Hensley, was a multi-millionaire who had impeccable political connections. He first met Carol in the Fifties while he was at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. He was a privileged, but rebellious scion of one of America’s most distinguished military dynasties – his father and grandfather were both admirals.

But setting out to have a good time, the young McCain hung out with a group of young officers who called themselves the ‘Bad Bunch’. His primary interest was women and his conquests ranged from a knife-wielding floozy nicknamed ‘Marie, the Flame of Florida’ to a tobacco heiress.

How it began: Carol fell into his fast-living world by accident. She escaped a poor upbringing in Philadelphia to become a successful model, married an Annapolis classmate of McCain’s and had two children – Douglas and Andrew – before renewing what one acquaintance calls ‘an old flirtation’ with McCain. It seems clear she was bowled over by McCain’s attention at a time when he was becoming bored with his playboy lifestyle. ‘He was 28 and ready to settle down and he loved Carol’s children,’ recalled another Annapolis graduate, Robert Timberg, who wrote The Nightingale’s Song, a bestselling biography of McCain and four other graduates of the academy.

The couple married and McCain adopted Carol’s sons. Their daughter, Sidney, was born a year later, but domesticity was clearly beginning to bore McCain – the couple were regarded as ‘fixtures on the party circuit’ before McCain requested combat duty in Vietnam at the end of 1966.

He was assigned as a bomber pilot on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin. What follows is the stuff of the McCain legend. He was shot down over Hanoi in October 1967 on his 23rd mission over North Vietnam and was badly beaten by an angry mob when he was pulled, half-drowned from a lake. Over the next five-and-a-half years in the notorious Hoa Loa Prison he was regularly tortured and mistreated.

The accident: It was in 1969 that Carol went to spend the Christmas holiday – her third without McCain – at her parents’ home. After dinner, she left to drop off some presents at a friend’s house. It wasn’t until some hours later that she was discovered, alone and in terrible pain, next to the wreckage of her car. She had been hurled through the windscreen.

After her first series of life-saving operations, Carol was told she may never walk again, but when doctors said they would try to get word to McCain about her injuries, she refused, insisting: ‘He’s got enough problems, I don’t want to tell him.’ H. Ross Perot, a billionaire Texas businessman, future presidential candidate and advocate of prisoners of war, paid for her medical care.

McCain returns: When McCain – his hair turned prematurely white and his body reduced to little more than a skeleton – was released in March 1973, he told reporters he was overjoyed to see Carol again. But friends say privately he was ‘appalled’ by the change in her appearance. At first, though, he was kind, assuring her: ‘I don’t look so good myself. It’s fine.’

He bought her a bungalow near the sea in Florida and another former PoW helped him to build a railing so she could pull herself over the dunes to the water. ‘I thought, of course, we would live happily ever after,’ says Carol. But as a war hero, McCain was moving in ever-more elevated circles.

Through Ross Perot, he met Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California. A sympathetic Nancy Reagan took Carol under her wing. But already the McCains’
marriage had begun to fray. ‘John started carousing and running around with
women,’ said Robert Timberg.

McCain has acknowledged that he had girlfriends during this time, without going into details. Some friends blame his dissatisfaction with Carol, but others give some credence to her theory of a mid-life crisis. He was also fiercely ambitious, but it was clear he would never become an admiral like his illustrious father and grandfather and his thoughts were turning to politics.

Meeting Cindy: In 1979 – while still married to Carol – he met Cindy at a cocktail party in Hawaii. Over the next six months he pursued her, flying around the country to see her. Then he began to push to end his marriage.

Carol and her children were devastated. ‘It was a complete surprise,’ says Nancy Reynolds, a former Reagan aide. ‘They never displayed any difficulties between themselves. I know the Reagans were quite shocked because they loved and respected both Carol and John.’

Another friend added: ‘Carol didn’t fight him. She felt her infirmity made her an impediment to him. She justified his actions because of all he had gone through. She used to say, “He just wants to make up for lost time.”’ Indeed, to many in their circle the saddest part of the break-up was Carol’s decision to resign herself to losing a man she says she still adores.

Friends confirm she has remained friends with McCain and backed him in all his campaigns. ‘He was very generous to her in the divorce but of course he could afford to be, since he was marrying Cindy,’ one observed.

McCain transferred the Florida beach house to Carol and gave her the right to live in their jointly-owned townhouse in the Washington suburb of Alexandria. He also agreed to pay her alimony and child support. A former neighbour says she subsequently sold up in Florida and Washington and moved in 2003 to Virginia Beach. He said: ‘My impression was that she found the new place easier to manage as she still has some difficulties walking.’

Meanwhile McCain moved to Arizona with his new bride immediately after their 1980 marriage. There, his new father-in-law gave him a job and introduced him to local businessmen and political powerbrokers who would smooth his passage to Washington via the House of Representatives and Senate.

And yet despite his popularity as a politician, there are those who won’t forget his treatment of his first wife.

Ted Sampley, who fought with US Special Forces in Vietnam and is now a leading campaigner for veterans’ rights, said: ‘I have been following John McCain’s career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally. There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is – deceit. When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it. Eventually he met Cindy and she was young and beautiful and very wealthy. At that point McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better. This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. He has no character. He is a fake. If there was any character in that first marriage, it all belonged to Carol.’

One old friend of the McCains said: ‘Carol always insists she is not bitter, but I think that’s a defence mechanism. She also feels deeply in his debt because in return for her agreement to a divorce, he promised to pay for her medical care for the rest of her life.’

Carol remained resolutely loyal as McCain’s political star rose. She says she agreed to talk to The Mail on Sunday only because she wanted to publicise her support for the man who abandoned her.

Indeed, the old Mercedes that she uses to run errands displays both a disabled badge and a sticker encouraging people to vote for her ex-husband. ‘He’s a good guy,’ she assured us. ‘We are still good friends. He is the best man for president.’

But Ross Perot, who paid her medical bills all those years ago, now believes that both Carol McCain and the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel – even by the standards of modern politics. ‘McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory,’ he said. ‘After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history.’

The Mail Online - U.K.
By Sharon Churcher
June 8, 2008

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

¡Hola!

I've been wanting to learn conversational spanish for the longest time but can't figure out how to go about doing it. Language CDs cost a pretty penny & I'm just not motivated like that so that wasn't going to work. I can take spanish classes in school but those classes begin late September when the rest of the school is back in session - which is fine - but they also go to school when we have our fall break & if you miss a class they drop you from the course like a hot potato. They take themselves waaay too seriously over there so I'd rather not mix it up with them.

So anyways, I was talking to my friend who's from south america & mentioned it in passing about my futile quest to learn spanish. Her response: "What?! I can teach you!" Turns out she's been a spanish tutor for folks at her church so she was more than happy to make me one of her students. For free! Wasn't that nice of her? Sí.

No big plans for this Labor Day weekend. Just sleeping. Zzzz. That and going out to watch a broadway play over the weekend with some friends. Then more Zzzz.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Joe Biden

Talk about anti-climatic. Here I am waiting to get an sms from Obama himself on Saturday morning and then at 12:45am CNN confirms that Joe Biden will be Obama's V.P. pick. Sheesh. So much for signing up to receive this info first hand. But in all honesty, by 6pm last night, practically everyone was sure Joe Biden would be the pick so it's not like I was devastated by the breaking news. Now what do I think of him as a V.P.? He definitely doesn't represent change. A six term Senator has a long legislative record for Republicans to swift boat. And he's pushing 65 so he's no spring chicken. But at least he has experience & balances the Obama ticket that way. Obama/Biden '08!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Junkie in the Making

I have developed insomnia! What's odd is that this started when school started back up & it's lasted from Sun-today. On Saturday night, I slept like a baby. Coincidentally, this is the only day when I didn't open a school book. I'm no sleep doctor or anything but there seems to be a correlation between my insomnia and my books. So I've resorted to chugging Nyquil. You can only take so many days of 2-3 hours of sleep before you feel like a zombie. How I miss the summer days when I used to drink gallons of coffee at the office but was out like a light by 11pm.

Seems like African Americans who are about something are dropping off the face of the earth. Last week Bernie Mac died, yesterday LeRoi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band died, and today Stephanie Tubbs Jones died after suffering a brain aneurysm. She's was the U.S. representative for Ohio and I got to meet her when Hillary Clinton campaigned in town earlier this year (that's the picture I took of her). C'est la vie.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Cars

With all the problems I've been experiencing with my "trusty" car, I can't help but look around at what everyone else is driving. Up to last year, I could've named 85% of the cars on sight. Now, I can't tell anymore just by looking at a car's body what make and/or model it is. Yesterday, I saw a 2-door nissan altima. How about that? It looks very similar to its infinity G coupe counterpart. Very nice but not my cup of tea. Hondas also seem to have been revamped. The only new look I like is the CRV.

When I worked at the firm 2 summers ago, I thought it funny that all the young associates were driving cars nearly as old as mine even though they were making a gazillion dollars. That's what student loans will do for ya. But while working for the govn this summer, we got to talk to some new attorneys who were driving brand new Lexus'/BMWs. I guess it all depends on where your priorities lie.

So when my car takes its last gasp of breath (which is the only way I'm getting rid of it), I'll probably go for a car that gets in the neighborhood of 55 miles/gallon. Doesn't matter if it's electric, hybrid, hydrogen powered, windmill driven, or whatever. Those car payments will have to get off-set in some type of way.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Third & final year of school begins tomorrow. I've been on page 3 of 21 of Secured Transactions homework for the past hour and still don't know what's going on. It's good to be back.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Nothingness

I'm a football season ticket holder this year. I picked up my prized tickets today. The big money ticket is for the Michigan-Ohio State game that'll be played on Nov 22. It's a circus around here on the weekend of that game and one can sell a single ticket for hundreds of dollars. But it would be a travesty if I graduated without having experienced first hand the chaos that is this game so I'll probably not be selling my ticket.

So my summer job ended about a week ago with lots of fanfare. Absolutely loved the office and the people. For some unknown reason, when I gave my 2 week notice, I asked my supervisor if they hire interns for the fall. So he said if I was interested, to get back to him with my availability and he'd see what they could do. They require about 15 hours a week which is alot. But I nudged & fudged my schedule till I was able to come up with 2 open days and told him so before I left. Now this meant that I had to drop a few classes that I really wanted to take just to make this work schedule workable. I always get myself in such situations & then wonder how I'll get out of them. To cut a very long story short, I sent my ex-supv an email telling him I no longer wanted to return. I know - very unprofessional. But guess what? He responded and told me he was sorry I couldn't make it back for the fall and that if I wanted to come back for the winter semester, to follow up with him sometime in December! Wasn't that nice of him? Told you these people were awesome.

I'm awash in olympics right now. Gymnastics, swimming, tennis, canoeing, indoor volleyball, white water rafting, etc. I watch practically every sport - except polo, softball, baseball, beach volleyball, and boxing - into the wee hours of the morning. The only moment I didn't appreciate was when one of the U.S. women's gymnastics coach started blaming their loss to China on the officials and the age of the chinese women. Unless I was watching something different, the only reason why the U.S. women lost was because they fell flat on their backs during their routines. So stop whining and blaming everyone else for your own mistakes. If you want a gold medal, stick your landings and then maybe, you'll have a chance against the chinese women. Can't stand the U.S. sense of entitlement. If you can't tell, I'm rooting for China all the way. Faux fireworks, lip synching, smog, human rights violations, and all.

I'm trying to sell my textbooks from last semester and beyond on Amazon. I've sold about 5 books in the last week which is great. Usually I'm happy if I sell a couple so I'm on a roll this time around. The trick is putting them up for sale just when people are fixing to go back to school and hope that new editions are not out.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

R.I.P.



Bernie Mac

Friday, August 08, 2008

8.8.08

Had an interesting day. Fixing to wind down with a 4 hour dose of the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Hooked up my surround sound, popped the popcorn, & I'm ready to go. Neighbors will just have to deal.

Today I took the MPRE which is an ethics exam that all attorneys must pass before they can practice. Was supposed to take it in March but that session was cancelled after a blizzard came through. I thought I knew the rules but every question had 2 answers that were highly plausible. So way I see it, I'll either get everything right or I'll fail the exam with flying colors. What a nightmare.

I bought a $1 scratch-off and won $2 (I never win anything from scratch-offs). And then I parked in one of the garages at school & when I went to exit, the gate just opened without me having to pay. That calls for the purchase of a lotto ticket. Only when consecutive mundane "lucky" things like these happen do I buy lotto tickets. I figure since I'm on a roll, maybe a few million dollars is in the cards. Hasn't quite worked out that way yet but one can dream.

One last thing: my friend, we'll call her "X" moved into my apartment complex a week ago thanks to my rave reviews about them. Now she's my neighbor about 4 doors down. So me & my other friend, we'll call her "Z," were joking about X coming to my place to borrow sugar, asking for a ride to school, sleepovers, and other bothersome things now that we were practically next door neighbors. Turns out we were not too off with our predictions. Got a call from X wanting to come over to visit on Tue. This was at 9pm. Then on Wed night, she called wanting me to go pick up keys from her house & keep them till Fri for her sister because she was going to be out of town till then. Was worried somebody would pick them up from under her mat. Keep in mind her apartment is still empty. Nothing to steal. Moral of this story: I'm done picking up her calls. Don't even care if she comes knocking on my door and its obvious I'm home. It's my duty to educate her on the cardinal rule of neighborhood etiquette: thou shall not disturb your neighbor.

Update: China put on one heck of an olympic show. Outstanding!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Tried to Rip Me Off!

AEP is my electric company. My May-June bill was about $100. I thought it was a little high since my utility bill usually averages $35 a month but I figured the hike was because of running the a/c a few days out of that month. Keep in mind summer in Columbus is about 85º/65º so you can get away with opening windows. Then the bill for June-July came in a few days ago & it was $133! Now I was really pissed. I'm barely home during the day & I'm out most weekends & since it's cool at night, I practically did not run my a/c the entire month. So it didn't make sense for the current bill to be higher than the last month's when I'd used the a/c.

So I called AEP customer service & told them why I thought my bill was too high. Then the heifer told me with attitude, "well, I live in Columbus too & I know I was running my a/c the entire month. It was at least 98º on average everyday so there's no way your a/c could've been lower this month than last." Picture steam coming out of my ears. Trying to tell me that my bill is justified because she had her a/c running 24/7 so similarly, mine must've been running . . . who hires these idiots? But I resisted getting into a pissing match with her. She went on to tell me that my current bill was estimated so to go outside & get a reading from my meter. So I did & you know what the b* told me? "Well that reading is too low. There's no way you could have used such a little amount of energy." Unbef*&%$?#lievable. So I hang up the phone but called right back & spoke to someone else. Told them what had gone down & this new person said he'd send me a card in the mail that has little dials on it so I could draw the arrows as they appear on the meter. That way they get to read the numbers off the dials to make sure its an accurate reading. Idiot-proofing the process.

The card arrived a few days later. I drew the little dials in & mailed it right back to them. Fast forward five days later to today. I got an email that I had a bill from AEP. What was my balance you ask? $0. With a $35 credit to boot!!! This threw me off since I was just expecting my bill to be lowered not be obliterated. So I called them back to confirm this wasn't a typo. Turns out that when they received my card w/ the dials drawn in, the reading was so low that they sent someone to my house to double check the reading yesterday. And I was right. I had been wrongly billed for not one but 2 months! My May-June bill that was $100 should've been only $40 and this month's bill only about $35. They didn't get the memo that I'm very vigilanté about my bills. Nobody pulls a fast one on me! Except the mechanic . . .

Turns out I have to spend even more money on my car. Feel like I'm slowly rebuilding my car to a brand new old car. But even with this new diagnosis, I'm not convinced that it won't stall again. It refuses to stall for them so it's really a crap shoot of what could be the problem. But if it does, I just might file a small claims complaint against them to try & get some of my money back. Might as well start making use of my education. At a minimum, I'll be writing to their corporate office. You never know . . . might get some free oil changes from this little fiasco.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

It Surely Did

My car stalled again yesterday! Called the shop that fixed it 2 weeks ago & told them I was having it towed right back in. As I was riding in the tow truck I noticed its engine was running very rough. Sure enough the nice tow man told me that the truck had stalled on him earlier that day. Great. It's 98º...my car is sitting on top of the truck...we're in the middle of nowhere...at the height of rush hour... was this really about to go down?

Movie Reviews:

1. Dark Knight - "A" Veeery creepy but very good.
2. Wanted - "B" Wee bit too matrix-like but decent.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Jog that almost was

Yesterday was supposed to be my first day of jogging. I'm trying to live up to Oprah's mantra: live your best life today (or whatever the heck it is). So anyway's, I was to get up at 5:30am then go walking/jogging along a trail by my house. But what time did the alarm go off? 6:30am! This is the time I usually get up to catch the bus so I forgot to reset it to the new & improved time. So we'll try it again tomorrow morning. No excuses this time which is why I'm sharing this with you my loyal readers. Makes me accountable in a cyber-sorta way.


Tomorrow I get to write my resignation letter. My last day is in a couple of weeks so we have to notify HR in writing that we are leaving. If you decide to stay on for the school year then no letter is needed. So yours truly will regrettably not be returning. I will not be able to free up 12-14 hrs which is what they require you to work at a minimum. I have about 5 classes scheduled and a judicial externship (clerking for a judge for the semester) for the fall semester so I can't work a regular schedule. I'll probably get a receptionist type job at the school since you can work whenever you have time e.g. in between classes.

This week has been slow at the office. So yesterday, showing initiative as usual, I went around asking folks if they had any work I could do. Didn't have any takers at first & then whack . . . even the secretaries wanted a piece of me. Now I'm deep into my eyeballs with the craziest array of stuff you can imagine. From copying to filing to drafting briefs - you name it I'm doing it. Prioritizing will be the name of this game.

Now about that New Yorker cover. Funny? Sure. Smart? Mmhm. Much ado about nothing? Yes. Satire? Yup. Until you realize how many Americans think that the cover depicted who Obama really is. Muslim, unpatriotic, madrasa-educated, etc. One guy put it best: "It is only satire if the cartoon is so absurd that no one would believe it as true." As ignorance surrounds us everywhere, this is not the case. That being said, shouldn't the blame fall on Obama for not educating/informing people about who he really is? If there are those who are still out there believing that Michelle & Obama are the people depicted on that cover why should the cartoonist have to take heat for their ignorance? Here's my unsolicited advice to Obama. Instead of taking out ads about how John McCain is 4 more years of W., he should be pounding it into our living rooms that he is an american-loving, non-turban wearing, harvard-educated, christian who did not get sworn into the senate on a Qur'an. And yes, that he loves muslims too.

Monday, July 07, 2008

My two favorite authors have books coming out within weeks of each other. Moscow Rules will be released on July 22 & Smoke Screen on August 12. Literary heaven.

July 18: I pre-ordered both books from Amazon. 40% off + free shipping + no tax = heck of a deal!

Crisis Averted

The bus that I take to work makes it to my stop at 7:18am. I usually leave my house at around 7:10am just in case the bus is a few minutes early (stop is less than 1 minute away). So this morning I left my house at the usual time. Then guess what I saw rolling past the bus stop? The freakin' bus. It was 8 minutes early. Picture me running towards the bus waving my arms frantically hoping the bus driver would see me & stop (they usually never stop unless its by a clearly marked bus stop). But she saw me from the corner of her eye & stopped. So I ran across the road, got in, & thanked her profusely, all the while thinking it was my lucky day.

So I get to work & couldn't wait to tell my office friend what had transpired. At about 3pm, I walked to her cubicle & relayed that morning's drama. I concluded by saying, "I don't know what I'd have done had that bus left me." She looked at me like I was going crazy and deadpanned, "you'd have driven your car like you normally do!"

Do you know up until that point it had not crossed my mind that I could've simply jumped into my car & driven to work had the bus driver refused to stop? Nooo. Instead, I'd have gone back to the house, waited an hour for the next bus to come along, and been late to work. Talk about having a brain fart.

TV: It's now 7pm Mon evening & am watching on ESPN Classic the repeat of yesterday's instant classic Wimbledon match btn Roger Federer & Rafa Nadal. This is after I watched the whole match yesterday but it was so good, I have to relieve it in its entirety (I started watching it at 9am Sun morning & the match didn't get done until about 5pm). Just classic.

Tonight is the season finale of the Bachelorette. I'm hooked on the show this year because the guys as well as the gal are compelling. I think I liked all the last 5 bachelors left so I'm super excited to see who she's going to pick. Must see t.v.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

I'm Lovin' Sports!

1. Rafael Nadal - won wimbledon today!!!!


2. Spain - won Euro 2008

3. Boston Celtics - won the NBA championship

4. Tiger Woods - won the U.S. Open

5. Rafael Nadal - won the French Open



Thursday, July 03, 2008

Ban Capital Punishment!

While the guy wasn't convicted of a capital crime, stories like this reaffirm my conviction there should be a ban on the death penalty. There are too many wrongly convicted folks sitting on death row to justify a punishment so irreversible. Considering that Dallas is a county in Texas, it's a shame that the state continues to lead the country in the number of inmates put to death.

* * *

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A Texas man who spent more than 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of kidnapping and robbery raised both arms skyward and collapsed in his mother's embrace Thursday after being told he was a free man.

Patrick Waller, along with Innocence Project director John Stickels, rejoices as the decision is announced.

Patrick Waller's sobs were the only sound at a crowded hearing attended by four other inmates also exonerated by DNA testing. "It's all right, honey," Patricia Cunningham told her son. "It's over. You're out of here. You're going home."

Waller had been behind bars since 1992 for aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping stemming from the abduction of a Dallas couple. He was proved innocent by DNA testing late last year. "I feel vindicated," said Waller, 38. "I feel thankful. Most of all, I feel blessed."

His release had been all but certain since last week, when the Dallas County prosecutor's office announced that DNA evidence had cleared Waller and matched the profile of another man. That suspect identified his accomplice, and both men subsequently confessed in front of a grand jury, prosecutors said. Neither man is in prison, although one is on parole, and they won't face criminal charges because the statute of limitations has expired.

Waller is the 19th man in Dallas County since 2001 shown by DNA evidence to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. That's more than any county in the nation, according to The Innocence Project in New York, a legal center specializing in wrongful-conviction cases.

Four former inmates who collectively served nearly 100 years in prison before being exonerated lined the back wall of the crowded courtroom. The men freed by DNA testing in Dallas County have made a habit of showing up in court for exoneration hearings, and on Thursday they presented Waller with a prepaid cell phone as a gift. Their exoneration stories helped Waller during his incarceration.

"All these guys I just met, I have all their clippings," Waller said. "It always gave me hope that one day it would be my turn." Waller said he plans to ask the other exonoreated men about the challenges of rejoining society. He is also about 20 credit hours short of a degree.

John Stickels, an Innocence Project of Texas board member and a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, said he wants to help Waller enroll at the suburban Dallas school.

Waller's ordeal began in 1992 when two men kidnapped a couple and stole several hundred dollars. The men also sexually assaulted the woman after tying up the man, District Attorney Mike Ware said. Another couple who drove up to the scene were also held at gunpoint. A security guard arrived and scared off the men, who fled in separate cars. Three of the four people abducted picked Waller in a photo lineup. The fourth later picked him out of a live lineup, Ware said.

Waller maintained his innocence and presented an alibi at trial but was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He also pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated kidnapping, fearing more life sentences if he were convicted, said his lawyer, Gary Udashen.

In 2001, Waller requested post-conviction DNA testing under a new state law. The DA's office, then under different leadership, opposed the request, and it was denied by a judge. A second attempt in 2005 was also unsuccessful.

Bill Hill, who was the district attorney when Waller requested his DNA tests, did not return a message from The Associated Press.

Waller's 2007 request, which came after Craig Watkins had taken office as the new district attorney, was granted. Watkins has started a program in which law students, supervised by the Innocence Project of Texas, review old cases in which inmates have requested DNA testing. In Waller's case, DNA testing was paid for by the Innocence Project of Texas.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Things Annoying Me Today

1. We have this girl at the office who's graduated from lawschool but isn't licensed to practice since she hasn't taken the bar yet. So last Thu we got an assignment to write a pleading that was needed ASAP. We had 2 issues we had to tackle & she got to pick the one she wanted. I got done with my portion this morning & emailed it to her to combine it with hers. We agreed that when she combined both portions she'd send it back to me so I could proof it. About 4pm this afternoon, I got an email from her with the completed document attached. Also noticed that she'd copied the attorney who'd assigned it to us. When I opened the document to read her portion, what a disaster! Just sloppy writing through and through. This wouldn't have been as irritating had she not kept talking about how great she was at research/writing & had she given me the document to proof like we'd agreed. Guess she thought she had it in the bag.

2. I stayed up late last night so I had a splitting headache this morning. So I took some medicine from the office medicine cabinet that said "POWERFUL PAIN RELIEVER" on the package. No brand or anything. For the remainder of the day I felt like I was having an outer body experience. I think the pills had too much caffeine plus it didn't help that I washed them down with the coffee I'd been drinking to keep me awake.

3. People who keep calling without leaving voicemails drive me nuts. Someone did that all weekend. I hardly ever pick up calls from numbers I don't recognize. So you'd think the person calling would figure this out after the 7th unsuccessful try. But nooooo. Let's keep calling & see if she'll finally pick up. I admit that sometimes I do cave in if it gets to be stalkerish but a tongue lashing awaits the person on the other end. It usually jends up being some poor guy I gave my number to in a moment of temporary insanity. But you know what they say about karma. One day I'll be the one getting an earful from a guy I've been phone-stalking. Can't wait.

4. Seems like I'll have to partake in $4 gas by week's end. Noticed this evening that most gas stations have gone where no one in Columbus wanted them to go.

5. John McCain ads that are running on t.v. It's still June!!! Couldn't they have waited to run them after Labor Day weekend? This election is bound to get real ugly but I now have confidence that Obama will hold his own. Did you see Wes Clark on t.v. yesterday saying that being shot down & taken as a prisoner of war doesn't make McCain qualified to be commander-in-chief? Ouch. Even McCain didn't have a come-back to that one. What are you going to say to a 5-star General?! Signs of yummy things dems have in store for him.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

And the Raspberry Award goes to . . .

Miami Vice (2006)! It has to be the worst movie I've seen in the last decade. Poor acting by Jamie Foxx & Colin Farrell & a plot that was even worse. I made it through the first 45 minutes but couldn't take it anymore. Just terrible on every level.

It's a travesty what's going on in Zimbabwe. Mugabe claiming a "land-slide" victory in a run-off where he was running un-opposed. It would be laughable if the situation wasn't so dire. I don't think though the violence will escalate to genocidal levels as I don't think Zimbabwean political affiliations are tied to ethnicity. However, the brutality going on against non-Mugabe supporters continues. So what does the world call for? Sanctions. I bet you if this was an oil producing country, W. would be drawing up the invasion plans for McCain to execute in 2009 as a welcome gift. But since it's nothing but the country with the highest inflation rate in the world, sanctions it is. It's a sad day when African presidents hang on to power damn the cost. But not to worry. I have a solution to all this madness . . . have an independent military (including police). Get a 5-person crew to command the troops. Have this 5-person crew appointed for life by other military/police brass so they aren't subject to the influence of whatever government is in power. They would oversee the elections & once the people have spoken, the military would step in to make sure there was a seamless transition of power. But since this would never happen, I hope to see Mugabe at the Hague being tried for crimes against humanity in the very near future. What he's done to that country over the years is downright criminal.

When my car was in the shop last week, I rode the bus to & from work. It's about a 20 minute "free" ride with my student ID. It's really not free since we pay about a $15 fee in our tuition for public transportation but let's not dwell on the technicalities. I got my car back but I plan to continue riding the bus so that I don't have to pay $110 next month for parking. So anyways, I listen to music as I ride & this motivated me to finally open my ipod shuffle that I received a few months ago from Westlaw (for points earned for using their legal search engine). The moral: I don't understand why people are so obsessed with everything ipod. First, I had to download itunes to get the software required for it. Then I had to charge the shuffle . . . using my computer! You have to sit the little bugger onto a docking station which then connects to your computer via a usb cable. So what happens when it runs out of juice & I'm not near a computer? Ridiculous. This compared to my current mp3 player that requires only a AA battery which lasts for about 50 hours of play time. It warns you when the battery is low & all I do is toss out the old one & insert the new. Only thing I like about the shuffle is it's size. I got a very bright color because it's miniscule. So I'll give it a one-week trial run then I'll toss it if it doesn't grow on me.

I only have one more month remaining at my summer job. The one attorney who gives me most of my work keeps asking me if I'll continue working through the Fall. I don't know yet. I'd like to but I'm not sure if my school schedule will let me work 10-20 hrs during the week. Plus during the school year I like to get jobs that are close enough to walk. But either way, the chips should fall into place in the next few weeks once I get my school schedule finalized.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Nothingness

My car stalled on Wednesday so I had it towed to a shop. It had been having an intermittent problem so I knew a complete stall was in the working. Found out the next day this would set me back $800. The price I was originally quoted was about $150 higher. But I asked the manager to fax me the estimate so I could talk it over with my husband. I guess there were some charges for which he couldn't justify because the estimate price was lower. I called one of my mechanics from craigslist & he told me that the price was justified because it was a very labor intensive problem. When I called to get an update on Saturday morning, they were still working on it. "Oh boy, the mechanic is having lots of fun with it." I think the manager was being sarcastic.

My birthday was on Thursday & the lovely people I work with brought in lots of food to celebrate. Even sang happy birthday for me & I got to take the first stab at the most yummy cake one of the secretaries had baked. It was just a lovely day which more than made up for the car fiasco I had dealt with the night before.

The weather here is just fabulous. It's probably been in the upper 70s for the past couple of weeks. Sunny with blue skies.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Fair Weather Fan

Boston Celtics won Game 4 last week against the Lakers. But I wasn't there to witness the 24-point deficit comeback. Why? Because I knew the Celtics were for sure going to lose when they were trailing by 20 or so points at the half. So what did I do? I told myself that I needed to go to bed because I had to be up early in the morning. Not so. I just couldn't stand seeing the Celtics getting it handed to them. Little did I know the greatest NBA come-back of all time was about to go down.

Round 3 of the U.S. Open golf tournament was yesterday & I stopped watching it when Tiger was at the 13th hole because I had to watch the re-run of Celtics-Lakers game 4 which was showing on ESPN classic simultaneously. Not so. The only reason I switched over was because Tiger kept hitting his ball into the rough & I just didn't want to see him keep bogeying the holes (he'd had a rough going). So what did I miss during the switch-over? Tiger made an eagle putt on the 13th hole & chipped the ball for a birdie on the 16th hole. Ugh. I was so upset that I had missed both those shots. But luckily, I switched back in time to see him make another eagle putt on the 18th hole & take the lead.

Lesson learned from my "fair-weathering" on these 2 occasions . . . weather-all. So the final round of the golf tournament was today & Tiger got off to a very rough start (double bogey & bogey on first two holes). What a nightmare. But I perservered on. Watched the entire 18 holes & was rewarded with the most dramatic birdie putt by Tiger on the final hole which moved him into a tie for the lead & forced an 18-hole playoff round tomorrow.

As I write this, it's Game 5 of the Celtics-Lakers series with 6:10 left in the 4th quarter. The Lakers are up 80-73. I'm off to bed. I have to be up real early in the morning!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Gone!

Today I'm standing with Senator Obama to say "Yes We Can!"
~Hillary Clinton~

Finally!

Friday, June 06, 2008

Feel Good Story of the Day!


Obama's Weekend Off: Date with Wife, Hosting Sleepover for Eight 7-Year Olds

After appearing here, Obama traveled to a rally in northern Virginia's D.C. suburbs, then headed back to his hometown of Chicago to take the weekend off. He's looking forward to "a date" tonight with his wife, Michelle, a round of golf on Saturday ("the best I can do is the low 80s," Obama said) and a bike ride with his children on Sunday.

Not that he is expecting it to be entirely relaxing. On Saturday night, Obama will face a challenge familiar to many American parents: Eight 7-year-olds are due at his house for a birthday sleepover in honor of his daughter, Sasha. "These kids are planning to make pizza so who knows what our kitchen will look like," Obama said. "They shouldn't call these sleepovers. They should call them wake-overs."

-Huffington Post-

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Go Away Already!!!

Like a bad rash, Hillary Clinton refuses to go away. She said today she'll "suspend" her campaign & support Obama this Saturday (and this was only after the Dem leaders told her to hang it up). But yet she reserved the right to have her name on the nomination ballot at the Denver convention this August. WTF?! She should've endorsed Obama last night when he clinched the nomination but instead she gave one of the most classless speeches I've ever listened to. I knew it would go downhill when she was introduced as "the next president of the United States." She is a power hungry vindictive woman who refuses to recognize there's a new Sheriff in town. Obama. Get used to it!

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Tax Woes

The goddamn IRS won't leave me alone! Found out I owe them about $1500 for unclaimed income. When I filed my taxes a couple years ago, I didn't claim interest I got from an investment account. Now Uncle Sam wants his money back plus interest. I just can't win. I must be on the "terrorist watch-list" equivalent with the IRS since this is like the third time I've gotten notice that I owe them money. I have friends who haven't filed taxes in years but they never get audited yet here I am - a law abiding citizen who files taxes every year yet I can't get a f*&%$#g break. Pisses me off.

On a cleaner note: I get my hair done every week. However, due to working over the summer I'm not able to visit the salon on my regular hours & so the people who get to do my hair are less than mediocre. The moral of this story: I've decided to be doing my own hair at home.

I ordered a portable hood dryer last week from Amazon ($40), bought styling products from Sally's ($15) and today took a stab at it. I washed & deep conditioned my hair. Then I put rollers which is not the easiest thing to do. It took me a little over an hour but I must say my roller set kicked a$$. Then I sat under the dryer for about 50 minutes. The dryer I bought rocks. It's fairly quiet, has four heat settings (I dried my hair under the medium setting), and the hood can adjust in a way that does not get heat in my face & I can watch tv. My hair turned out even better than it does when I go to the salon. Must've known that I'll be needing that money to pay off my outstanding taxes.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Coffee Club

Somebody at the office always makes a fresh pot of coffee in the morning to which I've been helping myself most everyday. It's some really nasty tasting coffee but it does it's job. So yesterday I filled my cup like usual but for some reason, I stopped & asked my secretary "is it ok to drink the coffee they make in the kitchen?" That's when she broke it down for me. The coffee was reserved for coffee club members. Huh?! Either that or ask the coffee brewer & she'll let you have a cup for 50¢. I don't think the smell emanating from my coffee mug wafted to her nose so I quickly slunk back into my cubicle. No one seems to know who the coffee clubbers are or how the membership works but they must have never seen me partaking in their brew or I'm sure I'd have heard about it. Gossip gets around the office like wildfire. Coincidentally, there's a water fountain that I'm yet to see someone drinking from. Hmm. Water club maybe?

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Who's Your Genius?

So my wireless internet went out a few days ago. For some reason my laptop wasn't communicating with the modem at all. My desktop wasn't affected but it doesn't count since I never use it unless I want to print something so it felt like the internets (sic) had disappeared. Spent an hour on the phone with TWCable who's troubleshooting was pointless so they scheduled an appointment for this Saturday for one of their techies to come out & take a look. A whole 3 days away!!!! This bothered me all day at work. If one computer was working fine then why not the other? Began thinking that maybe all I needed to do was to input my network key again & everything else would be re-created. Didn't have it so I called TWC again & this time the guy was located in Manilla Phillipines (I always ask them where they're located - makes for good conversation). Anyway, he gave me the network key - which I found out is located on the back of my modem no less. I put it in, followed the prompts & just like that, the internets were back! They need to disband the TWC "tech support" crew. Took me all of 1 minute to fix the problem. Yup, genius.

Ridiculous item of the day: American airlines will start charging $15 for the first bag checked in starting June 15th! Delta Airlines has refused to match this nonsense. Said they'd find another way to offset the hit they're taking for rising gas prices. Good for them.

My favorite singles right now (after hearing them in the club):
1. Bust it baby - Plies & Neyo
2. Lollipop - Lil Wayne
3. Love in this club (Remix) - Usher

Friday, May 16, 2008

It's Here!

My tax rebate has finally made it into my bank account! At least Dubya was good for something. I have no current plans for it but I'm sure that'll be remedied shortly.

My job is coming along splendidly. I met my boss this morning & he took me for coffee since he's been out this past week after his wife had a baby. He seemed really laid back. Told me to shoot him an email if I needed to take a few days off over the summer. I'll be sure to take him up on that. There's this one attorney who keeps coming to give me work. Well, today he gave me an assignment which I have no idea where to start & it's due first thing next week. Hopefully whatever I come up with won't be too horrific - I'd like to keep my steady source of work relatively happy.

I had to go to court today to get some documents which is a good 25 minute brisk walk away. I've never gotten so many compliments during a walk as I did today . . . from the local low lifes & soon-to-be-convicts of Columbus. I had one guy walk with me a good half mile while he showered me with sweet nothings. He was really nice so I humored him & to show his appreciation, he told me of a place where they were giving away food vacuum sealers (the ones that suck out the air in ziploc bags so food stays fresh). Sure enough, on my way back, I passed by there & got myself not one but two vacuums.

An aside: My cubicle faces one of the secretaries. She's been answering all my nonstop questions about where the printers are, where to get supplies, etc. She's even been running around the office trying to get me a mouse pad for the past 3 days - she tells everyone who cares to listen how I'm suffering without one (apparently the govn is too cheap to have some in stock). So to repay her for being such a gem, when I got back from the court house, I asked her if she'd like to have one of my food vacuums. "YEEES"! She was so excited. Made me feel all warm & fuzzy.

I'll probably be going out tonight w/ my girls to spend some of that tax rebate money. So you all have yourselves a wonderful weekend.


Monday, May 12, 2008

1st Day . . .

on the job was interesting. It started w/ a 2 hour orientation, got a badge & was then thrown out to the wolves. I'll be doing mostly employment law related matters which is great. Last summer I got to dabble in a little bit of everything which makes you a jack of all trades but a master of none so I'm glad I'm assigned to just one practice area.


I'll be the only law clerk in this particular area so that's rather intimidating. No one to commiserate with when assignments go awry. However, I was assigned a mentor who's only been practicing since 2006 & she's great. She took me around to say hi to everyone which was about 15 attorneys & lots of paralegals & secretaries. But the attorneys were great even though most of them are on the older side. I have an inside cubicle which means I have no view of downtown unlike last year but at least I don't get to share it. All the attorneys though have offices with great views since we're on the 25th floor. Parking is the only hiccup. It's expensive & I have to pay for it.

So here are some differences between working for the government & a law firm: one, the secretaries at the firm do a ton more work than the government ones. I never did any filing, copying, etc at the firm but it seems like this will be part of my job this summer since none of them was assigned to me. I love secretaries so this was a bummer. Two, I have to pay for my own parking this time around. Three, no more getting projects that are fairly meaningless - these are projects that an attorney has been putting off all year just waiting for the summers to come in & complete them. All the work that I'll be doing this summer will be used in some fashion for ongoing litigation. But by far the biggest upside to working for the government is I don't have to attend functions & mingle with people that I'd rather never talk to again. I can't tell you how much I hated those outings. Schmoozing is so overrated. All in all, this should be a great learning experience. It's the first job I've held & not hated the first day. So we're off to a good start.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Monday, April 28, 2008

Exams . . .

begin this afternoon & will go on till the middle of next week. This has been my most enjoyable semester to date - not working or interviewing, fabulous professors, & interesting slew of classes, all had something to do with it. The one thing though I didn't enjoy was the amount of writing I had to do which was due to bad foresight. I had a journal note to write (I didn't get published) & yet I signed up for 2 other classes that had a ton of writing requirements.

I went to the dentist last week & he asked me when I was graduating & I said "next year." No one has asked me that this year so all of last year's responses were "in 2009" or "in 2 years." How time flies. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter & brighter altho' I suspect I'll be one of the few who'll miss law school. But let's not get ahead of ourselves - still need to get these exams out of the way before a much needed summer break begins:

Rule of Law - Paper - turned in 3/15
Ethics - Paper - turned in 4/16
Civil Procedure II - 4/28
Human Rights - 5/2
Evidence - 5/5
Criminal Procedure - 5/7

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!

I am screaming. Quietly. But screaming all the same at the thought of Hillary winning Pennsylvania. I knew she was going to win but seeing her afterwards shrieking about how the tide was turning made me want to do something irrational. Like hurl something big & heavy at my barely paid for t.v. I seriously cannot handle another day - let alone years - of her cackling laugh & her obliterating of Iran talk. And the only people to blame for this more-than-a-nightmare-she-devil that refuses to go away are none other than Ohioans. Had she lost that primary it'd have been lights out for her. The focus would be on McGrandpa & why he refuses to release his medical records. Instead we're stuck with this b*tch till June - if we get lucky. Wouldn't surprise me if she was still hanging on by the threads of her pantsuit come the Denver convention in August. Would this then force Obama to put her on his ticket? Because voter animosity would be at an all time high to the point where the exclusion of one candidate would be to the detriment of the other? Wouldn't put it past her to be doing all this just to get to that point so she can screw him over by refusing to become V.P.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Straight Talk

Let me first say that I disagree with John McCain's stance on nearly all issues. He's pro-life, pro-war, pro-Bush, pro-gaffes, etc. That being said, he was on the Hardball College Tour w/ Chris Matthews today & I must tell you that it was refreshing listening to him talk. For once, a candidate who can give you straight answers without hedging his bets. He might have been pandering to his audience since he was in Villanova University but who cares? The Straight Talk Express delivered. He answered "yes" or "no" and then gave an explanation for his position instead of blathering on and on like his democratic opponents do with annoying regularity.

Q: Do you think Obama is an elitist? No. But I think that the comments he gave were . . .
Q: Will you call for an end to swift boat attack ads in the general election? Yes. Because . . .
Q: You are known as a maverick. Would you allow ex-PA Gov. Ridge (R) to be your V.P.? No. While I admire his service to this country, he is pro-choice and . . .
Q: Will you invade Iran? I don't know. Because . . .

He wasn't straight talking about Iran because we all know he'll invade it as soon as he takes the oath of office but . . . Tomorrow, Shrillary & Barack have yet another debate on ABC. Let's hope they put their bitterness (pun intended) behind them & start giving some straight talk. From what I saw today, if McCain goes up against Clinton, he'll win. Convincingly.

Update: The Democratic debate in Pennsylvania was AWFUL!!! Shame on ABC. Rev. Wright, flag pin, Obama flimsy connection w/ a 1960s radical guy, . . . Haven't we had enough rhetoric about this nonsense already? I want those 90 minutes of my life back!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Nothingness

Registered for my final year of classes (2008-09) today. How time flies. One more year & I'll be done. Yay! But truth be told I'm not all that eager to reenter the work force. School sucks but working sucks even more. If I don't feel like going to class, then I don't. If you don't feel like going in to work . . . well . . . you go in anyway or you'll be out of a job shortly. Speaking of which, my summer job starts on May 12th & lasts through mid-August. Can't wait to make some money. I think I'll enjoy this job way more than I did my job last summer altho' the pay difference will be drastic. But on the upside, I don't have to wear a suit every day this time around. So you win some, you lose some.

I told off one of my BFF's. Sometimes I say hi to her in the morning & she'll respond very cheerfully but other times she'll barely respond. So after letting this go on for a few weeks, I said to her one morning: "Why are you saying hi to me like you don't want to?" Then she had the nerve to respond: "Do you want me to talk to you at all?" and I responded: "WTF do you mean?" to which she said: "If you want me to talk to you then don't question the tone of my voice." Oh no she didn't!!!! Won't rehash what I said but the B* had it coming to her.

I have a new favorite past time these days. Listening to music online. I like Rhapsody although they only give you 25 free plays a month. Napster is also ok. But what I really like to do is rack my brain for songs I haven't heard in years & then google them if I can't remember the singers or the song names. Without fail, I always find what I'm looking for on You Tube which has a music video to go with every imagineable song you can think of. Good thing about music is I can do my school work & listen to it at the same time. Gotta love multi-tasking.

Exams start on April 28th. Should be interesting. I have a 20-page paper due for one of my classes next Thu. But I don't even sweat writing assignments anymore. All I need is one night to knock it out. I've gotten this skill down to a science & so far it's been working out fine. But I don't recommend it for the young & impressionable kids out there. Pacing yourself is the way to go.

And yes, my BFF has gotten over her psychotic ways. She is nothing but cheery these days. All she needed was some firm guidance and yours truly was happy to give it to her.

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