Nothingness

My electric heater arrived today. Talk about fast shipping. It was free too. Came fully assembled so all I had to do was fire it up. It's warmed up my living room nicely & it's completely silent. The air doesn't dry up either since it uses oil. Will wait to give it two thumbs up after the electric bill comes in.

Got called on in two of my classes today. After you're done with the first year, teaching socratically should be outlawed. I'm sure I've ranted about this before so I won't rehash it. In one of my classes, the prof requires the back 4 rows to be empty. And there're 80 students in this class! Doesn't make any kind of sense being packed like sardines. The prof says the energy of the class is much better when we're seated so close. What?! I can just see the pillow talk at night, "Honey, guess what I had my subjects do today..."

I found a $3 car wash today. The kind where you drive your car through. There's an attendant who inserts the money for you into the machine & then another one who guides your car into the slot that rolls your tires forward. And then they have free vacuuming. Love it. But it's too cold to be vacuuming so . . .

My last day on the job was last Friday. Won't be looking for alternative gainful employment this semester. I have too many papers to write & classes to study for (read: need time to sleep). If I get too broke I'll look for some menial job at the school that doesn't require me to do any type of thinking.

Gas bill . . .

this month was a whopping $220! Yikes. The utility company reads the meter every other month. So last month, my bill was $40. But after they came out & read the meter a few days ago, this was the rude surprise I got. Either my apartment was unoccupied all of last year or the tenant did not turn on the heat - the usage for the entire last year was ridiculously low which is why I get a low bill every other month (estimated reading). So I have ordered a space heater off of Amazon. This better not result in a big jump on my electric bill.

How lazy have I become? So lazy that the only thing I go to the stores to buy is groceries. Everything else I order online. The convenience of shopping with the click of a mouse has become addictive. I blame it on the cold weather. Speaking of which, the high today is 7F. Just lovely.

One year from today, a Democrat will be inaugurated into office! Who that will be is still up in the air. The more I listen to Hillary though, the more I dislike her. This began when she talked about the president needed to be someone who could handle a terrorist attack from jump just like the British PM had to when there was some terrorist activity in his country soon after he took office. Sounds like W.'s politics of terror to me. Scaring Americans into voting for her smacks of shadiness. But whatever. So long as it's not Mitt Romney taking that oath one year from today, may the best guy or gal win.

Story of the Day

Its always upsetting when I see news stories where parents kill their kids for some random reason. So today, there was a story in the Houston Chronicle about a mother who dropped her 2 kids at the fire station and drove off. They had pissed her off & she'd had enough. While they were too old to be covered by Baby Moses' law, the mom won't be charged with any crime. And yes, she did finally go back to get them after she'd cooled off but CPS was eagerly awaiting. The kids though reportedly had a grand time at the fire station.

Now I just wish other parents would do the same instead of having to do this and this and this. Each of these parents should have a one-way ticket to life in prison. Forget due process . . . just throw them in the slammer & call it a day.

It's 5 am & I'm still up writing my Note draft that's due this Monday. When I picked my topic, I thought it was amazing. But now, not so much. There is just no research out there & there's no way to change your topic once the editors assign it to you (we had to write 3 topics & they chose 1 out of those three). So I need to figure something out very fast because the Mon 5pm deadline is looming very large. What's at stake you ask? 2 credits - which are only given to you if you meet the good faith effort, as is yet once again determined by the editors . . . but I digress.

I'm baaack...

back to school that is. I have 5 classes this semester:

International Human Rights
Evidence
Criminal Procedure
Professional Responsibility
Civil Procedure II

I also gave a 2 week notice to my job (by email no less). I'm quitting! Don't have the energy to juggle school, work, & journal this semester so something had to give. But my leaving was really precipitated by the hiring of a new boss lady who is starting to crack the whip. It was very laid back last semester but it's starting to feel like a real job now. So, hasta la vista.

The Human Rights prof is turning out to be the most boring person I've ever had the misery of listenening to, but the subject matter is interesting & he doesn't call on folks so I'll hang in there. The rest of the profs are fabulous!

Buckeyes lost again! I mean, how many chances can a team be given?

Until Next Year...

Done!

My final exam was a 24 hr take home which I began yesterday at 10am & got done this morning at 7am. Only 3 questions but it took me forever to knock them out. Off to bed!

Business Associations Exam

Part I: 65 minutes. 25 multiple choice questions. Tested how fast you could flip through the statute book to find the answer within the alloted time.

Part II. 70 minutes. Essay. 3 page fact pattern about a board of directors that was involved in a shady deal. Some shareholders wanted to bring suit because the value of their stock was going down. Discuss what claims, if any, they could bring against the Board.

Part III. 5o minutes. Essay. Horrendous!

The weather over the past few days has been something else. Thursday was in the 60s. Friday night into Saturday we got about 6" of snow which wasn't too bad. Ventured out to Starbucks and there was practically no one on the roads. Saturday night it rained like only Noah can relate to. Today the winds were gusting at 35-45m/h & the high was frigid 31F. Just lovely.

But even worse than the weather are the local t.v. weather forecasters in Columbus. Last I checked, this is the Midwest. Snow & freezing rain is just what happens around here. So why do they feel it necessary to keep cutting into regular programming to give updates on the extra inch of snow that has fallen?! Very aggravating.

Employment Discrimination Exam

3 questions. Essay. 3.5hrs.

Q.1. 90 minutes. Guy had bipolar disease which had been misdiagnosed as clinical depression. He was a technician that fixed a computers in peoples homes. He had a manic episode & ended up erasing the hard drive of the customer because he thought they were involved in terrorist shananigans. He was fired & now wants his old job back after he was correctly diagnosed as having bipolar. Company he used to work for seeks your advice on whether or not to rehire him.

Q.2. 45 minutes. Television station is implementing a grooming policy where all males are required to shave their beard & females must wear makeup before they can anchor a show. It's concerned about losing its customers. George is a black male anchor with a skin condition that causes the skin to get infected if the beard is shaved off. Condition affects 60% of african american males. Andrea is a 45 year old female anchor who hates wearing makeup because she believes it stereotypes women & better yet, she's allergic to cheap makeup. She breaks out in hives. This allergy is found in 10% of the women. Both will be demoted to reporters in two weeks if they don't get with the program. George & Andrea have come for your advice on how to proceed.

Q.3. 45 minutes. Female workers complain to their supervisor that they don't think it's in the christmas spirit when their male counterparts say "ho ho ho." Supervisor goes to his supervisor & reports to him what the females are saying. Tells his boss that they have a potential claim of sexual harassment if the males don't stop with the ho ho ho business. Next thing you know, the supervisor to the females doesn't receive a christmas bonus, receives a poor job evaluation, and doesn't get a raise the next year. Supervisor comes to you for advice.

Last day of classes

was today. Yay! But now it's time to hunker down for exams which start next week. I decided to continue with my current job next semester since I really enjoy it & I'm learning an awful lot. It was dicey there for a while since they require a minimum of eight hours & I had to find a way to tweak my schedule for next semester to try & fit these many hours in two chunks. But worked it out.

What are the chances of getting the soles of your boots come off as you trudge in the snow on the same day & at the same time?! 1 in 1 trillion. But that's what happened to me this evening. I'm leaving work headed to my car, which is quite a hike, & then I feel like something's dragging the bottom of my shoe. Look down & sure enough, the soles of BOTH my shoes are hanging on by a thread of glue. Keep in mind there's 5" of fresh snow on the ground so these soles have no choice but to make it to my car. So at this point, picture me walking like I have skis on (dragging my feet without lifting them off the ground). Swish swash. But my shoes were having none of that. With about a block to go, both soles came off!! $#&%. Lucky for me though the 'casing' of the shoes was leather & it wrapped around all the way around the bottom so my socks didn't end up getting soaked. Didn't feel like it though. Felt like I was trudging through the snow barefeet.

Go Bucks! The LSU Tigers await an a$$ whoopin' come Jan. 7!

1/2 Price Books

After 3 semesters of spending more than $1500 on textbooks, I began searching for a way to get brand new books for a cheaper price. I don't buy used books because I get very distracted having to grapple with someone else's writings or highlighting. Amazon & half.com have great prices on used books but a brand new book costs the same wherever you buy it from. Or so I thought.

So after registering for classes for Winter '08, I noticed that the booklist was already posted for all my classes. Off I went to amazon to see how much the books would cost me so I could be mentally prepared come January. Ended up finding all my books (brand new) for half the price!!! I have 6 classes next semester & ended up spending a whoppin' $200 for all of them. How super is that? I guess the key was buying books early instead of waiting for the after-new-year-rush when everyone is looking to buy books online.

Not so rockin'

Remember how I thought my appellate brief rocked & that it would save me from my dismal oral argument, well my adjunct just emailed us our briefs back with his comments & he skewered me yet again! He thought my analysis was conclusory and shallow. Wah! I give up. Seems I cannot win with this guy so let's keep it moving.

I truly enjoy my Gender & the Law class but for some reason I am unable to think critically on issues that the prof raises. This is like an undergraduate class where there's lots of theory & you just put your 'regular' thinking cap on to analyse feminists' take on different issues. Sounds easy enough but for me it's been a struggle. I much rather rules-based classes (most law classes are) where all I do is apply the rules to the matter at hand. Thank goodness it's a take-home exam. I'll need all the time I can get to get over my inability to think like I used to in undergrad. And here I was thinking I was getting smarter. Not so sure anymore.

5000 Calories

is the average number of calories that a person consumes over Thanksgiving. That would be me. I had a few friends over yesterday & we had a potluck thanksgiving so there was lots of good food, dessert, & wine. Dinner was about 6pm & from there we just relaxed & had a good ol' time. Since we were still up & chatting at 6am this morning, we decided to brave the crowds & hit the mall. The mall turned out to be rather empty which was surprising but appreciated. Mostly just browsed but we did buy a few things though I think the bargains will get better as christmas draws closer.

Plug for McDonalds: Their coffee is fantastic!

Week in Review

Went to church this morning with some friends. The singing was fab & so was the sermon. The parking though was autrocious but the church activities more than made up for it.

I had an interview this past Friday. My last interviewer was a total cynic. His boss was supposed to be the original interviewer but he had other things to do so he had this guy do it. He turned out to be the most interesting of all the people I interviewed with. It started out somewhat shaky since he had these 5 cookie cutter questions the office had given him to ask, "well let's get this crap out of the way & then we can start the real interview..." After that, we had about a 30 minute conversation on what we'd both done in the past. He'd been practicing law for about 30 years so he had alot of war stories to tell.

My oral argument for my appellate advocacy class was rough. We had 3 judges including my adjunct, who does appellate work in employment law & this was what my case was about. So anytime I answered a question, he'd have a ton of followup questions which I didn't seem to answer to his satisfaction, "...Counsel are you telling this Court that..." The rest of the judges just sat there & let him have at it. My opponent wasn't given as hard a time which I thought was unfair on very many levels. This oral part is 20% of the grade & the brief 80%. I thought my brief rocked so hopefully it'll save the day.

Go Bucks!

Rose Bowl here we come!

Update: Who needs the Rose Bowl when you can get the BCS Title game?!

No School Tomorrow....

thanks to Veterans Day. Got lots done around the house today. I took down some old vertical blinds in the kitchen & put up some drapes. Drapes in the kitchen you ask? Yup. They give the kitchen a very nice country feel to it. Then I went down to the basement & got out my christmas decorations. I usually put them up after Thanksgiving, but since I had all this time on my hands, I figured why the hell not. So got that done & everything looks lovely. Let's hope tomorrow will be just as productive to make up for all the non-studying today.

Ho Hum

This is straight off the Democratic Candidates Debate. Hillary Clinton gets on my nerves royally! She can't give a straight answer if her life depended on it. I love Dennis Kucinich & Joe Biden. Kucinich believes in UFO's & he cops to that. Ask Sen. Biden what he'd do with the toys coming from China & he says "as President I'll shut them down, all of them." No double talk just telling it how they see it. Seems straight answers only come from those who have no shot at winning.

Ask Hillary if the sky is blue & she'll answer "it depends." JUST ANSWER THE DOGGONE QUESTIONS! Enough politics already. Let us know where you stand instead of worrying about how the republicans will use your answers today to attack you tomorrow.

Goat Political Move of the Week

New York has passed a law that will give illegal immigrants drivers' licenses. This is all fine and dandy except that these licenses will be clearly marked to show that they are not valid federal IDs. In other words, everyone they show that D.L. to will know that they are illegal immigrants! This is where New Yorkers hard earned tax dollars are going towards: paying these politicians to pass idiotic laws that further put illegal immigrants in the cross-hairs of the police department ergo the BCIS. I think it'd be even more idiotic if an illegal immigrant went and got one of these driver's license. They can't show these when applying for a job because the employer will know they aren't authorized to work & if they get pulled over they can't show this license because the police will haul them to the nearest detention center faster than they can say hasta la vista. Way I see it, this is a conspiracy to get these folks out of the shadows & back to their countries. Literally.

Vigilant Neighbors

Friday morning, about 3am, I was at home watching episodes of Bionic Woman on the web. Then I heard a crashing sound. Wasn't very loud, just loud enough for me to turn off all the lights, run upstairs & look out the window to see if my car was getting broken into. No way I'd have heard it was I asleep. Anywayz, turns out I was looking out the wrong side of the house. I noticed a swirl of lights filtering in through my drapes on the front end of my house. So I ran to the window, peeked out & noticed about 3 police cars. So I threw on a jacket & went outside to see what was going on.

Guess who was standing outside?! The ENTIRE neighborhood!! Don't these people have jobs to go to in the morning?! Turns out a drunk driver flipped his car & that was the crashing noise I heard. But I guess my neighbors are a little more proactive than I am. Me, I carefully assess the situation....from a distance....& then proceed with caution. Them, they jump into the fray & damn the consequences. Turns out as soon as they heard the noise, they went outside to help the drunken driver get out of his flipped car & called the police. Makes me all warm & fuzzy knowing that my neighbors don't sleep at night. Neighborhood Watch at its finest.

Update: Jim the appliance guy came out yesterday & fixed my washer. Turns out it was the door sensor and not the timer. Jim wanted to make sure that it was the timer before he went out & got one so he tested everything else he could think of & sure enough, the door sensor turned out to be the culprit. It ended up costing about $100 less than it would've cost had it been the timer. Gotta love Jim & craigslist.

Bitching & Moaning!

All things water are going wrong in my life right now. Sunday I loaded up my washer & went on about my business. Came back to put the laundry in the dryer & found my clothes still swimming in water. Fished them out hoping this would fix the drainage problem but that didn't help. So I went to craigslist & found Jim the appliance guy. Jim comes out to my place today (I've been lucky no one from craigslist has turned out to be an ax murderer) & diagnoses the problem to be a bad timer. Long story short, $150 for the timer + $50 for labor. Jim says to get back to him in the morning with a decision on whether he's going to be installing the new timer or whether I'll be ditching my washer & getting another one (used of course). Hmm.

School has become a mo fo. Journal stuff is due this coming Monday. I'll be spending my whole weekend (night & day) in the library poring over the most boring article I've ever read. Then an outline of my student note is due in a couple of weeks. I haven't began doing any type of research for that but I'm sure I can whip up something the night before. Unlike most of my fellow journal staff members, I am not trying to get published (but would be totally stoked if they picked my article for publishing). I'm just going to make a good faith effort to get the darn thing done so I don't get thrown off the Journal.

Then I'll be spending all of next week on my Appellate Advocacy brief that's due Nov. 3. I would have called in work this week & next if I didn't have my car & washer falling apart on me. Then we have to make oral arguments, in front of a panel of judges, after turning in the brief, the week of Nov. 6. We had practice arguments this week, with 3L's acting as judges. I thought I killed my opponent & happily surprised myself that I wasn't nervous at all. Let's hope that carries over for my real argument. Classes have kinda sorta taken a back seat since I have all this other stuff to get done. I read as much as I can over the weekend & what I can't get to...oh well. I'm thinking about dressing up as "Sleeping Beauty" for halloween. It falls on Wed next week so maybe I can sleep through all my classes. Think my professors will get it?

Then the weather is not helping out. It's been pouring for the past 3 days. Gloomy nasty weather. Can't wait for thanksgiving break. To give thanks & to catch some zzzzzzz!