Coyote Fun

At least there's cake

I’m finally going back…home?  I have two homes, but really – it sometimes feels like I have none at all.  Home is where your family is, where you want to be.  Home is where you feel safe and comfortable.  But home is also where your pets are, where you live, sleep, work and play.  I have two residences, one domicile and no home.  Boo.

I almost missed my flight this morning.  The weather in SoCal was beautiful for my entire visit…right up until last night.  It was rainy and cold, windy and nasty.  The desert is not known for its ability to withstand a flood either.  The roads were a mess and the drivers were worse. 

This morning – it had subsided some, but the rain continued.  The roads to the airport were closed!  We had to find an alternate route.  We called the airline…I won’t say which one but it rhymes with smelta…to check on the flights.  After being on hold for 20 minutes we were told everything looked good. 

Up to the ticket counter 30 minutes before take-off – was told that I would have to gate check my bag (fine) and run to catch the flight (fine).  It’s a small airport and I had maybe 100 yards to go from ticket counter – through security – to my gate.  As I’m gathering my things, I’m told that my middle flight (had to take 3) was cancelled.  Ugh.  Get all the paperwork done to get me on new flights (adding 3 more hours of layovers) and the helpful ticket agent radios to the gate to let them know I’m coming.  The response is “Go ahead and send them, but if they aren’t here when I’m done, I’m not waiting.”  Charming fella.

I did make it.  I’m sitting in

Salt Lake City

at the moment with another flight headed out in about 40 minutes.  After a few thrilling hours in the air, a few more at the airport in the ‘Nati, and a short hopper over to the ‘Noke I’ll be in my car with only an hour or so between me and my bed.  It will be home enough for now – I’m beat.

Come and gone

Christmas has come and gone - much like my mid year break.  In just a few short days I'll be back at the old grind.  The professors will be different, the classmates will be familiar, the tedium will be the same.  This semester promises to be even busier than the last what with the frantic race to secure a summer job lying ahead.  I'm ready for all of it. 

On a more fun note - we bought a new car yesterday.  Bear with me while I shed a little of my sorrow over the purchase.  You see, it is my first foreign car.  I know, I know - what those of you may be thinking...but it was hard for me.  I grew up with a very distinct hatred for buying non made-in-the-USA anything - especially cars.  I still feel that way for the most part.  So, I think I sold out a little to get this car - just because I liked it.  It is small and zippy - so unlike the truck.  It doesn't suck down gas, which I love for so many reasons.  It fits all the kids, believe it or not, much better than the truck ever could.  It is pretty and new and I like it.  I'm slowly getting over my foreign remorse.  Well, quickly really - as I tear down the road in my zippy new car.  Like many things come and gone, buying only American shall too...

If I could have just one complaint on Christmas...

...it wouldn't be about my family, my presents, the weather, the jet lag, the food, the friends, or the parties.  It would be about my school. 

Starting this (upcoming) semester, the law school has decided to get with the technological program and post first week assignments online.  Previously, we were expected to trudge into the law school, up to the moot court room and find our assignments on a handful of little index cards scattered throughout hundreds of other assignments on other index cards posted to a bulletin board.  It really wasn't difficult, it was just a bother.  Now that the law school sheen has worn off - it's clear that real law students avoid the law school at all times not inherently necessary to the actual study of law.  So the techno-bump is much appreciated by this newly initiated first-year-second-semester-law student.

Now, for the complaint...the book store on campus is kind enough (read: enterprising enough) to offer us law students all the books and materials we may need.  They are organized by professor, by required and recommended, color coded, etc.  It's perfectly nice.  The problem comes with when they decide to put the books on sale in relation to when the semester starts.  Semester starts Jan 3.  Bookstore sells books Jan 2.  Jan 3.  Jan 2.  3.  2. 

I have to get my books the day before class starts and do all my reading for the first day of class the night before.  I can hear the profs now, too - 'these assignments have been posted for weeks, why aren't you prepared?'  I'd probably say something like, 'ummm cause the books were sold out and I only just knew what they were yesterday since you didn't post the text info only page numbers and then you didn't answer my email inquiries about...oh never mind.'  Lucky for me, I'm an old pro at cramming all my reading into the night before - but having learned a little something about my terrible study habits during the last exam cycle, I'd hoped not to do that anymore.  Looks like I'm in for another great semester.

Merry Christmas.

1L Boot Camp is over

What is it that is so non-human about air travel now?  It’s all just about herding cattle.  Every now and then the livestock get restless and lash out at the handlers.  What the handlers don’t realize is that the worse you treat the cattle, the more they will act up.  And so it goes…

I made two critical mistakes regarding my winter break travel.  First, I booked travel for the day after my last final.  At the time it seemed like a good idea – the first opportunity to leave town and I couldn’t wait to get going. A classic 1L move.  See, the end of exams party was the night of the last exam day.  Fine.  My last exam was in the afternoon.  Fine.  Invited to a pre-party party.  Fine.  Just one thing…I haven’t slept in days and there isn’t enough time in the day.  So…I get up early on Wednesday, since I’m not really prepared for my Civ Pro final.  I study most of the morning, have pre-exam lunch at Waffle House with friends, hop to the exam and die a little inside for 3 hours.  Done at 5:30.  Back to the house, shower, change, back to town, pick up SP, pre-party party.  Party Party.  Don’t party too much or too long since I have to drive to the airport in a few hours.  Blah.  Go home – crash.  Up again in 3 hours.  Remember I haven’t packed.  2 minute pack job.  Hit the road for an hour and twenty drive to the airport.  I am a waste of space.  I am tired, I think I smell and my ears hurt from the night before.  I make it to the airport, catch my flight, catch my other flight, miss my last flight.

I’d like to say, in my defense, that it’s really not my fault.  Since I was traveling from a big airport (LAX) to a little airport (PSP), I have to catch a little puddle jumper.  Well, you know those always leave out of some jacked up little terminal on the other side of the world from where you land.  The Delta crew – eh not so much with the customer service.  They told me to wait at a gate and a shuttle would come.  I waited and waited and waited…never came.  I asked another crew member – was told I was at the wrong gate.  Went to the right gate.  Waited and waited and waited.  Never came.  Checked some signs – both said two different things.  Went back to the Delta desk – was told to go back to the first gate I was at.  UGH.  I did and waited and waited and waited and finally I think someone complained, and all of a sudden a shuttle appears.  By the time the shuttle got me to the American Eagle terminal I had missed my connection.  I ended up taking another flight a few hours later.  Whatever – it’s done and I’m on vacation.  See you when I see you.

Ho Ho Ho

It was snowing yesterday...but nothing stuck.  So today it is just cold and crappy with no cheery white layer to temper the crummy feelings I get when I go outside.  Civ Pro is up tomorrow afternoon.  I am not ready.  I'm not going to be ready.  I'm trying hard to care about that.  I'll do my best and let the procedural chips fall where they may.  It's hard to stay motivated throughout the entire exam cycle.  I still need to pack, work through a sample exam, create my 1 page cheat sheet (all that is allowed) and find time to finish Christmas cards for my LS pals and sleep.  It's going to be a boring 24 hours - but then life will be wonderful.

Wonderful Day

I am nearly finished with my first semester of law school with one exam left.  Civ Pro looms large on the horizon, but I will swiftly defeat it Wednesday afternoon, drink and rejoice Wednesday evening and be in California by noon on Thursday.  The break isn't long enough, but it's coming and it's all about not being here and that is wonderful.

SP and I decided to take last night off.  The Crim final took a lot out of me, though I can't really put my finger on why.  It was an incredible relief to have checked it off the list.  We went out for drinks to celebrate and then we found the most un-lawly thing to do to decompress...we went to the rodeo. 

The PBR was in town, so SP, me, and a friend hopped to it.  We saw bulls, cowboys, face plants, rodeo clowns, bulls climbing the walls...we ate cotton candy, popcorn and salty french fries.  We drank cheap beer and we cheered for the bull riders with clever names, like "Tater".  Tater must be some kind of hottie - all the girls were swooning at the mere mention of his name.  It was kind of hard to tell from where we sitting, but I still count myself a newly anointed Tater-groupie. 

Today it is back to the grind with prep for Civ Pro.  It won't be fun, but it is starting to feel like it won't last forever.  I have three days to learn what I should have been paying attention to all semester...time to cowboy up.

One more - one less

Contracts is a thing of the past.  Not really.  I mean, I'm pretty sure that contracts still exist in the world as do future contracts classes for future law students (sorry to disappoint) - but I'm also pretty sure that I no longer give two craps about it and I won't until bar review...or Commercial Transactions...which is a big stretch at this point.  The test was a bit of a surprise and, while I won't be so bold as to violate the Honor System by telling you all about it (the exam, not the HS)....I will say that I enjoyed it more (read: hated it less) than the practice exams..which were Prof. Contract's previous exams on reserve. 

All in all, I felt relieved to have another one behind me and greatly unburdened to be through with Contracts.  SP and I celebrated with mexican food for lunch and celebratory margaritas - then went to the truck stop to hit Crim.

So-Shu-Me

One down...three to go.  The exam wasn't bad really, but then what do I know - I may have totally bombed.  You gotta love Torts exams too - all manner of crazy shit happening to people beyond all realm of reality.  That's got to be the easiest exam to write. 

After, study partner (SP) and I went to have lunch before we dove into Contracts.  We went to a new sushi place.  I think that before this place opened you couldn't get sushi here.  I also think that not many people were dying for sushi here.  So, I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I lived in CA for ten years and Japan for a year and a half and my first taste of sushi was in Lexington, VA.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I won't go as far as saying I enjoyed it...but I didn't hate it and that's a victory of some sort.  The sashimi tasted a lot like...nothing.  There wasn't taste so much as texture.  The different fishies were all sort of the same really.  The rice was good, the wasabi was good, the soup was OK, the salad was enjoyable, the soy was soy-a-rific and the tea was hot and tasty.  It's not a place I'm craving to go back too, but I would probably eat there again and try some new stuff with hopes of overall improvement.

We're on day 1.5 of Contracts prep.  It's worse than anything.

It's Time

aI'm about to go to my first exam.  If I could pass along one piece of pre-exam experience advice, it would be this - stay away from law students prior to your exams.  I've gone to school all semester with these people, but suddenly...today - I don't know who they are.  Some are cramming - now come on.  Some are just flipping out.  I saw a guy buying blue books this morning and I really thought he was going to hyperventilate.  Others are wandering around aimlessly offering exam taking tips to unsuspecting people.  Some are blabbering on and on about the law - some are quite wrong in fact. 

I'm hiding in my carrel.  I was going to eat a scone this morning in a common area but I had to flee - bunch of nutters around here.  I've had the breakfast of champions - coke and a smoke...and I'm ready to roll.  Just me, my big law brain and 3 hours of torty knowledge.  I'm all set to outwit, outlaw, and outlast all fellow members of the 07L class. 

I hate torts

Studying.
Three days to torts exam.
Moved in with study partner.
Send beer...and fun...I'm dying here.