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I've been watching the news nearly non-stop since the beginning of the hurricane. I don't have family down there, but I feel compelled to keep watching. It was good to hear that Ernie The Attorney made it out in one piece. Part of me wants to pick up and drive down to help out, but that seems downright insane. If I had a job I'd be able to donate money, but I don't. That doesn't mean that those of you who are gainfully employed can't give. Pick your charity of choice here.
To those of you who are still affected, I know you can't read this, but know that we all are thinking of you and hope for some normalcy in your life. So many sad stories, but so many hopeful people. Why is it that the people who can afford this least get the worst of it?
I've always been a news junkie. Some people watch the Weather Channel, me, I watch any and all news I can get my hands on. When News World International had its plug pulled it was a dark day for me. So today I'm getting extended coverage of the Katrina on the Today Show. I hope all of you in the affected areas are holding tight. Our best wishes and hopes are with you. And I must admit, there is a part of me that is damn glad I live in an area that only gets blizzards. Snow goes away. Snow doesn't take your roof off. Snow doesn't flood your house. I might freeze to death, but I'm willing to take that risk.
Law students are normally a myopic sort. Take a look around sometime. Notice most everyone you know wears glasses or contacts. Not only do these people need vision correction, without it many of these students are really blind. I am the exception to this rule. I've always said this is a sign that perhaps I shouldn't have gone to law school. I should have flown jet planes. My vision was just that good. I had worried that as I was getting older and having subjected myself to a few years of late night reading tiny print law books that perhaps I had damaged my precious eyeballs. I then realized that I hadn't had a full eye exam in 15 years. So having a bunch of free time, I took it upon myself to get myself to an eye doctor and get the peepers checked. I shouldn't have worried. I have perfectly healthy eyeballs that can see 20/15. I did get the joy of dilating eye drops. I love taking my perfectly healthy eyeballs and making them feel all weird and ruining my eyesight for an hour. You sit there in the waiting room and you can't read anything and really can't look at anything. So I whined and complained until it was over. Luckily I don't have to do this again for a couple years. Yeah, I'm a big baby. But a big baby who could fly jet planes.
I enjoy Quiznos. I liked them when they had Spongmonkeys as spokes-things. We just recently got a new one near the house, and we've gone there twice. The first time was only the second day they'd been open, and it showed. It was totally chaotic, and even the manager was muttering about his head exploding. What can I say, it's a popular sub shop. We overlooked a lot since it was brand new. Over the weekend we went again. They'd been open all of an hour and a half when we got there. It looked like a tornado had hit the place. Not a clean table in the place, no lemonade left, and the floor was a wreck. If you've been to Quiznos, you know how labor heavy the operation is. No less than 5 people behind the counter making sandwiches and each of them has a specific role. None of them seem to be the cleaning role. I doubt we'll go back to that store, even if it is convenient. The scuzz factor tends to skeeve me out. Makes you wonder though, is that the reason why Quiznos is more expensive than Subway? It's supposedly quality of meats and vegetables, but I think it's more about the amount of people working. Most Subways can get by with two people most of the time, but Quiznos has tons of people all the time. At least they could keep the place tidy...
Life is never truly dull here. I may not have a job, I may be whiling away my hours cleaning things, but then something comes along to turn your world a little bit off kilter. Wednesday, late night, my cell phone rang. It woke up the spouse, but I was actually awake at the time. It was my mother. I figured someone was dead. I know she keeps late hours, but why call this late unless someone was dead? I'm asked a question regarding the state lottery. I didn't know the answer and had to bring up the computer and check a couple webpages. Seems my mother, while not "hitting the jackpot", seemed to have done quite well for herself. Well, that was far more exciting than dead people. The particular goodness of the situation is that she loses her job in two weeks due to a merger. It had been weighing on all of our collective minds. This is an additional bit of cushion she didn't have before. So I went with her to collect yesterday and we had pizza. It was far more exciting than it sounds, believe me. The way we see it, now if I ever have a client who hits a jackpot, I'll know what to do. Talk about niche work.
I'm sorry I haven't written anything exciting lately. I cleaned the bathroom, if that makes you happy. I even did some laundry. I'm doing a bit of legal research as a freelance project. But really the reason I write is about dinner. Chinese buffet, usually nothing to write home about in itself, but the fortune cookie at the end? It read the following: "You will pass a difficult test that will make you happier." Now I would have rather had this a month ago, I'm not going to fight the fortune. I'm tacking this one up on the wall. Did I mention my mother got the same one? That was weird.
After the Bar Exam I was full of possibilities. However, after letting the house effectively go to hell while I was in review made it nearly impossible to clean. It's such a large task. The more I dwell on it, the more impossible the task seems. Even just doing one room seems like a huge project in itself. Where did my drive go? Where did my will to clean go? Oh yeah, I'm not procrastinating studying anymore. The better angels of my nature seem to have fled. I must be a lawyer now, right?
Some of you may wonder, who is Beanie? Well I assure you I actually exist, and sure enough actually use the Beanie name in real life. Want to know more? Hear me and E. McPan discuss beans, golf, and most importantly, Frito Pie. Be forewarned though, at times I sound as if I'm contained within an iron lung, or have swapped my normal cell phone for a set of tin cans. Neither is true...though it would have made for some interesting blogging in itself.
This week is definitely looking up. While the interview on Monday went worse than was expected, it wasn't even a law job. I keep getting misled over the phone about what these jobs are for. This last one I thought was supposed to be for a corporate office position, possibly in human resources, but it was a sales position. If I had wanted to sell insurance for a living, I wouldn't have gone to law school. I put that experience behind me and moved on. I got my car inspected, and it passed with flying colors. I had a lovely lunch of Indian food, and got the opportunity to do an audioblog with E. McPan which you'll have an opportunity to hear later on this week. It was a blast and I'm really glad I got a chance to talk to her. Later, I may just play golf. All in all, one heck of a day.
I'm feeling a bit manic these days. I want to do everything, all at once, but I can't figure out what to do first. Do I clean the house? Do I work on my golf game in the backyard? Do I read a book? Do I go to the gym? What doesn't cost money? What do I make for dinner? When will I get a job? Summer is nearly gone and that's sad. With the spouse headed back to school I feel at loose ends. I can't even go buy school supplies, since we have all the highlighters we'd ever need. I'm not going back to school. This is huge. I don't think I have come to terms with that either. Maybe I'll learn to sew. Perhaps I'll paint a picture. I can't knit, so that's out. Drinking myself into oblivion costs money and does nasty things to my liver. I need a hobby.
I have returned! I'm far more sunburned than when I left, but I must say that I can acutally play golf now. I didn't say I play it well, but for not knowing anything before I left, I can actually step onto a golf course and play a round without looking like a total idiot. It was a beautiful three days, but I did develop two blisters and a mean case of sunburned legs. I didn't know you could sunburn them like that while standing up. I had more aches and pains than you could count, but here too, after spending 2 months on my butt studying for the Bar, can I be truly surprised by this? So in the meantime, I'll heal up and look for a job. But if I get bored, I'll go chipping in the backyard. I must say I feel a tad bit more lawyerly now.
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