Short and sweet

Trying to figure out how to look at the same thing in the most efficient manner.

Studying twice as hard as last year but not getting the same hit. I compare it to weightlifting. When you first start out you see immediate gains but as you continue you dont notice the improvement if any and you are likely to follow a path that will lead you to no improvement if you don't watch out.

Technology is great however the organization of all this data is an ever consuming ever changing task. FYLSX is six months away and I have to change gears with my ipod and study schedule; the blackberry helps with that but again it takes a lot of organization once a week to preplan what I will be listening to on the treadmill and in the car. Oh, and I dropped my blackberry yesterday, cracked the screen; have to have it so I have insurance, paid deductible and the replacement will be here tomorrow.

Upped my time on writing under Barperfect; about 1.5 hrs per day except for Sunday so about 9 hours a week.

Still working on the stupid definitions assignment; late. Have to get that back to NWCU asap. Time consuming drudgery that has basis in how you learn the law. I guess Professor Clancy knows what the hell he is talking about.

Happy New Year

I received the authorization to access the "Blackboard" section of my new school; Northwestern California University. Different from ALU in that the academic guts of the website appears to have more detail. The classes run concurrently. The student is on a self administered schedule; 48-52 weeks.

So...I like that as any passive agressive control freak would. You are responsible for your schedule. Should be interesting. Ordered a bunch of cheap books, with more to be ordered. I have a Flemings writing course on the way.

No results from the Bar yet; mailed out yesterday. I know some of us have the vision of a person handling our letter much like when we ordered things (I did in ancient times) from the back of a cereal box or a comic book and the person at the company would put our toy carefully in the mail watching the mailman take it to our house. Yeah I still think like that.

Ironically, Paul B., a former class mate at ALU, who sat next to me at the Baby Bar, got accepted round about the same time to if NWCU.

New discovery: Listening to the KFI AM 640 Radio Show Handel on the Law; if you are in law school you start to see the patterns and the common sense solutions that apply to essay exams; I do anyway. Kind of like a coloring book for law students.

Just like in "Fargo"

Think of the scene where Steve Buscemi's partner does a u turn in the burnt umber Ciera with tags "DLR..." and he is following the red tempo/tracer who eyewitnessed the shooting of the trooper. The look on his face as he pursuing the car, taking a drag off the cigarette and pursues the vehicle..

Well that was me emailing my second transcript request to ALU. In summary, I am transferring to NWCU from ALU due to the low general bar passage rates: 33% vs 11%. I like everybody at ALU but I have a desire to pass the bar. Ok back to the action: I am putting my ducks together for next year, finding $ from my no raise, no bonus budget, trying to find the lowest interest for 2L tuition, confirming NWCU got my transcripts.

Well yes they did. ALU sent the transcripts from when I was still in class and not after final grades. Sooooo..I send another transcript request.

Couple of issues from the only online law student who is the only person to transfer from online school to online school, I know. But c'mon, can you just help a brother out?

Other stuff; file under "Plan B/or Miss Congeniality plan": University of London has a respectable LL.M degree for Bachelor eligibility. However after giving it three days of obsessive compulsive thought; I just have to focus on this J.D. thing that is omnipresent in my thoughts.

Found a possible mentor program for the retake of the Baby Bar in October. Patrick Gould, http://www.thelawprofessor.com/. Why is this guy different? A. He worked for Concord; respectable bar performance and he worked for NWCU; again respectable bar performance. He professes a different learning technique that is more in sync with the computer era student as opposed to the bricks and mortar guy. Additionally he has a program that shadows the school years as opposed to the out of school bar review; i.e., Barbri, PMBR.

Thanks to my wife for suggesting looking for this saved post.

Veterans Day

Present job gives us Veteran's Day off; still can't get over that. I think in my near 50 years, I have had 5-10 Vets days off.

Couple of things, starting on some Criminal Law review; my favorite of the three first year classes. I have had the privilege of knowing a couple of district attorneys in California and while a stressful job probably a pretty cool job.

I was looking at some review courses offered by Fleming's based on recommendations of a fellow student that passed the Baby Bar. Expensive; $70-$85 per cd and outline. I think that if you market anything well to the law student you are guaranteed a profit. I was thinking of marketing 2.5 gallon ziploc bags as laptop bar exam bags. If I get the dreaded "fail" notice re the baby bar, it will be my next investment.

My school, ALU, has sent out the "hey we're here" email for re enrollment. Last year, the Dean was replaced and I think they are in the process of reinventing themselves. The admissions guy, Ron King sent out a very informative email that was aesthetically pleasing. However, their baby and general bar stats still are very low with Concord their competitor only a little bit higher.

My plans at least at this time are to regroup in December, go back to school at NWCU in January, if necessary retake the BB in June and October. If I don't pass, I will at least get out with a BS and a lot of legal knowledge.