Tidbits

Not much new to write about the last couple of weeks, but I don't want to get in the habit of not writing. So, here it is. Be glad you don't have to pay for this stuff.

Last week, we drove up to Orlando to see my cousin, his wife and their baby (though he's not much of a baby anymore). We were going to hang out and watch the Cowboys beat the Colts, but their schedule changed, so Julie and I ended up making a spur of the moment trip to Disneyworld. I don't suggest driving to Miami, spending 8 hours at Disneyworld, then trying to drive back to Miami in the same day. Makes for a very long day. But we did.

I had been to Disneyworld once before at the age of 13 (plus a couple of trips to Disneyland). It's a lot different than I remember it. For one thing, it is a lot smaller when you are an adult. And the rides don't seem as cool when you can easily spot the "magic." I guess that is why they have built some of the other parks...to keep the adults entertained. (What? You thought is was for the money?) I also have to wonder, if Disneyworld is the happiest place on earth, why did I hear so many kids crying? It's a fun place, but you take a small child, pump 'em full of sugar and take them around a park for 8 hours plus, you tend to have a few melt downs. But it was a fun day and I was glad to see my cousin.

This weekend, we drove south of Miami to Key West for Thanksgiving. It's almost midnight Thanksgiving day and I write this sitting beneath a palm tree in a sleeveless shirt listening to the breeze in the leaves. Aren't you jealous? Paradise sure has it's perks. We'll be here for a couple of days then head back to Miami.

This is one of the best football days in a while. The Cowboys easily won their game and UM finally won a game. Just might even go to a bowl game. It might be a completely meaningless game, but it will be a bowl game nonetheless. Probably won't save Larry Coker's job, but now he has a job for another month or so.

Since this is a pretty random post, I'll end it in the famous words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Election Day: Part II

Today was a gloomy day. I'm disappointed by the results of the election (although we did manage to elect a Republican Governor).

It is a gloomy day becuase a member of the University of Miami Football team was killed late yesterday afternoon. This is a very tragic event. I am sad for the family of the Bryan Pata. But his death made me realize something else yesterday.

[Sidebar: People have been calling the local sports talk shows talking about how bad they feel and how terrible this is. I think this is terrible and my thoughts go out to the guy's family, friends and teammates. But I am not grieving today. I did not know him personally. Unfortunately, many young African American men are shot every day. There is probably at least one University of Miami student who dies for some reason each year. But no one calls the talk shows and talks about how sad they are. People need to put this in perspective: you may be a fan, but unless you knew the kid, you have no idea how much grief his death has caused and you need to get a better hold of reality if this is affecting you as much as you say it is on the radio. Recognize it for the tragedy it is and be mindful of the people it really affects, but get over yourself.
On another note, he was killed in an apartment complex that is less than half a mile from where we lived through law school. We actually looked at an apartment in the complex where he was shot (or across the street...I haven't seen the actual complex on TV yet, but recognize the address). It was not a bad neighborhood. It is a decent neighborhood and we never felt unsafe in three years. Knowing that, I hope people don't turn this into another story about the thugs at UM. I don't know the facts yet, but I know the kid was not in a place he shouldn't have been]

What I realized is this: elections do affect us, but not as much as we might think. On an individual level, an election is meaningless when something like this happens. In the middle of the election night coverage, they news showed shots of friends and family of this guy gathered around, shocked and grieving. Meanwhile, people at various political rallies cheered and celebrated (or commiserated depending on outcomes), clueless to one family's tragedy. I'm sure this played out in various forms all across the country yesterday as people lost loved ones, lost jobs, got divorced, etc. Whether you are happy or sad about the election, please take a moment to be grateful for the things and people you have, regardless of whether your candidate won. There will always be another election, but we are blessed if we get one more day with our loved ones.

Election Day: Part I

Yesterday was, of course, election day. This astounds me because Florida elected a governor in yesterday's election. This fact is probably not amazing to most people, or even interesting for that matter. The reason it is interesting to me is because Julie and I lived in Florida when Jeb Bush was reelected to his second term as Florida governor. That means that yesterday was the second gubernatorial election we have witnessed. That means we have been in Miami for four years. That is just so hard for me to beleive. Time really does fly. Fortunately, yesterday's election went much smoother than the first election we witnessed here. When we moved here, we got here just in time for the primary election. This was the first statewide election in Florida since the 2000 presidential debacle. That first election was not much better. Many places were using the touch screen booths for the first time. On that primary day, many of the machines malfunctioned and the election generally went poorly. After 2000, the result was unacceptable to many here and Jeb Bush ended up removing the Supervisor of Elections for Broward county (a substantial move since the SE is locally elected and locally elected officials can be removed by the Governor only under special circumstances).

But four years later, things went smoothly and there were few, if any, reports of voting problems here. See, people in Florida CAN vote.

'Tis the Season...to Market

I walked into Publix this morning and found them setting up a huge Christmas display. At the time, the employee was stacking boxes of candy canes in a pyramid/Christmas tree shape. The display was also full of lights, paper plates and everything else you need to throw the first Christmas party of the year this weekend. There were other Christmas displays in the store and they had just put out the individual Christmas cards.

Not that any of this surprises me. We saw Christmas decorations at Bombay Company at least two weeks ago. The Toys R Us "Big Toy Book" was in the newspaper Sunday. I saw a credit card commercial this morning with a Bing Crosby Christmas song in the background. I'm actually surprised that Publix is putting this stuff out today rather than yesterday.

For years, people have been complaining about how commercial Christmas has become. (The truly ironic thing is that much of this complaint comes from Christians, yet some of the first Christmas ads I saw this year were from Lifeway, the Southern Baptist Convention's bookstore.) People make fun of, and lament, the fact that stores start promoting Christmas before Halloween is even over. Actually, what really surprises me is the restraint many retailers have shown this year regarding when Christmas is brought out. At least to my perception, I have seen very little mention of Christmas, so far.

Of course, the cynic/skeptic in me realizes that this has nothing to do with respect for Christmas. It may be respect for the dollars spent by people who complain about Christmas being promoted to early, but I really think it is another phenomenon. I have seen reports that this year saw record amounts of money spent on Halloween decorations, etc. and that this is a trend that has been going on for a while. While it won't reach the level of Christmas, I think retailers have realized they can get as much mileage out of Halloween as they do the other second tier holidays like Valentine's Day and Independence Day. So they don't bring out the Christmas stuff so early so they don't distract people from Halloween sales.

It's a pretty smart strategy, if you ask me. Most retail establisments make or break their year on holiday shopping. If they promote Halloween, they can stretch the holiday season into October, which they've been trying to do for years, but they do it without making people weary of Christmas.

As for me, I'll wait a little while longer before really getting into Christmas.

Until then, have a happy Fall and great Thanksgiving!

Almost Official

I've got good news! I received a letter last week from the Florida Supreme Court. I am eligible to be sorn in as an attorney in the state of Florida. I am this close to being a licensed attorney. Even though I don't have a job yet, I am so close to ending a long journey and completing a long held dream. When the big day happnes, I'll let you know.

New and Improved

Now that I am back to (semi) regular blogging, I decided to add a new "feature" to my blog. You'll notice on the right side of the page a list of books that I am reading or have recently read. Hopefully, this will give a little more insight into me. As I read new books, I will probably comment on them so that you can go enjoy them too.

I love to read. I have always tried to be a voracious reader. Books, magazines, newspapers, it doesn't matter. I want to read it. Many people find this strange since I just graduated from law school (including the extra year that most sane law students avoid like the plague). My mom has always told me that my grandfather was not a reader because he did not want to read after spending his entire day at work reading things. I also have friends who are not big readers for the same reason. But me, I like to read. Of course, I am not in practice yet, so it might change, but I doubt it. In fact, I feel like I am behind. I have done little non-school reading the last four years. Not becuase I read so much for school, but because I simply did not have the time. I tried to get in a lot of books during the summer, but it was never enough. So now that I am out of school, I am starting to move through some books.

As you can see, I have recently been reading some fluffy crime novels. These were books that my mother in law left lying around on past visits. My rationale for reading them was this: they were stacked on top of the bookcase rather than actually standing on a shelf like normal books. I have been in a bit of purge mode since I got back from Gainesville. We have too much stuff. So things that don't have sentimental value or a place to call their own must go. This includes books that are not standing on the bookshelf in a normal manner. But these three books have created a new problem. I enjoyed them so much, I want to read more by those authors, particularly the James Patterson book. It ended on such a cliffhanger that I NEED to read the next book to see what happens. This is brilliant marketing by these authors. Creating characters that appear in book after book creates a built in customer base. The dilemma is that I have more books at home that need to be purged because they do not have a shelf. So do I read them or go to the library and get the next Patterson?

I am currently reading "Stealing Elections" by John Fund. I decided to read something topical since the election is right around the corner. Fund spoke at UM Law School right after the 2004 election to promote this book. At the time, he was covering the election controversy in the Washington Governor's race. The book is about the different problems facing the American election system. I've only read the introduction, but I hope to get it read by the election. I will tell you what I think when I am done.

For now, go vote and go read.

Football's Place in Life

By all accounts, things are not going well for football fans in the city of Miami these days.

The University of Miami is at 5-2, but that is very misleading. UM has lost to the two good teams they have played. Miami's wins have come against Florida A & M (a 4-3 1-AA team), Houston at 5-3 and the last three wins have come against North Carolina (1-6 with the lone win against Furman) and winless Duke and Florida International. The combined record of the teams Miami has beaten is 10-26. Not an inspiring number with a road game this week against a top 25 team. And I am sure everyone knows about the fight last week in the Miami/FIU game. Miami is suffering right now.

As bad as that is, the Miami Dolphins are having an even worse year. The Dolphins are 1-6 with losses to Green Bay and Houston and the lone victory came against the Titans. The Dolphins are a very bad team this year.

If you listen to sports radio down here, you would think the world is about to implode. People are unhappy and everyone has the solution to make things better.

That is why this story really struck me last night. About 8:00, NBC did a teaser about a bus crash on the turnpike with "details at 11:00." I didn't think much about it until the news came on and it turned out the bus was full of Dolphins fans from the west coast of the state on their way home from the game. None of the bus passengers were killed though a few had some serious injuries. I couldn't help but think that the accident puts the game in perspective. I'm sure more than a few of the people on the bus are the type of fans wanting to see coaches fired, players benched, etc. I can't help but wonder if the state of the Dolphins' season became at lot less important to at least one fan. The ability of a football game to make your day bad diminishes when you have to crawl out of a burning bus just to stay alive. Though I've always realized sports outcomes are not all that significant in the scheme of life, I still have to be reminded from time to time not to take it so seriously.

Thinking about the bus accident this way, I found it insenstive for the author of the story in the paper to say, "made a bad day much worse for some Miami Dolphins fans." But then I was shocked to see this quote from one of the passengers: "'We had a bad day -- a very bad day,' Hardman said." I would say you had a very bad day and the game had nothing to do with it. I consider myself a pretty passionate fan, but I guess I will never understand Dolphins fans.

This is all made even more interesting to me after the lesson at church last night. The preacher was talking about joy and repeated the often said truism that "no one can ruin your day unless you give them permission to." The same applies to sports. The outcome of a game can only ruin your day if you allow it to. But many fans refer to sports teams as "we." "We need to beat X this week." "We need to do a better job of getting the ball to Y." What "we" need to do is understand that "we" are not a part of them team. We don't practice. We don't play. We don't coach. We don't pay the salaries (directly at least). Of course, you must realize I am writing this while wearing my Cowboys jersey, getting ready to watch the Cowboys on Monday Night Football tonight. I am sure up to this point, Julie is screaming at the computer about how I watch games on TV. When I watch one of my teams, I like to talk to the TV, to put it mildly. I am guilty of the we mindsight from time to time. But, I think I do a pretty good job of not letting games get me down. I think I usually get over it pretty quickly. But I also realize that I can do a better job and not get down when my team loses. It is a joy to watch sports. As a fan, it should be entertainment to me and nothing more. I hope that the images of a bunch of people in Dolphins gear standing near a burned out bus frame will help me remember this.

P.S. The driver of the truck that caused the accident died. Please keep his family in your prayers.

The Silence is Broken

It's been awhile since I posted. Nearly two months. What can I say? My life has been pretty dull since I took the bar exam. I can proudly report that I passed. It is an accomplishment that makes me very proud. However, I am still not a licensed attorney because the state of Florida is still looking for my skeletons. Hopefully they won't find any. I hope to be an actual licensed attorney soon. I'll post when it happens.

I have spent the last few months looking for a job. I've had leads from time to time, some that I was really confident in. Up to this point, none of them have panned out. It is pretty discouraging to keep getting rejection letters. I could probably wallpaper a room with all the rejection letters I've received since law school started.

My in-laws recently visited Miami. While they were here, we drove through a park across the street from our apartment complex on a Saturday afternoon. There were no less than four birthday parties going on. Each party had rented its own inflatable bounce house for the kids. I have seen those things around town before in people's back yards.

Then today, I saw the party to end all birthday parties in the small park next to the public library. When I was driving up, I saw the beginnings of the directions...ballons, grills, etc. A pickup truck was pulling a miniature ferris wheel that is about 15-20 feet tall and has five cars on it. I just looked out the window and there is more. There is the requisite bounce house. There is a table full of gifts. There is a "toy" train with four cars pulling kids around the park. There is some sort of homemade Disney princess castle. And there is at least 100 people out there.

I have decided that if I don't find a legal job soon, I am going into the birthday party entertainment business. There is obviously a market for it. "Keeping up with the Jonses" extends beyond cars, clothes and houses. It apparently also applies to kids' birthday parties. With that kind of mindset, the market here is tremendous. Anyone want to invest in a miniature carnival with me?

Politics as Unusual

Politics never cease to amuse me. As most people probably know, we are coming up on another election season in America. In Florida, Jeb Bush is term limited and is not running for Governor again. This has led to a spirited primary for both parties which will conclude in a couple of weeks. The Republican primary is pretty much decided already. Charlie Crist (notice the picture of Jeb Bush at the very top of the page...he's running as the "I'll continue Jeb's legacy" candidate) is probably going to beat Tom Gallagher (also notice the picture of Jeb Bush ast the top of the page...Republicans in Florida LOVE Jeb.). This is the fourth time Gallagher has run for Governor. I wonder if he will ever give up?

The closer race is in the Democratic primary. U.S. Rep. Jim Davis is running against State Senator Rod Smith (not the football player). Since the race is close, they are campaigning hard and running LOTS of commercials. The latest commercials each of them are running strike me as ironic and amusing (even though both commercials are pretty anti-Republican). Neither commercial really attacks the other candidate, rather each attacks a "Republican" policy. The first commercial I saw was Smith's (the state senator) and was about stem cell research. Then today, I saw a commercial from Davis (the U.S. Rep.) about a Florida hurricane insurance bill. The state guy is running an ad about a federal issue and the federal guy is running an ad about a state issue. I may be the only one, but I find that humorous.

Civic Duty

Early this summer, I received a lovely piece of mail: a jury summons. At the time, I was busy taking a class and studying for the bar exam...in Gainesville. I was NOT going to drive to Miami just to sit around all day while there were more important things to do. So I sent the jury people a nice letter explaining my situation and aksed them to postpone my service until August.

When I finally heard back from them, I was no longer "on call" (you call in each night to see if you are needed the next day). Since I had postponed my duty, they put me in the very first group which meant I had to be there bright and early (8:00 A.M.) Monday morning. Miami being what it is, I had to leave at 7:00 just to be on time.

When I arrived, there were TV monitors showing a video on the history of the Dade County courthouse. The video, which was intersting, ended by talking about the turkey vultures that camp out on top of the downtown building and how they like to hit targets other than the sidewalk. Lovely image, huh.

Aroud 9:00, a way too cheerful lady began giving instructions about the day and explained that if you are unemployed, you get paid. $15! About 10:00, they called the first panel (40 people) and I was lucky enough to be on it. We went out in the hall with the bailiff who organized us and gave us numbers (I was lucky #7) and took our jury questionaires. After standing around for about half an hour, we were taken down to the hall outside the courtroom...and waited.

I was not happy about being on jury duty. I was hoping that I would get dismissed early because I am a law student. But the cheerful lady informed us first thing in the morning that we would be there all day even if we were not selected from a panel. They would "recycle" us. But by this point, I was starting to look forward to getting in the courtroom and was actually glad to be part of the process. Jury duty is a big part of our democratic system and I am glad to get to do my part.

So, finally, about noon, the bailiff comes outside and said the judge was going to let us go get lunch and to be back about 1:30. I got something to eat and got back up to the courtroom about 1:10. I had a book and did not even notice time passing. At about 1:40, another bailiff (not the one we were originally assigned to) came out and asked those of us waiting if were were part of Judge X's panel. He counted and there were only 13 of us back. New bailiff sent us back to the jury pool room and said we would get further instructions. Of course, the bailiff and the 13 of us were wondering where the rest of the panel was. When I got back to the jury pool, a bunch of the other people from the panel where already in the room. They said they had been sent back by the original bailiff.

I was back 20 minutes early. I never say the original bailiff. I don't understand how you send a group of people to lunch, tell them to come back at a certain time, come to the meeting place at least 20 minutes early, tell those already back to leave, and then not come back at the appointed time to send the rest of the people back. Doesn't seem very logical to me.

About 30 minutes after returning to the jury pool, my entire panel was called out of the room. We were told that, numerically, we were no longer needed and were free to go. The catch was, there were still judges that had juries to pick, so we would forfeit our $15. I thought about for a couple of minutes. $15 was not worth sitting around for another 2+ hours.

I left pleased with the opportunity to serve. It is a civic duty. But as with anything else in our government, I don't know if the actual administration of the process should make me laugh or cry. Bureaucracy can make anything painful. I'll let you know what I think if I end up serving again. I found out that jury duty is an "annual obligation." Oh boy! I can't wait for my next summons!

Welcome Home

I'm home. We drove down from Gainesville on Sunday. In a bit of irony, the drive back from Gainesville was much like the drive up to Gainesville last year. On the way up last year, our drive was drastically slowed down by really heavy rainstorms between Orlando and Gainesville. This past Sunday, we were slowed down by rainstorms that we weren't able to leave behind until we got south of Orlando. And the traffic was really heavy as a result. But I am home now, safe and sound. Of course, the apartment is a wreck with all of my stuff.

Speaking of weather, I come home and what happens. A tropical storm forms and is taking direct aim at South Florida. When I went to bed on Monday night, the weatherman said there was a system with the potential to become a tropical storm, but it was expected to be a loosely organized low pressure system for several days. So of course, by yesterday after noon, Chris had formed and is expected to be a hurricane sometime today or tomorrow and could hit South Florida sometime Sunday. We are going to Nashville for the weekend for my brother-in-law's wedding. We are supposed to come back on Sunday. Julie is supposed to open school on Monday. If the storm is still headed for South Florida on Sunday, it is doubtful we will get back to Miami on Sunday. Julie really does not want to miss the first day of school. But if the storm is bad, or late, there won't be school on Monday. What a way to start the school year.

Weclome back to Miami. Should be a fun year.

That's it?

It's been a few days since the bar exam (almost a week actually), and I have not written about it yet. There has been a lot going on since then. I did write something on Wednesady night, but I did not have internet access at the time. So, here, below, are my first thoughts about the bar exam the first time I had a chance to sit and contemplate it for a few moments:

I am writing this at 1:30 on Wednesday night after the bar exam. Julie and I left Tampa as soon as the exam was over so we could go to church and then we came home. We just watched a movie and Julie went to sleep, so I came into the living room to take care of some stuff. I looked around the apartment and saw some boxes piling up, my backpack on the floor and realized I don’t have anything to do. And I don’t know how to deal with that. The bar exam is the pinnacle of what I have been preparing for. The entire arc of my educational life has pointed to the last two days. I’ve always known I would have to take the bar exam. But I only began to understand what it was about last summer when my friends, the people who went all the way through law school with me, were preparing for the exam. I would run into people on campus and hear about it from them. I would call friends to check on them and hear about it from them, as well. I really heard about it after the exam was over. Then I went to the LLM program and most of my classmates at UF had taken the bar exam. Although it wasn’t my top priority, it was pretty close to the forefront of my thoughts throughout the school year. Then for the last 7-8 weeks, the bar exam has consumed me. If I was awake, I was thinking about it. If was going to bed, I was thinking about it. If I was asleep, I was dreaming about it. Get the point? The bar exam has been my life. And now it is over. I just spent almost two hours watching a move and I don’t feel guilty. I’m not worried about what I’m going to cover tomorrow when I study. And I feel lost to an extent. Which leads to the longest wait of my life. Until the scores are released, I won’t truly know how I did the last two days. And it is possible I will have to do this whole process again in January and February. I have friends who are smart and generally hard workers who had to take the exam a second time. So I am certainly not taking anything for granted. But in the meantime, there are other things to do. We’ve got to get this apartment packed up so I can move home to Miami. I have to finish my paper for the LLM. I have to find a job. And that is one of the great things about life: it goes on. When you go through a major change, it will bring you some great surprises if you let. When you reach one pinnacle, a new pinnacle will appear with new challenges. You can’t allow these changes to slow you down. You have to be ready to embrace the new challenges rather than be paralyzed by fear or emptiness. So I am looking forward to finding out what is next, even though I don’t know what it is. But not right away. I think I will enjoy the liberation, for a few days at least. My mind and my body both need some much needed rest. Life will resume soon enough. But in the meantime, I am still contemplating the last year. It has been interesting. There are a lot of things about the last year I am going to miss. I am a very sentimental person and can get quite melancholy about sometimes. I may even write about it some.

'Twas the night before...

Well, it's here. I'm in Tampa for the bar exam. Hard to believe it is already here. I drove down yesterday afternoon and it rained on me off and on the whole way. I hope that is not a prophetic metaphor for how the next two days are going to go. The time has gone by really fast. I did my first set of practice questions back on June 6 and I was listening to lectures before that. Somehow it is already July 24th. I tell you what, Christmas never comes this fast. I am just praying I don't end up with a lump of coal tomorrow.

But it is here and there is nothing else I can do. I just have to take what comes, do my best and hope it turns out well. My mind is about ready to burst. When it does, it is going to be like a broken dam and all kinds of information is going to come tumbling out. When it does, I just hope it all comes out at the right time and in the right order. And for good measure, I hope the right bucket of water is up there in the first place.

This process has been easier because of all my family and friends. There have been so many words of encouragement and expressions of confidence in my ability. I am grateful for the positive attitudes. At this point, I as afraid of letting them down as I am myself.

But now it is bed time. I was feeling a little giddy earlier. I love Christas and can never sleep on Christmas Eve. Julie just said, "tomorrow's not Christmas....you have to sleep tonight." She's right and I hope I can. (By the way...it just occurred to me...how ironic that today is the 24th and the exam is on the 25th.) So I am going to go now and get some shut eye so I can get this thing over with and hopefully get on with my life.

Too tired for a creative title

The bar exam continues to creep closer and closer. And frankly, I don't care anymore. I don't care what the difference between and executed license and an easement is. I don't care what the difference between the Priviliges and Immunities Clause of Article IV and the Privileges and Immunities clause of the 14th Amendment is. I don't care if you are a licensee or a business invitee. Just leave me alone. (Sorry for all the legal lingo...I don't care for it any more than you do.)

The fact is, I am mentally exhausted. This is all consuming and it wears you down after a while. You get to the point where thinkgs are jsut swimming in your head and you hope it will come tumbling out in ther right order during the exam. The funny thing is, I've heard people say you just don't understand it until you've been through it yourself. I scoffed at the notion, but I'll be right there with them from now on saying the same thing. I am convinced that the bar exam is jut a form of legalized hazing. It's all just part of the process to become part of the fraternity. [To the Board of Bar Examniers: I'm just kidding. I understand that the bar exam is for the protection of the fine citizens of the state of Florida so they don't get screwed by unscrupulous people who don't know what they are doing. ;)]

Even though I have been consumed with the bar exam, I am still conscious of the fact that my time in Gainesville is quicly coming to a close. As I've said before, there are many things about this town and time in my life that I am going to miss.

One of the things I am going to miss is this beautiful girl:

She has been wandering around my neighborhood most of the time I've lived here. I'm pretty sure she "belongs" to a house a few doors down. But the guy hardly takes care of her. I'm pretty sure she is a pit bull, or at least a mix with some pit bull. I was cautious of her at first becuase of that, but she is very friendly and well mannered. I began giving here treats when I would come home. I would see her for a few days, then whe would disappear and then reappear at her time and choosing. My landlord does not allow pets, so my cat Emma was not allowed to come with me, even though we had planned on her staying with me. So this is the closest thing I've had to having a pet this year. I have enjoyed it. I am going to miss "my puppy."

Scrambled Eggs

I told you yesterday my mind is muddled. Well even I'm not sure the extent I've mushed things up in the old noggin.

Remember those cheesy commercials from the 80's that showed an egg and said "this is your brain" then showed an egg frying in a skillet and said "this is your brain on drugs"? Well, I think they should show one at orientation at law schools. It would start out like the old drug commercial. But after showing the egg, the next seen would be a shot of a mixing bowl with hand vigorously beating some eggs with stuff flying everywhere and the voieover would say "this is your brain on the bar exam."

Recent Examples:
This morning as I was leaving the house, I discovered I had not locked the door or the deadblt before I went to bed last night. The really sad part is that is the second time that has happened in a week.
Also, while trying to leave the house this morning, I had to get out of the car, unlock the front door and retrieve something that I had forgotten. Not once but twice. The really sad part is that the object I retrievd on the second return trip into the house had been on my mind as I headed back into the house the first time, yet it still slipped my mind as I was trying to remember which key unlocks the front door.
Last week I called my mother and asked if they had returned home from a trip to Albuquerque. They had been back at least a week. It's not that we had not talked during that time. The sad part is I had talked to my mother that week, but I simply thought the phone call where she told me she was in Albuquerque had just happened a couple of days prior.

I have a feeling that the final scene of the law school PSA I proposed would be a pan full of dried out, burned scrambled eggs with the voiceover stating "this is your brain after the bar exam." But since I have not experienced yet, I'll reserve judgment. Who knows, it could even be worse than I imagine.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Good News:
I'm not sick. Whatever nastiness I had in my sinuses was gone by Saturday. Don't know what caused it. Don't care. I'm just glad it's gone.

Bad News:
Thursday was by far me best day for bar exam practice questions. My percentage was through the roof. However, it dropped precipitously on Friday and Saturday. It has since come back to normal, but I was not a happy camper this weekend and was in a foul mood. Almost foul enough to want to be sick still so I could do better on the questions.

Ugly News:
The exam is one week from today. Where did the time go? Didn't I just write something about 40 days? I can't believe it is already here (almost). On the other hand, I'm about to go crazy. My mind is pretty muddled and I need some time off.

Why Now?

My load was lighter this morning. Certainly in a literal sense. For the past few days, I've been carrying my backpack full of books: the Internal Revenue Code, 3 volumes of Income Tax Regulations, a textbook, etc. on top of my computer bag. But this morning, there was almost a bounce in my step as I only had the computer bag on my way into the library.

My load was also figuratively lighter. I certainly don't want to downplay the bar exam becuase it's importance is beyond measure. But having that last class and exam off my plate allow me to focus more narrowly now.

In light of that, I had a not fun discovery as I got into the shower this morning. My nose was running, there was slight tingle in my nose causing numerous sneezes, and I felt some congestion in my sinuses. I was not happy with this discovery. Could I realy be getting a cold? In the middle of July? I guess it could be allergies, but that does not make sense. It rained pretty hard yesterday which usually knocks allergents down, not stirs them up. So I am pretty sure I have a cold, or the beginnigs of one.

This is bad. It makes studying a more unpleasant experience. But it is worse because of the prospect of how long it will last. I've never been able to shake colds very quickly and symptoms seem to persist for quite some time. With the bar exam less than two weeks away, I'm wondering if I'll still be dealing with this then. First, it is bad because having your head bent over an exam sheet for 12 hours is not very comfortable when snot is trying to run out your nose. Second, I don't really enjoy the thought of 3,000+ bar applicants staring at me as I sniffle through the bar exam. (I'm not even going to entertain the thought of sneezing through the exam.)

So I am hoping that this unpleasantness will only last a day or two. Though the symptoms have been with me most of the day, they are not as bad as this morning. Let's just pray that today was an anomaly.

No more pencils, no more books...

Well, not quite. But I did have my LAST final exam today. Pretty straightforward, no real curve balls. Which is good. I would like to go out on a high note. But this morning, I was so over it, I just wanted to pass. But I feel OK about it. We'll see in a few weeks I guess.

This will probably make me sound old, but times sure have changed. There were two exam rooms, one for people handwriting the exam and one for people typing their exams on their latops. I was in the handwritten room. Let's just say there was more than enough room. Over half the class was in the other room. Even I spent the last half of the semester typing my notes during class just to save the extra time my normal routine of taking written notes then typing them later. But I think today was good exercise for me. I wrote 20 pages of material. Hopefully that will keep me sharp for the essay portion of the bar exam.

But there is no rest for the weary. I'm going to decompress for a little bit, then it is right back to the bar exam. Time for the final push. The exam is two weeks from yesterday, so I have just under two weeks left. Then I have to finish a paper before this program is officially over. THEN I get to rest...after jury duty which is after a family wedding which is after I move. So I guess life never really stops, huh?

Life may not stop, but it is certainly going to be different. I still haven't figured out how to handle the no school thing. It's just part of my blood. And now that I am about to be done, Julie's about to start up. She needs to start working on her Master's in education. Will there EVER be a time when one of us is not in school? Between all the degrees and letters we are going to have, one might think we are a pretty smart couple. But I'm no so sure about that. If we were smart, we wouldn't be spending so much time in school and we'd spend more time together. I'm hoping her Master's program will be a little less intense than the J.D./L.L.M. since she won't be full time.

Oh well, the Merry Go Round just keeps on spinning and we just keep trying to grab that brass ring. Might as well enjoy the ride.

Did they buy tickets?

Southwest Airlines is experimenting with assigned seating to see if they can turn their planes around as fast as they normally do. Today was the first day of the experiment and results were mixed. Some people didn't like it. We fly Southwest all the time and will continue to do so regardless of how they board as long as they are so cheap. Of course, I would be upset if they did not accomodate us and let us sit together as the article says happened to some passenger. I'm sure that kink will get worked out by the end of the day.

But what caught my attention was the article said there were about two dozen reporters and photographers were at the gating chronicling the event. Am I the only one bothered by this? I'm not bothered if they had to buy tickets. But there should not be a media exception to who gets back into the gate area at an airport. If I can't greet my family at the gate when they arrive on a flight, some photographer should not be allowed back just because an airline is considering a change to its business model. This probably seems like a strange thing to worry about, but what can I say, I'm picky and principled.

No More

As of 10:25 A.M. this morning, I don't have to ever go to another class again. That's right, today was the last day of class and the last class of my eductational career. Of course there is still the matter of the exam next week and fitting in studying for it for a few brief moments. And who could forget the bar exam is less than three (THREE?) weeks away. And even though the bar examiners have not sent my application back with a letter telling me what a funny joke it was, I still have not been officially OKed to be a member of the bar. So there is still much to accomplish in such a short little time. But I can't help but pause and ponder that fact that my school career is over. Sure, there will be CLE's and other educational things to do, but I have no school left. I mean, I've been doing this since I was in kindergarten, except for a brief stint between undergrand and my MBA program. School has been my life. It's all I know. I'm not sure I'm going to know what to do with myself come August. I'm so used to buying books and getting supplies in order that I may feel lost about the third week of August. But I am also looking forward to no homework, no reading assignments and having my evenings to do as I please. I certainly expect to work hard (should someone ever do something crazy like offer me a job) and know there will still be long days and work brought home. But not EVERY DAY. Not hanging over my head constantly. So I am looking forward to the freedom and the ability to be refreshed and read things at my own pleasure. But I may lapse into confusion when I am not attending classes with everyone else. So if you see me wandering aimlessly around a college campus, just take my hand, guide me somewhere safe and call my wife.

First week of July

Haven't posted in a while. Needless to say, I've been quite busy. Julie was here this weekdend and it wasn an eventful one. Saturday was July 1, of course. The significance of that date for me is twofold. First, it means I am moving home in less than a month. It's pretty exciting to turn the calendar page and see the date you've circled as an important date on the page. I'm ready to be home for good. Of course, the date has other significance, as well. I don't just have the 30th circled as the day I go home. I also have the 25th and 26th circled for the bar exam. Seeing those circles on the calendar is not so exciting. Rather, I feel a sense of dread. There is no way I'm going to learn it all before then. But I have no choice. Those days are coming like a freight train whether I like it or not!

We celebrated Julie's birthday over several days. Sunday night we went out to eat at the Melting Pot, Monday we watched fireworks on campus and yesterday we went out to Lake Santa fe with a bunch of people from church. That was after the free birthday lunch and more presents at Chick Fil A. Julie ended her birthday with her favorite activity by playing with some three foot sparklers someone brought to the lake. It was a good Independence Day and I think Julie would say it was a good birthday.

Of course, despite my protestations, she drove back to Miami today. Something about work and hiring teachers. I wasn't really paying attention as tried to get her to stay. But the fact of her leaving today also has its own significance. This is the last time she will be leaving Gainesville without me. (I know....awwwww....go get a tissue if you must.) I've got three weeks left before the bar exam. She'll be meeting me in Tampa and coming to Gainesville to help me pack and leave. Though we will have to drive to Miami in separate vehicles, we will be leaving together and closing another chapter in our lives.

Where to live next?

After this week, I am wondering if I should move to Dallas. Why should I move to Dallas? Because the Miami Heat won the NBA championship. Do I dislike the Heat so much that their title requires me to move? No. I was rooting against them, but that's not the exact reason I should move.

Since I moved to Miami, the Florida Marlins and Miami Heat have both won professional championships. Furthermore, I spend a year in Gainesville, and the Gators go and win the NCAA basketball tournament. I'm starting to think that my presence has something to do with a team's success. So I think maybe I should go to Dallas so the Cowboys can win the Super Bowl again. Or better yet, I should go to Los Angeles because the Dodgers have gone a lot longer without a championship than the Cowboys.

Of course, cynics and skeptics will point out that in that same time span, the Miami Hurricanes lost the Fiesta Bowl and have been unsuccessful in two trips to the Collge World Series. So it's just a theory. I'm still working on it. But if you want your team to win, just tell me where to go, help me find a job and pay for my move, and you'll be rewarded in no time.

40 Days

How long is 40 days? Is it a short time or a long time? Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tempted. He also did not eat for that amount of time. During the flood, it rained for 40 days and nights.

I’m moving back to Miami in 40 days. When this occurred to me, I got very excited. I remember that first day I was here, how lonely I felt after Julie left and how long a year seemed at the time. As with most experiences, what seemed like a long time beforehand has flown by as I look back at it. Now I will be going home for good in 40 days.

But as I was pondering this, I began to view the number from different perspectives. I moved here on August 20 last year. I will be leaving exactly 3 weeks shy of being here a full year. That’s 344 days. 40 days is more than 10% of the number of days I will have lived in Gainesville. 40 days is more than a month, out of 11 months that am staying here. 40 days is almost six weeks. When I think about it terms of weeks, months or even a percentage of time, I realize I have left what could be considered a fairly significant portion of my time in Gainesville.

40 days could be considered a long time. For me, it doesn’t seem that long. I am ready to live under the same roof as Julie again. We have survived the time apart (so far) and have even had positive experiences as a result of this time. I’ll tell you this, though, it’s 344 days longer than I ever want to live apart again. But it also seems too short. I’m not necessarily ready to leave Gainesville. I’ve made good friends here. I have a great church home. There are things I haven’t done yet. Gainesville is surrounded by state parks and nature preserves that I would like to have visited, but haven’t had the chance or haven’t taken the opportunity to do so. Not to mention the fact that as each one of those days goes by, I’m that much closer to taking the bar exam and I still feel so far away from being adequately prepared.

So I look on the next 40 days with mixed emotion. While I hope it doesn’t rain for the next 40 days, and I certainly wouldn’t want to give up food that whole time, it will go by too quickly in some respects. In other respects it can’t get by soon enough. Regardless of the perspective, I know this: On the night of July 30 as I finally get to go to sleep in my own bed again, I will look back and wonder where the time went and be thankful for each one of the days. Thankful for the new experiences they have brought me. And thankful that they are behind me.

You can take the girl out of South Florida...

My wife has officially turned into a South Floridian. She went to see a movie a few days ago and as she was leaving the theater, she thought it was freezing outside. On the way home, she drove by a bank with an exterior time/temperature sign. It was 66 degrees! Now my wife has always been felt cold easily. But to describe 66 degrees as “freezing” just shows that the heat and humidity have gone to her head.

hurricane, Hurricanes!

It's been a busy couple of days. Of course the big news has been Alberto, the hurricane that wasn't. Alberto has typified what it means to live in Florida in the latter half of the year. As of this weekend, Alberto was supposed to be nothing more than a mild tropical storm that did nothing more than bring much needed rain to an area that has been unusually dry and struggling with wild fires. Conditions quickly changed yesterday. In a matter of hours, Alberto's wind speed had increased to near hurricane strength. As I was walking to my car yesterday afternoon, I was surprised to see someone putting up plywood. I came home to find all of the 24 hour news networks talking about Alberto and the network news shows led their evening broadcasts with Alberto. Alberto, which had been poorly organized, was getting more organized and was certain to become a hurricane overnight. The good news was the storm track. The first predictions had Gainevsille squarely in the potential path. This was no concern if the storm remained a mild tropical strom. Fortunately, the storm track moved north as the storm intensified, making a direct hit on Gainesville less likely. However, many of the news shows had stationed their reporters in Cedar Key. This is a tourist island community about an hour southwest of Gainesville. Julie and I actually took a drive over there in the fall. Despite the change in the storm track, I was getting nervous. Throughout the evening, the rain and the wind were getting stronger, much like the other storms I've been through so far. By the time I went to bed, it had been raining for a couple of hours straight and was very strong with no signs of letting up. Everything had a really ominous feeling as I went to bed.
I was very surprised when I woke up. There was no rain, no wind and there was actually some sunshine breaking through the clouds. It seemed as if it was a typical morning following routine, overnight thunderstorms. According to the weather channel, the storm never reached hurricane status and had actually become disorganized and weakened from the night before. What a relief. Throughout the day, there were some quick squalls and some periodic strong gusts of wind. Gainesville hardly felt the effects other than a bunch of leaves on the ground and a few small, broken limbs. And I think most of the areas in the storm's path have fared well, other than some localized flooding. Of course, coastal areas have issues, even with a minor storm. But certainly no widespread damage.

There was another kind of storm brewing last night. The Miami Hurricane baseball team won a very exciting game to get to the College World Series. This was quite a surprise. Miami wasn't expected to do much in the playoffs this year. This is a team that got swept, AT HOME, by the Florida Gators early in the year. Florida ended up being the worst team in the SEC. Miami also lost 20 games in a season for the first time in many years. In fact, they have struggled with the move into the ACC for the last couple of years. Prior to the last two years, Miami was a baseball independent and did not have to play many games on the road and did not have to worry about a conference tournament at the end of the year. It has been quite an adjustment. But they got to the CWS anyway and it is quite an accomplishment. What is even more impressive is four of the eight teams in Omaha are from the ACC. That makes me feel a little better about the struggles in the ACC, knowing the ACC is a far superior baseball conference, at least for this year. And it also feels good that Miami beat Ole Miss, an SEC team, on the way to Omaha. Beating an SEC team always makes an accomplishment feel better.
The baseball game was a great end to my birthday. My family showed me extreme generosity, as always, and I had a lot of well-wishes. It felt really nice and I appreciate the attention.

Of course, all was not perfect yesterday. The U.S. soccer team got spanked by the Czechs, 3-0. Im not a soccer expert, so I can't really talk intelligently about the game. But it is hard to accept after all the hype. For several months, people have been talking about how much the team has improved. Well, they didn't live up to it and may be on their way to a repeat of 1998 (or worse, pulling a flop like France did in 2002, 0-3 with no goals scored). I would like to see soccer be more accepted in the U.S. and see our national team have some success on the international level. But laying an egg like they did yesterday will not accomplish these goals.

Military policy at its finest!

In a recent test, the government has been determining what items to include in military MRE's beginning in 2009. New items will include instant granola and vegetarian lasagna. However, as a result of the test, stuffed-cabage was rejected, apparently for morale purposes. As one marine put it:

You wouldn't want to be sleeping in a tent next to someone who had stuffed cabbage, would you, ma'am?

Of course, this is too funny to be made up. Read about it here if you don't believe me.

Who says cats aren't tough?

I love cats. As a guy, people sometimes find this amusing. Guys are supposed to like dogs, not cats. But I like them. Many guys think cats are too wimpy. Well, you need to read about Jack, the cat. This cat in New Jersey treed a bear! Twice! Not that my cat could do this. My cat would hide under the bed if she didn't get eaten. But cats, as a species, are tough!

Instant Information?

One of the great things about the internet is access to all kinds of information and the ability to do it quickly. This has revolutionized the sports world for the common fan. In the "old" days, the only sports coverage you got was in your local paper. And if you didn't live where the team of your interest was located, it was very difficult to get information about your team. With the advent of the internet, sports fans have that same access to quick information as other interenet users. You can be a fan of the Miami Dolphins living in Seattle and have no problems getting info on the Dolphins. College alumni who are displaced all over the country have immediate access to information about the old alma mater's upcoming game agains the arch rival. And therein lies the other interesting phenomenon in the sports world. In the past, fans pretty much only got local coverage of their own teams. Now, through the internet, it is possible to access information about upcoming opponents. Fans from all over can access the local paper of an opponent to learn about players, injuries and anything else. I am thinking about this today because there are preliminary news reports that Ben Rothliesberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the defending Super Bowl champs, has been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. But the articles on ESPN, etc. don't have much information. I thought I would be clever and go the local paper, but apparently, I'm not so clever. I can't even get the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to load. I guess NFL fans all over the country are trying to do the same thing and have crashed the servers. So, it's back to the old days...waiting for ESPN.com to get information.

That was fast!

As I said a few days ago, hurricane season is here. While the heavy part of the season is August and September, you never know when a storm will form. As of this morning, Tropical Depression #1 has formed and is likely to at least become a a named tropical storm sometime today or tonight. Read about it here if you want. It sounds like this is just going to be a rain event, but we'll keep our eye on it.

Quick Musings

Haven't had time to post in a few days. Study time is really filling my days between bar prep and my class. I'm really buckling down and trying to be focused. I can already feel the time starting to slip away from me. So here are some thoughts on goings-on this week:

First the Senate was unable to get 60 votes to close debate and have an actual vote on estate tax repeal yesterday. I'm really not in favor of repeal personally. (Of course, as a wannabe estate planner, some cynics out there might think I say that out of self-interest.) Repeal proponents have convinced a lot of people that the estate tax is evil, but most of the people yelling the loudest will never be subject to it. Repeal proponents have also neglected to inform people of some of the tax costs that come along with estate tax repeal. For example, when you buy a house, your cost is called your basis. When you sell the house, anything you receive over the basis is your gain and you pay income tax on that. But if you die and your house passes on to an heir, they get a basis in the house equal to its fair market value (called stepped up basis) and the appreciation up to that point won't be taxed when the house is sold. The theory for that is that value is captured by the estate tax. But if the estate tax goes away, people who get property by inheritance will no longer get a stepped up basis and will be taxed on any appreciation since the dead person bought the property when the heir sells it. That's enough boring tax talk. The point is, the government doesn't just give away tax revenue without find sources of revenue somehwere else.

If you made it through the tax talk and are still reading, another interesting event this week was the attempt to bring the Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment to a vote. Personally, I think we should not sanction gay marriage and I believe the majority of Americans agree with me. However, I don't think the place to do it is in the Constitution. I consider myself a states' rights conservative before I am a religious conservative. Marriage regulation has historically been a function of the state and it should stay there. Even though I oppose the concept, if Massachusetts wants gay marriage they can have it (the debate over how Mass. ended up with it through judicial fiat can be argued another day). One of the concepts of American federalism is that we have 50 states which act as "laboratories of democracy." My main concern would be if federal courts began forcing states that don't have gay marriage to recognize marriages performed in other states. That might make a Constituational amendment appropriate. But I don't think it is appropriate at this time. Charles Krauthammer has an excellent column in the Washington Post stating much of what I thought about this issue, if you care to read it (you'll have to sign up, at no cost, to read it).

Finally, you may recall that I posted a reference to the Titans for my friend Mark. The reason I did that was because he and his wife were married on the Saturday of the Music City Miracle. My how time flies. The Titans traded away Steve McNair yesterday, effectively closing the book on the franchise's best era. Bruce Matthews and Frank Wycheck are retired. Eddie George broke down. Guys like Jevon Kearse, Samari Rolle, and Kevin Dyson have been lost to free agency. Even Jeff Diamond, one of the materminds behind the team, has been gone for a few years. As far as I can tell, the only ones left are Floyd Reese, Jeff Fisher and some assistants. While I was never a big fan of McNair, he had a good career and led some really good teams. Just after we were married, Julie and I had the opportunity to see the first game in the new stadium (more on that in a bit). The Titans were coming off three consecutive 8-8 finishes playing before a bunch of small crowds at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis and Vanderbilt's stadium. The Titans opened the season with the Bengals (seven years ago, that should have been a cupcake game). The Bengals were in control much of the first half and into the second half. At some point, McNair left the game with an injury. In the second half, he trotted back on the field to some very pronounced boos. He led a comeback and the Titans went on to win the game 35-34 or something like that. It was a pretty exciting game. It set the tone for the year and the Titans went 9-0 at home that year, including the Music City Miracle, on their way to the Super Bowl. We were in downtown Nashville for the Super Bowl game and had so much fun even though we were disappointed in the loss. It was great to be a fan of Nashville's first successful pro team. That first game also set the tone for McNair's career as a player who succeeded despite injuries and did well in the face of crtics. Since that first official game as a Titan, McNair grew to be loved by the city and many hate to see him go. I wish him luck, but I understand why the Titans are doing it. It's time to move on and start a new era, and that can't be done with number 8 hanging around.

Finally, I saw where the stadium will now be called LP Field, named after Louisiana Pacific, a building products maker. Exciting, huh? This is now the third name the stadium will be called in its short 7 year history. It was first called Adelphia Coliseum after Adelphia Communications. But that name was no good when Adelphia had some ENRON type issues. Then it was the Nashville Coliseum and now LP Field. Not that it matters since I don't live in Nashville, but I like Nashville Coliseum. I'm not a big fan of corporate naming of stadiums. Long live the Orange Bowl, Dodger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Wrigley and all the other venues that have been able to retain their original names.

Oh well, back to the books.

Juiced Stats

I know the timliness of this is off a little, but I just haven't taken the time to write about it. So here goes:

Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth on the all time home run list last week. This makes me sad. While I am convinced he was pumped up on steroids and I don’t disagree with those who think his records should have an asterisk by them, that’s not why it really bothers me. What bothers me is that Bonds comes across as a jerk with no respect for the game. We want our sports heroes to be likable. When talking about Michael Jordan, people talked about his infectious smile as much as his skill. I doubt there were many people who begrudged Emmitt Smith when he passed Walter Payton because people like him. People don’t like Bonds. People don’t enjoy watching him play. Part of the allure of sports is that it is comforting to people. I don’t think people get any comfort out of Bonds’ accomplishments. So I am sad. I just hope he gets no where near Hammerin’ Hank.

’Tis the Season

For those of you that don’t live in Florida or on the coast, Thursday was the first official day of the 2006 hurricane season. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to December 1, a full six months. Late July through September is the heaviest part of the season. Of course, storms are possible all throughout the season.

It appears that Julie and I chose the perfect time to move to South Florida. The experts say that hurricane activity is cyclical and that we are now in an upswing in the cycle where hurricane activity is going to be high. And we got here just in time for the upswing. Great! Don’t we have excellent timing? Since we have been in South Florida, we have experienced: 1. a storm forming before June 1 (the official start of the season); 2. a storm forming after December 1 (the official end to the season) (both are supposed to be rare occurrences); 3. the first time EVER Florida has been hit by four storms in the same season (2004, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne) and 4. the first time all the hurricane names have been exhausted in a single season. We’ve experience a lot of history. We feel special.

Last year, as everyone knows, was one of the worst hurricane seasons ever. Everyone knows about Katrina’s effects on the Gulf Coast. What many people don’t realize is Katrina came through South Florida as “only” a category one storm before it got into the gulf and grew into the monster we all know. Last year also saw hurricane Wilma rip across South Florida very late in the year and do a lot of damage. Julie’s school was closed for a week and public schools were closed even longer. So even though we did not have near the catastrophe as New Orleans, it was a rough year for South Florida.

So Floridians and other people living in hurricane zones go into this season with a great deal of apprehension. While hurricanes should be taken very seriously, the beginning of hurricane season creates an amusing phenomenon around here. The media, print and TV, spend a lot of time talking about hurricanes and having your plans ready to go. We first experienced this phenomenon before we even moved here. We traveled to Miami in June before I started school to find an apartment. We experienced all of the hype of that official start to hurricane season and amount of time spent talking about it was surprising. That year, the big news was the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew and the fact that in the two prior years, no hurricane had made landfall in the United States. That is significant because there has never been a three year period where a hurricane did not hit somewhere in the United States. Though Florida was spared that year, it proved to be true. All of the hype had an ominous foreshadowing to it. If only we had known what lie in store for us.

It is important to be prepared for a hurricane and have your supplies ready, but to hear some of the talking heads, if you don’t have a fully stocked hurricane kit by June 1, you might die. They’ve been even more hyper this year. The local NBC channel here televised a “town hall” a couple of nights ago. This show had a forecaster from the national hurricane center, various politicians and county emergency management officials. They talked about how people should be prepared, what to expect, etc. That type of show seems reasonable, right? It’s informative and performs a public service. But this show is an example of how little thought the media puts into these things. You see, Florida has a sales tax holiday for a week before hurricane season starts so people can buy certain things considered to be essential hurricane supplies (flashlights, batteries, sterno, etc.). But NBC did not run the town hall until the night before the last day of the tax holiday. That just strikes me as funny. They were imploring people to have a plan and be prepared, but they didn’t do the show in time for people to take advantage of the tax savings. Makes you wonder how genuine they were in doing the show.

Anyway, hurricane season is here. I’ll do my best to use this as a way to communicate if (ha ha, if) any hurricanes head our way and let you know how we are doing. So just sit tight and we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, I’m going to go buy some batteries.

File Under “M” for Moron

I’m intimidated by my father-in-law. "Why?" you ask.

Of course, there is the fact that I am responsible for his daughter’s well-being, so anything I do wrong feels like it is magnified ten times.

But I bring this up for another reason:

The reason I am intimidated is because he is always right. And as sure as I don’t follow his advice, something comes along to make me feel foolish.

Confused? Let me enlighten you.

Back in March, my car broke down. Kaput. Julie and I were in no position to buy a car and it would be a little hard for us to share a car living in two different cities. So my in-laws came to my rescue. They got a car to get me through the rest of school. And the timing was great because it was just a couple of weeks before my mother-in-law’s Spring Break, so they were able to bring the new car to me.

Now you have to understand, my father-in-law has some obsessive compulsive tendencies. When he arrives with the car, he has a whole list of things for me to do to the car. Then he pulls a small envelope out of his pocket. The envelope is full of keys. When my father in law gets a key copied, he can’t get just one. It has to be a multiple of at least three. Then he distributes keys to everyone and their mother. The keys in this envelope were for this purpose. One set of keys was for Julie and of course, a set for me. My father-in-law then suggests I get one of those magnetic key boxes and put it somewhere underneath the body of the car. Me? I think it’s not necessary…either the box will fall off and become pointless, or someone will find them and steal the car. So I choose not to put the keys in a box under the car. Guess what happens next?

Friday, after I spent most of the day studying and I can’t take anymore, I leave the library and decide to stop by the grocery store on the way home. I hadn’t prepared my grocery list, so I parked and rolled the windows down to look at my coupons and make a list. When I was done, I turned the key over and rolled the windows up. I go inside, do my shopping and am walking out with the bag boy and go to pull my keys out of my pocket and they aren’t there. I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I run through what I did before I got out of the car. I walk up to the car and sure enough, there they hang in the ignition. Here I am, grocery cart full of milk, cheese, TV dinners, etc., and I can’t get in my car to go home. It’s not like I can call Julie and tell her to come over with the spare.

I called a locksmith and the operator tells me it will be about 15 minutes. So I kick back and wait for him to show up. Meanwhile, I realize that the key is still turned over so I look in the car, and sure enough, the dashboard lights are on, mocking me. The guy parked next to me comes out, sees me standing there, looks in the car and says “that sucks!” Understatement of the year. One other kind gentleman asked if he could help, but no, I’ve got a locksmith on the way. As I wait, it is getting darker. It was a pleasant evening and I enjoy that time as the sun goes down on a pleasant evening, but these weren’t the ideal circumstances to enjoy this evening. After an hour, I call the locksmith and there is no answer. My gut tells me no one is on the way. So I call Triple A, and a guy shows up less than ten minutes later. He pops the door open with a tool and I’m in my car on my way home tired and hungry. (The tool was pretty nifty...it was not your regular slim jim. It was a long piece of metal with several curves. He slides it down into the passenger door and before I know it, it is inside the car, through the door handle, he gives it a flick and flips the unlock button. Pretty cool!)

All in all, not a pleasant evening. But I guess it could have been worse. I just hope this is not an indication of how the rest of the summer is going to go.

By the way, don’t tell my father-in-law about this.

P.S. for Mark

I used the last match from one of your wedding matchbooks yesterday. I guess it far outlasted the Titans' Super Bowl window, huh? (If you don't know Mark, he got married the same day as the Music City Miracle.) At least the matches didn't outlast your marriage. (Not that they even stood a chance.)

Roommates

Let me tell you about my living situation since last August. Last summer, before moving to Gainesville, time was getting short and I had not yet found a place to live. Julie called several churches around the city to see if they had any members who had something to rent. One week before moving to Gainesville, I had put down a deposit and was putting in an application on an apartment. I received a call from a nice lady offering me a house. The rent was $100 less than any aparment in Gainesville and included utilities. I am sure I am saving $150 a month at least. The apartment is also furnished and has a washer and dryer, so I don't even have to go to a laundromat. The only caveat was that I would have to share the house with someone.

Well, the house turned out to be a trailer. I was pretty bummed at first, but it has proven to be comfortable enough for the year. It has served its purpose. My landlord, who lives in the trailer on the next lot. (No, it's not a tralier park. It is a regular neighborhood, but many of the lots are occupied by trailers.) She has divided her trailer into three small units and rents out two of them. Some time last year, she bought the lot next to hers and a trailer to put on it. Well, the trailer she bought was a former tatoo parlor. My father-in-law still gets a kick out of that. She "subdivided" the trailer into two units. She made the master bedroom into one unit and remodeled it's bathroom to also serve as a kitchenette. The other side is the living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. She's just a little real estate developer.

I live on the side with two bedrooms. When I moved in, the person I was supposed to share with was actually living in the smaller "apartment." My landlord was trying to find another graduate student type person to live with me. Well, the only responses she got were from college girls. She didn't think it would be appropriate for me to live with a young college girl (why not?), so she got the idea to move the other guy in with me and rent the other side to a girl.

Well, the other guy was a 16 year old kid from Brazil. His name is Fernando and he was a Junior at a local Christian high school this year. Apparently, his father, who teaches at a university in Brazil, had spent time at UF, went to church here, and was responsible for converting my landlord. Now, he was sending his son to live with her and go to school in America. And he was living with me, a 30 year old graduate student.

We pretty much avoided each other. We went our own directions, did our own things and rarely talked. He was a pretty active kid, seemed to be pretty popular at school and did lost of stuff with his friends. He's a good kid. Very polite and respectful. But he and I didn't hang out. My landlord, who is responsile for watching over him, told me a couple of weeks ago that he was going to home to Brazil for most of the summer. I was kind of looking forward to him leaving and having the place to myself for the summer. I was anticipating it would be pretty quiet and more conducive to studying for the bar exam.

He left today. I was sleeping in a little and heard him moving around this morning, having breakfast, packing his things. I got up when I heard him leave the apartment. He had taped a note to my door letting me know how long he would be gone and wishing me a good summer. I looked at the note for a minute and realized I was sad he was leaving. I was surprised to feel that way.

It has always bothered Julie that he and I could live in the same place and not know much about each other. She would say she just doesn't understand boys. Well, now it bothers me a little. I think I am sad because I regret not reaching out to him and not getting to know him. We both probably could have enriched each other's lives. For example, I knew he was playing soccer at his high school. That didn't surprise me...he's Brazillian. Julie's parents hosted Felipe, a Brazillian exchange student a few years ago. I think he played soccer at his school, but I don't think there was anything really special about his ability. I just assumed the same thing about Fernando. Well, my landlord told me that he was the best one on his team. A few weeks ago, she told me he's got scholarship offers to play at some good soccer schools like North Carolina and Duke. I didn't know that.

I am sad because now I don't have the opportunity to reach out to him. He's getting back to Gainesville less than 10 days before the Bar Exam, so I won't be spending any time with him then. I am moving back to Miami right after the exam and getting on with my life. I probably won't ever know much about him. That's an opportunity lost and I regret that.

Enjoy your time home Fernando and good luck with your soccer career.

Oops, they did it again!

Jay Leno last night. Rerun. From last Monday. Brilliant NBC, brilliant.

TV Notes

1. NBC showed the series finale of Will & Grace on Thursday night. The same episode that aired one week earlier. How pathetic is that? I realize that NBC was ranked last this year in ratings overall and last in most (if not all) demographic groups. I realize that this is an indication that NBC does not have much to choose from. I also realize that most of the stuff that comes on TV for the next few months will be reruns of some sort. But c’mon! Surely they could find something to show instead of showing the exact same show in the exact same time slot two weeks in a row. I may be a bit biased since I’m not a big fan of the show, but I don’t think the finale was worth watching once, much less twice. If this is the type of thinking at NBC, it is no wonder they are doing so poorly and there is no reason to think it will get better any time soon.

2. I was reading an article on Thursday about the season finale of American Idol when I saw that Ryan Seacrest was boasting that 63 million people voted, more votes than any president has received. I was all set to rant about what a sorry commentary this was on society and how bad it is that people are more willing to vote for a pop singer than for the leader of our nation. But after I thought about that number some more, my cooler head prevailed. First, 63 million votes does not come close to the number of people that voted in the 2004 presidential election. (Results here.) It’s probably been a long time since that few people voted in a presidential election. Second, the chick probably got a fair number of the votes, which means neither of them came close to President Bush’s total in 2004. Finally, as some bloggers have pointed out, many of those votes may have come from outside America. So while voter turnout could stand to be higher, there is no reason for cultural alarm over Ryan Seacrest’s claims about American Idol voters.

3. There was small snippet in the sports section this week that said Kirk Herbstreit will be calling ABC’s Saturday night college football games this fall. What the article did not say is whether this means Kirk is leaving College Gameday. It is possible that ESPN will be sending Gameday to the site of the ABC game. But I’m not sure about this possibility because it would mean that Gameday won’t be going to any more SEC games, which are carried on CBS. If Kirk does leave Gameday, the best sports pregame show will be ruined. There is no better way to kick of a fall Saturday than by waking up and watching Gameday. Herbstreit is probably one of the best, if not THE best, college football analysts. He is fair in his reporting and does not come across as biased. (Although, his Ohio State roots have shown a little more the last couple of years, but it was no where near as bad as Trev Albert’s Nebraska/Big 12 homerism.) If he leaves Gameday, I will be greatly disappointed, but the Saturday night ABC games are going to be great with him doing color.

Marriage

I recently read an article in the March 2006 GPSolo, which is a publication of the American Bar Association. The article, which you can read here is about sexually transmitted diseases and divorce cases. There were a couple of comments in the article that disturbed me. The author of the article says

In today’s world, where divorce often is the most likely end of a marriage and where people secretly seek outlets outside of marriage to express their sexual identities...

I understand that the author is a divorce attorney and deals with divorcing couples all day long, but I don't understand why he would state that divorce is the most likely end of a marriage. The divorce rate is certainly high, but it has never been more likely than not (50%+ chance) that any given marriage would end in divorce. In fact, the divorce rate has actually been dropping in recent years. You can read all about divorce statistics here.

Setting aside arguments over divorce statistics and their interpretation, what does this kind of comment say about attitudes toward marriage in our country? I think comments like this are a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. It has long been known in the education community that students live up or down to expecations. Students whose teachers expect the students to achieve generally do and those whose teachers have low epectations of their students generally don't do well. Are we predetermining marriage outcomes with thinking exhibited in the article? Have we conditioned people to think that most marriages don't work so that when people hit a rough patch, they don't have the desire to work through it? Have we conditioned people to think, as the author asserts, that it is normal to seek comfort in the arms of another just becuase things don't go as planned?

I am not condeming people who have been through a divorce. I have friends and family who have experienced it and I know it can be painful in individual situations. I understand that some situations are bad and it is better to leave the situation. But, as a society, I think we should be working to encourage people to work on staying together rather than creating an aura of negativity that causes people to abandon their commitments all too easily.

As a future lawyer, it distresses me to see a member of the profession perpetuating this type of thinking. I just hope that as I enter the profession, I can serve my clients well while making a positive contribution to society.

Time to join the real world.

I'm usually one of the last people to join technological revolutions. But when I finally join, I jump in completely. For example, I've had my cell phone just over two years, but I've already abandoned a land line in favor of just the cell. I bought my iPod in January, but I listen to it constantly now. CD? What CD's? I've been reading blogs for a while now and actually comment on a few every now and then. So I finally decided to join the blogosphere. For those of you that know
Metz or Mark, you might be tempted to assume that just becuase they started their blogs as a way to announce the upcoming births of their children, Julie and I would have similar news. Alas, I hate to disappoint you. Julie and I are not currently awaiting a child. Stick around though, it might be sooner than you think.

Not only am I joining the blogosphere, but I really am about to join the real world. After many years of school, capped off by law school and the LLM, I can no longer put off the inevitable. It's finally time to get a real job and support my family. Julie says I have to make some money before I can consider more education.

I will be spending the summer preparing for the bar exam, taking my last class ever (for now at least), looking for a job and generally being very busy. This blog will be an outlet to destress for the first few months of its existence. Then it will be my platform to talk about football Hurricanes, real hurricanes and everything in between. If anyone actually reads this, feel free to comment. I hope you enjoy.