Falling off the Wagon

As you may have guessed, based on my previous post, I'm not making as much progress as I'd like on my smallest student loan. It's still my target to eliminate first; however, I really did need tires.

One of the other purchases was an external hard drive as my itunes library has taken over the computer, which sounds like a 747 ready for take off. I have to figure out how to migrate the music to the hard drive but have insufficient hard drive myself lately. Hopefully I'll be able to do that this weekend.

I'm a little concerned that I'm buying things, but fortunately am able to rely on a consultant for my electronics purchases so am confident that I got a good deal. In addition, whether I pay extra or not, my debt decreases every month and that's a good feeling.

I am paying extra, just not as much as I'd like to. Which isn't the end of the world but I need to get myself back on track so I can achieve my goals.

Find the Perfect Credit Card

I don't know if BillShrink really does help find the perfect credit card, but it's at least a possibility. I have actually made three purchases on my shiny, new credit card, one of which has been paid off in its entirety, the other two of which will be paid on Friday.

They started with a comparison of mobile phone plans and have moved on to credit cards. No doubt if that works out well, they'll think of other products for which consumers would benefit by having easy comparisons available.

I didn't do anything like that. I went to my credit union and asked. My credit isn't as bad as I thought it was and the guy told me that the best way of improving it was by having continuing monthly payments on a credit card; in order to be reported to the credit bureau, one must have a monthly balance. My way of coping with that is by rationing purchases.

I recently had a conversation with a couple of colleagues about credit cards and while they said that having a balance wasn't a problem, they were concerned with the way the rules have changed; so many cards offer loyalty marketing programs which influence one to use the card whenever possible, but now, with the massive credit crunch, banks are focusing on what exactly one charges.

I bought tires and made two online purchases; credit cards have a built-in dispute process so you have some recourse if you order a product but don't receive it or there's a problem. Debit cards are without that protection since the payment comes straight from your bank account. My purchases are likely to be just fine. Especially since I'm paying the balance in full each month.

Problem areas include utility bills and groceries. If you use your credit card to pay for these items, your limit may be lowered or your interest raised as the theory is that you have cash flow problems or wouldn't be putting these sorts of things on your card. On one level that makes sense to me; that's exactly the trap I fell into when I was clerking and wasn't quite making enough money to support myself and my debt both. The people who pay their bill in full each month may get a pass on those, as they don't actually carry an increasing balance. Unlike me, since it seemed like a good idea at the time but snowballed out of control so I wasn't in a good place financially.

So please, do yourself a favor and don't fall into that trap. It's not an easy place to get out of.

Daylighting

CNN finally caught on to the phenomenon of Daylighting, where people work a second job while at their primary job.

We've all seen that at document reviews; people taking calls and writing e-mails regarding their solo practice or whatever other business they're working on. I don't know what other activities people undertake while also doing a document review; clearly one would have to leave the room in order to have a personal visit with a client or to go to court.

Nobody on my review brings a laptop, and I've never seen anyone with a word document up, beyond the odd cover letter.

I used to work in publishing, and someone in sales once floated the idea of selling books online, but excluding the niche area in which she was already employed. The company informed her that would be a conflict of interest. Which makes sense. It was the exact same job performed for them. If she was selling something else it wouldn't have been a conflict.

In fact, at a different job, I overheard one side of a conversation in which the sales director flat-out asked a sales rep, who was rumored to be working for two publishers, if he was working for the competition as well. The man denied it.

There have been high-profile accusations of a pair of professors double-dipping, by obtaining new employment while retaining their previous positions. The investigation isn't over. So it really can be risky business.

Canning and Preserving

With the economy in such wonderful shape, some people are going back to nature and either planting their own garden, for those who have yards, shopping at farmers markets for produce to can or buying produce directly from farms, such as the one they bought a share in (separate purchase).

Canning technology has changed over the years, and while canning has always been around, it's probably a good idea to brush up on technique before doing so.

Whether you save money or not depends on your circumstances; some people don't find canning to be worth the time, since they have other things to do and sufficient money that it isn't a problem. Other people like to do this sort of thing and will do it whether they'll save money at it or not. Still others prefer to have better control over they type of food and ingredients they use.

The most common things that people I know can are tomato-based and I'm not a big tomato fan so am not likely to emulate them. The next item is jelly/jam, which I don't use much and am also not likely do make my own. I could make jam to give as a Christmas gift, but am not likely to do so.

Next year we'll probably all get jars of jam for Christmas.

Statistics Class

I previously mentioned a Statistics CLE, provided to me free of charge. The trick is to figure out the schedule, since it isn't necessarily consistent and to show up. Understanding the information is another thing entirely. I hope to sit down and review materials we've had to date so I have a prayer of understanding anything.

The saving grace is that even if I remain clueless, I still get the credits.

Community Supported Agriculture

Lately CSA has been coming up in conversation; you know, where you buy in for a share and every week for a set number of weeks get a bunch of produce, whether you'll eat it or not.

I know a few people who are doing this and there's a huge variety of options out there; some farms have vegetables only, others have fruit and veg. Still others have flowers, honey, meat, eggs or cheese available. Sometimes it's included as part of the farm share, in other cases it's a separate option.

In any case, most of these farms (at least the ones whose information I reviewed) are organic. I'm not so worried about that but think this is a worthwhile idea. There are so many different farms in my area that I'm a bit concerned with being able to make a decision. Some farms have more than one volume available and most seem to suggest the number of people that can be fed on their share.

Because of the variety, the trick seems to be willing to eat anything. For this to be a viable option for me, I first must have one or two others with whom to split the share, then find a share providing food we're all willing to eat. I'm not so excited about that idea, but it would provide an incentive to learn new recipes, in order to use the food.

One vegetable I've only encountered on a few occasions is Eggplant. When I visited a "fast food" place in Eastern Europe that was incredibly slow, they had a terrible time understanding that I wanted my burger without the sauce, which was spicy and was made in part of eggplant. I don't know what else was in it, but I didn't want any part of it. My next encounter was much better; grilled eggplant slices served chilled with vinaigrette. I'm sure there are plenty of other options out there.


I don't know if I'll end up with a farm share next year or not. Too many choices right now.

Project Extension

Our project has been extended and will have more people added. We've been informed that some of us will be diverted to other aspects, such as QC and a few other necessary evils.


Not that QC'ers are actually evil, but sometimes they seem so. On one review, the person in charge made it a clandestine activity, only known to those who were doing it. Eventually everyone knew who was on the QC team. On other projects, QC was segregated and didn't even sit with the other reviewers. I don't know whether that's typical or not.


I'm pleased at the extension of my paycheck and hope to have many more to come though I'm disappointed that OT hasn't been mentioned as a possibility. We thought the end of September would be the end, but it appears we'll be working through October. That may not seem long, but every month helps!

Busy Project Season, Maybe

Fall and Winter tend to have more projects on offer in my area. Not this year. I'm still working but that could change at any time, even though they say we'll be here for a couple of months.

I know a few others who are currently working, but know more reviewers who are out on the street, looking to see what possibilities show themselves. As always, more players are coming into town.

An agency of which I haven't heard, which doesn't appear to have a local office, is looking for project managers for upcoming projects. The only thing we can think is that their office has a client with an office in my city. Which doesn't make as much sense as thinking they're low on out of work attorneys in their smaller east coast city and want to take advantage of lower real estate and labor costs in this area.

We have plenty of attorneys looking for work so it isn't a stretch to think they could staff a big project.

Clothes That Run and Hide

When I'm between projects, no matter how organized I believe I am at that moment, my work clothes disappear on me. When I'm not working, my wardrobe is completely different; shorts and t-shirts ruled the summer. During the workday, I wear twinsets and slacks.


During my break I made sure everything was clean and put away. I thought. Apparently not because the first week it was an ordeal to find appropriate attire for the office. We're in a corporate casual environment, so it isn't like I have to wear a suit every day. Not that I have a suit for every day.

Nevertheless, I still have a twinset that has failed to reveal itself to me. This week will be warm, but since we're at the end of October and I live in a cold weather state, 3/4 sleeve cotton twinsets aren't going to do it much longer, which means I have to lure my winter sweaters out of hiding and make sure they're ready to go.

Theoretically they are ready; however, I could be wrong on that. Winter wear is a long-sleeved t-shirt with a cardigan or boiled wool jacket and pair of slacks for the most part. While I know where some of the winter ones are, there will no doubt be items that need to run off to the spa so my dry cleaning bill will go up.

I tend to use Dryel but am in a home with washer and dryer; the product doesn't recommend use in industrial dryers. That tends to keep my dry cleaning bill down pretty far, and is usually okay for several rounds with sweaters.

For suit components, I tend to Dryel every other time they need attention. There really isn't an easy home substitute for the nice crisp pressing they get at the dry cleaner. Not even slaving over a hot iron gets the same result, so it's worth it when you care. When you don't care? definitely Dryel.

Document Review Tools

In my "career" as a document reviewer, I've used several different tools. They're all very easy to use but some are more user-friendly than others, as are the projects.



Right now I'm using a tool that nobody on the team has ever used before. I don't know whether it's a newer product or whether certain law firms or review rooms prefer to stay with the same tools. In this case, the review tool was client-driven; which makes sense. If you're the client and have had good results with a particular tool and have a good relationship with its provider, why change for the next project?



If you're a company that gets sued right, left and center, like some large corporations, it's to your benefit to stick with the same review tool since you don't have to reinvent the wheel; you don't have to go through the hassle of a) re-scanning documents or b) figuring out who to contact to get the electronic copies included in the new review. At that point, all you have to do for high-level employees is to collect documents from the last collection date forward, along with figuring out who else has relevant documents.


From a reviewer standpoint, while I prefer some review products over others, it doesn't really matter to me what product I use, as long as we can figure it out or there's someone who can contact the company if there's trouble.



In my current review, we have fewer layers and in our initial training were on a conference call with the trainer from the company. There's only one layer between so we get questions answered pretty quickly. They're in another time zone, so it isn't always convenient to call them, since there are a couple hours each day in which one party is in the office, but not both.


We do have a local company, Kroll OnTrack, which has a document review tool. Interestingly, I've only used it on one project. I don't know whether that was client or firm-driven.

Free CLE Season

Now that it's Fall, lunchtime CLE's are starting back up. It's probably easier in my small city to actually go to these CLE's, since I'm working right downtown and only a few blocks from any of the places hosting them.

Don't overlook training provided by non-profits, which often come with a volunteering requirement. Volunteering isn't so bad; it's an opportunity to learn something new and to feel like you're actually doing something with the old law degree, along with getting some actual experience and possible references. It's also a way to network with people who are employed. In law firms.

Job Postings

One thing I've done is sign up for searches that are then sent to Google Reader. I like that better than having things e-mailed to me, primarily because it just pops up and at my convenience I can scroll through options.

There isn't too much terribly exciting out there, though there is yet another agency trying to set up shop in this area.

Job Search

Like everyone else, I'm looking for a job and am hopeful that I've found one. I interviewed a few weeks ago, but they haven't yet made anyone an offer. It isn't really a legal job, though touches on legal issues. Meanwhile, I'm still on my review, hoping that will change.

I'm also working on a functional resume, and trying to make my boring statements more dynamic.

Farmers Market

I keep meaning to talk about the farmers market and the pros and cons thereof. Locally there are several different farmers markets, one of which is right downtown one day during the week. There are many more throughout the city and suburbs.

The new one near the Guthrie is all organic, at least that's what I've been told. While I understand the benefits of organic food, it's quite expensive so most people probably pick and choose which things to go organic with. I remember reading about fruit and that if it's something you peel anyway, it probably doesn't matter if it's organic, but it you wash and eat, then it's better to have organic. So lettuce would be better as an option than bananas. I do sometimes buy organic bananas at the grocery store, when the regular ones are way too green for me.

The rest of the farmer's markets have things from various points of origin, ranging from a local farm or someone who trucks in foreign fruit and veg.

I'm more focused on money so not as concerned with organic or not. The produce I buy at the farmers market has been good; I made Garden Soup a few weeks ago. It's a vegetarian soup so green beans, waxed beans, carrots, peas, seasoned with salt or whatever you use to season vegetable soup; in addition to water, a roux made of vegetable oil and flour is added as a thickener. It's a wonderful summer soup.

I also bought tiny little beets. I love beets, which other people think is abnormal. It's so easy to cook them though; boil, peel, slice, serve with onions, oil and vinegar. Yum!

Missing Posts

I'm a bit embarrassed about missing a few days of posting. I just didn't think of it, which isn't like me. I occasionally worry about failure to post, but have been pretty consistent, up until the last few days!

I'm busily stocking up on groceries for fall, now that it's starting to cool off. I'm excited that my local grocery store has had buy one get one free products lately; potato chips, cereal, olives, hummus, all kinds of stuff. My favorite is when they have meat. Last week they had pork chops on a buy one get one free, which is a great deal.

They have also had buy two get one free items as well as a few buy one, get two free! I stocked up on iced tea and sunflower seeds during those specials. While I'll never be one of those people whose grocery bill dwindles to $10 because of coupons, I do make a point of watching for deals. I decided not to buy iced tea (since I don't really need to have it), unless it's on sale, and then I stock up. It makes grocery shopping easier, and as an added benefit, because I rarely stray from the perimeter of the store, I'm losing weight.

Estate and Charitable Gift Planning Institute

The Estate Planning seminar was good. I learned a lot about handling the estates of the mega wealthy (those whose estates are over 30 million); including an anecdote about some poor woman whose trust provided only a million bucks a month for her to live on. That's right. Only a million. She thought she could possibly get by on a million and a half. Tragic view of how the other half of a percent lives.

The other speaker talked about the regular wealthy; those whose estates are between 5 and 30 million. That was helpful too. Because I'm so much more likely to benefit from that information.

Who am I kidding? Estate plan? Bah! I don't need no stinkin' estate plan!

In any case, it was 6 free credits.

A law firm provided pastries, bagels, coffee, tea and juice in the morning. In the afternoon they provided bars, cookies, coffee and lemonade.

I ended up bringing my lunch; I've gone to this before and it's at the Convention Center, where food is expensive and lines are long. Think I'm cheap? I saw people who had taken an extra bagel in the morning eating it for lunch!

I'm well on my way to not having to pay for CLE's this round.

Patent Reviews

I'm working on a patent review and don't understand the subject matter. As always, we've been trained narrowly on the topic and have keywords; we may also use the bat-phone whenever necessary.

Since none of us are patent attorneys (they have actual jobs), none of us are very clear on whatever it is we're working on. It's like we're 20 kinds of stupid, nevertheless, reviewing the documents.

Incomprehensible document + keywords and engineer-speak = responsive.

Whoops!

I've been a bit busy; my review is longer than originally planned, which is nice for us. It's still the same old-same old; click, click and click.

The major difference here is that there is a second level review, of which I'm a part. I and another attorney were told a few weeks ago that we'd be working on it. When I didn't hear any more, I assumed that I'd been passed over in favor of other reviewers. Not the case. We start on Monday. No doubt the documents will be even more exciting the second time around.

Estate and Charitable Gift Planning Institute

Tomorrow is the Roy Adams Estate and Charitable Gift Planning Institute, sponsored by the Salvation Army which hopes you leave them your estate. I have previously attended and learned a lot.

It's an all day seminar, free at the live site, with a cost for those attending by webcast or satellite. I'm pretty excited about as it's several free credits. The downside is parking and either bringing or buying lunch. Since it's at the Convention Center, which is on the busline, I do have the option of taking the bus.

I could bring my lunch; in the past they have provided coffee, tea. water and juice in the morning as well as sweet rolls, muffins and bagels. It just means either making it now or getting up early enough to do so in the morning.

Random Food Items Provided by Agency or Firm

One Agency for which I worked tends to bring cookies or cupcakes once a month to reviewers; a minor sugar fix is little enough with which to show their appreciation of our hard work! Of course, in order to do so, they have to obtain permission and free passage to the review center in order to bestow their largesse upon us.



An agency that provides its own review center and initially brought in business from out of town, started out working in 3rd party space and provided breakfast to the morning crew and pizza to the evening crew.



The agency for which I worked on a longer project pretty much did nothing, until taking the few of us out to lunch after several months; we pretty much didn't hear from them the whole time this project went on, which was fine. There was nothing we needed and nothing they changed.



During the current project we rate the occasional tray of pastries or pizza to go along with our beverage center. I'm impressed that they provide sodas, sparkling water and iced tea since most reviews provide only tea and coffee, with the occasional place providing hot chocolate or lemonade packets.



The tea provided is Lipton, leaded or unleaded; this is only the second place at which I've performed a document review that has failed to provide multiple options for tea. One firm had 13 kinds of tea in their cupboard and most places have at least five different types. I bring what I like, as does a colleague. In a pinch, we can certainly drink Lipton; while I'm trying not to spend excess money, it's silly not to drink what I want, especially when tea doesn't cost that much and I stocked up on my last trip to Big Lots.

Financial Miscalculations

While I calculated in the cost of most of life when I determined how much money I could devote to my targeted loan, I neglected to include the cost of gifts. In August I had a birthday and bridal shower to take care of, which is fine, I've been really good about spending and only drive if I must; however, September and October will take a bit more thoughtfulness as I don't know how long I'll be working. I went to Target with my mom and sister to choose shower gifts. Then we went to the Dollar Store for cards and paper; my gift is placemats that are shiny and a bit glitzy, so I opted to roll them up and tie them with ribbon from the wedding section of the dollar store.

I have three birthdays and a wedding to deal with in the next two months; birthdays aren't so bad as I have most of the gifts. Wedding gift will be purchased whenever my mom, sister and I can coordinate our schedules; we go as a group and discuss pros and cons, along with wondering about some of the items chosen. We bought wedding paper though I'm sure my mom has some in her big, giant stash of wrapping paper that we're trying to deplete.

All-in-all, I'm not doing too bad with reining in my spending; I did feel like I had gone on a shopping binge but that was because of a couple of gifts, clearance linen capris and getting cash back at the store rather than making the trek to an ATM for which I don't have to pay a fee. I used to have to go to a couple of places I never went, like K-Mart or one of the local billiards halls in order to use an ATM without a fee; now I can go to Target or a drug store, but really, why bother making a separate trip if I can take care of it during a transaction?

The Advantages of Living Near ones Law School

As I've been thinking about my talents, education and interests, I've looked at jobs that want some background in statistics, of which I have none. So I keep thinking that I should take a statistics class but hadn't seriously looked into it. Until a free class fell into my lap a few weeks ago.

Much to my surprise, my alma mater is starting a Statistics Class for Attorneys. Even more surprising? Tuition waived for alumni. And? They're applying for CLE credits! The book? $30! That's an incredible deal. Because law school hours are 50 minutes and CLE hours are 60 minutes, there will be a conversion. I assume that CLE credits will be based on each night of class, though it could be done as an aggregate. I think it'll be about 11.5 credits total. That, plus the CLE I attended in July and the one Sept. 11, takes me to about the halfway mark.

I e-mailed the contact person immediately, providing my year of graduation so am in the class.

Chinese Walls! With Embroidered Dragons!

I'm lying about the dragons but the effort to retain confidentiality within each document review currently taking place on the floor is there. As previously mentioned, there is more than one group here. We're on the other side of the elevator bank and have a kitchenette to ourselves; we recently met the hospitality person who provides our supplies and she decided to give her phone number to each separate review group, and designate us by number so we may contact her directly when we're low on supplies. Otherwise it goes through a whole chain of people. Our group number is associated with the name of our minder so products are charged to the right group.

There's one restroom on each side of the elevator bank, and I lucked out in being on the same side as the restroom I use; those who need to travel to the other side must go through the elevator banks, which means carrying your key. One of the groups expanded last week, and as I see people walking around instead of going through, the new people must not have gotten that memo.

There are two groups on the other side, and when we started, we used their kitchenette and were told that we weren't allowed to talk to those people except in the kitchenette. They also pointed out tape lines on the floor indicating where you could get safe passage. If any of you shared a room with a sibling when you were younger, this might sound familiar. At one point I shared a room my sister and when we fought we divided the floor. Of course one of us got the door and the other was stuck by the window.

I feel fortunate not to have to follow the electrical tape to make way to my designated area. It's much better than needing to watch it, though I doubt people would wander to talk to others; we have to whisper when we talk and don't talk much.

Absurd Results in Document Reviews

Because we're thoughtlessly responding to the queries, based on the litigation team's analysis of the discovery requests, document reviews always generate absurd results. When I say "thoughtlessly" I mean that it isn't up to me to interpret what I've been told; if it meets the criteria, it's in. Whether it makes sense? Totally different question.

For example, if I was on the case of Barbie v. Bratz (yeah, I know it's Mattell v. whoever manufactures the Bratz dolls and Barbie is a jealous bitch because Bratz were outselling her), reviewing the Bratz materials, it's very likely that any mention of Barbie or Mattell would be responsive. Even if it was a newsletter from the Barbie fan club. Or Amazon update about a Barbie sale. Barbie birthday cake? It's in. These are the types of absurdities about which I speak; I know that the planning related to somebody's child's Barbie birthday party is non-responsive, but under the rules with which I have been provided, it's responsive. There's always something of this nature during a document review, whether it's travel plans mentioning a responsive hotel, mention of Euro Disney (which might be generated by a controversy over Disney or over Euros), or the appearance of a weekly M&M newsletter.*

Sometimes people ask whether the absolute junk responsive items really are responsive. We're usually told yes. That could change later, when someone at a higher level in the food chain starts examining the documents and asks the partner about these incredibly responsive documents. At that point, we might be told not to include certain types of documents, but only after it's far too late and the third-level reviewers have to screen them out instead of just verifying that the document review group included the appropriate information.

There's a fine line between responding to the discovery request and dumping documents. I'm not sure what it is; by excluding even the junk documents that are per se responsive based on discovery requests, a firm risks accusations of withholding; including the junk documents could lead to allegations of document dumping. Then again, with the law firmly believing that what matters are the words of a document on its face, this could leave you in the did not! did too! zone.

It's quite likely that the attorneys formulating discovery requests are thinking of the types of documents in which they're interested which will be generated by the discovery request and don't give a thought to completely useless items also generated by the same document request. Meanwhile, until I'm told otherwise, if it's responsive, though completely junk, it's in.

*examples have no relation to any reviews on which I have worked.

Hush Memos

When I worked on a project at the big local doc. review center, we periodically received hush memos. In addition to the document reviwers, there was also law firm support staff, presumably engaged in work related to electronic discovery on some level. When people were unusually chatty, someone would complain.

I was part of the largest group, so if there was noise, it was generally believed to be our fault, though not necessarily true; in one case another, smaller group was laughing and joking with their minder. That's right, their minder was part of the equation. What happened? Our minder received a complaint about the disruptive nature of our group and we received a hush memo.

Because this center does 100% quality reviews, there's always another group of QC'ers; in one case, a review group received a hush memo when it was their QC contingent actually making the noise! There was a perception that QC'ers behave better but not so!

As I only worked on one project in that situation, I haven't received a hush memo since. And I like it like that!

Privacy is only a Mirage

According to California Courts, privacy really isn't privacy. Why not? Because interception doesn't count unless information is actually in transit.

Location! Location! Location!

My current, soon-to-end project is in a different part of downtown; before, I was nearer the edge, so parking was $7.50 and the bus dropped me off on the doorstep of the building in the morning; I had to walk a block in the afternoon. Now that I'm closer to the heart of downtown, I have a three-block walk in the morning and three in the afternoon; if I walked the two blocks, the bus is full by then. I'm further from where the bus starts its route so walk a block down in order to catch a bus sooner.

This location is more convenient for shopping, which I'm trying not to do; major department store is just through the skyway and they have all kinds of things, including lunch. I've been good about bringing lunch and have done so all but the first day.

My lunch tends to be boring; sandwich and fruit. I bring a breakfast bar or granola bar, yogurt and banana for morning and at some point branch out to sandwich and more fruit later in the day. I drink a lot of water and try to avoid snacking. There's a convenience store on skyway level; which, for those of you who live in cities without skyways, is the second floor. Many buildings downtown are connected above street level with enclosed walkways. Think Habitrail for humans.

While this location is better in some ways, it's further from: my credit union, friends who work downtown and the bus pass store. It isn't that far, but a bit too far to go on a 15-minute break.

Happy Labor Day!

Etiquette dictates, no white shoes after Labor Day!