Last Monday I started a new project which is only supposed to go about a month or so. They weeded out anyone who wanted time off during that block of time, though they say it may go for two months; I have a CLE planned the second month and let them know. Apparently they were okay with that because I'm on the project.
I crunched numbers and will be able to pay about a third of the next targeted loan. I have private loans which are fragmented due to summer school. I've mailed in the check each month for the regular payment but have only been able to pay a little extra.
Because I enjoyed the hotel beds when I was on the project for which I traveled extensively, I plan to hotelize my bed. Each segment of my private loan that gets paid off entitles me to another item to this end. I need an incentive to keep me focused. Without the incentive it would be much more difficult to force myself to make big payments instead of spending money on other things. I write about my debt a lot because I think about it a lot. Unless you're one of the fortunate ones, whose debt is gone, you should think about yours too.
I'm not always perfect; I gave myself a month off after paying off my credit card and was forced not to pay extra on my loan when I wasn't working. I hope the project is extended, or better yet, gets put on overtime. If that's an option, I'll be there. I don't know if I could hit it hard for the long-term, but I know that if it's a matter of weeks I can work a lot of OT.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Complacency
The mistake I made on the project from which I was cut was complacency; the atmosphere wasn't bad, the work was a cut above most document review projects and it was long-term. I fell into the trap of expecting my paycheck to continue.
Now I'm making up for it by learning to use RSS feeds for automatic receipt of job postings, both as an attorney and a couple of other, related job titles in which I have some experience. I have done some work in contracts and some in compliance and would be happy doing either on a full-time basis. The trick is to find someone who is willing to train and who believes my education would be a good fit with that type of work at their corporation.
I don't really understand RSS feeds but experimented both with that on Google Reader, because it's there, and having things sent directly to my inbox. In some ways Google Reader is better because the job search stuff isn't cluttering up my inbox; on the other hand, I don't know if I'll have access to Google Reader when I'm working. Most of the time it's possible to at least scan e-mail during the workday. I usually end up opening it and reading one or two messages. I tend to wait to respond until I'm home, unless I'm making plans for after work. It's a lot less disruptive to send a quick e-mail than to take a call, since that tends to involve walking away from ones computer, along with setting the screen saver and depending on circumstances, logging out of a program.
Now I'm making up for it by learning to use RSS feeds for automatic receipt of job postings, both as an attorney and a couple of other, related job titles in which I have some experience. I have done some work in contracts and some in compliance and would be happy doing either on a full-time basis. The trick is to find someone who is willing to train and who believes my education would be a good fit with that type of work at their corporation.
I don't really understand RSS feeds but experimented both with that on Google Reader, because it's there, and having things sent directly to my inbox. In some ways Google Reader is better because the job search stuff isn't cluttering up my inbox; on the other hand, I don't know if I'll have access to Google Reader when I'm working. Most of the time it's possible to at least scan e-mail during the workday. I usually end up opening it and reading one or two messages. I tend to wait to respond until I'm home, unless I'm making plans for after work. It's a lot less disruptive to send a quick e-mail than to take a call, since that tends to involve walking away from ones computer, along with setting the screen saver and depending on circumstances, logging out of a program.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Virtual Lost and Found
What a great idea! I've gone to find things at the lost and found before; most noteworthy was getting a frantic call from a friend whose dad had lost his passport. He had changed planes at my airport and his entry to the country in which his flight had originated was delayed.
So I was deployed to the airport and first checked with their lost and found. Nothing. They I checked with his airline of record and asked if they had a passport from his country of origin with his name. They did. And gave it to me. I asked if they wanted to call his house for permission to turn it over to me. They didn't. My next stop was the post office to send it back to him.
Even though this happened back when people other than ticketed passengers could go through security, I was still surprised that the airline rep. was willing to give me someone else's passport just because I asked for it. I assume the airline would have sent it if they had called and asked about it, but maybe not.
So I was deployed to the airport and first checked with their lost and found. Nothing. They I checked with his airline of record and asked if they had a passport from his country of origin with his name. They did. And gave it to me. I asked if they wanted to call his house for permission to turn it over to me. They didn't. My next stop was the post office to send it back to him.
Even though this happened back when people other than ticketed passengers could go through security, I was still surprised that the airline rep. was willing to give me someone else's passport just because I asked for it. I assume the airline would have sent it if they had called and asked about it, but maybe not.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Bottled Water
The people who market bottled water are evil geniuses. People are paying excessive amounts of money for a product they get at their own home for much less money. While I notice variations in water regularly, I usually drink filtered water at home and prefer that my water taste like nothing. As I work on this post, I have a glass of water by my side.
My glass of water, while filtered, originated in the city water system and was filtered and chilled through the refrigerator. The water in this city is perfectly safe, but I don't like the taste of what comes directly from the tap. Today I received a water-quality update from the city, and didn't read it. I'm completely unconcerned with what it has to say; if there was any type of water quality issue, it would be all over the news and we'd be told not to drink the water. Because that hasn't happened, I'm confident the water is just fine.
I try to bring a glass or refillable bottle with me when I go places, to avoid mass-produced bottled water, which is bad for the environment. While I'm not convinced that anything I do has much of an overall effect, I still try to pay attention to environmental issues. Right now cases of 24 bottles of store-brand water are on sale two for $7. A couple years ago, the same cases went on sale two for $9.
It's impossible to eliminate use of convenience products altogether, but I try to minimize; I happened to have an errand across town recently, near one of my favorite restaurants and got an order to go. I asked for water and was given the option of bottle or glass. I took the glass, which seemed a bit better than the bottle; it too had been shipped in from somewhere, but because it's a local restaurant, the glass may have been manufactured locally.
Water is bottled in several locations near here, so locally branded water might not be as bad as imports. Yet it's so difficult to cut out the convenience altogether; this year, save the trip to the family reunion, I haven't bought cases of bottled water at all. I have sometimes purchased individual bottles if I wasn't in a position to bring water with me, for example, to the airport or when working off-site when I had no control of the circumstances. Otherwise, if away from home, I try to remember my refillable bottle. There are still a lot of water fountains out there. If I'm running errands near home, I tend to bring a glass of water with me.
My glass of water, while filtered, originated in the city water system and was filtered and chilled through the refrigerator. The water in this city is perfectly safe, but I don't like the taste of what comes directly from the tap. Today I received a water-quality update from the city, and didn't read it. I'm completely unconcerned with what it has to say; if there was any type of water quality issue, it would be all over the news and we'd be told not to drink the water. Because that hasn't happened, I'm confident the water is just fine.
I try to bring a glass or refillable bottle with me when I go places, to avoid mass-produced bottled water, which is bad for the environment. While I'm not convinced that anything I do has much of an overall effect, I still try to pay attention to environmental issues. Right now cases of 24 bottles of store-brand water are on sale two for $7. A couple years ago, the same cases went on sale two for $9.
It's impossible to eliminate use of convenience products altogether, but I try to minimize; I happened to have an errand across town recently, near one of my favorite restaurants and got an order to go. I asked for water and was given the option of bottle or glass. I took the glass, which seemed a bit better than the bottle; it too had been shipped in from somewhere, but because it's a local restaurant, the glass may have been manufactured locally.
Water is bottled in several locations near here, so locally branded water might not be as bad as imports. Yet it's so difficult to cut out the convenience altogether; this year, save the trip to the family reunion, I haven't bought cases of bottled water at all. I have sometimes purchased individual bottles if I wasn't in a position to bring water with me, for example, to the airport or when working off-site when I had no control of the circumstances. Otherwise, if away from home, I try to remember my refillable bottle. There are still a lot of water fountains out there. If I'm running errands near home, I tend to bring a glass of water with me.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
CLE Requirements
One thing people sometimes do is work on a CLE to present themselves. These are most likely to be people who have become involved in a Section or Committee and present a one-credit lunchtime CLE. I have a few acquaintances who have done so, and it's a way of gaining name recognition in their area of expertise, assuming they have an area of expertise.
In addition to becoming an expert on a small slice of the law, in my state, you also receive credit for time spent researching and writing the material for the CLE. I don't know if there's a cut-off for the number of credits received for preparation; in any case, most multi-hour CLE's have several presenters, each of whom has created a short portion of the presentation and has received credit for preparation as well.
One basic requirement of CLE's is legal content, yet the one program of which I'm aware was declined for credits, was sponsored by a non-profit in the legal world. What I fail to understand is how an organization that has attorneys on staff and recruits attorneys to volunteer on their behalf can sponsor a presentation that doesn't meet the requirement to receive CLE credit. While unapproved presentations always have the disclaimer that CLE credits will be applied for, it mystifies me that such an organization could fail to screen their speakers or the topics, thus rendering the credit disapproved.
I still attend lunches from this group; as someone pointed out, the lunch is still free. Because I'm working on my CLE's for this reporting period already, it probably won't matter to me whether a given credit is approved or not. Because their lunches are free and I was aware of other free credits still available, I wasn't that concerned; however, as this is the same organization sponsoring the lunch for which the the application for credit was not immediately submitted, I would hesitate to count on their lunch receiving a credit if it was only a few weeks before my reporting period was up.
In addition to becoming an expert on a small slice of the law, in my state, you also receive credit for time spent researching and writing the material for the CLE. I don't know if there's a cut-off for the number of credits received for preparation; in any case, most multi-hour CLE's have several presenters, each of whom has created a short portion of the presentation and has received credit for preparation as well.
One basic requirement of CLE's is legal content, yet the one program of which I'm aware was declined for credits, was sponsored by a non-profit in the legal world. What I fail to understand is how an organization that has attorneys on staff and recruits attorneys to volunteer on their behalf can sponsor a presentation that doesn't meet the requirement to receive CLE credit. While unapproved presentations always have the disclaimer that CLE credits will be applied for, it mystifies me that such an organization could fail to screen their speakers or the topics, thus rendering the credit disapproved.
I still attend lunches from this group; as someone pointed out, the lunch is still free. Because I'm working on my CLE's for this reporting period already, it probably won't matter to me whether a given credit is approved or not. Because their lunches are free and I was aware of other free credits still available, I wasn't that concerned; however, as this is the same organization sponsoring the lunch for which the the application for credit was not immediately submitted, I would hesitate to count on their lunch receiving a credit if it was only a few weeks before my reporting period was up.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Reporting CLE's Electronically
The first time I reported, I did so on paper. Not only did I have to look up each CLE online to ensure it had actually received credit, but I waited until the bitter end to do so. Since I had misunderstood the start of my reporting period, it really wasn't the bitter end; I had counted three years starting from graduation, rather than three years starting from the July 1 following bar admission and had an extra year.
In the meantime, the reporting system changed and while paper is still acceptable, rather than keeping track for three years and sending a master list of CLE's attended, it's now possible to report as you take CLE's. We were each sent a letter with authorization to use the webpage and it took me awhile to get around to trying. So long that I had to ask for a new copy of the letter. There's no telling what I did with the original copy.
Once you sign in, you either enter the event code, which is a multi-digit number, and click the radial button for attendance. After that, an affidavit message pops up and you certify attendance of the CLE. Event codes are only available at the time of attendance if the course has been previously approved. Not all CLE's will be approved prior to your attendance; some will not be approved until much later.
You can search by date or sponsoring organization. Sponsors may not be who you would guess; I had attended a Roy Adams seminar, sponsored by two major corporations. I think it was under Roy Adams and the only reason I figured it out was because I knew the date on which I had attended. A human rights organization has a couple of different programs, but CLE's under one program are listed as being sponsored by the law firm at which the lunch takes place; under the other, they appear as sponsored by the organization itself.
One of my colleagues had initially planned to continue reporting on paper, but eventually decided to use the electronic format. He assumes that all CLE's he attends will receive credit. Because I saw a message on a website indicating that one of their programs had not received credit, I believe it when I see it.
In the meantime, the reporting system changed and while paper is still acceptable, rather than keeping track for three years and sending a master list of CLE's attended, it's now possible to report as you take CLE's. We were each sent a letter with authorization to use the webpage and it took me awhile to get around to trying. So long that I had to ask for a new copy of the letter. There's no telling what I did with the original copy.
Once you sign in, you either enter the event code, which is a multi-digit number, and click the radial button for attendance. After that, an affidavit message pops up and you certify attendance of the CLE. Event codes are only available at the time of attendance if the course has been previously approved. Not all CLE's will be approved prior to your attendance; some will not be approved until much later.
You can search by date or sponsoring organization. Sponsors may not be who you would guess; I had attended a Roy Adams seminar, sponsored by two major corporations. I think it was under Roy Adams and the only reason I figured it out was because I knew the date on which I had attended. A human rights organization has a couple of different programs, but CLE's under one program are listed as being sponsored by the law firm at which the lunch takes place; under the other, they appear as sponsored by the organization itself.
One of my colleagues had initially planned to continue reporting on paper, but eventually decided to use the electronic format. He assumes that all CLE's he attends will receive credit. Because I saw a message on a website indicating that one of their programs had not received credit, I believe it when I see it.
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