Summer School Grade Update

I went over to school this morning to make a copy of my Children and the Law final. The grades have been online, so I already knew my grade. I just wanted to get a copy for my records/file. The grades for all classes were due by today, but my Family and the Law grade wasn't in yet. After copying my final and returning the original to the office, I was told that the Family and the Law grades had just been dropped off. So, I was able to get my grade for that class and copy that final as well.

I had hoped I would have been able to boost my GPA some with the summer school classes, but the average for my 2 classes is the same as my overall GPA! Oh well, at least I didn't hurt it any.

I just finished my first 72 hours at the Small Claims Advisory, so I have one unit of clinical done. I should have the second unit done by the end of September. I am still really enjoying it and am sure I will end up doing 3 of my 4 clinical units there.

Enough on here for today.....ciao!

Forcing the Issue

I think it was a couple of months ago that I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper about the delayed construction on a major street (that I must use multiple times every day) here in town. While my letter was published, I didn't get any response, so I wrote to my city councilman (with a link to my letter on the paper's website) and pushed him on the issue. He wrote back about a press release he was issuing regarding the matter. According to him, city crews had been directed to start finishing up the project at the beginning of July.

Once we got to July 13 and I saw no action, I emailed him again and asked what was going on. He wrote back, saying that he was going to have someone call me. I received calls from both the public works director and the city's construction manager. Both told me that the city was pursuing this action on 2 fronts- trying to settle with the surety (who could hire a company to complete the work) and going out to bid to hire a different company to finish it. I was told that city crews could not do that job, as the intersection of Herndon and Van Ness, according to them, has to come out 16", and the city crews aren't experienced with doing that.

I was given their names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc., so I could call them whenever I had a question. I also have other contacts in the city, however, and found out from one of them that a meeting about the public bid had been cancelled because the surety made a deal with a company from Dos Palos to do the work. The problem was, according to my source, that this company does not have experience with this type of job, and is more familiar with ag/farm construction projects.

I then emailed the public works director asking about this development, and if the city could reject a company that the surety picks, if they aren't qualified. After not getting a response and wondering why, I noticed in the paper the other day that this person, the public works director, had resigned, effective the day after I emailed him.

I then forwarded my email I had sent to him on to my city councilman and the assistant public works director, asking for their answer, since the director was no longer available. The councilman wrote back saying that the assistant would be in touch. I received a couple of messages when I was out of town from the construction manager, and just got off the phone with him. There was an article in yesterday's paper about all of this, and I asked him if it was true that the surety did not have a deal with a company in Dos Palos. He said they had been very close, but when it got to indemnification, they couldn't agree, and now are talking with a second company. He said that the city can't wait for the surety any more, and IS going to public bid. The bids are due August 10 and being awarded August 22, hopefully with work starting by September 5 and finished by Thanksgiving.

As long as I've gotten involved, I see no reason to stop forcing them until this is complete. I am SOOO tired of driving through this mess and my only hope is they get so sick of hearing from me that they want to get this taken care of and behind them. Yes, get used to me Brian, Jon and Efren. I'm going to bug you until this is DONE!

LA is Another World

We got home from LA last night, Holllywood actually. I let my son pick our activities while we were there. We spent Friday at Universal Studios, and then he wanted to drive by celebrities' homes yesterday. Of course, you can just drive around and buy a "star map" from one of the many people selling them around Beverly Hills. But, I did my homework early, courtesy of the internet.

I made a list of all the ones my son wanted to see. Got the addresses. Located them on a map, highlighting the street and location. Then numbered them on the list in order from our hotel. This made it very easy for my daughter to be my navigator as I drove. While I've been in southern CA many times, I'd never driven around Beverly Hills/Bel-Air, so it was actually fun just to see these beautiful areas of huge mansions. Anyway, we had our list, but you never really know how correct these addresses are. You kind of assume many are probably where the stars used to live.

We were actually thrilled when we were able to determine that one of the homes was actually the current home of the celebrity. Here's few pix:

If you read celebrity magazines or gossip blogs (which I freely admit is a bad habit of mine) you will recognize this celebrity's home by 2 of her vehicles, which were parked in her driveway. In case you can't tell from the photos, that would be the Mercedes SLR and the Bentley.

If you haven't figured out whose house this is, I'll give you help in a minute.

So, after driving around for a few hours, we dropped off my son with my sister, who lives in that area, so he can stay with her and hang out with his cousin for a few days. My daughter then persuaded me to take her to Kitson, which is the trendy store that young celebrities like to shop at. This was only 5 miles from where we dropped off my son, but it took us nearly an hour to get there! Ugh! LA traffic!

When we finally found it, there was a large crowd in front of the store, including paparazzi. Hmm....who was shopping? The store was keeping people out until whatever was going on inside was finished. We asked and found out it was the Playmates from The Girls Next Door tv show. Not I would have known them anywhere, as I've never watched the show, but yes, we did see the 3 of them as they came out and they posed for a second before being whisked away.

Inside, the store is nothing special. Plain concrete floor, not fancy. And not very big. But all the trendy t-shirts (ie. "Team Brangelina" and "Team Vaughniston") , sweatshirts, jeans and accessories that the celebs make popular. I ended up buying my daughter a few little goodies before we left and made our way back home.

Ok, so if you haven't figured out who lives above, here is another photo I found online of the same car, apparently parked in the same place, with its owner.
Yeah, I know she is famous for being famous and not much else. But as a celebrity gossip junkie, I do admit it was fun to see her home. (Frankly though, I was surprised she wasn't living in a nicer area with a large garage! You would think she wouldn't want to leave these outside all the time. Oh wait, that's right, Paris WANTS the attention. LOL. I'm sure the SLR in the driveway helps the paparazzi find her a bit easier!)

Leaving Town Again

My "baby" turned 16 yesterday, so we're heading out of town to celebrate for a few days after my shift at Small Claims today.

I found out that summer school grades are supposed to be turned in by the professors by Monday or Tuesday of next week, so I'm assuming all grades will be online shortly after that. I made an appointment to go in early next week and copy my finals.

Looks like it is finally going to cool down a bit this weekend (and by cool down, I mean under 100). Shouldn't be quite so nasty by the time we get back in town. Yeah!

Barely Surviving in this HEAT

This isn't even funny. It has been 113 for the last 2 days, and if we're "lucky", it may cool down to a chilly 99 on Saturday. Our power went out last night at 6:30pm. By 8:30pm, we doubted it was coming back on and left to sleep over at my parent's house (where my brother and his family slept Sunday night because their power was out). Yes, musical houses is a fun game.....everyone pile in the house that has power and air.

Over the weekend, hubby and I escaped to Pacific Grove. The locals were complaining about their own heat wave. It was low 70s and sunny, not 60s and foggy. We didn't mind it. While there, we had a fabulous dinner at Passionfish. We both had the Kauai shrimp, and it was so outstanding that I can't even remember when I've had a dinner that incredible. I highly recommend it! You can make reservations or check out their menu online.

We had lunch in Carmel and did a bit of shopping before coming home on Sunday. I had a fun time in Fourtane Jewelers. They always have wonderful goodies in there- lots of vintage and large pieces that you just don't find in Fresno. Plus, the sales staff are very friendly and almost push you to try stuff on! Well, I don't need a lot of encouragement when it comes to jewelry. I tried on quite a few things, my favorite being a 10 carat cushion cut diamond ring. Unfortunately, even though it fit me and looked perfect on my hand, it was either that, or pay for 4 years of schooling for my daughter at MIT.

Of course, once you try on a $200K ring, a little bauble from Tiffany seems like nothing, so I managed to snag this darling little charm along with the 24 inch chain to go with it. (Thanks to hubby for keeping me properly spoiled!)

Anyway, I'm back at home (for a few days at least) . Let's hope the power stays on!

Summer School Grades Online

I was sure our grades wouldn't be available for about a month, but when I checked online yesterday, I actually had one of my 2 grades for my summer school courses already. Children and the Law grades are up. Of course, that is not too surprising, as the professor, who also teaches CivPro, seems to always get all his grading done within one week.

I had kind of thought that the grades wouldn't be posted until ALL were available, which is what was done at the end of the school year, but I guess this is different. I suppose I'll have to keep checking now everyday until my Family Law grade is posted.

I'm sitting here writing this before 6am, and according to Yahoo, it is already 85 degrees outside. It is supposed to be 110 for the next 3 days, and not dip below 100 until a week from tomorrow. Yeah, so I'm leaving town in a few hours to enjoy the cool, coastal air in Pacific Grove for a couple days. Ciao!

Don't Waste Your Time

on driving out to Sequoia Bookstore. I placed an order on their website last night for the 4 remaining books I need to get, planning on picking them up in person today. I made the crucial mistake of thinking because the books showed up on their site, and were included in a confirmation email, that they were actually in stock. I drove all the way over there (about 30 minutes away) in 111 degree heat only to find none of the 4 were available. Two of them won't even be shipped from the manfacturer until August 11! Ugh. Sounds like they might not even be here before school starts. The other 2 supposedly will be in stock soon. None of the 4 are the main textbooks, but are supplemental books, but it is a pain that I wasted that time and gas going over there for nothing. It would have been nice if their website let you know which items were actually in stock.

Nothing much else going on. Just another hot, nasty summer day in Fresno.

Fall Textbooks Now Available in Town

The local bookstore, Sequoia Textbooks, has updated their website to include the books for fall classes. Other websites have them for less money, as I discussed below. However, I could not locate a few books anywhere else. I just had those 4 books set aside so that I can pick them up later this week.

Just a heads up for anyone wanting to get those books in town now.......

TOOO Hot!

Yesterday was 109. Today is supposed to be 107, which I have the pleasure of checking in a half hour when I need to go out and take my son to the orthodontist. UGH. Then, it is supposed to be: 105 Wed., 104 Thurs., 103 Fri., 109 Sat., 108 Sun., 107 Mon., 105 Tues., 104 Wed., 102 Thurs.. How nice. By next Thursday, I can look forward to it "cooling" to 102. Beautiful.

Sorry Fresno, but I can only take so much of this. I'm going to have to say goodbye for a bit this weekend as I cool off in lovely Pacific Grove. The high is supposed to be only 69. I may even have to wear a sweatshirt! : ) Wish I was going today!

Schedule for Fall Classes

Surprising, the fall registration packet arrived in today's mail. I had assumed I wouldn't see it for a couple weeks yet. My schedule is going to be a weird one. I'm going to have Property and Constitutional Law on Mondays (one afternoon, one evening), Criminal Law on Tuesdays (though I haven't decided when to take it), and both Business Organizations and Taxation on Thursdays (one afternoon, one evening). I won't have any classes on Wednesdays or Fridays.

For Criminal Law, I was told that the guy that teaches the night class is better, but I prefer afternoon classes. Also, since my daughter will be away at school and no longer home and driving my son to school and back, I have to consider other things this year. Such as, is it better to go to the evening class so I can pick my son up from school (instead of him having to take the bus and walk another day) or go to the afternoon class and leave him home alone another evening. As I've tried to do the whole time in law school, I need to balance the needs of my family in the choices I make in law school. This is just going to be another one of those things.

In addition to my classes, I will still be working at the Small Claims Advisory until I complete my clinical units. I will have 2 units done by the end of September. I'm considering doing 3 units there, but if I do, I will most likely cut back to just one shift a week, after completing my first 2 units there. My Thursdays are already going to be long days, so I will probably give up that shift and just keep my Tuesday morning one. It would take me until the end of February to finish that last unit at the slower pace, but I really like it there, so wouldn't mind sticking around. Who knows? Maybe I'll want to keep on after I've finished my units there, just like some of the more senior advisors have done.

I got a head start on getting my books. BarristerBooks.com was out of stock and/or higher priced on them, so I got the 4 that Barnes and Noble had in stock: for Property (ISBN #0314150455 and 0735557926) for Bus. Orgs. (ISBN #1587788780) and for Crim. Law (ISBN# 1587787199). I still have 7 more that I will need to get, probably from the place in town, though their website doesn't list any books for the fall yet. I guess I will call them tomorrow and see what they have in stock so far.

First assignments won't be available until August 11, but going by last year, not every one will even be ready then. I want to get them as soon as possible so I can start the reading and begin working my one week ahead schedule. It's going to be a crazy and busy year!

Ah, 6 Weeks of Freedom!

Well, not exactly, of course. But I did finish up my summer school finals this afternoon with my Children and the Law exam. Neither final was particularly difficult. And I didn't spend much time studying for either. Not that I'm brilliant. I just prepared ahead of time. Since both were open book and open note, I did the following:

• Did all the reading assignments as assigned during the course of the classes, highlighting important things
• Typed up all my class notes each week, and compiled an index after the last class
• Organized all the handouts in Children and the Law by creating an index, and highlighting and/or noting on each, the main point of the handout.
• Printing out all codes sections, week by week, that were assigned for reading in Family Law, and organizing them by topic area.

I ended up with super organized and indexed binders for each class, containing class notes, handouts, and code sections. I spent less than 6 hours studying, after compiling all my materials, for both exams combined. I'm sure glad I didn't spend more time, as I didn't think it would have made any difference. I knew what materials I had, and where they were. That's all I really needed to know.

The tests were completely different. For Family Law, we were given a hypothetical fact pattern, and then given a question on child custody, and a second one on spousal and child support, all based on the same fact pattern. It was pretty much code based, just what is allowed, and a little policy of why the court does things the way they do. I threw in a bunch of stuff that wasn't really asked for just because I had the time and thought it made for a more complete answer (and let's not lie, I'm hoping it will add to my points!). For Children and the Law, we had a bunch of multiple choice, some fill in the blanks, some short answer (which consisted of 5 quotes taken directly from some of the cases that were distributed during class, of which we needed to ID which case it was and give a one sentence summary), and 2 essays. That test was worth 75% of our class grade, and each essay was only worth 10 of those 75 points, so it wasn't quite the same as other exam essay questions. I think I had 1500 words for both questions combined, whereas last night, I had approx. 1350 words on each of the 2 questions for Family Law. Anyway, the multiple choice, fill in and short answers were mostly just facts/numbers from the law. The essays were policy discussions. I have no idea how the professor will grade something like that, so it is hard for me to guess on my grade. I am sure I must have done very well on the Family Law exam though. The professor said she was worried that we would think it was too easy. Like that would bother any of us! I could use the GPA bump!

I have no idea when these grades will be posted, and like an idiot, I forgot to ask about how and when I could pick up my paper for Children and the Law. At this point, I'm not sure it really matters. I just want to enjoy my time off!

Summer School Finals

I have the first of my two summer school finals tonight. Both are open note and open book. I've never had that kind of test before, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect or how I should be studying. I've organized my notes for both classes, and have the handouts indexed. I'm going to spend today reviewing all the material for both classes, but the kind of questions I think we will be asked are not things you can really study for. It's not like I'm going to have to rattle of lists of the 5 elements of this or the 4 types of that. Anything like that I can just look up. But neither Family Law or Children and the Law has much of that.

I'm just going to be so happy to be done with these classes. Not that I haven't enjoyed them, but I really need a break. I want 6 weeks not to have to even think about law school. I will be continuing my 2 shifts a week in the Small Claims Advisors Office, but I love that and it doesn't require any sort of preparation.

My plans for the rest of my summer? Other than hopefully sleeping in 5 days a week, I'm taking the kids to Universal Studios at the end of the month for my son's 16th birthday, and over to the coast for about 5 days next month. I also have a bunch of stuff I want to get listed and sold on ebay while I have the time. I have a lot of books I'd like to read as well. In other words, I get to have a month and a half of being a normal person! :)

Pirates and Transsexuals

I'm sure you never thought the above had much in common (actually, I'm pretty sure you never thought of them both at the same time before), but I saw both today at the theater when I went to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Both were ugly and kind of scary. At least the transsexual didn't yell, "Arrrrrr" in the theater as the movie was starting. Hmmm, ok moving on....

I went to the moot court finals last night and I am SO glad I did. I ended up going all 3 nights and think it was very helpful. I ended up with a couple pages of notes for myself for next year.

I found several things very interesting. First of all, in my opinion, the judges in the final round were the easiest ones of all! Not that they didn't question counsel and make them work for it, but they seemed more reasonable in how they asked and what they accepted. I think the judges for the semi-final rounds were the hardest and most relentless.

Next, in the earlier rounds, I found it easy to listen, and assess which of the 4 in each round had "won", or done the best job. But in the final, personally, I could not detect a clear cut winner. Obviously, I'm not an expert and don't know all the things to look for, but I thought all four of the finalists were superb. All four did an excellent job and should be proud of their accomplishments. I'm not sure I have it in me to do what they did.

Finally, I was surprised by how little students actually came to watch. Yes, there were some. But considering that about 50 of us will be taking moot court next summer, only a tiny fraction attended. I think a lot of people missed out on some valuable learning. Oh well, what can I say? I'm just glad I went. And congratulations to all the finalists!

Moot Court Semi Finals

There were 2 sessions of semi finals tonight. I wanted to go to both, but didn't want to leave my son home alone all evening (daughter was out with a friend). I convinced him to go with me, and told him we could leave after the first session if he didn't want to stay for the second. Of course, that's what we ended up doing. I would have loved to have stayed and watched the second, but I wanted to keep my word to him.

The judges at this round were much more harsh. Their critique afterwards were not directed at the individual participants, but were, for the most part, comments for all of them. They focused on some things not really mentioned in last night's prior rounds. I took notes, both from what I recall from the first sessions, and what was said tonight. I feel like I picked up a lot of good hints, ideas, and strategies. I won't be sharing them here, as some of those I will be competing with next year read this blog, and since I was one of those who took the time to be there, I don't feel it is necessary to share that with those who didn't.

But I can say that I see why many students do not want to go on in this competition. It only gets worse. The judges tonight admitted that the students would not face anyone harder than them. Since the grading from the first night was rather generous, in my opinion, what is the point of subjecting yourself to this kind of grilling unless you actually like that sort of thing? I don't know how many brownie points it earns you for the class if you get to a further round. It would have to be something major to make me want that.

I'm going to attend the finals tomorrow night. I would like to see what a "winning performance" looks like, and don't want to miss out on any other bits of advice the judges throw out.

Moot Court

I served as a time keeper for the moot court competition tonight. Because I will be doing moot court myself next year, I am SO glad that I did this today. I will not be nearly as nervous now, knowing firsthand what is involved, and seeing what the judges are looking for. I'm debating if I should go to watch the semi-finals tomorrow night, or the finals on Friday. It is so interesting to watch everyone. Each person's style is different, and it is nice to be able to hear the judge's comments on each.

Even though the judge's were pretty hard with some of their questioning on the students, their grading was not overall strict. It seemed to me they were looking more for poise, during those tough questions, than necessarily the "right" answer. Makes me feel a little bit better. Also makes me want to hear the finals to get even more insight for next year.

I was telling my kids about the moot court the other day, and after a pause, my daughter asked, "Doesn't anyone talk?" After a HUH moment, I realized, "NO, it is MOOT court, not MUTE court!" LOL.

Overall, this was a very worthwhile experience. I'm very glad to have participated and know this will be a big help to me next year at this time.

Happy Fourth of July!

Have fun celebrating!

My Swedish Cousins

My parents took them up to Yosemite today, and we had them over for dinner and ride on the lake tonight. The girls, ages 4 and 6, are adorable, and while they don't speak English, it was so cute to see them talking in Swedish.

They all enjoyed the boat ride. Victoria especially liked being captain. They are not used to the heat here, but at least it was a little cooler once we were on the water. Here's a picture:


Next, they are going to Cambria, then to southern CA for Universal Studios, Disneyland and Sea World. I wish we got to see them here a little longer, but there is a lot more of California for them to see.