More Babies = More Cash

I so called this one!

8 + 6 Doesn't Add Up

More details are coming out about the woman who gave birth to live octuplets the other day. Like how she already had 6 children, aged 2 to 7, including a set of twins; like that she is single; like that she lives with her parents in a small home; like that she filed for bankruptcy and abandoned a home recently; like how she was using fertility treatments.

Who, in that situation, tries to get pregnant? With multiple babies? And keeps them all? Obviously, being intelligent and making rational decisions has never been a prerequisite to becoming a parent. And I don't advocate the government stepping in and telling people how many children they can have, but why didn't someone do something? Um, maybe her parents could have counseled her to think about the cost of raising 14 children (which now they will presumably be forced to share) or consider waiting until she was in a stable relationship with someone to help her raise the brood? Or perhaps a friend could have suggested that she concentrate on raising the large family she already had instead of taking on more.

I can't help but wonder if this woman, with stars in her eyes, thought this may be her way to fame and fortune. Get a reality show with a hefty contract and move into an extreme home with a fat paycheck. Who knows?

It just doesn't seem fair that people like this end up with so many children, who I'm guessing will not really have the kind or quantity of attention they deserve, while some intelligent, rational people struggle to have even one. I know, I know. Life's not fair.

Comcast SUCKS!

I've been out of commission on here for the last week, trying to move, find a job, decorate for Christmas, etc. One of the biggest hassles has been getting the services at the house up and running. But actually it comes down to one incredibly inept company- Comcast. Let me tell you about my experience.

From my prior use at my apartment, I knew any contact with Comcast was likely to result in problems and the need for further service calls. Since I was moving in on Monday, I scheduled them to come Tuesday and had a 8am- noon window. They were to install my cable tv, internet, and phone (which they were to transfer from AT&T).

My boyfriend, who shares my disdain for Comcast, predicted they would not show up before 11:30am. He was right. They showed up at 12:10pm. Ugh. (Of course, later in the day, my son went to the apartment and got the phone and answering machine I had left there until the phone number was moved to the house. The idiots had left a message on that machine, telling me they were running late. Hmmm....now, since they knew they were moving that number from my old residence, and they knew my service window was 8-12, how exactly was I supposed to get that message? They had my cell phone number, and I had it on me at all times. Nope. Didn't call that.) Strike one.

When they arrived, "they" were a team of 3 Comcast workers. When I mentioned that in booking the appointment I was told it would take 2-3 hours to set everything up, I was told, "No, with 3 of us, we will be out of here in 45 minutes!" Shortly, a second truck arrived and a fourth worker joined in. My house had been remodeled from top to bottom by the seller, and the team appeared perplexed that there are wires in so many different locations. They went into my crawl space, my attic, and every room of my house trying to figure it all out. In the process, they tracked dirt everywhere and left insulation bits all over my closet. They moved furniture out to mess with all the cables. Did they clean up any of the mess, replace any of the furniture they moved, or apologize for any of that? No. Strike two.

Eventually, they did get the phone line working, and later, the internet, though they misspelled my network name even after I had deliberately spelled it out loud and slowly for them. I use my last name as part of the name and really did not want it spelled incorrectly. I should not have been surprised. No attention to detail is standard for Comcast. Strike three. But it continues.

They were not able to get the cable tv box working. They kept blaming it on "bad boxes" and "bad wires". It did not make sense to me that the working box which I moved from my apartment would suddenly be "bad", or that each of the next 3 that they tried could also be bad. After 2.5 hours, they gave up and told me their supervisor would be out soon to see if he could find the problem. If he couldn't fix it but knew what the problem was, he would apparently call the team right back to take care of it.

THREE HOURS later, at 5:45pm, I got a phone call from Comcast saying their supervisor was on his way. I asked when he was going to be there because I had been forced to sit around all day waiting for them and was leaving in 15 minutes. I told them I would be available from 2-5pm on Wednesday. Nothing better than letting Comcast keep you captive for an entire 10 hours.

The next day I was home earlier than expected from moving some more items over from my apartment when Comcast called. I told them the supervisor could come earlier since I was already home. He showed up around noon. It took him about a half hour to discover the cable lines had been damaged when the seller put in some additional drains in the yard shortly before escrow closed. He ran some new line, hooked up a new box and had it all working in a relatively short period of time. Why the team of 4 idiots did not figure this all out in 2.5 hours, I have no idea.

He called his guy who buries cable lines and I spoke with him and told him I did not care how he did it as along as any plants that were affected were replaced and the yard looked the same afterward. He asked me if I minded if he had his team come out on Thursday morning to do the work. I said no. First thing on Thursday, this team showed up and buried the line in my yard. They did a nice job and when they finished I could not tell they had disturbed any plants, so I was happy with that.

About 30 minutes later, my doorbell rang. When I answered the door, a man who appeared to be a country bumpkin greeted me. "Hi. I'm from Comcast. Did you order cable? I'm here to set it up for you." I kid you not. I wanted to scream. "Um, they have spent the last 3 days trying to get it installed and working. DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!"

How can a company be so disastrously poor in their service and survive? I have no idea. All I know is if there was another viable option, I would take it. Comcast sucks!

Fresno's Future: Tinkertoys and Legos

In proving what a world class Fresno is and will be in the future, city leaders have constructed a model of what they imagine for Fresno in 2050. This model is comprised of Tinkertoys and Legos. I suppose, considering that it is Fresno, I can only be surprised that Lincoln Logs were not also included.

Do Not Give Me That Knowing Grin!

While in law school, I was much too busy to rant about all the little mundane things in life that annoy me so much. Lucky for you, now I have the time to do so! ; )

Last week, I went to the DMV to change my name on my driver's license. They punched a hole through the expiration date on my license and gave me a temporary paper license. When using my credit cards (which are now in my maiden name), I have been showing sales clerks both the old and new (paper) licenses, which I have clipped together. I thought it would make it easier for them to see that everything is valid.

Yesterday I went to a party store to get some supplies. Both clerks were wearing Halloween costumes. The guy who waited on me was a tall, white guy, wearing a long, black, dreadlock wig and tie dyed shirt. After charging my purchase, he asked to see my id. When I pulled out my licenses and handed them to him, he looked at me, pointed to the punched out date, and smiled.

"Oh, mine has that too!" he said, thinking he had connected with another fellow DUI-er. "Yeah, I just got my license back."

You big loser, I thought to myself. "Um, I just changed my name. That's all." Ugh.

Who Is Everyone Talking To??? And Why Do They Have to Do It When I Can Hear Them?

I'm not saying that I don't carry my cell phone with me, and answer it when I am out, but I don't really understand having long, involved conversations on one when you are out in public. It is almost like people think they enter a soundproof bubble when they answer the phone, forgetting that everyone around them can hear every word they say.

When I was out running errands this morning, it seemed like half of the people in stores were talking on their cell phones. Here are some of the conversation snippets I heard:

"Dad already yelled at me for that. I don't know why he thinks I intentionally forgot."

"I'm sorry about crying yesterday. I just had a total meltdown."

"Yeah, she is really going to get it."

None of these conversations were short ones, but quite involved. None appeared to be any emergency. So, why? You couldn't possibly, um, I don't know, wait until you got in your car or home before doing this?

While I'm at it, all of you people walking around with those bluetooth devices sticking out of your ears while you are walking around in public look like idiots!

4 More Weeks

Now that we are less than a month away from the results of the California bar exam being posted online, it feels real and not so far off. I really need to think of something to keep myself busy for this last month of waiting.

My rant for the day: Why can't people spell? I don't get it. If I don't know how to spell something, I look it up. I can understand typing fast and not realizing that you misspelled something, but why would you just write something that could not possibly be correct without checking?

I was looking at home listings online (plan on buying something as soon as I pass the bar and get a job) and came across the following description of a house:

Spacious 5 bed, 4 BA, over 2,600 s.f. with huge greatroom, 2 bedrooms- (1)is used as office (1) is used as gameroom, no closets, amwas stay, Large breakfast area, Jack & Jill bath, oversized master w/2 closets, extra large 2 car garage.

I sat there, wondering what "amwas" was. It finally hit me that the person meant "armoires". Apparently the writer must have heard someone pronounce that word in the French way and decided a phonetic spelling was good enough (though, wouldn't that then be "ahmwah"?), or they were too embarrassed to ask. (But how embarrassing is it to publish that kind of error online?)

Then I was reading a forum and saw a post announcing, "Without further adooo......"

What is wrong with people? Are they that stupid, or do they just not care? Ugh. Drives me crazy! Don't even start me on the "there/their/they're" stuff.

So Annoying!

I hate getting recorded phone calls. I detest them so much that I refuse to listen to them. My son's high school has started doing this and every Sunday evening at approximately 5:15pm I got a recorded call. As soon as I hear, "Hello from Bullard High," I hang up. UGH! If what you have to tell me is not important enough to have a live person telling me, or worth printing on paper and sending me, or even worth typing out in an email, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT!

The candidates must be spending lots of money on these recorded calls. I got one from McCain on Friday, another from him on Saturday, one from both McCain and Romney on Sunday, and FOUR calls between the two of them yesterday. I just now received another one from McCain. UGH!

I don't know of anyone who actually listens to these things. It does not seem like a very effective way to reach voters to me, unless you are trying to annoy them. Seriously McCain, stop freaking calling me! You are going to make me wish I had voted for someone else!

Victims SUCK!

No, not the victims of criminal acts. I'm talking about the people who are not really victims of anything, other than their own paranoia. You know the ones- the people who insist that they are being attacked, ridiculed, or harassed, unfairly of course. I've really had about enough of it with these "victims". There is one in particular at school that I'm thinking of. Honestly, though, I think this person is so starved for attention that for me to complain about them would probably only feed that and give them more ammunition for their victimization claims.

My words of advice- maybe you ought to just try apologizing for your own stupidity once in a while instead of trying to act like someone else conned you into it. Everyone else sees through it anyway! LOL!

Tired of Everything

Guess I'm not having a good week. Ever feel like you want to quit everything you're involved with? That's how I'm feeling. Feeling like that, and if I did, it wouldn't even matter to anyone or anything.

Right about now, going to law school seems like the stupidest thing I've ever done. I wish I would just wake up and find this was all a bad dream.

Seriously, What the Heck Did I Do as a First Year?

I can't believe I was so overwhelmed as a first year. I had a measly 4 classes (one of which was just research and writing, not even a substantive law class) and I didn't even work! Since I had all afternoon classes, I would do my reading in the mornings, and after dinner, type in my class notes (since I wasn't using my laptop in class then). I did have to spend some weekend time working on my papers when I couldn't finish them during the weeks, but for the most part, I had weekends off. How nice!

I just spent the entire morning working on my outlines for Remedies and W&T, then I'm meeting with my study partner to review Remedies. Then I need to come home and read Community Property. Unfortunately, because of the time I needed to study for that midterm, I didn't do any reading for any classes this week, and now I'm only one week ahead, AFTER I read this week's CP assignment. I need to get all of this done today because tomorrow I need to do the research for my next Advanced Research and Writing class. It's kind of annoying because instead of just telling us what to do it seems like a wild goose chase with us trying to figure out WHAT exactly we need to do.

***rant on*** What a pain! So I need to research exactly what type of motion she hinted that we need to do before I do the real research and write the paper. Excuse me, but, um, do you know I only have so many hours a week and this extra research is a real pain and it is wasting my time. I could be writing a much better paper if I used all of my time to research and write the actual paper. ***rant off***

So it doesn't appear I will have any free time this weekend. Nice way to get refreshed and energized for the coming week. Then next weekend I have to really work to get everything done, including my paper, which isn't due until November 6, because I'm going out of town the weekend before it's due and not going to work then. Lest you think it was bad planning on my part, the paper was originally due the week before (when I made the reservation), but the professor extended the date by a week. I guess in the end I should think it is the same, but it isn't because everyone else will have that extra week to improve their papers and I won't. (I can only work on them during the weekends, as my time during the week is consumed with school, work, driving, and regular reading- which I can't fall any more behind in now.)

The good news is that we are 2 months into the semester and really only have about 6 more weeks left of classes. I'm already looking forward to the time off, and only have 4 classes next semester.....like a slacking first year.

STFU POS- WTF!

Do you know what any of the above means? Chances are, since you read things online, you do. Apparently no one at DMV does.

When you order a personalized plate from DMV, you have to explain the meaning of the plate you are requesting. Obviously DMV workers are much too naive for their own good, or they are living in a cave- well, maybe both. Within the last week or so I have seen 2 cars with questionable personalized plates. Considering that you are not supposed to have obscenities on your license plate, I was amazed to see a plate reading "STFU POS". Not quite as bad was the one with "WTF" as part of the plate I saw a few days later.

C'mon DMV, get with it! I mean, WTF???

It Happened Again!

I was speaking with a local attorney at school the other night and when I mentioned I want to be a prosecutor, the response was a negative one. He proceeded to tell me of a recent graduate who after having worked with him on a case, commented to him in shock about the level of impropriety she had witnessed by the government's lawyers. This attorney then made a comment about me seeing the light.

Frankly, I don't appreciate that. Everyone certainly is entitled to their own opinion, but I'm getting tired of the notion that the government is out to entrap innocent victims and send them away unfairly. I'm not saying that there aren't cases of abuse, but that happens on both sides, and surely in every profession. Considering the extensive background checks that are done on anyone who works for the government, and the lack of such checks on privately employed lawyers, I tend to think there is more chance that the people not playing by the rules are more likely not on the government's payroll.

And even if, for the sake of argument, I did agree that the government's lawyers are overzealous and use unfair tactics (which obviously I don't agree to), doesn't it make sense that it would be a GOOD thing to have someone in there who is ethical and plays by the rules?

Not that I'm privy to everything that goes on, but I have yet to see anything questionable being done by any government attorney I have worked with. To the contrary, they all seem to go to great lengths to make sure their behavior is above reproach. Yes, I'm sure plenty will think I'm naive and simplistic in my attitude. But really, if I don't condemn your choice to work on getting your clients their freedom, regardless of their guilt or innocence, can you just stop questioning my choice?

Things I Hate

In no particular order:

• Classrooms that are so cold that I have to wear a sweater, even though it is 100 degrees outside!
• Realtors who show your home (and thus, make you spend hours cleaning it) when they know their client is looking for something your home is not. Damn looky-loos!
• Defendants, who think they are smarter than their attorneys, and who so frustrate their attorneys as to cause them to file a motion to withdraw from the case ELEVEN DAYS BEFORE TRIAL!
  

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!

I Need to GO Somewhere!

I alluded to this in my post the other day- I am dying to travel! We normally travel several times a year and I'm afraid the second year of law school was too busy to fit much into my schedule (though as I mentioned before, I did manage to squeeze in quick trips to Boston, Las Vegas and SF). I'm getting antsy and I want to go somewhere. It doesn't help matters any that it is supposed to be 110 here in a few days. UGH!

I have a final on July 17th so I should be a good girl and not plan anything until after that time. But then I have a whole month! Sure, I'll be working full time, but I can easily get off a day or 2 and create a long weekend and have some fun. I'm going to go crazy if I can't get out of town before the fall semester starts. (Well, not really, but I would become even more unpleasant than I already am right now......)

I have a tolerance for driving about 3 hours before I become annoyed, so longer than that and I'd prefer to fly. Trying to think of some decent options. Monterey is always nice, but too crowded if I go in August when all that car show stuff is going on. SF can be fun, but I'd need to make sure someone will go with me (whereas I wouldn't mind going to Monterey alone). Vegas is just too hot this time of year (believe me, I've done it!). Of course, there's always Half Moon Bay and the Ritz over there that I adore. Such a nice spa there too. Hmmm..... and good shopping within a short drive.

Ok, I need to look into this because I'm going to be very sorry if I have to stay in Fresno all summer!

Unhelpful Clerks

I made my way over to Office Max tonight to buy some light blue paper for the covers of the appellate brief that is due on Thursday. I wanted to buy 15 sheets of 8.5 x 11" paper. No big deal right? Ugh. I made my way to the back of the store where the print center is. No employees anywhere in sight. I did spot the box that held the paper I needed.....back behind the counter, against the back wall.

Another customer came along, also looking for help. I looked around for a bell or something, and nothing. Finally, I saw an employee with a headset (who didn't seem to be happy to see me). I asked him if I could get some help. He inquired to the headset which told him the person for the print center was at lunch and would be back in 25 minutes. I told him I just needed to buy some paper.

He then left to assist the other customer who said he had been there 4 times to try to pick up his order. Since he wasn't going to bother to help me, and claimed he didn't have authority to go behind the counter, I told him I wasn't going to wait 25 minutes for 15 pieces of paper and I would just go get it myself.

I walked behind their counter, went to the box, counted out 15 sheets and took them to the register up front where they promptly charged me 65 cents for my purchase and I was on my way.

Why do people insist on making things so difficult?

Construction Annoyances

I live in a gated community, and only about 3 of the 130 lots here have yet to be built. Unfortunately, one of those is right next door to me. I had hoped that maybe they wouldn't get around to starting construction until after we've moved, but I wasn't so lucky. A couple of months ago they began, and now, beginning at 7am Monday through Friday I hear the construction workers hammering, sawing, and yelling at each other. My office is right next to this lot, so I have ended up doing most of my work in my bedroom on the other side of the house. Of course, part of the bedroom sticks out away from the bulk of the house, so I don't really think the noise is any less being in here.

A couple weeks ago, one of the workers had the bright idea to bring a boombox to work. Then I had the "pleasure" of listening to their choice of music as I struggled to read such engaging subjects as Constitutional Law and Business Organization. Don't get me wrong, I love a good mariachi band as much (or more!) than the next person, but certain kinds of music are just not conducive to trying to read and/or study law! (I will admit to being one of those who cannot work with any music on however. I really need quiet or I can't concentrate!) At least the owner of the lot had told us to let him know if there was anything about the construction bothering us. The music crossed the line for me. I understand that there will be construction noise in building a new house and I can't do anything about that. But this is supposed to be a quiet community, and I shouldn't have to listen to their music 8-10 hours a day! The owner talked to the workers and the music has since been silenced. Thank goodness!

Then this morning, while in the kitchen in my pajamas, I looked out my window to see a construction worker on the roof next door, looking at me! UGH! Now I don't even have privacy in my own home! I don't feel like I can complain about this, because the music complaint could have come from anyone at our end of the lake, but if we complain about looking in the windows, it is obvious we are the ones complaining. I don't want to be retaliated against. Seriously, they are going to be building this house for the next 9 or so months. It is already driving me crazy.

I'm just hoping they can hurry up and finish the outside so most of the work left to do will be on the inside, where hopefully I won't have to hear or see it. UGH!

Disillusioned with Law School

The second year isn't the same. I just don't feel the wide-eyed excitement that I did as a first year. I suppose it is only natural. The first year everything seemed so new, plus, for me, it was fun to be back in an academic environment again after nearly 20 years. Now that the newness has thoroughly worn off, it all just seems like a huge, never-ending chore. I don't want to read, I don't want to sit through boring classes, I don't want to work on my outlines, I don't want to study for exams, and I certainly don't want to take the exams.

In the first year, part of the excitement was the unknown. Can I really make it? Will I be there for the next year? Can I compete with people half (well, almost kinda) my age? Knowing the answers takes away some of the fun. Now, it just seems like a lot of work.

Because there is so much extra work this year (my pet peeve is the schedule my law school goes by. First years can only take 20 units the entire year because the school is geared towards a 4 year program for "working adults". If you want to finish in 3 years, like most programs, you must then work yourself to death by taking 33 units the last 2 years. NOT FUN!), my motivation level has dropped. While I was eager to read everything for all my classes last year, I only do what I feel I "have" to this year. For me, that means I read for Property (because I enjoy that), and for Bus. Org. (because I don't want to be humiliated by my massively insecure professor), while I never read Tax, and only read Con. Law and Crim. Law when I'm going to have to brief in class (and know it ahead of time).

I also do not like night classes. But my school is so small that I don't have a choice. I have 3 night classes this year. I don't mind it so much if I don't have an afternoon class the same day, but two days a week, I do. It sucks, big time. Next year, assuming they use the same schedule (which they seem to always do) I will have 2 afternoon classes and one night class, plus whatever electives I end up with, so I'm thinking those will most likely be evening as well.

It's not like I really feel much to look forward to because thinking ahead 18 months is too hard right now. Hubby tried to tell me about the lawyer he knows that gets $325 an hour just reviewing contracts, and convince me I could get a job like that. Hmmm, well, I doubt that, but at this point, I can't think that far into the future.

Right now, it is all just a drag, a bore, and a chore. At least in 2 weeks I'll have a couple weeks off.

I Don't Feel So Good

Seriously, I am tired all the time and my eyes hurt. I think I need to have an eye exam and get stronger reading glasses. I normally only wear my glasses if I'm reading, or if on the computer at home. I don't normally wear them at school unless taking an exam. But it seems like my eyes are always tired/strained now, so I'm guessing that means all the legal reading has had a negative effect on them.

Well, the Bus. Org. midterm is Friday night. (What kind of sadist gives an exam on a Friday night, BTW?) I feel like I understand all the concepts, but I am far from having things memorized the way I need to. At least I have the next 2 days to work on that. I feel like skipping Tax tomorrow night, but I know I shouldn't. I think I'll bring my flashcards and study while I'm in there (instead of being just bored out of my skull).

The good news is one week from today my daughter will be here. Actually, we'll probably still be driving home from San Jose, but I will be with her, and that is all that matters to me. I'm so glad I have this to look forward to, because it makes this exam and other crap going on right now not quite so important.

Traffic

There has been road construction going on near my home for way over a year now. The first contractor was 6 months past the due date when the city council finally got around to firing them in May. I have been calling my city councilman, the public works director, and the city construction manager for months now. It took them months to get another contractor on the job. When they started in September, I thought they might actually get busy and beat their mid-November due date. Nope. They started fast and furious then left it sitting for a month.

Now, this morning, they are apparently rushing to get it finished. Idiots must run that company. Apparently they have no clue that thousands of people live north of Herndon, and surprise, actually have to cross Herndon to do things such as go to work and school! This morning, in an effort to avoid Herndon between West and Marks (which was well publicized would be down to one lane each direction), I drove across Alluvial and south on West, intending to cross Herndon and take my son to school. Much to my surprise, the entire intersection was coned off, and you could only make a right turn, the opposite direction I actually needed to be going! Fine, I thought. I'll just make a left turn at Van Ness. Of course, the traffic was down to one lane, so it took me a while to get there.

When I did make it, guess what? No left turns at Van Ness! In fact, no crossing Herndon there either. (I couldn't have made a right, and then crossed. It was coned off as well.) I got to Marks and the situation was the same. Ok, that was as much of this stupidity that I could take. I made an illegal left hand turn through 2 sets of orange construction cones.

THEN, I have to fight all the traffic down Marks and across Bullard. To get home, I used Fruit, and then had to meander through residential neighborhoods to get to Alluvial and get home. WHAT A FRICKING MESS!

On the way to class this afternoon, the city had a "No through traffic" sign posted at Alluvial and West. How the heck did they expect me to be able to get to the other side of Herndon? Give me a break! I called the city's public works department on my break at school to complain. I don't understand how they can shut down a major street and not provide a clear detour or details about how they are doing it.

My only consolation is that apparently, this whole fiasco is supposed to be done on Thursday. After about 18 months of dealing with torn up streets, orange cones and unfinished medians, I don't know if I believe it. I have no idea how I'm supposed to get my son to school tomorrow, so I guess I'll drive through that residential neighborhood again, thinking it is most likely to not be shut down.

What a pain!