1. My back hurts. A lot. Like I can't sit or stand or lie down it hurts so bad.
2. I've now mailed out a total of 96 paper resumes, 13 job fair resumes, and submitted 60 resumes on line through career services.
3. I have a total of 4 interviews out of 169 resumes so far.
4. That 4 does not include the phone call I just got from one of the more interesting firms. It was bad. Very very bad. For catching me off guard and unprepared and hopped up on pain medications, it was still bad.
5. I have to work tonight.
6. In one week I will be 30.
Can I go crawl under something and cry now please?
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
busybusybusy
Slow day on the resume front...I've only got 13 more to send out. All for a job fair in October.
Think happy interview thoughts tomorrow at 11:00 AM EST. This one is for a research assisting job for the fall, but still, it'll look good on the resume.
Other than that, I am feeling oddly overwhelmed. Tomorrow is gong to be a long day. I've got classes, an interview, and an Aikido demonstration. Ugh. Trying to figure out what I need to bring with me on top of doing reading, preparing resumes, and starting research for my paper has got me pretty well maxed out.
I think this semester is going to be pretty ok. I like my classes, even though First Amendment kind of scares me. This whole job search thing is kind of iffy, but for some reason having aikido and kendo as a release seems to be really helping. I know I can push past my limits, and for all that the whole job search thing can be really demoralizing, I know I can push through this and come out with what I want on the other end.
Think happy interview thoughts tomorrow at 11:00 AM EST. This one is for a research assisting job for the fall, but still, it'll look good on the resume.
Other than that, I am feeling oddly overwhelmed. Tomorrow is gong to be a long day. I've got classes, an interview, and an Aikido demonstration. Ugh. Trying to figure out what I need to bring with me on top of doing reading, preparing resumes, and starting research for my paper has got me pretty well maxed out.
I think this semester is going to be pretty ok. I like my classes, even though First Amendment kind of scares me. This whole job search thing is kind of iffy, but for some reason having aikido and kendo as a release seems to be really helping. I know I can push past my limits, and for all that the whole job search thing can be really demoralizing, I know I can push through this and come out with what I want on the other end.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Resume hell
I have spent half the day researching employers and preparing 53 resumes, cover letters and transcripts to mail out. Ooof. I have, in the process, learned the following:
1 - I need more stamps
2 - it's wrong somehow that toner and printer ink cost more than buying a new printer
3 - glue mouth is a serious problem
4 - the ink jet printer is way too slow. Way. Too. Slow.
5 - paper cuts on the tongue suck
I did make a trip over to the outlet mall this morning though and got a new suit from Ann Taylor. Yay me! I don't exactly have 5 interviews a day or anything, but I have enough coming up that I feel justified in not wanting to wear the same suit all the time. And I'll need it this summer. I'm actually starting to like the whole suit concept. I still need a brown suit and a grey one, and then I should be set for the whole suit wardrobe thing for a while.
1 - I need more stamps
2 - it's wrong somehow that toner and printer ink cost more than buying a new printer
3 - glue mouth is a serious problem
4 - the ink jet printer is way too slow. Way. Too. Slow.
5 - paper cuts on the tongue suck
I did make a trip over to the outlet mall this morning though and got a new suit from Ann Taylor. Yay me! I don't exactly have 5 interviews a day or anything, but I have enough coming up that I feel justified in not wanting to wear the same suit all the time. And I'll need it this summer. I'm actually starting to like the whole suit concept. I still need a brown suit and a grey one, and then I should be set for the whole suit wardrobe thing for a while.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Half way there
Half way through the first week anyway...and oddly enough I still have not been to two of my classes. They both meet only once a week, on Thursday and Friday. I find this odd, but there it is.
I already feel like I have slightly more work than I can handle, figuring in job searching, actual work, and my lingering need for a life outside law school. I can't imagine how I would be holding up if I had completed the journal competition and been selected for one of the journals. Not well is my best guess, and based on what I see my classmates enduring I'm pretty sure I'm right. Even so, I feel kind of left out. I'm not a journal. I've only got one interview scheduled so far out of the first two rounds of on campus interviewing, and I'm finding it difficult to be pleased with what I have accomplished. My one interview and few spots as an alternate, whatever that means, compare rather poorly with six or eight interviews I see my classmates going on. But I suppose this is how the other half of the class lives, the half of the class no one ever talks about or prepares you to be a part of, the half of the class that feel left behind yet still must find some way through the maze of summer job hunting.
The odd thing about all this is that I seem to have a sense of calm about it all. After my legal skills class on Tuesday night, where I was inflicted with a large number of time consuming and pointless writing assignments, I drove down to VA Beach, and somewhere on that drive I found a calm place. Yes, this is a huge amount of work and I am stressed about some of it, but it is what it is, I've accepted that, and I am weirdly calm in the chaos that is the second year of law school. They scared me to death last year, but I think I've overcome that fear, or at least taken some pretty major steps in overcoming it.
Things are still relatively calm, so this weekend I plan to focus on my job search, pack, and do some knitting. Not a bad plan really, and it will leave me a few cycles free to think about a paper topic for privacy seminar.
Speaking of which, if anyone has a technology related privacy question or issue that you find particularly interesting or troublesome, please leave a comment. I'm trying to find ideas that are relevant to a wider audience than legal professionals, and hopefully that take advantage of my work experience.
I already feel like I have slightly more work than I can handle, figuring in job searching, actual work, and my lingering need for a life outside law school. I can't imagine how I would be holding up if I had completed the journal competition and been selected for one of the journals. Not well is my best guess, and based on what I see my classmates enduring I'm pretty sure I'm right. Even so, I feel kind of left out. I'm not a journal. I've only got one interview scheduled so far out of the first two rounds of on campus interviewing, and I'm finding it difficult to be pleased with what I have accomplished. My one interview and few spots as an alternate, whatever that means, compare rather poorly with six or eight interviews I see my classmates going on. But I suppose this is how the other half of the class lives, the half of the class no one ever talks about or prepares you to be a part of, the half of the class that feel left behind yet still must find some way through the maze of summer job hunting.
The odd thing about all this is that I seem to have a sense of calm about it all. After my legal skills class on Tuesday night, where I was inflicted with a large number of time consuming and pointless writing assignments, I drove down to VA Beach, and somewhere on that drive I found a calm place. Yes, this is a huge amount of work and I am stressed about some of it, but it is what it is, I've accepted that, and I am weirdly calm in the chaos that is the second year of law school. They scared me to death last year, but I think I've overcome that fear, or at least taken some pretty major steps in overcoming it.
Things are still relatively calm, so this weekend I plan to focus on my job search, pack, and do some knitting. Not a bad plan really, and it will leave me a few cycles free to think about a paper topic for privacy seminar.
Speaking of which, if anyone has a technology related privacy question or issue that you find particularly interesting or troublesome, please leave a comment. I'm trying to find ideas that are relevant to a wider audience than legal professionals, and hopefully that take advantage of my work experience.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Year 2, Day 1
Ok so I haven't actually been to class yet, but I have been on campus with other students long enough now to feel like none of us ever left. Weird. Except that I don't have 150 pages of reading to catch up on, it's the same as last year. Well, that and everyone I know is not in the exact same set of classes, but still.
So far, so good I guess. I did the reading for my first class (First Amendment), which is this afternoon, and per usual, understood almost none of it. I gave up when the book started trying to define the word "the." Ugh. With any luck, I will be spared getting called on this first week, that should be long enough for me to figure out what in the hell the professor wants us to be getting out of the reading.
I already have one job interview lined up for summer work next year too. This makes me very happy, especially since I am on the wrong side of the curve. At least I know a few firms are looking at more than my grades, that's encouraging. The firms in Maine, but it sounds like a really good work environment so a move might not be so bad. We'll see, at least it's an interview.
Last night I did my first kendo belt test, and got promoted! Yay me! It was a pretty intense workout, but not nearly as scary as my aikido test. Of course, it helped that I wasn't coming off a Con Law exam, and had some idea of what to expect from a belt test. In some ways, I think the actual test is more about pushing past your limits and working through physical exhaustion. I certainly did that, I managed to push myself to the next level and it's nice to have some recognition for having done that.
Overall, this is a pretty good way to start the year off. I have an interview, so I have hope for my career. I have a new belt, so I know I can push through anything and win the battle in the end. The strength is there, I just need to stay focused on the feeling I have right now, and that I had last night, and I'll be fine.
Oh! And I got my apartment in Newport News! Hurray! My parents have to co-sign the lease, which is sad seeing as I'm almost 30, but understandable since I'm living off student loans and appear to have no income of any kind. If all goes as planned, I'll be moving at the end of next month.
So far, so good I guess. I did the reading for my first class (First Amendment), which is this afternoon, and per usual, understood almost none of it. I gave up when the book started trying to define the word "the." Ugh. With any luck, I will be spared getting called on this first week, that should be long enough for me to figure out what in the hell the professor wants us to be getting out of the reading.
I already have one job interview lined up for summer work next year too. This makes me very happy, especially since I am on the wrong side of the curve. At least I know a few firms are looking at more than my grades, that's encouraging. The firms in Maine, but it sounds like a really good work environment so a move might not be so bad. We'll see, at least it's an interview.
Last night I did my first kendo belt test, and got promoted! Yay me! It was a pretty intense workout, but not nearly as scary as my aikido test. Of course, it helped that I wasn't coming off a Con Law exam, and had some idea of what to expect from a belt test. In some ways, I think the actual test is more about pushing past your limits and working through physical exhaustion. I certainly did that, I managed to push myself to the next level and it's nice to have some recognition for having done that.
Overall, this is a pretty good way to start the year off. I have an interview, so I have hope for my career. I have a new belt, so I know I can push through anything and win the battle in the end. The strength is there, I just need to stay focused on the feeling I have right now, and that I had last night, and I'll be fine.
Oh! And I got my apartment in Newport News! Hurray! My parents have to co-sign the lease, which is sad seeing as I'm almost 30, but understandable since I'm living off student loans and appear to have no income of any kind. If all goes as planned, I'll be moving at the end of next month.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
I hate waiting
Today, we are waiting for the mechanic to call and let me know when my poor little Accord will be better. The check engine light flipped on last week, and it turns out that both O2 sensors are shot, and need to be replaced. I'm not looking forward to having to pay for this, but oh well. The mechanic seemed to think it'd be somewhere around $450. Ouch. At least I get my loan refund checks this week, that's something. With any luck, he'll get the parts today and I take Toto home tonight and not be carless for another day but we'll see.
I'm also waiting to find out for sure if my apartment application got approved at the complex I'm trying to move in to. I'm hoping they are just being slow about it because my move in date is not till the end of September, but I am paranoid. And really, I faxed over all my financial paperwork on Friday, so that's Wednesday it really no big deal I guess. But still.
Not a whole lot is going on with fiber just now. I've been spinning away at 8 ounces of CVM I had in my stash. It's got a lot of noils in it, which I find vaguely annoying, but I think it will make a nice lightly felted something, should have a interesting tweedy effect once it's done and plyed. I'm almost done with the backgammon board. I pretty much memorized the short row pattern so it's going pretty fast, perfect for the little chunks of time I have to knit, before passing out.
Aside from car problems, residential uncertainty, and not much else, classes start on Monday and I am very sad to say I do not get any sort of time off. I'm pissed. I have to work Friday all day at both jobs, then do stupid tours, and I have to work again on Sunday before going to Kendo and doing my best to survive a belt test. Ugh. I suspect the belt test won't be so bad as my aikido test was, especially since I won't be coming off a Con Law exam, but still. It's just more stick and there's no carrot in sight. I really need something to look forward to in the way of a pleasant and relaxing evening at least.
I'm also waiting to find out for sure if my apartment application got approved at the complex I'm trying to move in to. I'm hoping they are just being slow about it because my move in date is not till the end of September, but I am paranoid. And really, I faxed over all my financial paperwork on Friday, so that's Wednesday it really no big deal I guess. But still.
Not a whole lot is going on with fiber just now. I've been spinning away at 8 ounces of CVM I had in my stash. It's got a lot of noils in it, which I find vaguely annoying, but I think it will make a nice lightly felted something, should have a interesting tweedy effect once it's done and plyed. I'm almost done with the backgammon board. I pretty much memorized the short row pattern so it's going pretty fast, perfect for the little chunks of time I have to knit, before passing out.
Aside from car problems, residential uncertainty, and not much else, classes start on Monday and I am very sad to say I do not get any sort of time off. I'm pissed. I have to work Friday all day at both jobs, then do stupid tours, and I have to work again on Sunday before going to Kendo and doing my best to survive a belt test. Ugh. I suspect the belt test won't be so bad as my aikido test was, especially since I won't be coming off a Con Law exam, but still. It's just more stick and there's no carrot in sight. I really need something to look forward to in the way of a pleasant and relaxing evening at least.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Thought for the day
"All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one, you need not covet it), is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone."
- Jane Austen (Persuasion)
- Jane Austen (Persuasion)
Thursday, August 10, 2006
The Tower and The Star (and also a sheep)
I've been out here in Virginia for over a year. In a few weeks, I will be 30. Needless to say, I've been doing a lot of thinking and evaluating of my life so far. Right now, it seems as though it all happened to someone else and I was just watching it all. Nothing seems quite real, and I do not know what is a dream and what is real. I am sick in body and soul, but this is all there is and I must carry on tyring to make the best of it.
Before I left, I had a tarot reading. That reading has stayed with me this last year, and has proved to eerily prophetic. The cards said I would find a place here, that someone would be waiting for me here, but that I would suffer (The Tower figured large) and that I would be alone and isolated. It's strange how card after card from that reading has come in to my life over the last year. Nothing has gone as I had hoped, half of what I touch turns to dust, and I find myself being in some critical way incompatible with much of my life, or at the very least removed from it. But The Star was there too, there is a light at the end of this. Between where I stand today and that small light, there are many obstructions, but I have to hold on to the hope it represents, and I have to trust that I will see it again soon.
For now, classes start again on the 21st, I am looking to move into a smaller but nicer place further away from campus, and I am trying to cling to what hope and what light I can. And I am trying to be content with what I have and find stillness again.
There's been enough stick, I am ready for a little of that carrot now, please.
The Rockstar Sweater is totally done and made it back to California, where it was very well received. The final sweater looked very sad and lumpy until I got it blocked and tired it on (sorry E, how I could I resist?) when it turned into a very nice, shapely and lovely little thing I am almost inspired to knit for myself. Almost. Maybe. If I do it in the round.
Right now, I am working on a backgammon board from KnitWhits, which is turning out to be a lot of fun to knit. This will be my brothers Christmas gift I think. I'm going to try to (finally) finish the Orenburg shawl I started from my SIL last year in time for that to be her Christmas gift, leaving me with just a pair of socks to knit for dad and a couple of washcloths until I am done with holiday knitting. Yay for that! And double yay for being close to having time to knit myself a cozy new sweater from the latest IK for fall!
Before I left, I had a tarot reading. That reading has stayed with me this last year, and has proved to eerily prophetic. The cards said I would find a place here, that someone would be waiting for me here, but that I would suffer (The Tower figured large) and that I would be alone and isolated. It's strange how card after card from that reading has come in to my life over the last year. Nothing has gone as I had hoped, half of what I touch turns to dust, and I find myself being in some critical way incompatible with much of my life, or at the very least removed from it. But The Star was there too, there is a light at the end of this. Between where I stand today and that small light, there are many obstructions, but I have to hold on to the hope it represents, and I have to trust that I will see it again soon.
For now, classes start again on the 21st, I am looking to move into a smaller but nicer place further away from campus, and I am trying to cling to what hope and what light I can. And I am trying to be content with what I have and find stillness again.
There's been enough stick, I am ready for a little of that carrot now, please.
The Rockstar Sweater is totally done and made it back to California, where it was very well received. The final sweater looked very sad and lumpy until I got it blocked and tired it on (sorry E, how I could I resist?) when it turned into a very nice, shapely and lovely little thing I am almost inspired to knit for myself. Almost. Maybe. If I do it in the round.
Right now, I am working on a backgammon board from KnitWhits, which is turning out to be a lot of fun to knit. This will be my brothers Christmas gift I think. I'm going to try to (finally) finish the Orenburg shawl I started from my SIL last year in time for that to be her Christmas gift, leaving me with just a pair of socks to knit for dad and a couple of washcloths until I am done with holiday knitting. Yay for that! And double yay for being close to having time to knit myself a cozy new sweater from the latest IK for fall!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
And she knits!
The Rockstar sweater is finally almost done! Hurray! I just have to do the sleeve cap, then sew the whole thing together, and its finished and can get sent off to it's owner. I'm very glad to have this project almost done. It's taken forever. Or at least it feels like it has. The design is nice, but the pattern is kind of hard to follow. Once I got the hang of the lace, which took the whole back, a front section, and most of the second front section, it went faster but I still have to look at the chart to keep track of where I am.
I'm starting to plan out my next projects. I have a few UFO's I want to get knocked out, a couple more holiday gifts to do, then I am going to make at least one of the sweaters from the fall issue of IK. There are at least a half dozen sweaters in the issue I want. Good job IK! This is easily my favorite issue in recent memory. For some reason, they just seem to be getting better. I'm finding more things I want to make in each issue.
School starts in just 3 weeks, so I am trying to get as much knitting and goofing off in as I can. Not having a lot of luck with the goofing off part, working 2 jobs will do that, but I'm thinking about taking a day and heading down to the Outerbanks for a brewery tour or something sometime before school starts up. We'll see if that ends up working out.
I'm starting to plan out my next projects. I have a few UFO's I want to get knocked out, a couple more holiday gifts to do, then I am going to make at least one of the sweaters from the fall issue of IK. There are at least a half dozen sweaters in the issue I want. Good job IK! This is easily my favorite issue in recent memory. For some reason, they just seem to be getting better. I'm finding more things I want to make in each issue.
School starts in just 3 weeks, so I am trying to get as much knitting and goofing off in as I can. Not having a lot of luck with the goofing off part, working 2 jobs will do that, but I'm thinking about taking a day and heading down to the Outerbanks for a brewery tour or something sometime before school starts up. We'll see if that ends up working out.
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