My last hour of work is spent in my office, frantically sending myself 30+ documents of work I've completed (who knows if it's anything I'll ever use again, or if I'll even be proud of it when I look at it again), and deleting my personal and non-work related e-mails and voice mails. I almost forgot to enter my time from the last 2 weeks. Oops.

The firm is 2 doors down having a "wine and cheese party." I got some cheese, and some coconut shrimp, and a skewer of some kind of spicy chicken. I did NOT get wine - b/c of the whole "giving something up for 40 days will make me a better person" ridiculousness that I somehow allowed myself to get swept along into. Whatever.

I've said bye to those I've worked closest with. I've given the firm feedback; they told me they loved me and thought I was just great (ha, I bet they say that to all their law clerks). I had lunch with an associate, and that was nice - kind of funny how I felt so much more at home in a place where I ran downstairs to the Au Bon Pain for soup at some point between 12 and 2 than I did at summer firm, where I was wined and dined almost daily. Today was my first experience back at a fancy-pants lunch place with a lawyer from a firm since ... August. Fortunately, I can still eat like a human.

I've gotten more warnings about the insane hours I will be facing down at Future Firm than I care to count, but by the end I was ready to come back (respectfully, of course) with a recitation of the hours that people HERE work. I mean, seriously. No one here is 9-5. No. One. And I'm guessing they make .... 50% of what people at Future Firm make at a comparable stage in their career --- that # is gleaned from conversations with people who left large firms and landed here - I did not pull it out of my butt.

I got some bar exam advice: don't take Trusts & Estates; do take PMBR. okeedokee then.

Well, it's almost time to go pick up the zipcar. This is my last blog post from work! OR at least, this work.

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 4:30 PM 0 comments

7 hours, 40 minutes

That's how much longer I have at this job.

Transitions are always a big deal for me. My countdowns always start far in advance - and I recognize that sometimes I hurt myself in one way or another by doing this. Sometimes it's only emotionally, because I don't enjoy what I'm doing NOW because I'm too busy counting down to what I do NEXT. Sometimes it's professionally, because once I start counting down, the effort I put in is not as solid as it was before I realized a change was coming. Sloppiness ensues.

I've had a few minor mishaps here since the countdown began - one of them (accidentally sending an unfinished e-mail to a partner) had more to do with my rush to get everything done in time than it did with a bad attitude. All in all, however, I think I've had a good experience and am leaving with a good impression in my wake. I've had offers for references, and I've enjoyed a few of the women here and their interest in mentoring me as one of the future Women Lawyers in this town. I hope to run into them again.

My office is cleaned out. I started on Tuesday - bringing home shoes and water bottles. The last items (which I already put in my bag to bring home today) include: a lint brush; photos of the girls; a mirror; a final pair of shoes; and a notebook I've been using for personal jottings and musings. Oh yeah, shit, and a suit jacket. I didn't want to have to lug that home today.

I've organized the files I'm leaving in my wake with sticky notes identifying the supervising attorney; and I'm spend the rest of the day finalizing and editing the Big Project that I've been working on. It has the potential to be my first publication credit, so I need to do my best to pass it on in good shape.

I am grateful for this co-op. I believe that it taught me a lot more than I expected it could. I learned not only practice-oriented tips (i.e., billable time), but also a lot of substantive law in Massachusetts, in a wide range of practice areas. I was able to experience trial prep for the first time, and to sit in on the trial. I've done things that are considered more "academic" than I thought.

And, as Beloved said on my way out the door - it's my last day, of my last co-op, in my last year of school. WOO HOO!!

Labels: co-op, law school, life

posted by Zuska @ 9:18 AM 0 comments

Thursday, February 22, 2007

I can see where the WALLS end, let alone the light

Oh yeah, I'm just about done here. I am actually going to spend the next 2 hours cleaning up my office - getting ready to DEPART, and then will work on my final project tomorrow if I don't have time to revisit it today.

I'm feeling pretty good.

I also had some relatively happy news about my future firm. Now I'm too giddy to work. (It has NOTHING to do with money or salary increases, a game I would prefer my future firm stays out of).

I've been having fun commenting back and forth with a Housewife recently. Wondering if I would be posting her posts, if I stayed on the old path. I don't think, though, that I could have stayed on the old path. The old path was not my friend, and I was not its friend. A commenter over there had said that when she was a working mom, she was more tense and when she quit her job, even her kids noticed the change in her. I am just the plum opposite. I am a better mom when doing Other Things.

I also really like the example that is being set for my kids -- not just that they can do anything they want with their lives - and make it work (not at the expense of other Important Things), but also that they can hope for a true partner in life, who is not so married to stereotypes and the image of a "macho man" that he (if they choose a he) is limited in the forms of support he (or she) can offer and the role he can play in creating and managing a home.

And all of us different kinds of moms will show our children different choices, and they will make choices that are for different reasons and in different ways from each other and the world will continue to be interesting. Hopefully even MORE interesting than it is now. Because some things right now sorta stink.

Labels: co-op, working mom

posted by Zuska @ 2:26 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Forty-Seven

I ran my errands across downtown Boston to return a file to the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency ... what a good day for that! It was so warm outside! I didn't have on gloves, or a hat, or a scarf, or anything.

I even unbuttoned my coat on the way back.

47 degrees, they say. Huh.

The only downside was that a lot of roofs had water dripping off them to such an extent that it felt like rain. But who cares.

We have a chance of snowish rainish muck again tonight - our weather of the year. We have another opportunity for muck on Thursday. Yet, there are no ridiculously frigid temperatures in the near future.

ALSO --- I said no to an attorney today. He was someone I had never worked for before, so I really don't know how he took it. I'd already gotten a 3:30 phone call with a "please do this today" request, and his came at 4:15 to say "I need this in an hour." I could have called the other attorney and weighed the priorities, but if I do hers in the morning, then my other schedule is all fucked up (remember? the one about the BIG project?), and then I won't get done before I leave.

So I said no.

Labels: co-op, weather

posted by Zuska @ 4:43 PM 0 comments

4 days left

Or is it really 3? I mean, it's already 1/2 way through Tuesday, so I really only have W, Th, F left, right?

I am ready to be done here. The stint has run its course, and I have 2 pesky things to finish, and then I'm done - really and truly done. I want to walk away. I feel ready to walk away. Let me clean up my office and GO.

I hope to finish my big project between today and tomorrow, use Thursday to finish a smaller project, and Friday to clean out the office, enter time records, and try to track down westlaw approval signatures that I should have been collecting all along (unbeknownst to me ... the training has got to fix that next go-round). If today is any indication, people are no longer stopping by with new assignments. I think if they try, I'm going to have to tell them no. I'm not sure that's really smiled on, but I honestly am not out to collect smiles at this stage of the game. I'd rather have them mutter under their breath about having to do their own damned research than having them write on my evaluation that I accepted assignments and didn't complete them.

Yeah, I'm ready to go. My typical co-op arc. I start with a pretty blah attitude, slowly get acclimated and feel on top of the world, and then as my time peters out - I get more and more ready for it to do so.

Buh bye.

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 1:16 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The other reality is sinking in.

Oh, the dual-life of the co-op system. What joy. What rapture. (What sarcasm.)

I am used to coming to work every day. I am used to the routine and the lifestyle (that which comes with a paycheck). Yet, it is coming time to pull up stakes and head back to school.

Right now, school feels like it's in the way. I wish it were over with. I wish that it was already a year from now, and that my work wasn't something temporary, but that I was settled and staying in one place for the foreseeable future.

I read Lyco's recent post -- which I am calling "about graduation" but it was really about how darned cute and funny Lyco is -- wherein she pointed out to the world how many days there are until graduation for most law schools. Mine is 4 days after hers.

I have yet to START my classes. They don't start until March 5. I have to start and finish my classes in approximately 100 days. That sounds super short.

Also, I don't have time to graduate. I think that if it weren't for the fact that there are other people in my life who DO care, I wouldn't care to attend the ceremony.

J's birthday is the day before graduation. She wants a party, but it would be pretty hard to be split between my graduation and her birthday party. Perhaps we'll do something for her the weekend after, but we wanted to go to the Cape that weekend. So then maybe we'll do something the weekend before, but oops - that's when I have final exams.

Basically, school and graduation is in my way. I don't want it. I'm done.

And don't even mention the stupid bar exam and the prep classes. Geez. Does it have to be EVERY DAY???

Labels: co-op, graduation, law school

posted by Zuska @ 9:26 AM 0 comments

Monday, January 29, 2007

The Culmination.

Today was Day One of the trial I've been assisting with. It was very interesting. It was the first time I'd seen a jury impaneled. It was also the first federal court trial I've witnessed in the flesh. I can't imagine how it will feel when (and if) it's me who is sitting up at the counsel table, watching all these things you've planned for, hoped for, hoped AGAINST, and worked toward coming to fruition. When so much rides on a witness' demeanor, a judge's mood as to what evidence to let in and what to keep out -- just so many unpredictable factors. I found it nerve-wracking sitting back in the gallery! I can't imaging being at the table. The younger of the associates I've been working with assured me that after the first year or two of practicing - and ALWAYS being the gallery, I'll be more than ready to deal with the nerves for the sake of finally getting to sit at the table.

I have no doubt that he's right.

In other news, our wedding rings came today.

In other news, I have a very sore throat. I was on and off sicker than just a sore throat. After eating lunch, I felt like a truck may have slammed into me. I had a cup of tea, and that helped me to feel better. Then I did more work. And more work. And more work.

And tonight? More work. Laundry and cleaning and straightening and cleaning and laundry.

But this is a short week, since we're going to the Cape, and getting married.

Yee haw!!

Labels: co-op, life, wedding

posted by Zuska @ 6:26 PM 1 comments

Friday, January 19, 2007

antsies in my pantsies

I hate waiting. I had a decent morning with the kiddos and Beloved this a.m., a decent commute, a decent start to my work day, and THEN I remembered that I should really be getting my stupid grades in the early part of the day.

I'm involved in a new project at work, which is growing. I now am becoming (slightly) knowledgeable on the world of Life Insurance. I'm serious, if there's an interesting set of facts behind it, I can find even the driest aspects of law exciting.

I received my bar prep invoice via e-mail yesterday (I'm sure I'm not the only one) which prompted me to reconnect with some of my friends from the summer (since it made me think of Future Firm). I found some good ones :) Some in town, some not, but all great to hear from and catch up with, and it makes me excited for the fall.

It snowed here this a.m. for all of 8 minutes. Stupid Non-Winter New England.

Labels: co-op, law school, life

posted by Zuska @ 10:17 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

A Dose of Reality

Today, my phone rang at 3:38. "Zuska, we have to file these papers by 5, and I need a few quick research things done, do you have 20 minutes or so?" Sure, I say, I do. But at 3:58 (20 minutes later), we were working on revisions, and I was proofing the briefs. Then my phone rang again, a different person, "Zuska, we are in a real tough spot here, and need some emergency research, can you come down and talk to me?" I explain ... brief due at 5, helping out with some last minute reviews, can I be there in 10 minutes? Yes, I can.

Well, the second assignment was NOT proof-reading. Some folks were in trial all day, had a wacky issue thrown at them, and needed some kind of answer ASAP. Which they got ... at 7:30 p.m. I mean, it was a REALLY wacky issue. It was so wacky, it had never been touched on in my state. So I had to cobble some different things together from multiple sources, and come up with a persuasive "argument." Rather than authority.

What was I *supposed* to be doing at 7:30? Oh, cleaning the kitchen up after dinner. Which I was to buy on the way home. You know, dinner? For my family?

Fortunately, my Beloved is a wonderful wonderful person who didn't seem to even BLINK when he got the call that I had an emergency at work and couldn't leave. The girls were already slated to meet him at a convenient spot (e. is old enough now to leave after-school care on her own, go pick up her sister, and take her home or other places. It's always been other (closer) places thus far. I'm not quite ready to have latch-key kids.)

All reports are that they had a great time, and were happy and not upset about my absence. Which is a good thing.

I told them when I got home, "if I were a real lawyer already, in the midst of a trial, I would be getting home, oh, 6 hours from now."

I really did get have an e-mail in my inbox this a.m. that was date-stamped 3:41 a.m. And that wasn't for the trial going on THIS week, it was for the one in two weeks.

What have I gotten myself into?

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 10:03 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I am not an interesting person

Seriously, I have NOTHING to say. I could talk to a little bit about evidence, and some of the issues surrounding excessive force claims by prisoners - what is often seen as relevant, what is not. What is seen as prejudicial, what is not - but really, it all depends on the trial judge's discretion, so ... i don't even have much to say there.

Would you like to know a wee bit about the new regulations in my state pertaining to wastewater, and how it applies to the biotech field? I hope not, b/c I haven't been able to make heads or tails of that yet. It's not written in English, that much I can tell you.

How about a list of every single state and federal statute and regulation that may apply to stored value cards? I'm about to see if that list is in any way diminished or extended when the little word "non-profit" is thrown into the mix. Curious? Either am I.

I can tell you that my state tends to enforce both choice of law AND forum selection clauses, unless the judge doesn't want to (i.e., it's "against public policy" or "unreasonable or unjust," which anyone who's been through Contracts knows means "the judge can do whatever he wants.")

I also can tell you a wee bit about fatty tumors. Just don't expect a lot of medical lingo from me, b/c I don't understand that part AND I can't get the full text article without paying for it, which I'm not sure the firm wants to do. I just know that they MAY occur because of genetics, and they MAY occur as a result of an injury, or even, some contend, can be caused by some anti-inflammatory medications - although really, I've only seen one story where that happened, and that was on a discussion board.

Really, not that interesting. Busy, and relatively happy. But not interesting.

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 9:38 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Less Than 100%

I went out to dinner with a friend last night. It went pretty quickly, since 1) it's a busy restaurant and they tend to push you through pretty quick, and 2) we both had 2 kids we wanted to get home in order to kiss goodnight. While we were there, I ate a fantastic root veggie dish (beets, yummy!) and drank ONE beer. A normal beer. Not a triple or a double or anything fancy at all.

I actually shouldn't have had even one beer, b/c toward the end of the day, and especially on the T ride home, I wasn't feeling so well. I thought it was just motion sickness, b/c the driver of my train seemed to be competing for the title of "Most Riders Thrown Across the Train During Commute Hours." In my experience, this driver was the second runner up. But I still felt funky when I got home - after picking up the kids and walking probably .5 miles. I thought perhaps it was more than just motion sickness ....

But I never can abstain while others order a beer, so I ordered ONE with my friend.

When I got home, I felt dizzy. I think it even started at home. The room was slightly spinning. It was NOT a drunk-dizzy. I just felt .... off. Like something was kinda wrong. Then I started to feel nauseous. So I got in bed with a book, and went to sleep pretty quick, pretty early. I just conked out.

I woke a few times in the night, feeling squeamish still. I didn't go running this a.m., b/c I didn't trust my stomach, and didn't want to push it before work - I think I'd rather die than call in sick after taking a week off.

I still feel just a little off. Every now and then I feel dizzy, and my stomach feels less than stable. I had a cup of tea, and that helped, but I feel exhausted - which is probably more from the lack of early morning running-juices, rather than from a lack of sleep (since I slept long and hard last night). So I'm having coffee on top of the tea.

I was tempted to get an onion bagel with cream cheese -- "to settle the stomach" -- but I am trying so hard to stay away from white flour stuff (it goes hand-in-hand with the running), and it probably would NOT settle my stomach, so I resisted that temptation.

Now I'm at work, and I am able to read and work. So I assume I'm fine.

I had a kind of daunting conversation with a partner here I've been working with. It was about Future Firm. I sort of found through my interview process for this co-op that smaller firms LOVE to pick on the biggies. They LOVE to. I found a few small-firm partners to be quite unprofessional in their joking. Something similar to saying "ha ha - you're going to work at Crav-Ass! Get it? Cravath, CravASS?? Ha ha." [I picked them b/c they're the first firm that doesn't have a presence in Boston that popped into my mind --- not at all to imply that I'm going to work at a Cravath-type firm]. What I've gotten here is more of the "I hope you're ready for super-long hours!" and "Well, if that's the type of thing you want, more power to ya." Stuff like that. This firm isn't tiny, and they have an excellent reputation, and most of the partners and associates have come from the large firms in town (you know, when they didn't make the partner cut ... or perhaps when they got sick of the hours .... or perhaps when they decided they'd rather see the inside of a court room, rather than spend hours and hours doing discovery review).

This morning's conversation was about the unlikelihood of making partner, and how I should talk to the people here who came from Future Firm. I told her "no thank you!" I'm locked in with my offer and acceptance ... I don't want to go and listen to the reasons why it won't work out for me. I made my decision with the information available to me, and with my family's well-being in mind (financial and otherwise). I don't need to hear stories from people who perhaps made the same decision and for whatever reason --- it didn't work out. My experience won't be their experience -- it will be MY experience. I will have MY relationships with the people I work with; I will have MY chemistry with the firm and its culture.

Furthermore, the firm (as all work places) is changing. Those who graduated law school in the late 80s or early 90s went to a different place than I'm going to in '07. Geez, in the late 80s or early 90s, there's no way in hell that I would be going to Future Firm from my school. They would have laughed uproarously at the idea of hiring someone from a non-top 10. The hilarity of it!!!

I'm well aware that this path may not be a straight one. There may be plenty of curves and bumps. But it is my path. I want to go down it with hope and optimism, not regret and fear.

Labels: co-op, health, working mom

posted by Zuska @ 9:31 AM 1 comments

Monday, December 18, 2006

as you can tell ...

Work is slow today. I have 2 projects to plod through (nothing pressing - I have all week to do one, and until this co-op is over to do the other), and I'm happy to have them here, but am not feeling too rushed about them. I would rather drag them out then rush to get them done, and then have nothing.

It is the week before Christmas, and Chanukah is NOW - I think things are winding down. Almost everyone I've spoke with is taking next week off, including ME!! I am not expecting this week to be too busy. Perhaps it will surprise me, and if so, that's okay (as long as I can leave at 5 or before today, tomorrow, and Thursday).

Last week got so intense. I really do thrive on intensity. There was one time where I was in such a hurry to meet all the deadlines that I rushed finding an answer, and wasn't spot-on, but I caught it before I turned it over to the attorney who assigned it, so all was well. Otherwise, I think I do better work when pressed.

I am not goign to stress over the fact that this week is slower. I am going to enjoy it. I know that I am going to get work, I'm confident about the work product I've turned in thus far, and I have enough stress and chaos going on in the personal life with the holidays that I think I should enjoy and bask in any quietness on the work front.

I'm gonna go plod through one of my projects now ....

Labels: co-op, holidays

posted by Zuska @ 9:53 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Holiday Week

I posted a couple of weeks ago about the question surrounding the girls' holiday plans. The final decision is that they are NOT traveling.

So then I realized ... FUCK! They have the week off, and I am, um, on co-op. Meaning, 9-5, at the least, and only have Christmas Day off.

i thought, "well, perhaps I can take off 2 extra days" - the days Beloved regularly works. But before I could mention it to him, he filled me in on HIS holiday situation - they need craploads of help that week, b/c all the college students are going home for the holiday.

crap crap crap.

I decided, however - this is a *co-op* - it is a temporary arrangement. I do not owe them the loyalty that I may owe someone with whom I had a long-term relationship.

I also remembered last year ... how Christmas week was so dead at the office. I did not think it made much sense to struggle to find childcare (if it would even be possible) just to go into work and twiddle my thumbs for 4 days.

Co-op needs to last 11 weeks. That's the requirement - 11 weeks of 35 hours/week. Yet, in February, the girls have a week off -- which last year I was able to take off and spend with them, and then the NEXT week was my spring break. That was quite delightful, and I wanted it to happen again. It happened last year while I worked through Christmas week, so I was concerned.

But then I counted the weeks ... 100% do-able - I could take off Christmas week, and still have 2 weeks off b/t co-op and school, and fulfill the 11 week requirement.

Then I spoke with the person who hired me. I explained that I *thought* my kids were going to be traveling after the holiday, but things didn't work out, and he said, "I'm off that week, too, and I know a lot of other people who are - Zuska, this is NOT a problem, you can have it off."

Three minutes later, I received an e-mail sent to 'all attorneys' stating that "Zuska requested the week of Christmas off before I hired her, and I agreed to it - please mark your calendars accordingly." He totally covered my ass!! I didn't think it was a big deal until I got that e-mail, then I thought "huh, is this a big deal?" but then I realized - no. It's not.

Our plans? Connecticut for a few days, then home. Then the girls and I may go visit friends for an overnight - but Beloved has to work and will be staying behind. Then we will have our usual New Year's Eve celebration (movies, food, games, walk).

I'm excited, and glad that there is no stress.

ahhh, no stress.

Labels: co-op, holidays, kids

posted by Zuska @ 9:42 PM 0 comments

thus far

I am just about 1/4 done with this co-op. Already.

I believe that it's my favorite. But I realize, when I say this, that the summer associate experience did not strike me as a "co-op." It struck me as it's own experience - 90% social and 10% work. And it's own world. Miles and miles and miles away from my school.

This co-op, I am just really enjoying the WORK in a way that I have not before. When I was at the ACLU, I worked mostly for 1 person, and at most - 3. I often had work, but it was never pressing, and most projects were quite long term. They were always interesting projects, but they were so intense and [dragged out].

This quarter, I've got several people at my door per day with a nice mix of emergency assignments, long-term projects, areas of general interest, and more. The range of work I'm doing is astounding. Future Firm has "departments" - I will be in one of them. At this firm, however, I'm doing everything. If I were a real lawyer, though, that would not be the case.

I will take solace in that.

I am also very happy that for ONCE, and FINALLY, I am happy on co-op. I was upset during my first co-op, b/c I was mostly doing administrative things, although learning a lot, and felt done about 1/2 way through. I was upset during the second, b/c there wasn't enough ... vibrance? in the office. I was upset with the third b/c there wasn't enough work. Now? I think I'm content. I'm happy.

Just when I was starting to think perhaps I was a pessimist, and even broken!

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 8:26 PM 0 comments

Chaos (as usual)

Yesterday was insane at work and at home. e. had a friend sleep over, which I would never allow on a school night, but the friend's mom had to be out of town for work, and needed a hand.

But wow. 3 giggly girls is a huge jump up from 2. We strung cranberries and popcorn for the tree, and I felt like I was the one-person audience for a 3-person show. It was like they were all performing - for each other, for me - whatever. It was really really chaotic, and try as I might, I couldn't get them to calm down.

Part of it, I think, is I don't know where the line is for getting other kids (not my own) in line. I'm not going to send a friend to her room ... she doesn't have a room. I tried pulling e. aside and asking her to calm down, and I did ask teh friend to chill some - but she didn't. Either did e. , really.

I went running this a.m. at 5, and the girls woke up. They never wake up when I leave the house (but they're not generally sleeping on the couches, either, which e. and her friend did today, since we don't have an extra bed). I usually come back and sit on the couch checking e-mail while I cool off before my shower, and today I couldn't do it that.

I'm all thrown off.

I'm also PMSing pretty bad, and I'm having a very stubborn month. Like where the "P"-part is so drawn out - why can't it just ARRIVE already? There's no doubt it's on its way .... but I'm sick of getting zits and being bloated. COME ON!!!

Between the PMS, some slight congestion I've been fighting, and my exhausting Monday - I was a lazy butt this a.m. I barely ran, I mostly walked, and some may even have called it a "stroll" were they to witness the majority of my time out there. But I got up and I went out, and that is better than staying in bed .... I'm sure I'll be more rejuvinated tomorrow a.m. - after having a normal night.

Now back to work. Man, do I have a lot to do!! The assignments are definitely coming in faster than I'm finishing. I wish my summer was more like this. So far, I'm getting enough assignments that are conducive to me bringing them home to work on that I haven't been having to stay late. I worked for about an hour last night before passing out, and will do the same tonight. Well, hopefully more than an hour tonight. Since I won't be dealing with a Circus in my house.

Labels: co-op, kids

posted by Zuska @ 8:57 AM 0 comments

Friday, December 08, 2006

recklessness. foreseeability.

yeah, i'm bloggin' from work. i am justifying it in that it's a temporary gig, and that i'm not talking about people i work with. so even if people i work with DID find the blog, they'd just know that i ramble a lot.

i'm also .... explaining? it by the fact that if i post from google docs, my comments get all messed up.

today was odd perk #980. a wine and cheese party for the last hour of work. huh? the cheese was soooo delicious.

i am seriously getting soooo much interesting work. wanna know what kinds of stuff?

insurance law (no, seriously, it was quick enough -- 1.3 hours to be exact -- that it was interesting) research
trademark law research (!!??? -- not something i ever thought i'd do, or that i've ever done, which makes it all the MORE interesting)
environmental law research (seriously, still !!!!!!!)
shepardizing 9,658 cases in order to answer the question of whether a 12+ year old law review article merits updating by the octogenarian author (it doesn't) - oh yeah - the topic? statutory construction. okay. that one? BORING!!!
a civil rights (sort of like police brutality, but not really) case which is coming to trial while i am here, and this firm is NOT representing the meany-head brutalizers, but rather the poor (maybe innocent, maybe not) victim. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
landlord/tenant issues, which are fun b/c they don't really exist yet. i'm researching to figure out if MAYBE, in the near future, they MIGHT start to exist.

yeah, boring day? i think not.

i continue my positive trend.

now i go home. after i go to the store to buy stuff for dinner. because beloved has the babies (ha!)

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 5:07 PM 0 comments

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Slave in Training

I'm definitely changing my mind about this co-op. First of all, I've been busy all week. It's been fun, even when the particular assignments are not very interesting (such as shephardizing all the cases in a law review article so the author can decide if developments merit an update ... it's about statutory construction --- ick!). Although I've had enough interesting assignments, that it's all good. I also like high pressure stuff -- "I need to file this brief in an hour and I need to add a case that says _____!!!"

One thing in particular I'm seeing as a benefit, and that makes me happy that I am working in a firm right now, on co-op, before starting at Future Firm: I'm learning how to function in a "billable time" world. I didn't do so well at the start of the week. I found myself juggling things (including personal), and then unable to realistically state how long I spent on a project. I (of course) underestimated my time spent, rather than over-estimated, but I felt crappy about my very low totals at the end of a day (like, 3.9, even though I felt like I was busy ALL DAY).

Today I am practically using a stop-watch. I have a little notepad in front of me, and for everything I'm working on, I'm keeping track of the time as I go. I'm not checking e-mail or CNN until I am DONE with something, or at least wrote down an "end time." And today, I already have 2.5 hours of billable time, after 3 hours of being at work, and I didn't even try to start up right away.

It's nice to think that I can work out the kinks now, and feel more comfortable walking into my permanent place of employment come September.

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 11:49 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Tomorrow is Squishy Day

Yeah, my mammogram is tomorrow. Of course it coincides with work exploding at me. So I am stressed that it is going to be a problem for me to leave at 12:30 and take a 2 hour lunch.

I do have a project that is due by the afternoon. I was thinking perhaps I could get into work early-early (well, leave my house at 7, instead of close to 8), and get a good bit done.

Which means I should go to bed now.

Labels: co-op, health

posted by Zuska @ 10:24 PM 0 comments

Yet Another Work Update

1) I've been getting small assignments from one partner in dribs and drabs. Otherwise, my closest interactions are with the Internets.

It seemed like a good thing when I first arrived that my computer does not face the door. I hate it when my computer faces the door and my back the wall - I feel constantly watched. So when I walked into this temporary office of mine, I was pleased with the arrangement.

HOWEVER (of course).

The computer faces a window. A highly reflective window.

There is at least one attorney in the office who looks at my window every time she passes. It makes me feel guilty, b/c 96% of the time, it's on some form of personal e-mail or a news website. But I shouldn't feel guilty, b/c I'm not blowing off WORK in order to do these internet things. I have no work.

2) Another odd perk -- free pads and tampons in the women's bathroom (I'm assuming they're only in the women's bathroom). There are machines like in most places, but there is a sign over the little $.25 sign that says FREE!! Nice. I don't use either, b/c I'm a Keeper person (boys probably don't wanna click through to this one ) (and I highly recommend it to all women who may need such a thing on a monthly (moonly?) basis).

3) I am a huge fan of the temperature control system here. They keep the office in general pretty darned chilly. I am so used to places going to HYPER heat in the winter, that I never get to wear my favorite warm sweaters. But here, they keep it cold. And then, everyone has their own personal little temp control unit. At first, I thought it was only an air conditioner, but today I was SO. DAMNED. COLD. with my lightweight shirt and even still with my wool shawl/scarf wrapped tightly around myself, that I had to try the "warmer" setting. Now my office is toasty. Perhaps tomorrow I can wear one of my warm and cozy sweaters and not sweat all day. Woo hoo!!

Labels: co-op

posted by Zuska @ 2:21 PM 2 comments

Monday, December 04, 2006

While Watching Studio 60 ...

They're doing a Christmas show. It's funny.

I am very glad that blogger put the damned stuff back on top. The quote-thing, and the link thing, and the little bullet point list thing.

The family bought me presents!! I love them. This is what I got:

New Wine Glasses (8!!! of them!!) (I broke all my old ones);
A New Necklace;
New Earrings;
A Novel;
Bose in-ear earphones!! Woo hoo!! My iPod is a NEW CREATION, I tell you, a NEW CREATION.
Also, Beloved made me a delicious chocolate cake.

And many people called me, b/c they love me.

And I got work this afternoon, and it was a rush, and a little frantic, and I was *happy*!! (for 1.8 hours).

Tomorrow is Beloved's turn. I suck. He made me Chicken Marsala and my favorite squash and a cake and all - he went shopping and cooked. Tomorrow? We're gettin' burgers. At a *restaurant.* And then, we're having sundaes. Meaning I have to buy ice cream. And fudge, which I will heat up. And I will buy nuts, and sprinkle them on top.

Do you see the disparities?

But it's what he said he WANTED!! I would do anything he wanted. And this is what he said.

I think he just knows my limits. He doesn't want to push them, b/c if he does, he's gonna have to eat, like, charcoal on his birthday. heh.

Labels: beloved, co-op, cooking, life

posted by Zuska @ 10:18 PM 1 comments

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