The Battle Is Over. The War Now Begins

I walked out of school a few hours ago having just sat for (and hopefully passed) my last exam as a student at Elon University School of Law. It's been an interesting three years and though there were certainly times where I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders, the time has generally flown by at an alarming rate.

I do remember my first day of classes at "boot camp". A couple of the teachers bought into the whole idea of acclimating us to life as 1Ls. But not Professor Kinsler. We did our first two substantive classes in his allotted times. I remember walking into "Issues and Leadership" class and thinking there must have been a better use of my time. I certainly remember going to the library for research scavenger hunts. All things that defined my first year. Of course it's impossible to forget the stumbling blocks as well. I remember not doing particularly well in Torts because I wasn't able to frame the issues in an elemental sense. I remember doing poorly in legal writing. Most of all I remember getting my first semester grades back and wondering what on earth possessed me to come to law school in the first place.

Since then I was able to right the ship and do well enough to make it through. I've certainly changed as a result of the experience. I'm more willing to tackle challenges. I'm less likely to hold my tongue. I'm also a bit more confident when it comes interjecting my two cents or looking for a solution. Maybe that's worth the amount of tuition paid and the hours spent working towards this goal.

One cool thing we did in the first week of school was write a letter to ourselves. To be opened after we took the final exam of our third year. Mine is dated August 20, 2007. Sparing the gory details, I will quote some of the relevant passages:

"When looking for jobs, don't use a shotgun approach. Go for what you like, and stay away from what you don't. Don't be motivated solely by money. Find something you love and something that excites you."

Maybe I was a bit idealistic, but I find that portion of the letter to be the approach I'm taking in both job searching and life in general. Maybe I was looking down the road. Maybe I was already making changes in my life. Or maybe I was full of it. Regardless I was somewhat surprised to see something that hit home as well as it did.

The last sentence of the letter really hit home. It's exactly the way I feel I've evolved and have begun to approach life and all it can throw at you. Most importantly, it's how I plan to spend the next few weeks and months as a series of terrific adventures kick off. In closing that letter, three years ago I wrote:

"...either way it's been a new and hopefully exciting challenge. Now, let's get going on the next one."

I agree. Let's go.

Less than 24 Hours To Go

And law school will be finished. No more teachers, but a hell of a lot of books. Over two feet in fact. And while I look forward to having a law degree, I am more eager to dive into the next phases of my life as they head down the road.

We close on the house in just over two weeks. We are trying to get a head start on packing, but so far it's going somewhat slow thanks to my schedule of exams and soccer stuff happening. Hopefully that'll be taken care of this week. On a happier note, we have some pieces for the house arriving this week in the form of bookshelves, bathroom accessories, and a heavy duty waffle maker. (I know, it's exciting stuff).

Before all that I have one more. Tomorrow afternoon - beginning at 2:15 - I will sit for my last law school exam. Ever. I don't think I've blown the doors off any of my previous three exams, but I've done well enough (I hope). My goal has shifted away from excelling and improving my class rank and GPA to just getting out and moving on. Perhaps that's a sad commentary, and it is certainly not something I'm overly proud of. But, it's the truth. I'm burned out on school and ready for a new challenge. Three years ago I was energized and ready to burn law school to the tune of grand dreams and life in the fast lane. It's kind of funny to think about when I look back on it. I'm a different person. Hopefully a bit better for the experience (not to mention the mountain of tuition). Regardless, life turns another page tomorrow. I wonder where it'll take us.

Equilizer

When it comes to blogging I am not sure that I am the best person to contribute. Now when it comes to my opinion I am always willing to say my piece. The only difference is now my grammar has to be meticulous. I do however love the name of the blog, Great Job John!!

Well anyway here goes.....

John and I have been together now almost 7 years. We do indeed have a dog (or as John refers to it, "a squirrel", due to his 9 pound frame.). Rigby is a Havanese that is almost 7 months old. We also have John's recuse effort - Wyatt a very spunky cat. All that aside we have learned/experienced a lot over the years. My husband is my best friend, and there is no one else I would rather spend time, talk to, or travel with. I trust and respect my husband more all the time. My love for him continues to grow with each passing year. I don't always share in his sense of humor but, he continues to impress me I look forward to what more may come.

We are starting a new chapter in our life with the purchase of a new home. We are excited to by homeowners again. It was hard for me with working in new construction to look past this home being a re-sale. With new construction I am used to everything being just so. With this home it is by fair gorgeous/big yard and in a wonderful neighborhood don't get me wrong, John and I just have big expectations on what condition we want the home in. Together we will make it our on.

As far as my job, I am a realtor and I enjoy what I do. I work with a new construction builder, it is like running my own business. The customers are wonderful (most of the time) and the homes are beautiful.

That is all for now, stay tuned there may be more.

T

A Little Help?

As most anyone can tell you, the market for employment sucks. And if you've just dropped six figures on a law school education, you're probably not too thrilled with your income prospects. Rather than dwell on my graduating class' employment percentage (which appears to be in the low teens if you are scoring at home), I have set out looking for alternative ways to use my soon to materialize J.D.

I've looked at operations, education, indoctrination, incantations, and even a bit of mutilation. Not one of those sectors is hiring at this point. It appears as though I'm going to set up my own shop with some highly capable friends. I think there's success in the future, but I learned long ago that putting all your eggs in one basket usually leads to disaster. Armed with such wisdom I am looking to supplement the earnings of a first year attorney with some side income. One such side job opportunity resulted in a meeting with a big shot in that field thanks to the efforts of my father, who was happy to leverage his contacts to get me in front of the "right people". Perhaps I'm out of practice in such interactions, but this meeting was an unmitigated disaster.

I arrived early and waited. No big deal I figured, this is playing the game. And it's better to be early for a meeting than late...especially when you are the one looking for the help. After this captain of industry arrived and dispensed with the random small talk, we got down to business. She asked me what I was looking for. I responded with the specifics (specifically a way to supplement my soon to (I hope) materialize income with some part time work). Apparently I was either being obtuse, shady, or maybe I was speaking another language. Why? Because for the next 25 minutes she sat there explaining how I shouldn't be running away from my profession just because of hard times; that I need to stop attempting to use other peoples' relationships for personal gain; and to read a book. (Side note: The book is called "What Color Is Your Parachute")

After absorbing the initial battery of unsolicited advice, I got the following gems: "You should look to move away from here, because you are putting a tight collar on your future", and "my nephew worked in Italy and France for two years and then came back and had a great market for his services. Maybe you should look into that."

Shortly after this motivational, intercontinental anecdote she abruptly gathered her bags and thanked me for meeting her and took off to [presumably] bigger and better things. I was left to sit and wonder what just happened. I went in hoping to get some advice on how to find some part time work to offset the risk of navigating a small business in this economy. Instead I got an audit of a life and character I'm not sure I'm living. Though - one way or another - I came away having learned a good deal.

Buying A House Feels Like 25 to Life

We're scheduled to close on our house later this month. Three weeks from Wednesday if my math is correct. After going through the home buying process over the last few weeks I feel like a convicted felon. Make no mistake, we're not going to be mistaken for a Trump, or anything close to it when it comes to silly things such as wealth, stature, hairstyle, or whatever else banks tend to put value on. But we do well enough and are able to enjoy a comfortable life style and work very hard for it.

So, when we went through the pre-qualification process somewhat swiftly I was encouraged. And then we got to initial underwriting and things have gotten a bit obnoxious. I fully understand and appreciate the fiduciary duty owed by mortgage underwriters and the various banking types to their shareholders, etc. But at some point it gets a bit ridiculous. An example would be with the credit report and plastic updating process.

I maintain an iTunes account on a credit card. It's easier this way in that it keeps activity on the account, but also is something that can be paid off each period. During this process we explained this to the underwriter who had told us to "live life as you've been doing". Imagine my surprise when a phone call (and subsequent email) came in asking why the credit bureau was showing a balance on this card. From the tone of it you'd have thought we bought the entire iTunes library or spent at least a few hundred bucks. Nope. The balance she was complaining about was a whopping $3.28. I don't think they sell anything on McDonald's Value Menu for that. And yet here was this lady frantic because I bought a pair of iPhone apps and a song.

By nature I'm somewhat of a private person (please disregard this blog's existence when reading that statement), and maybe it was the pressure of school, work, and other things hitting at once, but I was certainly not pleased she expended this much effort over something so trivial. Perhaps it was a validation exercise she needed to complete. Perhaps it was something else. But it's a good illustration of how we've had to live (at least in a self-imposed mindset) since we made our first offer on the home.

There is something to be said for living in a frugal manner, but when you are hammered over and over again by a third party for trivial things like this (and, yes, there are other examples) you often will find yourself over-analyzing every little expenditure. Maybe it's just because I dislike people looking over my shoulder in my private life, but I feel like this whole process could have been somewhat easier and not nearly as frustrating. Had there been a real problem I could understand it. But we've produced and documented everything required to close within moments of being asked for it. We could close tomorrow if the attorney had a spot. It'll all be over in a few weeks, but in the meantime I feel like Shawshank Mortgage Company could use some time management skills.

Why Baker Street?

Because 10 years ago I decided to make my hobby (the website) into something approaching an official business outlet. So I paid an attorney to make me into an LLC. Having my surname borrowed liberally by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for Sherlock's trusted assistant, it seemed only right that I borrow his address. That's how Baker Street Media came into effect. And since it's been somewhat successful over the years I figured I'd brand our blog in a similar fashion.