The Badger / Paris-Nice

The cycling season is under way. Here is a retro picture of Bernard Hinault (The Badger) taking it to some protestors. A young Phil Anderson looks on. Looks like Hinault would be a good guy to help break up a SEIU rally/protest.

3rd Year

I'm over half way through the third year of law school (out of four - night school). I can't wait until it's done and I'm simply stressed about taking the BAR.

This years classes are:
Constitutional Law
Evidence
Business Organizations

Happy Thanks Giving

Avery Skiing

Mason Skiing (on his rear)

Stage 3 - Chris Horner "tough guy"

Chris Horner crashed on stage 3 on the way into Merced. Four other riders abandoned from injuries and one was a broken femur - yikes!


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Tour of California - 2009

The Tour of CA started on Feb. 14th with a great Prologue TT by the Capital in Sacramento. The crowds were big and the race didn't disappoint. It was a good time. I have been fielding questions about cycling from "non-cycling" people and perhaps this video will help in answering the "how do they go to the bathroom?" type question.


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New President

I hear that we have a new President...but I can't find much out about him. Maybe the media are ignoring this event altogether.

But seriously, Enough already.

School - AGAIN

My 2nd year of law school is about to begin on August 18th. Mason starts back to school the same day (2nd grade) and he's excited as well. I feel fortunate to have made it through my grueling first year of law school, but I also feel that I didn't live up to my potential. I was very busy with work, the kids and a new found family crises. Although those items aren't going away, I at least think I'm in a better place to navigate around these obstacles for school and end up high in the class rankings.

My classes this year are:
Civil Procedure - Monday
Criminal Procedure - Tuesday
Real Property - Thursday

TOUR DE FRANCE time

The 2008 Tour de France is underway and as always it's been entertaining. If you want to watch or listen to it online the best site to visit is www.cyclingfans.com. I will try and put some links to what I use also.

Mike, Rob and myself will also be picking the finishing placings and we already have two days results under our belts. Today's stage is the 6th stage and here are our picks. (Rob has failed to pick anyone yet...I'll make his picks today)

Mike:
Ricco
Frank Schleck
Stein Devolder

Tyler:
Stefan Schumacher
Kim Kirchen
Valverde

Rob (via Tyler)
Cunego
Menchov
Millar

Law School - one year done

My first year of Law School is now complete with Criminal Law, Contracts, Torts and Professional Responsibility. Criminal Law final took place in February (I passed) and the other three classes concluded in mid May. Just yesterday I received my Torts grade for the final and my overall score. I PASSED! I did well on the final and just "okay" overall; But since my midterm score wasn't good at all I am very pleased. Now I just have to wait for the results on Contracts and Professional Responsibility. I felt pretty good about both of those tests and I had a good grade going into the final.

There isn't much time to rest however, as Monday (06/02/08) I start in with summer elective classes. I think I'll be taking Family Law and Bankruptcy Law. This will work me over pretty well as the classes only go for a month but are M-Thur (each class being two nights a week).

Stay tuned.

Tax Day

Taxes are due today. I can't wait to see a few broadcasts tonight showing people dropping off their forms at the post office at midnight. Why are these people not filing their taxes online?

I thought a Ronald Reagan quote was appropriate for today ~

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.

Tour of California - 2008

Stage 1 - 2008 TOC. Awaiting the field at the sprint spot in Tamales, CA. (John, Mike, Rob and Tyler). We rode from Sausalito, 55 miles.

Criminal Law Final - DONE!

Our first final was last night in Criminal Law. We had 3 questions to finish in 2hrs and 15 mins (45 min each) and the test was worth 70% of the overall grade. It felt like it went really well as I completed it with time to spare (to clean up the test and fix mistakes) and after talking to my classmates I felt that I hit all the issues and with some depth to my analysis. Hopefully I did good enough and it would be great if I did really well.

Now I have a few months until my Contracts and Torts finals.

Midterm update and Finals prep

We have got all our midterm grades back now and here is my breakdown. Just a note: the midterms are only worth between 25% to 30% of the overall grade and the remaining 70-75% will be left for the final. So a poor midterm won't really break your chances if you do well on the final. By the same token, you don't want to do so poorly on the midterm that you are forced to do overwhelmingly well on the final (which seems impossible).

I passed my Criminal Law midterm and did the best on Contracts. Torts, however, I did the worst on and I am at the low end of passing. I made some stupid mistakes on the Torts midterm, so that grade is very much salvagable. Also, the Torts midterm was only 25% and therefore the final is big.

On February 6th, I have my Criminal Law final. I am feeling prepared. We are encouraged to turn in previous exams to our professor and he will grade them. I've been getting high B's on them, so now I just need to transform that to the actual test. Wish me luck!

Midterms are over

I passed my criminal law midterm, Yippey! I just finished my contracts and torts midterms and I suspect that I passed...or maybe I hope I passed. OMG, what if I didn't pass. Okay, I have until January to relax and not worry about school. Then it will be full-bore studying for my first FINAL in criminal law the first part of February. Wish me luck!

First Midterm down - 2 more to go

We had our first midterm this past weekend in Criminal Law. It was a fun 2.25 hrs and 3 questions. I really feel that I did well and I felt good while taking the test. I was prepared and only the time constraint was going to hold me back. The more I think about the test the more I think about mistakes I made or something I forgot and that is making me go crazy. I think I did well enough to pass, and really for me that is the goal. If I was going to school full time and not working maybe I would try to be the brain of the class. But with work, kids, personal problems and school, I'm just looking for a chance to be around in 4 yrs to take the BAR.

I have two more midterms in December - Torts and Contracts. Those will prove to be tough, I know. I'll post on my Criminal law results when they come in.

Tyler

One Month and much less sleep

So my first month of law school is about over and here is what I have to report. I'm sleeping a lot less and starting to get used to it. I'm getting acclimated to working and studying and not sleeping. (did I mention something about needing sleep?) I haven't been exercising enough and only getting to do my "prison workout." [the prison workout entails doing push ups and sit ups or crunches in my room between reading].

The hardest part is learning how we are expected to study and learn. We have definitions of crimes, torts or contracts (disputes) and you have to know these by heart - forwards and backwards. Once again I'm enjoying what I'm doing, but as of yet I haven't had a test so that will all change I'm sure. Most of my classmates are nice and I've found a small group of people that are really cool and smart. Of course, doing the work is more than conferring with your classmates and hard work is what I have to do.

So the theme is; I'm getting a lot less sleep and I hope I can maintain this pace. Wish me Luck!

Study Hangover

I was up until 1am studying, or at least trying to re-learn how to study. Then a little after 7am the house was bursting with kid noises and so we went to the waffle barn for breakfast. I might have to take a nap today, but I'm back at the books already and its not even noon here yet. Contracts is basically done for next week and so I'll be moving on to Criminal Law. I figure with work and family, I'll have to pound the books on the weekends. My poor Tivo is really going to miss me.

Due to my late night, I didn't get a bike ride in today. My old teammate and friend, Mike Dempsey, was wanting me to do the Mt. Tam hill climb later this year. There is nothing quite like have a 50 yr old lady pass you half way up the climb, so maybe I'll not embark on that one this year.

First week update

The first week of Law School is complete and it's going to be tough. The good thing is that I've met some nice people in my class but they aren't going to be taking my tests for me, so I'll have to be studying hard. There is lots of reading. Lots.