I had a terrible experience today at the Circle K gas station at the corner of 75th Avenue and Glendale Avenue in Glendale, AZ. So terrible that I'm blogging it, yelping it, facebooking it, and tweeting it. (Even though I'm normally a pretty laid back person and would usually just tell my cat about it and then brush it off.)
This afternoon, on my way to an appointment, I stopped for gas. I pulled up to the pump, turned off my car, and put my card in the reader. I got an error message on the card reader, so I went inside to pay. I explained to the clerk that the card reader at pump 6 wasn't working. She glared at me and said, "Yes it is."
I explained in detail the error message I got, and she glared at me again and asked me how much gas I wanted. I said $40. She swiped my card, printed the receipt, and handed it to me with a pen to sign the receipt. [Note: At reputable and professional gas stations, the signing of the receipt happens at the end of the transaction, after the exact total is known, and the credit card is held by the clerk during the pumping. I have never seen shady behavior like this before.] I explained that I hadn't purchased the gas yet. She said that I had just bought it.
I was uncomfortable with this, so I asked for the transaction to be canceled. She refused to do so and said that once she swiped the card, the transaction was final. I said that it couldn't be final because I hadn't signed the receipt yet. She glared at me again and said that my card was going to be charged regardless. So, since I wanted my gas, I signed the receipt, placed the receipt and the blue ballpoint pen on the counter, and went outside to fill up.
When I got to the pump, it didn't work. I tried a second time, and it still didn't work. So, I went back inside. The clerk said, "I had to cancel the transaction because you hurt me." I asked her what she meant by that. She held up a black ballpoint pen that had been cleanly removed from its outer casing and said that I had thrown the pen at her and broken it. This was a bald-faced lie.
I asked to speak to her manager, and a woman who was standing next to her identified herself as the manager and said that she had reviewed the security tapes and backed up the clerk. Mind you, I was outside for 45 seconds. It would have been impossible to review the security tapes in that time period. The "manager" (whom I suspect was merely a co-worker) said that she could not sell me gas.
I was running late, so I didn't call her on it. I told her that she had permanently lost a customer, and I went on my (not so) merry way. The "manager" wished me a nice day in a tone of voice that really meant "f--- you!"
After my appointment, I stopped at a Fry's gas station, had a perfectly painless and professional experience, and saved $0.26 per gallon.
To top the whole experience off, I just logged into my credit card account, and the Circle K station charged my card for $40 worth of gas that I didn't get. This station is a ripoff. I wonder how many other people they've tried this scheme on and gotten away with.
Update 5/3/14: My credit card company had my back. I was able to get the charge reversed. So, now I've been made financially whole. I still won't give Circle K any of my business. But Fry's and Chase came out of this situation looking good.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Flying on a shoestring budget
I'm still here! I moved to Phoenix a week and a half ago, and I ended up having to take a quick unplanned trip out of town a few days ago. It would have been a 10 hour drive (each way) or a 1.5 hour flight. Allegiant had a cheap enough flight, even at the last-minute, that I opted for flying. I was a bit hesitant to fly on a discount airline, but the regular airlines were way too expensive due to the short notice.
I flew out of the Mesa airport, which is 45 minutes from my apartment. (Phoenix is 30, so it's not appreciably further.) Long-term parking is only $6 per day, which is a bargain. I got through security in under a minute. The airport has a courtyard separating one half of the terminal from the other half. My gate was on the other side of the courtyard, so I got some fresh air on my way to the gate. There was a gray cat walking along the grass chasing birds. I stopped to pet the cat, and an airport employee walked by and said that the cat was the airport cat. I didn't catch the cat's name, though.
Allegiant charges for everything, so be sure to read the fine print. Checked bags cost money, which is to be expected. What isn't to be expected is that carry-on bags cost money, too. I was able to cram everything into my "purse" (really a large shoulder bag), so I didn't have to pay for carry on luggage. Also, they board an hour before the flight instead of the standard 20-30 min, so be sure to leave extra time. If you pick your seat, that costs extra, too. I opted for the free version where the airline assigned my seat. I ended up being assigned a middle seat both ways, but on the return flight, there was an empty seat next to me, so I moved into the aisle seat. Snacks and beverages cost extra, too, so I brought my own. The lavatory is free, though!
I'll probably fly on Allegiant again. By giving up the frills, I saved about $120 over a full-service airline. I'll check back to see if it's still appreciably cheaper when I book in advance, and if it is, that's how I'm getting home for Thanksgiving. (Probably not for Christmas, though, since baggage fees will likely eat up any savings.)
I flew out of the Mesa airport, which is 45 minutes from my apartment. (Phoenix is 30, so it's not appreciably further.) Long-term parking is only $6 per day, which is a bargain. I got through security in under a minute. The airport has a courtyard separating one half of the terminal from the other half. My gate was on the other side of the courtyard, so I got some fresh air on my way to the gate. There was a gray cat walking along the grass chasing birds. I stopped to pet the cat, and an airport employee walked by and said that the cat was the airport cat. I didn't catch the cat's name, though.
Allegiant charges for everything, so be sure to read the fine print. Checked bags cost money, which is to be expected. What isn't to be expected is that carry-on bags cost money, too. I was able to cram everything into my "purse" (really a large shoulder bag), so I didn't have to pay for carry on luggage. Also, they board an hour before the flight instead of the standard 20-30 min, so be sure to leave extra time. If you pick your seat, that costs extra, too. I opted for the free version where the airline assigned my seat. I ended up being assigned a middle seat both ways, but on the return flight, there was an empty seat next to me, so I moved into the aisle seat. Snacks and beverages cost extra, too, so I brought my own. The lavatory is free, though!
I'll probably fly on Allegiant again. By giving up the frills, I saved about $120 over a full-service airline. I'll check back to see if it's still appreciably cheaper when I book in advance, and if it is, that's how I'm getting home for Thanksgiving. (Probably not for Christmas, though, since baggage fees will likely eat up any savings.)
Friday, January 31, 2014
Go East, Young Woman
When I was a kid, one of my favorite games was Oregon Trail. I remember saving up my good behavior points at school so that I could exchange them for time on the computer. The computers had those green on black monitors that only displayed text, and I had to switch floppy disks when my wagon train got to Nebraska.
I used to daydream about what it would have been like to strike out into the unknown like that.
I grew up in San Jose, so tales of prospectors striking it rich and Franciscans building missions were a part of the local lore. “Go west, young man” was the answer to stagnation and lack of opportunity. Pack up your belongings, head into the sunset, and with grit and hard work, make a good life.
There’s no more gold in California.
I work hard, and I never give up, but the cost of living is stratospheric. I’m broke at the end of every month, even with a decent income and a frugal lifestyle. If I stay, I will never own a house, never be able to pay for my future children to go to college, never finish paying off my student loans, and never retire.
So the answer is to reverse the process. Where my forebears packed up their belongings into a covered wagon, hitched up their oxen, and headed west, I’m packing up my belongings into a Uhaul, filling up the gas tank, and heading east. At least I won’t have to deal with dysentery along the way.
I’m moving to Phoenix in a few months. Instead of mining for gold or setting up a ranch, I’ll be practicing law. I’ll be leaving my old life - and my family and friends - behind to start a new one. I’ll still stay in touch, though. Email is much faster than the Pony Express!
I grew up in San Jose, so tales of prospectors striking it rich and Franciscans building missions were a part of the local lore. “Go west, young man” was the answer to stagnation and lack of opportunity. Pack up your belongings, head into the sunset, and with grit and hard work, make a good life.
There’s no more gold in California.
I work hard, and I never give up, but the cost of living is stratospheric. I’m broke at the end of every month, even with a decent income and a frugal lifestyle. If I stay, I will never own a house, never be able to pay for my future children to go to college, never finish paying off my student loans, and never retire.
So the answer is to reverse the process. Where my forebears packed up their belongings into a covered wagon, hitched up their oxen, and headed west, I’m packing up my belongings into a Uhaul, filling up the gas tank, and heading east. At least I won’t have to deal with dysentery along the way.
I’m moving to Phoenix in a few months. Instead of mining for gold or setting up a ranch, I’ll be practicing law. I’ll be leaving my old life - and my family and friends - behind to start a new one. I’ll still stay in touch, though. Email is much faster than the Pony Express!
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Happy New Year
I guess I've been hibernating or something. I don't have a particularly good excuse for that; I've just been too lazy to sit down to write a post.
The job search continues to go on. I'm still temping at the same company I've been at since April, and I have an open-ended arrangement at this point. I'll stay until I can find a permanent job, but it's not a bad place to camp out in the mean time.
I'm hoping to move to Phoenix when my lease is up, since I'm licensed to practice law in Arizona, and the cost of living is way lower there. But, if I get a decent enough job offer here in the bay area, I could be persuaded to stay. Doing a long-distance job search is challenging, though. Many companies won't even consider out of state candidates, even though I won't be asking for relocation assistance.
Other than that, I have no complaints. I'm even starting to be okay with my commute. I'm enjoying the opportunity to read on the bus. Maybe I'll finally get to make some headway on my long list of books that I want to get through.
The job search continues to go on. I'm still temping at the same company I've been at since April, and I have an open-ended arrangement at this point. I'll stay until I can find a permanent job, but it's not a bad place to camp out in the mean time.
I'm hoping to move to Phoenix when my lease is up, since I'm licensed to practice law in Arizona, and the cost of living is way lower there. But, if I get a decent enough job offer here in the bay area, I could be persuaded to stay. Doing a long-distance job search is challenging, though. Many companies won't even consider out of state candidates, even though I won't be asking for relocation assistance.
Other than that, I have no complaints. I'm even starting to be okay with my commute. I'm enjoying the opportunity to read on the bus. Maybe I'll finally get to make some headway on my long list of books that I want to get through.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Finally!
I started law school in January 2005, freshly home from my time as a missionary, with $77 in my bank account. Since I had no money and no job, I lived with my parents in San Jose. I was going to school in San Francisco. My daily commute was 2 hours each way. My dad dropped me off at the train station at 6:30 in the morning on his way into work, and he picked me up at the train station around 5:30 in the evening on his way home from work. It was thoroughly exhausting.
I kept that up for a year before I was fed up enough with the commute that I moved out. I ended up in Fremont, which was still a 45 minute train ride away, but it was much better. A few months later, my law school education was unceremoneously interrupted due to a whole bunch of bureaucratic nonsense that was out of my control. The day that I found that out, I also lost my job.
I spent the next two years working and trying to figure out what to do with my life, and then I went back to law school somewhere else. (At a school that was far better run and treated the students as respected colleagues instead of as obstacles.) Then I graduated.
Then I took the California bar - and failed it - three times. (Seriously, if someone reasonably intelligent with a law degree can't pass the [expletive deleted] test after three attempts, maybe there's something wrong with the test!) Then I decided that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So I took the Arizona bar in February. I found out in May that I passed it. In fact, I knocked it out of the park. It really was California and not me.
I've been waiting for my background check to clear, and I found out yesterday that it did. Most law schools have big ceremonies a few weeks after exam results are released where all of the alumni who passed the bar are sworn in en masse. Since I'm being admitted to the bar in a different state, and I'm being admitted off schedule, I don't get that.
I went to the UPS store on my lunch break today to get sworn in. So, nearly eight years of toil and effort was culminated by signing a piece of paper in front of a notary and dropping it in the mail. I'm practically allergic to ceremony, but it still felt a little anticlimactic.
I kept that up for a year before I was fed up enough with the commute that I moved out. I ended up in Fremont, which was still a 45 minute train ride away, but it was much better. A few months later, my law school education was unceremoneously interrupted due to a whole bunch of bureaucratic nonsense that was out of my control. The day that I found that out, I also lost my job.
I spent the next two years working and trying to figure out what to do with my life, and then I went back to law school somewhere else. (At a school that was far better run and treated the students as respected colleagues instead of as obstacles.) Then I graduated.
Then I took the California bar - and failed it - three times. (Seriously, if someone reasonably intelligent with a law degree can't pass the [expletive deleted] test after three attempts, maybe there's something wrong with the test!) Then I decided that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So I took the Arizona bar in February. I found out in May that I passed it. In fact, I knocked it out of the park. It really was California and not me.
I've been waiting for my background check to clear, and I found out yesterday that it did. Most law schools have big ceremonies a few weeks after exam results are released where all of the alumni who passed the bar are sworn in en masse. Since I'm being admitted to the bar in a different state, and I'm being admitted off schedule, I don't get that.
I went to the UPS store on my lunch break today to get sworn in. So, nearly eight years of toil and effort was culminated by signing a piece of paper in front of a notary and dropping it in the mail. I'm practically allergic to ceremony, but it still felt a little anticlimactic.
Friday, August 16, 2013
RIP Frankencar
My car was towed away to the great junkyard in the sky last night. Herr Austin Frankencar (Austin for short) had character. I should have known that it was a harbinger of doom when I named the car after the six million dollar man. As much as the car was nothing but trouble for its short 18 month time with me, I'm still kind of sorry to see it go.
Austin is a 2000 VW Jetta TDI. I purposely bought a diesel car because I wanted to use biodiesel. My main reason was because I want to reduce dependence on foreign oil, but the mad science aspect of the chemistry of home-produced biodiesel appealed to me, too. (I never did get around to making my own, though.) The environmental benefits of reduced emissions were icing on the cake.
The car spent three weeks in the shop right off the bat and then was in and out of the shop for the first few months of ownership. The previous owner had severely mismaintained the car (including jamming spark plugs in the radiator hoses and reinstalling the engine backward). I had to replace the transmission right after I bought it. I had a few months of good use and then it was back to in and out of the shop. My mechanic, only half jokingly, offered to blow the car up for me. Back in February, the front bumper fell off and has been held on by duct tape ever since. I decided I didn't want to pay to fix it.
Austin is a 2000 VW Jetta TDI. I purposely bought a diesel car because I wanted to use biodiesel. My main reason was because I want to reduce dependence on foreign oil, but the mad science aspect of the chemistry of home-produced biodiesel appealed to me, too. (I never did get around to making my own, though.) The environmental benefits of reduced emissions were icing on the cake.
The car spent three weeks in the shop right off the bat and then was in and out of the shop for the first few months of ownership. The previous owner had severely mismaintained the car (including jamming spark plugs in the radiator hoses and reinstalling the engine backward). I had to replace the transmission right after I bought it. I had a few months of good use and then it was back to in and out of the shop. My mechanic, only half jokingly, offered to blow the car up for me. Back in February, the front bumper fell off and has been held on by duct tape ever since. I decided I didn't want to pay to fix it.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Book Review - Make the Bread, Buy the Butter
I recently read the book Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese. It's half cookbook, half memoir. Reese chronicles her efforts to make tons of food items from scratch after losing her job. She documented the cost of the homemade version, the cost of the store bought version, and how difficult or annoying it was to make the item herself. She chronicled both her successes and her failures.
I found the book to be both funny and useful. I especially liked her empirical approach to the issue. Since I'm saving up to buy a house, I don't want to waste money on things that are more trouble than they're worth. Plus, I'm not someone who finds great joy in cooking. I like to take on a big project now and then, and there are some things I find fun to do, but mostly I see cooking as a chore - something that I do simply because it needs to be done. I do, however, have a bit of a mad scientist streak, and this book appealed to that part of me.
Reese enjoys cooking way more than I do, so her calculation falls a little more to the "make" side of the equation than mine does. However, I was surprised by some of the things she said fell in the "buy" category. Burritos and jam both fell under "buy" for her. While I love a good taqueria burrito, they're not that hard to make at home. And homemade jam is far superior to anything at the store and costs about the same.
Several times throughout the book, I found myself surprised that anyone would think to make certain items homemade. There's a recipe for pop tarts, for example. I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to make ricotta cheese. I'm going to have to give it a try sometime. She has a marshmallow recipe that I want to try as soon as I can figure out what to use in place of the gelatin to vegetarianize it. (I'm thinking either pectin or agar-agar.)
I skipped most of the meat chapters, but I did start reading the one on chickens with the hope that I could find some egg recipes. But halfway through a rather graphic description of killing a rooster, I decided to skip the rest of that chapter, too.
In all, I recommend the book. There's something for the urban homesteader, the person who loves to cook, and the mad scientist.
I found the book to be both funny and useful. I especially liked her empirical approach to the issue. Since I'm saving up to buy a house, I don't want to waste money on things that are more trouble than they're worth. Plus, I'm not someone who finds great joy in cooking. I like to take on a big project now and then, and there are some things I find fun to do, but mostly I see cooking as a chore - something that I do simply because it needs to be done. I do, however, have a bit of a mad scientist streak, and this book appealed to that part of me.
Reese enjoys cooking way more than I do, so her calculation falls a little more to the "make" side of the equation than mine does. However, I was surprised by some of the things she said fell in the "buy" category. Burritos and jam both fell under "buy" for her. While I love a good taqueria burrito, they're not that hard to make at home. And homemade jam is far superior to anything at the store and costs about the same.
Several times throughout the book, I found myself surprised that anyone would think to make certain items homemade. There's a recipe for pop tarts, for example. I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to make ricotta cheese. I'm going to have to give it a try sometime. She has a marshmallow recipe that I want to try as soon as I can figure out what to use in place of the gelatin to vegetarianize it. (I'm thinking either pectin or agar-agar.)
I skipped most of the meat chapters, but I did start reading the one on chickens with the hope that I could find some egg recipes. But halfway through a rather graphic description of killing a rooster, I decided to skip the rest of that chapter, too.
In all, I recommend the book. There's something for the urban homesteader, the person who loves to cook, and the mad scientist.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
False alarm
I just got a call back from the hospital. It turns out that my toe isn't broken. It's just badly bruised. So, instead of wearing a walking boot for 4-6 weeks, I just have to wear flats for 2-3 weeks. I'm thrilled.
Plus, I get to keep up my never-broken-a-bone bragging rights.
Plus, I get to keep up my never-broken-a-bone bragging rights.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Broken Toe
I have a history of bumps and bruises and sprains. I did a lot of sports as a teenager, and I was constantly injuring myself. Miraculously, I never broke a bone, even when my injuries should have caused fractures. I figured I was blessed with an ultra-resilient skeleton.
My streak of good fortune ended on Thursday. I was at the beach, and I was walking barefoot. I stubbed my toe on a rock. I checked it out and saw that I wasn't bleeding, so I went back to building sand castles and hanging out with my friends, not sparing a second thought to my toe.
On Friday morning, I woke up, and my toe was purple and tender to the touch. I figured I bruised it a little worse than I had thought, and I didn't think much of it. It was too sore to wear regular shoes, so I put on some flip-flops and went to work. By the time I got to the office, I couldn't even walk on it without pain. I propped my foot up at my desk and continued with my job.
After work, I decided to go get it checked out. I don't have insurance, so I went to the urgent care clinic attached to the local hospital. They give a discount to uninsured patients who pay cash at the time of service. I waited for a bit, and then the doctor saw me. He took one look at it and said that it was broken, but he sent me for an x-ray just to be sure.
After the x-ray, the nurse taped up my foot and gave me a walking boot. She felt sorry for me, so she didn't charge me for the boot. She showed me how to tape my toes to splint them, and instructed me to change the tape every day. I have to keep them taped for 4-6 weeks and wear the boot until I can put regular shoes on without pain.
It was a total freak accident, and I spent some time thinking about why I ended up with a fracture. Then I remembered my vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium, so my deficiency probably weakened my bones. Note to self - be better about taking vitamins.
I'm really glad that the clinic is so affordable. I ended up spending only $90, which is a real bargain for a broken bone.
It's going to be a bit inconvenient to get to work. My choices are to take BART and then a bus that drops me off a block away from work, where I have to walk uphill, or to drive and park in a garage two blocks away from work, walking up that same hill. At least I've figured out how to navigate stairs.
When my foot heals, I'm throwing a dance party to celebrate.
Update 7/9/13: False alarm. The radiologist called back and said that it's not actually broken.
My streak of good fortune ended on Thursday. I was at the beach, and I was walking barefoot. I stubbed my toe on a rock. I checked it out and saw that I wasn't bleeding, so I went back to building sand castles and hanging out with my friends, not sparing a second thought to my toe.
On Friday morning, I woke up, and my toe was purple and tender to the touch. I figured I bruised it a little worse than I had thought, and I didn't think much of it. It was too sore to wear regular shoes, so I put on some flip-flops and went to work. By the time I got to the office, I couldn't even walk on it without pain. I propped my foot up at my desk and continued with my job.
After work, I decided to go get it checked out. I don't have insurance, so I went to the urgent care clinic attached to the local hospital. They give a discount to uninsured patients who pay cash at the time of service. I waited for a bit, and then the doctor saw me. He took one look at it and said that it was broken, but he sent me for an x-ray just to be sure.
After the x-ray, the nurse taped up my foot and gave me a walking boot. She felt sorry for me, so she didn't charge me for the boot. She showed me how to tape my toes to splint them, and instructed me to change the tape every day. I have to keep them taped for 4-6 weeks and wear the boot until I can put regular shoes on without pain.
It was a total freak accident, and I spent some time thinking about why I ended up with a fracture. Then I remembered my vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium, so my deficiency probably weakened my bones. Note to self - be better about taking vitamins.
I'm really glad that the clinic is so affordable. I ended up spending only $90, which is a real bargain for a broken bone.
It's going to be a bit inconvenient to get to work. My choices are to take BART and then a bus that drops me off a block away from work, where I have to walk uphill, or to drive and park in a garage two blocks away from work, walking up that same hill. At least I've figured out how to navigate stairs.
When my foot heals, I'm throwing a dance party to celebrate.
Update 7/9/13: False alarm. The radiologist called back and said that it's not actually broken.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Economic impact of the BART strike
Anyone who lives in the bay area is aware that BART (commuter rail between the east bay and San Francisco) was on strike for the past week. The strike has now been (at least temporarily) ended, after 5 days. I'm sure lots of people will be analyzing the aggregate economic impact this has had, and I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being very expensive.
I decided to analyze the economic impact that the strike had on me personally. I ended up coming out ahead.
The strike lasted for one work week - July 1 - July 5.
I drove to work alone on Monday. I usually drive on Mondays due to a standing appointment on Monday nights in a location where BART doesn't go, so there was no economic impact there. Thursday was a holiday, and it would have been a holiday even without the strike, so there was no impact there either.
That leaves three work days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) to analyze. I drove a carpool with co-workers for those days.
If I had taken BART, my cost would have been $46.41 for the three days. ($10 per day for BART fare, $3.50 per day for bus fare, $1.50 per day for parking at the BART station, and $0.46 per day for the diesel to get to the BART station from home.)
The cost to drive on Tuesday was $19.75. ($10.25 for diesel, $2.50 for bridge toll, and $7 for parking.) Wednesday and Friday cost $12.75 each because I got free parking. So, the total commute cost for the three days was $45.25.
I'm already $1.16 better off. But wait! My carpool people contributed to the commute. I didn't ask for any money, since I would have been driving anyway, but when they offered, I didn't turn them down. I ended up getting $35 in donations.
I did have to get up extra early to avoid traffic, but I was compensated by getting to leave work early, so that's a wash.
So, my total savings due to the strike came to $36.16. Not bad.
I decided to analyze the economic impact that the strike had on me personally. I ended up coming out ahead.
The strike lasted for one work week - July 1 - July 5.
I drove to work alone on Monday. I usually drive on Mondays due to a standing appointment on Monday nights in a location where BART doesn't go, so there was no economic impact there. Thursday was a holiday, and it would have been a holiday even without the strike, so there was no impact there either.
That leaves three work days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) to analyze. I drove a carpool with co-workers for those days.
If I had taken BART, my cost would have been $46.41 for the three days. ($10 per day for BART fare, $3.50 per day for bus fare, $1.50 per day for parking at the BART station, and $0.46 per day for the diesel to get to the BART station from home.)
The cost to drive on Tuesday was $19.75. ($10.25 for diesel, $2.50 for bridge toll, and $7 for parking.) Wednesday and Friday cost $12.75 each because I got free parking. So, the total commute cost for the three days was $45.25.
I'm already $1.16 better off. But wait! My carpool people contributed to the commute. I didn't ask for any money, since I would have been driving anyway, but when they offered, I didn't turn them down. I ended up getting $35 in donations.
I did have to get up extra early to avoid traffic, but I was compensated by getting to leave work early, so that's a wash.
So, my total savings due to the strike came to $36.16. Not bad.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Job Searching Blues
I find job searching to be kind of annoying, but I'm at it again. I'm finally out of the bar exam limbo, so I'm ready to stop temping and start getting something stable. My current temp assignment, which I rather enjoy, ends in July. So, it's time for me to start pounding the pavement again.
Job searching is kind of like dating - awkward and expensive, but people keep doing it because eventually there's hope that everything will turn out right and there will be a good match somewhere. Just like a date is better if both people like each other at the same time, a job interview is better if both the company and the candidate like each other at the same time. And there's the whole "it's not you, it's me" thing going on.
I'm juggling two completely different job searches at the moment. The first is an academic job search. I would love to land a full-time position teaching in a college or university. The second is a job search in the world of business. Academic jobs are hard to come by, so I'm broadening my horizons. I'm looking at either a higher-level HR position or an in-house counsel role. A job as a lawyer for the human resources department of a tech company would be ideal, as it would combine my HR in tech companies background with my legal background.
Most of the jobs I've found in the past have been through recruiters, and very few have been through my own efforts. I find it kind of ironic that the HR person doesn't know how to find a job on her own. :-)
Job searching is kind of like dating - awkward and expensive, but people keep doing it because eventually there's hope that everything will turn out right and there will be a good match somewhere. Just like a date is better if both people like each other at the same time, a job interview is better if both the company and the candidate like each other at the same time. And there's the whole "it's not you, it's me" thing going on.
I'm juggling two completely different job searches at the moment. The first is an academic job search. I would love to land a full-time position teaching in a college or university. The second is a job search in the world of business. Academic jobs are hard to come by, so I'm broadening my horizons. I'm looking at either a higher-level HR position or an in-house counsel role. A job as a lawyer for the human resources department of a tech company would be ideal, as it would combine my HR in tech companies background with my legal background.
Most of the jobs I've found in the past have been through recruiters, and very few have been through my own efforts. I find it kind of ironic that the HR person doesn't know how to find a job on her own. :-)
Monday, May 13, 2013
I Passed the Bar!
I found out on Friday afternoon that I passed the bar exam. The press release is here. It still hasn't sunk in yet.
I still have to pass the background check, which will take another 3-4 months depending on the backlog. I could have filed it sooner, but I wanted to wait to see if I passed the bar first. (I didn't want to pay the fee for the background check if I ended up failing.)
Hopefully in a few days it will all feel real. I'm glad it's over; I don't have another bar exam in me.
I still have to pass the background check, which will take another 3-4 months depending on the backlog. I could have filed it sooner, but I wanted to wait to see if I passed the bar first. (I didn't want to pay the fee for the background check if I ended up failing.)
Hopefully in a few days it will all feel real. I'm glad it's over; I don't have another bar exam in me.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Bar Exam Diaries - Arizona Edition - Day 2
I decided to take the light rail this morning, so instead of walking five blocks, I walked a block and a half. My blistered feet appreciated it. I also folded down the back of my loafers to make my shoes backless for the day. I ended up bruising the bottom of my heel due to stepping on the back of my shoes, but that hurt way less than rubbing the blisters would have. (I'm totally wearing my flip-flops tomorrow. I would rather stand barefoot on the airport floor in all its unsanitary glory during security screening than wear those loafers for another nanosecond.)
We were told to arrive at 7 this morning, and I arrived at 7:05. I went through security and headed to my seat to engage in another hour and a half of staring at the walls, finding patterns in the ceiling tiles, daydreaming, calculating that I've spent 11 days of my life taking the bar exam (I was too demoralized by that to even think about calculating how much time I've spent studying for it), daydreaming some more, and wondering if there's a time-warp in the exam room that makes time move more slowly while waiting for the exam to start but more quickly once the exam is in session.
At 8:30, instructions began. The head proctor delivering the instructions looked and sounded just like my criminal procedure professor. Sadly, he didn't hand out candy to the examinees like my prof would have.
The test began at 9. Today was fill in the bubble day. My mind wandered a bit halfway through because I got bored. I quickly got back on track and finished with time to spare. Then I got some lunch. I found a cafe nearby that serves soup, so I had a real lunch today.
After I ate, I wandered back to the convention center. I ran into some of the other test takers, and we talked for a bit. Then we went back inside for the afternoon session.
The afternoon session was less boring than the morning session, and I finished about an hour early. I turned in my test and left. I took the light rail back to my hotel, stopped at a taqueria to pick up some dinner, and then ate.
I'm glad it's over. The end of the exam was a little bit anticlimactic. In California, the last day of the exam is a performance test, and since it's administered on a laptop, everyone has to stay until the bitter end. So everyone leaves as a group and there's this cheer because we're all celebrating together. But since Arizona's last day is multiple choice, I got to leave when I finished. I walked out alone with nobody to celebrate with. I did run into another test taker while waiting for the light rail, and we chatted a bit, but it's not the same.
I'm flying home tomorrow. I'll find out my results in May. I'm glad it's over.
And if the Arizona bar wants to use this helpful marketing slogan I've devised, they're welcome to. "Only 67% as miserable as the California bar!"
We were told to arrive at 7 this morning, and I arrived at 7:05. I went through security and headed to my seat to engage in another hour and a half of staring at the walls, finding patterns in the ceiling tiles, daydreaming, calculating that I've spent 11 days of my life taking the bar exam (I was too demoralized by that to even think about calculating how much time I've spent studying for it), daydreaming some more, and wondering if there's a time-warp in the exam room that makes time move more slowly while waiting for the exam to start but more quickly once the exam is in session.
At 8:30, instructions began. The head proctor delivering the instructions looked and sounded just like my criminal procedure professor. Sadly, he didn't hand out candy to the examinees like my prof would have.
The test began at 9. Today was fill in the bubble day. My mind wandered a bit halfway through because I got bored. I quickly got back on track and finished with time to spare. Then I got some lunch. I found a cafe nearby that serves soup, so I had a real lunch today.
After I ate, I wandered back to the convention center. I ran into some of the other test takers, and we talked for a bit. Then we went back inside for the afternoon session.
The afternoon session was less boring than the morning session, and I finished about an hour early. I turned in my test and left. I took the light rail back to my hotel, stopped at a taqueria to pick up some dinner, and then ate.
I'm glad it's over. The end of the exam was a little bit anticlimactic. In California, the last day of the exam is a performance test, and since it's administered on a laptop, everyone has to stay until the bitter end. So everyone leaves as a group and there's this cheer because we're all celebrating together. But since Arizona's last day is multiple choice, I got to leave when I finished. I walked out alone with nobody to celebrate with. I did run into another test taker while waiting for the light rail, and we chatted a bit, but it's not the same.
I'm flying home tomorrow. I'll find out my results in May. I'm glad it's over.
And if the Arizona bar wants to use this helpful marketing slogan I've devised, they're welcome to. "Only 67% as miserable as the California bar!"
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Bar Exam Diaries - Arizona Edition - Day 1
I set my alarm for 5:25 in the morning, and when it went off, I was annoyed. Now I understand why toddlers scream and throw temper tantrums when they're tired. As I was up and moving around in my exhaustion, it was actually physically painful. My body insisted that it wasn't quite 4:30 in the morning, and it wanted to be asleep.
When I booked my hotel, the website said that it was 5 blocks from the convention center. Well, just in case you ever need to know, 5 blocks is way longer in Phoenix than it is in any city in the Bay Area. Where I come from, a 5 block walk will take 3-5 minutes, maybe as long as 7 if all of the lights are red. Yeah...my hotel is a 20 minute walk from the convention center. Oops.
When I booked my hotel, the website said that it was 5 blocks from the convention center. Well, just in case you ever need to know, 5 blocks is way longer in Phoenix than it is in any city in the Bay Area. Where I come from, a 5 block walk will take 3-5 minutes, maybe as long as 7 if all of the lights are red. Yeah...my hotel is a 20 minute walk from the convention center. Oops.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Bar Exam Diaries - Arizona Edition - Day 0
I feel like I've been stuck in the movie Groundhog Day, but instead of reliving February 2 repeatedly, I'm living the bar exam over and over. Tomorrow is the first day of the exam, so here I go again. May this time be my last.
I spent the night at my parents' house, and my mom took me to the airport this morning. I flew out of San Jose. They've really fixed it up, and it's a nice airport now. It had been 10 years since I had flown out of it; it used to be the old rundown airport in the area. I got through security in 5 minutes, and I wasn't subject to the usual indignities.
The flight to Phoenix was uneventful and took about an hour and 15 minutes. After landing, I took the airport shuttle to the light rail station, and then I took the train downtown. It was a quick two block walk to my hotel.
I got settled in and ordered a pizza for dinner. Then I watched some TV. I'm going to bed early tonight because I have to be at the convention center at 6:15 tomorrow morning. (For those of you keeping score at home, that's 5:15 California time. Why couldn't the test be two weeks later, when CA and AZ are in the same time zone?)
I'm feeling pretty good about it this time. Here goes!
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