Saturday, July 21, 2007

I was below the line there for a bit.

I'm a guy, and a normie at that, and when I discuss my emotional state it's usually anecdotally. So picture a sine wave. Yesterday, I felt like the zero line was a water line and I was completely below it. Indeed, if you look around me now I appear to be drowning in paper. It's a disturbing feeling to say the least. And I know every one of you out there studying for this thing can empathize.

What gets me down about the challenge that's currently in front of me is that I'll never know if I know enough. And then when I'm done, I won't know my results (hopefully) except for a "Thumbs up!" from the Bar.

Feedback. I like feedback. That's one reason why I liked the IT business. Sure, I'll admit that it's a kind of weakness wanting to be constantly reassured that you're on the right track and making progress. But when you've become used to something, it requires an effort to get used to something else. It's like trying to pull a u-turn in the Titanic while you're simultaneously tearing it down and rebuilding it into an aircraft carrier.

At the end of the day, all I can do is echo the sentiments that of a lot of you have expressed when you've thanked your fellow BarBloggers for their commiseration and support.

So, "Thank you for your commiseration and support!"

Now, it's almost 10 a.m. and I've wasted two hours of study time. It's time to quit my bitching and get back to work. The dragons of Civ Pro and Evidence are dead. Now it's time to carve up the carcasses so my family can survive the long Winter.

22 comments:

Blonde Blogger said...

I think of you often and can't wait to hear your reaction to the test....NOW GO KICK ASS!!

You totally deserve this....never let them see you sweat...;-)

Anonymous said...

Last minute question about the timer. I seem to have trouble finding small timer without the alarm function. Will it ok to show them that I have disable the alarm function?

Thanks.

The Grand Poobah said...

Haven't got a clue. Probably depends on the individual proctor. However, if I had to guess, I would guess that you'll be okay. You might ask the Bar on Monday.

Anonymous said...

So if you do not mind, what kind of clock do you have? Where did you get it?

Thanks.

The Grand Poobah said...

For timed exams like this I simply take off my wrist watch, pull the stem and set the hand to 12:00, the push the stem in when they say go.

Unknown said...

do you need to back up one just in case?

The Grand Poobah said...

I hadn't thought about that until you asked (knocking on my wooden head.)

My watch has performed reliably for years. If it fails, I'll just take a look at everyone else's 4" analog clocks until that part of the exam is over then get another watch at the end of the day.

The Grand Poobah said...

blonde blogger: Thanks! Back at ya'!

I'm looking forward to the postmortem too (I think.)

Anonymous said...

Great blog. I've enjoyed it through this hellish 10 weeks.

Question - have you heard if we can stuff food into our pockets (power bar) to eat during bathroom breaks or is that a no-no?

Alexis said...

I'm going to miss you when this is all over. Thanks for all. Hopefully everything would come full circle by Wednesday.

The Grand Poobah said...

Thanks! I agree. All of the 'BarBloggers' have helped me too!

Don't know about the power bar thing. We should ask when we get there. They can probably be left with our laptop bag. We might be able to get to them there when needed.

The Grand Poobah said...

Thanks Alexis! I think we'll all be back to some extent after next week. Let's just hope that we're not here next February!

Anonymous said...

According to BarBri and the bar website no food is allowed at all, not gum, not candy, not water -- in CA that is.

With that said, I plan to place some unwrapped non-noisy sugar-laden somethings in my pockets and sneak them.

Disclosure: follow this at your own risk. I expressly disclaim all implied and express warranties to the extent that this disclaimer is in accordance with those express warranties and this disclaimer is not otherwise unconscionable should you become personally injured :)

Anonymous said...

Hi! All:

Can you wear slipper to the exam?

Thanks.

calbar blondie said...

I am trying to whittle down the paper load here, too. Like one of my profs used to say, start throwing crap out of the airplane before you land!

Anonymous said...

Poobah, you seem wise - can you answer something for me? Does the CEC allow prior act evidence in sexual assault cases to prove conduct in conformity therewith (like the federal exception)? Gold's outline says yes, but the chart in the cmr says no. I looked up the code which seems to side w. Gold.

More solid quality control from Barbri.

Anonymous said...

Barbri sent out a correction to that part of page 5 in the Convisor via email. They said to cross it out and indicate that the FRE and CEC are substantially the same on that issue.

ATC said...

never would have thought to see 2 days left on the counter.

The Grand Poobah said...

Well thank ye’, CIS. Wisdom I got. It’s brains that I lack. Or some such hoo-haw thereabouts. (;-)>

It looks to me like prior sexual offense history is admissible. The CEC states that prior bad act evidence is inadmissible to prove conduct in conformity unless the prior bad act is of a sexual-offense nature, as long as it’s not irrelevant via CEC 352.

I pasted the relevant sections below.

1101(a) Except as provided in this section and in Sections 1102, 1103, 1108, and 1109, evidence of a person's character or a trait of his or her character (whether in the form of an opinion, evidence of reputation, or evidence of specific instances of his or her conduct) is inadmissible when offered to prove his or her conduct on a specified occasion.

1108(a) In a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of a sexual offense, evidence of the defendant's commission of another sexual offense or offenses is not made inadmissible by Section 1101, if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352.

Annie said...

i ignore all the sex offense thing...

Liney said...

Goodluck!

The Grand Poobah said...

Thanks Liney! Back at ya'!