[Knocking at door]
Me: [Sits up, looks at Ghost Hunters marathon, wonders if Robert's come by. Realizes it's Halloween, and knocking can mean only one thing.] Coming! [Makes sure pajama top is decent and scrambles for door.]
Mini-ninja: Trick or treat!
Me: One second! [Closes door, removes legs from spider dip bowl, thanks God for candy left by complex manager yesterday. Finds that mini-ninja has kept door propped open and his brother is knocking next door.] Here you go! Take whichever you like.
Mom: [from the foot of the stairs] We've got one down here in a stroller, too! That's why there are three bags!
Me: No worries! So, you're a ninja?
Mini-ninja: Yeah.
Mom: Say "yes, ma'am!"
Me: [Dies a little inside]
After the visit from the mini-ninja and his brother, the ghoul, I'm down to two Tootsie Rolls and the candy left over from Jen's party last night, which, unfortunately, is all open and/or tainted with caramel. We ate all the Nerds, which were the only boxed item. So now, in case little neighbors come calling, here are the options:
1) The half-dozen bags I just assembled with two Twizzlers and a handful of candy corn each, which their moms will promptly throw away. But hey, it's the thought that counts, right? Right?
2) Granola bars, which Jen has put on par with Charlie Brown's bag of rocks.
3) An intact bag of candy corn.
4) An intact bag of Harris Teeter marshmallows.
5) Beer. But I'm checking IDs first.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Fun with Westlaw and Lexis
As of Thursday, I'd successfully redeemed points from both Westlaw and Lexis for DVDs. This was quite exciting, as I seldom get anything in the mail except the former tenant's Self subscription, which is almost certainly the antithesis of legal reading.
The thing is, despite all the bells and whistles each service brags about, they're very similar. I tend to go with Westlaw because all the graphics are blue, which, aesthetically speaking, trumps Lexis's red logos, and because I prefer the layout. Other than that, they do roughly the same thing, and both cost law firms an arm and a leg.
At this point, however, the services are still wooing us, though I'm not sure why. One summer intern's loyalty to Lexis over Westlaw probably isn't going to change the firm's mind about which service to use. Still, I'm not one to turn away legal research freebies.
Having redeemed points, though, I did have one question: whose points are worth more? Using my admittedly small sample and Amazon.com, here's the breakdown:
WESTLAW
DVD 1: 1,800 points, $24.95, or $0.013861 per point.
DVD 2: 600 points, $14.98, or $0.024967 per point.
Average Point Value: $0.0166375
LEXIS
DVD 1: 3,457 points, $79.98, or $0.0231357 per point
So let's get this straight, Westlaw: your points are worth less, and they're harder to get? I like you, and I realize you're the industry leader and all, but it looks like Lexis is trying harder. Plus, Lexis gives us snacks. Time to step up your game, perhaps?
The thing is, despite all the bells and whistles each service brags about, they're very similar. I tend to go with Westlaw because all the graphics are blue, which, aesthetically speaking, trumps Lexis's red logos, and because I prefer the layout. Other than that, they do roughly the same thing, and both cost law firms an arm and a leg.
At this point, however, the services are still wooing us, though I'm not sure why. One summer intern's loyalty to Lexis over Westlaw probably isn't going to change the firm's mind about which service to use. Still, I'm not one to turn away legal research freebies.
Having redeemed points, though, I did have one question: whose points are worth more? Using my admittedly small sample and Amazon.com, here's the breakdown:
WESTLAW
DVD 1: 1,800 points, $24.95, or $0.013861 per point.
DVD 2: 600 points, $14.98, or $0.024967 per point.
Average Point Value: $0.0166375
LEXIS
DVD 1: 3,457 points, $79.98, or $0.0231357 per point
So let's get this straight, Westlaw: your points are worth less, and they're harder to get? I like you, and I realize you're the industry leader and all, but it looks like Lexis is trying harder. Plus, Lexis gives us snacks. Time to step up your game, perhaps?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
New hobby
According to the date stamp, I've not touched this blog in nearly a month. Best-laid plans and all that, I suppose, but hey, it's been a busy (and quite good) few weeks. So, well...Happy Halloween, yo.
Preface: Back in grad school, I decided to try this strange "knitting" thing that so many of my friends had picked up along the way, and marched myself down to the ghetto-fab Edinburgh Bargain Store for needles and cheap yarn. The resulting scarf was, in a word, laughable. It was also bright teal, and if I'm not mistaken, it's currently padding breakables in my storage unit. I tried to continue my knitting, first with a new, more subdued, ball of yarn in Edinburgh, then with fresh materials in Birmingham last year, but I've come to the realization that I'm not exactly a knitter.
I do, however, really like playing with jewelry.
Jewelry making - or at least the bead stringing/headpin wrangling with which I'm currently experimenting - is as relaxing as knitting, but without the cramping knuckles. I've made Christmas presents. I know the faces at the bead store downtown and where to find the cheaper supplies at Michael's. Heck, I've even made earrings to kill time pre-Torts. It's just fun.
Also, um, I like shiny things. And semiprecious stones. Now, if only I could scrape together the hundreds of dollars I'd need for a string of decent larimar, we'd be in business...
Preface: Back in grad school, I decided to try this strange "knitting" thing that so many of my friends had picked up along the way, and marched myself down to the ghetto-fab Edinburgh Bargain Store for needles and cheap yarn. The resulting scarf was, in a word, laughable. It was also bright teal, and if I'm not mistaken, it's currently padding breakables in my storage unit. I tried to continue my knitting, first with a new, more subdued, ball of yarn in Edinburgh, then with fresh materials in Birmingham last year, but I've come to the realization that I'm not exactly a knitter.
I do, however, really like playing with jewelry.
Jewelry making - or at least the bead stringing/headpin wrangling with which I'm currently experimenting - is as relaxing as knitting, but without the cramping knuckles. I've made Christmas presents. I know the faces at the bead store downtown and where to find the cheaper supplies at Michael's. Heck, I've even made earrings to kill time pre-Torts. It's just fun.
Also, um, I like shiny things. And semiprecious stones. Now, if only I could scrape together the hundreds of dollars I'd need for a string of decent larimar, we'd be in business...
Monday, October 05, 2009
Thwarted by the Man
I was this close to actually getting something I wanted with my Westlaw Rewards points.
For those who have no idea what I'm griping about, West and Lexis are the two big publishers of casebooks, reporters, study aids, and other legal paraphernalia. Each runs an online search service, for which firms pay dearly. (Our Lexis trainer said it might cost $10 to run a party name search and $250 to run a search on terms. Moral of the story: spell it right the first time. Yipe.) While we're students, however, the searching is "free", or at least included in our tuition, and the West and Lexis reps give us candy and branded goodies. Why? Their companies are desperately hoping that someday we'll be managing partners willing to fork over megabucks for an online service, and that our law school experience will give us warm and fuzzy feelings about one company or the other.
To foster the warm and fuzzies, each service also offers students rewards on a point system. Do a search? 10 points a day. Complete a weekly activity? 150 points. Attend a training course? 400 points. Buy a West casebook from the site? 500 points.
Given that I already have my casebooks for the semester and I'm not a huge fan of mostly self-explanatory training (and I, erm, like my long homework break in the middle of the day. Yeah...), my point accumulation has been slow to this point, but I managed to rack up a 1,230 total this morning. "Hooray!" I thought. "Shopping time!"
See, the thing is, I have a taste for bad TV, and West was offering Paranormal State: Season 2 for a mere 1,200 points. It's kind of fun to watch undergrads running around old houses, jumping every time the floor squeaks, with their stable of demonologists, psychics, priests, and resident pagan for help. Mindless, but fun.
I'd noticed before that the West shopping categories said "DVDs - 2400 point minimum", but I'd assumed that meant that the DVDs went for, well, at least 2,400 points. Imagine my surprise to find a few that didn't. (Check out the stand-up comedians for more.) And so, with joy in my heart and a slight quiver of excitement in my mouse finger--I was actually getting something for my time!--I moved to Checkout.
Where my hopes and dreams of seeing Paranormal State in the next week died.
As it turns out, that 2,400 point minimum doesn't refer to the base price of the DVDs, but to the amount one must spend on DVDs to have them shipped.
Looks like I'm back for Training: Part II. Crud...
For those who have no idea what I'm griping about, West and Lexis are the two big publishers of casebooks, reporters, study aids, and other legal paraphernalia. Each runs an online search service, for which firms pay dearly. (Our Lexis trainer said it might cost $10 to run a party name search and $250 to run a search on terms. Moral of the story: spell it right the first time. Yipe.) While we're students, however, the searching is "free", or at least included in our tuition, and the West and Lexis reps give us candy and branded goodies. Why? Their companies are desperately hoping that someday we'll be managing partners willing to fork over megabucks for an online service, and that our law school experience will give us warm and fuzzy feelings about one company or the other.
To foster the warm and fuzzies, each service also offers students rewards on a point system. Do a search? 10 points a day. Complete a weekly activity? 150 points. Attend a training course? 400 points. Buy a West casebook from the site? 500 points.
Given that I already have my casebooks for the semester and I'm not a huge fan of mostly self-explanatory training (and I, erm, like my long homework break in the middle of the day. Yeah...), my point accumulation has been slow to this point, but I managed to rack up a 1,230 total this morning. "Hooray!" I thought. "Shopping time!"
See, the thing is, I have a taste for bad TV, and West was offering Paranormal State: Season 2 for a mere 1,200 points. It's kind of fun to watch undergrads running around old houses, jumping every time the floor squeaks, with their stable of demonologists, psychics, priests, and resident pagan for help. Mindless, but fun.
I'd noticed before that the West shopping categories said "DVDs - 2400 point minimum", but I'd assumed that meant that the DVDs went for, well, at least 2,400 points. Imagine my surprise to find a few that didn't. (Check out the stand-up comedians for more.) And so, with joy in my heart and a slight quiver of excitement in my mouse finger--I was actually getting something for my time!--I moved to Checkout.
Where my hopes and dreams of seeing Paranormal State in the next week died.
As it turns out, that 2,400 point minimum doesn't refer to the base price of the DVDs, but to the amount one must spend on DVDs to have them shipped.
Looks like I'm back for Training: Part II. Crud...
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