I’ve made no secret of the fact that I don’t align well ideologically with President-elect Obama, but that doesn’t make me any less thrilled that he will be our 44th president come January. His election is a powerful expression of the social progress our great country has made over the past 150 years. The sudden political awakening of our country’s youth, largely attributable to his campaign, was unprecedented. People the world over seem unabashedly ecstatic over his election, boding well for our frayed diplomatic ties. And that acceptance speech tonight! Haven’t heard one like that since Reagan’s.

Congratulations, President-elect Barack Hussein Obama II. You’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do. Don’t screw it up. And remember, that new puppy you promised your daughters will need to be housebroken.

It appears that the crap economy is starting to hit my credit file, after having burned and pillaged my stock portfolio, my 401(k), and my Roth IRA.  

I generally run low balances on my credit cards and pay them off every month, and have never had a late payment on any of them.  So imagine my surprise when I get a letter from American Express indicating that my credit limit was cut from $30k to $5k due to something “adverse” on my credit report.  

I have three-bureau credit monitoring, and upon investigation, I discovered absolutely nothing different about any of my files.  A call to Amex netted me an obviously scripted response claiming that they had “found certain adverse information on my credit report.”  I told them that my own monitoring of the very same turned up no such adverse information other than the credit line decrease that she claimed was predicated upon said adverse infor … oh, would you look at that, a tautology!  How cute.  

A quick Google search returns a panoply of similar complaints against Amex, many quite colorful, some rather sad.  Speculation is rampant that due to their sickly financial condition, Amex has been aggressively and methodically contracting individual credit limits based on some seemingly esoteric criteria, such as billing address, number of children, and the phase of the moon.  (I made that last one up.)  I brought this speculation to my support rep’s attention.  Any connection to failing financial health, of course, was vehemently denied.  She reiterated that it was all my fault.

Strangely, BECU unilaterally increased my Visa Signature limit slightly about two months ago because of the very same “bad” credit Amex cited.  You know, if Amex can’t be up front about the real reason why they’re giving me a good shafting, I’m taking my business elsewhere.

I’m normally extremely annoyed by the sheer volume of dead tree material that ends up in my mailbox and at my doorstep, but on Friday, there was something in the pile that made me fly into a fit of rage:

A Democratic Party slate card.

Then on Saturday, a Republican Party slate card.

In these abominable documents were precise directions on how to vote for every single initiative, candidate, and proposition.  “Don’t forget to take this to the polls,” they urged.

How the hell stupid do they think I am?  Are there really sheeple out there that are idiotic enough to take these slate cards hook, line, and sinker, and vote exactly how the party wants them to without even considering what they’re voting for?

My faith in our country’s political system, already close to nonexistent, is quickly turning into outright rejection.  So too goes my reflection on the parties themselves, along with their pigeon-brained hacks who can’t offer anything other than eternally vacuous lapdog yappery at the equally cognitively-challenged hacks on the other side.

It all makes me *so* mad.  One of our duties as citizens, by voting, is to make clear our will.  That duty does not extend to making clear the wills of the Democratic and Republican parties.  I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or a Libertarian or a United Monkey Loverist.  Throw away those slate cards.  Do NOT vote your party’s line unless you clearly understand each and every specific position that they’re taking.  Even if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool loyalist, use your brain and do the research yourself.  You’d be surprised at what you’ll disagree with.

Flemish brown ales (like the aformentioned Liefmans Goudenband) pair beautifully with nutty cheeses like Gruyère, Beaufort, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Especially when they’re accompanied by the sweet taste of victory, namely over 14-page memoranda of law.

I’ve been asked repeatedly how I’m able to retain my sanity as a full-time professional and a nearly-full-time law student.  The answer, in short, is that said sanity retention is almost a forced chore.  Let me take that back.  It is a forced chore.  However, I find that I still have plenty of time to avail of my many hobbies … more time, it seems, than many of my non-working classmates.

Not surprisingly, it all boils down to time management, and it’s actually made somewhat easier by having to work during the day.  I am by nature an expert procrastinator, and quite easily distracted by shiny objects and beer.  But when confronted with 40+ hours of work and 30 hours of school per week, I quickly realized how unbelievably valuable time is to those without enough of it (namely, myself).  For the first couple weeks of this arrangement, I was probably sleeping 4 or 5 hours per night, and my stress level was through the roof.  I think that it was during one of these frantic episodes that I, quite literally, slapped myself repeatedly and asked myself WHAT THE F#*& I WAS DOING.  

After calming down from these mild histrionics, I reflected upon my inner nerd and popped open Excel.  After a bit of numerical finagling, it became obvious that with optimal efficiency, I could easily get my 7 hours of sleep, and have Friday night as well as an entire weekend day to do whatever I felt like.  Doing so, of course, would require a strict regimen of ignoring distraction and finishing whatever homework I started.  I only had to force the new schedule upon myself like for a week before it just became normal.  I admit, it is somewhat unnatural for anyone to claim a 70-80 hour week as normal, much less manageable, but it really isn’t as bad as it seems if you actually look at it:

Weekdays, except Friday:

• Alarm: 0730
• Shower, etc.: 0730-0800
• Work from home: 0800-0930
• Take the train to work: 0930-1000
• At work: 1000-1745
• Take the train home: 1745-1815
• Drive to school: 1815-1825
• Class: 1830-2030 (or 2130, depending on the day)
• Drive home: 2030-2040 (or 2130-2140)
• Make and eat dinner: 2040-2130 (or 2140-2230), half of which I’m eating and studying simultaneously
• Continue studying: whenever I’m done with dinner until 0000
• Whatever: 0000-0030
• Bedtime: 0030

Friday:

• Same as above, except I get home around 1800 and don’t study at all

Saturday:

• 8-12 hours of studying, more if necessary (i.e. a paper is due)

Sunday:

• The joy of doing as little or as much of nothing as I feel like.

I mentioned that having to work makes time management easier.  It’s counterintuitive, but true nonetheless; having to get up at the same time every day, and knowing that work always takes up a certain amount of time per day helps with scheduling what’s left against what’s left to be done.  

One last important note:  I find it crucial to continue doing stuff I like whenever I can, especially when it involves physical exertion.  The only time I went two weeks without hiking, going for a bike ride, working out, or even just heading out for a quick jog was at the start of the school year.  At the end of those first two weeks, I don’t think I could have even written a summary of Green Eggs and Ham, much less properly brief a case.

Ok, I’ve moved on to a St. Bernardus Abt 12 and it’s time for me to focus on that rather than this silly post.

The Welsh reads: “I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated.”

… you know, I don’t think I can really comment on this one.

(Click the pic for the story on bbc.co.uk.)