Virus & Trojan

Just hours before a final, I got a virus that slipped by the scanner....

What a nightmare.  It destroyed my start menu, shortcuts,....  It hid all the files on the hard drives.  At first I thought it had wiped the drives.  It wouldn't even let  task manager or system explorer start. 

After a little digging, it came to me.  I copied system explorer to a.exe.  Then the virus allowed it to start.  It wasn't smart enough to look at program signatures, only the running name.  Once system explorer started, I was able to find the running program that was blocking everything and kill it.  Then I removed that program.  Updated the virus signatures and scanned the disk.

Now to unhide the files...... Quickest way I knew of was to start a command prompt and use the attrib command with recursion.  Voila, files back.

I was able to use the laptop for taking the final.

After the final, I finished resetting file attributes and rebuilt my start menu.

At that point I was so glad to have multiple backups.  I was very afraid that I was going to be rebuilding a system from scratch.  But my important data was backed up.

Senses, Knowledge, and the Law

When I see something, I don't "see" it, my mind perceives it. When you see a tree, you associate your interpretation of it with the symbolic word "tree". But, what is the meaning of the symbols. Is there knowledge behind the symbols? Language is nothing but phonetic symbology. 

The written word is nothing but a symbol of the spoken word, but with less knowledge.  You lose the inflection, tone, pace, and emotion of the spoken word when it is written.  You lose the subtle intonations that lend meaning.

Behind the symbology is the knowledge.  We are not taught knowledge in school.  We are taught the symbols and how to manipulate them, but not the meanings behind them.  We are taught the symbology, not the knowledge.  It is the search for knowledge that eludes us.

You will never have knowledge about everything just as you can never know everything.  But you should take the time to develop knowledge about those things that are important to you.

From my life before law, numbers were important to me.  There are a few that I took the time to seek out and some that came to me by accident.

Take the symbol "6".  Why that shape?  What is the story behind it?  Did you know that it is the first perfect number in that is multiples added together are equal to 6 (1x2x3 = 1+2+3)?  It is even (what is the knowledge behind that?).  It had mystical importance to certain civilizations that first developed mathematics(why 60 minutes?). 

Or 12.... Why 12 hours in 1/2 a day?  Why 24 hours in a day?  What did 12 mean to the civilization that divided the day as such.  (hint:  They counted the knuckles on the hand with the thumb.  Four fingers with three knuckles each is 12.  Two hands is 24).  But does anything lie behind that?


The combination (3,4,5) has a lot behind it if you are willing to look....

But have I discovered what is really behind the examples above?  Not really.  I've never looked behind things before, only to the surface.  The study of law has made me start looking behind the symbols to the meaning and knowledge that is there.  Why are laws?  What are laws?  Why laws at all?  What is the meaning of something like property?  What lies behind the laws?  When I understand that, I will start to become knowledgeable in the law.

Much as we want to we will never know the law without getting the true knowledge behind it.  This is what separates truly magnificent lawyers from the run of the mill.  Not to say that you can't be a good lawyer without that knowledge, but the to be great you need a deeper understanding that is taught.

The knowledge is what separates the technician from operator.

Pixelated Universe

Do we live in a pixelated universe?

Max Planck theorized a minimum measure of length (the Planck length) of the universe.  This length is the shortest measure above 0 that can distinguish "things" in the universe.  As a consequence there is also a minimum of time, the Planck time, that can be  measured.  This would be the time that light in a vacuum would take to travel a Planck length.

If there is a minimum length, then we can think of the universe consisting of nothing but pixels of Plank length in size (A Plank pixel).  If the universe consists of pixels, then is it possible that it is a giant very very powerful computer simulation?  Could God be the master programmer? 

It gives pretty compelling evidence for deja vu.  If the master programmer stops the simulation, winds "time" back, changes something, then restarts.  If not every bit of the old programming data was deleted, then deja vu could be the remaining bits of the previous trip through....

Many more questions are raised....  Are we all sentient beings?  Or are only a few set individuals sentient, while the rest are programed responses?  If the sentient beings can't see it, is it rendered? 

The sentient ones would be very powerful, self morphing, self programming, constantly changing and evolving programs. 

Perception then becomes something to think about.  When we "see", we don't actually "see", we perceive something.  The same is true for our other senses.  So we don't actually "see" a tree, we perceive a tree.  Does it make it any less "real" that we perceive?

First Semester Over

Well, the first semester is done.  We have one professor that is very efficient.  The Civil Procedure grades are already out and I'm pretty happy with how I did.  Although it wasn't an A, it wasn't a C either....

Already got my E&E (Examples and Explanations) for Torts which replaces Criminal Law in the spring semester.  I think I will like Torts a whole lot more than criminal law. 

Have 4 weeks off now.  We don't start back until January 17th.  Don't know what to do with myself without studying all the time. 

Almost Over

One more test to go, then its over for the semester

Examples & Explanations

If you are in law school and have not heard of Aspen's Examples and Explanations, then you need to at least do the favor of looking at them.  They have helped me clear up more little points and provide questions to make me think about the law at hand.

The one area where modern legal education fails is that they don't make you apply the law until the final.  With the E&Es you can work on application all semester.

Chronic Pain

Pain makes it hard to study.  If you are a student with chronic pain, then I really would think twice about law school.  Unless you have it under good control.

I didn't have chronic pain before law school, but it started soon after when my lower back "went out".

Today I need to memorize criminal law stuff, but the pain is distracting me.  So I am writing this hoping to come to grips with it better.  Strong medicine would help, but it would put me to sleep.  So a catch-22.  Suffer and try to learn, or feel better and sleep.

So, I'm taking ibuprofen and trying to struggle forward.

Fast forward to the end of the month....

I had an injection of cortisone around the nerve roots a few days ago.  Yesterday I was really thinking it was going to work.  Today, not so much.  The tingling in the feet has returned with a vengeance.

If it was just pain, I could deal with it.  Pain I'm used to.  But this is something that is hard to ignore.  Makes walking hard when you can't feel your foot.  Makes driving hard to.  Makes taking test hard because it is difficult to ignore the feeling.

Civil Procedure Final

Well,  that is over with.  What a final.  36 multiple choice and 20 points of essay.

Since we don't talk to each other about the test, I thought I would get it off my chest here....

The multiple choice took 2 hours.  2 hours for 36 questions.  That's 3 1/3 minutes each.  They were HARD, that is HARRDD questions too.  The prof. was right.  There were about 12 that were a cinch.  About 12 questions that were work.  And 12 that separate the A's from the B's.

The essay questions were not actually that hard.  It was surprising.  Of course the first one was an Erie analysis, but not a question of federal law, but what state law should be followed by a federal court sitting in the state.  Klaxon, Erie,  Of course the first question also involved the right of a trial by jury.  That is Byrd, the 7th amendment, Gasperini, and FRCP 38.  Byrd was especially useful.

I was really expecting a full blown Erie analysis question of federal rule vs. state law or rule.  Surprise to me.

The second question was just a matter of removal.  What of these scenarios can be removed to federal court.  Just took a little thinking through and each scenario answered in 2 to 3 sentences.

Ok,  I feel better now.

PS:  I did meet up with some other folks that had the same comments.  2 hours for 36 multiple choice questions....

Things to do differently next semester

• Flashcards from day one.  Use software to help study schedule using "Leitner" system (spaced repititions) (flashcardexchange.com which has an android application available.  You can study cards on your phone).
• Study flashcards ALL semester.  Black letter law should be memorized and not have to be reviewed at the end of the term
• At the end of the term, just work on concepts and application
• Work on application all term
• Might take notes by hand and transcribe.  I seem to remember better writing, not typing
• Do a better job of reading cases

First Final

First final is out of the way.  Contracts it was.  Even though it took three hours to write it, it didn't seem that bad overall.  The issues popped right out at me.  Or maybe I really missed something.  I'll know in about a month.

Anonymous grading is da bomb.  You can be unprepared in class.  You can tell the teacher off.  You can kiss up.  It doesn't matter.  At the end of the semester, the teacher has no idea who's test they are grading.

The end is nigh.

The amount of material that has been crammed into 1 semester of law school still boggles my mind. 

What is worse, it does change the way you look at the world.  I see something on TV and my mind automatically starts running the legal definitions.

For example, watching a baseball replay of a good catch.  He brought the ball into his sure control and meant to keep control.  Law of possession.....  Now he is the current possessor of the ball, but does not hold title to the ball.  Means that he is a bailor.  The true owner of the ball is the bailee. 

Until next time......  "The iron holds the whale".

Ever since I made the decision to quit my old job and attend law school, my entire life has turned around.  Providence or attitude, I can't tell.  Is this the path I was always supposed to be on?  Has God finally gotten my attention enough to put me on His path?

Property is defined as a set of relationships among people about things.  But it takes government enforcement to make it all work.

I believe in the my gun is bigger and I have more ammunition theory of property.  Because in the end, the government truly has the bigger guns and more ammunition. 

Wow

Midterms already and I've not posted a thing.

Law school has been almost the hardest thing I've ever done.  The learning method is like nothing you've ever encountered.  The teachers are smart beyond compare.  You classmates are every one as smart or smarter than you are.  Its intimidating.

We do have an interesting mix of folks.  A former runway model with her GED, former deputy, fruit peddler,  history majors, philosophy majors, and me. 

I'm about the oldest in class and feel like I could have fathered most of these "kids".  There are several in their 30's and late 20's.  But when you get to the 40 and over crowd, I think there are 3 out 136. 

One lady just had a baby.  How in the world can you do law school with a new born?  I'm finding it a struggle with 2 older children.  Joanne has a pair of 4 year old twins and a 2 year old daughter....

Thoughts

At least for now, thoughts are still not a crime...  But at what point do thoughts become a crime?

2 weeks

Wow.  Survived the first 2 weeks.

Starting to get my legs under me as they say.  Getting used to the language used in law and in the case studies that we have to do.  Lots of dense reading still.  The profs are recommending reading each case 4 times right now. 

Probably will start outlining next week.  Did start the civil procedure outline last weekend.  It was 7 pages for the first 2 weeks, but I included the verbose text of the rules of civil procedure that we went over in it.

It is amazing to me the way the legal profession looks at things like property.  Property isn't about things, its about the agreements between people as to the rights you have on a thing.  In other words, property is nothing more than a social contract.  Certain rights can be restricted.  But there are some fundamental rights that make it property.  So, is a URL property?  Is an idea property?

Spent the first 2 weeks of criminal law studying why we punish and the fact that an act (willful physical activity) or an omission is required.  Omissions are the hard ones.  When do we have a duty to act?  If we fail that duty to act, then it is an omission.

Attended the first bar review session Thursday night.  We reviewed 4 bars.  Looking at all those young people made me start feeling old towards the end of the evening.  I could have fathered most of the students and still have been over 18 at the time.

Interesting bunch of folks though.  Its amazing to be around 163 people that are all at about the same intellectual level, and we are all struggling.

First Week

Wow, the first week is drawing to and end.  I feel completely drained by this week.

You start out feeling behind in every class.  Especially since some of the classes are on back to back days.  You just feel like you can't even keep up. 

Towards the end of the week, I suddenly found that I was ahead on the reading.  The professors are not moving quite as fast as I thought they would.

Reading the law is like learning to read the Bible.  Its written in English, but in very confusing  ways.  Lots of Latin and Greek terms thrown around.  Even words that you know the "common" meaning of have different meaning under the law.

But looking back on the first week, I did learn a lot.  The new mentality is starting to set in.  Ask questions about everything.  With some of this new knowledge the answers I would have given a week ago are  already changing.

Looking forward to the weekend.  Only 1/2 a study day allocated.  Need to work outside the house.

Sincerely,

Gary
Student at Law

Tomorrow

Orientation starts tomorrow.  Two (2) twelve (12) hour days of speeches, welcomes, lectures, and exercises.  At least both days end with a social event.

All books are purchased and have arrved.

First day reading assignments have been posted.  Law school doesn't believe in wasting the first day with welcomes and "junk".

First Reading Assignment

First reading assignments came in.  Its reading about how to read law and in particular the cases in the text books.  Also an overview of the court system in America and common law.

Nothing Much

Trying to wrap up everything before summer break ends.  All sort of appointments to finish up for the children before school.

First set of books came in.  

What I've Learned This Summer

1.  Laundry is never done.  Corollary: Dishes are never done
2.  There are about a million trips to  town every week.  Between  appointments, vet, groceries,...
3.  The lawn doesn't mow itself
4.  Every parent needs a break from their children.  If you think you want to stay home full time during the summer, find somebody to watch them at least a few hours a week.  Find a week long summer program for them. 
5.  The honey do list grows no matter how much gets done
6.  Scan and shred is great!  No more growing files and reams of paper.  Just make sure you have a good backup.
7.  Waiting  for my law school schedule is the longest wait ever.

Health Insurance

For the older student that is leaving a career for law school, health insurance is a priority.  Especially when a spouse and children are involved.

No plan is going to be as inexpensive as the group you had through an employer.  Plan on  anywhere from $600 to $1200 a month for the insurance.  (for example, COBRA would cost me $650 per month). 

Be sure to involve your accountant or tax preparer.  There may be tax breaks, especially if your spouse is self employed.

Look at your needs.  Think about what could happen in the next 3 years.  People don't plan on accidents or acute health conditions, but the occur.  You could be cruising along, then suddenly have chest pain.  That leads to days in the hospital and expensive tests and followup tests.

COBRA is one option.  But it runs out in 18 months.  If your employer had  a good program, this is one option to get half way through.

University group health insurance is an option for those with healthy families that don't have many if any prescriptions.  But, being in the over 40 crowd, that just isn't an option for us.

So, I heard an advertisement for a site to help residents of Arkansas find insurance.   After talking to many folks, I found out that because of pre-existing conditions, that no major medical would take us.  Only a group would be an option.

Found 2 "open" groups.  You basically join an association that has group insurance.  By being a member of the association, you qualify for the group insurance.  We went with a PPO plan underwritten by Markel in Virginia.  With the added prescription rider, it will cover what we need for the next 3 to 4 years.  It is going to run just about $558/month.

If you need insurance, please call Steve at Quantum Health.  His number is  855-321-8300 extension 203.  Tell him Gary DeWitt referred you.

Nothing Much

Nothing much to report.  Had to turn in immunization report.  Filled out my ADA accommodation report with none needed.

Need to get my parking permit done and out of the way.  $75 just to register vehicles....  Then pay for parking.

The school will enroll us in July.  We don't get to pick the classes or times.  But, looking at the full fall schedule, they keep you there from 08:00 - 17:00 every day.  Talking to other students that are further along that is on purpose.  You are supposed to use the gaps to study.

Enrollment

Finally got my enrollment letter.  They will enroll us and pick our professors for the first year this summer.  Looks like classes will start at 08:00 and last until late afternoon about every day.

Nothing like 15 hours of doctoral level classes to start your day.

A Little More Progress

Finally got my student number.  Used it  to setup my online accounts at my school. Then, while looking around found out that I had a  hold on  because  I  did not have a MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella) vaccination on record.  Since I had been out so long, I did not have the records.

So off to the campus clinic to get my MMR shot.  In and out in 5 minutes and hold released. 

This may be something good to know for returning students.

Orientation starts August 15th with classes starting on August 22nd.

Resignation

The hardest step of law school is behind me.  It is scary to give up a regular paycheck.

Unfortunately they are going to make me work it out.  So 3 more weeks of that paycheck is coming.

My Personal Statement

Reading this statement now, it seems unorganized, but it is what it is:

Dear Committee Members:

I feel that my 20 years of professional experience working for fortune 500 companies in a variety of roles, both technical and managerial,  and my degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration (concentration Information Systems) provide a strong basis for a career in law.  Part of this experience has included various legal experiences.  I have been involved in such things as requirements for document retention and depositions.

My many years of experience and practice in the martial arts have also helped to prepare me for the rigors of law school.  The martial arts schools I am involved with train the mind and body to withstand various mental and physical rigors beyond the usual.  They go beyond training in the martial arts to also train their members in self-reliance.  Part of this training is the discipline to ignore mental and physical “modifiers” to get the job done and achieve annual goals.  Modifiers are such things such as hunger, mental fatigue, physical fatigue, and emotional duress.

In addition to my interest in martial arts, other interests I have outside of my professional life are reading, music (piano and banjo), and woodworking.  I also volunteer my time with the Boy Scouts of America as a committee member, merit badge counselor, and camping trip chaperone.   From time to time I use my skills in wood working to help out organizations such as the Foster Children’s system.

I help my mother run a xxxx acre ranch.  During the spring and fall, I spend as much time as possible there doing annual maintenance chores such as fertilizing and spraying.  During the remainder of the year I spend time in the day to day operations.  We are in the midst of reorganization so that the land will not have to go through another probate (This is the 3^rd probate since 1976).  I have learned much about legally durable entities that we can use for this purpose.

On February 12, 2010 the phone rang at 06:30 in the morning.  It was my mother telling me that the paramedics were taking my father to the hospital.  He had suffered a major heart attack.  I got in the car as quickly as I could for the three hour drive, but before I could get to the hospital, mom called to tell me that dad had just been declared dead.  I was now the eldest male of the family.  The next weeks and months were a blur with all that had to be handled.  If not for mental modifiers that I went through in my martial arts training, I do not think I could have gotten through it as readily as I did.

One day in November 2010 I woke up one morning with chest pain.  Thinking nothing of it since I had stabbing chest pains since I was a child, I headed for work.  By the time I got to work, the pain was radiating down my arm and my fingers were tingling.  Fortunately nothing major was wrong and I had not really suffered a heart attack.  But, 3 scary days in the hospital makes you think about things that you do not usually want to reflect upon.  What did the future hold?  Am I doing what I want to do?  Do I have freedom to move almost anywhere and make a living?  Could I move back to the ranch and work nearby?

I spent the month of November deciding what to do.  I had a xxxx acre ranch and widowed mother on top of my wife and 2 children to think of now.  All this had to be done without any more guidance from my father.   I wanted a future with flexibility on where I could work.  I wanted a future in an exciting and dynamic career with unbounded limits of future learning.

Then it struck me.  I had always had an interest in law and legal matters.  I should go to law school.  A degree in law would fulfill my future career needs and fill a desire I have had since I was a young man, that of a Doctoral degree.  But what is the process?  How does on apply?  What, if any, entrance exams are required?

Using my background in information processing, I began an analysis of what law school was about. What was the process of getting in? What requirements would I need to fulfill?  What type of classes would I be taking?  Interestingly enough a trip through the local law school web site and use of Google quickly told me that LSAC was an organization that I needed to use to get in.  Via the LSAC web site, I quickly found out everything I needed to know and began the application process.

This brings me to where I am now, in the midst of the application process.  It has been quite a “ride”, coming to this point.  The applications, the LSAT, the writing, all part of it, are just the beginning.

If you have any further questions, please contact me by telephone at (479)426-8072 or by e-mail at garyc.dewtt@gmail.com.

Thank you for your time and interest. I look forward to hearing from you.

Getting In

Getting into law school is an adventure in itself.  As somebody that has been out of college for more than a few years, I didn't have the help of an advisor.

My best advice for folks is to use Google to search for law school admission.  Doing this I found LSAC, which is the organization that you use to apply to schools.

Through LSAC you apply to schools, apply to take the LSAT (the admissions test), request transcripts, send letters of recommendation, etc.

Speaking of the LSAT, don't do this test cold.  You won't do your best.  Its not a test of general knowledge, but a test of reading comprehension and logical thought.  You really need to take a preparation course for it.  I moved my score up 13 points (which is a HUGE difference in LSAT scoring).  This made the difference between going to a very low ranked school to my choice of tier 2 schools.  I was accepted at all of the schools that I applied to in spite of an undergraduate GPA that was not stellar.

The LSAT can be just the beginning of the application process, because now you need to apply, get letters of recommendation written and write a personal statement.  The personal statement should be just that, a personal statement.  I am not a good author of things like that, but muddled my way through.  The admissions committees seem to want something that is personal, not a pre-written template.  At least my personal statement was good enough.