I was supposed to start this blog a month ago as a way to let those who know enough to care how life as a 1L was going. It was also supposed to be a way make me remember the good things in life...fine wine and good chocolate. Two of the things that made college worth the time and money. But now that I have given up my lucrative and enriching life as an engineer to become a lawyer I had to be prepared to forego such vices for three years. Yeah right.

So law school. What's it like? Interesting actually. I think that is how they get you to come back after the first semester. Maybe it's the fact that I've been an engineer for too long and just needed to read something different but I actually like the work load so far. It's really not that much different than real work. Once you learn how to sit in a cube for 9 hours a day coming up with ways to convince people you're worth what they're paying you despite the fact that your biggest accomplish of the year has been to reach a 93% success rate at freecell studying for torts is quite enjoyable by comparison.

I actually feel bad for those who've come straight from their undergrad degrees without experiencing the real world. They've never known the drudgery of waking up at 4:45 am every day for three years to go sit in an 8X8 cube. Many of them complain about having to read for three hours a day, and brief cases, and write memos, and sit through class. I'll take this over a meeting to discuss mapping out a process that no one follows but has to be documented so that the quality guy can justify his place in the company for another 6 months.

I just mentioned memos. That was the big assignment due last week. The smallest part of the final grade but the biggest thing so far in law school. I actually found it quite enjoyable to watch the chaos unfold. Just the dark looks on faces on the day it was due was great. The few that got it done early and slept the night before still had that look of fear in their eyes. It was just impossible for me to get to worried about it. Sure it was hard. Sure it took about 16 hours to complete. But it was nothing compared to spending over 100 hours on an engineering analysis that has to be summed up on two power point slides.

Sounding overly confident? That's only because I haven't got my grade yet and finals are still far enough away to not to enter my mind.

Now to the wine report:
I can report that in the last month I have had a very good Barolo (available now at Sam's Club believe it or not), an Inniskillin Ice Wine (reason enough to get a college degree), and still managed to empty a few bottles of my favorite Pinot, La Crema. Luckily my wine chest remains full.

And who can forget the chocolate?
This month's recommendation - King Arthur Flour Chocolate Lava Cake. Holy crap that is good stuff. Goes great with ice wine, though this combination won't likely be had for some time to come. Luckily Moscato is a good alternative to ice wine.