Worst Week Ever? Close to it!

Whirlwind week...

Deets Inside!!



I'm not even sure where to begin on this so I guess I'll start...well...at the beginning. Sunday was my first LSAT online course and it was pretty informative. I learned a lot and even felt inclined to do some of my homework that wasn't due until NEXT week (tomorrow actually). New lease on life I tell ya!

Monday morning, I awoke and headed off to work as usual as any other day. I realized halfway there, that I had no cash on me and would need some to board my bus as I forgot to refill my bus card (replace FORGOT with too broke to afford the monthly rate until payday ...lol). No biggie... I'd stop by an ATM at one of the various gas stations along the route. Got to the ATM and started digging through my wallet...Panic ensues because my VISA, which I NEVER remove for more than 10 or 15 seconds is GONE!!!!! I ran back to the car and headed home. I needed to empty my purse out and search every nook and cranny and I wasn't about to do that in some gas station!

Got home and cleared out the contents... no luck! I then began the process of backtracking which brought me to some new realizations. Firstly, as I always try to keep at least $10.00 (if not, $20.00) on me, why is there no cash in my wallet? On Friday I lent my brother $20.00 for gas...hmm... Then I remembered that after doing that, I took out $40.00 to get me through the next week without having to go back to the ATM. That $40.00 was nowhere to be found!!!! Logged on to my bank to make sure I did indeed withdraw it and had a mini heart-attack! There was the $40.00 withdrawal clear as day as well as a charge made on Sunday at a gas station. It was an authorization charge of $1.00 with a notation that the full amount would be charged shortly. Shit my pants! Who the HELL used my card and where was it!!?? How much did they spend at the gas station!?

Well... I had no time to figure all of this out as I still had to be at work! On the way, I called Bank of America who immediately blocked my card from use and alerted me that as soon as that charge went through for the full amount, I was to call them back and they would put the amount back in my account and I could then file a claim and we could find out who did this and prosecute them. This all took less than 10 minutes so Kudos to Bank of America. Unfortunately, I now had no cash and no means of GETTING cash since my card was gone. No problem, they said, I could head to a banking center and have a new ATM issued that day. Yay!

Cancel that yay... after waiting 20 minutes for that banking center to open.. I realize that my ID is also missing... so I can't even prove who I am! Also means I can't get a new ATM unless I call and have it mailed (which could take 7 to 10 days).

Gonna give Bank of America another kudos here as I called and asked to have it expressed to me and it came on Wednesday!

Back to the story (pretend you don't know I got my card on Wednesday!). This is where things get sad and fishy... The card was in my purse all weekend as I never left my home, as was the money. Honestly, at home I do not lock my purse up so it was sitting on or near my bed for most of the weekend. Sunday, my older brother and younger brother were arguing all day because my younger brother borrowed the car and neglected to fill the gas tank. He claims he did and couldn't fill it anyway because he had no cash (you can start to see how this is going to be sad...). Finally, tired of arguing, my younger brother says he will go fill it as he has another errand to run. He asked to go in my room and grab the iron and ironing board and I thought nothing of it...

Monday morning... gas tank full but my $40.00 and my ATM card are missing! Long story... semi-short... I filed my claim with Bank of America who told me that they would mail me an affidavit and from there they will begin to search for who did this. As you can probably guess, my inkling was that it was my younger brother. This was hard for me to even begin to think but after adding up all the details, it seemed to be the case. I cried, just so you know; it hurt me to even have those thoughts but I will say that my brother is not the most innocent person in the world. The Bank of America rep, after hearing my story, agreed that it was probably my brother and asked if I was sure I would want to pursue this to the full extent even if that were the case. I said yes but asked if the option to withdraw the claim would still be available. I would still make him pay, but charges like this are serious and can result in years behind bars. Theft itself is punishable by hefty fines and up to 4 years in jail, and in this case, Georgia also considers this Identity theft which would add an additional 2-4 years on. I wouldn't want my brother to spend up to 8 years in jail for 80 bucks... I asked him Monday if he did it, to which he responded "no" and seemed peeved that I would even ask. Tuesday, after speaking with another rep, I realized how serious (again) this charge would be and that Bank of America would really go after the person even if it was only a few dollars. Again, I questioned, and got resounding "no's".

On Wednesday, the charge went through for $40.00, the exact amount needed to fill my brother's gas tank. It was all too clear to me at this point, and I filed the claim officially. That night, I asked for the last time, to which my brother responded (pissed off might I add- as I would be if the situation were reversed and I was innocent) "no". So, at this point, I will file the affidavit and whatever happens, well... happens. I really hope it's not him but we'll see...

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Time for some cheerful news! I took my first LSAT Diagnostic test for my class today from 2-5p.m. It was as difficult as I remembered the real test being but I got the same score I got in October of 2008. Now, at first I was sad, but then I realized that if I got the same score today as I got two years ago, with only 3 weeks of studying and preparation, then I can do nothing but improve. In 2008 I was studying on my own with no real idea of how to prepare. I was also working at a new job and dealing with stresses associated with late payments of bills and calls from creditors as I had been out of work for almost a year. My job required me to go in on weekends (I would get 60+ hours a week during this period). This left little time to prepare and when I did have an hour or two to study, it was ineffective study as I was too stressed. I took the test TWO YEARS AGO and never cracked a book since until recently (less than a month) and I managed to make the same damn score. If this class can get me back to there in less than a month, imagine what it can do in the ~5 months until the test. I will be golden!

That's all for now as I'm sure your eyes are tired of reading!
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Who Dat?

Ok... so ...

Since most others have magically reappeared... I might as well make it known that I am still alive as well. I guess I'll do a quick (and by quick I mean LONG) run-down as well but, first, a disclaimer: I am unable to post at work anymore (wonder why they blocked blog sites?!) and my evenings are pretty busy so I'm not sure how often I will be able to post.

News:

- Applied for law schools and GOT IN (YAY!) - but... the scholarship money offered was not enough or nonexistant and I'm broke and probably not a desirable loan candidate. So alas...one more year out of school in which I work hard to get a higher LSAT score which means higher scholarship offers and better school options!

- Along that vein... I have dropped $1400.00 of my hard earned cash on a Kaplan LSAT Xtreme Online Test prep which will hopefully raise my score. I would be happy with even 15 more points as that would significantly raise my prospects. Its pretty cool - you can view the teacher via web-cam and you have like a chat room where you can type to ask questions. They also sent me about 7 books (some are HUGE!) and some scan-trons and class materials. The class runs from June 13th to October 6th every Saturday and Sunday for 4 hours. They give full out LSATs 4 times and you get intensive study and tricks and tips- you also get one-on-one time with the professor after your exams to work on your weak areas. It's what I needed to do two years ago but couldn't afford. I've heard nothing but good things about this class. I've also bought several books for my own study and have been using them whenever I can find time. GuyIncog recommended them and he got an amazing score so I'm trusting in him.

- Speaking of GuyIncog - I'll give a slight update on him as I have discovered he is alive and well(ish). He's finished his first year of law school (or 1L) and found it difficult (as to be expected). He wasn't too happy a few weeks ago about his exams (he thought he might have done poorly) and I even worried that he might be wanting to give up but recently he mentioned that he did well in one of his classes and is hoping to get the same results in the
others. FINGERS CROSSED!

- Still working at my job - although I have been furiously applying for jobs elsewhere. My 2-year mark is fast approaching (July 15) and since I'm taking another year off, I want to sample a different position elsewhere or at least a different type of law. Its been a rough 2 years (well...year and a half of toughness - first few months were CAKE) and I have adopted this new no-care attitude which scares me. I roll my eyes at those two women (read my first posts if you don't know) whom I dislike and I'm finding it more difficult to be cordial. Also... I want to get a car and do other things with my money but I still don't feel secure in my job to do so. It would suck to get fired after committing to a car payment and insurance!

- No boyfriend but entertaining some prospects. Still finding it hard to actually want to fall in love or anything like that and trying to feel anything but just lust. The idea of actually committing right now makes me want to vomit (harsh...I know) but only a small part of that is that I haven't found the right one. The rest knows that now is not the time to start anything because these next few years are going to be hell. Still a girl can have some lunches and some drinks right? ;) P.S. Not having sex! Lust = looking and drooling!

I've also taken to gyming these days. It helps that my building opened a shiny new fitness center which is free to all personnel. Lovely - one of the 3 reasons I don't want to leave my firm (the other two are a guy and my homegirls at work!) - I go every morning from 7:30 to 9:30 M-F. Saturday and Sunday are lazy days but I try to force myself to go out walking. Its just been so rainy these days or sweltering that I'm not motivated to do it. Its been a little over a month and, typical of me, I haven't technically lost weight. I put on muscle fast and I can already see it in my thighs and arms! I'm even noticing that I can carry heavy things that used to wind me (huge boxes at work) much further without the tiniest sweat. As embarrassing as this is to admit, I finally got my 2 miles on the treadmill/elliptical below 20 minutes. Considering a month ago, I could barely do 1 mile in 15, I'd say I've improved a lot. I've taken to eating/drinking protein supplements and shakes before and after working out and eating a healthy salad or sandwich for lunch and a light dinner with one snack for the day. I've gone down a size but my goal is more to tone than lose weight. Looking at these hips, I'll never be a single-digit size- I'll be happy with a 10/12 as long as nothing jiggles when I run LOL!

I think that's about it. Nothing too exciting. Slowly getting my life on track. GOTTA GO - THE TUDORS IS ON!

Ciao

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SUMMER IS DONE!!!

Ah yes...Summer school has LET OUT!!!

What does that mean? Mad scramble for a real job. EEP! Holla atcha girl if you know ANYTHING in the NYC area =) Thanks for lookin out!

I'm a free agent!!! But bills are piling up. You know how it is. Will work to get out of the house.

Siigh but yea. Summer is done. I've more or less taught a whole year's curriculum in 6 weeks. 6 weeks. 33 days. So we didn't do a LOT of reinforcing of the information and I couldn't help every child individually but I think I covered a lot and they learned a lot considering the time constraint. I wonder how it is possible that teachers have 6 times as much time with these kids and most don't seem to be doing THAT much more than what I have with them!

AGHHHHHHH what's going ON?!

I'm no expert, obviously. But I've spoken to the licensed public school teachers that teach with me at the tutoring center and I've spoken to my boss who has seen a decade's worth of kids come and go at her company. The kids seem to start at lower and lower reading and math levels. The kids seem increasingly less able to do any critical thinking. Don't get me wrong. It's not like bright kids aren't still out there. They blow us away and blow the rest of the class out of the water. But they are so few and far in between.

It seems old school methods and curricula worked. Then for whatever reasons (I can take a stab at a few but I won't) the school system decides that we need to have one big ol' cookie cutter method that aims at personalizing education to each child. But in the end, children get lost in the shuffle because a teacher can only do so much for each individual child one at a time. It's a good theory. But like communism, just doesn't work so well in reality.

All this griping about the underachieving kids being lost in the shuffle, but what about the kids that are at the tops of the class? Does anyone really pay attention to them anymore? Take a look at this vid my best friend made at work:

Fun Fact Friday! - Waiting.... from Education Gadfly on Vimeo.

By the way, all the smarty pants play-doh kid did that put itself ahead of the class was FACE THE RIGHT WAY!!! LOL did anyone else notice the underachievers weren't facing forward? How true is that in real life? Very much mirrored in a real classroom. HAHAHA

Not to pat myself on the back, but I was one of those kids. I didn't always feel like I was being held back because my mom always pushed me to my limits with outside tutoring that taught way beyond the regular school curriculum. But there were many times in elementary and middle school where I felt the homework and classwork (at least for math) was SO mundane and frustratingly slow.

That was then. It seems it's worse now. What can we do to promote and provide top notch education for EVERYONE in the class?



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*Highlights* - Clay People Learn, Too

A little video my best friend made at work.

Fun Fact Friday! - US education expenditure and other countries' GDP from Education Gadfly on Vimeo.

So all this money has been pumped into education, where are the results???

The "Think About That" value:

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