One of the clerks I work with described me as a commuting lifer.

This is probably why I have numerous pet peeves about the people who use and run the T. I can only compare Boston commuting to Manhattan commuting (I volunteered at the GMHC for my senior year spring break in college). I feel that the Manhattan way was much more efficient and if you are coming from a place with efficient commuters, my pet peeves will certainly become yours.

Pet Peeve #1
The escalators. I fully believe that there should be a sign that indicates people should walk on the left and stand on the right. I have to admit that I am one of those annoying people who walk up on the escalators. I think it's faster and being faster means that I will catch the bus faster. Especially during rush hour. It could be argued that the time spent stuck behind someone who stood on the left is no time at all. But! If your bus leaves promptly and those 30 seconds means bounding down icy stairs in hopes of catching a bus that won't come for another half-hour ... then walking on the left and standing on the right could make all the difference.

Pet Peeve #2
People who stop on the stairwells to answer their cell phone and then stop to talk while STILL on the stairwell. This causes a bottleneck and is just plain rude.

Pet Peeve #3
People who saunter in the middle of the aisle of the train during rush hour while everyone is trying to board or disembark. There is no way to walk around him/her because the person is not a little person. This actually happened to me while I was trying to get on the outbound train at Downtown Crossing. This prevents people from boarding because the person is preventing people from filling in the middle of the car. Then the doors will close abruptly and if you aren't on the train, well you'll need to wait for the next.

Pet Peeve #4
People who try to push onto the car when it is absolutely clear that one more sardine in this tin may cause a spontaneous combustion of the car. However, I understand the dilemma as this brings me to ...

Pet Peeve #5
Because the conductor always yells "there is a train right behind this one." This is invariably a lie because there usually is no train right behind the one the commuter is trying to shove himself on unless you can see it. In fact, it may be better to try to squish in even if you do see the train/bus because the one right behind may be defective and cause even more lateness. Or because it was right behind it will be slow because the train in front is slow.

And those are the top five horrors of commuting in Boston. I did not include the general rudeness of people because I assumed that was a given.

HOWEVER, taking the T is still better than the alternative. Traffic is usually atrocious during rush hour. There is practically no street parking. Parking in a garage or lot is expensive. You aren't guaranteed a spot where you really want to be.

AND usually in one commute, only one or two of the pet peeves will occur. An IPod also makes the entire commute much less painful. If you actually get to sit, there is always a free Metro or BostonNow to read.

Have a pleasant and short work week!
Have a pleasant weekend!

Posted by Laurinda at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi everyone,

Not much is happening in my life. I wait with bated breath for evaluations and preregistration for the spring quarter. I really need them to put up the class list so that I can buy my books beforehand. If I need to purchase at the bookstore, I probably will get sticker angry.

AND I only have two of my evaluations for four of my classes which is ridiculous since exams were BEFORE Thanksgiving (so many weeks ago).

If you aren't familiar with the evaluation system, the following paragraph should provide a quick recap.

So if you didn't know before, you'll certainly know now. Northeastern does not have grades. We have evaluations. Therefore, we aren't ranked. Evaluations are just that. A quick summation of how your exam went, if you were a prolific participator and the professor could comment on that, and if there were other assignments throughout the quarter, that is more on what the professor can say about you in an evaluation. To be clear, however, your evaluation is based on 99% the exam. Since you are given a number, the professors are evaluating you in a vacuum. The extras help to sway the eval maybe one direction or the other, but I tend to doubt that.

Evaluations, however, are practically and functionally the same as grades. Especially as there are certain "buzz words" that correlate with a certain grade. For example, "Outstanding" clearly is an A+/A. Then excellent, very good, and so on down the line.

My feeling is that if we have buzz words which are basically grades why not just give us grades. I understand that the lack of grades is to contribute to the cooperative feeling, but I think that is underestimating the Northeastern student. Most NUSL students come because of the cooperative atmosphere. I don't think that would change if we had grades. If you were an ultra-competitive, possibly treacherous person, I don't think that changes with having evaluations. Those competitive urges are simply directed elsewhere. For example, in co-op comparisons. Nor do I think that if you were a kind, mellow, uncompetitive person that would change with the arrival of grades or rank.

And on to other news!

Frigid Arctic Blast scheduled for this weekend.

Posted by Laurinda at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sadly today did not reach the 60s as it did yesterday. Massachusetts weather is a fickle fickle creature teasing us with warm breezes and actual sunshine. Usually we in MA are content with 30 degrees (because that is so much better than 10 below), but to tempt us with a few days of spring-like weather only to snatch it away again ... Still as the saying goes: the cold weather builds character.

In other news, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is sitting again this week. The Judge is also presiding over a new trial. Contrary to popular opinion, I have not tired of sitting in on trials and appeal sessions. However, I just don't have the time do so!

I have a lot of research and writing going on right now and in addition, tomorrow is the deadline for the January co-op mailing for the summer. I am definitely trying to fulfill my public interest requirement for the summer. However, I really wanted to work in London for Fidelity, but I am not even sure if they are going to be hiring for the summer. That is one of the downfalls of the co-op program because if I do lock in now, I can't try later for something that might only be an opportunity later. It's very much a game of strategy.

Still despite this I still went to see 2/3 of the arguments in front of the First Circuit.

The first case was very interesting and has been in the news.

Kufner v. Kufner - basically American couple in Germany divorces and wife finds pictures of her 8 and 9 year old sons nude. She takes them back to the US in contravention of a German court order. It's very hard to tell but I think that the case will go against the mother just because of the line of questioning ... or at least what I can guess.

Judge Selya was presiding and he is such a hoot. He is a very interesting judge to watch.

The second case was the Facebook case. This presented another interesting legal corporation question turning on the Delaware LLC laws. I couldn't really tell how this one will fall out but I guess we shall see.

On yet another sidebar: there is a Japanese judge observing the courts this winter and he is only 28 and has been a judge for 5 years!!

Posted by Laurinda at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Because the Mondays before Xmas and New Year's were federal holidays (Thank you W.), I decided to just take that week off. This decision was facilitated by the fact that practically no one else would be in chambers and there were no trials.

However, the first day back from a nice vacation is the same anywhere, whether at work, school, or co-op - busyness. There will be a motions session coming up. This means that the motions will be divvyed up amongst the clerks and interns. One of the clerks here has a favorite saying that we do justice, and I really hope we do, or at least that I don't make any major mistakes.

On a side note and general plug for people reading who are from MA to come volunteer ...

I volunteered at the Boston Living Center the Saturday before Xmas to help with their annual holiday party. I helped wrap gifts and hand them to Santa to hand to the children. If you feel like you've lost the magic of the holiday, and sometimes I feel like I have, then this is a great way to reconnect. I don't think I've seen a kid's face actually light up before and this is a great way to get that chance. I really recommend for people who read this and who like to volunteer to go to the BLC, or somewhere, to volunteer. Okay piece said, so peace out.

Posted by Laurinda at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)