The top of my lap
One of the requirements for attending UH law is to have a laptop. I bought mine last week. This is the first laptop I have ever owned. After getting it I realized I would need to get MS Office so that I can properly format my papers/assignments. I don't have MS of any kind on my desktop at home so I don't just have a copy sitting around. Luckily as a student at UH, I can get a copy of MS Office for $15. Unfortunately, I don't get my student ID until the day before I need the software and then I would be hard pressed to get to the UH store in time as they close at the same time that orientation that day ends. Brilliant! I guess I'm the first law school student who had to buy a laptop specifically for law school. I don't really want to pay full price for a program I am entitled to get at a ridiculous discount. Luckily I was able to take an extra copy from work.
Now I'm sitting at a local corporately owned coffee shop trying to ensure the wireless internet features all work on my laptop. I had planned on reviewing the reading materials and prompts for the writing assessment essay I will have to write at orientation but it turns out I need Adobe Reader and a plugin to open MS Word '03 documents (I have '07). I had forgotten how many programs I use and take for granted on a daily basis. Now I have to make sure I have all of them so that I can take care of everything. Unfortunately the internet connection at this location is tenuous (probably because I refused to pay for it and am leeching off another restaurant further away) and the download time for Adobe keeps increasing. Since my attempts at productivity and preparedness have failed, I am now blogging and griping about various things. Ah well.
On a happier note, I went to New Orleans with Brian this weekend. I had a lot of fun. Our hotel was a couple blocks from Bourbon street. We wandered around town and did the touristy thing. We also drank a lot. At one point Saturday night I decided to drag us all the way across the French Quarter on a quest for something called tater tachos (nachos made with tater tots) which a local we befriended had recommended to us. I'm horrible at reading maps and after a few wrong turns, we serendipitously stumbled upon the place. We walked in triumphantly (at least I felt triumphant) and ordered tater tachos only to be told they were sold out. Worse, they were only sold out by about 5 minutes and we had to watch as the waiter wandered around with the last order because he couldn't remember who ordered them. We tried to claim them but were snubbed. Basically my brilliant adventure ideas at 1 am after drinking all day are not quite as brilliant as I believe them to be. We took a cab back to the hotel (Brian's truly brilliant idea) rather than walk however many miles back. Overall it was a fun trip and I'm glad I got a break before starting school.
Ok, now I'm going to return home to use my own internet connection and see if I can't do something productive today.