TGIT?

Thank God it's Thursday. Apparently working for the government means that you get Good Friday off, so I don't have work tomorrow. Yay! I know more about Medicaid after this week that any one person should know. Especially since all the information is completely unnecessary for my actual job. But hey, at least I'm getting paid. Today our trainer actually just stopped teaching us at 2:30pm and had us do "independent study" until it was time to go home. So that was $34 I made for listening to my iPod and doing the crossword in the City Paper for 2 hours.

lazy netflix sunday

I have spent all afternoon watching Netflix movies. One more and I can mail them all back tomorrow and have a whole new batch for this week. What a great way to spend a Sunday: sleep until noon and then watch movies on the couch.

I forgot to say last time that I got paired with a little sister for Big Brother Big Sister. I did a drive-by in her neighborhood (because I'm supposed to make sure I'm comfortable going there regularly), and I should be meeting her sometime soon. I'm really excited about it but nervous too.

Also, I read this article recently: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/opinion/02thu4.html?em. I'm definitely for BIGLAW finding a happy medium. I don't need $160K, so I'd love to not have to work 15 hour days to be part of it. Closing the gap between government/public interest and BIGLAW sounds like a great idea to me.

Not that this has anything to do with my or anyone else's employment status, but I totally blew some dude off today. It was quite satisfying. Apparently, he's not very good at handling having a life outside of work. He is constantly telling me he misses me after not calling for a week. Cry me a river. You don't have to devote your time to me, but if you don't, don't think I'm going to drop everything to hang out with you. Silly boys. This is why I should stick to the ladies. Or just not dating at all.

too sleepy for a title

Today work was downtown for the first time. I was able to have lunch with my dad at my favorite cheap Greek place (really not Greek at all since they use ranch dressing instead of yogurt--yum!). We, of course, had more training, which mostly involved me restraining myself from surfing the internet with the computer I was parked in front of the whole day and also occasionally taking notes on eligibility requirements for Medicaid.

I am utterly exhausted. I can't imagine what it's going to feel like after a whole week of getting up at 6:30am. Yuck. They're easing us into it though. This week we had 3 days. Next week, we have Friday off, so we're only working 4 days. Who knew that government employees got Good Friday off? Weird.

I should be looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, but I told my dad I'd go on some run/walk thing with my little sisters. He's picking me and Jeff up at 7:45am. Obviously, my boredom is making me crazy when I'm agreeing to Saturday morning jogs just to have something to do over the weekend. Tonight Jeff and I went to dinner at the Gold Rush and then to see I Love You, Man. Seriously funny movie, but part of me wishes I had just come home after work and gone to bed. I am becoming one of those little old ladies with knitting needles that I fear. Help me. On that note, I actually have to get some sleep, so I can keep up with a 6 year old and a 9 year old tomorrow. Wish me luck.

ah the joys of government work

Turns out this job though low-paying compared to BIGLAW might be much more enjoyable. Government inefficiency + the South = spending 7 1/2 hours doing virtually nothing. We started at least 20 minutes late after every break. We spent an hour and a half doing "introductions"--100 plus people standing up and saying something witty about themselves. We had at least an hour of testimonials of people who had worked on previous projects--"Everyone's so nice! We're like one big happy family!" I also now know EVERYTHING about the structure of the Department of Human Services. Okay, that's a lie. I was playing with my phone during those 2 hours. Regardless of the inefficiency, everyone is ridiculously friendly. Might have something to do with being so thrilled at the idea of a paycheck since most of the people hired have been out of work for months. Also, could be the Southern factor.

We have another day of training in the hotel ballroom tomorrow, and then Friday we're splitting up into 3 groups and meeting downtown. Looks like we'll be training for quite a while, and we'll all be stationed downtown, which I'm happy about. Besides the parking problem, which is a non-issue since I'm forcing Jeff to drive me to work every morning, downtown is awesome. Great places to eat within walking distance, great bars for happy hours, and not far from my house. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Oh, one more thing. Did I mention that I got off work at 4:30pm? Unbelievable. Another benefit of working for the government.

so here's the story

I guess I should explain my situation before I start my oh-so-awesome new job as a paralegal. That will make it clearer as to why I'm so adverse to the idea of making $16-17 an hour.

I went to a top 10 law school. I didn't do especially well there, but the attitude was always "everyone gets jobs, so go have another beer." I did a public interest internship after my 1st year of law school, and then I managed to get an offer to be a summer associate at a large firm in NYC after my second year. That summer the firm was busy, and I managed to do some substantive work while drinking myself into a stupor and gaining 30 pounds at the same time. Then my 3rd year of law school, my firm started buying out their 1st year associates. Everyone who took the deal seemed to be able to find work at other big firms, but it definitely indicated that something wasn't right.

In the winter came real lay offs, and then more lay offs in the spring. I took a $10K loan from my firm, so I'd have something to live on for the summer, and I studied for and took the New York bar exam. During that time, rumors of dissolution hit the internet, but the firm continued to deny anything of the sort. They had pushed our start date back about a month, so I spent 2 months in Southeast Asia. It's not like there was anything I could do anyway.

I moved to NYC in October and started working later that month. I was able to find a studio apartment on Wall Street only a 10 minute walk from work, so I signed a 12 month lease (only option at the time). Since I was in the financial services department in the firm, work was seriously lacking, but there were still nights I stayed past midnight. There were constantly rumors about possible mergers with other firms, and since my office was on the floor with the managing partner, I saw a lot of action--meetings with people from outside the firm involving members of the managing committee.

Then a few days before Christmas around 11am, two partners from my team emailed me (and the other 1st years on my team) asking us to meet them in a conference room. They informed us that the firm was dissolving, and 100 or so lawyers were being taken over to another firm, but we would not be among the lucky ones. None of the 1st years would be. We were told we would be paid for another 60 days thanks to the WARN Act, but there would be no severance pay. Many of the 1st years asked about the $10K loan that we had begun paying back in November, but no straight answer was ever given. We were also told we should continue coming into the office for the next 60 days even though the firm was dissolving as of December 31st.

Slowly most of the 1st years just stopped showing up more than a few hours a week. I realized I wasn't going to be able to find any work in New York that would pay the bills, so I decided to move back home. I tried to sign up to take the February Tennessee bar exam, but I missed the deadline while I was still thought I would be staying in the city. (The next exam isn't until July.) I left NYC in February. I stayed with my mother for about a month, and then my brother and I moved into a small house near both of my parents.

I've been looking for work in Nashville since I got here, and the best offer I've gotten has been this paralegal position. Pretty depressing to go from making $160K a year to $16 an hour, but at this point beggers can't be choosers.

just another not-so-manic monday

Let's see. What did I do today?

I woke up at noon, but in my defense I was up pretty late trying to write that stupid memo. Also, I need my beauty rest. Whatever. I don't need to make excuses. Sleeping is an awesome way to pass the time when you're unemployed.

Around 1:30pm I finally got out of bed. I ate a bagel and some spaghettios and watched TV. In a fit of productivity, I emailed the Federal Public Defender's office a job application for a research and writing attorney position. Then I took a shower with some 80s music in the background.

I had to meet Tony at the Whole Foods in Brentwood at 4pm to discuss some flyers I'm making for him for his new dance/fitness classes that start in a couple weeks. So I put on my brother's high school tennis sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, and blow-dried my hair by driving up 65 with the windows rolled down. Tony and I gossiped, discussed last night's performance of Jersey Boys at TPAC, and brainstormed about his blossoming business among the crunchy granola hippies at Whole Foods. (Damn, those people scare me.)

On my way home, I stopped by my mom's house to print out, sign, scan, and email some forms for my job that starts on Wednesday and pick up SATCO for me and Jeff. And since then I've been planted on my couch watching TV and one of my recent Netflix rentals (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2).

I guess my real "Monday" is going to be this Wednesday. I'm finally starting my job with the state as a paralegal on the TennCare project. (Who thought I would graduate from a top 10 law school and be working as a contract paralegal less than a year later? Yikes.) Just found out today that we have to be there at 8am. "There" being a ballroom in a random hotel near Metro Center. Ga-ross. I really hope that it's not just a million little old ladies who like to knit on their lunch hour. I need this job to be chock full of cool fun twentysomethings for me to become best friends with. That's the only thing that will make getting up at 6:30am worthwhile.

So tomorrow is my last day of unemployment for a while. I plan on spending it much the same way I spent today. Except I'm definitely going to the gym. And since Suzanna's finally back from NYC, I'm going to Mafioza's with her and some friends for pizza and beer. But definitely not doing anything that prevents me from sleeping until noon since it's the last time I'll be able to do that on a weekday for a while.

bills bills bills

It's kind of ridiculous how my life has changed since I left NYC. I spent Friday night watching TV with my brother and my dog, and then I got up this morning to go to the gym with my mom. We spent pretty much the whole day together, and this evening (a perfectly good Saturday night), I watched the stock of Suze Orman shows I had saved on the DVR. All my friends I was chatting with online signed off on me at some point to go out. Not even close to a typical weekend in NYC, but I guess it can't be expected to be. Plus, there's my whole lack of a regular job to go back to on Monday.

I did some work for a solo practitioner this week. It was the first work I've done since leaving the firm. Basically, I organized files from a past case that were in complete disarray. Never thought I'd be making $12 an hour ever again. I got $12.50 an hour when I was 12 to do studio singing work. But I guess I shouldn't fail to mention the $17 an hour I am making to do 4 hours worth of research. Too bad the research actually took me more like 12 hours because it's a ridiculously complicated subject, and she didn't really give me enough information to find an answer efficiently. Tomorrow I will be completing a memo on the subject in the hopes that maybe it will convince her to pay me to do research for her again at some point. I am so very poor.

I am starting a temporary job as a paralegal for the state on a TennCare project. Not my favorite, but at least it means a regular paycheck. Also, there's the potential for overtime (yay time and a half!), which means even more money. Hopefully, I'll actually get assigned some college kids to tutor for my LSAT job because that too will mean extra money coming in.

As it stands now, bills are difficult.

As of April 1st, I will owe my NYC landlord $2325, and I don't even have that much money in the bank, so obviously that's not going to happen. I did exactly what the management company suggested. I vacated the apartment as soon as I could, and they offered to put it back on the market and give 2 months free rent to any new tenant that agreed to sign a new lease. I contacted them recently, and they said they also lowered the rent they will be asking a new tenant to pay. But they still haven't managed to find someone to move in, and I'm on the hook until they do. Hopefully, they'll use my security deposit (which was equivalent to 1 month's rent) for the month of April. Then I guess I will have another 4 weeks before I have to start worrying again.

My student loans are a disaster. I applied for a 3 month forbearance in January when I realized I was being laid off, and I just recently asked for another 3 months. My payments were about $2050 with all the loans added together. $250 of that is for a private loan that I haven't been able to get deferred, so I'm still paying that. Then my dad (in a miraculous moment of goodwill) paid off a large chunk a couple weeks ago. Now my payments total about $1250. I'm leaving them in forbearance for now. Can't wait to see how much the interest has piled up by the time I can actually start paying them again.

I'm also paying off some credit card debt that I acquired during law school. With the aggressive payment plan I set up, I'll be all paid up by the end of this year. I figured that was the most important debt to pay off at the moment since my credit card interest rates are ridiculously high (and according to most news reports, could get even higher).

At least, everything in Nashville is ridiculously cheap compared to NYC. My rent (sharing a house with my brother) is only $500 a month here. Also, my lack of life brings down expenses.

I've been trying to keep myself from getting the boredom blues by keeping busy, but it's hard because I really don't know that many people in town. I've got a couple of friends from high school (one of whom is leaving in the summer to start a residency in Detroit), and then I've got my family. So I guess that makes it clear as to why I'm writing a blog entry on a Saturday night. 1. I'm po'. 2. I ain't got no friends. And with that, I'm signing off.