A Conversation with
Elizabeth
1998
One Down
From:
Elizabeth
To:
LMixson@PEC.com
Sent: Tuesday,
April 21, 1998 9:51 AM
Subject: One Down
I left work at 4 to go buy blue books for my exam, which I had neglected
to do, and also to get in a little studying. I was in the library
(which incidentally is very very nice as is the entire law school
building as it is virtually brand new) and an "older" student said the
word was that "the professor never asked for lists." Well, as I
told you, 85% of my studying was "the lists." I told you about how
everything in law has "elements." There are a certain number of
elements for a common law marriage, a certain number of elements for a
prenupt, a certain number of elements for legitimizing a child, and on
and on and on. I told her that even if I had "heard" that, I
wouldn't be able to trust it, and I would have studied lists anyway.
So in the exam, I'm about half way through and I flip the page, and
question after question is "lists." At least I had them down.
I feel good about the exam. There is no danger that I failed.
My expectation is that I made an A, as I checked my notes when I got
home, and seemed to have gotten most things on point. I'd really
like to make the best paper award, but there were one or two sentences I
wrote which were "weak," i.e I left a crucial word out and that will
probably cost points.
My feelings after an exam are physical fatigue from writing in a hunched
over position for three hours and also sort of, the next day, a spaced
out feeling. Its as if all of a sudden, when attention turns from
the exam, it's Oh, Hello world. Now I have one more Friday night
from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30. (What a time for an exam?)
So how are you? Did Wendy ever try to reach you? Despite
your resumes and explanations, I still don't understand, at a task
oriented level, what you DO at work? I mean what do you
"manipulate." I mean, in my job, I do "research." Persons
say to me for example, "I need to know if there is any research (I had
this yesterday) linking caffeine consumption and benign breast
disorders. So, I get on the internet and the Nat. Lib. Med.
databases and "look." I sift through article abstracts, looking
for relevant items, print them out, compile a "literature search" etc.
Sometimes I just look stuff up for people, like yesterday a group in the
hospital was trying to find "where" the Moffit Cancer Center was and
several other cancer centers. Then, I have a lot of "routine"
tasks. I receive a lot of journals which I check in, scan through,
and put out for use. I order books for the library. Some of
what I do is "mundane" but it is balanced by the fun stuff, the computer
searching.
So, what do you DO?
We have been blessed with a spate of cool weather, thankfully.
The X-files, my study break, wasn't very good, I thought, but I keep
hearing that in May there will be a final four clinching episodes.
I think the best show all season was the Neuromancer derived one.
Right now I can't recall too many which stand out. By the way, I still
have Snow Crash to finish, as I didn't get through it yet. Did you
watch the Sunday night movie about the "mad therapist." I guess
you probably didn't because you were away (what a bummer to have
forgotten the car and being so tired probably and ready to rest--is it
that far "around the beltway.") I taped it, but haven't watched it
yet--it conflicted with X-files and I didn't have time anyway.
Well, I best go. Elizabeth
By “taped it” she meant record it on videocassette tape using a Videocassette Recorder or VCR. VCRs had come down in price that most everyone had one connected to their TV and to their cable TV box. Recording TV shows to watch later had become common. I often would have three of four VCR tapes stacked up of shows I recorded, sometimes forgetting what was on them, as because the tapes were to be reused, I didn’t write down what was on them. Renting movies Even today people often say “tape it” even though they no longer use tape.
Updated: 04-05-2024