Law School Gear v Summer Gear
I was walking to my car yesterday, enjoying the sunshine and wondering what to make for dinner when I realized how bogged down I was NOT. I had a small messenger-style bag slung across my body. It had my empty lunch bag, wallet, cell phone, a few files with my resume and networking contact info and other minor essentials in it. It was light weight! During the school year I am in constant contact with my rolling backpack. It goes everywhere with me - work, school, home. It contains everything my messenger bag would carry, plus the law-student's lifeline: my laptop. (Oh, I can fit a book or two in there, as well.) It always feels heavy and is somewhat of a burden to travel with - but still - it's saving grace is it's ability to carry my laptop. I love my laptop. It is not the most expensive, fancy, particulary large or small, exceptionally fast or slow, but it is mine and it works perfectly for my needs.

My laptop. Hard to believe that for the entire school year barely a day goes by that I do not open it (except family days, generally Sundays, and Saturday, too, depending on my schedule.) Now, I've not seen my dear friend since May 10th when I took my last final. No, not quite true - I had to open it since then to delete the finals that we are only allowed to keep a few days - long enough for the school to contact us in case there was a problem printing out the final from the disk handed in. Still....I see it all the time, and then, BOOM - stuck away in the garage until the end of August. Maybe I should be nicer to it.

I take notes on my laptop. I use on-line statutes rather than the expensive books I was required to buy. (Much easier to cut and paste into my notes that way!) I IM with my wife and son and 1 or 2 friends. I keep personal photos, projects, and sometimes work stuff on my laptop. I surf the internet on my laptop.

Last year, when my laptop was out of commission and I had to have power supply repair done, after being without my computer for a week, we went out and bought a back-up. I couldn't handle the thought of being so far behind that I had to transcribe more than one week of hand-written notes into my computer while still keeping up with current assignments. Of course, my computer arrived two days after that purchase! Now I have the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing I have a spare should I ever need it, and my wife has her own laptop computer now. She used it a great deal when living in the hotel in Seattle while spending time with her dying mother. She created a wonderful slideshow memorial to her mother's life, featuring her mom from a very young age, marrying her father, then all of their children as they grew up and had children. A great investment, that spare laptop!

Maybe I will visit it soon....it would probably like to come out of the garage and play!