Posts Tagged ‘New York’

Mar

Current State of My Existence

Posted by: ZandyMan in Random Schmooze

The Existence by Basri Mekolli

The Schmooze: So it has been a while since my last post. It is funny how life can just get so busy. Graduation is right around the corner (May 22nd) and I have a lot on my plate. At the top of my list is finding a permanent job. Unfortunately, I am graduating from law school in what might be THE worst year in the history of years. A lot of people are under the assumption that the legal field has been immune from the economy. Well…you know what happens when you assume. In reality, there have been numerous layoffs in the legal field just like most others. As a result, the market is now flooded with experienced lawyers. That means us newbies don’t have much of a chance. The few places that are hiring are looking for lawyers with at least a few years of experience and specific expertise. Guess what…they can find them! It is completely a buyers market right now.

The lack of a job has also made the decision of what Bar (the exam given by each state that licenses you to practice law in that jurisdiction) to take a much more difficult decision. My original hope was to have a job that would dictate which Bar I took. Without a job, I have to take future circumstances, potential job opportunities, as well as personal considerations into my decision. My family is in Florida, I live in Maryland and I want to work in DC. So there is a lot to think about. As of now I have decided to take the Florida Bar exam in July and the New York Bar exam in February.

I have several reasons for deciding on these Bar exams. The main obvious reason for taking Florida is that my family lives there. Even though my desire is to remain in the DC region, I just think it makes sense to be licensed in the one state where I have roots. Though I don’t desire to return there permanently any time soon, should, god forbid, something happen that necessitated my moving back there…the last thing I would want is to take another Bar exam (Florida is one of the few states that does not have reciprocity…meaning they do not accept the Bar exam results from other states). As for New York, I just think it is the most marketable state to have on my resume and, ultimately, might have the best job market. The beauty of DC is that you can get waived in as long as you are licensed in any other state (reciprocity!).

On top of job searching and working on Bar applications (more on that later), I still have school work to focus on. I am working on an extensive research paper about salary arbitration in Major League Baseball, as well as putting together some more events for the Sports & Entertainment Law Society of which I am the President.

From a business standpoint ExclusiveDomainListings.com has been doing pretty well recently. I am pleased to have had a few sales that I will be discussing in some future posts. I have been working on developing a few more sites that I will also be discussing in the near future. On the whole, I am one busy hampster. I am looking forward to March Madness (my bracket will be posted soon) as well as the new DMB album Big Whiskey and The Groogrux King (title is a reference to late great LeRoi Moore). So that is a snapshot of my current state of existence. I hope everyone has a great start to the week tomorrow!

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Tags: Baseball, Big Whiskey and The Groogrux King, DC, DMB, ExclusiveDomainListings, Florida, New York, Salary Arbitration

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Jan

Sleeping With the Fishes

Posted by: ZandyMan in Random Schmooze

The only pets I have ever owned were a couple of fish when I was 6 years old. In July of 1990 I was unexpectedly transplanted from New York City to Boca Raton, FL. Lets just say the fish did not make the trip. Nearly two decades later I decided it was time to bring the fishies back into the family. Today the girlfriend and I took a trip to Petsmart, determined to experience the immediate gratification of a new pet. The place was clean, not crowded and had free parking!

After making our way to the fish section, we were faced with our first choice…what size tank did we want? We decided that a small manageable 10 gallon tank was the way to go. We were in luck. In the middle of the fish section was a 10 gallon “starters kit” aquarium. The kit included the aquarium, a filter, a heater, a hood lamp, water bacteria and some fish food. If there is one thing I love in life, it is simplicity. This kit had all the pieces we needed to get rolling. After throwing the kit in the cart, we moved on to “designing” our tank. Gravel color, plants, little houses for fishies to swim in.

Finally, we moved on to the really fun part…picking out the fish! As 10 gallons is a relatively small tank, our options were limited. Frankly, I was a little disappointed in the selection at Petsmart. After spotting a few fish that did catch our eyes, we summoned Jon the Fish Guy to come help us. And guess what Jon had to say. “You can’t put fish in the tank for at least a week.” Way to ruin the fun Jon.

What I didn’t know (what do I know about fish?) is that after you setup the aquarium, you have to allow about a week for the water to detoxify so it is safe for the fish. Lesson learned. We were not too discouraged though. I was excited to get home and get to work on putting everything together. The faster I put it together, the faster I could put fish in it.

Once home, it took me about an hour to put everything together. I had to: clean the gravel, pour the gravel in the tank, arrange the tank decoration, fill the tank with 10 gallons of water (I used an empty 1 gallon water jug), assemble the tank filter, install the tank filter, install the heater, assemble the hood lamp, and install the hood lamp. It was all pretty straightforward and certainly a good experience to have under my belt.

For the next week it is just a waiting game. Over the next several days I have to test the water for proper PH balance and temperature. Next Friday will be fish day. I know a lot about a lot of things, but I love learning about things I don’t know about. I’m looking forward to learning all I can about fish, aquariums, etc. Here are some quick and dirty photos of the tank. It is pretty with the lights on.