traveling

The California Bar Exam

This is my experience taking the California Bar Exam in Ontario, California, in February 2015.

This post belongs to a trio of posts about my Bar Review, the test itself, and my Concord Law School graduation. They are out of chronological sequence on my blog, but I’ll link them all up with an edit when I’ve got them all written. I’m afraid it will be a tad esoteric, but it’s probably only fellow students who will be reading anyway!

The CalBarX is a 3-day test offered twice per year to certified law school graduates, and a passing score is necessary to practice law in California. There are several testing sites in metropolitan areas, and roughly 4500 students take the test at the February administration. The test before mine, the July 2014 test, had a 48% pass rate, but the rate through the years has ranged from 27% (probably an anomaly) to 63%. Concord’s statistics are an overall pass rate of 51%, but that includes first and repeat takers.

The test consists of 3 different segments: essay writing, Performance Test writing, and multiple choice questions. The National Council of Bar Examiners administer the multiple choice portion of the test, which falls on the middle of the 3 days. All of the segments are considered together when determining the grade, which CalBar labels “minimal competency”, or 65%.

Most students take a Bar Preparation course, offered commercially in person or online. I took Kaplan Bar Review, post to come. The material is the same subject matter that was studied in law school, but without all of the history, philosophy, debate, and discussion that accompanies classes in law school.

I left my home in Tennessee the Saturday before the test on Tues/Wed/Thurs. It had been along, cold, brutal winter in TN, full of long hours of hard study, and while I was apprehensive about the test, I was glad to see my winter of Bar Review come to an end. We had had an ice storm a couple of days before I left, and it knocked my pasture fence down.

I got the cedar cleared, and the housesitter situated before I left town. My sweetheart came to town from Austin, TX to drive me to the airport and put me on my plane. Just his presence calms me down, so he flew all that way to kiss me good luck and send me to slay the dragon!

I got to Ontario Saturday night, unpacked, spread out my outlines on the bed, and tried to stay up late enough to transition to Pacific time.

So of course I was up by 5am on Sunday morning. I tried to go back to sleep, but finally gave up and ran through some multiple choice questions and essays before venturing out to the grocery store. I needed my usual brain food snacks of cheese, nuts, olives, sardines, sparkly water, fruit, and veggies. (I also found a Hispanic market that had the best ceviche I’ve ever eaten. We had a little language problem so I ended up with both the shrimp and fish versions, but I was glad to try both. It ended up being my evening meals for 3 days. I’m still thinking about it.)

Sunday afternoon I studied, walked, soaked in the jacuzzi, studied some more, visited the convention center test site, texted my family, skyped my honey, and was generally restless and out-of-focus all day. I had been advised to expect that, so I didn’t freak out too badly. And when you’ve put in close to 800 hours of study, the final 10 don’t take on huge importance.

Little hotel desk. Somewhat similar to little home desk, only few marks on the surface from my forehead. — Little hotel desk. Somewhat similar to little home desk, only fewer marks on the surface from my forehead.

I did a little better sleeping and felt like I was nearly on track Monday. Monday was a repeat of Sunday, pacing the minimal square footage of my hotel room, outline in hand, reciting rule statements, then sitting and doing 10 or so multiple choice, then restlessly pacing again. I went to bed Monday night with no less than 4 alarms set: my phone, the front desk, the hotel alarm clock, and my honey.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the test center. We were prohibited from bringing in phones of any kind. It was in the Ontario convention center, with 1300 students in rows and rows of tables facing front. Here’s a shot of my CalBar-approved ziplock bag:

This was before I left home. My little stick friend had to wait in the hotel room, along with my pink 3x5 note cards. The glasses, earbuds, and pencils were all allowed. — This was before I left home. My little stick friend had to wait in the hotel room, along with my pink 3×5 note cards. The glasses, earbuds, and pencils were all allowed.

Were I a more creative writer, I could better describe the palpable, almost visible blanket of tension in the room. After producing our ID and entry ticket, we worked our way toward our seat assigned for the duration of the test. Some of us reached out to our left and right neighbors (Larry and Brittany), and tried to calm down. I emptied my ziplock bag, lined up my pencils about a thousand times, opened my laptop and the file for the test essays, and attempted to access my relaxation techniques. The instructions were clear, written by and for attorneys, and long. I had a little chuckle when our proctor said: “If you can’t hear me, raise your hand.” Finally: “You may now begin.”

I pushed in the stem of the 2 analog watches I had set to 12:00, and the California Bar Exam, February 2015, had begun.

Tuesday’s essays were –

Full disclaimer: I did not remember all the essay topics. I remember feeling that they were straightforward with no real surprises. I remember working close to exactly 60 minutes per essay. I remember vividly certain words and phrases, topics, and “calls-of-the-question”, but I had to reach out to my law school posse for help. Erin, Dawn, and Liz, all honors-winning graduates, were part of my study group, and they helped me retrieve the essay subjects and topics. They will be posted at the CalBar website after results are released in May.

Tuesday’s essays were:

Contracts – UCC performance and remedies, Real Property joint tenancy/right of survivorship/recording statute/bona fide purchaser/quitclaim deed/landlord-tenant/breach of covenant/adverse possession, and finally CivPro/discovery/physical-mental examination/motion to strike/demand for jury trial. I know that’s a lot of legal gobbledy-gook, but they were pretty good as far as essays go.

The proctors said: “Stop!”, we all put our pencils down, and we were 1/6 finished. I ran back to my room, pulled my snack food out of the fridge, called my honey, texted the kids, and it was time to go back.

Tuesday afternoon was a PT. For the uninitiated, a PT is a roughly 30-page closed universe legal task that includes the task memo (usually a letter from the senior attorney in the firm), transcripts (trial, deposition, interrogation), Columbia statutory code (our fictitious state), cases (persuasive and controlling), and 3 hours to craft whatever it is the senior attorney has requested. Here’s a couple. Here’s a couple more. The answers that are posted are good, passing answers to each Performance Test. For some students, this is the favorite part; for others, the worst. For all of us, it’s the most lawyerly thing we get to do on the exam.

Tuesday’s PT was about a lawyer holding some stock in escrow blahblahblah. Like the essays, I don’t have the ability to recall completely all of the details. I remember I thought it was tough. The organization was fairly easy to discern, but the transcripts/code/cases had a lot of extra info to distinguish. I outlined for the full 90 minutes, then set to writing and did not finish until I heard the 5 minute, then 1 minute, then 30 second warnings.

I returned to my room, kind of dazed, but knowing I had 2 more days. Another restless night of sleep, 4 alarms, and on to Wednesday.

Wednesday is multiple choice day. Most of us have done 2000+ questions in review for the test. They’re tricky, and test extremely fine distinctions of law. Once you get a little good at them, they became “fun” (keeping in mind my perspective of “fun” was skewed by 10-hour days of relentless study), but it’s easier to show than to tell:

A man is prosecuted in a federal district court for income tax violations by consistently altering the accounting books of his business to show income lower than income actually received. The man’s wife assisted in falsifying his accounting records. Subsequently, the couple divorced. At the husband’s trial, the prosecutor calls the ex-wife to testify as to her ex-husband’s accounting practices. The ex-wife refuses to testify on the grounds of both the spousal and marital communications privilege.

How should the court rule on the objections?

A. Overrule both the spousal and marital objections.

B. Overrule the spousal objection, but sustain the marital objection.

C. Sustain the spousal objection but overrule the marital objection.

D. Sustain both the spousal and marital objections.

Law school students all over the blog are chuckling at this. This is an easy one. We had this answered in far less than the 1.8 minutes allotted to each answer. Scroll right on down to the bottom for the explanation. I sure hope Kaplan won’t sue me for posting this. This is Kaplan question. It comes from the Kaplan material. Please don’t sue me, Kaplan.

100 questions in the morning, 3 hours. Lunch. 100 questions in the afternoon. Every 20 questions I stood behind my chair, did a few squats, deep breaths, neck extensions, and sat back down in the chair. You’re welcome, fellow test-takers. I’m sorry, I was as quiet as I could be – no time to run to the bathroom for this. No penalty for wrong answers, so the name of this game is to mark an answer for every question. Those 2000 practice questions faded into the past and it’s just you and the paper and the pencil. This day had a time warp all its own as it took forever to get through all these, yet the time just screamed past.

Wednesday’s arrival back to the hotel came with a treat: Kid #1 (of 4) and his partner had a care package delivered to my hotel. Ben and Kirsten – you will never know what that meant to me! Between the Bar Exam and the trip to Vegas, I think we used everything. Except maybe the jumprope.

Included antacids, ibuprofen, a jumprope, and coffee. My kids know me. — Included antacids, ibuprofen, a jumprope, sweet note, and coffee. My kids know me.

But Wednesday night came with another surprise. My honey, the honey who had poured me on to an airplane in Nashville, the one who has been my champion and supporter for 4 years, the one who has cooked and cleaned and cooked some more during this phase of law school, came to Ontario. A knock at the door, and there he was. What a delicious and unexpected surprise. To sleep in the arms of the man who loves, supports, and believes in you most, has a calming power that no pharmacological agent has yet to reproduce.

Coffee at 6, shower, and the final pacing/rule statement begins.

Had I been remotely conscious, I would have been able to take in the beautiful view behind me. This is the Ontario location, so if you’re more aware of your surroundings than me, keep this in mind!

Thursdays essays were (see posse, above) Real Property, with emphasis on equitable/legal remedies, then General Partnership and liability, and Wills and Trusts with a focus on charitable/cy pres. Once again, they were straightforward and expected. Lunch, and back for one more set of instructions, one more lining up the pencils, one more round of eyerolls to my classmates and fellow test-takers, and it’s time to begin.

The last PT of the day was a criminal case with our client accused of the murder of his parents: write an objective brief opposing the admission of evidence of the 911 call from the father, and the non-verbal, possibly assertive conduct, of the dying mother. 90 minutes outline, 90 minutes writing, 5-minute warning, 1-minute warning, 30-seconds, and the February 2015 California Bar Exam is over.

First moment:

Second moment:

Third moment:

Make sure to link to the pre-Bar blog and the post-Bar blog (Graduation) for the whole story. I promise to come back and post my results, good or not so good, in May. If you’ve hung with me this long….

Thanks for reading!

Answer: A. There are 2 testimonial privileges. This is Evidence 101, and if you truly, seriously want more than this explanation, ask the nearest law student. One privilege protects testifying against one’s spouse in a criminal proceeding, but only lasts for the duration of the marriage. The other privilege protects communications between spouses while married (that was intended to be confidential), and lasts beyond divorce, but does not apply if the communication was related to illegal activity. Hence, in this case, neither privilege applies. Please don’t sue me, Kaplan.

March 7, 2015 5

Graduation

What a day.

Today I graduated from law school.

I have been thinking about this day literally for 4 years, and in the abstract for over 50.

Graduation for Concord Law School is held at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. It’s always held on the Saturday following the administration of the California Bar Exam. See an earlier post about that experience.

Beginning with the Thursday night at the close of the test, my large and expanded family began arriving. First on the scene were my twin girls. Amy lives and works in Eugene, Oregon (this, this, and this), and Glenda lives and works in Las Vegas, Nevada (this, this, and this). I was so happy to see their beautiful smiling faces after the 3-day beatdown.

Friday morning was transition day, from the test site in Ontario, California, to the graduation site in Sherman Oaks, California, just outside LA. But first, a quick trip to the airport to get my Steen. Her name is Susan, and we’ve been friends for years. She is as sweet and lovely as I am loud and snarky. I think that’s how we work so well. We share a love of eating well, of reading, and of writing (here’s the link to her column in our local newspaper). She is also a fabulous professional photographer, and produced most of the grad pics here and on my Facebook page.

Steen brought along our friend Flat Emily. Emily and her 2 beautiful babies and ever-loving and patient hubby John live in Murfreesboro. Steen, Emily, and I make up the Ish sisters, which is part support-group, part wine-tasting, picnic-sharing, group-texting, mother-daughter-sister love fest that meets regularly to laugh and cry and share and partay. Emily and the fam cheered me on from Tennessee, and on her Flat Emily stick girlie!

Friday night was the Grad Bash. Because my school is online, our students reside all over the world. The night prior to graduation, our Student Bar Association sponsors an evening at the pub for graduates and alumni. For some of us, it’s the first time we’ve met face to face! And an added bonus for us: a classmate of the girls’ from high school in Tennessee, Kim, who now lives in LA was able to meet up with us!

And this is where Ben and Kirsten (this, this, and this) come in from Colorado!

Back to the hotel where the last of the Jordans arrived – Sam and Jess from Colorado (this, this, and this), and my law school bestie Rosine (this) and her wife Myra from Castro Valley! We must have been partying pretty hard, because evidently we didn’t have time for pictures that night. The next morning brought champagne toasts at 8am and dressing for the ball!

This was without a doubt, one of the most spectacular days of my life. I am so grateful – to Concord for the opportunity to go to law school, to all my professors, to my friends and family for being so loving, and to my honey for being so patient and supportive. I am still so overcome with emotion from the day, I don’t know how long it will take me to process everything. During the weekend, I tried to open my senses and memorize everything – what I was seeing, and hearing, and tasting, and feeling. It’s my plan to take this memory out of storage over and over and relive every moment.

The day was everything I wanted it to be, and so much more. To have my tribe with me for this event, both in spirit and in person, after this long, arduous, gratifying, challenging journey was beyond anything I could have hoped for.

And not to forget my support back home:

Thanks for reading!

March 7, 2015 3

Teaser

I know it’s not news that I’ve been out of the blogosphere.

I’ve been in the clutches of Bar Review for months. I took that bad boy last week, and I’m just now lifting my head up and noticing there is a whole world going on around me!

So here’s the thing. I kept a log of the Review, and I’m working on trying to get that one ready to publish. I’ve got a lot to say about that.

Then there was GRADUATION! The kiddos, my honey, and friends made the trip to LA and I’ve got LOTS to say about that!

Then that same group motored over to Vegas for 5 days, and I have a crazy LOT to say about that.

I’m in Austin with the honey for a bit, and it’s my plan to get some writing done over this next week. They’re gonna be all out of sequence with no spatial or time continuum, so brace for that.

To get you to come back, here’s some pics:

14 outlines. 4 years in the school. 4 months in the review. 3 days in the taking.

If I pass, it will be because of the power of the whiteboard.

So check back! I have missed writing for pleasure, and I’m not sure I won’t break out into Issue-Rule-Analysis-Conclusion right in the middle of a post!

Thanks for reading!

March 6, 2015 2

Family swag

I just got home from the most epic-wonderful, non-stop, loud, proud, can’t-get-enough graduation weekend! Oldest son Ben graduated from the University of Colorado last weekend. He may have been the last of the 4 to graduate, but he did it in fine style!

All of the kids have humored their parents and grandparents and have participated in the graduation ceremonies. Since they all attended large universities, the graduations were similar – hundreds graduating, thousands attending, prestigious speakers, interminable list of names called, the pomp and circumstance of it all. Ben’s main graduation ceremony was no different, but because he was in an honors program, we were treated to a few more festivities.

But first: getting there.

Ben and his SO Kirsten live in Loveland, CO. They have a darling little house with a garden and a guest room and 2 precious dogs. She drives north to Fort Collins where she works as an architect, and he drives south to Boulder for school.

Our family lives…everywhere. Graduation was to begin on Thursday. Travel started on Sunday.

SUNDAY:

My parents headed out in their SUV from Peachtree City, Georgia

MONDAY:

I left my sweetheart in Austin, Texas to travel to Eugene, Oregon, where #4 has been.

TUESDAY:

#2 and his SO left Salida, Colorado heading for Loveland. Amy and I made it from Eugene to Salt Lake City. Parents made it to Loveland.

WEDNESDAY:

Jesse, Anna Leigh, and Aden left Murfreesboro to fly to Denver to rent a car to drive to Loveland. Amy and I made it to Loveland. #3 and her SO left Las Vegas at 5am, right after she got off work at the casino, flew through Salt Lake City to Denver to Loveland.

We have a couple of folks yet to arrive, but off we go to dinner.

The man of the moment and his very loving, very patient, very supportive girlfriend

Thursday morning brought the first of the official ceremonies:

Ben’s Honors Thesis was entitled: A Dangerous Conflation of Ideologies: The Nexus of Christianity and Neoliberalism. I know, everyone’s dying to read it, but he wants to get it peer-reviewed and published, so he’s not quite making it public yet. You can trust his mother – it’s brilliant. His plan is to go to law school (University of Washington?) after a year off for LSAT study and travel.

Then the obligatory cheese and fruit reception

Thursday night was our cooking extravaganza, and I don’t have many pictures of that because I was…cooking. What a feast we had! Everyone pitched in – all of us in the kitchen at once, cooking, mixing drinks, dancing, and I know it will surprise everyone, but we are a little loud when we are all together, so I remember a lot of shouting.

Late Thursday night brought in Amy’s squeeze, Alex, from Eugene, Oregon, after a little tense pass travel experience going through Salt Lake City. Then Friday was the big show!

Next was a reception for his department, with a quick stop in the bookstore on the way

We grabbed this moment for the group shot:

This one I call My Honeys with Their Honeys

And whattyaknow, we have time for a quick drink before the final event of the day!

Then, the last event – his graduation with his Political Science Department

BBQ and friends, my honey got in late, food and drink for everyone (and a little storytelling…), and then back together again for breakfast before everyone had to hit the road for that traveling in reverse.

Ben, we are profoundly proud of you. Not only did you get it done, you got it done magnificently!

Thanks for reading!

May 17, 2014 2

Get busy livin or get busy dyin

I know I haven’t blogged enough when I am tempted to title the post as “An Update”, but there could be no more boring a post title than that, and I refuse.

I’m in my fourth and final year of law school. This year’s subjects are Wills and Trusts, Remedies, and California Community Property. Our schedule is a little different this year: these 3 classes finish in September, and Sept-Dec we have Capstone, which is a course intended to prepare us for the Performance Test, which is a portion of the Bar Exam. Then in December I begin my Bar Review course, and take the Bar in February.

Exactly one year from today will be the Sunday evening before Bar Exam week. The test is 3 days, Tues/Wed/Thurs consisting of 6 essays, 200 multiple choice questions, and 2 Performance Tests. Just describing it is enough stimulation for now, and I’ll post more about it in the future, but after this week’s applicants take it, my countdown begins.

That’s enough about school, except to say that I still love everything about it. I say with no disclaimer that I am going to miss it. I’ve loved gaining the knowledge, studying the cases, and sharing with my classmates. Here’s my post of when I announced I was attending – see if you detect any less excitement now than when I began.

And in other news, last year, darling son Sam, who is also an endurance athlete said to me ever-so-sweetly: “Mom, I want to do an Ironman with you before you are too old.” Without even the faintest tinge of humor.

In what turned out to be a much, much bigger commitment that I imagined in my wildest dreams, I once made a promise to my children that whatever they would ask or allow me to do with them, I would do. It was based on my belief that you meet your children where they are if you want to be close to them. This promise has taken me to the top of black diamond ski runs, down rapids in a kayak, to art museums in New York City, to road trips across America.

So, on September 7, 2014, Sam and I will be competing in the Rev 3 Cedarpoint Triathlon in Sandusky, Ohio. Just to refresh: It’s a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. I started training in January in Tennessee; Sam’s doing his training in Colorado.

Distance training involves a progressive program of adding longer/more often/more intense workouts over time. Over the months leading to September I plan to do several shorter triathlons. There’s one in Tullahoma in June, a great race in Chattanooga in July, and I’m looking for a half-Iron for August. I’ve done a couple of half-marathons since the new year, with a couple more coming up. I’ve got some 5, 10, and 15ks mixed in as well, and then triathlon season starts this spring.

Watch for race previews, race debriefs, and pics of the adventure. Suggest a race if you know of a good one. And you’re welcome to come to Ohio in September – the race is held at Cedar Point Amusement park, which is where my team support will be as Sammy and I are out on the course!

Thanks for reading!

February 23, 2014 3

Hawaii Wrap-up

Traveling, putting away Christmas, starting back to school — are any of those good enough reasons for having taken so long to write this post?!

Picking up where we left off…Sam, Ben, and I are in Maui. Sam was completing a housesitting gig for his boss. We were anticipating Eliott joining us for a few days, but on the way out he had an unexpected episode of claustrophobia on the first flight and wasn’t able to make it. It left the three of us to our own devices on arrangements, and we are nothing if not resilient and flexible.

The Maui Bird Recovery Project was very accommodating and allowed us to bunk with the interns in the staff housing. If you’ve ever priced accommodations on the island of Maui, you can imagine how grateful we were!

Our days were spent in a variety of Hawaiian activities – snorkeling, surfing, kite-surfing – and by we, I mean the boys. I was a little puny for most of the time we were there, and opted out of the big stuff. Ben got to try every sport he wanted to, and Sam was a patient, if novice, teacher.

We cooked at the cabin in the evenings, and that was a delight. With Ben’s experience in the restaurant, and my interest in cooking, we had some fabulous dinners, accompanied by local avocados, bananas, lilikoi, and coconut. Sam had to work one day and Ben and I drove the famed Road to Hana.

Whatever. So we're tourists. It was yummy. — Whatever. So we’re tourists. It was yummy.

Bounty from the roadside honor stands -- all delicious! — Bounty from the roadside honor stands — all delicious!

This is what it looks like - a random poinsettia bush in full bloom. — This is what it looks like – a random poinsettia bush in full bloom.

This is the area where Sam has been planting trees

Became obsessed with this little sweet/sour fruit - lilikoi — Became obsessed with this little sweet/sour fruit – lilikoi

At a little Friday night street festival, this vendor offered, in the upper right corner, a bacon cookie. No, I didn't. — At a little Friday night street festival, this vendor offered, in the upper right corner, a bacon cookie. No, I didn’t.

I had to leave ahead of the boys, and as I described in an earlier post, the pass travel back home was hideous. I couldn’t get out of LA to anywhere but Minneapolis, and then I couldn’t get out of there.

And after all that lovely sunshine... — And after all that lovely sunshine…

This was during the first pass of the Polar Vortex, and flights were cancelled everywhere. My honey was back at home on the internet, looking for any flight I could get on. He finally found one late that evening to Birmingham, Alabama. I flew, he drove, and I landed back home in my snuggly little cottage with memories of the white, warm, sandy beaches of Maui, and a few delicious days with my boys.

Life is good. Thanks for reading!

January 18, 2014 0

The Glamour of Pass Travel

I’m in Hawaii!! I’ll post about the adventures we’re having in the days to come, but I wanted to get a quick post out about how I got out here. Literally, not philosophically.

One of the employment benefits of working for an airline is what is known as Pass Travel. This little post is about what that stand-by experience can be like. Good and bad.

Son #2 is at the conclusion of an internship on the island of Maui. He’s doing a bird recovery/reforestation project. Son #1 and I, both students, found ourselves with a window of opportunity to visit Sam over the holidays. Both girlies are working, Glenda in Vegas and Amy in Utah, so Ben and I are the lucky ones who get to do the trip.

There in an internal employee website that gives information about the “loads” on any particular flight, so that we nonrevs (non-revenue) fliers can make choices about the best time for travel. This site lists the flights, how many seats are on the airplane, how many of those seats have been sold, and how many remain for us freeloaders to use. (Technically, pass travel is not free – there are minimal charges that are attached to each flight, based on mileage.)

The holidays are never a good time to attempt pass travel, but if you are strategic, choose your flights well, and are flexible, sometimes it works.

Ben lives in Denver and it was his plan to fly from Denver to Salt Lake City to LA, and then on to Maui. I would start from Nashville, fly to Atlanta, then LA, then meet up with Ben for the flight into Maui. The flights online looked tight, but doable.

From years of pass travel, we’ve learned to check your main bag (with items you won’t grieve losing), put some overnight stuff in your small carry-on (toothbrush, clean undies), dress comfortably and in layers (Denver in Dec vs Maui in Dec), and prepare your attitude. When the children were little, we developed a family motto specifically around pass travel: Life Is An Adventure. If you’ve ever tried to keep 4 preschoolers happy in the Memphis terminal for 36 hours, you will understand.

Off we go. I leave my home in Murfreesboro at 11am on Saturday, Ben leaves his home in Fort Collins at 3pm. Getting from Nashville to Atlanta didn’t present a problem. It was in Atlanta that the plan began to deteriorate. My honey was at home with the employee website pulled up, guiding me on the phone. LA had become out of the question. The first 3 flights I watched push back were oversold and 35 standbys were left standing at the gate. I began to seek other options (keep in mind it’s December 28th) it was clear that Atlanta (Delta’s main hub) was overwhelmed, and I couldn’t find a way ANYWHERE. Every flight out of Atlanta to any city was overbooked. I saw a sliver of opportunity in a flight to Seattle (by now it’s about 9pm), and sure enough, I got the last standby seat.

In the meantime, Ben was having the same experience in Salt Lake City. He hadn’t had a problem leaving Denver, but SLC (another Delta hub) was a clusterf*&k. His squeeze was doing the same as mine, and guided him to grabbing the last seat on the last flight to San Francisco.

So instead of meeting in LA on Saturday night, I’m in Seattle, and Ben’s in San Fran. We had good chances in the morning for both of us to get to LA, and that was the plan. In true pass travel fashion, we both find a nice, comfy, slice of carpeted floor in our respective terminals. Here’s a pic of mine from my viewpoint:

backpack as a pillow, and scarf as a blanket

And in a turn of fortune typical to pass travel, I got a first-class seat on the early flight from Seattle to LA. This is the breakfast they wanted me to eat:

another post for another time, and I'm an ungrateful brat — another post for another time, and I’m an ungrateful brat

Ben was having the same experience on his flight out of San Francisco to LA, and he got there a few minutes before I did. After our joyful reunion (around 9:30am), we decided to spend the 8 hours waiting for our flight somewhere besides the LA terminal. In true Jordan-adventure fashion, Sam had previously scoped out the terminal-proximity-food-and-shade scene, and he was able to tell us the direction to head out.

I'm never happier than this. — I’m never happier than times like this.

We ended up grabbing a six-pack from the grocery, 2 animal-style, protein-style double doubles from In N Out, sitting in a park under the glide path.

One more trip to the grocery for the remaining 2 hours’ entertainment:

If you're stuck in LA, call me for the down low. — If you’re stuck in LA, call me for the down low.

Then, finally, at the gate in LA, waiting for those elusive seats, listening, listening for: “Passengers, Jordan, party of 2” to be called over that loudspeaker.

Sweet Sammy met us at the airport with leis, fresh pineapple, chocolate-covered macadamias, and Hawaiian beer. Stay tuned for more blogging about the Maui adventures.

So, pass travel. Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely, 100% no doubt. Among my children’s friends, I often encourage them, if they are unsure of what direction to go in life, to consider working for an airline purely because of the benefit of pass travel. But pass travel requires a mentality, a combination of a sense of adventure, flexibility, patience, a letting go of control, patience and flexibility on the part of your eventual host, and maybe even a little diplomacy thrown in for gate agents and fellow pass riders/passengers.

Life Is An Adventure!

Thanks for reading!

December 30, 2013 1

800 miles in a car with a cat.

This will be a quick recap, since it’s after midnight, and we’ve got another long day tomorrow.

Today’s states were Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. I think it was about 800 miles!

Here are the highlight pics:

...and in the parking lot of the Chair Crushers restaurant was the Feed The Children trailer. — …and in the parking lot of the Chair Crushers restaurant was the Feed The Children trailer.

A better recap tomorrow, I promise! Looks like about 575 more miles to Sin City.

Thanks for reading!

August 22, 2013 0

AHS, Day 2

Another information-packed, nutrient-rich day at the Ancestral Health Symposium.

The first session of the day was titled: Parasites are Paleo: The Hidden Cost of Modern Hygiene. This one was a test of our skepticism and critical thinking I’m always talking about. The universe of micro-organisms that populate our bodies inside and out are a delicate balance, and when we cropdust internally or externally we kill indiscriminately, and that’s not good. Some of these guys aid our health through digestion or skin health. Our children are growing up in the Purell environment and we don’t yet know what the results of that are going to be. Statistics are showing that when our children are exposed to dirt and mud they have a lesser incident of allergies and asthma. (Please know that this is way oversimplified, and I’m linking to the lecturer’s website/book because much of this is new enough to me I can’t speak authoritatively.)

Don't bust me on this - I have no idea what this bacteria is...isn't it a cool graphic? — Don’t bust me on this – I have no idea what this bacteria is…isn’t it a cool graphic?

I attended another session called Survival Panel, mostly out of interest for son Sam, and his interest in survival skills. This was a panel looking at the hunting/gathering activities that our ancestors would have engaged in compared to the movement/stressors/nutrition we have modernly. Guess what? We are pretty far removed from those skills. One of the questions after the session asked the inevitable question about eating insects, which of course is a big topic in this group. As broadminded as I pride myself in being, I’ve got a huge ick-factor about this I’m struggling with.

Next was a really interesting lecture about the Rise of Monotheistic Religions as a Cultural Adaptation to Infectious Disease. Many religious edicts relate to cleanliness with regard to burial, ritual for food preparation, sexual rules, etc that may have helped religions keep a stronghold through this hygiene code through religious authority. The lecturer for this, John Durant has appeared on the Colbert Report talking about the health of hunter/gatherers.

Lunch break at a Paleo conference was: water buffalo meatloaf, potatoes, squash and zucchini in olive oil, salad, and kombucha to drink (yeah, the potatoes were a surprise to me too – more on that later). The meatloaf was wonderful, and provided by one of the vendors. I’m still amazed at how beautiful everyone here is, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching people interact during the meal. I have no idea why I have no picture of this – too hungry, I guess.

Then we had that poster session I mentioned. Folks were invited to present their research (on a poster, duh) informally in a mix-and-mingle area where they could chat and explain their research. There were several N=1 posters – folks who have applied paleolithic nutritional science to themselves for a period of time (mostly about one year), and did extensive data gathering. Weight loss, lowered blood pressure, more energy – all of the typical health markers improved for these experimenters.

After lunch we went into a panel discussion about the Ketogenic Diet and Athletic Competition. The rock stars on this panel were Robb Wolf and Mark Sisson. Mark came in 4th in the Hawaii Ironman on a ketogenic diet (a fat-burning rather than glucose (sugar)-burning diet). We hung on every word of this one. It appears that one may lose the top, highest performance (top speed) but endurance increases dramatically. This makes sense in light of the evidence that our muscles can only retain so much glucose (enough for about 30-45 minutes), but our fat stores, even on a lean person, are massive. Son Sam and I are doing an Ironman together next year (looking at Chattanooga in September 2014), and it’s my intention to train on a cyclical ketogenic plan.

Dr. Georgia Ede presented a session about Nutrition and Mental Health that blew me away. Because carbohydrates create inflammation in the body, her research is centered on studying whether or not this inflammation, that eventually may lead to diabetes or some kind of autoimmune disorder, may also have an effect on mental health. She was very cautious about even inferring connections, but her research is so promising in connecting diet to some of these diseases (ADHD in particular), and fits with the statistics of what our children are eating.

Then we attended a very sobering session about Malnutrition and Starvation in the World, and about how we, the global human community, can help to feed the world. The conventional wisdom is to produce more grains. Dr Alyssa Rhoden spoke about how to reclaim some parts of the world from the desertification that comes from growing corn and return it to grazeland, and to grow more diverse organic vegetation. This topic is political and ethical as well as economic, and I’m including this link and this link if you are interested in more information.

No monocrops, no grain subsidies, no big agra

The last session of the day for us was an introduction to Pasture and Grassland Ecology. I am particularly interested in this, since my little slice of paradise in Tennessee includes 8 acres and all the animals whose pictures I’m always posting on Facebook. I already have my little garden, and the chickens provide beautiful eggs, but even if I never eat another animal off the land there, I would like to restore the topsoil and care for the groundwater as much as I can. Our lecturer for this has a blog: grassbasedhealth. His topic included the question: Is An Ancestral Diet Sustainable?

So that has been day 2. Just a side note: we’re not just attenders of this conference, we are also working here as the Investigators for Code of Conduct Violations. While all of that is super top secret, I can say that we have not been very busy. Correlation does not imply causation, as we know, and it has been nice being able to attend the lectures.

Today is Eliott’s birthday, so our dinner tonight will not be Paleo. Don’t be hatin.

Thanks for reading!

August 16, 2013 1

Happy. Healthy. Heathen.

Traveling, training, thinking, talking, typing

Category

The California Bar Exam

Graduation

Teaser

Family swag

Get busy livin or get busy dyin

Hawaii Wrap-up

The Glamour of Pass Travel

800 miles in a car with a cat.

AHS, Day 2

Archives

Blogroll

Recent Posts

Categories

Twitter Updates

Gayle Jordan