Anderkoos

Today was my last official day of work at the Center for Legal Aid Education (née Legal Aid University), where I’ve been employed since 2003 or so. (The exact start date is hazy because the organization started out as a project, incorporating independently in Jan 2006). While I officially left Mass Law Reform Institute last October to become a fellow at the Berkman Center, I hadn’t yet said goodbye because CLAE shares space with MLRI.

Working on the Website Project at MLRI was an astonishingly good opportunity for someone had just graduated law school in 2002 with a technological bent and an interest in the public good — even more so considering that the dot-com bust had wiped out so many other similar options. (Ironically, I found the job reading a paper copy of the Boston Globe’s help wanted section). Helping found LAU/CLAE — launched with a grant awarded only months after I started at MLRI — was an even sweeter serendipity. I had fallen in love with online instructional design in my last year of school while taking a course at Harvard’s Ed School, but chances of my ever using what I’d learned were slim until that Technology Initiative Grant arrived.

I’m excited to be moving on to the next phase of my career, but I’m also glad to be leaving at a moment when, I believe, CLAE is about to hit a major positive inflection point. Things are looking good for the Center for Legal Aid Education (news of a new Big Deal will be on the site soon), and I hope to remain involved with its future success.

So let’s say your “four-star” tourist-trap hotel decides to close its spa and gym… where to go on the Vegas Strip (the new one) when you don’t want to fork out $10 for the “discount rate” at the hotel’s “sister establishment”? You go out the door and into the desert air for a brisk run.

(The reviews of NYNY are correct, btw: they will try to bait-and-switch you on your room type).

There’s a few tricks to surviving the Strip:

1. Head out early. At 6am, it was a cool 75 degrees. I took off late (confident that there was a gym), so it was a good 90 degrees. Still, there were quite a few other gonzo runners — I passed maybe 10.
2. Take the east side — after an abortive attempt to cross Interstate 15 (what was I thinking?), I went from MGM to Wynn and back. The shade of these megaliths will keep you relatively cool. (The lack of humidity helps)
3. Fit in every nook and cranny you can. There are plenty of little plazas where you stick to the shade, and some of them offer fans and, of course, blasts of air conditioning. (What an environmental disaster this place is!)
4. Stay hydrated. I neglected to bring a water bottle, but the dry air will parch you quickly. Worst case scenario, though, ducking into a casino’s rest room would be a viable refresher.
5. Don’t come to Vegas to run!

My total mileage for today was ~5, in about 45 minutes. Not bad

Here I am in New York, New York… Vegas. I’m in town for the 2007 Conference for Law School Computing. I can’t say I’m a big fan of Vegas — the Fountains at Bellagio are truly sinful in the midst of a desert — but as I cyclist I do appreciate this piece of cycling advocacy. In fact, Greenwich St has a tiny, one-block bike lane, but the fact that a fantastical version of New York includes cyclists has to be a Good Thing.

Here’s a pic for my friend Toe, who enjoyed the Oxygen Bar back in ‘99, when it was still a cart sitting outside one of the resort hotels.

I got my first piece of apparently serious recruiting spam today, from a certain “Denise Moore” of “DHI Partners” or perhaps “DMSearch” (a Google search produces no results for such a person). The alleged client, “Irving Oil,” is seeking a Senior Manager of Marketing. I’m flattered, Ms. Moore, but I do not meet any of the qualifications listed, including interest.

Hey Irving Oil, are times so hard that you’ve turned to spammers for your executive search? You’re better off selling shares in you Nigerian operations, don’t you think?

Dear Gene,

I am an executive recruiter with DHI Partners. We are currently retained to find a Senior Marketing Manager for the Residential and Commercial Energy Services business of Irving Oil. A position description follows for your review. Energy experience is not required; they would love someone with a consumer durables background. I am hoping that you might know of someone to refer, and any referrals are greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
Denise Moore

Back in college I used to write the student paper frequently and got published more than a few times. ‘Course in the Real World, it’s a spot harder getting a letter published (especially when those letters involve the comics pages) so it was pretty exciting getting my response to an Op-Ed on Thursday in printed today’s Globe. Of course, after reading it in print I wished I’d written it better, but so it goes. The study I allude to in the letter is here.

Join the Anderkoos as we usher in the Chinese new year:

Saturday, Feb 24
12-5pm
59 Magee St
Cambridge, Massachusetts

RSVP now

After a week of hard pounding, my computer is still up and running. I think it’s all healthy again (after a complete Windows reinstall). I lost so much time on that thing that it would have been worth buying a new one rather than go through all the troubleshooting steps (remove all AGP and PCI cards, reinstall, crash…).

When in doubt, format and reinstall Windows… painful, but sometimes necessary

This past week or two, my home computer has been on the fritz. With no intention to trivialize real parental responsibilities, in some ways it was almost like having a sick child. I would go to work and constantly think about whether, when I got home, the computer would magically “be better.” I spent hours tending to the computer, removing hardware and software and putting them back one by one. I would have fed it chicken soup if I could.

Anyway, my fingers are crossed that I nailed the problem this morning (video card driver).

Posting on this blog has obviously taken a steep downturn since, oh, about late 2005. I’ve gone and started a new blog (of course) documenting my work on law teaching in virtual worlds. See it here.

The breaking news for this week is that Rachel is leaving her position as Director of Public Policy at Episcopal City Mission to help coordinate the Boston Faith and Justice Network, which she co-founded over a year ago. Following grassroots organizing techniques, BFJN has been holding house meetings to take the pulse of Boston-area evangelicals committed to social and economic justice. BFJN held its summer kickoff event last Saturday — read more about it in the Boston Globe’s coverage.