This weekend I wrote

Since about last Tuesday, I wrote a 21-page report on the wind-rich northern midwest states and their potential markets (west and east of the line that breaks this country into two giant electrical networks -- it matters a *lot* which side of that line you're on).

To achieve this epic (she said loftily), I used numbers that I spent about 2 weeks in late July gathering and crunching into a couple of Excel spreadsheets, which my boss started using last week or so on their own (they're multipurpose numbers, which was part of the point). Apparently, many lawyers are number-phobic, and since I am not, it was a logical task for me to perform said crunching and then do an interpretive dance routine on top of it all, giving many of these numbers some actual meaning, rather than just leave them sitting in a column somewhere. It is much more useful to be told, isn't it, that if South Dakota developed 10% of its wind resources, that would increase its exportable electricity tenfold (or some such). Especially if you're a number-phobic legislator.

These numbers came from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the American Wind Energy Association about wind capacity for varied states, and far too many of them had to be entered by hand.

But, I got some pretty graphs for a selected subset of states with that by-hand data entry. And, I now have (re)learned a bunch of stuff in Excel that I learned in junior high when personal computers were still new and cool, instead of necessary. So, not too shabby.

And, at around 0015 today, I sent off a little packet of files to my boss, which, hopefully he'll read tomorrow, because classes start back up next Monday, and I don't want to be thinking about any of this by that point.

I even included pictures.

And the fun part is, I got to cite myself as a source at least a dozen times.

In the mail: Rejection from F&SF for "Elvis". And, last week, rejection from Clarksworld for "Civic Improvements". Highly useful feedback from NM, too.

The glamour: tea and bread, with Je and the Pakistani kids and their mom. Met another neighbor who lives one block up the hill, also Pakistani, whose name is Aziz. Also, I worked up a budget for the next year, and I think I'll actually be in pretty good shape, and may not need the bar loan (the loan you're allowed for the three months after graduation when you're cramming for the bar exam). I think I can spend twice what I've budgeted in the past for groceries, and actually have a budget for eating out, so I can eliminate some guilt, there. Always nice. I'm going to the farmer's market on Saturdays for as long as I can manage. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

(Donations still welcome, of course.)

Next up: Wednesday/Thursday is new student orientation at the school, and I'll be there in my Environmental Law Society co-chair capacity, and the other officers will be there for Thursday's reception.

So, Tuesday and Friday I'll be writing cover letters and completing clerkship applications. Wednesday I'll be buying the rest of my books, my planner, printing out the next batch of Journal submissions, and getting a locker, before I do all my "smile at the new kids" stuff. Friday and Saturday I may be able to *read* the next batch of Journal submissions, and Sunday, well, Sunday I'd better read for my new classes, eh?

I think it's safe to say third year has begun.

For this early a.m., I'm going to stay up late (damn that tea with its caffeine!) and read more of Elizabeth George's "Missing Joseph". Because I want to.