Miscellany: Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA review

Hurricane season is coming, and that means potentially losing power for days at a time. The best EDC flashlight I've found for such situations is the Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA. The Streamlight can take CR123A, AA, and even AAA batteries without the need for different body tubes or adapters. How? There's an internal spacer spring that allows the flashlight to accept the wildly varying lengths and widths of the three battery types, and smart circuitry steps down the output for when you're running with non-CR123 cells.

Physically, the ProTac 1L-1AA features a bidirectional pocket clip (perfect for clipping onto a baseball cap to use as a headlamp), a momentary/constant-on tailcap, and the "TEN-TAP" programming found on most of the ProTac line (I usually just lock the light into high mode and call it good). While the 1L-1AA doesn't put out as much light as the competition, its unparalleled versatility makes it much more useful when the grid's down.

School: The Last Day of Classes

The 1L experience is something that I'll probably never forget. It's been a long time since I've been stuck in the same classes with people for the whole year. The undergrad years were obviously all over the place, as everyone had a different schedule. The first year of law school, though, really did remind me of high school - sitting in the same chair, day after day, and hanging out between classes with "the usual suspects."

The year went by really quick. We lost a good person along the way, we went through the shock of first-semester finals, and we settled in for the spring doldrums. I asked Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg a question, I washed dishes at a homeless shelter, I heard all manner of guest speakers and lecturers, and played countless games of Munchkin and Settlers of Catan during the lunch break.

Today was our last day of classes together as Section 2. We'll all be scattered from now on, mixed in with the other 1L sections. There was applause at the end of each class today (except for Prof. Collier's, which I thought was rude), and a sense of finality. I think our first semester professors were more engaging than this semester's crop. Now it's time for the last hurrah, spring finals.

Food: Bourbon Tasting Review-o-rama

I'm not much of a drinker, but even I enjoyed sampling the small batch bourbon whiskeys put together by our managing partner:

The bourbon we tasted, from left to right:

1) Woodford Reserve Barrel Select ($60 / 1L) - A good, moderately priced bourbon to start off with, from a distillery so big I've actually seen billboards for it on I-95. Lots of butterscotch and honey notes.

2) Rowan's Creek Bourbon ($45 / 750 mL) - This batch was distilled, aged, and bottled by Willett Distillery. I thought it smelled like Coke, with a harsher, more alcoholic taste than the Woodford Reserve.

3) Gunnar's Wheated Bourbon ($30 / 750 mL) - This was the crowd favorite - "Santana Smooth" in my mind. It's got 34% wheat, as the label prominently advises. I thought it was delicious.

4) Bardstown Bourbon Fusion ($60 / 750 mL) - I liked this one, too, but it was thinner and less flavorful than the Gunnar's.

5) Old Whiskey River (???) - I bought this bottle years ago from...somewhere. There's a tie-in with Willie Nelson, but I'm not sure they sell this any more. It was smooth and sweet, and stronger than you think.

6) Wild Turkey Rare Breed ($48 / 750 mL) - This was by far the strongest bourbon in the bunch, topping 58% ABV. Maybe it's because I'm a novice, but it was hard to taste anything through the alcohol.

School: The fruits of LexisNexis

One of the more bizarre aspects of modern-day law school is how much you get pandered to by the two major online legal research services, LexisNexis and Westlaw. They'll bring in free pizza, free candy, free study guides ... anything to get you into one of those training sessions to learn the myriad benefits of "Wexis." I often snagged lunch or an armful of snacks at these sessions, which covered everything from basic research to methods for online job searching.

The most insidious of these "hooks" is the reward point system. As anyone who has played for Xbox Live Achievement Points can tell you, sometimes just getting a little number to rise on the screen of your profile every day is enough motivation for people to do some tedious things. If that's not enough, you can redeem the points for fabulous prizes (a la Chuck E. Cheese). I actually turned in all the points from my two 1L semesters and received a shiny new copy of "Long Distance" (fabulous album BTW if you like atmospheric pop) and a copy of Charles Dickens' anti-litigation classic, Bleak House (how's that for irony?).

Why do these two companies go through all this trouble? Simple - legal research is free when you're a law student, but the cost rises dramatically when you actually practice law. Like a dealer offering free hits, these companies are getting us addicted to the quick and easy path. I last heard the fee from one of the big boys was something like $600/hour (sounds outrageous, but that hour could yield a whole lot of useful little obscure cases).

Miscellany: COVID-19 EDC

 

Disposable face mask - Even if you don't think the masks do anything, obscuring your identity couldn't be a bad thing in these strange times.

Comptac Single Magazine Pouch Belt Clip with spare 10-round G26 magazine - Still the best spare mag pouch I've ever used.

CASIO G-Shock GA-1000-8A watch

ShivWorks Clinch Pick

GLOCK 26 in PHLster Skeleton appendix holster, loaded with Federal 124 gr. HST ammo

Slimfold wallet

POM pepper spray

Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA

iPhone 5s

School: A day in my life as a 1L... (finale)

Here is my Criminal Law class starting up. On the front row there are some of the usual suspects - Chris, Ziggy, Jason, and Dave. Professor Jacobs obviously knows what she is doing, but good Lord, she is very liberal ;).

The crowd outside a class before it starts. A good time to chat, mill around, or just cram in the last few cases that you forgot to study...

I get out of school three out of five days a week at about 4:00 (Monday and Tuesday end earlier). Of course, if you have to wait for the bus, you could be stuck there for another half an hour. That's why having a bike officially Kicks Butt™.

School: A day in my life as a 1L... (part 2)

Coming to class is often a chore. With 200 people trying to get into two lecture rooms, side by side, just the spectacle of everyone cramming into the entranceway can be a sight to see. Here is a shot of the central staircase, the most popular in the law school.


And the rush starts when class lets out. Nothing like 60+people packing up their laptops at once.

Between classes, it's usually time to study for the classes coming up. The library has a nice, brightly lit, and quiet reading room that makes it pretty easy to stay focused.

They keep you at the school for pretty much the whole day. Obviously, a snack or a drink can come in handy when you're poring over thick casebooks. This is the "cafeteria" - it's got a coffee shop, a book store/convenience store, and some vending machines. I prefer to get my food and drink at Wilbert's across the street.

This is the main courtyard. Lots of stuff can happen here, especially when the law school organizations table. Oddly enough, this seems to be the place where Supreme Court Justices get to do their lectures in front of the student body.

School: A day in my life as a 1L... (part 1)

It starts, as most things do, with the weather. Today I turn on the computer and find out it's going to be rainy all day. Great.













I prefer riding my bike. It's quicker, I get a nice bit of exercise, and I hate being cooped up in the bus. When it's wet and rainy, though, I have to leave it at home.

Here's our bus stop. I never appreciated covered stops before. If there is any rain at all, that bench on the right quickly becomes unusable.

After a twenty minute ride and a short walk up a hill, I finally enter the law school about 8:30 AM.

Here is my first class, Torts. It's not really full yet - soon nearly every seat will be occupied. Many (if not most) people have laptops for taking notes. When the professor says something important, you hear a storm of clicking keys - reminiscent of the scarabs from "The Mummy."