There are a few great things about law school. Sure, it’s a lot of work; sure, there are always things one can be doing; and sure, there’s stress, etc., etc., etc.; but many times it beats having a job.
For instance, my last class got out 20 minutes early today. After coming home from school, I lounged about for a brief and wonderful spell in bed, reading parts of Master and Commander and listening to Van Morrison. This was at around 2 pm–which would be just past my old lunch hour at LegalZoom. I got out of bed, studied a bit, tidied up the apartment a bit, and decided to go to Trader Joe’s to restock on some essentials.
There was a very light rain–a sprinkling, actually–and just enough light to cast shadows on the leaves of the trees lining L Street. I got to Trader Joe’s, selected my items (more polenta-in-a-tube, by the way), and was heading to the checkstand when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, cases of this wine:
It was on sale for $13.99. Big deal. That’s actually kind of expensive for Trader Joe’s, I thought. But there was a sign–oh, those darned signs!–that said this was a special selection, that there were only a few cases (420 bottles total) at this store, that the normal retail was at least $26.00, and that it was 70% grenache, 20% syrah, and 10% mourvedre. I happen to like combinations of grenache, syrah, and mourvedre–I immediately think cold weather red, which is a good thing in my book.
But I was torn. It was a Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and man, those Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines are usually like… $50+. How good could a Chateauneuf that’s on sale at Trader Joe’s in Washington, DC for $13.99 be?
I picked up a bottle and looked at the label more closely. Cool label, heavy bottle, with a deep punt (indentation at the bottom). I saw the names “Frédéric & Daniel Brunier” on the lower edge of the label. For some reason that didn’t come to me till later, the name “Brunier” rang a bell.
I decided: why not? I hadn’t bought a bottle for a while, and it was only $13.99.
I’m glad I did.
