This bar exam studying is really getting to me. The past two weeks I have done almost nothing at all except study study study. I used to feel grossly underprepared, but now I just feel tired and a little loopy. It's even affecting my regular life.

One of the non-bar related things I have done is tried to save my car, Johann, who has been having some problems with his starter. We went this morning to pick him up from the mechanic, and as we were walking in, all I could think about were the legal ramifications of what was going on.

"See, when we left Johann here, we created a bailment. I'm the bailor, the mechanic is the bailee. Because the bailment is for mutual benefit--I'm paying them, and they're fixing my car--they owe me a duty of reasonable care. If it had been purely for my benefit, their duty of care would be lower, and if it had been for their benefit only, it would be higher." Shelly rolled her eyes and humored me as we pulled up right next to Johann in the mechanic's parking lot.

Knowing that I had a spare key to my own car, and not to anxious to pay the large bill for the work that had been done, I commented, "Of course, we could just drive off with him right now and nobody would know." Shelly asked, perhaps foolishly, considering the mental state I was in, "Can you DO that?"

"No," I responded. "They have a lien on the car. A mechanic's lien. They were performing service on the chattel to improve it, and now I'm liable to them for the value of the services. If I don't pay, they can keep the car and sell it to satisfy the debt. And if I make off with it right now, that's larceny, even though technically the car is my property. Their lein gives them a superior possessory interest."

"So I guess we'd better go pay the bill," Shelly said. "I don't want to have to bail you out so that you can take the bar exam on Tuesday."

I racked my brain for something to say about bail, but the neurons weren't firing hard enough.

And if that isn't sorry enough of a story, as soon as I'd paid off the lien and driven Johann maybe 100 yards, Shelly stopped for gas in her car, and I pulled up beside her to tell her I'd keep going home so I could study. I attempted to roll down the window, and the window rolling mechanism broke. Johann's whole window fell into the door, unraisable.

We took Johann back to the shop for another bailment and another mechanic's lien.