def _get_status(self):
        """utility method to get the status of a slicing job resource, but also used to initialize slice
            objects by location"""
        if self._state in ["processed", "error"]:
            return self._state
        
        get_resp = requests.get(self.location, cookies={"session": self.session})

        self._state = get_resp.json()["status"]
        self.slice_time = get_resp.json()["slice_time"]
        
        return self._state