Is CSI anything like real life?

No. It's one of the reasons I can't enjoy CSI, honestly. I spend too much time going 'no! No! That isn't how it works!' to actually be able to follow the plot or get into it. It's like how doctors can't watch medical dramas. The bare basics are there, and the general structure, but so much of it is exaggerated and tweaked and tailored to wrapping everything up in one episode. I remember I took a lecture course taught by Bob Keppel - FBI agent responsible for catching Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer - and he spent the whole two hours ranting about crime dramas and how inaccurate they are. The only crime show I've ever been happy with - as far as accuracy - is Criminal Minds. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.