The wear of wait.

Jury duty's over. I arrived late, and there were more than a thousand people there. The highest number jury badge I heard 1045. I'm thinking that means there were 1100 people Note, the city now only has 330,000 or so people in it. So, one in 330 people in this town were stuffed into the jury waiting room and the "mezzanine," a strange name when it isn't a theater. All the chairs were taken up. There were people sitting in the aisles, along the walls, all with nothing to do but kill time. I tried to read, but ended up talking with a few other juror candidates.

Mostly about computers, and whether to buy a tablet. I'm committed to PCs myself. That's the infrastructure I have. I'm geeky enough to want a tablet, too, but I can't justify the expense. One person said they still ran WindowsMe. That's like having a thirteen year old car with manual windows and locks and a partly blown engine. 



The staff called about fifty numbers every twenty minutes or half hour. I went in the third wave-- a domestic assault case. I think the prosecutor question that got me dropped was whether I could vote to convict on the evidence given by just one witness. I told him, no, I couldn't. I think I mis-communicated, though. Or he did. He emphasized that the witness was the only evidence. I was thinking I at least needed subjective evidence that a crime was committed. If it's a physical assault, I at least needed to have medical evidence of some injury. His question was ambiguous.

Of course, they couldn't discharge me or anyone else right away. When some people volunteered answers to questions, the prosecutor would say, "We already have enough information from you Mr. (or Mrs.) ____ , thank you." Meaning, of course, they person was already dead in the attorney's eyes. So, why couldn't we just go.

Afterward, I took the Metro to a computer store to pick up a Blu-Ray combo drive I ordered. Then I rode the Metro four stops back and walked to a writers' event. When that was over we went out for food. I was so tired by then.

Today was more hurry-up-and-waiting. I had to drive my Dad to some medical tests. I tried to read while waiting, but felt tired and didn't get much done. I'm glad to say the test only identified a minor ailment, due to the side effects of the drugs he's on. The whole excursion took seven hours. I went to sleep as soon as I had time for myself. I ignored the pleas of my cat for affection and just closed my eyes.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over and my life is somewhat back to normal again.

FAIL

Person woke up one day and his wheels were missing. Now, how do they keep the car from getting ticketed for looking like an abandoned heap? He had a nerdy brainstorm, and summoned up his grade school artistic skills:

It's so crazy it might just . . .  um, no.

But every hair-brained scheme could produce a business plan. Why not have a business making derelict cars look street-worthy?