The Real Facts

About that jury summons...

There is no way on God's green earth I'm going to be awake before the sun comes up. If it's dark out - it's nighttime. If it's nighttime - I'm asleep. I don't know why I set the alarm clock. I'm not even sure why we have one - the giant squid has an internal clock. He'll wake me up.

So I'm pretty sure dawn happened. Don't remember anything else until His Holiness shoves a cup of coffee into my hands and waves a hot cinnamon bun under my nose. We're parked in a public garage somewhere - I have clothes on instead of jammies and there's a hot cinnamon bun in front of my mouth.

Time to wake up.

I don't ask questions as to how, when, where and why because I don't want to hear the answers and there's a chance the man will start to lecture. I abhor lectures and don't see any reason to listen to them so whenever he gets wound up, I write stories in my head and mumble "uh-huh" at regular intervals.

I'm at the justice building and have to go through security. Put my shoulder bag in the x-ray machine and hope it doesn't zap gamma rays all over my Twinkies. I brought Butterfingers and Heath bars - really don't want gamma rays all over my chocolate. I also brought a paperback novel to read and covered it with a very explicit book cover - pages from the Kama Sutra. That should keep all the old ladies away from me.

A judge comes out to give us the patriotic speech about serving on a jury and he tells judge jokes. He was awful. He tried so hard to be funny and I felt bad for him so when he finally stopped talking, I offered him a Twinkie which he took and ate and I thought... I wonder what he eats when he sits on the bench.

People from all walks of life are called for jury duty. Most of them look like you and me. A few dress like they got their clothes from the "reject" bin at the Salvation Army. Some have definitely not bathed in a while and a heck of a lot of people were very interested in my Twinkies. I stood near the door in case I needed to make a fast getaway.

People watching is a favorite pastime. I like details and I made notes about what I saw - how folks looked, dressed, moved. Good research for my stories. Picking one's nose in public is absolutely gross. Scratching one's privates is disconcerting and really laughable. Do these people think no one sees them? This is better than MTV. One very large lady was dressed in red. Red dress, red sweater, red shoes, red scarf around her neck, red band on her wristwatch and red handbag. Her hair was red, too, but it was orange red and clashed with her red outfit. She looked like one of those "when I'm an old lady, I shall wear a purple dress and a red hat." When she saw what I was reading - Kama Sutra - she asked if I had read the story of "O." I'm still chuckling over that.

A bunch of us were asked to fill out a form about how we felt about sexual assault. There were a few yes/no questions and a few "fill in what you think" spots. I wrote what I thought. If guilty, hand him a paper bag to carry his dangly bits in and when do we break for lunch? If I'm hungry I won't be able to concentrate.

Called Cowboy to pick me up and we went out for a nice meal. It was Greek cuisine. Delish! I ate all the good parts and slept on the way home. Cowboy said I should go to bed early because I had to go back to the courthouse so I cut the evening short and tried to sleep. That didn't work. Got up and made a banana split and darned if the big guy didn't want some. He helped himself! Then I got a swat for getting out of bed! A swat!

Tsk!

Fell asleep around 2 a.m. and woke up in the same place we were yesterday. I wonder how he does that. I was dressed all proper and even had shoes on. As soon as I arrived, the lady in red was still in red and asked me for a Twinkie.

Tsk.

I heard a few horror stories about being selected for a jury and because all the cases were criminal, some had been sequestered. That sounds horrible! Who would keep me in Twinkies? If I suffered withdrawal I'd hang the defendant just to get a sugar high. Cowboy said it was a good thing they didn't choose me. As it turns out, the case ended with a plea bargain - whatever that means - and we were dismissed early. I'm not sure if I'm thrilled about that or disappointed I wasn't selected. I'm sure I could have added something memorable to the proceedings.

Double tsk.

I read in the New York Times that this is "Asia" Week. Oh joy! That means Chinese takeout! And Thai food and Pho at the Vietnamese restaurant where "Phuck" is on the menu. I forget what that means in Vietnamese but I have to order it just to say it. And more Chinese and tempura at the Japanese restaurant. We also have a Korean restaurant. No idea what they serve but we'll have to try it.

Cowboy said we'd order Chinese takeout one night and that was that. Hmm... Slipped into this wonderful kimono he brought me from Japan and I think we'll be having more than one takeout meal sent home this week.

I read what he posted. He likes to sound like a big bad meanie but between you and me, he's putty in my hands. I can get him to do anything.

SWAT!

Tsk.

Did you know that Passover and Easter are in the same week this year? Oh joy! Two huge holiday meals - going to cook and bake for both of them. I really love holiday meals - don't care whose holiday it is - there's bound to be something I'm going to love. I usually make a cheesecake for Easter dinner dessert along with a pineapple upside down cake. I told His Holiness this year I would make peach cobbler instead...

He said he didn't want to wear me out before I made those meals so maybe we *will* celebrate Asia week with Chinese takeout more than once or twice.

Grin!

See! Told you!

SWAT!

Double tsk!

~Sar~