I Survived My Civil Duty

Well, I finally got called in to do my civil duty.  There really isn't much to tell.  I could give you the short version, or the long drawn-out boring version.  Both versions will put you to sleep.  But if you are so bored that you feel you might be entertained by a boring read, then I'm happy that my boring life can add a little excitement to your day:

I had to arrive there by 8:30 on Wednesday morning.  There were a lot of people in there, so when I entered the room, I took a quick glance around to see if I recognized anyone I might know.  I didn't, so I chose a table to sit at where a harmless-looking older lady was already sitting.  Everyone had to fill out a form and put it in the basket.  Then we had to just sit and wait for further instructions.  I made it through two magazines and started to read a short story on my iPad when we finally got escorted into "Courtroom 2".  There were so many people that the room quickly got filled up by the time I went through the door.  The judge told the rest of us to go ahead and sit in the jury box, and "don't worry - if you sit there it won't increase your chances of getting selected".  That was supposed to be a joke, so this is the part where you're supposed to laugh.

So I had to sit in the jury box with a few other folks while they described the case to us.  It was a DUI case, and the judge said that it would only take a day or two, and that they only needed 6 jurors.  So that made me feel better cuz that would cut my chances down of getting picked.  So they started off by randomly picking 12 people, and those 12 people were supposed to sit in the jury box to get "interviewed".  So as they got picked, those of us who were in the box had to move out of the box. (that room was so full!)  They were going to pick only 6 out of those 12, but they also wanted backup jurors in case they all needed to be excused for one reason or another, so they randomly selected 12 more names to sit and wait in case they were needed.  My name got picked for one of the backup jurors.  So the 12 of us that were "on reserve" had to stay and they let everyone else go home.

So I sat there and listened to the 12 potentials get interviewed, and I was starting to feel nervous just listening to the questions because if I still ended up getting picked, I didn't know how I would've answered them.  They were asking a lot of questions about drinking, and whether or not they had any experience with drunk people, and if so, would you be able to make a fair and unbiased decision.  With every question that was asked, I listened for how each individual answered them, while at the same time wondering how I would've answered that question.  With my childhood background, I think I would've had a hard time answering them.  Three of out of those 12 people got excused, so they had to randomly pick three more names out of us "reserved" potentials, and I got nervous every time they picked a new name.  I am SO very thankful that my name did not get picked because I didn't wanna answer those questions!!!  After they selected their 6 jurors, they swore them in, and then they let the rest of us go home.  Whew!!!

I still have another week left to call that dreaded phone number every night, but I think it's unlikely that I will have to go in again.  But with my luck, I know it won't be long before I have to go through this all over again.

So, now that THAT's finally behind me, I can now relax and go back to my hum-drumminess.

I finally made it to JoAnn's and bought some batting for my quilt.  It was on sale (yay!)  Ma, I wish you were there with me to help me pick it out cuz I'm not sure if I picked something that I'm gonna be happy with.

Then today I went to my neighborhood quilt store and browsed for some fabric for my back panel and my binding.  It took me a long time to find something acceptable.  I was looking for something specific, but had to go with the best that I could find. Since this is a "scrap quilt" I guess it really doesn't have to match perfectly.  I think it'll be okay once I get it together.  So this weekend I will be sewing my panel together, and then I have to psyche myself up for that back-aching job of pinning it all together.

I will end this boring post with a boring picture of a bored cat.

"Got boredom?"