10:47 p.m. | 2004-10-19 Civic Duties I�ve been on jury duty standby for the last two days. Tomorrow, however, I�ve been ordered to report to the court promptly at 8:00am. I have mixed feelings about my current summons. I�ve always wanted to be on a jury because I think it�d be interesting plus, well, I�d be doing my civic duty too, right? However, whenever I�ve been summoned in the past, I�ve been dismissed (defendant plead) or have been unable to serve. This time, I can serve and am willing. But, I�m not sure I�ll survive the voir dire questioning. And, just because I�ve been summoned doesn�t mean I�ll actually even see a courtroom. Of course, I�ll probably just sit in a jury pool room for a while and then be dismissed. So, my main concern is what book to bring to read while I�m sitting around. I�ll be people watching too, just so you know. See, chances are I�d be dismissed due to the fact that I have a juris doctorate degree and because of my job. It�ll depend on the attorneys� trial strategies � presuming it goes that far. Anyway, more to the point, I�m reading several books at the moment. Most of them would get me kicked off a jury in a second. Except one, I�m thinking. I�ve been reading and enjoying Condensed Knowledge: A Deliciously Irreverent Guide to Feeling Smart Again which I received as a gift. (You are so cool tuff517 -- it�s a great gift and book.) I�m trying for the neutral position because, again, I don�t know if I want to serve on a jury or not and I don�t know if I�d even be picked. It�ll be interesting, I�m sure. In other news, today was cold, rainy and horribly windy. In MyTown, that means trees were either uprooted or huge limbs crashed down. We�re tree-friendly here in MyTown, which is good, but it has it cons too. For example, it took us a half-hour to get to the parking lot on the way back from lunch because of fallen tree limbs and one-way streets. Normally, that half-hour driving would�ve taken five minutes. Depending on how the trees and/or limbs fall, it can be tricky. And, I really lucked out personally. Remember, I have to park on the street� under such trees. However, the last time I drove (Saturday) I landed one of the most coveted parking places. Very huge stroke of luck there. It happens to be the only parking spot within many blocks of TheHotel that is not next to a tree. Half a block up? Not so lucky. Two cars wiped out by one huge tree limb. I�m sure MyCity takes care of that type of thing but the inconvenience factor is probably larger than Texas. Unfortunately, I had an appointment this evening so I had to move my car. It�s now parked under a really large tree. I sincerely hope it�s not so windy tomorrow. I even said a prayer after I parked my car. It was spontaneous, so in that spirit I�ll share my prayer. It went like this: Bless me Father for I have sinned. Please protect my car. The first part? To my knowledge, I�ve never said that in a church. I�m not sure if that sentence was even uttered in my religious upbringing. I suspect that I lifted that from books, TV and/or movies. The second part? Obvious. Oh, did I mention that I parked behind a church? That always makes me pious � for a moment. Then, I usually misuse that moment such as I did today. Please protect my car? Not so much a proper prayer. I think I�m supposed to humbly ask for the strength and grace to deal with whatever nature brings� even if it includes totaling my car. Yeah see, I forgot that part. I also have the tendency to damn the �church people� on a regular basis since they conduct services almost every other day and the members take up all the street parking spaces � even though they have two parking lots that only church members can park in. And that are never, ever full. I think I do more damage than good when I try to pray in the proper church way. Thank goodness that I have other ways of praying. Oh wait, um, yeah probably not so good either. I rely on good deeds. Like tomorrow. I'll walk to court because I can and other potential jurist can't and once the free jury parking lot is full, potential jurists have to pay to park in a lot. Of course, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I'm hoping good deeds don't qualify as pavers as well. your thoughts? seed flower