For the first time ever in my life, I received a Jury Summons. Keep in mind this is Small Town…though the next town over isn’t so small, and isn’t so drive-by-shooting free and is rampant with trouble makers. Of course that’s where the main county court happens to be and where I’ve been ‘summoned’ to. But the problem is, I can’t sit in a courtroom twiddling my thumbs for a full week (and possibly two) while they decide who will actually be on the jury out of 120+ people summoned.
You read that right – they summon over 120 people per case to whittle down to the final 12 or however many they need for the trial. Ridiculous. There’s no way to coordinate hubby’s schedule to accommodate the Princess Nagger’s school times and bus pick up/drop off for an entire week, not to mention more (since the letter said no less than one week, possibly two). So I have to write a formal letter requesting to be excused from jury duty and then wait and see if they accept my reasoning or not.
Why couldn’t they summon me for jury duty when I was working full time? I mean c’mon, at least then the measly $9.00 a day they pay you for said duty would be compensated by a regular paycheck, too, and I would have happily given up my valuable time at work to sit and twiddle my thumbs all day. $9.00 a day will most likely barely cover gas and parking. With my luck, gas and parking will cost me more than $9.00 a day, which means for a week I’d be paying for me to twiddle my thumbs in the courtroom. No cell phones allowed either, so there goes the idea of texting or Tweeting to combat the boredom.
Normally I’d be all over ‘doing my duty’ and all that jazz, it might be fun to hang out in a courtroom and get some awesome blog fodder. But with having to worry about not having child care for the Princess Nagger (my family is 3000 miles away, hubby’s family is his ailing 87 year old father who lives 1-1/2 hours from here) and we have no ‘babysitter’ for the Nag. Not even a paid one. Here’s hoping I come up with an ultra polite and respectful letter that achieves positive results. Fingers crossed.
The button on the sleeve of my jean jacket squeaks. I discovered it one morning when I Stacy’s Random TV Thoughtshad my jacket on while I was brushing Princess Nagger’s hair before the last minute ‘Hail Mary’ dash out the door to wait for the bus. I couldn’t figure out if I was hearing a mouse somewhere, or if one of the dogs was getting into something they shouldn’t be.
I knew it wasn’t that Norman, our cat, had caught any mice, because he just isn’t ‘into’ that. When we actually did have mice, he let one walk right in front of him and didn’t budge a muscle. Princess Nagger figured out where the squeak was coming from. The button. Now I can’t stop hearing it every time I wear the jacket. And it’s my favorite jean jacket. Wonder if WD40 will take care of it. Might give it a try.
Yes, my favorite jean jacket has pink accents, including the thread. In case you were wondering.
Has anyone else tried the ‘new and improved’ edit feature of Blogger? I’m not liking it so much. It’s taking me way too long to edit my posts, because it saves a draft every 30 seconds or so. While that’s nice to have that ‘backup’ just in case, it slows things down and sometimes my sentence structure is severely lacking because I’m typing too fast and the editor isn’t keeping up. Not to mention that for some reason it keeps eliminating every and all line breaks. So my paragraphs aren’t separated when I want them to be. I keep having to go back and re-add them over and over, only to have the editor take them back out.
I do like how you can upload more pictures at once, though, and it doesn’t throw them all at the top of the post…but I don’t like how you can no longer cut-and-paste said picture to a different location in your blog if you decide to move things around – you have to remove it, then put your cursor where you want it, and reselect it from the uploaded batch. Talk about going around your elbow to get to your thumb. On the flip side, at least Blogger is trying…
Speaking of trying…I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. As if one blog isn’t enough, I’ve started another one. Yep, I’m probably biting off more than I can chew, but I can multitask with the best of them…on most days. So if you want to see what’s taking up some of my other non-existent free time, it’s over here:
Yesterday was a great day – not only did Princess Nagger willingly and without complaint go to school, but when she got home, look what was waiting in the mail:
I won some Lunchables coupons from DiPaola Momma (aka Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom) and when she mailed the coupons, two of her darling children included some fun stuff for the Princess Nagger:
Wasn’t that sweet?? To DiPaola – Princess Nagger said to send your #2 and #3 big hugs and kisses from her, and she kept saying “Thank You!” over and over. She had lots of fun playing with Tutti Cuti on the side of the fridge, wrote some notes in her new journal with her new pen, and painted her fingernails with the piggy paint. She was in seventh heaven. So not only did Monday turn out to be a good day, it was a great day.
Don’t forget to check out my Blogoversary Giveaway – just commenting will buy you a chance to win. 😉 Meanwhile, head on over to the Un-Mom‘s to check out all the other Random Cool People. It’ll cause you to have a great day, too!
Someone is messing with my clocks and calendars too.
Good luck with the jury thing.
Missy
I am so knocking on wood for you! You may have jinxed yourself by mentioning PN's resignation to schooling.
They NEVER call you for jury duty when you actually CAN GO! No, I think they have detectives lying in wait to figure out the worst time in your life for the call up… then they send you the notice.
Your county is cheap. In Wichita I got paid 13$ a day… and that was 1989.
Great randomness.
Wear a t-shirt, done in rhinestones of course, which says "I SUPPORT THE DEATH PENALTY" (even if you don't). I am pretty sure that will get you out of there real quick like.
I can just envision PN's happiness with that little bunch of mail goodness! 🙂
Where have I been? I didn't even know there was a change to Blogger's edit features.
That's pretty funny about your squeaky mouse button on your jacket. 🙂
So excited to see what you've got in store for us with your second site!
Glad to hear that PN went to school without complaint, hopefully that will continue.
I've never been called to jury duty, though having said that I expect a notice any day now.
I can't believe they only pay $9 a day for that, that's insane!!
Have a great day!
Raven
Good luck with the jury excuse. They are very difficult to get these days. One of my best jobs was working for a county Judge reading and responding to requests for being excused from jury duty. I should have copied some of them down because they kept me in hysterics.
If you end up going, you might enjoy yourself. You sure will come back with some good blog information.
I was once called for jury duty many moons ago. I was living in a big, crime-ridden city which meant I was not as lucky as you.
Oh, btw…trust me, they do complain about going to school when they become teens. 🙂
I'd love to do jury duty. Guilty! Put him away for life! Oh, not that kind of case? Do it anyway!
So you have a pink accent jeans jacket..so hip!:)
Blogger…well as you said..it tries.. i dunno if i should go for the new-and-improved-version or just stay with "the classic" 🙂
Oh and good luck with the excuse.. hope you can get out of it!
Thanks for stopping by earlier!
Happy Random!
I feel like I haven't visited in so long. I am not sure where Monday went! Glad that PN is going to school willingly now! I love the idea of your new blog! I can't wait for the new season of shows to start! We are counting the days until Monday night, not to mention Survivor, and oh so many more!
I did jury duty once, I did enjoy it, and Tara was in good hands with my mom. Sat through 4 days of testimony, then they decided to settle… ARGH! I was called to report the day back in 2003 I was moving to FL, and twice in FL, once I was able to be exempt due to sole care provider, and the other coincidentally again, when I was moving home!
Blogger…don't even get me started. I also switched for Firefox on my laptop and I have had it close unexpectedly more times than I can count.
Me+technology=something very bad
You should be able to get out of jury duty. I got that once and told them I had no childcare and got off. Hopefully you will too.
I just had jury duty in July. I also had to go into the scary city that I never ever drive in by myself. They called us for a case then asked if anyone couldn't handle 2 to 3 weeks. I raised my hand, explained the sitter issue, pretty much the same on you have and I was out of there. The state sent me a whopping check for .40 cents. It cost them .44 to mail it. Good luck!
I don't know about where you are, but they pretty much accept children under the age of 11 as a reasonable excuse to be exempt from Jury Duty in Texas. I imagine you'll be excused.
You wouldn't happen to want some hand-knitted baby sweaters, would you? I am giving some away on my blog, and I apparently only know old people. *sigh*
Ooooh you got goodies in the post? Great stuff!
And not only will you have to worry about the measly $9 a day and sorting out childcare but you know that it'll be just your luck you get the most boring case ever to come through the courts 🙂
When did the new Blogger editor kick in? Great. Something new to learn… 😉
Congrats on the blogaversary!
Hope the jury summons issue works out for you.
Lastly, (hooray) for the school situation. That was a whispered hooray btw.
Make as many blogs as you want- I will only check into one. I have only X amount of air left to breathe and can't check one person and their multi-blogging sites!
I've been called for jury duty twice. Once I made it onto a jury for the case to be delayed. The other time, I called in the day before and found out I wasn't needed. I kind of WANT to be on a jury!
yay. glad to hear PN is coming around on school. cool little prizes in the mail too! jury duty…yeah, you have fun with that. lol. happy tuesday!
You can drag the photos around in new blogger. Just click on them and pull them where you want. At least in firefox….
Good luck with the jury duty. I once got called two years in a row. Ugh!
Came over from Grand Pooba.
Glad she made it to school with a smile. Have a great day.
I haven't tried the new features, but if it takes away your line breaks insert this:
It's the html code for a hard break and it WON"T remove that 🙂
egh jury duty sucks..
congratulations on blogoversary..
oooo trying to get out of Jury Duty! Good luck!
I always do my blog posts in html mode so I haven't even tried out the new schnazy editing blogger as added. Not sure I want to either 🙂
How fun for Princess Naggers! I'm almost 30 and would love to get those cute stickers and crap in the mail!
YAY! for non protesting school children!!
What's your no-whine secret? My son acts like we are sending him to the electric chair & not Kindergarten every day.
Lots o' good random going on here
Yes the time is disappearing too quickly…not that I mind when the hot days end and the cool of evening comes, but alas i can't keep up!
Yay for Princess Nager. Glad something is making her excited about school now.
Jury duty. Hmm yes I'd probably want to be excused if I had children at home. Unless they will pay for child care and the likes 🙂
A button squeaking???? That is weird.
I am having the same darn problem with the new blogger editor. It makes it seems that I'm not separating my paragraphs! That is so not cool with me! So I didn't know it was bloggers fault. So I kept editing my posts and pushing the paragraphs down (because it drives me crazy to see them up together like that!) They better fix it! ugh.
I feel the same way about the upload of photos as you do. And another thing is you can't move your buttons up and down to get two photos side by side etc. or get two blog buttons side by side.
Ooh goodies. I bet she was happy!
have a lovely day!
I get to ditch jury duty for now, since I have a small non-school age child I have to care for 24/7, although if I had someone to watch him I wouldn't object to going. It's definitely an experience.
I like the pink accented jean jacket, way to channel your inner teenage girl. 😉
What a fun little package PN got!
I never even noticed the edit feature had changed. What's different besides the multiple photo upload and autosave?
I think that you could get off of jury duty for being too nice! haha!
I have not tried any new features. I have not mastered the old ones yet!
I wrote a letter once about how I had no babysitting and how inconvenient it would be and expensive, yada, yada. They let me off. You would have thought I won the lottery; I was so excited.
{Quietly yelling} Yay PN!! Hope this means you're starting to enjoy school!
Jury Duty. Fun. Good luck getting out of it. I've only been summoned one time and I didn't have to go because I'd moved to a different county. woohoo!
Wow, look at all that fun stuff PN got in the mail!! Exciting! =)
I'm glad the school situation is getting a little better. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
And that is quite a jury duty commitment. I served on a jury once — a drug case. Even his lawyer said he "did it" — the only argument was whether it was within a certain number of feet from a school. I got to see crack cocaine in a vial though … kind of a cheap thrill (having never seen that before). I hope you can get out of it.
And I didn't even notice the new Blogger stuff … I'll have to pay more attention. It was acting the same for me the other day.
About jury duty. . . . you could always go in and say that you know the criminals or that you think they are all martians at least according to the voices in your head.
Regarding the new blogger. . . I thought it was just me! I am glad to know it isn't!
Glad the princess got off to school okay. . . bless her heart. . . leave out that next 12 yr. sentence. She might have a melt down.
I'm not sure if this is true everywhere but in FL, if you're a stay at home parent in charge of a child under six (is PN 5 or 6?), then you can be excused. I've gotten it 3x since Graham was born but haven't been able to go since I'm in charge of the kids.
Yay for PN going to school! I guess paying her did the trick? 😉
If you end up getting into the jury pool, just act CRAZY! Not just a little crazy, I mean full on, psycho. Talk out loud to yourself, for example this is a conversation you could have out loud to freak them out, "People who are in court are guilty, yes they are guilty, what? yes Stacy, I'm listening, right, I know God told me, shhhhh too many voices, it's hurting my head…" I'm sure they won't pick you if you act that crazy!
Sadly I fear your letter is not going to work.
I do not want to try the new blogger thingie now! Thank you for what i consider a warning to stay away.
Glad PN is enjoying school. Sorry about the jury summons!! Just when you were going to have some quiet time at home.
What? What is all this blogger newness you speak of?
I love how PN has resigned to her fate of 12 years of school and I do hope she realizes she likes it too… 🙂
I've always wanted to be on a jury, but our justice system is very different from yours, no juries for us… 😀
My fingers are crossed for you too, I hope they excuse you for jury duty… 🙂
I am not liking the "new and (un)improved" feature of blogger too!!! I type way too fast for it to keep up and I hate that it saves every 30 seconds! It's driving me nuts, I wish there was an off switch somewhere!
I also don't like how you can't cut and paste an image to where you want it to go… Ugh!
Yay to your new blog! 🙂
Wow, sounds like a great day indeed, I can imagine how excited PN was… 🙂
Have a great week ahead Stacy! 🙂
I'm not a fan of the new blogger editor, either. I thought it would be great, but it's glitch-y.
I think they throw those letters away without even reading them. Nobody I know has ever been successful in getting out of jury duty. Hopefully, you will be the first 🙂
I haven't tried the new editor. As far as I am concerned, they can keep the old editor but just fix the picture insert so that it inserts the picture where you put it – not at the top! Boy that is annoying!
I just happened to run across your blog when I was searching for people with kids and being summoned to jury duty. I was summoned back in Jan of 08 and sent a letter to request that I be excused, however, they only deferred me to tomorrow (Sept 29th).
I have 2 young kids under the age of 4 and no childcare as I am stay at home Mom. My husband can't take a day (or much less a week off) of work and we can't afford childcare, hence the reason I stay home with them. So we'll see what happens tomorrow when I bring 2 babies in the courthouse!
Whoops.. I meant Jan 09! They only deferred me for 8 months ~ like my kids are going to be school aged in 8mo! I'm located in NC by the way. We have no family friendly jury laws here apparently.
I'm sure that with your circumstances, they would definitely dismiss you for jury duty. When i was on it last time, there were several who actually got out that day for one reason or another.