quare impedit? [translation]

Today was jury duty day.

I got out of bed really early. Early enough to make my back ache.

Then I got to the Seattle Municipal Court too early. Apparently they don't open the doors for the commoners until 8am. So I stood outside in the cold until they did.

I got past the metal detector with nary a beep.

Then the wait began.

The new facilities at the Municipal Court are pretty snazzy--some good artwork on the walls, including a piece consisting of several dozen digital wristwatches that were all set to the same time when the piece was assembled, and now have all wandered off into their own unique timezones. Inside are some of the ubiquitous blown glass that the Pacific Northwest seems to feel are emblematic of the region. And one of the original thirteen-stars American flags. Nice chairs, decent little snack area, a "quiet room", and because it's on the top floor of the twelve-story building, a nice little courtyard outside (though smokers are required to go all the way down to ground floor outside if they want to whiff their glorious fumage).

We watch the famous Raymond Burr video that everyone mentions; I chortle at only one point when Burr speaks of the hectic lives we live in the twentieth century. Otherwise the video only serves to annoy me--I'm trying to genuinely attend to my jury service with a true heart, and the entire thing speaks down to me as if I don't understand the valuable rights I'm helping uphold, and asks me to please bear with the system since they understand how incredibly tedious it all is.

Good thing they didn't have me producing the thing, I'd be telling everybody to shut the hell up and do the right thing, the bunch of pansy commie dingbats. But I didn't, so nobody heard that but me.

I run into a former co-worker from my Company days and we catch up on what everybody's been up to. Turns out he's the Executive Director for a local non-profit, and I've been thinking lately that I want to get into non-profit work, so I quiz him incessantly on the topic, getting all sorts of good information about the ins and outs of that sort of business. His cellphone summons him away momentarily, so I finish reading the old article about alternative automotive fuel sources, then go check out the quiet room, where all the computer stuff is.

One thing I almost missed on the jury summons was the fact that they supply network connections for anyone who wants to bring a laptop. I didn't feel like wrassling with the metal detectors and all, so I didn't bring mine today, but they also have Web access available, so I was at least able to check my email (though the line for the terminal kept me from actually answering any, which I'm way behind on). Nobody who brought a laptop was able to get the network connection to work; I spoke to the woman sitting next to me and mentioned the phrase "crossover cable", which causes her to blank out for a second and then nod vaguely. I notice she's got a VPN chit like a Washington Mutual friend showed me the other day, so I wonder if she's WaMu as well. But I don't ask, don't want to sound like the little hacker boy I always want to be.

I go back out and try to read my novel, but the lack of sleep is catching up to me, so I nap briefly. I awaken when someone starts announcing that all the cases being tried this week won't require any jurors, so we're all being dismissed for the week.

This bothers me. I wanted to serve on a jury now, when I have the free time, dangit! So I volunteer to come back next week as well, completely forgetting my Celestine Prophecy-based notions of trusting whatever Fate throws my way as indicative of what path I should follow next. Fate tries to prevent my service next week by giving me a clerk who isn't at all sure how to go about processing someone volunteering for duty (apparently this never happens?), but she eventually figures it out, and Fate sticks out its tongue at me.

While waiting for her to figure it out, though, I overhear the Powerbook guy talking about how great it'd be if they had a wireless network in here, and he starts trying to explain how they'd set it up. But this is the same guy who wasn't prepared with both crossover and non-crossover network cabling for his laptop, so I wonder how reliable his advice is.

The clerk talking about the wireless comments how she's been tasked with researching the possibility of wireless access for the waiting room, but she doesn't know the first thing about it. This warms my heart somewhat, since apparently I still know stuff that might be useful in the job market.

So I have tomorrow of for the release of the new Heroclix set, which is vastly happy-making. And I have the afternoon off today to nap some more. Which is also good.

Oh, and I did figure out where people put their coats. There was a little sign that said "Coatroom". I figure that observation is worth points toward my Scooby-Doo Mysteries/Clue Club card.

Last thing I did before leaving was to go out on the terrace, walk up to the edge, and try to not freak out when I looked over the side to see the sidewalk twelve stories below. Nice view, though--can almost see my cubicle where I used to work at the Company.

Last updated by eric Tue Nov 25 23:49 2003 | thought | link