Some leftover thoughts from my jury duty service: the judge seemed to have an obsession with AROD. Each time before we left the court he advised us not to discuss the case until deliberation and joked that we could argue about the soon to be suspended superstar. Although we didn’t get to pick our lunch, the sandwiches provided us were tasty -- and I had at least five cookies, a welcome change after having dined on the McDonald‘s dollar menu the previous two days. I’ll have to splurge on a shrimp parm hero on my own one of these days. I made the mistake of drinking a whole can of soda. During the judge’s instructions on deliberation, which took an hour, I thought I was going to bust a gut. It didn’t help my bladder that the AC was cranked to the max. At one point I actually raised my hand to request a break, but no one noticed, fortunately, as the ordeal lasted only 15 more minutes. And since my lunch schedule was off by a couple of hours, my stomach was making all kinds of noises. I apologized to the nice lady to my left, who had to endure that sour symphony. It was most embarrassing, the kind of thing that happens when one gets older, and something I worried about when I knew I would be serving and not dismissed early. By luck of the drawer, I was chosen foreman. I enjoyed it and was lucky everyone was cooperative and cordial. I still feel bad about finding the defendant guilty, even though I’m sure he was. If the case was truly only about marijuana, as it appeared, I hope his sentence is reasonable, not harsh. I was juror #4. #5, Tiffany, no older than 25, was extremely sharp, recalling details about the trial I'd completely forgotten or had missed. She should have been foreperson. Of course, male chauvinist pig that I am, I was unable to stop myself from checking out her fabulous hooters and wondering if they are real. Lucky are the men who get to find out.
After several years work I’ve finally qualified for a $100 gift card from yougov.com surveys. I will use it to purchase copies of Close to the Edge. This morning I sold the metrocard I’d purchased to the friendly elderly gentleman who works the soup and pasta aisle at Stop n Shop. Since the judge expected the trial to last five days, I invested $25. There was $16.25 remaining, an odd amount given the $2.50 fare, but one I would not bother questioning. I let the guy have it for ten, even though he‘s always wearing a Yankees hat. Perhaps the best thing about having finished my service is not having to ride the subway. The worst thing was missing Monday golf. Fortunately, it will be just that one round. I haven’t been to an ATM since 4/20, as I’ve earned enough on the street and in survey, royalty and other checks to have enough cash to get by. Since I’ve had no income three straight days, thanks to today's rain, and had the expenses of jury duty, I’ll have to hit the bank Saturday. Golf takes the biggest chunk of my disposable dead presidents, $40 plus the consumption of gasoline. I’m due $120 plus travel expenses from the government, but that check won’t arrive for at least a couple of weeks. I made $1.75 at the recycling center this morning. On my way, I noticed that Ali Baba’s gyro truck wasn’t in its usual spot. He’s been complaining about business having fallen off. I hope it's in the repair shop and not gone permanently.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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