The “2-Fer” Weekend starts at 2pm!

I was called for jury duty recently.  I’m sure that anyone who gets the summons in the mail feels that same sense of dread.  Usually, the next line of thought is, “How am I gonna get out of this?”  Now, I always joke about how I would get out of serving when I say I’ll go in and blurt out, “I can spot a guilty guy a mile away!,” or “Off with his head!” or something similar.  Well realistically, you can’t do that.  There are legitimate reasons to not serve, and those are not evident until the actual jury selection process.  If you try any of those hare-brained approaches mentioned previously, there’s a good chance that you’ll be cited for contempt of court, and pay a hefty fine.  The fact is, it is your civic duty to serve on a jury.  I am very glad that I did.  I’m not lying when I tell you that it will, in all probability, remain one of the more memorable events in my life.  Seriously.  It was fascinating, and interesting, and solemn, and important.  It’s not like it is on the court room dramas that we see on TV.  Sure, the surroundings are what you’d expect, and all of the principals are there:  judge, lawyers, prosecutors, defendant, sheriff’s deputies.  But when you sit in that jury box and listen to testimony and opening & closing statements, the reality is inescapable.  And it’s very powerful.  At least it was for me.  As my jury duty was for a criminal case, it was jarringly real to know that myself and 11 other individuals were going to decide the fate of 2 people, with one of them very possibly going to jail.  Jail is not a place you or I would wanna be.  I found myself totally immersed in the whole procedure.  I listened intently to every word that was said by everyone involved.  You have to.  This is not TV where there’s going to be a commercial break.  This is not Judge Judy.  This was real life.  The deliberations were very intense and at times troubling.  12 people in a room deciding the fate of someone based on information that was gleaned from the trial.  Sometimes, you can’t get all of the info that you might want in order to reach a verdict, and that adds to the difficulty of reaching a unanimous decision.  But in the end, that is what is needed-unaniminity.  After having answered the call to serve my civic duty, I feel more than ever that if you’re called, you need to do it.  Look forward to it, embrace it, be involved in it, and see 1st hand how our judicial system works.  And it does work.  No system is perfect, but I believe that the way we do it in the U.S. is as close as you can get.  An amazing experience.

It kills me every time.  I call for an inquiry on some kind of bill and I get connected with a person in another country.  Sounds like India or some similar locale. They allegedly speak English but I have trouble understanding them most of the time.  These conversations take twice as long because I always have to ask them to repeat what they just said.  Oh yeah…with a heavy accent, they tell me their name is “Jeff” or “Jane.”  Right.  Your name is Sanjay or Rajeev, but it ain’t “Jeff.”  Please.  Now, truth be told, if English is not your first language, it is an incredibly difficult and complicated language to learn.  All I ask is that all of these companies who are saving a buck by having their customer service outside of the US of A get people from a country that can speak…the…language.  Or, at the very least, teach them a little better.  No, a LOT better. Better yet, bring the jobs back here to the US.  Maybe it’s a conspiracy to discourage people from calling to complain or dispute a bill…It kills me every time.

I writng this from my office computer ’cause my computer at home is now toast,thanks to a really nasty virus that it picked up a few days ago.  No, I wasn’t surfing porn sites, altho that’s a good place to pick one up.  No, it was a regular, legit site that reviews current movie releases and whatever got into my system really f***ed it up.  It shows up as a very realistic-looking Windows security program that immediately warns you of really bad trojans, viruses, worms, etc. on your computer.  If you see this, it’s probably too late and you should plan your computer’s funeral.   A complete takeover of my system…couldn’t access any programs, couldn’t run anti-virus, nuthin’!  Fortunately, I was able to back up some files I really didn’t wanna lose, but I’ve had to completely re-format my computer and reinstall the OS and other programs.  I guess I’m just advising you to be careful where you surf, always run your anti-virus software scans, and always back up your stuff to a separate hard drive.  That last tip is crucial.  These stand-alone USB hard drives are not very expensive and believe me, they’re worth it.  There’s a lot of nastiness out there on the Net and it can seriously mess with your computer and be really, really, aggravating.  Arrrrgh!

Columbus Day.  That’s the holiday where you get a good buy on a new sofa, right?  Or is it a great deal on a new car?  Or possibly, some savings on a new set of clothes…I forget which.  Lookit, I learned in school that Columbus “discovered” America in 1492.  I get it that Italian Americans celebrate their heritage with this day, and I certainly would never demean anyone’s right to observe or celebrate.  But here’s what I say:  Columbus was lost.  He got here by accident, and when he did, he found that the land was inhabited by Native Americans, who had pretty much settled throughout the country.  In the name of “European Colonization,” he disrespected, slaughtered, and displaced the rightful inhabitants of our land.  And we “celebrate” this?  From an economic standpoint, it’s a huge waste of people’s productivity.  You think anyone really gives a s**t about who discovered America or whatever?  Nah, people like a day off from work though…