my first jury duty, 10 days later.

it finally happened.
i have successfully gotten out of reporting for jury duty twice before, and this time, there was no saying 'no'. this happened over a week ago, on the friday leading into memorial day weekend, and on a lovely day for being outside (of course).

i left my house in the morning, giving myself plenty of time to do the g train thing and was pretty sure i knew the building it was in. oh, but no. not the building i was thinking (where that building even is, i have no idea). so it took me awhile of wandering around, but eventually, and with mere moments to spare until the 9am call time, i swooped into the brooklyn supreme court building and to my surprise, what a lovely lobby! i had to admit, i was expecting a depressing and dimly lit building like where i had to go once to file something, but i was instead greeted with a newly constructed modern, bright, and sleek marble-laden lobby.

there were about 6 swift security lines and i could tell i wasn't the only one a little thrown of-- i'm only used to hurried and intense security lines at the airport and i had this inclination to take off my coat and shoes and pre-separate the contents of my bag. phew. you don't have to do that here!

ushered by signs with arrows declaring 'jury duty service', i walked through a set of double doors into a large airy room full many many rows of those airport-like chairs that connect together and look really comfortable and inviting, but disappoint once you plop down on them eagerly. after about 20 minutes, someone came up to the podium/stand/stage at the front of the room to give us a brief 'what's up' and then started an informative video on grand jury service.

the video started off with scenes of old western films, depicting the wild pre-jury times of the wild wild west and how the jury came to be. did you know that juries have been around since old moses times?! the video also featured some people who i think are on law and order, and was 'hosted' by the guy from 60 minutes. it was actually decently entertaining to watch, and it was around this point i wondered if i was actually enjoying myself.

then the weeding out process began and about half the room filed out at various times for various reasons of wanting to be exempt or postpone, etc. i suppose i, too, could have feigned an ability to speak english well, but there's something about a courthouse that makes me not want to lie. not to mention i'm not a very good liar (though i am decent at stretching the truth if i have to).

as those of us who remained sat in silence for awhile, waiting for something else to happen, and based on the number of juries they said they needed to select, i realized that most of us were sure to be chosen. my positive attitude quickly dissolved.

all i could think was that i'd just been beginning to get some steady work, am planning to go to texas in a couple of weeks. why couldn't i be picked in august when nothing's going on and work is slow? why not a couple of months ago when i had no work at all and $40/day would have been very welcomed? it was incredibly frustrating.

and misha says it's a privilege and a way to uphold the country's foundations. i wish he could do it for me-- if it's so exciting. no one can fill in for me at work, or get work for me, and there's only so much work on the weekends and after five. this just isn't a good time. but then, i guess, not many people look forward to it.

after sitting to wait another 40 or so minutes, they began to call names of selected jurors. as the juries began to fill up and i still hadn't been called, i didn't want to dare hope. i had already accepted my fate. then they were finished. i hadn't been called. then they began to select alternates. my heart beat faster. still no announcement or mispronunciation of my name. nothing. not me. i wasn't picked. it was noon and they said if you weren't called you could leave. i was stunned. i had already resolved to doing my duty as a citizen.

better luck next year.

the beginning of a new era?

So today, I did something extraordinary.
On a day where I already had to be at work at 9am, I woke up early to... go to the gym. And I liked it. I know, I know, it's madness, because I am not a morning person. I even factored in enough time to drop my compost off at the Greenmarket, and then walk to work. And I was still five minutes early!

Why subject myself to the early rise? Well, I convinced myself of several things:
1. I would miss the really bad rush hour traffic on the subway that I loathe
2. I would miss the really bad post-work congestion at the gym.
3. I would be able to go home and do laundry or just relax, without feeling guilty about the gym.
4. I would potentially be more awake and energized throughout the day, especially the first half where it takes me longer to 'wake up'.
5. I would prove to myself that waking up early and going to the gym 'wasn't all that bad'.

So, the original plan was to wake up and go to a 7am yoga class. I was all ready to go but then...where the HELL was my metrocard? I looked for it for 30 minutes before giving up and heading out so as to not miss my gym window completely.

In my recent dedication to 'stop being late', I have been frustrated by my newly acquired disorganization. Not always disorganized, but for instance, I 'lost' about $40 cash. Or maybe I spent it. Who knows. (This is why I usually try to carry a small amount of cash and get receipts for everything). And only a couple of months (or less?) ago, I lost another metrocard-- for the first time in my NYC life. So losing a 30-day unlimited one I just bought a couple of days ago is incredibly frustrating. So I get to make the fun phone call to MTA again to get them to credit me the difference, though I believe that if you have to do this more than once in a year, they charge you like $10. Ugh.

In any case, and on the sunnier side, I purchased a $20 metrocard, and made it to the gym and I really only had about 25 minutes, but I made it count on the treadmill and showered and dressed in record time. Did a loop through the farmer's market and walked the additional 15 blocks to work (nice way to keep the blood pumping after a workout too!).

And if this isn't crazy enough, last night I also put together a rather elaborate snack and lunch bag to take with me to work today (I have a perhaps irrational fear of growing hungry, so packing an enticing lunch with plenty of other snacks made me more at ease).

So, even though I didn't get too much sleep last night, I feel rested, comfortable, and proud of myself. Could do it again tomorrow! Maybe I'm turning over a new leaf. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Only time will tell...