(no subject)

[fredericks]

Today was my first day of jury duty. It was a little different than what I recalled from six years ago. The room we were placed in was rather light and airy (even though everyone, it seemed, was sneezing or coughing and if Captain Trips made an appearance we'd most likely all be goners) with televisions, free WiFi, and internet-capable computers along the back wall. We were also allowed to come and go as we pleased, with the caveat being if you were gone for longer than ten minutes you'd run the chance of missing your name being called for the various jury selection panels. The ringleader for the room was a security guard with a refreshingly dry sense of humor, and he made proceedings speed along on the occasion. But it boiled down to all 300+ of us being trapped in a room for eight hours, waiting for the chance to get a chance to rule on our peers

Things started out with an inadvertently hilarious video about the evolution of the jury trial, followed by the group being addressed by a judge who looked older than Methuselah about the importance of peer trials; I think even the slowest among us got the gist, thank you very much. After lunch some wiseguy decided to play My Big Fat Greek Wedding on all the TVs, effectively engaging in torture via media not seen outside of the storming of Noriega's compound. Luckily I ended up getting called for a panel shortly after the movie started. Surprisingly enough, I ended up getting picked for the jury, but as an alternate. Meaning I have to sit through the entire thing but unless someone gets lost on the way to the courtroom I'll get no say in the judgment. Fun times. But I will get to miss at least one additional day of work. That's definitely fun times.

Oh, and I took Claritin for the possible allergy symptoms. I regretted it immediately: it's managed to dry my throat so much I've been coughing and it gave me a headache for an hour or so. I think I'd rather deal with the less obvious flu-like symptoms than end up feeling like I'm hacking up a lung every couple of minutes.

Also, progress report: 200 more pages down in Under the Dome. King does love having kids play integral parts in his plots, doesn't he? At least he's moved away from the whole "magical negro" as of late. Small favors.

Comments

[atraxia.livejournal.com]

claritin did nothing for me. i take zyrtec (which is over the counter now - so don't know why the doc was writing scripts) - it's for both indoor and outdoor allergies. only thing - zyrtec makes me a little sleepy - but you get used to it once you take it regularly.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

The Claritin was effective. Too effective, in fact: I've ended up suffering stuff on the other end of the spectrum, what with the headaches and dry mouth/throat and subsequent coughing. I figure Zyrtec is a little bit stronger (didn't realize it was OTC, but the docs write scripts so insurance can foot the bill) so I'm going to have to avoid that.

If I'm too miserable as things progress I'll look into Zyrtec and see if it works for me.

[atraxia.livejournal.com]

i don't have seasonal allergies - i'm allergice to mold/dust year round.
my sister has really bad allergies this spring - watery eyes, sneezing, sore throat etc. she's a mess. she takes a combo of zyrtec and alkaseltzer cold.
it's all about finding the right combo for you. good luck!

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Totally sucks. We need a support group or something.

[blood-of-winter.livejournal.com]

ahh jury duty...sounds like fun.

When I got called for JD, i went in with bright orange hair and completely gothed out and still got picked. lol.

Good time though to catch up on reading at least

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

It would have been more fun if I wasn't an alternate. Basically I had to sit through the trial and then leave once one of the regular jurors didn't keel over and become otherwise incapacitated. Leaving early was okay, but after sitting through that dreck I would have wanted to actually deliberate and talk about what we'd all been privy to. Oh well.