Off Topic...Jury Duty Day One...

Per a comment from an earlier post, I am expanding upon my experience of jury duty and the process. My experience comes from one day of waiting for 2.5 hours and not being picked for a jury, and another day of waiting for a little bit less time and be selected for a jury. In the end, it was very interesting to understand how our judicial system works with a hands-on experience.

The first day of jury duty I was a little bit apprehensive because it was something I had never done before. Trying to find where to park downtown, entering the courthouse through the correct door, finding the correct room after entering, and what was expected of me upon entering said room. Figuring out where to go was easier than expected. Upon entering the jury waiting room, as expected, I checked in and grabbed a seat to await further instruction. Then, the County Clerk introduced herself, welcomed, thanked everyone for coming, and started an instructional movie about the Judicial system. This movie, as you might expect, was taped in the 80s and very informative, but will not be winning an award. Then, those who had not had jury duty earlier in the week were "sworn in." Afterward, we were left to our own devices to fill time until the judges were ready for us. Luckily, I had talked with someone that had been on jury duty before and they told me to take something to keep me busy, consequently, I took a book.

When the judges were finally ready for us the County Clerk called our names and the court Bailiffs took us downstairs to the proper court room. Once in the courtroom the Judge called our names and had us sit in a certain order starting in the jury gallery and leading into the back public seating area. Once in this arrangement the Judge began asking questions, about our personal experiences, that might determine if we had a conflict of interest. Examples would include: Do you know any of the parties involved? Do you know a member of any police force? Do you have any prior cases? et cetera. After the Judge's questions, the representing Attorneys had a chance to ask further questions they thought pertinent to the case. Once the questioning was over they sent everyone out to the hallway so the judge and attorneys could pick the jury. After about 10 minutes they called everyone back in and sat the jury. As I was not called, I was free to go.

Day two to come...

Drinking water leads to diabetes...

According to this article drinking water that contains arsenic multiplies the possibility that a person will get diabetes. I understand wanting to know what arsenic causes in low levels, but it scares me that we would have to worry about it being prevalent enough in our drinking water to conduct this experiment, especially considering it causes organ failure and death in the right dose. It also makes me wonder what else is in our drinking water that is from man made products. Chemicals put on yards to keep them green and weed free. Of course, the dirt is supposed to filter all of this out before it gets in our drinking water and that is supposed to take many years, but eventually the ground will become saturated. That thought is one reason I prefer to eat organic whenever possible. Then, in theory, a person should not have to worry about ingesting chemicals, or at least not nearly as many.

Massage for recovery...

I have wondered if a massage really helps after exercise. This article explains that massage helps muscles recover. This is how they explained it: "The massaged muscles recovered significantly more function and strength after the four-day trial. Also, the muscles that were not massaged had more damaged muscle fibers and more white blood cells, which can indicate inflammation. The massaged muscles weighed less than the rested muscles, suggesting the massages prevented swelling."

The only thing that is weird, is how they conducted their research. They used a machine to imitate exercise on both hind legs of a sedated rabbit. Then, they used another machine to imitate a Swedish massage on one of the rabbit's legs. After this experiment, the poor rabbits will be running in circles for weeks.

Off topic...

Please excuse this post as it is off topic. If you are expecting a running post, you can pass on this one, but if you are interested in a little more of my personal life, then, this is for you.

I have not taken, nor had, a lot of time to post recently as a couple of things have kept me mentally occupied. First is interviewing for a new job. Recently, my supervisor's supervisor has been actively helping me find and prepare for another job within the company. It is not that she wants to get rid of me, rather, she sees potential that is being under utilized in my current position.* She has so encouraged me that she has taken many steps like getting contacts for me, putting interview questions together, coaching me as to the best way to respond in an interview, as well as, reviewing/enhancing written submissions that both me and my supervisor submit for the position.

This week I interviewed for the position and took the entire morning to prepare, interview, and get back to the office. Before the interview started I was able to ask them many informed questions about the prospective area and, indirectly, show the interviewees I did my homework. Once the interview started, I was able, as far as I could tell, to answer their questions appropriately and intelligently. In the second part of the interview, I had to woo their techie associates into thinking I understood how to use Microsoft Excel. Fortunately, I was prepared and had an example of a spreadsheet I use on a daily basis that automatically pulls and updates data from a database and has some other functions not used by most people on a daily basis. Eventually, they had me take their Excel test and it did not amount to much more than using a couple of simple functions. I was able to satisfy their need to "test" me by proving my abilities and using their jargon. Overall, I left the interview thinking I did an excellent job and almost could have done no more to help my chances.

The second thing that was keeping me mentally busy was being summoned for jury duty. Until this week I was a jury virgin, but today I was called in and spent 2.5 hours doing my civic duty. Although I spent that amount of time, I was never seated as part of a jury. The angst of the unknown would not let me sleep very well last night and I was up for a couple of hours pondering the possibility of what today would entail. In the end, it was very informative and I now see why it takes so long for trials to complete. I wonder, is there a better way to come to the same conclusion in a trial, but make the process more efficient.

Thanks for letting me get a couple of things out of my mind; I am sure I will sleep better tonight.

*If you know me, you know I am not conceited, but if you don't know me, please take this part at face value as I don't brag about myself very well, often, or at all.