Jury Duty

The last couple of days I've been on jury duty. It wasn't the first time in my life I've done it, but the last time I was only 21. This time I did not get selected for a jury. I came close to getting on a jury for a burglary case, but was dismissed on a peremptory challenge. A peremptory challenge is a challenge that may be used by the attorneys to reject a certain number of prospective jurors without giving a reason. They don't tell you which attorney challenged you, and they don't tell you why. But I think it was the defense attorney who decided to let me go.

First the judge, and then the attorneys ask a bunch of questions of the jurors as a group. The prosecutor had thrown out the question of why any of us might like the American system of justice better than others in the world. I answered that question by saying something about how "we get to hear from both sides." What I meant was that the defendant gets to have his or her say. In so many countries there is no defending yourself and there are no trials. They just throw you in prison and throw away the key. So I should have said "both sides get to have their say" which is different from "we get to hear from both." The defense attorney expressed a concern about my statement because of the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof which is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt someone's guilt. The defense attorney thought I was saying that I EXPECTED to hear from the defense and that I thought there was an obligation for the defense to put on witnesses, exhibits, etc. Of course there is no such obligation and that's not what I meant. She made a big deal out of it though, taking the jurors through various scenarios to illustrate her point. And in the end I was excused. :)

Some people really don't like it when they get called for jury duty because it's inconvenient to stop their lives and set aside everything else for something unexpected like that. But if I were a defendant I would want the most fair, open minded, smartest people there judging me and making those important decisions that would affect my life. Not just someone who happened to be between jobs or something. It's an important civic duty and it's a good and educational experience to go through.

Nikka is Four!

I can hardly believe Nikka has turned four. Where did the time go? What a cutie. Don't you just love her Shirley Temple curls?

Dressup Cameron

This is a recent picture of my little friend Cameron playing dressup. I can hardly believe how fast she's growing up! Cameron will be two soon. Thank you to her mom Susan for being generous with the photos!

Spring is Coming

The weather in Seattle hasn't been too consistent yet, but you can definitely tell it's warming up. I took these pictures yesterday before the drizzle came back. These are trees at my office building.

Been Sick

I had a cold which I thought was all over with about two weeks ago. But there was a little cough that wouldn't leave. Last weekend the little cough turned into a big cough which came along with wheezing. I've had asthma my whole life and know that I am at higher risk after a cold, so fortunately I had inhalers at the ready. I increased the dosage over the next few days until I was maxed out on the recommendations, but still I was barking like a seal and wheezing. Darn!

Each day I hoped it was getting better so I convinced myself that it was. But I wasn't convincing my friends and they instead convinced me to see my doctor yesterday. The doctor added more medications to my regimen and today I really do feel better. Yay! It's a good reminder that breathing is a good thing and one should not take it for granted.

Yet Another Storm

It seems like it has been a very windy winter here in Seattle. Especially the last couple of weeks the wind just doesn't stop. Yesterday another storm hit us. There was a fair amount of rain, but also plenty of wind.

Here's what the radar looked like during the storm:


And this is a traffic camera picture of the 520 bridge over Lake Washington. Normally you don't see all that wave action.


The winds at the time of this photo were averaging 40-50 miles per hour. They ended up closing the bridge overnight because the wild weather caused some minor damage which had to be repaired in order to make the bridge safe for traffic.

This morning many areas had snow. For the most part it didn't stick, it was just enough to let us know it's still winter.

It's March 9th and spring is on its way. I happen to be a fan of all the diverse weather. But for many in Seattle spring can't come soon enough.

Party!

Clay and I went to a bowling night party sponsored by my law firm last night. There was good food (as usual at firm events), bowling, pool, prizes, and some karaoke. When people weren't singing karaoke a DJ played some great music. It was a pretty good time for all. Well, I should say it was fun for most of us. I was almost over a cold and feeling pretty good, but I'm afraid Clay was coming down with the cold he caught from me. He was not feeling so great. Put that together with very dim "mood" lighting" and his eyesight not in great shape, and just dipping up a plate of food proved difficult.

It's always fun to hang out and visit with friends though. Matt was there and Susan. And Doxey's wife Cynthia came to the party with Clay and me. Doxey couldn't make it because he was climbing a mountain (what else is new). But he encouraged Cynthia to come (and bring Lil Giuseppe) and I'm really glad she did.

You can see from the picture that Clay and I have a hard time keeping our eyes open when getting our pictures taken. I promise, we had not been partaking of the contents of those bottles in the background.

Here are a few pictures of some of my buddies.

Matt and Cynthia (Cynthia also has a hard time keeping her eyes open for pictures)


Susan - demonstrating why it's rude to flash a camera bulb in someone's eyes just before they take their shot (sorry Susan!!)

Here's Drew, Angie and Matt - aka the Three Musketeers (MuskeBowlers?)


And here's Edwin, Marguerite and Edith having a good time:

Barnes and Noble University

I recently found a great resource for free online classes. Barnes and Noble has something called Barnes and Noble University which offers a wide variety of courses and reading groups each month. You can go to this link to see all the courses that are open for enrollment and click the tab labeled "In Session Now" to see courses which are currently in session. Classes are free, and the only expense is that you have to get the course materials. Of course you can purchase them online from Barnes & Noble (which is what they would like), you can get them in a regular brick and mortar bookstore, or purchase them used somewhere.

The classes are divided into Liberal Arts and Life Improvement categories. They have everything from history classes to courses about film and Money Management for Women to Tarot for Beginners. The classes run for 4 weeks at a time and vary from an estimate of 8 hours to complete a class up to 24 hours. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many courses were listed that sounded interesting to me. Can you guess which one I decided to sign up for first?