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Previously...

Long Distance Runaround
2010-11-29
Absolutely Right
2010-11-16
Kiss And Say Goodbye
2010-10-07
The Tube
2010-09-26
Never Surrender
2010-09-10


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Dave Marron


The Tube

2010-09-26 - 12:40 p.m.

Well, jury duty again didn't happen...kinda sorta.

I got into a jury pool at about 2:30pm - shortly after they said there were only a couple courts that hadn't asked for a poll of jurors so we all might be leaving early. No such luck.

By 3pm we were all seated in the courtroom. The first eighteen were called, and for the first time I wasn't one of them. Then the judge started going through the entire pool, asking if anyone had any "extreme" financial hardships that jury duty would cause. Some said they were students and they might get dropped from their class. Others said they had business or personal vacations planned and they would lose their already-paid-for tickets. These folks were excused. Some excuses didn't fly, like the Vietnamese lady who claimed that she didn't understand what the judge was saying (this despite the judge pointing out that she had to take the citizenship test in English, so she must've had SOME command of the language). The judge was willing to let the lady be questioned during voir dire to determine whether she would be on the jury.

It should also be noted that, shortly after one prospective juror said he was going in for a cancer screening and was excused, the Vietnamese lady then claimed that she too had a doctor's appointment...with a dentist. This put her credibility at serious risk - not only with the judge but the rest of us in the courtroom.

Anyway. We knocked off at 4:30pm without voir dire having even started. So we all had to come back at 8:30am Monday morning. Oh joy.

===

So, last Monday.

We all arrived, attendance was taken...and we were told to wait for about fifteen minutes.

At 8:50 we were told court would reconvene at 9:30. I went to the cafeteria and got some breakfast.

At 9:30 we were brought into the courtroom and informed that a settlement had been reached, our services would not be needed, we had fulfilled our duty, and we were free to go, thank you very much.

So I went home, fell down for a nap, and went in to work at 2pm instead of 6pm.

===

The rest of the week was pretty quiet, until Thursday night.

On Thursday the Angels lost to the Rangers and were mathematically eliminated from post-season play for the first time since 2006.

Personally, I think a good-sized chunk of the blame goes to the bullpen. I saw way too many leads get pissed away way too many times. And of course the loss of Kendry Morales didn't help.

So the next immediate goal for the Angels is to have a winning season. As of right now this minute, the Angels are 75-79 with eight games left to play. They need six to tie, seven to win.

As for the post-season...just wait till next year.

===

There's a heat wave coming this weekend. Temperatures went from the low 80s to the low 100s in two days.

This is supposed to last until Tuesday.

Don't worry - the kittehs will have lots of cool water to drink and the fans are on. They also are smart enough to go from room to room to be comfortable.

I've even tried setting up the swamp cooler for them. No dice - they ignore it and lay in the doorway...IN THE SUN.

We'll be fine.

===

Other annoyance - it looks like my big TV is dying.

For a long time I couldn't turn it on. Nothing would happen, not even if I used the remote. Then, suddenly, it worked again.

Then it died again. Then it worked again.

This last time, the volume status bar came on while I was watching Soap. I used the remote to raise the volume...and then the volume went right back to zero on its own.

My personal diagnosis: the VOLUME DOWN switch is always on, so it won't take any other command.

I called an actual Toshiba repair shop. They said it could be the small circuit board that contains the POWER and VOLUME controls...or it could be the MAIN circuit board. The diagnostic charge is only $15...but the repair would likely be $180-$350.

I may just wait until Christmas and hope the gift gods are generous.

===

Dave Kern is doing fine.

Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. They are all welcomed and appreciated.

===

Well, this afternoon's Angels game just started. It's the last Angels home game of this season.

Be seeing you.



===

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