Weight Watchers and Jury Duty

My life is nothing if not interesting!

I started Weight Watchers on Monday and have thought of nothing BUT food ever since. I'm learning the point values of every food imaginable and realize that I' ve been an absolute pig in the past compared to what I'm eating this week. I have points floating around in my mind every minute of the day! I get 21 points a day and let me tell you they get gobbled up really quickly. I can have all the cucumber, radishes, raw cauliflower, raw broccoli, and black coffee, water, and Diet Coke that I want. I'm now trying to figure out how to plant a vegetable garden in my bathtub to get me through the winter! The jury is still out as to how long I'm going to stick to this "points" business, it's exhausting. When I dieted before (about 11 yrs ago!) I simply did the low fat thing and kept my fat grams under 20 a day and lost weight very quickly. I also didn't seem to be as hungry as I am this time. I may end up going back to that method. I am thinking that I will give this system 2 or 3 weeks before I make up my mind. If I start chewing on my arm it may be sooner.

Speaking of juries; I have been in a Federal Court jury pool since May. I will be in this jury pool until next May or until I serve at least 20 days on a jury, which ever comes first. I take this responsibility very seriously and see it as my civic duty. I served on one jury in June for 4 days and we did reach a verdict. I enjoyed that trial and felt very good about the verdict we came to (we acquitted). The deal is that you receive a letter in the mail that instructs you to call a recorded message on a given day to see if you're to report for service the following day. I've received 3 such letters since that first trial and I have called just like I was supposed to on the day that I was instructed. All three of those times the case in question had been cancelled or postponed and was told not to report the next day. I have been very conscientious about doing this. Last night I even had the thought run through my head that it should be about time to receive another letter to report soon. This afternoon there was a knock on my front door. It was my mail carrier with a certified letter for me. I signed for the thing wondering what in the world it could be. Wellllll, it was from the Clerk for the United States District Court! I tore into it wondering why in the world they would send this one by certified mail. I got a very sick feeling when I read the following:

On September 29, 2008, the above petit jurors failed to appear for jury service as instructed by the court. Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED (their caps, not mine!), that petit jurors whose juror numbers are listed above shall, within seven (7) days of the date of this Order, show cause in writing, as to why they should be not held in contempt for their failure to appear for jury service as directed by the Court. It is further ORDERED that the Clerk shall serve this Order by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the above Covington Petit Jurors at their respective addresses on file with the United States District Court Clerk's Office.

Well, I was a nervous wreck after reading this and wondered when the Marshalls were going to be showing up at my door to tear me from my home! I quickly found the correct phone number and called the Federal Court House. I finally got the right person on the phone and pled my case that I hadn't received a letter to report on September 29th and that if I had I would certainly have been there. Apparently I hadn't listened to the entire message when I called for instructions after I received my last letter at the beginning of August. The court clerk said that after we were told not to report the next day that there was a message that said we should call the recorded message again on September 28th for further instructions. I'm not saying that it didn't say that; I just don't remember that at all. I know that I listened to the entire message because I'm very aware that an order to report is a very serious thing. So, if it did tell me to call back on September 28 it simply got lost in the gray matter. Anyway, I don't think I'll be going to jail. The clerk told me to write a letter explaining why I didn't report and fax it to her office and she would make sure that the FEDERAL JUDGE got it. So now, I have to explain to the judge just why I'm so forgetful! This should be fun. I'll probably cry before I get it finished! She also informed me that I am to report for jury duty on October 8th unless I hear otherwise! Well, let me tell you that date is written down and I WILL NOT FORGET!