Saturday, after my long run, I found a tick burrowing into my leg. I pulled it out alive while driving home from my run. With one hand on the steering wheel, I managed to stick it in an empty propel bottle and seal it shut. The next day,I took it to the urgent care office. I’m now also on a first name basis with everyone there due to my frequent strep throat visits. Today, I received a phone call and found out it is, in fact, a deer tick. So, we’ll know in three days or so if it tests positive for Lyme.
I got a notice a month ago to appear for jury duty today. It turns out this is for a federal grand jury, and the only criteria for being chosen is your name gets drawn from a hat. No questions are asked by lawyers which most think can be answer with law-abiding biased answers. (i.e. I always believe cops) At the end of the day, I left the place legally obligated to serve as a grand juror for two times a week for the next 18 months. This will adversely affect my career and no one really gives a shit. How the fuck do I get out of this?
I’ve been neglecting my managerial duties at work in favor of spending time actually developing software. Developing software is what I went to school for in the first place. It’s what I fell in love with, and it’s the reason I entered this field for my career. By doing this, however, I’m not actually focusing on my primary responsibilities of managing, and therefore, am falling behind on all the bullshit that I have to manage. Which in the end, adds stress since I feel I am being negligent.
Today, I find out my father is in the hospital. He’s racked up quite a bit of health issues and continues to smoke and not take care of himself. Nothing I can do to get him to change. As long as he has his pain meds, he’s happy though.
But, tonight I managed to get to the track. Being able to squeeze out five vo2max intervals of 5 minutes each, at a pace faster than I thought I could, gives me enough to reflect on for the rest of the night, rather than dwell on everything I would stress about otherwise. Running is my rock.
5 x 5minute vo2 max intervals. avg pace 6:02 min miles
May 12, 2010 @ 21:25:42
Ughhhhh. Grand jury is the worst. Show up and talk to the judge and see what happens. They might let you off. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough experience in the area (what criminal law I’ve done has been state, not federal) to say much more than that. :-/
Good luck – especially with that Lyme test.
May 13, 2010 @ 06:04:27
yea, i think i’ll be able to get off. I’m going to claim financial hardship. I cant get by on the $40 a day they would pay, and my employer would only cover up to 15 days.
May 13, 2010 @ 17:02:17
Its worth a shot…
May 12, 2010 @ 22:49:45
Herb, good luck with the lyme test. that has been something i have thought about in the last week while running. im always afraid with running in wooded areas or ducking to the side to relieve myself that i may get a tick. i will keep my fingers crossed for you.
p
May 13, 2010 @ 06:07:27
I’m not too worried. If it tests positive i’ll be fine with (more) anti-biotics. It used to be if this was something you caught, you had it for life, but now, if it’s caught early you can fully recover.
The scary thing is what could have happened if I didn’t notice the tick.
May 12, 2010 @ 23:07:32
18 months??? that’s a year and a half???? I got out of jury duty for the state I live in because I am going to college and I actually go to my classes and do the work and have a 4.0 GPA!! That would have only been 2 weeks.
A friend of mine who lives in MD recently found a tick on himself after a run and he hadn’t run on trails but on roads.
Best wishes for your Dad.
L
May 13, 2010 @ 06:09:24
L- I was also on asphalt, but running through a park. Thanks for the wishes for my Dad.
May 13, 2010 @ 15:00:55
Don’t know about federal grand jury, but I served on a state jury a few years back. There was no getting out of it. All you could do if you were a student was defer it to the summer.
For me, it was twice a week for a month. Although I’ve never been on regular jury duty — lawyers used to be exempt, no more — grand jury duty is actually pretty good. No waiting around, no sitting while the lawyers talk to the judge about something. While you’re there, you are the audience, and the ADA or, in the federal case, AUSA (Assistant U.S. Attorney) will present evidence. For me, when the day was done, almost always before lunch, the day was done and we could leave. We heard a wide range of cases so as far as jury duty goes, it was pretty good.
Plus you get to ask questions of the witnesses. You hear the evidence and vote on whether to indict. 18 months (which, legally, is the extent that a grand jury can sit) seems like a long time though.
May 13, 2010 @ 15:04:35
Also, I see you were on the Westlake track. I don’t intend to head up that way, but what’s your review?
May 13, 2010 @ 16:14:39
Yes. It was westlake. Good eye!
Its a very nice track. Good surface and seems fairly new. Not too many others on the track usually, and the ones walking in lane 1 happily move if you ask nicely.
Its a better alternative to white plains hs imho.