Volume 12 - Day 24/342, 2020 - Friday

Today was interesting, distressing, exciting and depressing. And it all centered around the Williamson County Courthouse. For the second time (I think) in my long life, I was summoned for jury duty. The first time was in Travis County, this time in Williamson County. I really, really, really want to serve on a jury. I think it would be interesting and fun, plus the fate of someone else would be in my hands, as it should be. The only challenge I had was, this is not a really convenient time for me to be called to serve on a jury. I was number 386. They had summoned about 800 people. If you were number 501 or higher, you were automatically dismissed. Out of the first 500, 168 of us actually showed up. Once they dismissed the folks with misdemeanor theft histories or felony convictions, that left about 160. Then it was explained that, if we had a REAL hardship, we might be dismissed. It was going to be a criminal trial, and we would have to be there today, Monday, and all of next week. I have a challenge with Monday, so when my time came, those of us in the room with a verifiable hardship next week were asked to stand. I think probably about 3-0 or 40 of us stood, which left about 120 people to choose 13 jurors for the week. Odds are good they would find 13 out of 120, so we were dismissed without having to explain the hardships we were experiencing. I took my six-dollars-cash and left. Maybe I can get summoned again in the future, I really would like to do it. And they are really kind of finicky about where you can park.

After a 23-year-old man named He finished his meal at a restaurant in the Chinese city of Benxi, he grabbed the owner's daughter, pulled out a knife, and demanded all the cash from the register. Some of the other patrons overpowered He and held him until help arrived. When the police came, He opened his shirt to reveal what looked like a belt of tube-shaped bombs around his chest. Officers rushed He outside and called the bomb squad. "When they arrived," said an officer, "they laughed out loud as they quickly realized the explosives were actually sausages." He later explained that he came up with the idea when he looked in his refrigerator: "The sausages looked like bombs, so I decided to try it."