Jury Duty

Well. The first couple of hours of jury duty were, as expected, rather dull. Like the last time, it began with a twenty-minute film on jury trials (including, again, the canard that Western European democracies, other than Britain, do not hold to the presumption of innocence), followed by an extended period of waiting around. (I finished reading Merton's The New Man, got deep into Leiber's Swords and Deviltry, and also read a couple of chapters of Prescott's History of the Conquest of Peru.) They let us out for lunch; I bought a sandwich and some excellent coffee at a bake shop across from the courthouse. After that, things got interesting.

Suffice it to say that I was selected for a jury, for a civil case. (Naturally, my name was the twelfth one called....) I can't say anything about it until it's over, but it's expected to last until Thursday, so I've put out another request for someone to cover my Calculus and Linear Algebra courses on Wednesday and Thursday. (Today and tomorrow were already covered.) I've also cancelled three appointments with students.

:sigh: