racing

i woke up around 6:30 am with a headache and cramps. i went about making the coffee pondering whether or not i had time to go for run before work and then it hit me: "oh shit!" i forgot to call last night about jury duty. i scrambled to find the summons and called. i was to report in HAYWARD at 8:30 am. i went from groggy and foggy to frantic in about 30 seconds.

why the hell it's called rush hour is beyond me because NO ONE but me seemed to be in a hurry on I880 this morning. fortunately i had mentioned jury duty to my boss last week, and i was suppose to call her the night before after i found out if i was suppose to report. but since i forgot to call the night before i had to leave a message and then i called work again while stuck in traffic....naturally, they were swamped and could i come in the afternoon if i was dismissed? "uh, yeah ok, i'll try." crap! that meant i had to go home and change first. my head already exploded yesterday and what little brain matter i had left was now oozing out of my ears.

i raced to the courthouse. got lost, got through security, got lost again and managed to look pitiful enough for an attendant to escort me to where i was suppose to be.

and then i waited.

and waited.

and waited.

this went on until around 10:30 when those of us who were trying to get out of serving filed off in a separate area and waited (some more) to meet individually with the judge.

it was a civil trial and was expected to run well into december...my employer only pays for the first five days of jury duty so i was dismissed on a financial hardship.

i raced back to the parking lot that by this time was a sea of other dismissed jurors trying to get on with the rest of their day and i waited

and waited

and waited.

earlier, on the way to the courthouse from the parking lot i lost my parking stub and when i finally reached the exit booth the girl had to get special instructions on how to deal with me, good thing i stamped my employer verification form that proved i was at court so i was able to exit for $2.50 and not the all day fee.

I880 merges with 80 which takes me straight to my house. it should've been so simple. how the hell i ended up crossing the bay bridge is any ones guess. and when did the toll fare go up to 4 bucks anyway? good god i suck...this was redonkulous (my favorite new word, heard it on Dexter the other night). i'm literally counting dimes and nickles trying to come up with 4 bucks, much to the dismay of the drivers behind me i'm sure, though at the time i couldn't have cared less.

so i turn around at treasure island, haul ass to berkeley, change, grab food and race to concord for 5 hours of work. i'm glad to report that no other drivers or patients were harmed in the making of this day.