this is a Misc. post

 think I'll just ramble.

1.  my blog people say for  me to click on the pencil icon at the top right and they will provide you, the reader, with profound comments and links to what I am writing.   Well first of all, there is no pencil at the top right.  There is one on the left side of the page which I will now touch.  Nope, that's not it.  At the far top is a heart and other stuff.  Nope, that's not it.  I suppose I will just have to live with not knowing what they want you to know.  No pencil.  No extra connections.

2.  I remember once they gave me the chance to Monetize my posts.  I tried that.  In doing so, I made a bit of fun (I thought).  I figured I'd make a penny every time you clicked on something.  Maybe in 5 or 10 years, I'd earn a dollar.  They did not take kindly to my money thoughts.  I was eliminated.  No money making retirement for me.

3.  Saturday, I got a notice:   JURY DUTY.   As it turns out, I'm a tad bit old for them. Actually, I'd probably fall asleep in the jury box if chosen. Seems that I have 2 different ways to get out of service. The first is my age.  I'm WAY OLDER than their 75 limit.  I thought it was a 65 age limit.  Their website says it is 75.  They don't really want an old yapping man sitting in that jury room.  Now, do they?  Might be fun except for reason #2.  My wife's Alzheimer's.  She really cannot be left alone.  Sure, she seems fine when you sit down and have a conversation. But, after a while, she will ask the same questions 4 or 5 times.  And, there's not real predicting what she might decide to do.  I caught her trying to open the lid on a pressure cooker a while back.  At the hospital last fall, I left her in the waiting room while I went to talk to the doctor.  She was gone when I got back.  Rest Room break.  She couldn't remember where the waiting room was.   Short term memory is the culprit right now.

Anyhoo, interestingly, the jury is being selected for the local Salado Justice of the Peace - not the Bell County big time courthouse.  I wonder what happens in the Justice of the Peace courtroom.  Curious, I am.  But, not ready to volunteer.

4.  I remember being called for a jury in Amarillo.  I had just left my teaching job at Tascosa HS that summer.  It turns out that the case was between a mom and dad - divorced type.  They were arguing whether the daughter, a student at Tascosa, probably 15 to 17 yrs old, had the right to choose which parent  should keep her.  Immediately, I figured out this was not for me.  When asked, I raised my hand; I was invited to the front of the court room; I was asked what my problem was; I explained where I taught and that I thought a girl that age could make up her own mind.   That brought down the house - the judge and lawyers all ascended upon me Shhhhhhh Shhhhhhh - it went.   I was excused.  That was on a Monday.

Naturally, my interest was peaked by the case.  I paid attention to the lawyer world.  It seems the father had a very rich family and expensive lawyers.  They went first.  All week they raked the mother, not a rich woman, over the coals.   On Friday, it was the mom's time.   Instead of putting the father on the stand, the family made some concessions and a solution was found.   As disappointing as it may be to you, I cannot remember the results of the trial.   I believe they reached a "shared" solution.

My only other jury experience came when we lived in Plano.  I couldn't figure out how to get off that jury.  I served.  It seems this teenage boy took his fathers semi-truck without permission on a joy ride.  Students had gathered in the Plano HS parking lot - a few hundred.  When they were dispersed, this kid was arrested at the scene.   Drugs were found in the big truck.  There was to be a court trial.  Frown as I might, the lawyers still liked me.  The kid's lawyers argued that:  the father had just returned that day from a trip across the continent.  He had picked up a hitch hiker.  Of course, the hitch hiker had left his drugs in the truck.  It wasn't the kid's fault.   No, he didn't do drugs; he just stole his father's semi tractor and went for a joy ride...no license.   My 12 member jury had several bleeding heart females.  Oh, my, what a disaster for this young man .... oh, me, oh my ....   I had no desire to fight with them.  The boy was found not guilty.  I betcha the policeman was really peeved at us.  I went home and hid.

5.  Did I tell you that I was sent to a hematologist 2 weeks ago.  Friendly young doctor.  He had them pull out 11 vials of blood because my white blood count is quite low - a 25 out of 100, whatever that means.   We go back to that doctor tomorrow sometime to get the results.  FYI:  my father died from leukemia back in the 70s.   Blood things scare me.   My daughter, who works in a hospital lab,  looked at the results and said that I didn't have that.  We will see.  The prostrate cancer was bad enough for me.  I'd just as soon not find a new cancer at this time.   I have a wife to care for.

6.  I own a weather machine.  It sets on the fence.  The weather machine connects to a display inside the house.  It shows outside temperature, inside temperature, rain fall, wind direction, wind speed, and some other stuff.   Sain Logic is the company.  I really enjoy watching the display.  One of my favorite things.  

It's time to stop.  Ramble is over.  See previous post, nobody has killed me yet.   I really enjoy watching On Patrol Live on the Reels channel.  Makes me glad I didn't go into law enforcement.  Y'all take care now.  I'll be back.   (p.s. still can't find the pencil to click on)

mtz