I wrote in Sunday’s post that I’ve been feeling like my life is just a little off track. Then I looked around my house and realized one of the reasons is that I’ve been half-assing my beloved Pumpkin Palooza. I had some, but not all, of my fall decorations out, and then a summer-y wreath was lying on the table. Furthermore, I hadn’t had one special meal or snack to celebrate the start of football season.
This was all wrong! I needed to rectify the situation right away. I lit a fall candle…
…and got out all the rest of my fall decorations while watching the first half of the Dolphins game. At halftime I put together a little charcuterie board…
…and then we watched the Dolphins come from behind to win the game. Fall is back on track!
Let’s move on to running. SIGH. So far, my calf seems to be better, but my race plans are in tatters. Back in May, I signed up for a race on November 9th. It’s a trail race, and you run as far as you can in a certain amount of time. I chose the 12 hour option.
Hahahahaha. Even if everything goes perfectly from now on, I’ll have no business running a 12 hour race in two months. I guess the good news is, it’s a 4.5 mile loop that you run over and over again. I can go and just run a couple loops. That would be kind of sad- but maybe less sad than not going at all? I’ve already paid for the race so if I can run at all, I’ll probably go.
Now let’s deal with this jury summons. I know it’s our civic duty, but I think it’s unfair that it creates more of a financial hardship for some people than others. Additionally, some people never get called for jury duty, and some people get called all the time! Luckily I’ve come up with a great solution.
My plan is, all registered voters would be required to submit a form every five years, indicating the time they would like to do their jury duty. That way, people would be able to pick a time that works best with their work schedule, and have time in advance to arrange for childcare, etc.
Of course, if everyone chose July of 2027 it would be a fiasco. But I have solutions for that too! People who are retired, independently wealthy, or who have a very flexible work schedule could volunteer to be “swing jurors,” willing to be called at any time. There could be incentives for people who serve in months like December (which I’m guessing would be the least popular)- like if you sit on a jury in December, you’re exempt for the rest of your life.
I’ll be submitting my request for a postponement- do you think I should include my detailed plan for an overhaul of the entire system? Haha, that might get me excused permanently (“Don’t let this woman near the courthouse- she’s obviously a troublemaker!”)
Anyway, I’m starting to feel a little better. As long as I can continue to run and nothing else goes wrong, I think I’m back on track.
How do you like my plan? Would you volunteer to be a “swing juror?”
Top photo by Redd F on Unsplash
26 Responses
I like your plan… everyone should serve equally.
and yes if you can run, you should.
I am worrying, of course, about not being in shape for my half and full. But as you said, it’s paid for and if I can move my legs, I should just suck it up and go… leave my pride at the door.
Okay Darlene, it’s a deal. We’ll both show up to our races (if physically able) and leave our pride at the door. I like that plan.
Haha, you really thought this through and yes, I think you should submit your plan along with your request for postponement! 🙂
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the calf will behave and you’ll be back to full running capacity soon.
San I have even more ideas that I didn’t include (like a trip to the White House for anyone willing to be a “swing juror” for ten years.) Ha, I have definitely thought this through.
Thanks for your support- I hope my calf is listening to all these good wishes!
Your plan for the jury call is perfect!!! Hope they accept your request. I thought at least they should compensate appropriately.
Sorry about missing the race which is a bonus of training, but at long as you can run pain free even if it’s every 3rd day, is progress, no?
Yes, I’ve definitely made progress. My biggest fear is that the pain will come back! So far so good though.
Back on track! Nice job, Jenn!
Of course you need to go to that race in November! As you said, you can run/was a couple of 4.5 mile loops until your calf stops you. Who knows, by then your calf troubles may be over and you can run more than 2 loops?!
Well, that’s the secret hope in the back of my mind- maybe I’ll feel so good that I can run more than two loops… we’ll see. I don’t want to get too crazy with it!
I think your plan for jury duty is right on!
Now, as for the pumpkin palooza – YES! You’re back on track! Obviously you just needed to go all in.
Idk, why not just go for the run, even if you did one loop! Or, what if you ran one loop and then did your speed walking for more? You walk so fast!
Yes, I did think of that too- I could run/walk and still probably have a good time. Not for twelve hours though, ha.
The jury system is definitely in need of an overhaul and I think your proposal would work really well!
You should do the race! Since it’s a timed race, there’s less pressure to hit a certain distance and you might surprise yourself when you’re out there and go further than you thought you would. But I think it would be a good way to get out of the running funk in a lower stakes way!
You’re right, Ashley. Luckily it’s not a one big loop course, where I would have to do the whole thing or be stranded in the middle of nowhere. And it would definitely get me out of my funk. That settles it, I’m doing it!
I’m so hoping you get that postponement!!! You’re so right that the system needs to be rethought to cause the least disruption possible.
And blergh about the race. It’s so hard to have to pick these things so far out knowing that our bodies are such fickle things. Sending healing vibes and hope it’s still a great experience even if it looks a lot different than you envisioned <3
Thank you Elisabeth! I can never seem to get the race registration right- either I wait too long and it gets sold out, or I sign up super early and then get injured. Sigh!
I like your plan in theory, but in practice I don’t think it will work. We want juries of your peers, not juries of retired/rich people. Also, there are cycles of when trials are held and I feel like not many would be held in December!
It is super inconvenient here when you’re summoned. You’re on call for an entire month and you call in the night before to see if you need to go in. It’s really hard on people who work. With every meeting I made, I had to have an asterisk that I might have to cancel if I got called in for jury duty. But I only ended up needing to go in for one day and then I never had to call in again. *shrug* It is our civic duty.
If I had to call in every night for a month, I would literally lose a month’s worth of wages! I couldn’t schedule appointments in advance, not knowing if I would be there or not. Right now my instructions say I have to call in every night for two weeks. Maybe it wouldn’t be the full two weeks, but I don’t know. I’m getting out of it! And… I still think there’s a way my system could work. I need to have some kind of staff to help me work on this.
It’s been so long ago since I was called for jury duty, but I swear I was paid by my employer for attending. I wonder if my current employer would do that! There was a time when I got called in a for several times, but I haven’t been asked in more than 20 years I think. Sounds like a fair plan you came up with – you should send it in!
Yes, some employers do that… not mine though. I think my plan is fair, but I have a feeling the government won’t see it that way.
Yay for pumpkins! I say that it’s your race your rules – you’re allowed to not go if you don’t want to, or to run a few laps if you want to. You know your body, and I think you know how far you can push it without getting injured. The only thing that I would point out is that yes you paid for it, but also there will always be another race. The only reason to go is if you will enjoy being there and think it will help you to get to that next race.
My mom was selected to be on the Grand Jury after she retired. It was a month of full time service, and she really enjoyed it. They got to meet the K9 unit.
Look, if it were up to me there are other things that I would do with my time besides jury service, but if I was called right now I wouldn’t try to get out of it. I’d be interested in doing it as a new experience, even though I would have to keep up with work. Yes society needs to figure out how to reward people for volunteering for JD – at a minimum that means making sure they get full pay and maybe even something extra.
If it weren’t such a financial disaster, i think a lot of people would actually find the experience interesting. I would- but I just can’t afford it.
Would you be out for 2 weeks for jury duty? I don’t know what it’s like in Florida. In California, we get summoned, and then we check the night before. If they need jurors, you go in. You sit around for awhile while they do who knows what, and you have to watch videos about your civic duty and all of that. Then, if they don’t dismiss you, you go to a room and they start asking the jurors questions to determine who will serve.
I have been called several times. Most recently was this spring. The waiting area was crowded, so I waited around the corner and by the time I went to sign in, they had all of the jurors they needed. So I was let go, having served my duty for the year or whatever it is. I had a nice day of it, got my nails done etc. However, I get paid by my company for up to 5 days of jury service, and I have a lot of PTO on the books, so I wasn’t really worried about losing money. When I have worked in jobs without that benefit, I worried a lot more when called up. There are some places that are experimenting with paying people more for their service, in hopes of getting a more diverse pool of people. It should not be just people who can afford it, and people shouldn’t have to take a hit in their finances. I’ve served on 2 juries, and both times it was very interesting. But again, I was paid for it by my job. It was inconvenient but that’s it.
I’m glad you’re on the mend, and that there is still a way for you to participate in the race in November, even if you can’t do the 12 hours you wanted (typing that makes me want to go lie down).
The last time I had jury duty, my experience was a lot like yours. I went for one day, sat around, was eventually dismissed and didn’t have to go back. This time it says I have to call in every night at 5:30 for two weeks! Maybe it wouldn’t be the full two weeks- I hope not- but I have no way of knowing.
Lucky Charcuterie! It looks so good too…
I really like your jury summons structure, Jenny. Why don’t they just give us the responsibility of running the world? We’d be so good at it!
If you think you’d have the discipline to just run one loop (ha–I’d need discipline TO run one loop), why not treat yourself to your race? I can feel how tough this is for you…
Maya, I didn’t want to get too carried away in this post, but yes. If we ruled the world everything would be SO MUCH BETTER.
Ugh. Jury duty. It is odd how some get summoned multiple times (like my former coworker that retired last year!) and some never get summoned (which is actually the case for me but I hate to put that in writing and tempt the jury gods!).
I am sorry this injury has derailed your 12-hour trail run race plans! I would see how you are doing and do as many loops as you feel prepared for – but you’d need to be really disciplined and not talk yourself into doing more than you should!!!
Oh man, this jury duty sounds MISERABLE. I’ve never had to deal with something like that! That is so inconvenient for people who have kids, jobs like yours that revolve around appointment scheduling, etc. I like your idea although I do see some of the downsides that Engie pointed out – we still want our juries to be diverse and if only rich/retired people were on juries, I don’t know if that would happen. We just need better resources for jury duty!
I was called for jury duty once when I was in my early 20s and haven’t been called since!