Jury Duty, Morning to Lunch

I got one of the two working computers for a few minutes. It looked
like 15 year old technology, Netscape and Windows 95 (queue Start Me
Up, by the Stones. Maybe it was Linux emulating Win95). But, be
grateful, something is better than nothing. Well a little bit. Web
sites have advanced a lot in the past few years, and they don't
display correctly if at all, in old browsers. I couldn't see anything
in Facebook after I logged in. I had to reboot it at one point.

Now me being me, I am tempted to bring an old wireless router and plug
it in to one of the computer outlets to provide everyone wireless.
But they have put the actual terminals 10 ft off the ground. And this
is a building with lots of authority figures, many with guns. So civil
resistance is not advised. That oath we swore or affirmed may have
implied not messing with the technology. There are bibles scattered
around the room to act like the one you'd normally put your hand on.
We just metaphorically touched them and metaphorically said the oath
with an "I do." I can't remember the oath, and it's not posted
anywhere, but it seemed reasonable enough at the time. Instead I
focused on more tangible details like how to validate my parking. The
main thing the clerk got across was to not leave before authorized
because bad things will happen, such as a warrant for your arrest and
forfeiting the $12 for the day.

We got a 25 minute break, so I went outside and discovered a cold
driving rain. You really need to look at the weather more closely
than seeing a high around 60 and thinking yeah! The little clouds on
the screen matter too.

I am counting down the minutes until lunch. It reminds me of college
Physics class, where I would anticipate the tick made by the
mechanical clock and then duly recorded it each minute. It's not like
this room is any less exciting than my normal day. It's the feeling
being trapped, of having less options.

I saw a news station truck, so I started to get nervous. The older
ladies I was sitting with assured me that it was a murder trial where
a women had killed another women who was her man's lover. I told them
that my wife had promised to kill me in that situation instead of the
other woman. They liked that.

After lunch:
I was tired enough that I misremembered the lunch times and show up a
half hour early instead of just on time. I make mistakes like that all
the time, but when you're on the fifth floor of a building with metal
detectors at the entrances, it's not as convenient to go for a walk.