Category: life events

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My civil duty

So, I got a notice in the mail a little over a month ago from the city…apparently, I’d been selected for jury duty…… The plan was for me to appear at the civil courts building downtown on Nov. 3rd at 8:00 am and wait to see if I get selected.

Quite honestly, it was a fascinating experience. I got there a bit late (a comedy of errors going on there, forgetting my summons after parking, having to get cash from the ATM to pay for parking, but the ATM not having any cash to give out, etc…), but generally you hang around in this large room with, literally, 500 other people (there were two rooms like this available), until you get selected. There was a lunch break, but otherwise, you sit in a room and wait. Thankfully, I took my DS along and played some Phoenix Wright to pass the time…

Every 30 – 45 minutes or so, the voice over the loudspeaker would read off juror numbers and have you all come downstairs to a separate seating area where they could look at the group (making sure they got a good sampling of young/old, black/white/hispanic, etc.), and then they’d send you off to your designated room.

I got called around 3:15, so I was one of the last groups to get to go. Around 40 of us were taken across the street to another building where we had to answer a variety of questions from the two lawyers, whittling us down to a group of 14 (12 of which would decide a verdict, and the other 2 would be alternates). Of course, I was kept on and had to return the next day (Election Day) to serve on the jury.

After voting at 6:15 am, I went to the court around 9:45 to serve. I won’t go into the details of the case here, but essentially, it was a case involving a car accident and who was at fault. We ended up deciding in favor of the person bringing the suit, mostly because their lawyer was much more effective in his arguments and the defense was…well…not so effective…

The most interesting part for me was the “awarding of damages” portion… I personally tend to err on the side of not awarding “pain and suffering,” but the other jurors felt it was appropriate and, in the end, they were probably right. I guess it’s just hard to come up with a monetary value to decide what something so abstract as “pain” or “suffering” is worth. Especially considering that I haven’t ever been in an injurious accident where I felt I was owed something for all I had just been through. Figuring in the length of the court case, the car repairs, the lost work due to physical therapy, and the costs to the lawyers hired, we felt that going above and beyond the monetary value of the medical treatment alone was just and right.

Anyway, I’ve served on a jury now. And as the judge pointed out, it isn’t very often that one gets to perform two civil duties in a single day: serve on a jury, and voting. Both of which are things that many people around the world aren’t allowed to do.

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And you thought golf was boring…

So, Brooke and I inherited two free tix to the Rams game today. It was the first time either of us had ever been to an NFL game, so we were all about “the experience,” especially as we’ve both lived close to NFL teams for years and had never actually gone to one. Kickoff was at noon, and as we were getting out of church just before then, we were a bit late to the game. Either way, we hung out through the end of the third quarter. At the time, it was 7 – 30…so…not so good…

It ended 13-34.

Now, I’ve been to high school and college football games…but neither are as boring as an NFL game, apparently. Seriously, I think I missed the commercials during all the timeouts! The thing that really has me confused is how people can think baseball is boring when there’s so much downtime in an NFL game. I’m pretty sure, at least for the nearly 3 quarters we were there, the ball was not moving longer than it was moving. At least in baseball, there are short pauses throughout, but there is a game to watch for the vast majority of the time!

Anyway, we’re glad we went to the game…and didn’t pay anything for it… Which brings up another point: we were up at the top of the Dome and those seats would have cost $44. $44?!? That’s two tickets for a Cardinal’s game that is a). more entertaining, and b). better seats!

We’ll probably still try and hit up a Blues hockey game, as neither of us have ever been to an NHL game, either…but we may put that off until we get to a few more baseball games to wash away the sour taste in our mouths…

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Tripping Billies

We went to the Dave Matthews Band concert in Memphis a few weeks ago and noticed that Leroi Moore, the saxophone player, wasn’t up there with the band. We later found out that he had been in an ATV accident on his farm in Virginia over the 4th of July weekend.

I just found out that Moore died from complications of his injuries unexpectedly today in Los Angeles.

Needless to say, I’m stunned and extremely sad for the loss. His contributions to the band will be missed, especially as his musical offerings were so versatile and unique adding various sax sounds, flute, etc. to all of their albums over the years.

“We are all sitting
Legs crossed round a fire
My yellow flame she dances
Tequila drinking oh our
Minds will wonder
To wonderous places
So why would you care
To get out of this place
You and me and all our friends
Such a happy human race
Eat, drink and be merry
For tomorrow we die”

— “Tripping Billies;” Dave Matthews Band

Update: The band played their concert last night in Los Angeles, even after hearing the news of Moore’s death. An article in the Orange County Register describes the music and the feelings from the band and the crowd.

From the article:

“Remember: They had spent the better part of two decades making music with Moore; this is how they related to one another most. First time Matthews heard Moore play, he recalled as the encore began, was in a bar in Virginia: ‘He leapt on the cash register – ’cause standing had become something of a chore at that point. And he played the most beautiful rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ I’ve ever heard.’

“‘If I could, I would,’ he added, as if to say why he wouldn’t attempt it, before instead offering a haunting rendition of his own ‘Sister.’ Indeed, all that he – and they – could do here was richly revive some of Moore’s favorite songs, disappear into their frameworks, savor lyrics that now had new meaning – and deliver the emotional immediacy the moment demanded.

“It was brave, it was brilliant – it was a performance unlike any I’ve ever seen Dave Matthews Band give.”

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1450 miles and 30.9 mpg…w00t!

So, Brooke and I went on vacation this past week…if you wanna check out some pictures, by all means do so… In summary, we went to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for 3 nights of camping, and then checked out Memphis, TN to visit Beale Street and then the Dave Matthews Band concert for Saturday night.

A few highlights:

1). Pigeon Forge is an interesting place. Imagine Branson, MO…but 4x longer and with a pancake shop in every other building on that stretch. It’s rather ridiculous. The worst part is that nearly every one had a full parking lot at most times of the day (especially breakfast, of course). Gatlinburg wasn’t much better, but it at least had that “Alpine Village” vibe going for it…

2). The camping was pretty nice. The first night was a bit warm, but the next two were much cooler. It only rained up on Clingman’s Dome (very foggy up there…you can see in the pictures!), and then it stormed the last night we were there. So yeah, the weather was pretty reasonable for late-July!

3). Brooke didn’t get attacked by any bears. She was rather disappointed.

4). Memphis was pretty fun, for the most part. We spent the first night out on Beale Street, which is about as close to Bourbon Street as you’re gonna get north of New Orleans (i.e. no open container law, smelled terrible, open late, etc.). We saw some excellent music and had excellent food at Rum Boogie, had some good BBQ ribs at Blues City Cafe, and walked around downtown quite a bit.

5). Graceland charges $27 to visit the mansion. Per person. And they charge for parking. It goes up from there to $32 for the “platinum tour,” and something in the $60 range to see everything. We were content with just driving by… 😛

6). We saw Dave Matthews Band at Autozone Park, which is where the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinal’s farm team) play. We got to stand right in front of the stage on the field, so it was the absolute closest we’ve ever been to a concert for Dave (I’ve been to 5 now, I think?). The set list was arguably the best I’ve seen, including many old classics as well as a few new ones – they started at 8:15 and we didn’t make it out of there until 11:00 (long set!). Willie Nelson also opened, which was rather neat! The best part was when Dave and Willie sang “Gravedigger” together, which worked beautifully with Willie’s style of singing. The band also did covers of “Burning Down The House” and “Sledgehammer” (a ‘love song,’ Dave said beforehand). So, overall, the concert was pretty awesome!

7). …except for all the people that were there with us… Since we were on the field, that counted as “general admission,” which meant that we were down there with a lot of crazies. Crazies as in frat boys with their girlfriends (with 2 carat diamonds on their fingers…). Crazies as in “I’m going to spend $65 on a ticket, not pay attention to the band, and instead fling my $8 beer around in the air while I dance poorly, spilling it on my neighbor’s feet.” I mean, I’ve been in general admission sections at amphitheaters many a time where the worst thing around was the distinct smell of marijuana…but at least everyone was a). watching the show, and b). respecting the space of those around them. It was nearly unbearable…but at least the music made up for it (to an extent).

That’s about it! It was a great trip, overall!

Time to get back to work though, I guess…

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Pepper Linsenbardt: 1992 – 2008

Mom called today with some rather sad news: our 16-year-old cocker spaniel, Pepper, died today. We got her when I was 11, so needless to say, my family was rather attached to her. She maintained a great deal of energy up until her last few days, I’m told, but was not doing well this morning when Mom went down to wake her. Mom took her into the vet and found that her spleen was twice the size it was a month ago when she was last taken in. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do for her at her age and all parties involved decided it was her time.

(a side-note…the reason they knew what the size of her spleen was a month ago was because, while Mom had her outside, Pepper excitedly decided to jump from a concrete retaining wall over a wood pile down to a concrete patio…because she knew it was time for her dinner! Even though Pepper shook it off and walked in like nothing had happened, she ended up showing some signs of pain weeks later… That dog loved to eat!)

Pepper, Mom and Edie during the move from the old house.

Anyway, Pepper was a force of nature. Most family friends and loved-ones have never met Pepper because she was a pretty protective dog. It took a decent amount of effort to get her used to having Brooke around a few years ago, but to this day, very few of my friends growing up, or Kristen’s (or anyone else…), ever met Pepper.

Pepper and me back in 2006.

Regardless, I know Pepper is happy wherever she is now (even though we know that all dogs go to heaven!) eating carrots and sleeping in the recliner she stole from Dad 15 years ago. It’s going to take a long time for everyone she left behind to get over her loss!

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The Happen(ings)

These last two weeks have been crazy busy… Two weeks ago, I had Josh and Sharon’s wedding, and everything that goes with it (bachelor party, rehearsal dinner, wedding day), and then this past weekend, I had Jerry and Missy’s wedding (bachelor party, rehearsal dinner, wedding day). I was a groomsman in the first, an usher in the second…the first was in St. Louis, the second was in Rock Island, IL… So yeah, I just don’t feel like I’ve had much time to sit around and do absolutely nothing for the last two weeks. Thankfully, we don’t have any more weddings until mid-August…which Brooke gets to be involved with, this time!

Anyway, I took pictures of all of this, and they’re linked above for those that are interested…

On another note, Brooke’s camera died a few weeks ago, so we replaced it with a Nikon Coolpix S210. Thus far, we’ve been pretty happy with it, and had a great deal of fun playing with the “fireworks setting” that keeps the shutter open for, like, 3-4 sec. for fireworks pictures. They turned out pretty nicely, so check those out, too!

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"C" is for Fruit…

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Cookie Monster
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

You know you’ve “made it” when Cookie Monster comes on your show… 😉

This is pretty funny, and fun to watch characters from my childhood interacting with characters from my adulthood…which is kinda surreal, really… Anyway, enjoy!

(…speaking of childhood…I was born 26 years ago…I’m old…)

Edit: See, I didn’t know this…but besides my birth, June 20th also marks when the patent for Morse Code was issued…fascinating…

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“C” is for Fruit…

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Cookie Monster
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

You know you’ve “made it” when Cookie Monster comes on your show… 😉

This is pretty funny, and fun to watch characters from my childhood interacting with characters from my adulthood…which is kinda surreal, really… Anyway, enjoy!

(…speaking of childhood…I was born 26 years ago…I’m old…)

Edit: See, I didn’t know this…but besides my birth, June 20th also marks when the patent for Morse Code was issued…fascinating…

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Organized Chaos

Mom was tired... :-P

So, I spent the week in Columbia helping Mom and Dad move across town. Thankfully, they were kind enough to a). have everything boxed up before my arrival, and b). paid a set of movers to do all the heavy labor (w00t!). So, we moved the stuff out of the old house on Wednesday (took ~5 hrs) and spent the evening there, as they were closing on both houses the following morning. We started moving into the new house on Thursday after lunch time (had to wait until the rain stopped…), and Mom, Dad and I were doing our best to facilitate where all the furniture and boxes were going to go. Most things were going in their corresponding rooms (i.e. furniture from “my” room at the old house would go in a specific room in the new house), but some things like exercise equipment were getting placed separately, and the living room furniture that was upstairs was now going downstairs (as Mom will want to get a new set for the new place).

Overall, I like the new place quite a bit. It’s got three floors, 3.5 baths, 4 bedrooms (one used for exercise equipment), a combination of wood/wood laminate and carpet flooring, a very wooded area, and plenty of storage space. The yard will probably end up being a pain, as the multitude of trees will translate into fallen branches (making mowing difficult) and leaves (which will suck in the fall). The carpeting inside probably ought to be replaced, as well, but that’ll be a project for a year or two down the road.

Anyway, it was good times. I’ve got pictures posted on Picasa for interested parties to check out (including pictures of the old house and new house).

I’m sure Mom and Dad will be hosting dinners sometime next week…you should invite yourselves over 😉

(oh, and they won’t have internet until sometime next week…as CenturyTel screwed up…don’t bother e-mailing Mom to get details…)

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Two Unrelated Subjects

So, church has been going pretty well, recently. There was a time during the fall/spring where we were losing members of the band to go do other things, making it exceedingly difficult for Brooke and I to leave for the weekend and not be there (not that it’s required that we go, of course, but I feel guilty being gone when it will leave 2 people on stage to do the playing!). Anyway, this past weekend was pretty awesome on that front in that we christened a new drummer for the band! Chris will be back for the summer (he’s been off at college), which was going to relieve me to do some guitar playing, sound running, or **gasp** simply sit out in the congregation and do nothing else. But besides Chris, Steven also is joining up to play bi-weekly (or all the time?), which will help out come fall in that he’s in 8th grade and will be hanging out for conceivably 4+ more years at the church. That means that pressure will be off me having to play in the fall, too! Anyway, Steven did an excellent job on Sunday, especially considering that he’s in 8th grade now and plays as well as I was doing in 10th grade (I started playing drum set in 8th grade…). We also may be getting a youth guitar player sometime over summer, too, which will further aid the ability of musicians to rotate in and out of the band on any given week.

Regardless, I’m pretty happy about these prospects because I really don’t want to leave in 2 years with everything falling apart there. Yanela is running the show, of course, but Brooke and I both do quite a bit of stuff and it’s nice to think that someone will be there to pick up the slack after we head off to the next step in our lives…

Anyway, speaking of “next steps,” I’m heading to Columbia this week to help Mom and Dad move across town. We have lived in the Georgetown subdivision off Scott Blvd. in Columbia for just about 20 years now, and Mom and Dad felt it was about time to move some place a bit different. They’ll be moving out near Columbia Regional Hospital to a much bigger house (…how they’ll fill it up, I have no clue…my vote is to have a “ball pit” room in one of the bedrooms…that’d be pretty awesome…), so it’ll take a little adjustment getting used to a new address, a different exit off I-70, etc.

The best part, of course, is that the new place includes a wet bar…w00t!

So yeah, if you’re in the C-town area this week, lemme know…I may be able to make a little time…assuming Mom doesn’t have all my time monopolized… 😛

Edit: I looked at the date and realized I should say “happy anniversary” to Mom and Dad (#29 this year…) and “happy birthday” to my Grandma (who won’t be seeing this, I’m sure…as she’s now 93 and doesn’t know the first thing about computers). Either way, I hope both parties have a good day! Mom, that means you need to chill out and have a beer amongst the boxes in your living room… 😛