MMM: Five Gallons, Jury Duty, Jasmine Thai, Man V. Food
Those bloodsuckers over at the Red Cross have finally tapped me for my fortieth pint, bringing my total giving to a cool five gallons. They pretty much call me every eight weeks, and I always say yes. I actually begged off one time because I was sick, but I made up for it by coming back another time the day after the phlebotomist did his best flubotomist impression and pushed the needle right through my vein. Me no so happy about that.
Most of the time it goes really smoothly, and it's really no big deal. I wear my gallon pins on my badge lanyard so I can attempt to shame my coworkers into donating. It rarely works.
BTW, only five percent of eligible folks actually donate. So get in there and let them jab a vein! Even if just to find out your blood type.
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I had the pleasure of jury duty last week. I'd been called before (once for Washington County, once for U.S. District court), but I'd never made it onto an actual jury. It was an interesting experience, and I've learned a few things:
- If you're ever called to testify, and you'd like your testimony to be taken seriously, consider the following:
- Leave the tongue ring at home.
- Keep occurences of "had went" to a minimum (and I'm really not in the mood for anybody pretending not to understand how wrong that is).
- It's odd when you take twelve people, give them precisely one thing that they now have in common (the case), then put them in a room several times during the case and tell them not to discuss anything about it. They should provide a box of icebreaker questions or something. What are we supposed to talk about?
- While waiting to be called up from the Jury Pool, you can get some serious reading done. If you remember to bring a book. Which I did. Duh.
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On lunch break the first day of trial, I walked over to Jasmine Thai Cuisine and dined with four other jurors. I ordered Pad Kee Mao, which is the thing I like to try at any new Thai place, and I ordered *hot*, which is generally safe, because most places think you mean "somewhat spicy." And it was actually hot!!! It made me hiccup, which was really annoying. Maybe my system doesn't like hot as much as I think...
BTW, my PKM was delicious and managed to not have any fishy flavor to it. (You probably have never noticed the fishy undercurrent to most Thai dishes, but it's there, mostly due to the fish sauce used in nearly all dishes. Trust my fish-detectors...they're more advanced than yours.)
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I DVR'd and enjoyed the premiere two episodes of Man V. Food on the Travel Channel. Now, I'm a huge fan of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (Ethan thinks his name is Bizarre), but I'd call it a rare occurrence that I'd say, "Ooh, I'd eat that!" MVF has a similar thing going...there's no way I could eat some of the stuff Adam eats, even if I wanted to!! He took on the Rancher (72 oz steak) and won, and came within 25% or so of finishing the Sasquatch burger (7 pounds altogether). I think every episode will take five years off his life.
It's voyeuristic gluttony. What's not to like about that?
December 11th, 2008 - 05:41
Thanks for continuing to share. My time online for pleasure has been cut short lately – but I’ve read a little here and there and enjoy having your blog as an option for my quick and light reading.
I’m enjoying a good chuckle over the jury duty… I work in an office where can MAY or MAY NOT grant waivers and substitutions for coursework – and it’s amazing how many silly people show up with odd piercings and inappropriate grammar only to receive that little “DENIED” stamp.
I do admire your blood donation – I’m one of those people they’ve asked to NEVER return. I tried plasma too – same result. We are lucky to have good “pumpers” like you! Thanks!