Longest... Day... Ever!!!

My Tuesday morning started at 6:30... or was it 6:13... or was it 6:19... or was it 6:23... damn light sleeping. I had jury duty in Hartford this monring. Connecticut Superior Court jury duty to be exact... the kind of boredom that can melt your brain in about 5 seconds. I was supposed to be doing jury duty with another guy who works at NBC30 with me, but somehow he got out of duty and ended up working instead. Lucky devil.

I got to the courthouse at around 8:15 after waiting in traffic for nearly the entire length of I-91 between Enfield and Hartford. The waiting didn't end there. At the courhouse I waited in line... and waited in line... and waited in line for like 15 minutes. I figured after that it'd be quick and painless... y'know, go into the jury pool room and sit down, watch the orientation movie, get picked, and follow the advice of Reggie and say "oh yeah I know him... he did it" when I get interviewed by the lawyer so I can go home early. Bing, bang, boom. Blah. It didn't turn out that way at all. Instead I spent nearly eight hours sitting in a hot and uncomfortable room with about 150 other strangers all as bored as I was. Nowhere to go, nothing to do but watch TV. And since we weren't allowed to watch the news we were treated to back to back court shows and a heavy dose of Maury and Jerry Springer. Mindnumbing entertainment folks... if you ever want to try shrinking your brain I suggest you watch a marathon of that stuff.

As the other people got called in for questioning I waited... and waited... and waited... again. Lunch came... still no call. Finally 3 o'clock rolls around and it's down to me and 20 other people. Slowly but surely they're all released til it's down to me and five other guys. "The rest of today's cases have been settled... you're free to go home," the woman tells us.

Great... home, where I've gotta think about my mom working my shift at CVS for me. Yes... CVS was so shorthanded my own mother had to cover my shift because of my jury duty. Kinda sad.

Moving on to much better things... the highlight of my night was being in Hamden and visiting the Q30 crew. I ended up going down there because the Chyron and server were both wiped and last year's graphics disappeared. Naren had two choices... either pull the world's first 72-hour day or just cave in and air the old stuff until he finishes his new look. I'm glad he didn't choose to break the world's record.

As is typical with every stage of my educational career... things get better after I leave the school. In elementary school it was the new cafeteria and gym. Middle school brought the new library. High school? Ditto. At Quinnipiac, this year brings true HD broadcasting and a fresh new design for the news set. *Sigh*

It was great seeing everybody tonight... and great seeing that Q30 is in great hands with Jeff in charge. Melissa and I always joked nobody would remember us when we left... well that certainly wasn't true. Thanks everybody for making me feel welcome, even though it felt real awkward being there nevertheless. If I had my druthers I would've waited a couple more months to come visit, but I'm glad I was able to help both Naren and Fabio out a bit. Best of luck to anybody from Q30 who reads this. Please let me know how the news goes!!!!!

Okay, I think it's time to throw a movie in fall asleep. My weekend awaits... and I hope it includes some beer, some friends, and a trip to the Big E. Hey... a guy can hope, can't he?