working out for Disney

[Sans Souci]

I was summoned for jury duty last month. I think this is my 7th time since moving to TX in the late 90s. This most recent one was a murder trial. I was happy to not be selected, but got to watch along since they livestream the courtrooms. Back in the early 2000s, I served for 3.5 weeks on the civil side of a capital murder trial involving two Houston police officers. It was one of those where the local tv stations were parked outside of the courtroom every day. I feel like I should be exempted from all future jury duty after that mess.

The ice cream sounds amazing!

Yeah, I would think after 3.5 weeks of murder trial that involved a media circus would mean you're off the hook forever. Good grief. I hope I never have to sit through a murder trial.

One of the positive things about my jury service was we were unanimous in our decision as soon as we started deliberating. We actually waited 30 minutes before signaling we were done, because we didn't want people to think we weren't taking it seriously.

 

[Sans Souci]

There are several nice vineyards down there but no they're not Amish. The fabric stores are mostly Amish/Mennonite that I go to, one doesn't even have electricity
Vineyards https://lancasterpa.com/wineries/

Is it any good? I tried some wine from Shamong. It wasn't very good.

 

[Figgy1]

Some are good some are very good and some are meh. I liked a few from Nissley and have gotten them more than once although with the you know what it's been a while

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yeah, I would think after 3.5 weeks of murder trial that involved a media circus would mean you're off the hook forever. Good grief. I hope I never have to sit through a murder trial.

One of the positive things about my jury service was we were unanimous in our decision as soon as we started deliberating. We actually waited 30 minutes before signaling we were done, because we didn't want people to think we weren't taking it seriously.

It's really tough, because the sympathetic side of you wants to do anything and everything for the grieving family. On the other side, you have to follow the law with evidence and testimony. I understand things like this are our civic duty, but it's brutal. The only part of that 3.5 week case that still really bothers me is some correspondence we received after the fact. Council for the families sent us a scathing letter, basically shredding us for not giving them everything they wanted. Yet his letter said "if I'd been able to present all of my evidence." I don't remember deliberation being too much of an issue. I seem to recall us waiting a bit as well so we wouldn't be accused of making a hasty decision.

On an interesting note, with this most recent summons, there was a bit of a legal celeb in the jury pool. We were a pool of 65, and as all 65 of us were being marched from the jury building to the courthouse (underground tunnel system), I could hear all kinds of buzz from officers and passing attorneys. Everyone kept saying things like 'is that the judge?' and "did you see her? Did you see the judge?" Once in the courtroom, everyone over this case went gaga over this lady and even deferred to her to have her aid in defining a few things for the jury pool. When I got home, I did a little research and found out she was the judge that presided over the Andrea Yates trial. Awful horrible case, but I guess it really helped put this judge's career on the map.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

@Songbird76 I don’t know if any of this is going to help you, but I just got this from a hotel we previously stayed at in West Yellowstone. I figured I’d share just in case any of it’s helpful. I just grabbed the full email.

Our wonderful guests, June 17, 2022
Right now, the Yellowstone Gates are remaining closed until Wednesday, June 22, 2022. The park administration has discovered that the road south of the canyon had a mudslide, on the southern loop. They are making repairs as fast as possible and also inspecting the many other bridges to make sure they are safe.
Accessing the Park will be by a simple and easy method, if your vehicle plate has an even /odd number license plate it will only be allowed park entry on the odd/even dates on the calendar. Vanity plates with all letters have yet to be determined. See, the Yellowstone Park Website, for details, excursions, and any exceptions, hopefully, common sense will prevail. 24-hour gate guards!
The plan is to allow CUA, companies (Tour Guides) to have unlimited access for their paid tours and allow the public access at a reduced license plate rate. Unlimited visits can be had by hiring a guide, they have open access, Teton Excursions 307-231-4697https://www.tetonexcursions.com and Yellowstone Teton Tours 208-569-2909 https://yellowstonetetontours.com These Guides commonly stay at the Madison. Other local tour operators can be found on https://www.destinationyellowstone.com

Know your date and plate prior to getting in line to enter the park.
For the remainder of the 2022 season, only the Southern Loop will be accessible through the East, South, and West Gates of Yellowstone. Unless they can get services back up and online, Gardiner and Cooke the news is not good.

This changes your current Yellowstone visits, meaning that you will be only able to see the southern half of the park. This change will be new, and the attendance will obviously be reduced a bit from this point going forward for 2022.
Also, keep in your plans time to visit the many places here in the Southern Montana area, Ennis, Virginia/Nevada cities, Island Park, Teton National Park, Lewis & Clark Caverns, go fishing, hire a guide, go hiking in the national forest. Plenty to see and do.
May the weather cooperate, please come see Yellowstone,

 

[Sans Souci]

It's really tough, because the sympathetic side of you wants to do anything and everything for the grieving family. On the other side, you have to follow the law with evidence and testimony. I understand things like this are our civic duty, but it's brutal. The only part of that 3.5 week case that still really bothers me is some correspondence we received after the fact. Council for the families sent us a scathing letter, basically shredding us for not giving them everything they wanted. Yet his letter said "if I'd been able to present all of my evidence." I don't remember deliberation being too much of an issue. I seem to recall us waiting a bit as well so we wouldn't be accused of making a hasty decision.

Why wasn't the attorney allowed the present that evidence? You can't make an informed decision if you don't have all the information. If the judge thought the evidence was inadmissible, there must have been an issue with it.

But it never occurred to me that the lawyers could send you a nastygram because they didn't like the outcome. Wow. I think I might have contacted the state bar and complained.

 

[Sans Souci]

Some are good some are very good and some are meh. I liked a few from Nissley and have gotten them more than once although with the you know what it's been a while

I've meaning meaning to get out that way, just out of curiosity. Maybe I'll take a day trip before the summer ends.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning.

Today, I did a "full body speed circuit" workout. I was going to take a break, but I felt like I had some energy this morning. Tomorrow is a rest day, for sure.

I'm just doing some baking today/tomorrow for Father's Day. Today I am making a no bake cheesecake and pre-making twice baked potatoes for tomorrow's dinner and tomorrow, I am getting up early to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Our cat friend has been making the rounds nearly everyday now, twice a day. I bought her some "Temptations Blissful Catnip Treats." OMG, she goes nuts for them. I toss a few in her direction and she snarfs them up.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Why wasn't the attorney allowed the present that evidence? You can't make an informed decision if you don't have all the information. If the judge thought the evidence was inadmissible, there must have been an issue with it.

But it never occurred to me that the lawyers could send you a nastygram because they didn't like the outcome. Wow. I think I might have contacted the state bar and complained.

Those were my thoughts as well. If this supposedly rock solid evidence would have changed our minds, why wasn’t it permitted at trial?

I reached out to the judge after I received the ugly correspondence. I recall having to supply her clerk with a copy. I don’t know what happened beyond that, but it really soured me to the experience.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Happy Saturday!

Today is a break day, but we did hit the gym last night. The younger one came with us, so I didn’t want her just sitting there watching us on ellipticals. I did a more intense 10 minute warm up on one (higher resistance and speed) and then she was my buddy for arms and back. She hung back with the older one while I did a cool down on the treadmill.

We’re still showing up for softball tournaments. This complex involves a lot of walking and It’s supposed to be around 100 again. So we’ll be moving and baking in the heat…well until we hit urgent care. Older one got a spider bite and I’m not liking how it looks. At least I was able to get an appointment.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

@Songbird76 I just saw this posted on Yellowstone's FB page. Maybe you already have the information but here it is just in case.

"
6/18 UPDATE

Yellowstone National Park’s south loop will reopen to the public on June 22; Visitors traveling to park in coming weeks must stay informed about the new interim visitor entry system
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, Yellowstone will begin allowing visitors to access the south loop of the park. The south loop is accessed from the East (Cody), West (West Yellowstone), and South (Grand Teton/Jackson) entrances. Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithful, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Norris. As part of reopening planning, park staff have engaged over 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators and residents in surrounding gateway communities to determine how to manage summer visitation while the north loop remains closed due to flood damage.
To balance the demand for visitor access, park resource protection and economic interests of the communities, the park will institute an interim visitor access plan. The interim plan, referred to as the Alternating License Plate System (ALPS), was suggested as a solution by gateway communities during major public engagement with the park this past week. Park managers and partners have agreed this system is the best interim solution to ensuring the south loop does not become overwhelmed by visitors. The National Park Service will actively monitor the license plate system and is concurrently building a new reservation system that will be ready for implementation, if needed.
Alternating License Plate System (ALPS)
- Public vehicle entry will be allowed based on whether the last numerical digit on a license plate is odd or even.
- Entrance will be granted based on odd/even days on the calendar.
- Odd-numbered last digits on license plates can enter on odd days of the month.
- Even-numbered last digits (including zero) on license plates can enter on even days of the month.
- Personalized plates (all letters, for example "YLWSTNE") will fall into the “odd” category for entrance purposes.
- Plates with a mix of letters and numbers but that end with a letter (for example "YELL4EVR") will still use the last numerical digit on the plate to determine entrance days.
- Entrance station staff will turn away vehicles attempting to enter the park when the odd/even numerical digits do not correspond to the odd/even calendar date for entrance.
Exceptions
- Current commercial use operators with active commercial use permits will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes commercial tours and stock groups.
- Visitors with proof of overnight reservations in the park will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes hotels, campgrounds, and backcountry reservations.
- Commercial motorcoaches will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number.
- Motorcycle groups may enter on even dates only.
- Essential services like mail and deliver, employees and contractors may enter regardless of license plate number.
The interim license plate system will ensure that visitors have access to the park during this period of high demand. Park managers and staff will monitor the license plate system and impacts on resources, infrastructure, operations, and staffing, and may adjust or implement a reservation or timed entry system, if necessary, after three to four weeks.
View the most up-to-date information about the Alternating License Plate System, including a list of FAQ's on our website: go.nps.gov/YELLflood
After reviewing the FAQ's on the website above, we want to hear from you! What additional questions do you have? Let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to answer them!

 

[Songbird76]

@Songbird76 I don’t know if any of this is going to help you, but I just got this from a hotel we previously stayed at in West Yellowstone. I figured I’d share just in case any of it’s helpful. I just grabbed the full email.

Our wonderful guests, June 17, 2022
Right now, the Yellowstone Gates are remaining closed until Wednesday, June 22, 2022. The park administration has discovered that the road south of the canyon had a mudslide, on the southern loop. They are making repairs as fast as possible and also inspecting the many other bridges to make sure they are safe.
Accessing the Park will be by a simple and easy method, if your vehicle plate has an even /odd number license plate it will only be allowed park entry on the odd/even dates on the calendar. Vanity plates with all letters have yet to be determined. See, the Yellowstone Park Website, for details, excursions, and any exceptions, hopefully, common sense will prevail. 24-hour gate guards!
The plan is to allow CUA, companies (Tour Guides) to have unlimited access for their paid tours and allow the public access at a reduced license plate rate. Unlimited visits can be had by hiring a guide, they have open access, Teton Excursions 307-231-4697https://www.tetonexcursions.com and Yellowstone Teton Tours 208-569-2909 https://yellowstonetetontours.com These Guides commonly stay at the Madison. Other local tour operators can be found on https://www.destinationyellowstone.com

Know your date and plate prior to getting in line to enter the park.
For the remainder of the 2022 season, only the Southern Loop will be accessible through the East, South, and West Gates of Yellowstone. Unless they can get services back up and online, Gardiner and Cooke the news is not good.

This changes your current Yellowstone visits, meaning that you will be only able to see the southern half of the park. This change will be new, and the attendance will obviously be reduced a bit from this point going forward for 2022.
Also, keep in your plans time to visit the many places here in the Southern Montana area, Ennis, Virginia/Nevada cities, Island Park, Teton National Park, Lewis & Clark Caverns, go fishing, hire a guide, go hiking in the national forest. Plenty to see and do.
May the weather cooperate, please come see Yellowstone,

Yeah, we saw it on the Yellowstone website. I have to cancel west Yellowstone because you have to go through Yellowstone to get there. We will have a rental car, with no idea what the plates will be, and therefore no idea which days we'll be able to enter. And if we were to stay in west Yellowstone after visiting the park, we wouldn't be able to get back into the park the next day, so we'd have to drive west and then south into Idaho and go all the way around the park, and through Jackson in order to get to Cody. So I'm going to cancel West Yellowstone, book an extra night in Dubois, then we'll see when we get to Denver what our license plate is. Whichever day we can't get in Yellowstone is the day that we'll do the Bighorn Sheep Center. Then we'll drive up to Cody, and I'll book an extra night there, and we'll take one of those days to go to Yellowstone if we didn't get to see everything. According to the website, it doesn't look like we'll be able to get to artist or inspiration points. They weren't on the list of accessible parts. So all we can do is the Old faithful area... We may not NEED two days there.

And all this is also assuming our flight doesn't get canceled.

 

[Sans Souci]

Yeah, we saw it on the Yellowstone website. I have to cancel west Yellowstone because you have to go through Yellowstone to get there. We will have a rental car, with no idea what the plates will be, and therefore no idea which days we'll be able to enter. And if we were to stay in west Yellowstone after visiting the park, we wouldn't be able to get back into the park the next day, so we'd have to drive west and then south into Idaho and go all the way around the park, and through Jackson in order to get to Cody. So I'm going to cancel West Yellowstone, book an extra night in Dubois, then we'll see when we get to Denver what our license plate is. Whichever day we can't get in Yellowstone is the day that we'll do the Bighorn Sheep Center. Then we'll drive up to Cody, and I'll book an extra night there, and we'll take one of those days to go to Yellowstone if we didn't get to see everything. According to the website, it doesn't look like we'll be able to get to artist or inspiration points. They weren't on the list of accessible parts. So all we can do is the Old faithful area... We may not NEED two days there.

And all this is also assuming our flight doesn't get canceled.

What a headache for you and your family. What happens if your flight is canceled? Will you get a refund or credit towards future flights?

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Today was a rest day, but it was so gorgeous outside. I went for stroll around my neighborhood.

Had kind of a crazy food day. I made homemade cinnamon rolls this AM, then had burgers, slaw and twice baked potatoes for dinner. I usually just have half portions of stuff. There is a no bake cheesecake in my fridge. It is in a 9X14 pyrex dish. I am hoping I can freeze it, because it's dangerous to have that much cheesecake in the fridge, just waiting to be eaten.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I was summoned for jury duty last month. I think this is my 7th time since moving to TX in the late 90s. This most recent one was a murder trial. I was happy to not be selected, but got to watch along since they livestream the courtrooms. Back in the early 2000s, I served for 3.5 weeks on the civil side of a capital murder trial involving two Houston police officers. It was one of those where the local tv stations were parked outside of the courtroom every day. I feel like I should be exempted from all future jury duty after that mess.

The ice cream sounds amazing!

You should be!

I got summoned back in April. They originally scheduled me for the first week of our fiscal year, which I'm an accountant, and I'm like...you literally scheduled me on the worst week possible. So I was able to reschedule under a work hardship.

Here, if you reschedule for a covered reason (preplanned vacation, work conflict, etc.) you can pick a date that you can go. I intentionally picked a Friday. They kept us there for half a day and then let us go.

It feels like such a waste of my time. My father's an attorney; there's no way I'm ever getting picked. Yet I still have to show up...

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning.

It feels like early Autumn this morning. Who turned off the summer?

I started a six week challenge today. I'll see if I finish it. I get bored easily and I usually end up switching to a different type of workout after a month or two. Today was a lower body workout.

I am back on the straight & narrow with food after this weekend. Wow. .

My husband wants to go to Liberty State Park for the 4th to view fireworks. I am not quite sold on it. It is going to be crowded, I am sure. The upside is we don't have to worry about parking or driving back down here. Alternatively, there is a roof top deck in his building, so we could always go up there to watch fireworks. I'll think about it. I really like my back yard and I like chilling out in it. I have an outdoor furniture set with a tarp-like thing (it's not as ugly as it sounds) over it for shade. It's blissful to sit out there in the early evening.

 

[Songbird76]

What a headache for you and your family. What happens if your flight is canceled? Will you get a refund or credit towards future flights?

According to the law, if they cancel more than 2 weeks out, we get our money back. If they cancel within 2 weeks, they are required by law to get us to our destination if we want to go. So they'd have to book us on another flight, in that case. Our flight is 3 weeks away, so they have one more week in which to give us a refund or they HAVE to figure something out. The problem with that is that they don't necessarily have to get you on a flight that day, so our itinerary would be shot. At this point, if they cancel it, I'd rather just have the refund and say we'll do it next year. I have already reworked it so many times to account for different things....I'm done. If they cancel the flight, it just wasn't meant to be this Summer.

 

[Songbird76]

I've been very productive today and now I just want to veg! I did the dishes (not supposed to be my job), laundry, pulled weeds, mowed the lawn, and made lunch, all before noon. Then I showered and sat and practiced my choir music for a while. I'm taking a break!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

You should be!

I got summoned back in April. They originally scheduled me for the first week of our fiscal year, which I'm an accountant, and I'm like...you literally scheduled me on the worst week possible. So I was able to reschedule under a work hardship.

Here, if you reschedule for a covered reason (preplanned vacation, work conflict, etc.) you can pick a date that you can go. I intentionally picked a Friday. They kept us there for half a day and then let us go.

It feels like such a waste of my time. My father's an attorney; there's no way I'm ever getting picked. Yet I still have to show up...

While it seems that they've become more flexible, some here seems to depend on county, courthouse and luck with the various clerks and judges. That lengthy case I served on coincided with the Super Bowl. I recall the judge saying she wouldn't excuse anyone for pre-planned trips and that you'd be tracked down and charged if you were selected to serve and skipped out for travel. I had something similar in 2007. I recall the judge and the attorneys saying that planned travel is not a reasonable excuse...and this was after trying to reschedule with the clerk. That county also wouldn’t take age of children into consideration. With this recent case, the judge actually did take upcoming travel into consideration.

So you’re one of the people I envy when I’m called There are always a couple of people who know the judge or one of attorneys. They have some cutesy chatter and the rest of us look at each other and know who’s not getting picked.

 

[Sans Souci]

According to the law, if they cancel more than 2 weeks out, we get our money back. If they cancel within 2 weeks, they are required by law to get us to our destination if we want to go. So they'd have to book us on another flight, in that case. Our flight is 3 weeks away, so they have one more week in which to give us a refund or they HAVE to figure something out. The problem with that is that they don't necessarily have to get you on a flight that day, so our itinerary would be shot. At this point, if they cancel it, I'd rather just have the refund and say we'll do it next year. I have already reworked it so many times to account for different things....I'm done. If they cancel the flight, it just wasn't meant to be this Summer.

This sounds like such a pain in the butt. Three weeks is still a lot of time to get things sorted. I hope you guys can go and have a great vacation.