There are days when I really can’t believe this is actually our back yard.
Music = Art.
I was a senior in high school when I first heard this track and I found it absolutely entrancing. I was driving a 1976 Pontiac Astre (a Vega wannabe) and had this song on a cassette that was given to me by a friend. For me, this is when I realized that modern music could truly be art. The ambience of this track is entrancing.
From 1985 here’s Art of Noise with “Moments In Love”.
Reflective.
Before the current technology of highly reflective tape, and other 21st century materials, were used to make the road signs along the nation’s highways, we had letters called “Button Copy”. These are metal or ceramic letters with reflectors embedded in the letter, approximating the shape of the letter when illuminated by vehicle headlights.
Lots of folks will say the technology is outdated because new nEW NEW is always better (a 21st century attitude if I ever heard one), but in actuality, button copy signs had a shelf life measured in decades, while today’s signs are expected to last one decade. Original signs did not use reflective backgrounds, only the message legend was illuminated, but back in the 80s some in the U.S. government decided the color of the sign needed to be reflective as well, and that’s when button copy began to struggle a little bit. Signs were actually a little too bright when designed to be completely reflective, and the button copy was washed out by the rest of the sign panel.
ADOT can’t decide whether they’re going to get rid of the metric signs along Interstate 19 and convert the whole road to the inferior English Units. The roadway was built when the United States was strongly considering moving the metric to come up to speed with the rest of the world, but then Reagan was elected to office and we began the whole “‘Merica!!!” movement and for some reason the metric system became associated with the devil and conspiracy theories.
ADOT did replace all the metric signs with new metric signs in the late 1990s, some of the last “button copy” signs to be installed in the United States. Many of these signs stand today and aren’t doing too bad in the reflectivity department for being over 20 years old.
The sign on the left lost its Interstate 10 route marker years ago. I don’t know why it wasn’t ever replaced, probably because the sign was going to be replaced and then they couldn’t decide if they were going to keep the metric system on the roadway or not so it just stays there missing.
Vote.
Pima County here in Arizona is big on early voting. I like taking advantage of this perk and we did our civic duty by voting today. We just dropped our ballots off a the post office.
We often hear that this election is the most important election of our lifetime, and I’m actually feeling that vibe these days. The U.S. government is in such disarray at the moment and voting is our only weapon to actually help mediate this chaos.
I’m not looking forward to the election cycle after these midterm elections are over, because we all know that as soon as the last ballot is cast we’re going to be hearing about the 2024 Presidential Election. And quite frankly, I don’t really want to hear about that. I’m not particularly fond of anyone in office right now, but we’re doing the best we can do with what we’ve got.
Just go out and vote. Please.
Happy War.
It’s way too early for Christmas decorations to be overtaking the retail spaces. I am not in the mood to hear Barbra warble about Kids Wearing Curtains During A Thunderstorm. But yet, my husband must fling us through the Merry Trim-A-Tree department every time we come within 100 miles of said frivolity.
I noticed a new feature this year: super festively gay Christmas trees. The pink tree is sort of a throwback to the 1960s (though it’s not a lead painted aluminum tree). But the rainbow tree? I don’t know what’s happening there. But I’m sure it brings joy to someone in the season shopping audience.
I’m sure we’ll hear something about the War on Christmas, with this tree front and center, some time before the end of this year.
Caturday.
Truman and I enjoy the coyote songs under a moonlit sky. The roof over the garage is enjoyable for the both of us on a nightly basis.
Jury 2, Day 2.
As I mentioned in last night’s blog entry, I finished the latest round of jury duty yesterday afternoon. After all was said and done, the judge reminded us we could talk about the case so here we are.
The case was a criminal case involving three charges: reckless driving, driving with the slightest impairment, and a blood alcohol level exceeding .08. Unfortunately for the prosecution, there were a lot of gaps or loop holes in the police procedures. For the reckless driving, it was demonstrated the defendant maintained proper lane changing, turn signals, etc. for the entire time. The police maintained the defendant was speeding but at no time was RADAR, LIDAR, or other speed measuring devices used.
For the impairment charge, the police conducted the usual tests for these sorts of things, heel to toe walking, the one leg standing test, and eye acuity tests. The officer conducting the tests reported his body cam was broken and he had not received a replacement, so we watched video taken from a body cam on another officer across the parking lot from the tests. From what we could see, the defendant did well but not perfectly on the tests. There were no reports of stumbling or staggering or slurring. Why the officer conducting the tests didn’t ask for a peer to come over with his body cam is beyond me, but he didn’t. What we could see on the video was that the defendant was not turned away from the flashing lights nor were the flashing lights turned off, which would seem to negate the accuracy of the visual test.
When it came to the blood alcohol levels, there were some “blips” in the data. A third party expert purported this could be alcohol from a previous run in the machine, the technician said it could be electrical noise.
The defendant selected a great lawyer and she was relentless. If I’m ever in a similar situation I will be calling her. The prosecuting attorney was calm and rational.
Deliberations last about 70 minutes. The jury decided not guilty on all three charges, all because of reasonable doubt. There were just too many variables to make a concrete decision and in America, innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and we had reasonable doubt.
It was an interesting case and of course the experience made me do a complete 180 on my feelings about doing jury duty again. Of course I got selected as jury foreman, and everyone on the jury was pleasant to work with.
All in all a rewarding experience. I’m off the hook for two years for doing it again.
Legally 11.
We celebrated 11 years of legal marriage this evening. I was happy to finish my jury duty this afternoon and maintain our plans for the evening.
We decided to try our hands at a local casino a little bit, losing a lot but then gaining a bit to just lose a little. I still don’t like losing at the casino but at least we were able to keep it reasonable. We went to the casino because 11 years ago tonight, we were legally married at the casino near our home at the time. Marriage is a gamble, we’d snicker, so a casino seemed like a natural choice.
Afterwards we went to a locally owned steakhouse known for their prime rib. I don’t eat as much meat as I used to and every once in a while I get in the mood for a steak, so we went to El Corral. The service excellent, we had a couple of enjoyable cocktails, and the food was very good. I definitely look forward to going back for another visit.
We decided to splurge on dessert and I casually mentioned to the server we were celebrating our legal anniversary when I asked her to take our photo. Because of our celebration she gave us the desserts for free and that was very nice. The manager then came over and congratulated us on our legal anniversary.
It was a very nice evening.
Jury 2, Day 1.
I’m sitting in the Jury Assembly Room. I’m checked in, we’ve watched the mandatory video and now we’re waiting for the judge.
I’m not as cranky about my civic duty as I was yesterday when my number came up. Might as well be interested in our judicial process. Not everyone in the world has this right.
The folks here seem less cynical than the folks in the same situation based when I was summoned in New York in 2010. The video was much better, too.
Here We Go Again.
A couple of weeks ago I received a summons for jury duty in the mail. “Check the website after 3:30 PM the day before to see if your number comes up!”
Today is the day, my group number came up, and I am not pleased.
First of all, the letter’s composition, design, and general aesthetic makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong. I haven’t done anything wrong and I’m certainly not ready to be herded through some public building with a bunch of people I don’t know at the tail end of a worldwide pandemic. Especially in these uncertain times where people like blowing up public buildings and the like.
Second of all, with all the crap going on in the world, I really don’t want to hear a bunch of bloviating from lawyers as to why person X is guilty or not guilty. I don’t need any more bad news, I certainly don’t need to hear about something criminal, and I’m really doing my best to be a good member of society by not getting involved with the law. Why are you dragging me in?
I know, the American court system is amazing because of juries of my peers that can dole out of a fair sentence and I should feel honored to do my civic duty. Blah blah blah.
Honestly, I’d rather be drafted. At least then I’d get to shoot at something.
