Tuesday's knitting group was small but very interesting, and I'd brought curry leaves for another person to try. The librarian stopped in, and I showed her saying I bet you know these. Curry leaves? Of course I know them. I figured she would, since they often feature in Indian cooking.
Our chat ranged over men's inability to find things, such as eggs in fridges, downsizing, assisted living, singing, playing other instruments, clefs, register breaks, Episcopal nuns, homelessness, oatmeal cookies, and meetings.
Then home to Textiles and Tea with Paula Becker, who has done restoration weaving of curtains for Cranbrook, the prestigious art center, and who has designed textiles. She is interested in deconstructing work and reweaving into original designs.
In the course of her chat I got a cool idea for the next page of my book, not very related to her point, but that's how ideas work. So here are a few samples of her work.
Interesting lady, very creative in design.
Then out to the mailbox where I found
This is silly season, since you can not be obliged to serve after 75, but they still keep trying. And you have to go online and fill out a multipart questionnaire to determine if you're eligible. Then they get back later to say if they agree.
They disqualified me on the grounds of age and decrepitude. The new questionnaire, I've been there before, now has an additional option asking if I'd like to be permanently disqualified, which I gladly agreed to. So maybe they'll stop calling me. Or possibly send a card asking if I'd like to continue being permanently disqualified, and requiring me to fill out a questionnaire to be sure.
Wednesday is what Medicare calls my annual wellness jamboree or something, aka physical. I'm hoping it's quite undramatic.
Happy day, everyone, hoping you'll have great new ideas and few demands.
I was not called for jury duty until I was no longer eligible. I was quite disappointed!
ReplyDeleteA missed adventure.
DeleteGood luck with the wellness jamboree - I suspect they would he hard pressed to find someone more active and 'well' for the age you profess to be. As for jury service a duty I have managed to dodge for an entire adult life time.
ReplyDeleteI actually am this age! For various reasons I've never been eligible to serve, except for one time when they messed up the system so badly they had hundreds of people milling about at the jury building and dismissed nearly everyone, had confused several groups.
DeleteI came close to jury duty once but was excised in the later stages due to health concerns.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why they didn't excuse you right away.
DeleteMy wife recently did jury duty and enjoyed the experience.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear.
DeleteUf, the bureaucracy that is jury duty. I got called for jury duty in Connecticut, less than a week before we were moving to California. I tried to explain over the phone and was told I had to appear and tell the judge. I appeared but the judge would not allow any individuals to speak. I tried speaking to staff there and was told I had to stay. The case was expected to take several weeks. So, I biased myself out of the running in my interview.I was ashamed and annoyed to be put in that position.
ReplyDeleteHow I love those textiles.
That is exactly why people hate being called. Jurors are often kicked around by the officials.
DeleteThe textiles are a better response to life!
I was called for jury duty once in Newfoundland. I didn’t make the cut and I was glad since it was a sexual assault case. They should let us out of that duty as seniors.
ReplyDeleteAround here they're desperate for jury pools. So I guess they keep hoping I'll agree to come in.
DeleteEpiscopal nuns, eh? That's a unique topic!
ReplyDeleteYes, pretty niche!
DeleteWe have a close family member who was on a jury not very long ago for a murder trial that was in national news. Some of the evidence was so horrific that the services of counselors were offered to the jury after the trial. She never wants to be on a jury again.
ReplyDelete"Annual wellness jamboree?" Do they think seniors devolve into kindergartners?
That's a difficult ordeal for a general member of the public to undertaker. I'm not surprised she doesn't want to serve again. I think there are some cases after which you don't have to.
DeleteI made up the jamboree. The real title is very dull and bureaucratic.
I actually snorted at the word "decrepitude" related to you!!! Right.
ReplyDeleteIt's all relative!
DeleteI was on a jury only once, when I lived in Manhattan, and it was quite the experience. We acquitted. It seems reasonable to expect your local court system to remember you're permanently done with jury duty!
ReplyDeleteIt would save them $$ to just delete me, instead of repeatedly trying!
DeleteI was on a jury in Dallas in 1995. it was the first time DNA was used as evidence in a criminal trial. That was the best science class I ever attended! Complete detailed explanation of what DNA is, and why it is so dependable as evidence. We found him guilty. It was memorable for me also because I was accosted by a media person as I was leaving, and I was quoted in the newspaper. I had a couple of summons after I crossed the age threshold. Dallas morning traffic is a nightmare not for the faint of heart!
ReplyDeleteThat was educational. Worth the effort, I'd say. Yes, here, an hour in traffic to the jury location parking deck, half an hour's walk to the Courthouse, before you even get started. In July.
DeleteI had to look up images for curry leaves. I've only used the dry curry in a jar.
ReplyDeleteI saw a plant at the garden center that you've posted about. Thai something? I did remember to buy lemon balm early this year.
I stopped receiving jury duty letters ages ago. I suspect my disability issues, mostly the possibility of not being able to sit for long hours, rules me out.
Curry leaves have nothing to do with mixed curry powder. They're aromatic, not hot, and work wherever you'd use a bayleaf, but better. The name is confusing.
DeleteLegally I'm exempt, but they still keep up the penpal correspondence. Maybe you were better at explaining.
I can't imagine buying lemon balm. Where I live it's a constant battle to stop it from taking over!
I just noticed I hadn't answered a question. Was it Thai basil? It has a licorice/anise kind of flavor.
DeleteJust had my annual wellness revieiw. Dr. never touched me, never examined a thing about me (no "say ahh", no ear look, no heart with stethoscope, no lungs same, no knee tap, etc.) He sat at computer, asked a few questions re: sleep, past use of a heart med that I stopped at least 3 years ago, reviewed the symptoms from the past 6 months, then said my blood work looked like a young person. He wanted to know when last mammo was (he's got the record !, and scheduled another one) and bone density test, and is referring me out to have one, and recommended I not have a colonoscopy as I was past a certain age. He actually scooted his stool close to me, to show with a pen on the paper what good blood results I had...and gave me the paper. After he left, I had to call out, what about this new issue I told your nurse? He said, yes, let's take care of that, and added it to the bottom of my check-out sheet. See ya! I asked another provider in his office a week later, what kind of a physical was that. He said, just a Medicare system requirement, not a real physical. No kidding!
ReplyDeleteHe's just collecting the low Medicare fee from the sound of it. I get a complete paper gown physical, everything prodded, shoved, listened to, measured, the lot. My doctor does the whole job, despite the lousy Medicare reimbursement. I wish you had better care. You sound pretty good though.
DeleteThis is interesting. In redder-than-red Idaho, the jury system in our (red) county actually runs smoothly. We do have to go online to disqualify ourselves due to age (though I chose to serve this past winter, when summoned - thank you Boise bus system, feeble though it may be), but age is the first question on the list so it's quick to do. I've found the jury staff and judge to be courteous, kind and understanding of personal issues. I am SO glad to have never sat for a horrific case. That would be very, very difficult.
ReplyDeleteThe range of topics in your knitting group is again remarkable.
I love to follow where your art ideas take you - and to hear about what sparks them.
Chris from Boise
Well, this is NJ! We'll argue about anything.
DeleteI'm glad the art path is interesting.
I am unhappy our court house is not handicapped friendly, and so I must be excused when I am called.
ReplyDeleteThey're often old buildings that can't be retrofitted. Shameful.
DeleteSo are you going to weave some new curtains to replace the ones that fell apart?
ReplyDeleteCertainly! On my pinloom. It might take a while.
DeleteJury duty, at least in my realm, is a dirty word. I've been on two of them and both times they were a farce and a complete and total waste of time for everyone concerned. What really upset me is that the people that held 'a real job' got paid for being there and I, being just a lowly housewife, didn't....and, to add further insult, I had to pay for a babysitter for my kids, so I was out money that we didn't have to spare. The next time I got a notice, I wrote them an angry letter explaining my disinterest in serving and the reasons why. I fully expected a knock at the door and being carted off to jail, but nothing happened. Two years later I got the same 'invitation' and promptly sent them a copy of my first letter and explained that I hadn't changed my mind. The fact that I had 'housewife' attached to my name meant I was cheap meat for them. I know it's a civic duty to serve when called, but not one of my friends or family members have ever even so much as been on the invite list. (climbing off my soapbox now.....)
ReplyDeleteDisappointing experience, yes. Here that refusal would be met with a threat of contempt of court! You aren't allowed to decide not to serve.
DeleteTelling them that no matter what I would find the person guilty might have been the reason they decided I wasn't prime fodder for the call.
Delete