All for under $5

Sometimes when I bargain shop I'm blown away. This was one of those times. Between Wal-Mart and CVS I got all of this and a little more for under $5. If I had paid for all of this regular price it would have cost over $50. Here's what I ended up with:

• 2 boxes of Kashi Vive cereal
• 1 gallon of milk
• 1 bottle of Powerade
• 1 pack of 10 disposable Schick razors
• 3 bottles of Suave shampoo
• 1 6 pack of Ensure
• 1 can of organic diced tomatoes
• 1 bottle of Cascade rinse aid
• 1 bar of Buddies soap
• 1 bottle of Gain laundry detergent
• 1 6x8 Kodak photo book
• 1 4x6 Kodak photo book
• 1 tube of Neutrogena mascara (not pictured)
• 1 package of Farmland bacon (not pictured)

And once I send in for the Ensure rebate, I'll have gotten all of this for free and make some money to spare. What a blessing!!!

And the verdict is...

Last week for the first time in my life, I was called to jury duty. I've always wondered what it would be like to serve on a jury, and when I got my summons in the back of my mind I kind of wanted to be picked for the jury. I know, it's an inconvenience for work, etc., but it seemed like it would be a fascinating experience.

So, I went last Wednesday morning to the Jury Pool, and there were about 115 people who showed up. We waited for around 45 minutes, and they randomly eliminated all but 20 of us. It just so happened that I was one of the 20 left at this point.

Next, the remaining 20 of us went as a group to the courthouse. Here we were sent to a courtroom, where we were numbered off and sat down in rows. For the next several hours both the defense lawyer and the prosecuting lawyers took turns presenting a few facts about the case, and asking us how we feel about particular issues.

Because it was a misdemeanor trial, there needed to be a jury of 6. Each side was allowed 3 people to eliminate without any questions asked (a total of 6 people). This left 14. Out of this 14, the judge determined about 3 of these people that he felt would be biased because of life circumstances that he ruled out. This left 11. Like I said, we were each given a juror number, so what they did next was take the first 6 people by number of the remaining 11. And I happened to be one of them! (So, the chances of you actually getting picked to be on a jury are pretty slim and pretty random.)

The trial was a DWI case. For two days last week (Wednesday and Thursday), I was doing jury selection and at the trial. The defendant did not take the stand or say a word in defense - which he doesn't have to. The most humorous part of the trial was a 30 minute video from the backseat of the cop's car, where the defendant was arrested and from the minute he was shoved in the backseat of the car he was falling asleep during the entire 30 minute video... Hmmm... The humorous part of it was that they showed the video right after lunch, and everyone in courtroom was about to fall asleep, watching this silent video of a drunk guy falling asleep in the back of the cop car. I almost giggled out loud when I saw the judge and the police office who testified nodding off.

It took about 5 minutes for all 6 of us to unanimously agree - he was GUILTY!!! Stalled out in the middle of the road, slurred speech, can't walk straight, a cooler with beers in the floor of the truck, a partially empty and cold beer on the floorboard of the truck, and passing out in the back of the cop car...

It was certainly every bit the fascinating experience I expected it to be! And, I felt after it like I was able to play a role in serving justice.

Update: Lurking

For all of my faithful lurkers who had decided to take the courage and identify yourself, I would like to give you a big thanks! I'm so proud of you. I'm still not sure if I would comment on someone's blog that I lurk on if I read such a post. And, I would like to welcome you to comment and join the fun - I promise I don't think it's weird or stalker-esque.

I feel like I just had a huge confession on my blog and everyone chimed in, saying they do the same thing. Thanks for reassuring me that it's not too terribly strange to lurk on blogs...

Lurking

I think we all do this a little... Read blogs or look at myspaces or facebook pictures of old friends or friends of friends, or acquaintances and less-than-acquaintances (people we have heard other people talk about). The internet certainly skews our outlook on relationships by giving us a false sense of closeness with the ability to peak into the lives of people we would otherwise lose contact with (or not have contact with at all).

And, it's an interesting thought, really. I think almost everyone is guilty of this weird thing. (Andy thinks just girls do it, but I've caught him looking at pictures on facebook of people who he barely talks to.) I've noticed a few times since I started this silly little blog that people will randomly mention in passing, "Oh, I read your blog." Or, "I read about such-and-such on your blog."

So, I would like to do a little experiment. I know I look at random people's blogs, so I'm sure there are random people that look at my blog. And, I know when I look at random people's blogs I usually don't post because I feel weird posting on their blogs. But, I'm curious - if you read my blog, and even if I barely know you, will you post a comment on here? I promise I won't think it's weird :)

(My theory is that lurkers don't post comments, so I'm curious if anyone will respond to this, even if you do read it. I'm not sure if I'd respond on a blog that I lurk on if I read something like this.)