After four days of testimony and eleven hours of deliberations, the trial came to an end (finally!) this afternoon. Although I wasn't thrilled about being picked to serve on a jury, I have to admit that it was a very interesting experience. The part that I dreaded the most, though, was trying to decide on a verdict. It's extremely difficult to sit in judgement and know that your decision will have a decided impact on the lives of the parties involved. The added twist is that the decision has to be based solely on the letter of the law and the preponderance of the evidence. There's no room for emotion in these decisions. All of that has to be checked at the door. Good thing it was a civil lawsuit and not a criminal case.

"Jimmy", the intrepid reporter with the weird pen fettish (I swear, he stuck that pen in every orafice in his head), did a decent job of covering the case. His articles are listed below:

• The Daily Times 7/26/05
• The Daily Times 7/27/05
• The Daily Times 7/30/05

I'm sure that I would have absolutely hated performing my civic duty had it not been for my fellow jurors. It's kind of scary to think that you can randomly put eight people together and have them click so well. There were times when we were laughing so hard that I wondered how we would ever be able to keep straight faces in the courtroom. It really did seem like we were having way too much fun for jury duty. Terry, Donna, Kelly, Ed, Dee, Kathy, and Kevin: you guys are totally awesome and I'm so glad I got to know you over the last few days. Here's hoping that we can continue our friendships outside of the courthouse!

Now don't think my Ribby Cardi has been neglected during all of this drama. I was knitting away with my Denise needles in spite of Security's repeated claims that they would be confiscated upon entering the building. Go figure. At any rate, I managed to get a couple of inches of the back panel finished and I'm pretty pleased with the results so far. The ribbing is actually looking halfway decent, and I absolutely hate ribbing. Must be the magic of the new needles.