Well I woke up late. But I still got there on time. Now I decided to bring my laptop, that way I  can watch movies and listen to music. So as I am locking my apartment door it didn’t feel that cold, until I walked downstairs and out into the open air. WOW! WHAT FREEZING COLD WIND! I stop by WaWa to ge a newspaper just in case. So I get to the courthouse parking 8:25 a.m. I found a good spot. I make my way to the entrance and there was a huge line. But they had it moving pretty smoothly. I was looking for signs to make sure I could bring my laptop. All I saw was no cell phones or PDA’s. It was my turn to go through the metal detector. I ask the guard “can I bring a laptop?” and he said “yes you can, just make sure after you pick up your stuff take it to that desk with the other guard and turn it on for him.” I was so happy. The people were very polite. I felt relieved I could now watch movies while I wait. So I find a chair and sit there waiting while the room fills up, but It never really does. I would say maybe 70 people. So we go through orientation. Since the last time I was there things have changed. They now have 5 computers with internet in the vending area which they called, guess what?? you guessed the Cyber Cafe! How original! LOL! They have several flat panel tv’s on the wall that work independently so you can watch tv. Which was nice, but nothing is on that early in the morning. But the fact they have it was really nice. So the lady was telling us how many cases for the day, there was like 25 or 26 small cases and 1 big civil case. After that the judge for the civil case came in to thank everyone. Which was weird, because that didn’t happen the last time I was there. So after he was done she calls a list of about 35-40 names and since its alphabetical just need to listen up the the F’s and I got my wish I was not called. I sat there watching Forrest Gump. About 12:15 p.m. I saw she opened the doors, so I started packing up thinking the next batch would be called, then she says start picking up trash and fixing chairs, I knew it was time to go home and the next thing was her telling us we would be let out. I was so happy. So I get my certificate that gets me out of jury duty for 2 years. I go to my truck then start calling everyone.

Well this is where this happy story turns for the worse. Today is my Aunt Winnie’s birthday and we usually call her, we since couldn’t my dad called and told her I was at jury duty. So I call him up and he sounded kinda funny. He says he talked to her and on Wednesday she will be starting Chemo for Breast Cancer………………..huge pause here………………WTF! Well its not anything genetic here..I am sure everyone remembers 1986 Chernobyl well when it happened it blew west and there was stuff in there air and messed up rain too. Well they said within 18-20 years there will be people in Europe with some health issues and it turns out she is one of them. It is such a hard blow, because my mother had cancer and she died later.  So this hurts a lot. I am very close to her. I love her very much. I already order flowers from FTD international to be delivered on Friday and we are taking some pictures tomorrow and mailing a card also. All we can do is pray and wait. We will call her at least once a week and make sure my uncle or someone is making sure she is getting around ok. Right now I would like to just drop everything and get on the next flight and stay there for a few months to help her, but I can’t . If things change next few months I think I will go. I wont need a car because there is public trans in Graz. All I would to is take a connecting flight from Munich to Graz then bus, trolley or taxi into the city. So I will be playing the lotto each week now cause that would just speed it up, plus I could stay there for whatever amount of time. I don’t need to check in because I am a US citizen and and Austrian Citizen. Shit if I won the lotto I would just buy a car over there then sell when I left. But I think my savings just shifted completely. So right now I am really down. My brothers birthday is Thursday and our plans are going forward. It might pick me up a little. So now I must get back to work. I have been typing in between calls.