Lost!

I woke up just before the alarm went off after a rough night of sleep.

I took a random inventory while I was showering. My knees and back still hurt, but not as much (although I am using my cane). But, my hands have a multitude of small cuts and those two blisters. My hands hurt!

I left the house at 7:15 AM on my way to downtown Detroit and jury duty. In spite of having a Yahoo map, I still managed to get really, really lost. I finally gave up and went into a sleazy little gas station in a very bad part of town. I asked the Middle Eastern man behind the bullet-proof glass how to get to Woodward from here. He just shook his head and said, “I do not know this “Woodward!”

I went back outside and asked a black kid leaning on the wall and he told me to go back the way I came (a long way) and the road would end at Jefferson. Get on that and watch the street signs. Then he asked me if I had 35 cents. I apologized and said I didn’t. (I didn’t – I left all my change at home because I knew I had to go through a metal detector. All I had on me was two twenty dollar bills.)

I finally (finally) found the courthouse and a nearby parking garage.

I rode down the parking garage elevator with a guy who had jury duty too and wasn’t happy about it. But, he knew where he was going so I followed him. I checked into the jury duty place six minutes late.

I had brought a book (this ain’t my first rodeo), so I sat there and read until I was called (in the second group). A deputy took about 30 of us in batches up the elevator to the 10 floor. We stood in the hallway outside the courtroom for about 30 minutes. Then they came out and told us to go back downstairs.

So, we all made out way back down and the lady said she couldn’t release us yet, in case more jurors were need. Finally she said we could go. Hurray!

Cheers turned to tears when I left the parking garage. I got there at 8:31 AM and left at 11:28 AM. They charged me a full day rate of $17.50! $17.50!! That means after I get my $25.00 for coming in, I’ll have made about $7.50, just about enough to pay for my gas.

Note: One of the first things the lady had told us is that, in this courthouse, they do not validate parking!

Now seeing where I was, I found I-75 easy enough. But, too late, I found I was heading North rather than South. WTF happened to my inner compass? I got off on 8-Mile and took it across to the Southfield. Took that to I-96 and home.

I arrived home just after noon. I ate a sandwich for lunch and then tried to take a nap. That didn’t work, so I replaced those two screws on the new handrail. I took a couple of pictures of the finished project and posted them for you.

I got out a porterhouse steak I’d thawed to let it come up to room temperature. At 4:30 PM, I started the charcoal for the grille. It’s still overcast and threatening rain, but very mild. Now, this sounds a bit too early for dinner (and it is) but the sun will set at 5:17 today and my stomach’s still on Daylight Savings time.

I seasoned the steak on both sides with Lawry’s seasoned salt and fresh ground pepper (keeping it simple this time). When the grill was ready, I threw the steak on. For a change, I got a nice char on it, but kept it medium rare.

I pulled it off the grille, topped it with a pat of butter and let it rest while I warmed up the last two small baked potatoes in the microwave. I fixed them with butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. I went in and ate a great dinner watching the nightly news.

When I was done, I went back out in the twilight and grilled a pack of smoked bratwurst (I hate to waste good coals). I finished them just as it started to sprinkle.

Back inside, I let them cool while I cleaned out the fridge for Tuesday’s garbage pickup. I was ruthless (no, seriously, there was nobody named Ruth around, so I had to do it myself). I got the garbage ready, the brats put in the fridge and the kitchen cleaned up just as the phone rang.

It was B___ and we hadn’t talked in a while. So, I caught him up on the new TV, the leaf guard installation and my adventures in jury duty. He filled me in on his Fall ToDo list and projects.

I watched a movie until 10:00 PM (in Hi-Def!) and then switched to reading (in Low-Def). The reading lasted about 10 minutes until I started to nod off. So, I shut off the light and went to bed.