Greetings fellow Earthlings!

If you’re wondering just where “right next door” is, wonder no more.

I send you greetings from my gritty little ‘hood:

Yep. I live in “bungalow row”. In….a bungalow, of all things. The fam moved here from the west side of Chicago during the riots of ‘68. I never realized how close I was to my old neighborhood until I got out there on the expressway. Things have changed in beautiful downtown Berwyn since we moved here all those years ago, but it’s still a pretty cool place to be. If I hop on the green line El train, I can make it to the Daley Plaza…the heart of Chicago’s loop… in 15 minutes.

I love, love, LOVE the city. I only ever go there for jury duty now days. Can I say that when I get a summons for jury duty, that I NEVER yell, “Oh, shit, not again!” ? I actually yell, “Woo-HOO! I get to go downtown!” Sad but true. Yeah, jury duty sucks. But…just being in the Loop is worth the aggravation.

Last time I had jury duty at the Daley center, (medical malpractice case) we got a two hour lunch break. First, I went to Starbucks and got a seriously huge cafe mocha latte thingie. Then I tripped on over to Borders Books, browsed around for ages, and ended up spending way too much money. Then, I sat my ass in Daley Plaza, sipping coffee, looking over my new purchases, and watching the people go by until it was time to go back to court. I almost got picked for jury duty… since I’m a pharmacy tech, and it was a case that involved drug dosing, I figured I might be picked…but the defense attorney stared at me like a scared rabbit and objected to having me on the panel. Which was fine with me.

Then I went home. Up the stairs to the Clark/Lake El stop, and back to my B-Town barrio.

Ahhh….what a beautiful day. Except for the court part, hehe. I suppose they’ll be sending me another jury summons soon, since it’s been more than a year since I was last called.

I must confess…I can’t wait!