04/27/15 - 5:04 p.m.

Got picked for jury duty. Meant I got backed up on work today. Getting caught up now. Honestly, "catching up on work" is the least-tricky thing I'm doing today...

They wanted us to be at the courthouse at 7:30 a.m. That meant getting up at 6:30 a.m. And then, oh my god, traffic was terrible. I'm not using to drive all the way into the courthouse, and it turns out that even at that early hour, there's a hell of a lot of traffic. Like, it took me 45 minutes from the time I got in line for the tollbooth to the time I was actually moving again and getting across the bridge. The whole way in I was feeling like I'd committed a crime -- "late for jury duty"-- and also that I couldn't do a damn thing about it. (Since I was trapped in stop-and-go traffic, which just would. Not. Speed. Up.)

I'd skipped breakfast -- so I was always going to feel like crap anyways. Not enough sleep; not enough breakfast -- and also, stuck in traffic. I think I didn't pay the toll. (I didn't hear my auto-payment device make a beep.) I had to stop and buy gas. (Of course, my girlfriend didn't fill it up this weekend...)

Was the late my fault? I could've picked up commuters, and then used the commuter lane. I didn't think it was going to be this this bad -- how could I know? Anyways, it didn't matter, because the judge actually padded the start time by an hour, so despite being 45 minutes late, I actually wasn't late in any way whatsoever.

Other gripes about today: I spilled water on my laptop. Oh god, I hope it's okay -- I really love having a laptop. I'd packed the laptop and also a water bottle in the same pocket of my new backpack. But I think the problem is it's a new kind of bottle -- the top doesn't screw on, it just pops off when you nudge it just right. Okay, so, lesson learned: never put that bottle in my backpack again. Actually, I'll probably just never ever carry a water bottle in the same backpack as my laptop.

But god, I hope the laptop is okay. I poured out all the water, and left it open to dry (along with the backpack, of course). I've been afraid to turn it on -- the longer I leave it off, the longer it has to dry. Well, we'll see. I guess I'll have to turn it on tonight, so I can see whether or not I'm going to have it for tomorrow...

The worst part was the big pile of work that was waiting for me when I came back. A whole weekend's worth of backlog -- plus Monday, and -- no mercy -- it was not a particularly light day. Maybe it just seems that way because I came in later than usual to a bigger backlog. But it does seem that way -- that's the point. So, a day at jury duty, and then a full day's work to plow through.

Which I'm doing. Because I work hard. But it'll be nice to finish this. (I'm in the home stretch now...)

Just hope my laptop is okay...