A version of the Swedish princess cake was one of the technical challenges on GBBO. I remember thinking it looked yummy but some of the contestants struggling with the decoration.

Do you know, there are people who not only have never been called for jury duty but have no idea what it is?

The last time I was called, I ended up chatting with a lady in her early 60s - it was her first time ever being called. I literally have no idea how many times I've been called because it's SO.MANY. The randomizer hates me. Or possibly loves me.

We have a small jury pool - I can usually count on being called every two years PLUS less frequently for the Federal court. What with the people who are only living here for short times so they don't bother changing their voter registration from their home state and the lawyers and law enforcement people who get excused, us eligible jurors are few and far between. My mother, I believe, was called once in her 89-year life ... at a time when she couldn't serve.

I usually post in the morning before work, but I was running late!

I have only been called twice. The second time, I never had to go in!

I've never actually sat on a jury - been close a couple of times but got excused (struck?) - but I've been called AT LEAST a dozen times, probably more. Sometimes I would get the notification and go through old date books because it didn't feel like 18 months had passed. They pull from the DMV rather than (or maybe in addition to?) voter rolls, so there's no shortage of candidates. Just a Randomizer that loves me, apparently.

They always want reasons why you may not suit their needs on a jury. Mine, no stairs, ever. I can't sit in a straight-back chair with my feet on the floor for more than an hour, I have to get up and walk around. Must have permission to eat in court or breaks every two hours to maintain blood sugar levels. Otherwise I am much interested in the workings of the court system and eager to participate. Your call.

They never do.

Today has been a whirlwind. Life right now feels like a train that is in a constant state of acceleration. One of my staff has tested positive for Covid-19. No symptoms, he's doing great. Isolating for 10 days. That has triggered Covid testing for the folks he's been in contact with, including me. Again, no one has any symptoms, and we are all vaccinated. It's been reviewing our policies, who can still work. Reporting to our clients where we are working on job sites. On top of that had a blind inquiry for work come through this morning, that has gone from a vague "can you do this" through to here is an estimate, it's approved, it's invoiced, and the 30% deposit is paid all since 10am. All while dealing with the other stuff. So now we have to figure out how to make this thing we just got hired to do work by the end of next week, so that it can get shipped out to the New York Comic Con where it's happening.

I'm tired just typing it out, and now I still have to do all sort of other work.

When it rains it pours? We've been very paranoid about any possibility of being asymptomatic carriers of this crap. We've tested before traveling or events, and fortunately have easy fast ways to test. Need to explore easy home tests.

Our IT folks sent out an email yesterday that they were down 50% of their staff because of COVID -- I don't know if it's just isolation or actual cases. Still a mess.

This does not compensate for the fact that a bungled switch to OneDrive has fucked over so. many. functions. Including accidentally deleting dozens of directories containing decades of work files. (Happily we can get them restored, but seriously!)