Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Unless it’s Christmas or Easter or a family birthday, I tend to forget about holidays until I’m blog-surfing and discover others are celebrating. (I gotta get out of my office more!)

And…well…that’s what I’m going to do. Not totally voluntarily, though. In this case, I don’t have a choice. For the next two months, I’ll be on federal jury duty.

I won’t know from week to week what my schedule will be. It could be one day, could be all five days. On days I’m in court, I won’t be able to visit other blogs or even comment back to those of you visiting mine. (I have a feeling my iPhone will be confiscated.)

I could, of course, pre-schedule a week of posts on weekends, but that doesn’t seem fair when I won’t be here to participate. So, I’ve been in a quandary as to what to do.

I’ve been pondering this for over a month and have decided to cut back on my posts. I’ve been blogging since 2006 and posting every day for, I believe, over two years now. But now I’m going to post on Saturdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. (I’ve even gone ‘round and ‘round in my mind over which days, trying to guess what days I might be free!)

This is going to be weird and I’m wondering if I’ll go into blog withdrawal. On the other hand, I’m not stopping blogging altogether. I’ll see you here, I hope, same place, same time, this coming Wednesday. (Wonder if I’ll be able to talk about jury duty or if there will be a gag order?)

33 comments:

  1. I hope the case isn't harrowing. 2 months seems like a long time, but perhaps it's a different system? Will they provide counselling for withdrawal symptoms if necessary? I've enjoyed visiting, and look forward to the next (possibly gagged) installment.

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  2. Jury duty looks interesting, giving insight into the law system and the world of crimes. Good luck >:)

    Cold As Heaven

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  3. I've known many people who did federal jury duty - my sister included - and it was not really bad.

    A new experience for you, which I hope will bring lots of inspiration for new posts!

    Yes, I'll be here to visit whenever you are!

    Good luck. :)

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  4. Good luck with jury duty. Just think of all the interesting stories you can develop from what you see there. LOL. I'll be looking for your post no matter when they are.

    BTW, Happy Halloween.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  5. Happy Halloween to you! We're atbthe beach this year, so we won't be giving out candy, which feels really weird.

    Good luck with the jury duty.

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  6. Considering how many of us are participating in NaNo, now's a good time to cut back. I'm cutting back to three days or so as well - probably close to every other day.
    That's stunning you've blogged every day for two years!

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  7. Helen - I think you'll do fine and we'll all do fine! Just don't forget to throw us a mermaid tale from time to time please...
    NaNo will have me cutting down too and I've scuttled my Friday Challenge for an indefinite period. Time to focus on the book! Have fun and remember every experience is eventual grist for the mill.

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  8. As someone with a self-admitted and proved to himself over and over highly addictive personality, I can certainly relate to, from first-hand experience, "blog withdrawal", lol. I had to cut back on posting every day this past summer - I was just too involved in so many important things in my life I didn't have the time. It was painful - I too had been posting each day for well over THREE years, and was so addicted to all the comments, high traffic, making new friends, gaining readership, all that ... it was excruciating at first to witness a steady decline in traffic and readership.

    But I'm cured and healthy now, and I post when I have the time and something good to share, and the traffic is what it is - still good and satisfying to me, and always able to be ramped up again when I again have the time to invest in more steady posting and blog-hopping.

    Choosing particular days is a good idea, too. That way peeps will know when to visit your site and not be disappointed.

    Hey, if you're doing jury duty, you might want a good book to read!? (big wink)

    Hugs,
    Marvin D Wilson

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  9. Kudos to you for blogging every day for over 2 years! That's quite a commitment to keep. I blog generally 3 times a week and like the ease of that. Good luck on your jury duty, too, and Happy Halloween :)

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  10. Sue, I think we'll cover many cases over the two months, and I won't be on all of them. It's sort of like being indentured for two months and you have to be available to go in whenever they decide they need you.

    I went online and looked and it seems as though federal court covers Constitutional issues.

    Bermudaonion, the beach sounds like a great place to be.

    Alex, you're right. I, for one, am stunned!

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  11. I'll do that, Jan. Gonna have to figure out which ones I've already told!

    You're an excellent salesman, Marvin.

    Happy Halloween to all of you. I think we'll have trick-or-treaters this year. In the years that we've lived here, we've had kids knock on the door one time. But I've gotten us put on the hayride route this year and have bought candy.

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  12. Maybe it'll be a good study for a future book? Happy Halloween and enjoy the hayride!

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  13. I feel for you. I was bored out of my mind on a week of jury duty. What I learned from it most is how sluggishly our legal system works.
    I'll miss reading your posts everyday. Hope you have a good stack of books to read while you wait.

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  14. I admire your dedication for hanging in there and blogging every day for so long. Whew!!! I will look forward to your thrice-weekly posts, but I'm guessing nothing juicy from the jury duty. They do frown on one posting from the jury box. LOL

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  15. Susan, I do have a stack of books waiting to be read. I plan on taking one with me every time I have to report - just in case.

    Maryann, I would never post from the jury box. Tweet...maybe.

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  16. I don't like to post on days I know I won't be online either. Sorry about the jury duty.

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  17. November is NaNoWriMo - you may have a story playing out before you and can get in your 50,000 words by November 30. (Change the names to protect the innocent/guilty) Definitely don't take your phone to Federal Court. They don't like those.
    Ann

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  18. That's gonna be hard, Cozy in Texas. I always carry my phone in case of car trouble. Guess I could leave it in the car instead of my purse. Don't guess they'd let me just put it on plane mode.

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  19. My, my Helen--FEDERAL jury duty! Well at least you the writer will learn a lot...

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  20. Jury duty! Husband the advocate will be jealous! Good luck - hope you find it very interesting.

    It's incredible that you've sustained such a high blog profile for such a long time, Helen. I think you deserve a break! :)

    Whenever I try to cut back on my blogging I suffer terrible withdrawal symptoms and always end up coming back!

    Judy

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  21. I think you should tell the judge that you need blogging breaks. :) I'm sure that would go over well! I'll miss your blogging every day, but I'm interested to hear (in general, since I know you can't share much) how the jury duty is going. If you've got it for that long, it must be a heckuva case!

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  22. I hope it's not a horrible case. But maybe it will give you inspiration for writing something different. Will miss your daily post.

    My Darcy Mutates

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  23. Wow! Jury duty will be fascinating! It's the not knowing your schedule part that will be hardest. Wishing you the best. I am not a NanNo woman...but I too am pulling back a bit this month...focusing on a new fledgling business (the photo note cards). I give you tons of credit Helen, for being such a commited blogger. Thanks for all the wisdom and knowledge you impart. We'll be here, still reading via your new schedule.

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  24. I can't wait to hear about anything you can talk about.

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  25. I'd like to meet the judge who had enough nerve to try to slap a gag order on you!

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  26. I’ll miss your daily posts, but as a once-a-week blogger myself, I certainly understand.

    Federal jury duty could be an interesting experience - I hope you’re able to blog about it.

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  27. We'll all still be here! And you never know, it could inspire a story one day, perhaps?

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  28. Carolyn, "slap" may be the correct word.

    Cases concerning constitutional law sounds rather boring, but I'd rather do that than decide someone's life or death.

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  29. Good luck with the federal jury duty and I hope you enjoy the experience.

    As a former police officer, no attorney will let me any where near a jury.

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  30. Jury duty sounds like a different story. Blogs can wait.

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  31. Good luck with jury duty. I hope you get a plot or character idea from your efforts--in addition to being a good citizen, I mean. :)

    Kudos to you for blogging daily. So many bloggers post once a month or less frequently, which is very disappointing when the blogger has a style, or information, I like.

    Kudos to you, also, for going to a regular schedule. I can post a couple of times a week, but not on a schedule.

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  32. Ooh, Slamdunk, I shoulda put down ex-police officer instead of Author and Freelance Editor. 'Course I'd probably be in jail myself by now.

    Sheila, if nothing else, it's good research.

    Linda, once I got started blogging every day, I just kept doing it. I tend to do that - start and not quit.

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  33. I've only been called for jury duty once. It was the day I gave birth to my daughter. I had to go down to the courthouse with her birth certificate the day I came home from the hospital to be excused.
    If only they had had facilities available for nursing a new born...

    Good luck with the jury experience and more importantly with the upcoming blog withdrawal.
    [breath, breath, breath]
    Maybe chocolate will help with both?

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