Updating

The defendant in the trial for which I was called as a juror was found guilty of the charges. His possible sentence is 100 years in prison. I am glad that no one bought the "consensual" sex when an intruder broke into a home, assaulted the female resident, and then raped her (again) when she offered herself so her son could escape the attack.

The man who walked into a real estate office in the middle of the day, hit one employee over the head and then shot another, was caught. I'm not sure how a 6'5" tall African-American man, weighing over 300 pounds, expected to hide in a small desert community, but he stayed local. When he was arrested, it came out that a couple of years ago he committed another violent crime, but was found not guilty. Someone must have fumbled that case or stumbled across a procedural error. Wonder if he'll get off this time?

A high-speed car chase through town ended with the car against a tree. The passenger was caught still in the vehicle, but the driver escaped. How does that happen? There are only so many places to run/hide when the police are right behind the vehicle during a chase, but the occupants of the car escape far more often than they are caught at the scene.

I am ready for the first week of the semester, which always determines how the rest of the 18 weeks will go. Mondays are going to be challenging, but the rest of the week is just a matter of taking it one day at a time. All my classes are filled and have wait lists, but by the end of the semester, especially after the last Pell Grant disbursement, at least a third of the students will have dropped. When the going gets tough, it's easier to bail and blame the teacher for being too hard than it is to dig deep and finish what you started.

Lastly, Ranger is doing great. He loves his new home and his new sister, Trixie. He's had his shots, has his own name tag, and knows that giving lots of love to the new family gets him lots of love (and treats) in return. We're all glad that we were able to find Ranger a good family and that he's happy. We still miss him, but in a good way.