Air You Can Wear

Can it possibly get any hotter!  It was really hot coming across Alabama and Mississippi.  I about stroked out changing those blowouts in the middle of the day.  But since getting to Livingston it has only gotten hotter.  In these few days that we have been waiting for jury duty to start, the temperature has reached epic highs.  The actual temperature has peaked at 110 several times.  And with near biblical rains in this area for the past few months everything is soaking wet, raising the humidity levels to the point that the heat index has been topping out between 115 and 118 degrees.  The air is so thick you don't breath it, you wear it.

Our 5th wheel RV has two of the largest air conditioners you can have on an RV at 15,000 BTU's a piece.  But they can't begin to keep up with this kind of heat.  The temperature in the rig rises steadily with the sun, staying roughly 20 degrees below outside ambient.  So when it hits 110 outside we're running almost 90 degrees inside.  Not comfortable.  We spend our afternoons in the truck running errands for things we don't need at places with good air conditioning.

To top off the heat, Cyndee has come down with strep throat.  We located a doc-in-a-box and to our surprise the doctor said that Cyndee was her fourth case of strep that day!  Pretty amazing given that it's the middle of summer.  What's going on in Livingston?

And we learned something.  Shop around for medicine, the differences between pharmacies for the same medicine can be huge.  We spent $60 at one national chain and learned later that it would have been only $10 for the same thing at another one.

Jury duty time has arrived.  The little burg of Livingston, population 5,335, has a history that dates back to 1835.  Despite its diminutive size, it is the county seat of Polk County and had a courthouse built befitting the position.

Polk County Courthouse.
This one built in 1924

But oddly enough, no court proceedings are held in the courthouse.  Instead, all judicial proceedings are held in the relatively new (built in 2011) Polk County Judicial Center directly behind the old courthouse.

Polk County Judicial Center

Not being in the old building with questionable environmental control was great as far as we were concerned.  We would be happy to be in a modern structure with the latest in air conditioning technology.  But were we ever surprised to pass through the metal detectors in the entrance and be greeted by stale hot air being blown around by a hastily assembled conflagration of fans.  It seems that one of the thunderstorms that came through over the weekend had knocked out the electronic controllers for the roof top unit that cooled the courtrooms.  Ugh.

All the jurors, about 100 of us, were assembled in a single room and given the preliminary rundown, culling out those that were ineligible to serve and hearing the pleas of those wishing to be excused.  All were hunting for anything they could find to fan themselves with.  There were a lot of red faces and everyone's hair was wet with sweat.  We were then divided into two groups, about 40 a piece, and sent to respective courtrooms for further winnowing for the actual trials.  Cyndee and I were sent to the same courtroom.  Looking like we are going to be co-jurors.

The judge introduced the case to the jury pool, a lawsuit, and then turned the lawyers loose to question each of us for suitability for the job.  That's when it got a little strange.  The lawyer representing the two gentlemen bringing the lawsuit began, what appeared to us, an argument for the prosecution of the case.  Now mind you, the trial had not started, this was just jury selection.  And he was not exactly a smooth talker either.  Maybe it was the being sick from strep or the heat or a combination of both but this lawyer's approach flew all over Cyndee and when the lawyer made the mistake of asking each of us if we had any problems with anything we had heard, Cyndee let loose and there was no one in the room that didn't know that she had a problem with that lawyer.  Guess who got excused from jury duty.  Guess who didn't.

A bright spot in the day was lunch.  Jury selection ran right up to lunch so Cyndee and I were able to eat together.  We chose to try out the Whistle Stop Cafe just across the street from the courthouse.











They had typical Texas home cooking - meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc.  But I chose the Texasist home cooking of all, chicken fried steak.

Lunch was over too soon.  I headed back to the hot courthouse and Cyndee headed for the hot camper.  But we were in court only a short time when the judge said it was clear that the trial was going to last more than one day and that we would adjourn and begin again tomorrow.  I think he was not too happy with the plaintiff's lawyer either, or the heat.  Since we only have one vehicle Cyndee had taken it home so I was afoot.  I called Cyndee to come back and get me.  If it had not been so hot it would have been nice waiting in the gazebo on the courthouse lawn.