Category Archives: Eduardo Soliz
Injuryous
For just the third time since moving to my current city of residence, I have been summoned to jury duty. Despite that, I have yet to actually be on a jury; the closest I have come was an attempted murder trial where I didn’t make the cut. Unfortunately, the process of picking jurors took all day and into the night, so I didn’t even get to enjoy a partial day off. 😐
Most people approach jury duty with the same level of enthusiasm reserved for trips to the dentist, but it has never bothered me outside of having to wake up at oh-dark-thirty in a feeble attempt to get ahead of downtown traffic. Admittedly, I am blessed to have a career where I am paid for the days off. As fate would have it, this go-round falls the day before a planned long weekend, so one way or another it’s going to be a longer weekend now.
I get why most people dislike jury duty. Getting downtown is a pain, being herded into the Central Jury room and waiting for the fun to begin sucks, and for many folks it means getting a lousy paycheck the following week.
Juries are an important part of our justice system and a constitutional right guaranteed to citizens by the Constitution. Like voting, serving on a jury is our responsibility as citizens. Unlike voting, people don’t have much choice in the matter, so one may as well do the job and do it right once they’re there.
Besides, if you were on trial, would you want your freedom to be decided by twelve angry men?
Tails and Tornadoes Day -2!
August 28, 2024 – Intro / Driving to Waco
iOS has a Journal app, so I thought I’d dictate my thoughts as I take a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Tails and Tornadoes furry convention. So here we go!
It’s been a while since I’ve taken a trip up by 35 for fun or even for work for that matter. Just getting out of San Antonio was a bit of a bear; given that I left during rush hour, that was to be expected. I looked at all the construction on I-35 while I was heading out of town and thought: “You know this is all going to be nice someday…someday.”
Of course, I had planned on making a stop at Buc-ees in New Braunfels. The drive up there made me think of my old job at the hospital nearby.
I ended up stopping at the H-E-B in New Braunfels instead of the Buc-ees since I can get a snack for cheaper there. Sign of the times, I suppose. There is another one up the road I can stop at anyway.
As I approach Austin, the question arises of: Should I take the toll or drive through town? I usually take the toll but instead chose to go through town because it’s late in the evening. I figure the lousy traffic that usually populates Austin should be manageable by now. I can also save a few bucks. Hey, every little bit helps.
One nice byproduct of having an iPhone again is that I can compare between Apple Maps, Google Maps, and Waze. The consensus seems to be that despite the 85mph speed limit on the toll road, I won’t save much time.
There used to be a Dairy Queen outside of Austin right off the freeway on the northbound side. I didn’t see it, so I don’t know if I missed it, or if it closed down, yet another casualty of COVID just like the shuttered DQ on I-37 in between Corpus Christi and San Antonio. I did see a new DQ north of Austin, and thus, the balance of the universe is maintained.
I started encountering some rainstorms north of Austin, which makes me realize I forgot to bring a raincoat. I did remember to bring an umbrella, though. Oh well.
Stopping in Waco has become a new strategy for me whenever I take a long trip to Dallas or beyond; it helps that I had some hotel points to burn so it won’t cost me anything. I might even make a trip to the Dr. Pepper museum in town in the morning because why not? Registration at the convention will not be open on Thursday night (a head-scratcher to be sure) so there’s no big hurry to get there for the convention. Off to bed because I’ll be seeing plenty of road tomorrow!
Super-Short Storytime: “Ode To Texas”
As a lifelong Texan, I am no stranger to hot summers, so this poem, popularly known as “Ode To Texas” hits a certain nerve around this time of the year when it feels like the triple-digit days will never end in the Lone Star State. The author of this work has seemingly been lost to time, but it was written way before our miserably hot modern times. And so I give you: “Ode to Texas”
Super-Short Storytime: “A Conversation”
Whether you work with words, musical notes, paint, foam, cloth, or even pixels, there are few times more frustrating than when your brain just doesn’t want to cooperate and the whatever-it-is that you want to create just doesn’t happen. We’ve all been there, and one such time provided me with this delightful drabble that I have deemed: “A Conversation”
Super-Short Storytime: “Saturday Night”
Few things in life are as embarrassing as not being in the right place. Indeed, Dear Listeners, I have found myself inside the wrong classroom, dorm room, hotel room and even building on occasion. Thus, I can certainly relate to the young lady in this little lost lark that I’ve labeled: “Saturday Night.”
Super-Short Storytime: “Oneupmanship”
While I would like to be hopeful that gatherings such as this don’t take place in real life, the callousness that the “haves” can show towards the “have-nots” makes me wonder sometimes. And so I present this rich recital that I call: “Oneupmanship.”
Super-Short Storytime: “Loaner”
If a company sells a million widgets and 1 percent of them break, that’s ten thousand unhappy customers. As the man in this story is about to learn, service contracts tend to favor the ones who wrote them and thus, I give you this tale of customer dissatisfaction that I call: “Loaner.”
My Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 #1
“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)”, Ramones, 1989
It feels fitting to close out 2021 with some punk rock.
Naturally, the Ramones make up for the song’s sentimentalism in the video:
Enjoy the full list of Christmas favorites on YouTube!
My Favorite Christmas Songs 2021 #2
“Everyone’s a Kid at Christmastime”, Stevie Wonder, 1965
This is Stevie Wonder’s third song on my list. It’s upbeat, fun, and a reminder that it’s okay to let our inner child out to play every holiday season.
Enjoy the full list of Christmas favorites on YouTube!
Eduardo Soliz 