Not A Happy Camper

Got up early to do our every Monday dog walk/play date with Jean. It was very dark and cloudy outside and the wind was blowing a little. When Jean got to my house with her dogs, it was starting to sprinkle, so instead of doing the walk, we decided to just let the dogs have a play date in my backyard. It was the wind that was blowing the sprinkles out of the clouds, but we didn't want to get out walking with the dogs and have it start pouring on us. It was very cold sitting on the patio. Had some breakfast and then Hiker went with me when I went over to Wal-Mart. It was still extremely cloudy. When we have this kind of weather, I let her go with me and she sleeps in the car while I'm in the store. I am NOT a happy camper today. I received a jury summons for Federal Court which is in downtown Los Angeles. What is bad about this situation is that if I have to report, I will have to be there no later than 8:15 am. I live 35 miles from downtown Los Angeles and the traffic Santa Clarita to Los Angeles (all freeway) is bumper to bumper in the early morning. They claim I am only 40 minutes away but they are not thinking about the traffic. I would have to get up around 4 am and leave around 5 am to make sure I get there on time and I have never driven myself to downtown Los Angeles, so I have no idea where I would be going. Also, if I have to report, I'll have to see if Jean can take Hiker while I'm gone because they told me the court closes at 5 pm so I would be gone all day and traffic coming home will be just as bad as it is going. Plus it will be the last week of November and the first week of December so it will be pitch dark outside both going and coming. I'm not used to driving in the dark and if it rains, it will be even worse. The only good thought is that I'd be on-call for 2 weeks. I would have to call the Monday of each week to find out if I had to appear at all on either week. If not, then I would be done with the on-call duty. I hope and pray that when I call in, they tell me they do not need me.