Ultrasound Adventures

I really hate ultrasounds.

Well, the ultrasounds themselves aren't so bad I suppose. You just lay there on a table/bed/thing while the technician moves a wand around on your belly, not that bad really. The gel isn't even cold (not the one I used, anyway). Really, it was better than the MRI where I had to lay still in a giant tube thing for however long, doing nothing with an IV line in my arm (which was very uncomfortable).

So the ultrasound procedure itself isn't much to write home about.

Waiting around with a full bladder and not being allowed to use the bathroom is what I have a problem with. Fucking hate that.

Today's was the second ultrasound I ever had (my first one was two years ago), and to be fair it did go a bit better than the first one. I didn't cry this time, so that's something. Although I did whine a bit.

I hate the part where I have to have a full bladder. I was waiting at the hospital for about an hour, and the procedure itself couldn't have lasted longer than 10 or 15 minutes, but that's a long fucking time when you really need to pee.

I was nearly in pain near the end.

Luckily, my technician was nice and didn't poke fun at me for being insanely uncomfortable (unlike my mother. Thanks, Ma.).

So yeah, fucking hate ultrasounds.

How I Am Not A Total Idiot

• Ordered 70$ worth of DVDs from Amazon UK last week.
• Got them in the mail today a few days earlier than planned.
• Happy dance.
• Find out (hours later) that DVDs don't play on any DVD players in the house.
• Even though a DVD I bought from Amazon UK weeks ago does.
• Is confused.
• Contemplates beating head against wall.
• Starts searching online for region free DVD players.
• Find one for 40$.
• Don't really want to buy it because I've been spending a lot of money lately.
• Find out about unlocking DVD players.
• Google it.
• Run around house looking for a DVD player I can unlock.
• Find one.
• Unlock it successfully.
• Am genius.
• Happy dance.
• Spend five minutes switching DVD players in the basement and upstairs.
• Still works.
• Happy dance continues.
• Mom says it's late and can't watch new DVDs until tomorrow.
• Whatever, still genius.
• Starting to get worried about this actually still working tomorrow.
• Paranoid happy dance.

You Be The Jury: Courtroom Collection

Marvin Miller

Order in the court!

The court is now in session, and you are the jury. You examine the evidence. You spot the clues. You decide: Guilty or Not Guilty?

Can you solve the following baffling cases?

?       What really happened to Mr. Compson in The Case of the Dangerous Golf Ball?

?       Who is spying on Gordon Winslow in The Case of the Nosy Neighbor?

?       Who commited the crime in The Case of the Troublesome Twins?

Inside, you’ll find forty courtroom mysteries with illustrated clues. You can look up the answers if you’re stumped, but try not to peek. The final verdict is up to you!

(from the back of the book)

 

If you like puzzles you’ll probably like You Be the Jury: Courtroom Collection (which is actually four books in one).

You Be the Jury is a compilation of 40 court case scenarios. Each scenario is about 3 to 4 pages long and starts off with one side giving their account of the crime, and then the other side will give their account. After each scenario is three page-sized illustrations which contain more clues that will either contradict or support the defendant’s story. Your job is to act as the jury and try to determine the defendant’s guilt or innocence using the clues provided in the text and pictures. The solution is always on the page that follows the three pages of illustrations.

The cases themselves are fairly simple; mostly robberies, forgeries, and fraud. The stories told by the people in the court are straightforward and there are always two clear sides to each story. There usually isn’t any way to figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying without looking at the pictures. There are always three pictures, but there is usually only one with the clue to solve the puzzle. The clues aren’t always obvious, but once you find it you’ll immediately get the answer.

The original You Be the Jury books were published in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and it sometimes shows. The cases are written in a way where they could take place at almost any time but, because there isn’t any mention of modern technology like cell phones or computer files, the stories give off the feeling of happening in the past. There’s even a case centered around a young boy using a typewriter to type up a school project. I almost didn’t get the clue for that case because I have very little experience with typewriters, having only used one for a short time during my childhood. So it’s a bit dated.

The cases are not connected to each other in any way, so there isn’t any kind of storyline throughout the book. This makes it easy to put down the book and pick it back up later if you don’t feel like going through all 40 cases in one go. It also makes it so that the cases don’t have to be read in any kind of order.

This is a pretty good book to pick up if you enjoy puzzle solving and short stories. It reads very easily and is not aimed at any particular age of reader so it both the young and old would have no trouble enjoying it. (Although I got my copy from a Scholastics book order while I was in school so a younger reader may enjoy it more than someone older.)