Court + Casino?!
I had quite an exciting(in both good and bad ways) weekend that left me really tired on Monday.. I had a subpoena for court in Oroville at 8:30AM too! That means I had to wake up at around 6AM to depart from the lab at 7AM to get there on time! My co-worker also got a subpoena for the same case, so we went together! On Friday, we were both bickering who was going to drive there, since its going to be a looong drive. The funny thing was that when I arrived at the lab, we were both wearing matching colors: blue shirt and black suit! That was so funny to be matching..!
The drive to Oroville was quite long. We pass through many farmlands and orchards... We then went to the juvenile court house.. Inside, to both our surprise, there was no metal detector device! It was just a small waiting room with arranged plastic lawn chairs! There were 3 police officers, one automobile evidence expert (who was looking at a photo and deduced from the skid mark that the person was driving at least 45 MPH!), 2 civilian witnesses, and of course, us. Of course, we had to wait until our case is up.
This case apparently is the kid's 2nd DUI, but they can't suspend his license because it is not alcohol related, but marijuana! What the heck!? So people under prescription/illegal drugs can get it easy!? That is what one of the police officers told us. That police officer actually asked us if we are from the "big city" (<-- in this rare case, that means SACRAMENTO. *not* LA or SF.. I was laughing inside when I heard that!).. He said that he is originally from Redding, then got transferred to LA after CHP academy, then worked in Sacramento.. and finally now works in Oroville.
Well, with this FINE line up of witnesses, the defense attorney was talking to the kid and his parents for a while.. and after around 1 hour (or around 9:30AM), the DA and Defence attorney asked us all to go outside. He then announced proudly that the defendant plead and without bargaining, so we can all leave! He thanked us all for showing up and said that less people are willing to act as witnesses in court. Yup, seems like our team's prescence intimidated the defendant to plea guilty! What a waste of tax money though. Instead of having officers in the streets, they are wasting their time in court!
So afterwards, it was still early and we were headed back to Sacramento when we noticed a sign for Feather Falls Casino lunch buffet! "hmm.. should we go and check it out?" .. and so we went! I haven't gone to a casino in years.. Its really a whole different world inside! Lots of beeps and noises, cigarette smoke, and tons of OLD white haired people. Yup, so many old people (many are Asian too!) have nothing to do after retiring.. its sort of sad!! We really didn't look like we belonged there.. especially wearing our suits! It cost $5.99 for the breakfast buffet.. It was yummy.. omelette, french toast, bacon, potatoes, fresh fruit, sausage.. We ate until they started to bring out the lunch menu.. but by then, we were so stuffed! We didn't play any slot machines, but I took some photos outside. After the casino though, we were really sleepy driving back to the lab.. I had to wake up my co-worker a few times as he began to rapidly blink while driving! Then, when we arrived back, I was sleepy the whole day, despite constant refills of tea .. It was rather an unproductive day at work!!
The drive to Oroville was quite long. We pass through many farmlands and orchards... We then went to the juvenile court house.. Inside, to both our surprise, there was no metal detector device! It was just a small waiting room with arranged plastic lawn chairs! There were 3 police officers, one automobile evidence expert (who was looking at a photo and deduced from the skid mark that the person was driving at least 45 MPH!), 2 civilian witnesses, and of course, us. Of course, we had to wait until our case is up.
This case apparently is the kid's 2nd DUI, but they can't suspend his license because it is not alcohol related, but marijuana! What the heck!? So people under prescription/illegal drugs can get it easy!? That is what one of the police officers told us. That police officer actually asked us if we are from the "big city" (<-- in this rare case, that means SACRAMENTO. *not* LA or SF.. I was laughing inside when I heard that!).. He said that he is originally from Redding, then got transferred to LA after CHP academy, then worked in Sacramento.. and finally now works in Oroville.
Well, with this FINE line up of witnesses, the defense attorney was talking to the kid and his parents for a while.. and after around 1 hour (or around 9:30AM), the DA and Defence attorney asked us all to go outside. He then announced proudly that the defendant plead and without bargaining, so we can all leave! He thanked us all for showing up and said that less people are willing to act as witnesses in court. Yup, seems like our team's prescence intimidated the defendant to plea guilty! What a waste of tax money though. Instead of having officers in the streets, they are wasting their time in court!
So afterwards, it was still early and we were headed back to Sacramento when we noticed a sign for Feather Falls Casino lunch buffet! "hmm.. should we go and check it out?" .. and so we went! I haven't gone to a casino in years.. Its really a whole different world inside! Lots of beeps and noises, cigarette smoke, and tons of OLD white haired people. Yup, so many old people (many are Asian too!) have nothing to do after retiring.. its sort of sad!! We really didn't look like we belonged there.. especially wearing our suits! It cost $5.99 for the breakfast buffet.. It was yummy.. omelette, french toast, bacon, potatoes, fresh fruit, sausage.. We ate until they started to bring out the lunch menu.. but by then, we were so stuffed! We didn't play any slot machines, but I took some photos outside. After the casino though, we were really sleepy driving back to the lab.. I had to wake up my co-worker a few times as he began to rapidly blink while driving! Then, when we arrived back, I was sleepy the whole day, despite constant refills of tea .. It was rather an unproductive day at work!!