Jury Duty... It's A YEAR from Now!

A month and a half ago I got an updated jury summons. I thought it was for this coming week. I canceled travel plans for this coming week as a result. (Hawk and I were planning to travel over the New Year.) Then today, as I was trying to check in for jury duty instructions and kept getting a "You're too early" error message, I realized the summons is for December 2026. 😳



Wow, what a facepalm moment.



What a double facepalm moment.

Well, the only thing I can say at this point about the lost opportunity to travel— because I really hate losing an opportunity to travel, especially when it happens for a dumbass reason— is that we probably would've canceled our travel plans anyway.

Two weeks ago Hawk suffered a setback in her healing from her foot surgery when she stumbled off her knee scooter. (The scooter hit a bump on an uneven sidewalk and stopped abruptly. She landed on her feet but jarred her knee.) Then one week ago she suffered further setbacks with strained muscles/tendons. Though the worst of these problems is over she's still got pain from them and remains less mobile than she was two weeks ago. So because of that we'd be opting to stay home anyway. Yay?

Embarking on a Mileage Run

Flying for Fun & Profit #1
SJC Airport. Sun, 28 Dec 2026, 3:30pm.

This afternoon I am embarking on a mileage run. It's a flight taken strictly for earning points snd status. A few weeks ago I saw I was coming up a tiny bit short on my Southwest status chase, so I booked this mileage run.

For this mileage run I booked a quick round-trip to LAX. But I'm not going to Los Angeles, other than spending a few hours on the ground at the airport. I get back on a flight home this evening.

Right now I'm at SJC airport. I arrived here well early for the first flight. I'm taking as few chances as possible with the schedule.

I've been checking the flights for on-time-ness all afternoon. The aircraft for my first flight has been tracking on time and just landed from its previous leg. The homebound flight has been drifting a bit late, probably picking up delays from coming from somewhere in the East, where snow has caused lots of cancellations. That flight being late is okay... I'd only get worried if my outbound were late, because then I might miss the homebound! I planned over 3 hours on the ground between flights, so the chances of that are small... though never zero.

Stay tuned, this should only take a few hours!

Update: the flight to LA was smooth, then I took a piss and I turned myself around... that's what it's al about!

In LA Just Long Enough to Piss

Flying for Fun & Profit #2
LAX Airport. Sun, 28 Dec 2026, 6pm.

On this mileage run I'm flying today I planned to be on the ground at LAX for 3-4 hours. It turns out I'm making a much quicker turnaround than that. As I disembarked from my flight I "Checked the TV monitors through the terminal for flight and gate information" (as the recorded announcements always say) on my return flight to SJC.... I saw an earlier flight available. In fact it was boarding practically right then. In fact it was boarding at the gate I just arrived at. The aircraft I flew on to LAW was turning around and going back to SJC!

I considered whether to wait it out 4 hours for my next flight or try flying standby on the earlier one. No agents were at the gate to tell me if seats were even available, so I went off to find a restroom and came back. Sure enough seats, were available. I put my name on the standby list and within 2 minutes had a new boarding pass.

Basically I've just danced the Hokey Pokey. I flew to LA, took a leak, and I turned myself around. That's what it's all about! 🎵

Now I'm back on the same aircraft ready to head home. I'm in the same seat, even. The flight attendant I chatted with on the way down here was... surprisingly not that surprised to see me again! I guess she's seen enough mileage runners she didn't even have to ask. This flight will be about 10 minutes late but it'll still get me home hours earlier than what I planned. Standby FTW!

Update: A happy ending to this mileage run as I land back home in time for dinner out with my spouse.

Back from my Mileage Run/Hokey Pokey. Dinner and Points.

Flying for Fun & Profit #3
Back home. Sun, 28 Dec 2026, 9pm.

Well that was easy. The mileage run I thought would chew up part of the day and all evening got done in just a few hours— thanks to finding a quick turnaround flight back from Los Angeles. I could've been home over an hour ago but I decided, since it was before 7:30 when I landed in San Jose, that I'd like to enjoy dinner out with Hawk. Now it's 9pm and we're back home, unpacked (for very small values of unpacking; basically I just took my computer out of my shoulder bag!) and relaxing.

For dinner we went to California Pizza Kitchen a few miles away. That was my pick because I was planning to eat at the CPK in Terminal 1 at LAX. The CPK there is actually more attractive now than it was a few years ago thanks to renovations, but oh! the prices. I took a peek at their menu while I was dancing the hokey pokey. They want $26 for a pizza! I figured with that and two airport-priced beers I'd be out $60 just for a basic dinner for one. Instead Hawk and I enjoyed a dinner for two near home, including two beers and an appetizer in addition to two meals, and the total was only $80.

Oh, and I just checked— the miles are already posted to my account! I now have A-List Preferred status through 2026. 😎