December 19, 2006

The Poker Gods Have Forgiven Me

The first time I played poker, with real people and real (albeit coin) money, I was hosed. Not necessarily because I am bad at playing cards--I am not excellent but I can do okay--but because my luck was exceptionally poor. The second time I played was not much different, though I did manage to reach the bottom of my change dish slower.

But on Saturday, the Gods finally let me go. I got good hands (I was dealt an Ace high straight in 5-card!) and managed to come away with more money than I had entered with. At least, I think. It's hard to tell when you play with a big pile of uncounted change.

It was a fun evening, full of surprising hands and excellent pizza. And, above all, a clean slate of gambling karma.

Now it's off to DC and then Michigan for a few (nine) days! I may post while away, but clearly there are no promises.

December 7, 2006

If It Were In The Onion...

Once again, the Washington Post hands us a story that is so full of deranged quotes that it feels like it should be a satire of some kind. But no, the House really is going to work 5 days a week. The horror.

It's not so much the workload (out by 2pm on Monday and Friday!), which is eerily similar to my own schedule, but the reaction from the Congresspersons who dislike the plan. I'm not assuming they're all GOP, but that's all the Post quotes (though a Dem Rep from Florida says she has a Brownie troop conflict). Roy Blunt (R-MO) says its a strategy to screw freshman Democrats, but even funnier are Rep. Jack Kingston's (R-GA) thoughts:

"Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

Oh Jack, you stupid SOB, I'm sorry if you thought being voted into one of the highest positions in the free world would require only a half-hour of your time every 3rd weekend of the month, but it turns out this isn't the National Guard.

But he's right, though. I could care less about his family. Because millions of Americans see their kids and spouses far less often than good ol' Jack Kingston and his ragtag bunch of freeloading representatives. The article also mentions that this year's GOP-led Congress--the 109th--worked for a whopping 103 days (and how many of those were out-at-2pm days?) this year.

But I guess that's fine, what with there being nothing at all to legislate about these days.