2004-06-29 - 23:27

Seventy-one

So, Canada wimped out and voted the Liberals back in; but at least the party lost some ground. Hopefully, the Conservatives will realize that they lost the election for being socially too far right. If they reeled back some of their social policy to a more moderate stance, they'd be a more appealing alternative. Maybe next time. (Although maybe Canadians are masochists who refuse to vote for anyone who wants to cut taxes.)

Keeping on the Canuck theme, I'm taking Friday off to turn Canada Day into a four-day weekend, as are many other people. Laurie's sister is visiting us starting tomorrow; and Jon and Paul are driving up from the States on Friday. All in all, it oughta be a very fun stretch.

Since last I wrote, we celebrated Loralei's birthday with steak, bowling, and gambling. My long stretch of avoiding the blackjack table was broken; but I did restrict myself to smaller wagers, walking away with a couple hundred in profit.

In an attempt to kill time, I tried keno for the first time. I made it through 19 numbers without a match, meaning that I had about a 2 in 3 chance of pocketing 600 bucks; but I was done in on the last ball. Damn you, 71! ("If you were seventeen, we'd be rich! But nooooooooooo . . . You had to be ten.")

Since then, things have been relatively quiet. Last weekend, Laurie and I finally did the major housecleaning, finding places for all of her stuff that had been deposited in the living room on moving day. The place has never looked better.

Oh, I also booked my trip home with Laurie for July 31 to August 9. So even after this long weekend, I just have to slog through another month and I'm home free. Can't complain.

J.