I'm all in?

Hope everyone had a good Easter (or to Jaime, I hope you had fun with whatever pagan Costa Rican holiday they were celebrating.) The Easter Bunny made a quick stop in Appleton leaving candy and Tiger Woods 2004 for PS2. That game is like a domesticated wolf, you know it's supposed to be harmless, but you're almost afraid to have it in the house. It is the most addictive game I have ever played, period. I don't even particularily like golf, yet I'm sitting there after two straight hours of playing, deciding between a pitch and a flop from 35 feet away from the pin.

Taxes rule! Even though it accounts for 75% of the phone calls I get at work and the next three weeks are going to be pure hell, taxes kick butt. They run the government, they keep wasteful social programs "that I love" alive, and most importantly, for some of us, they give us money back. I got my tax return on Friday! Yay! For once, I may even stick to a plan on how I will spend it. I shouldn't actually be happy about getting a return. As every good Republican should know, tax refunds are the return of an interest free loan that you just gave to the government. But when you check the balance of your bank account online and that return is staring you in the face, it's like butterflies being released in the stomach, isn't it? I made out like a bandit even though I had part time residence in both the UP and Wisky this year (I think I owe Michigan like $9.)

The Seattle trip is coming together nicely. We have our plane tickets and BJ and Kate will be picking up the tickets to see the Mariners and THE 2004 WORLD CHAMPION BOSTON RED SOX!!!!! HURRAH! GO SOX! Oh, and we're going to see some other stuff like a museum and some Space Needle thing, and THE 2004 WORLD SERIES CHAMPION RED SOX! This is the first vacation of my adult life and it is going to kick the butt and take the names, fool. But it is still well over a month away. Sad.

Finally, am I sick of hearing about poker. Wow, am I ever. Ever since ESPN started airing the World Series of Poker regularly, you can't get away from it. The worst part is the stories. This or a variation of this is every poker story I've ever heard:
Some Guy: "So, I was playing poker last night, Nate."
Me: (sigh) "Oh, really?"
Some Guy: "Do you play cards?"
Me: "No, it's not really my thing."
Some Guy: "So anyways, I almost won. I had this flush going after "the flop", then after "the river" it was just me and this other guy. I was thinking he probably had a flush too but I had a Queen high so I went all in. The Ace was already out there, so the only thing he could have that would've beat me was a King. Guess what he had?"
Me: "Umm, a King? Probably?"
Some Guy: "Sure did! I was so pissed!"
Me: "Umm. Tough luck I guess." I don't blame the people for being excited, it's just that I don't have anything to add to the conversation and I feel like an idiot. Enough with the poker!

I'm finished,
Nate