Powerball

I have a good enough understanding of probability theory to avoid playing the lottery very often. In fact, given the way my luck normally works, I avoid most sorts of gambling. I'm crazy lucky when it comes to day to day stuff... playing games, being in the right place at the right time. Some people actually treated me much like our Whateley mutants get treated because I would just casually raise my hand for no apparent reason only to catch something that had been thrown at me by some bully/jerk. I always argued it as good peripheral vision or a reflection in my glasses allowing me to see some things that would otherwise be out of my line of sight... but truthfully, I don't know how it happened... it just did.

But... put money on the table? Or really, anything material? And my luck disappears. I once, playing poker for mini-candy bars with friends for a brief bit while waiting for kids to come to the house for trick or treating, was dealt a full house; a four of a kind, and a royal flush... but when I play for money? I will rarely even see a pair.

But, despite my regular bad luck; when the lottery gets up into the really high numbers, I'll buy a ticket. Just one... not appreciably improving my odds to get more than one, after all. Over 100 million.. I'll play if I think about it. Over 200 million, I start to actually pay attention to it. When it gets as high as it is right now... over 500 million (that's half a billion)... I make a conscious effort not to miss picking up a ticket. Mainly because... while I know there's very little chance for me to win it... the amount of money is significant enough that I can't help but think of ways I could make a difference with it.

So... Powerball for half a billion dollars, tomorrow night. Think about how many Whateley Universe stories we could be publishing if we could compensate our authors for their time spent, allowing them to be full time Whateley story writers... for example... :)

In the meantime... there's some new content! Since the last news, we've had part 2 of "A Dragon Abroad" from Astrodragon... Part 2 of Morpheus' "The Absinthe of Malice" and E. E. Nalley's "Dague de L'esprit" ... today, please enjoy "A Very Imp-Portant Date", Part 3... from Morpheus. Remember to take time to comment on these stories and join in the feedback in the forums!