partying partying YEAH + night bike

[rubah]

The kids at work* have started organizing these Friday night gaming sessions. The first one was a week ago, and we just played Smash Brothers on the projector and ping pong. A couple of the guys who are more senior and work from our clients' sites came by later and added to the party feel.

Everyone immediately agreed that we should do it again, and even a few more people heard about it and came by, this time bringing some drinks, too. One person brought this physical tetris-like puzzle game called Fits that was pretty fun (and difficult!). Another guy had a pack of cards, so I taught everyone how to play ERS.

I hadn't played Egyptian Rat Screw since high school when it was a staple of long band trips and boredom during breaks, but after googling it a little,
The linked site basically lays down the gist, but this is the specific flavor I know and love:

1. Deal out the entire deck to everyone playing, face down


2. Everyone holds their deck without looking at it and begin to lay down one card at a time in turns


3. When a face card (Jack, Queen, King, Ace) is played, the next player has to lay down another face card within a certain number of tries:
   
   • Jack: 1 chance
   
   
   • Queen: 2 chances
   
   
   • King: 3 chances
   
   
   • Ace: 4 chances
   
   
4. If they succeed, then the same thing repeats for the next player; they will have to lay their own face card down.


5. If they fail, whoever laid down the last face card can take the entire pile. They put it on the bottom of their current deck without shuffling


6. However, if there are two successive cards played that are the same rank (two 3s, two 9s, two Aces) then anybody can slap the pile and claim it. If multiple people slap, then whoever's fingers are most definitively on the bottom will win.


7. If there are no doubles and someone slaps, that person must forfeit a card on the bottom of the current pile (called "Burning" a card)


8. If you lose all your deck, you can still get back in by slapping doubles. Just be careful you don't obnoxiously slap on every single play, because the current players can excommunicate you from the game if they get tired of your shenanigans!


9. The object is to have the entire deck in your hands.


I won pretty easily while everyone else was still learning the rules, so for the last game, I volunteered to start with no cards and slap my way in, and I still won. I was pretty impressed, because a couple of the guys playing ran out of cards and were able to slap back in themselves for a little while.

There's already one planned for next week that will actually be company sponsored, so the participation will be even greater. I'm excited!

At the end of the night when my boyfriend and I were ready to leave, I had to make the decision of whether I wanted to take my first night bikeride on my Raleigh. I opted to make the trip, since I had installed my lights and my route goes through a quiet residential neighborhood. It was beautiful. The moon and stars were showing clear against some clouds, and there was a stiff, crisp breeze (Even without biking, it was enough to blow you over) that carried the scent of blossoms. A+ would ride again.