Life -- the game

Last Sunday, we went to our friends' house for lunch. It was a very nice meal, and I say that because it truly was, and not because they read my blog. They don't read my blog, actually. But after our lunch (which consisted of eating, with forays into conversation, we played Life. Those of you who do not know what the game of Life is may now take a break and google it. The rest of you, no matter how much you may wish to leave and not come back, stick with me.

The game of Life was made especially interesting by one, general, factor, and that was the players. One player in particular made the game very interesting by his manipulation of the rules. Not to mention any names, of course. I should like to warn those of you who may have the horror fantastic experience of playing Life in his company: Do not let him have the Tech Support card -- cheat if necessary. If he does get it, he will charge a $50,000 fee for fixing the spinner every time it gets stuck. However he won't actually fix it, but will leave it for the next hapless victim of his embezzlement player. Then he will end up having over 2 million dollars and will consequently win. Shocking that such fraud should find its way into a circle of homeschool friends playing an innocent game of Life, isn't it? However, I am such a nice person that I am keeping the naughty player anonymous to avoid recriminations, etc.

The game of Life lasted a long while, which was time enough for someone to work his mischief and collect, from his fellow players, more money than he could count. One of his victims of high crime was an innocent Monopoly car, aka "hunk of junk." The owner of this car was so unfortunate as to not be able to ride in his car (have you ever tried placing a Life guy in a monopoly car?) and was forced to drive his car by remote control, but even these unfortunate circumstances did not assuage a certain smug player's relentless, Silas Marner-like qualities.

Aside from the tech support dude drama, we also saw some interest in the swapping of salary cards. Duncan found himself the much-envied owner of the $100,000 salary, and Jordan made it his Life's goal (yes, that was a pun) to get it. It worked, and except for a brief interval when yours truly was in possession of said card, Jordan was rolling in the cash.

After the game of Life, which Logan won (and I shall not say how exactly he came by his millions, nor how he earned the nickname "Moneybags"), we talked intermittently, defended ourselves against the jogging elbow of our friends dad (wait, that would have been "me" instead of "we"), and went home.