This morning for work I met with Scott Hendrix, Tim Henrich and Otis and Kathy Johnson to discuss the current state of affairs and ideas for things moving forward.  This was the first time we used the conference room at The Connection Internet Cafe, and it was pretty nice.  After the big meeting Tim and I stuck around to do some work, and while I was there I saw Mike Ashcraft, the preacher at Port City Community Church, which I attend.  I’d noticed that he’d signed up to use the conference room also.  I said hi to him, but I didn’t want to take up his time at the time because it looked like he was in a conversation with somebody.

I tell ya, Mike Ashcraft has to be something of a celebrity around Wilmington, and he’s always nice and polite when you see him out and about.  I remember one time when Amanda and I were shopping at the mall, looking for shoes actually, and we saw him sitting on a bench with one of his daughters.  We hadn’t been going to Port City Community Church very long at that point but we went up and said hi and he talked to us for a few minutes.  He never seems to mind taking a few minutes to talk to people.  It’s not that it’s any big deal for a preacher to talk to someone who attends his church, it’s just that he’s so cool and humble about it all.
Anyway, there wasn’t a whole lot else going on today.  Amanda, Michael and I played Monopoly.  Amanda was looking good for most of the game and I thought my undefeated streak against her was at an end, but I happened to get Boardwalk and Park Place, and Amanda and Michael wanted to keep landing on it.  They landed on it enough that I was able to put up hotels pretty quickly.  Amanda ended up with the orange-red corner and I had the whole back stretch.  When Michael went out I got the light blue properties too.

One thing I’ll say about winning this way is that I’d much rather have been in Amanda’s situation at any given time.  I’ll buy Boardwalk and Park Place, but when it comes down to it I don’t usually put much stock in those two properties.  They’re expensive and they’re at the end of the board, and the one Chance card aside, they’re the properties anybody is least likely to land on.  I guess luck was with me though.

Amanda stuck in there.  She kept selling back hotels and houses when she landed on my stuff and then she’d buy them right back after passing Go.  That could have gone on all night while I whittled away her money, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was when she got assessed for street repairs.  She put up a good fight.

Zach Dotsey