My old lappy took a dump on me last September-ish and I needed to get the cash for a new one without delving into the family budget. My solution? Play backgammon on the job against coworkers for money using the doubling cube. Over the past six months I've managed to siphon three grrrrr out of their pockets (done against a number of victims at various times so no one compares their losses against another's). I've become a veritable frogskin vampire with a belatedly realized talent for statistics and probability equations, resulting in what is likely a 20:1 win/loss ratio.
Seriously? There are times when I feel like that character Russell Crowe played in "Beautiful Mind" where numbers literally jumped out at me as I was calculating chances and likely rolls. I'd frequently call my shot and name the roll I'd get, much to the amazement and chagrin of my increasingly poorer opponent.
The payoff is a new Dell XPS 2.33ghz, duo 2 core, 2 gig 667 RAM, 512 nvidia 1950GTX, 120 gig 7200 RPM HD, with 17" display with native 1900x1200 resolution. And it's free. F-r-e-e. F. R. E. E. Free, as in I practically stole it from my coworkers. I almost pee myself every time I think about it.
Totem