Hyperbolic Camel

California Bob writes:

At 47 I am still getting myself into stupid situations.

Tina hatched a plan to take her family to Las Vegas for a weekend. I said, "sure."
She said, with so many people it would be cheaper to drive. I said, "makes sense."

Thus, bit by bit, and being fully cognizant every step of the way, I committed myself to a 12 hour drive across the Mojave desert, in August, to spend the weekend with a bunch of quibblers.

Sort of a "camel's nose under the tent" scenario, similar to the one which resulted in me getting married.

Moreover, my roulette system, heretofore solid gold, proved to have flaws. I attribute this to a six-sigma event, similar to the one that took down Long Term Capital Management.

But I'm happy to report that the Japanese minivan performed flawlessly, charging through the 110 degree desert and over mountains with six passengers, AC on full blast, without complaint, and still managing 23 mpg. Incredible.

Names changed to protect the guilty.