Happy Day After Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Happy day-after-a-federal-holiday! I have a hard time coming back to the ol' grind, but thank goodness we have a few weeks in between this holiday and the next one. Sigh...

Well, I've made some new friends this month - I'm glad. I enjoy making new friends...and keeping the old ones as well. Check them out in the sidebar...they're cool folks!

One thing I'm debating - the new season of "American Idol" starts tonight. Should I watch? Shouldn't I? I really don't know...I mean, I make fun of Taylor Hicks as much as anyone (come on, you do too...admit it), but I don't understand the whole process. Plus, I want to clarify whether or not I really HATE Simon Cowell for my own reasons, or if I'm just a damn sheep and hatin' on Simon because it's the cool thing to do.

Help me make my decision, gentle readers...

Of course, we've got another winner...don't we always? Ladies & gentlemen, we have a recipient for the "Can't Win For Losing" Award...

Recipient: Andrew "Jack" Whittaker, Scott Depot, WV
Reason: I'll let the article state it, which it does succinctly:

A man beset by problems since winning a record lottery jackpot says he can't pay a settlement to a casino worker because thieves cleaned out his bank accounts.

Yep - so much for being lucky. Mr. Whittaker won $315 million in the Powerball lottery in 2002. Ever since then, his life has (for lack of a better word) sucked. Among the suckage:

...he has faced his granddaughter's death by drug overdose; he has been sued for bouncing checks at Atlantic City, N.J., casinos; he has been ordered to undergo rehab after being arrested on drunken driving charges; his vehicles and business have been burglarized; and he has been sued by the father of an 18-year-old boy, a friend of his granddaughter's, who was found dead in Whittaker's house.

Now, this latest incident has him against the wall...

Kitti French...accused him of assaulting her at the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center, a slots-only casino near Charleston, according to a motion French's lawyer filed this week demanding payment of the confidential settlement.

Yep. Suckage.

Judge's comments:

You know, there was a Powerball winner in my hometown, and he and his wife proved the theory that money can't fix stupid. I overheard the wife complain in the Hy-Vee Deli one day that "ever since we won the lottery, we can't get student loans for our kids."

Well, of COURSE not! Pardon my saying so, but isn't that what the lottery is FOR? Fulfilling dreams of college educations for your children? Paying off debts? Owning a dream house?

(BTW, our brain-trust of a powerball winner later tried to sell back the remainder of his winnings to the state because he didn't want to pay taxes on it anymore. Then he basically bought the mayoral seat in my hometown, served his terms, declared city-wide holidays such as "Tie Your Shoes On Your Own Day" and is now living the quasi-gentrified life outside of town in his log home.)

Apparently, there is a need for psychological counseling to adjust the winning individual to their new-found wealth. Mr. Whittaker seems to be one of those individuals. Granted, the situation with his grand-daughter was one outside his sphere, but the rest - I think he's got some issues there.

So apparently, money CAN'T buy happiness...or RENT it. Sigh...

So on that note, I'll say adieu for today...it's a short entry, I know, but there's plenty of other long-winded stuff in here. Find something else - I can't spoon-feed ya, you know!

Smooches!