Data Log Entry: # 21830829
Well I am thankful that week is over. I ordered full mass causality drills for the entire ship all last week. We ran exercise drills consisting of haul breeches, various FTL system failures, random fire breakouts and communications failure. The Systems Alliance has named these types of exercises; Rough Trade but the crew affectionately calls it 'Hell Week". It completely messes with the ship's schedule. Cold meals are often served at your battle station, your sleep is practically cut in half and a hot shower doesn't exist for the week. There is only training, training and more training. Despite the hectic schedule, the crew did an outstanding job on all the exercises. I even kept Dr. Chakwas pretty busy with all the mock casualties. I have a feeling I'm going to owe her a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy the next time we are in port though. It's not a wise thing to have your doctor a little peeved at you especially the next time you are in the med lab with a gapping wound and she seems to be taking a little longer than normal with that morphine shot.
To reward the crew for their hard work I threw the ship a little celebration. Tonight was Poker Night aboard the SSV Normandy. If it's one thing I've learned being in the military, you need to play as hard as you work and they certainly worked their butts off this last week. I pulled out all the stops to include sending the requisition officer to purchase the supplies last time we were on the Citadel. Although I had to basically threaten his life to keep it quiet; I didn't want the crew distracted by news of a celebration. We had real poker chips, black jack tables with green felt tops and Tali even created a mechanized roulette table using some spare parts from the cargo bay. Of course, some sore losers from the crew thought it was rigged. To settle the dispute, I ordered that they both got another 20 credits on the house. There always seems to be at least one person who has to complain.
Joker found some cheesy casino music that he blasted threw the speakers of the mess hall all night. I'm also not going to ask how he got his hands on some official Flux Poker playing cards. It is the Commander's night off! Garrus looked quite stunning in his dealer's visor, glittery vest and sleeve garters. He said he had done some black jack dealing while he was working undercover for C-Sec a while back. The way his hands moved over those cards it looked like he had a little more than "some" dealing experience. I tried to remind him who I was when he was dealing me my hand, but then he playfully reminded me, without missing a single beat as he dealt, "But Shepard, I thought you were taking the night off." – Man how did that backfire?
Poker Night was an overall success and a blast. I really think the entire crew got into it. There was even as an unexpected bonus; a hormonal meshing between the human and alien crew members. Heck even Wrex made a killing tonight but I think that's because everyone was too scared to call his bluff and kept folding. The best part of the night was watching how many crew members got whiplash when Dr. Chakwas strolled in wearing a tight black cocktail dress. It fit her perfectly without a waste of fabric. I have to say for an older woman, she rocked that dress. I have a feeling she is going to have an unexpected number of male patients tomorrow at sick call and I don't think Lieutenant Alenko will ever be able to look at her the same way again. When she sat next to him at the roulette table, his face turned so red I had to stifle myself from laughing out loud.
My personal luck wasn't so great however I learned some valuable lessons tonight. For instance, never play cards with a facemask wearing quarian, especially if she tells you that she is not cheating. Also, don't play black jack with a supposedly sweet and innocent asari who kept blaming "beginner's luck" when she stole six months pay from the Captain. Man, nobody wins that many times in a row and now the next time we hit port, she's buying me dinner. Geez! But for the overall morale of the crew right now, it was worth it. Plus I'm getting a free dinner of my choice.
One broke Commander Shepard out
