Server Time: 06:03 Wed Feb 7 2001. You hear them, in the distance. A great herd of Votes, on their daily migration. The occasional Ching! rides on their back, picking nits out of their fur. A sound like birds, a smell like wildebeest, you quiver in anticipation.

The herd rushes by with a whoosh; your hair rustles gently in their draft. You watch your noder compatriots frolicking, their gunnysacks full of wild votes, a C! or three in their hands.

But you? Nothing. Maybe a momentary flash, a hint of E2 glory, but then it's gone. Today, the trees do not smile upon your brow; the Gods do not love you. Today you are disenfranchised.

Server Time: 06:21 Thu Feb 8 2001. Another day, another flock of votes passes by. This time, you are left with your precious jewels, the copper coin votes and the sapphire Ching!. "You have 2 cools left today." With great solemnity, you appropriate a C! to a work of shattering brilliance. The node reloads. The writeup is Chung!, and yet "You have 2 cools left today." Manna from heaven, a gift from above. The gentle yet persistent ebb and flow of the nodegel has shifted your oscillatory fortunes yet again. You have learned a very important lesson, you begin to grok the madness.

The server giveth, and the server taketh away.