From a story on texastribune.org by Abby Livingston headlined “The education and disillusionment of a young Texas reporter in D.C.”:

Thursday was once my favorite day in Washington.

From my perch answering phones in U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s front office, I eagerly awaited the email that came in around 6 p.m. each Thursday: “wheels up.”

It meant the senator was on her way back home to Texas, a relay exercise in which the state-based staff took over the heavy lifting of running a Senate operation. But for me, a lonely extrovert, “wheels up” meant one thing: poker night.