The Hick Goodwill Tour

Monday, Hick drove me to the city to cash in my big scratch-off winner. Good thing. Even if I grew a spine and drove myself on the highway, I would never have found that place. Not even with Genius's gift Garmin! AND, on the way out of what looked to me like an industrial park, Hick got himself lost. At least he knows how to set the Garmin to take him home. I told him that if anything happened to him before we got out of there, I'd just have to find a cardboard box and live there the rest of my life.

Hick may have told the Garmin to take us home, but all he really wanted was to get back to the main road. From there, he took me by the casino. We used my restaurant coupon to have some delicious burgers for lunch. I gave him some gambling money, then proceeded to lose part of mine. NOT MY BIG SCRATCH-OFF WIN! It remains intact. I'm still on my gambling stake that I brought back from Oklahoma with a profit.

Since Hick jerked a knot in my tail by proclaiming that we were only staying until 4:30, I gave him less money than usual. I was even ready to leave 15 minutes earlier, since Even Steven was obviously evening out my big scratch-off winner. Hick texted that he would be right there. That's unusual. He is usually ready to leave before me. Anyhoo...he met me at the cash machine. Turns out Hick turned a profit!!! I know his secret, though. He said that he ran out of the money I gave him, and had to use some of his own (like that weekly allowance that I still gave him, even though he was in Sweden a whole week, and only spent $3 or $4 on my Swedish lottery ticket).

See? Here's the secret to Hick's gambling success: when he uses his OWN money, he's more careful with it, and cashes out small wins to keep the tickets in his pocket until leave time, thus not playing them all back in a frenzy.

We left the casino at 4:20 p.m. It's normally a 50-minute drive for us. I understand that it was a weekday. And that rush hour traffic starts at 3:30. Hick said he was driving down the old highway rather than sit in the stop-and-go of the five-lane interstate. He was doing ME a favor, you know, because he said I'd be miserable like that. Silly Hick! Miserable is just my baseline.

Can you believe that, along this old highway, there were MULTIPLE Goodwill stores? Yeah! Who woulda thunk it? Of course Hick seemed to know where they were located. And had to stop and look for bargains. I didn't rummage through his bags, or care enough to ask, but I did ascertain that he bought a bunch of LED lights to go over our bathroom sink, and a lantern with a red glass thingy. I'm pretty sure he'll get us some pictures of his treasures if I ask.

Good thing Hick avoided that rush hour traffic with this scheme scathingly brilliant idea of his. We made it home in only 2 hours and 10 minutes!

The original plan for the day called for Hick to grill some hot dogs on Gassy G for supper. Funny how he decided it was too late to start that at 6:30. But not too late for me to make him those same hot dogs in the oven.