Like a BOSS!

Where were you in 1984? I'm sure you remember your Glory Days! Uh huh. I'm talking about Springsteen's release of Born in the USA. I was in Cuba, Missouri, teaching and coaching and spending too many Friday nights playing poker for pretzel sticks. I was also taking classes through Drury College one evening per week down at Fort Leonard Wood, towards my masters' degree.

The drive was an hour and twenty minutes one-way. So I had to listen to music to keep myself awake. That, and try my hand at smoking (peer pressure from my poker buddies), which never seemed to catch on for me. Not even menthols.

Anyhoo, it WAS 1984. No SiriusXM Radio. I don't remember if CDs were a thing then or not. I had probably just switched over from 8-track tapes! Not on the cutting edge of technology, even back then. I do know that I bought Born in the USA on cassette tape, and played it on those drives. I was not a big fan of The Boss before, or even after. But I really liked that tape. Besides, you can't go wrong with Bruce's 1984 butt on the cover.

I've been thinking of one of those songs. Not Born in the USA, though I hear it a lot on the radio. Nor Glory Days, which I hear a lot, too. Not even Dancing in the Dark, the MTV video that gave Courtney Cox her start in the biz. Showbiz, of course. My sister the adolescent future ex-mayor's wife used to tell me, "SBIML." Show Biz Is My Life. I don't know why.

Anyhoo...the song I've been thinking about is I'm On Fire. Not so much the lyrics, or what it's about. Just the title.

Because I'M ON FIRE!

You know I had those fantastic slot machine wins on our Thanksgiving visit with The Pony. Well, last week I was going through a pile of mail that needed sorting, and found a check for $98 and change! Good thing I don't have a husband who throws stuff away all willy-nilly, huh?

I thought it was just another one of those insurance envelopes detailing our charges and showing our deductible amounts remaining. We get them every month. I think this was a refund because Hick had met his individual deductible. I don't care what it was for! I took that thing to the bank for deposit the very next day. Just in case, you know, it was void after 60 days. I think it was from October. I'll scrutinize those insurance envelopes now as I receive them!

Yeah, I was pretty excited about finding free money! I got even more excited later in the week, when I found this:

That's only a picture of the back, showing my 5X $20 win. That makes it $100, in case you don't like math. It was on a $5 Cash Craze ticket that I got at The Gas Station Chicken Store on Thursday.

Yeah. I've been winning like a BOSS! You might say "I'm On Fire."