Val Has Learned to Follow a Hunch

Nobody can deny that Val has more than her fair share of luck. It almost borders on a special talent for turning up at the right place at the right time. Sure, I buy a lot of scratchers. Sure, I have hunches that don't pan out. Sometimes, those tickets that practically scream BUY ME are dirty, dirty liars. But then there are those times that something compels me to go to a certain store for a specific ticket.

Friday was full of monkey wrenches on Val's scratcher quest. I had planned on stopping by Save A Lot for a few items, and getting a $10 multiplier ticket, a $5 crossword, and the two $3 tickets from their machine. Their parking lot was too busy! Of course it was, on the first Friday of the month, right after school let out for the day. So I had to think fast as I pulled back out on the road.

I was headed to the dead mouse smelling post office to mail the payment for SilverRedO. A route which takes me by the liquor store. It has six parking spaces by the road, and two were taken by a sign warning of roadwork on Monday, with another occupied by the red sedan of one of the workers. It's hard to park there, because the drive-thru line of cars often blocks you from backing up.

I was able to squeeze diagonally past the road sign, to park on the road side of the red sedan. The minute I put T-Hoe into PARK and turned off the key, a FedEx truck pulled in from the exit. It didn't affect my parking, because it BACKED UP TO THE DOOR. Meaning it covered the ramp.

I contemplated leaving, and maybe trying again after mailing the letter. But no. My mind had decided I must have my $10 multiplier from there. Now! I had even tried to talk myself into replacing it with two $5 tickets, since I'd had a $20 winner there on that multiplier a few days previous. But my mind said NO!

Lucky for me, nobody was parked on either side of the backed-in FedEx truck. The whole parking lot slopes up towards the door, so it was not a hardship for me to enter. All I had to do was avoid that grouchy FedEx guy who was carrying flat thin boxes inside one at a time. They sure didn't hold alcohol. Nor cigarettes. Looked like posters or advertising displays might have fit inside them.

Anyhoo... I waited for two young men to buy their vapes. Then stepped up to the counter to cash in a couple winners totaling $10. I got my multiplier, and also the crossword and $3 tickets I'd been planning on at the Save A Lot machine.

 

Val follows a hunch. Even if only one in ten might pan out. That's a $500 WINNER! I sure didn't see THAT coming! I was thinking it would probably be a $5 symbol under that 10X, for a $50 win. Which thrilled me in itself. I was SHOCKED to see $50 for the prize.

Hick pretended to be happy for me.