Val is pretty much unrattleable. She has nerves of steel, honed by years of being in charge of over 100 flighty, volatile adolescents each day. Trained to take the helm in emergencies, and project a calm facade while maintaining the safety of her students, even at the detriment of her own well-being. She may not be able to catch a bullet in her teeth, or drive on the interstate, but aside from those two weaknesses, Val is pretty much unrattleable.
Wednesday night, Val shook like an agitated pit-viper's tail. The unrattleable Val had nerves that could have warned off a predator miles away, had she only been born with interlocking hollow segments in her ample rumpus.
The tale begins with a faux pas by New Delly. A few minutes after midnight, I noticed that my internet had stopped working. Huh. That's a curious development. It had been working so well, after Hick crawled under the desk and installed a new hub. The weather has been worse, with no internet disruption. I'm not ever sure if there was rain that night. Surely there was just a glitch. Maybe I needed to open a new browser. Maybe I needed to do a restart. Maybe I needed a SYSTEM RESTORE!
No, the first two didn't work. I refrained from the System Restore, remembering Genius chastising me for it before. I somehow found the trouble-shooting feature. Huh. That was a curious revelation. Seems I had internet from my DISH satellite, but my modem had an issue. Well. I know what a modem is! It's one of those two box thingies in the cabinet under Genius's old desk at the bottom of the basement stairs. Probably the one in the front, that I always unplug and re-plug when I don't have internet.
I grabbed my blue metallic mini flashlight, and headed out of my lair. Oh, I still had power. But the light directly over the desk area where I was headed had burned out that day. Besides, I always need the flashlight to see into the cabinet area. I opened up the cabinet door and was just clicking on my flashlight when I heard it!
aahhh
What in the NOT-HEAVEN? I think I even shouted that out loud. I shouldn't hear a noise like breathing! So creepy! My skin goose-fleshed, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
aahhh
What WAS that??? I backed away from the cabinet. Had it just started when I came out there? Or had it been going on before? Did it have something to do with my modem problem? The first thing I did was look at those cabinet doors that kept opening by themselves a while back (and haven't moved since). Nope. Still closed.
aahhh
No! Stop! I can't take it! Was there a critter in that cabinet? Had I disturbed it? Maybe a mouse or something also soft and furry and not scary, like perhaps a baby bunny, had gotten inside, and was behind that desk, in the wires. I looked at the wires. To see if they moved.
aahhh
NO! I coudn't take much more! I just wanted to get this done, and get out of that area. I unplugged the power cord from the back of the modem, ready to snatch my hand back. Okay. Wait...wait...wait... I walked around to the bottom of the stairs. Shined my flashlight behind the desk. Nothing I could see there. I held my breath and listened. Nothing. Maybe I'd scared it. MAYBE IT WAS GOING TO RUN UP MY LEG!
I hurried back to the cabinet and plugged in the power cord. Hurried back to my lair (light on) to turn New Delly back on. While waiting for all the lights to flash again before the modem would be ready, I ducked into the NASCAR bathroom. Even closed the door, which I don't usually do. The fan/light made a satisfying hum. White noise.
Whew! The unplugging had worked! I had my internet back! I didn't have that much left that I wanted to do. At least I knew the problem was fixed for the next day. Hopefully. So after another hour, I shut down, and headed out to my OPC (Old People Chair) for some nerve-calming TV-watching. I had recorded Survivor on the DVR. It's a soothing show.
All that terror had made me a mite peckish. I decided to go upstairs for a Granny Smith and some Peter Pan Honey Roast peanut butter. That would be a good snack for watching people starve on Survivor. I was halfway up the steps WHEN I HEARD IT!
AAHHH!
I almost flung the tray I was carrying over my shoulders, so jumpy were my (formerly unrattleable) nerves. I was shaking like a paint mixer at Lowe's.
It was Hick.
He was cranked back in the La-Z-Boy in the dark, having apparently risen after retiring around 10:00.
"You scared the crap out of me!"
"Oh. I think I'm sick. My knee was killing me."
"At least this is something explainable. I was more scared than I've every been down there. Except maybe the time I saw that headless man."
I didn't ask Hick what time he got up to crank back the La-Z-Boy. Not sure I want to know the answer.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Saturday, March 30, 2019
CENTSoring Val's Inner Complainer
Oh, come on! Like you actually thought for one nanosecond that Val would censor a complaint!
WEDNESDAY, March 27, I whipped T-Hoe into my preferred parking spot at Orb K, and flung open the door.
You can't tell me that dime wasn't meant especially for me! Waiting right there for my arrival and subsequent disembarking.
It was a face-down 1987.
As soon as I stepped inside Orb K, my attention was drawn to the floor on the right side of the door.
This face-down penny might have been meant for anybody, right there in front of the ATM, but I found it first!
A face-down 2017. The soda delivery guy gave me the side-eye, but stopped short of twirling his crazy finger.
____________________________________________________________________
FRIDAY, March 29th, I entered the Casey's over in Sis-Town to pay for $30 of gas for T-Hoe. Right there on my way to the counter were TWO pennies in my path.
Sorry, no close-ups. The clerks are just too dang speedy for my liking sometimes. The left penny was heads-up, a 1976. The right penny was face-down, a 1981. Yes, they were obviously meant for me! The year of my VALedictorianship, and the year of my college graduation.
______________________________________________________________________
Now, for the uncensored complaint. I didn't find any pennies in The Gas Station Chicken Store on Friday. That's not the complaint. A shaved-head bald dude walked up to the chicken counter as I was putting the lid on my 44 oz Diet Coke. "I'd like a burrito," he told the chicken gal.
I started for the counter to pay for my magical elixir, but the Shaved-Head Bald Guy turned sideways, blocking my path. I know I could have said, "Excuse me." But his back was to me, and I pretty much sensed that he was doing it on purpose. You know how you get that vibe from people. I knew he couldn't pay until he got his burrito, and the ticket that the Chicken Gal writes as the bill. I was ready to pay, he was still waiting for his ticket and burrito. Yet he was blocking me.
I stood patiently, browsing the 129 kinds of whiskey on the shelf to the right. Then the 52 kinds of sunglasses on the two racks on top of the whiskey shelf. The Chicken Gal gave Shaved-Head Bald Guy his burrito and ticket. He glanced at me, clearly standing there ready to pay, waiting for the other two people already at the counter... and STEPPED UP TO THE COUNTER AHEAD OF ME!
That takes some kind of nerve! I hope that burrito made him feel a bit indisposed. Or that he picked up 10 days of virusy misery from the lady ahead of him, who had been hacking up half a lung for five minutes, coughing into her hand, then touching all over the card-scanner number pad. Even Steven should take care of it, one way or another.
__________________________________________________________________
2019 Running Total
Penny # 47, 48, 49.
Dime # 7.
Nickel still at 5.
Quarter still at 1.
2018 TOTALS
Penny 131
Dime 17
Nickel 6
Quarter 1
2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny 78
Dime 6
Nickel 0
Quarter 0
___________________________________________________________________
WEDNESDAY, March 27, I whipped T-Hoe into my preferred parking spot at Orb K, and flung open the door.
You can't tell me that dime wasn't meant especially for me! Waiting right there for my arrival and subsequent disembarking.
It was a face-down 1987.
As soon as I stepped inside Orb K, my attention was drawn to the floor on the right side of the door.
This face-down penny might have been meant for anybody, right there in front of the ATM, but I found it first!
A face-down 2017. The soda delivery guy gave me the side-eye, but stopped short of twirling his crazy finger.
____________________________________________________________________
FRIDAY, March 29th, I entered the Casey's over in Sis-Town to pay for $30 of gas for T-Hoe. Right there on my way to the counter were TWO pennies in my path.
Sorry, no close-ups. The clerks are just too dang speedy for my liking sometimes. The left penny was heads-up, a 1976. The right penny was face-down, a 1981. Yes, they were obviously meant for me! The year of my VALedictorianship, and the year of my college graduation.
______________________________________________________________________
Now, for the uncensored complaint. I didn't find any pennies in The Gas Station Chicken Store on Friday. That's not the complaint. A shaved-head bald dude walked up to the chicken counter as I was putting the lid on my 44 oz Diet Coke. "I'd like a burrito," he told the chicken gal.
I started for the counter to pay for my magical elixir, but the Shaved-Head Bald Guy turned sideways, blocking my path. I know I could have said, "Excuse me." But his back was to me, and I pretty much sensed that he was doing it on purpose. You know how you get that vibe from people. I knew he couldn't pay until he got his burrito, and the ticket that the Chicken Gal writes as the bill. I was ready to pay, he was still waiting for his ticket and burrito. Yet he was blocking me.
I stood patiently, browsing the 129 kinds of whiskey on the shelf to the right. Then the 52 kinds of sunglasses on the two racks on top of the whiskey shelf. The Chicken Gal gave Shaved-Head Bald Guy his burrito and ticket. He glanced at me, clearly standing there ready to pay, waiting for the other two people already at the counter... and STEPPED UP TO THE COUNTER AHEAD OF ME!
That takes some kind of nerve! I hope that burrito made him feel a bit indisposed. Or that he picked up 10 days of virusy misery from the lady ahead of him, who had been hacking up half a lung for five minutes, coughing into her hand, then touching all over the card-scanner number pad. Even Steven should take care of it, one way or another.
__________________________________________________________________
2019 Running Total
Penny # 47, 48, 49.
Dime # 7.
Nickel still at 5.
Quarter still at 1.
2018 TOTALS
Penny 131
Dime 17
Nickel 6
Quarter 1
2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny 78
Dime 6
Nickel 0
Quarter 0
___________________________________________________________________
Friday, March 29, 2019
He Could Free-Lance as a Photographer For the DMV
You know what's cool about Downstream Casino? They have buffalo. Real live buffalo, on the grounds. Not roaming, where the deer and the antelope play. I've never seen any deer or antelope there. But I've seen the buffalo. Unfortunately, Hick stops for no buffalo. By the time I had my phone out, we were past it. Hick could have stopped in the road. Nobody was around, it's a secondary road that you turn off, on the way to the three-states marker.
Yeah, you read me. There's a point near Downstream Casino where you can stand in three states at once! Pretty convenient if you're like Val, and want to go on a(n alleged) three-state crime spree! Uh huh. You can be in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas all at once! We took a little detour for a photo op, on our way out to casino-hop.
First of all, allow me to show my own photos.
That's my own feet, standing on the marker. Oopsie! Looks like I only made it to two states. Must have been distracted, looking at my new shoes. More likely, trying to look into the sun at the screen of my phone to see if I had the marker in focus.
There's also a big rock pillar, which I think looks like a grave cairn. Only bigger.
Looks like the marker has been stolen off of it. We didn't know which was the actual location of the three-state junction. I'd assume the more modern one, due to GPS and surveys. I'd hate to think that I needed to climb up on top of that cairn to stand in three states at once. Or two.
Of course the Ex-Mayor my sister's husband organized this photo op. He took the official pictures, said they turned out great, and sent a copy to me and Hick. Let's just say that greatness is in the eye of the Ex-Mayor.
I guarantee you that Hick's belly is not that big! I guess Ex-Mayor held his phone right over us for the picture. I would have held back the curtain of my big shirt if I knew that my new shoes would not be showing!
I had to protect Ex-Mayor from himself. He almost cut Hick out of the picture, yet was too revealing for his own good. Now I know why he was laughing when he looked at the picture. Let the record show that I could barely keep my eyes open, squinting into the sun, my sunglasses in A-Cad a few yards away, and coming down with a cold spread by Typhoid Sis.
When my copy of the photos arrived, we were already several miles down the road. Now I know why Ex-Mayor didn't even think to send them until we were back on the highway.
I would have demanded retakes.
Yeah, you read me. There's a point near Downstream Casino where you can stand in three states at once! Pretty convenient if you're like Val, and want to go on a(n alleged) three-state crime spree! Uh huh. You can be in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas all at once! We took a little detour for a photo op, on our way out to casino-hop.
First of all, allow me to show my own photos.
That's my own feet, standing on the marker. Oopsie! Looks like I only made it to two states. Must have been distracted, looking at my new shoes. More likely, trying to look into the sun at the screen of my phone to see if I had the marker in focus.
There's also a big rock pillar, which I think looks like a grave cairn. Only bigger.
Looks like the marker has been stolen off of it. We didn't know which was the actual location of the three-state junction. I'd assume the more modern one, due to GPS and surveys. I'd hate to think that I needed to climb up on top of that cairn to stand in three states at once. Or two.
Of course the Ex-Mayor my sister's husband organized this photo op. He took the official pictures, said they turned out great, and sent a copy to me and Hick. Let's just say that greatness is in the eye of the Ex-Mayor.
I guarantee you that Hick's belly is not that big! I guess Ex-Mayor held his phone right over us for the picture. I would have held back the curtain of my big shirt if I knew that my new shoes would not be showing!
I had to protect Ex-Mayor from himself. He almost cut Hick out of the picture, yet was too revealing for his own good. Now I know why he was laughing when he looked at the picture. Let the record show that I could barely keep my eyes open, squinting into the sun, my sunglasses in A-Cad a few yards away, and coming down with a cold spread by Typhoid Sis.
When my copy of the photos arrived, we were already several miles down the road. Now I know why Ex-Mayor didn't even think to send them until we were back on the highway.
I would have demanded retakes.
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Val Is Public Enemy #3
Val's history as an (alleged) credit card fraudster, and also (alleged) counterfeit-check depositer must now be on her permanent record! Her every move is tracked. Apparently, the eye-in-the-sky surveillance of Downstream Casino found Val to be very photogenic.
Any time I'm in a casino, I'm aware that I'm on camera. Not that I do anything that needs watching. I'm not fast enough to be a purse-snatcher. I don't like to be around people, so I'm not sitting next to someone, waiting to snatch their cash-out ticket as it prints. I go my own way, laying low, seeking out the pennies/quarters where the losing people go. Playing slots that only they would know.
Anyhoo... Hick was the first to give up playing on Monday night. He goes back to the room without telling anybody, but he can't stay up much past 11:00. I ran into Sis and Ex-Mayor shortly after 1:00 a.m. Of course Ex-Mayor persuaded us to try a bank of Quick Hits that he said were paying. Of course they paid no one. Took a twenty from me. Took a twenty from Sis. And, sweet, sweet justice, took a twenty from Ex-Mayor.
I had wandered off to a new machine behind them while they were still Quick (not)Hitting. It's that Jin Huangdi Long slot that I discovered during BirthdayPalooza. When Sis was knocked out by Quick Hits, she came over to look at it. I was showing her how it paid. She doesn't play games like this. It's very similar to Buffalo Gold. When Ex-Mayor lost, they decided to call it a night. Sis asked if I'd be okay by myself. That was thoughtful of her, but this isn't my first casinopalooza! I assured her I would be fine. We agreed on a time to meet for breakfast.
It wasn't five minutes after Sis left that I hit a bonus on that slot. Of course I was excited. I'd had a couple of good line hits, and instead of my regular 60 cent bet, I was hitting the $1.20 every now and then, or the $1.80. As my money dwindled down from that original twenty I'd fed it, I was ready to move on. I was on my next-to-last spin when I hit that bonus.
It was a good bonus, too! Not so great if you consider the pay-off compared to the bet, but good because it re-triggered a lot, and I had 30-something free games. As you can see by the photo, I was down to 66 cents remaining when I hit the bonus. Also, if you're a gambler, you may notice that my player's card stopped working. That meant I wasn't getting credit for all that play. One thing (okay, one of many) Val is superstitious about is messing with her player's card during a bonus. I won't remove it or insert it. Also, I won't hit a button to speed up play. I let a bonus run on its own.
Well! I was pretty excited about my bonus, since none of us had been winning. I really wished Sis had stuck around a few more minutes to see it. I wasn't sure if she would believe me without a picture. Pics or it didn't happen, you know. I got my phone out of the pocket of my gambling purse. You have to be ready. These slots finish up the bonus abruptly, and you'll miss it if you're not careful. I had my phone in my hand, set on CAMERA, ready to hold it up at the crucial time. Just as I'd get it ready on the last spin, that slot would pop up two black-and-white yin/yang symbols, which retriggers the bonus for five more free games.
Darn it! I must have had my phone ready three times by then! I leaned back in my chair, my left arm dangling down, holding that phone, ready to get a picture on what I thought was the last spin. At last! My bonus came to an end! I actually got two pics, this one being on spin #33 of 34 bonus spins, with the music playing and video coins spraying and video fireworks exploding, while the current screen win counted up.
That was a really good screen, what with all those dragon heads, the top symbol. Even if I WAS tricked into taking the picture a little too soon. I've missed my chance before. Wasn't gonna happen this time. Silent CLICK, silent CLICK. Got my two pics.
"You're going to have to delete those pictures."
WHAT IN THE NOT HEAVEN???
That calm voice in my ear almost toppled me out of my chair! It was a female security guard for the casino.
"Oh. I'm just taking a picture of my bonus to show my sister. She just left."
"Well, I saw you, so they'll have to be deleted."
"Okay. Sorry."
I backed my phone out of the camera app, turned off the screen, and put it back in my purse. The security guard moved on.
You might notice that the pictures are here...
See... it's like when a teacher catches some kid violating a rule, and has to follow through and let that student that you KNOW he's violating a rule, that he's not getting away with it, and as long as he seems apologetic and doesn't draw any attention to the situation, that teacher can give him a break and not push the issue. Like checking his phone in class. Put it away, be quiet, and I won't take the phone and turn it in to the office. THIS time. But make a big crybaby scene about how everyone else does it, and I'm out to get him... well, you can kiss that phone goodbye until a parent comes to school to retrieve it from the office.
The watcher-people in the surveillance room saw me with my phone out. They either tipped off the security guard, or more likely she just happened to be in the area and heard the bonus and saw me with my phone out. Knowing that her superiors were watching HER on the surveillance cameras as well, she was obligated to look like she was doing something. She wasn't a power-happy rent-a-cop. She went through the motions. No harm, no foul.
It's not like I was filming live action for a YouTube gambling channel. Just one picture. Okay. Two. Does that make me a criminal? Val, a lifelong goody-goody, learned her lesson, and kept her phone camera off.
Or did she?
Any time I'm in a casino, I'm aware that I'm on camera. Not that I do anything that needs watching. I'm not fast enough to be a purse-snatcher. I don't like to be around people, so I'm not sitting next to someone, waiting to snatch their cash-out ticket as it prints. I go my own way, laying low, seeking out the pennies/quarters where the losing people go. Playing slots that only they would know.
Anyhoo... Hick was the first to give up playing on Monday night. He goes back to the room without telling anybody, but he can't stay up much past 11:00. I ran into Sis and Ex-Mayor shortly after 1:00 a.m. Of course Ex-Mayor persuaded us to try a bank of Quick Hits that he said were paying. Of course they paid no one. Took a twenty from me. Took a twenty from Sis. And, sweet, sweet justice, took a twenty from Ex-Mayor.
I had wandered off to a new machine behind them while they were still Quick (not)Hitting. It's that Jin Huangdi Long slot that I discovered during BirthdayPalooza. When Sis was knocked out by Quick Hits, she came over to look at it. I was showing her how it paid. She doesn't play games like this. It's very similar to Buffalo Gold. When Ex-Mayor lost, they decided to call it a night. Sis asked if I'd be okay by myself. That was thoughtful of her, but this isn't my first casinopalooza! I assured her I would be fine. We agreed on a time to meet for breakfast.
It wasn't five minutes after Sis left that I hit a bonus on that slot. Of course I was excited. I'd had a couple of good line hits, and instead of my regular 60 cent bet, I was hitting the $1.20 every now and then, or the $1.80. As my money dwindled down from that original twenty I'd fed it, I was ready to move on. I was on my next-to-last spin when I hit that bonus.
It was a good bonus, too! Not so great if you consider the pay-off compared to the bet, but good because it re-triggered a lot, and I had 30-something free games. As you can see by the photo, I was down to 66 cents remaining when I hit the bonus. Also, if you're a gambler, you may notice that my player's card stopped working. That meant I wasn't getting credit for all that play. One thing (okay, one of many) Val is superstitious about is messing with her player's card during a bonus. I won't remove it or insert it. Also, I won't hit a button to speed up play. I let a bonus run on its own.
Well! I was pretty excited about my bonus, since none of us had been winning. I really wished Sis had stuck around a few more minutes to see it. I wasn't sure if she would believe me without a picture. Pics or it didn't happen, you know. I got my phone out of the pocket of my gambling purse. You have to be ready. These slots finish up the bonus abruptly, and you'll miss it if you're not careful. I had my phone in my hand, set on CAMERA, ready to hold it up at the crucial time. Just as I'd get it ready on the last spin, that slot would pop up two black-and-white yin/yang symbols, which retriggers the bonus for five more free games.
Darn it! I must have had my phone ready three times by then! I leaned back in my chair, my left arm dangling down, holding that phone, ready to get a picture on what I thought was the last spin. At last! My bonus came to an end! I actually got two pics, this one being on spin #33 of 34 bonus spins, with the music playing and video coins spraying and video fireworks exploding, while the current screen win counted up.
That was a really good screen, what with all those dragon heads, the top symbol. Even if I WAS tricked into taking the picture a little too soon. I've missed my chance before. Wasn't gonna happen this time. Silent CLICK, silent CLICK. Got my two pics.
"You're going to have to delete those pictures."
WHAT IN THE NOT HEAVEN???
That calm voice in my ear almost toppled me out of my chair! It was a female security guard for the casino.
"Oh. I'm just taking a picture of my bonus to show my sister. She just left."
"Well, I saw you, so they'll have to be deleted."
"Okay. Sorry."
I backed my phone out of the camera app, turned off the screen, and put it back in my purse. The security guard moved on.
You might notice that the pictures are here...
See... it's like when a teacher catches some kid violating a rule, and has to follow through and let that student that you KNOW he's violating a rule, that he's not getting away with it, and as long as he seems apologetic and doesn't draw any attention to the situation, that teacher can give him a break and not push the issue. Like checking his phone in class. Put it away, be quiet, and I won't take the phone and turn it in to the office. THIS time. But make a big crybaby scene about how everyone else does it, and I'm out to get him... well, you can kiss that phone goodbye until a parent comes to school to retrieve it from the office.
The watcher-people in the surveillance room saw me with my phone out. They either tipped off the security guard, or more likely she just happened to be in the area and heard the bonus and saw me with my phone out. Knowing that her superiors were watching HER on the surveillance cameras as well, she was obligated to look like she was doing something. She wasn't a power-happy rent-a-cop. She went through the motions. No harm, no foul.
It's not like I was filming live action for a YouTube gambling channel. Just one picture. Okay. Two. Does that make me a criminal? Val, a lifelong goody-goody, learned her lesson, and kept her phone camera off.
Or did she?
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
A Valedictorian, a Hick, an Ex-Mayor's Wife, and a Former City Official Walk Into a Casino For Free Stuff
Freebies are a big deal for cheapskate gamblers. CasinoPalooza 4 did not disappoint. Not only did each of us get a free hotel room
for both nights, and a combined total of over $370 in free play, but we
also had a group total of $88 in food comps. And let's not forget all the soft
drinks we could swill while on the casino floor! So it almost paid us
to go, see?
Imagine our delight when we checked our comp booklets, and found out that on the second day of our impending trip, Downstream Casino was offering FREE softside coolers! All we had to do was earn 40 points between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Then print out a voucher from the kiosk, and take it to the player's card desk.
You can never be sure how many dollars it's going to cost you to earn 40 points. Depends on what level you're gambling, how much you win, and how much you play back. The Ex-Mayor was the first to get his cooler. He spent less than $16 to earn his 40 points. Would he have paid $16 for a cooler? Probably not! But it was FREE, you see! Besides, we were going to gamble anyway, whether it was there with a FREE cooler dangling as a reward, or at one of the other six casinos we were headed for that day.
I was second to get my cooler. I'm pretty sure the fact that Ex-Mayor and I are higher rollers than Hick and Sis had something to do with it. Still, I was only on my second twenty when I earned my 40th point. I immediately cashed out and went looking for Hick. He was sitting at the same game I'd left him at 30 minutes earlier, betting 60 cents a spin. "Go on. I'll have it in just a minute! I'll meet you up front." That was our designated meeting place, and it was time to meet.
Ex-Mayor helped me figure out the voucher thingy. Sis said she wasn't spending her money trying to win a FREE cooler. She had accumulated less than 20 points so far. "I have to conserve my money. We have a lot of places to go today. I can't spend it all here trying to get a cooler!"
As soon as I returned with my FREE cooler, Hick showed up. He needed extra help to obtain his cooler. Sis nearly had a conniption, as she watched Hick go to the kiosk and touch the screen as instructed by Ex-Mayor, then WALK AWAY LEAVING HIS COOLER VOUCHER HANGING OUT OF THE KIOSK! "Ex-Mayor! Go get Hick! He left his voucher! Someone else is going to grab it and get his cooler!" You know, because casinos are full of old folks hanging around the kiosks to steal free stuff. I doubt they could have gotten it, anyway, because we had to show picture ID along with our player's card and voucher to get it.
I chose the blue, and we were all hollering at Hick in the line so he'd get red. It's a Samsonite 36-can soft-side cooler. All that excitement and drama and money spent getting them... and I didn't even carry them in the house until yesterday, one whole week after we got them!
Aside from the free food vouchers, our other favorite freebie this trip was HOT CHOCOLATE. It's on the free beverage station at High Winds Casino. Believe me, we looked at all the others, too, but they only had coffee and tea and soda. The hot chocolate comes out of a machine. Sis remembered it from their trip over Christmas. "Make sure you take your thumb off the button before your cup is full! It will run over. It keeps going." Good thing we listened to her. It never pays not to listen to Sis.
Ex-Mayor was quite disappointed on Monday night, as we waited for him to come out to A-Cad. "Darn it! I forgot my hot chocolate! I was headed over there to get some. I was going to bring it with me!" Too bad, so sad! Sis and I had each enjoyed ours immensely. I doubt they would have let him walk out with a cup of hot chocolate, though. Carrying drinks out is frowned upon. I don't know if Oklahoma Indian Casinos have the same strict rules about alcohol as Missouri casinos. But you usually can't carry an open container out.
Tuesday, we stampeded straight back to the hot chocolate machine. Ex-Mayor went first. He dropped an ICE CUBE into his cup of hot chocolate. To cool it off faster, he said. That is just wrong! Though I probably should have done so, because I burned my tongue. Even though I knew to wait, and to blow on my hot chocolate before trying a tiny sip. It did not help that I double-cupped it. More to keep the floppy foam cup from squeezing too much than to keep it extra warm. I confess to having TWO cups of hot chocolate on Tuesday night. Mmm.
Yes, CasinoPalooza 4 was a bargain. The credit card statement came in the mail today. Time to pay off all the incidental expenses for our freebies.
Imagine our delight when we checked our comp booklets, and found out that on the second day of our impending trip, Downstream Casino was offering FREE softside coolers! All we had to do was earn 40 points between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Then print out a voucher from the kiosk, and take it to the player's card desk.
You can never be sure how many dollars it's going to cost you to earn 40 points. Depends on what level you're gambling, how much you win, and how much you play back. The Ex-Mayor was the first to get his cooler. He spent less than $16 to earn his 40 points. Would he have paid $16 for a cooler? Probably not! But it was FREE, you see! Besides, we were going to gamble anyway, whether it was there with a FREE cooler dangling as a reward, or at one of the other six casinos we were headed for that day.
I was second to get my cooler. I'm pretty sure the fact that Ex-Mayor and I are higher rollers than Hick and Sis had something to do with it. Still, I was only on my second twenty when I earned my 40th point. I immediately cashed out and went looking for Hick. He was sitting at the same game I'd left him at 30 minutes earlier, betting 60 cents a spin. "Go on. I'll have it in just a minute! I'll meet you up front." That was our designated meeting place, and it was time to meet.
Ex-Mayor helped me figure out the voucher thingy. Sis said she wasn't spending her money trying to win a FREE cooler. She had accumulated less than 20 points so far. "I have to conserve my money. We have a lot of places to go today. I can't spend it all here trying to get a cooler!"
As soon as I returned with my FREE cooler, Hick showed up. He needed extra help to obtain his cooler. Sis nearly had a conniption, as she watched Hick go to the kiosk and touch the screen as instructed by Ex-Mayor, then WALK AWAY LEAVING HIS COOLER VOUCHER HANGING OUT OF THE KIOSK! "Ex-Mayor! Go get Hick! He left his voucher! Someone else is going to grab it and get his cooler!" You know, because casinos are full of old folks hanging around the kiosks to steal free stuff. I doubt they could have gotten it, anyway, because we had to show picture ID along with our player's card and voucher to get it.
Aside from the free food vouchers, our other favorite freebie this trip was HOT CHOCOLATE. It's on the free beverage station at High Winds Casino. Believe me, we looked at all the others, too, but they only had coffee and tea and soda. The hot chocolate comes out of a machine. Sis remembered it from their trip over Christmas. "Make sure you take your thumb off the button before your cup is full! It will run over. It keeps going." Good thing we listened to her. It never pays not to listen to Sis.
Ex-Mayor was quite disappointed on Monday night, as we waited for him to come out to A-Cad. "Darn it! I forgot my hot chocolate! I was headed over there to get some. I was going to bring it with me!" Too bad, so sad! Sis and I had each enjoyed ours immensely. I doubt they would have let him walk out with a cup of hot chocolate, though. Carrying drinks out is frowned upon. I don't know if Oklahoma Indian Casinos have the same strict rules about alcohol as Missouri casinos. But you usually can't carry an open container out.
Tuesday, we stampeded straight back to the hot chocolate machine. Ex-Mayor went first. He dropped an ICE CUBE into his cup of hot chocolate. To cool it off faster, he said. That is just wrong! Though I probably should have done so, because I burned my tongue. Even though I knew to wait, and to blow on my hot chocolate before trying a tiny sip. It did not help that I double-cupped it. More to keep the floppy foam cup from squeezing too much than to keep it extra warm. I confess to having TWO cups of hot chocolate on Tuesday night. Mmm.
Yes, CasinoPalooza 4 was a bargain. The credit card statement came in the mail today. Time to pay off all the incidental expenses for our freebies.
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
A CasinoPalooza Army Travels On Its Belly
CasinoPalooza 4 kicked off last Monday, and wrapped up on Wednesday. It was a long time coming, and did not disappoint. Oh, nobody won any money! Don't get the wrong idea. Winning isn't everything. I regret that I did not get A SINGLE PHOTO of any food this trip. It was a tremendous oversight on my part. We still ate, though!
I got my Reuben sandwich again for supper on Monday night, at River Bend Casino. It was not quite as delicious as the first time. I would have preferred my marble rye to be a bit more toasted. AND they were out of fries! Who runs out of fries? I guess the St. Patrick's Day crowd ate them all the day before we got there, celebrating the day St. Patrick ate all the fries out of River Bend Casino. I had tater tots in their place. Hick had his usual bacon cheeseburger. Sis had a giant chili dog. The Ex-Mayor, who must be on a health kick, ordered the same bacon cheeseburger as Hick, but without a bun. That was his mistake. His bacon cheeseburger arrived with only a burger and cheese.
Let the record show that the Ex-Mayor stood up for his rights. He went back and demanded his fixin's. "I meant I only didn't want the BUN! I still want everything on my bacon cheeseburger! That includes the bacon, the lettuce, the onion, the pickle, and the tomato!" A girl brought him a little basket of these extras, which really were not extra. I told him the smart thing to do (since I'm a VALedictorian, you know) would have been to order the burger like normal, and then just take it off the bun. How hard is that?
Our next meal was breakfast on Tuesday, which we had at our hotel casino, Downstream. They have a breakfast buffet for $10.99, and three of us had a $10 food comp there. Hick had to pay, and is now more conscientious about using his player's card for future comps. I loaded up with my usual scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage (link and patty), triangular hash browns, and a muffin top. Top o' the muffin to ya!
Hick waited at the egg station to get over-easys. Which he promptly ruined by slathering them with gravy. I don't know when this became a thing, putting gravy on top of fried eggs. He also had some biscuits under there. And assorted meat, and a bowl of diced fruit which was gravy-less. The Ex-Mayor went mainly for the meats, a little bit of eggs, and a fruit bowl. He must be doing the Keto thing. I didn't ask, because I think it's rude to inquire about somebody else's food selections.
Sis is kind of persnickety. I really don't know where she gets it. She wanted to make herself a sausage biscuit. She was behind me at the buffet. As I reached the tongs into the sausage bin, Sis said, "Make sure you leave me a patty so I can make a sausage biscuit." There were only two patties remaining. I left her the one stuck in the crack on the side of the metal bin. There's a limit to HOW nice I can be to Sis.
We didn't get done with breakfast until after 10:00, so we really only needed one more meal that day. We call it lupper. I think it was around 3:30 when we scanned our cards at the kiosk inside The Outpost Casino, in order to qualify for the free lunch special (served between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.). Tuesday's special was Pulled Pork Sandwich and Onion Rings. I must say, it was delicious!
The only suggestion I might make would be a little more sauce on the pulled pork. Sis went back to ask for sauce, as did Hick (for me!). Of course Hick took the cup first, and poured it over his sandwich.
"Oh. I probably would have used the whole thing for myself."
"Well, I was afraid to ask for more than one."
"You went to pick up my sandwich when they called my name. So they KNEW you were here with someone else."
"I'm surprised we even got sauce. She acted like it was killing her to give it out. She only filled the cups half full," said Sis, pouring it all on her sandwich, and giving the cup to the Ex-Mayor to scrape his onion rings around the edge.
Wednesday morning, we arose in different hotels. Sis and the Ex-Mayor bypassed breakfast, to stop somewhere on the trip home. Hick and I went to the buffet at Indigo Sky. I had a $10 food comp, and Hick had $5. It was $7.99, so we only had to pay a couple bucks. Their buffet is in a small room off the dining room, and the foods are in metal pans with raise-up lids. So you don't quite know what you're getting until you open it up. I confess to dropping a biscuit on the floor. I just kicked it back out of the way of trampling feet, since there was no worker around to tell. Hick picked it up and put it on the table between the metal serving pans. I think that was a mistake. Somebody might have grabbed it to eat!
I had the scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, a biscuit with gravy, and a cheese danish. Hick had pretty much the same thing, except no danish, and he went back for a plate of pancakes. We'll probably eat there again the next time we stay. It was better than I expected.
More on other aspects of the trip tomorrow. You're getting CasinoPalooza-ed this week instead of Hick Housed.
I got my Reuben sandwich again for supper on Monday night, at River Bend Casino. It was not quite as delicious as the first time. I would have preferred my marble rye to be a bit more toasted. AND they were out of fries! Who runs out of fries? I guess the St. Patrick's Day crowd ate them all the day before we got there, celebrating the day St. Patrick ate all the fries out of River Bend Casino. I had tater tots in their place. Hick had his usual bacon cheeseburger. Sis had a giant chili dog. The Ex-Mayor, who must be on a health kick, ordered the same bacon cheeseburger as Hick, but without a bun. That was his mistake. His bacon cheeseburger arrived with only a burger and cheese.
Let the record show that the Ex-Mayor stood up for his rights. He went back and demanded his fixin's. "I meant I only didn't want the BUN! I still want everything on my bacon cheeseburger! That includes the bacon, the lettuce, the onion, the pickle, and the tomato!" A girl brought him a little basket of these extras, which really were not extra. I told him the smart thing to do (since I'm a VALedictorian, you know) would have been to order the burger like normal, and then just take it off the bun. How hard is that?
Our next meal was breakfast on Tuesday, which we had at our hotel casino, Downstream. They have a breakfast buffet for $10.99, and three of us had a $10 food comp there. Hick had to pay, and is now more conscientious about using his player's card for future comps. I loaded up with my usual scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage (link and patty), triangular hash browns, and a muffin top. Top o' the muffin to ya!
Hick waited at the egg station to get over-easys. Which he promptly ruined by slathering them with gravy. I don't know when this became a thing, putting gravy on top of fried eggs. He also had some biscuits under there. And assorted meat, and a bowl of diced fruit which was gravy-less. The Ex-Mayor went mainly for the meats, a little bit of eggs, and a fruit bowl. He must be doing the Keto thing. I didn't ask, because I think it's rude to inquire about somebody else's food selections.
Sis is kind of persnickety. I really don't know where she gets it. She wanted to make herself a sausage biscuit. She was behind me at the buffet. As I reached the tongs into the sausage bin, Sis said, "Make sure you leave me a patty so I can make a sausage biscuit." There were only two patties remaining. I left her the one stuck in the crack on the side of the metal bin. There's a limit to HOW nice I can be to Sis.
We didn't get done with breakfast until after 10:00, so we really only needed one more meal that day. We call it lupper. I think it was around 3:30 when we scanned our cards at the kiosk inside The Outpost Casino, in order to qualify for the free lunch special (served between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.). Tuesday's special was Pulled Pork Sandwich and Onion Rings. I must say, it was delicious!
The only suggestion I might make would be a little more sauce on the pulled pork. Sis went back to ask for sauce, as did Hick (for me!). Of course Hick took the cup first, and poured it over his sandwich.
"Oh. I probably would have used the whole thing for myself."
"Well, I was afraid to ask for more than one."
"You went to pick up my sandwich when they called my name. So they KNEW you were here with someone else."
"I'm surprised we even got sauce. She acted like it was killing her to give it out. She only filled the cups half full," said Sis, pouring it all on her sandwich, and giving the cup to the Ex-Mayor to scrape his onion rings around the edge.
Wednesday morning, we arose in different hotels. Sis and the Ex-Mayor bypassed breakfast, to stop somewhere on the trip home. Hick and I went to the buffet at Indigo Sky. I had a $10 food comp, and Hick had $5. It was $7.99, so we only had to pay a couple bucks. Their buffet is in a small room off the dining room, and the foods are in metal pans with raise-up lids. So you don't quite know what you're getting until you open it up. I confess to dropping a biscuit on the floor. I just kicked it back out of the way of trampling feet, since there was no worker around to tell. Hick picked it up and put it on the table between the metal serving pans. I think that was a mistake. Somebody might have grabbed it to eat!
I had the scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, a biscuit with gravy, and a cheese danish. Hick had pretty much the same thing, except no danish, and he went back for a plate of pancakes. We'll probably eat there again the next time we stay. It was better than I expected.
More on other aspects of the trip tomorrow. You're getting CasinoPalooza-ed this week instead of Hick Housed.
Monday, March 25, 2019
Hick House Downstairs: Master Bedroom 03-14-19
If you've ever had a desire to spend the night in a haunted house, you might appreciate the master bedroom of Hick House. Oh, it's not haunted. Not that I KNOW OF! It just has that look. I most certainly wouldn't want to spend a night there. Not in its current condition. Not even if the alternative means spending a night, like countless others, in my own dark basement lair, where the unexplainable happens.
Here's the master bedroom, as it appeared on March 1, a few days after we purchased (still nothing on paper like a contract!) Hick House.
Maybe it was used as an office by the original owner, who was a newspaper sports reporter. Or maybe Hick and HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) moved the desk in there from elsewhere. This picture was taken from the doorway that is by the new bathroom, and the kitchen. On the right of the photo is the door leading to the entryway and front door. I think that's the original front door leaning against the wall. That other opening, on the left, is a little door that leads to the area under the stairs.
Looking from the archway between this master bedroom and the living room, you see the outer wall, with a window (that will be replaced with a better window). That doorway leads to the now-created short hallway between the new bathroom and kitchen.
Here's the most recent photo of the master bedroom, taken March 14, as I stood in the kitchen door by the new bathroom. As you can see, the master bedroom is Hick's workroom. HOS and his wife will not be sleeping on twin sawhorse beds!
I think the ceiling has collapsed a bit more. Or else HOS has been picking at it, to see what's above. That ceiling will have to be completely replaced. Hick was thinking about renting a special hydraulic jack that lifts drywall, so he and HOS won't have to handle it on ladders. He said that by using a jack, he can get 10-foot sheets of drywall, and have very little trimming to do, rather than the 8-foot sheets.
However... HOS said a couple days ago that he has a buddy who is demolishing a house in Backroads, who says HOS can have a drop ceiling if he comes and takes it down. That might be the new plan.
Hick and HOS put up some siding this weekend, on the triangle part of the house above the front porch. Hick also drove 90 miles round-trip with This Guy to get a free door from This Guy's brother. Progress on Hick House continues.
Here's the master bedroom, as it appeared on March 1, a few days after we purchased (still nothing on paper like a contract!) Hick House.
Maybe it was used as an office by the original owner, who was a newspaper sports reporter. Or maybe Hick and HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) moved the desk in there from elsewhere. This picture was taken from the doorway that is by the new bathroom, and the kitchen. On the right of the photo is the door leading to the entryway and front door. I think that's the original front door leaning against the wall. That other opening, on the left, is a little door that leads to the area under the stairs.
Looking from the archway between this master bedroom and the living room, you see the outer wall, with a window (that will be replaced with a better window). That doorway leads to the now-created short hallway between the new bathroom and kitchen.
Here's the most recent photo of the master bedroom, taken March 14, as I stood in the kitchen door by the new bathroom. As you can see, the master bedroom is Hick's workroom. HOS and his wife will not be sleeping on twin sawhorse beds!
I think the ceiling has collapsed a bit more. Or else HOS has been picking at it, to see what's above. That ceiling will have to be completely replaced. Hick was thinking about renting a special hydraulic jack that lifts drywall, so he and HOS won't have to handle it on ladders. He said that by using a jack, he can get 10-foot sheets of drywall, and have very little trimming to do, rather than the 8-foot sheets.
However... HOS said a couple days ago that he has a buddy who is demolishing a house in Backroads, who says HOS can have a drop ceiling if he comes and takes it down. That might be the new plan.
Hick and HOS put up some siding this weekend, on the triangle part of the house above the front porch. Hick also drove 90 miles round-trip with This Guy to get a free door from This Guy's brother. Progress on Hick House continues.
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Hick House Downstairs: Kitchen 03-21-19
The minute I typed up the last kitchen update on Hick House, it was already obsolete. HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) has been doing some work on it at night, which Hick sees the next day. He's becoming a miser with the pictures, though. Hick says there's not much new to see because the work they're doing right now is not all that observable. Still, I can show you part of the kitchen.
Here's the wall of the kitchen where Hick and HOS covered the flue. That door goes into the living room. HOS finished the drywall at the top of the flue, and put up the flooring that Hick used for paneling around the kitchen counter. The corner with a gap is going to have trim board on it. HOS still has another coat to apply to the ceiling, and paint touch-ups to do.
Here's the kitchen sink and counter area. I assure you, the paint is the same as on the other wall, it just looks different here from the lighting and Hick's phone camera. I know some people might recoil at that color, but Hick is using paint he already had, and that came from the accent wall Genius painted in his bedroom a while back. I am not an impartial observer, since green is my favorite color!
HOS has cleaned up the built-in cabinets, and is painting them white, with gray accents (like the door and window trim). He's only got a base coat on that one cabinet door in this photo. There will be a little wall to close in the gap between the built-ins and the tall cabinet. The bottom of the wall on the right is going to have paneling. Hick and HOS want to do an industrial theme, and make it metal, like roofing metal. I'm guessing it will be silver, but it comes in all colors, and Hick hasn't specified. This will also go on the wall behind the stove and refrigerator.
The living room has been painted eggshell white.
It looks gray to me, but Hick says that's just the lighting. He said the paint covered the old stuff really well.
I keep putting off the master bedroom reveal. There's a reason for that, as you will see. Perhaps tomorrow.
Here's the wall of the kitchen where Hick and HOS covered the flue. That door goes into the living room. HOS finished the drywall at the top of the flue, and put up the flooring that Hick used for paneling around the kitchen counter. The corner with a gap is going to have trim board on it. HOS still has another coat to apply to the ceiling, and paint touch-ups to do.
HOS has cleaned up the built-in cabinets, and is painting them white, with gray accents (like the door and window trim). He's only got a base coat on that one cabinet door in this photo. There will be a little wall to close in the gap between the built-ins and the tall cabinet. The bottom of the wall on the right is going to have paneling. Hick and HOS want to do an industrial theme, and make it metal, like roofing metal. I'm guessing it will be silver, but it comes in all colors, and Hick hasn't specified. This will also go on the wall behind the stove and refrigerator.
The living room has been painted eggshell white.
It looks gray to me, but Hick says that's just the lighting. He said the paint covered the old stuff really well.
I keep putting off the master bedroom reveal. There's a reason for that, as you will see. Perhaps tomorrow.
Saturday, March 23, 2019
CENT From Above, Just For Val on CasinoPalooza 4
MONDAY morning, Hick and I left for CasinoPalooza 4. We didn't take our regular route, because we had a check I wanted to deposit at the bank. Because of that, we stopped by a Casey's over in the neighborhood of my sister the ex-mayor's wife. Hick changed his mind about gassing up A-Cad there, but I used the opportunity for a bathroom break before hitting the rural roads for an hour before our next stop. And also to buy Hick and myself a scratcher.
As with all events where Hick is around, I was discombobulated to be out of my routine, and left my phone in A-Cad when I went inside. Of course the minute I walked in, I saw a DIME! I picked it up, even with no picture to prove it happened. No sooner had I started down the sidewalk outside on the way to A-Cad than I saw a PENNY laying in my path. I picked it up, too, and took a picture of my special coins laying on the seat of A-Cad.
The dime was face-down, a 2015. The penny was also face-down, a 2019. I was pretty happy to start CasinoPalooza 4 on such a good note. Normally, we'd have met Sis and the Ex-Mayor about 20 miles up the road, in a different town. That check, which I got to the bank at 12:00 on Saturday, AFTER they'd locked the door, had put us in this location on this day. Oh, yeah. Hick won $25 on his scratcher, too.
CasinoPalooza was a three-day affair. We stayed at Downstream Casino on Monday night, but then Hick and I had to change to Indigo Sky for Tuesday night, because Hick didn't use his player's card enough on our Christmas trip with the boys to get a free night at Downstream like the rest of us.
We'd all been riding around to the assorted casinos in A-Cad on Monday. Hick used the valet service at Downstream. The Ex-Mayor had not used valet, but had parked his Expedition in the regular parking lot after dropping off Sis and the bags. As we checked out on TUESDAY morning, Hick got A-Cad and loaded up our luggage and drove over to the parking lot. We still had some playing to do to earn a free soft-side cooler. Then we all walked to the parking lot when we were ready to head out for different casinos. Sis and the Ex-Mayor wanted to get their coats out of their car, so Hick had parked near it.
We walked up to A-Cad, parked totally randomly by Hick, a row over, and 6-7 spaces down from Sis's Expedition. And there it was...
A PENNY, obviously meant just for ME, since it was laying right where I'd step on it getting into the door. Well. I must say, even Hick and Sis were kind of impressed. "Mom knows what we're doing," said Sis. I tend to agree.
This was a 2014, face-down. Of course I picked it up!
A couple casinos later, we were at Buffalo Run, in Miami, Oklahoma. I had just left Sis sitting at a slot, telling her I felt like going over to play Dancing Drums. There are three Dancing Drums in a row. I chose the one on the right end, by the wall. As I pulled out the chair, something caught my eye.
It was a NICKEL, under my Dancing Drum. Which, I might add, gave me a bonus. As did the one on the other end. Not a rich-making bonus, but still, a fun bonus.
The nickel was face-down, a 1983. I don't know what a nickel was doing over here. The slots don't take coins, only paper money or tickets, and the cash-out machine was in the opposite corner of the casino from this slot. Nobody came away from CasinoPalooza 4 with a profit, but every little coin helps.
__________________________________________________________________
And... our last-minute, stop-the-presses coin joined the penny party on SATURDAY at 11:27 a.m., a scant hour and 43 minutes before the scheduled posting of Val's weekly Saturday CENTus.
It was unmissable, gleaming at me there in the leftover anti-slick gravel left from the last freezing rain storm. I must confess, I sometimes do not want to find a coin on Saturdays, since they require extra work to stop the presses on my already-scheduled post.
No way was I going to overlook this face-down 1994 road-coin! It was meant for me, and I was going to harvest it, by cracky!
I'll never top last week's total, but 27 cents in one week is nothing to sneeze at!
__________________________________________________________________
2019 Running Total
Penny # 45, 46.
Dime # 5, 6.
Nickel # 5.
Quarter still at 1.
2018 TOTALS
Penny 131
Dime 17
Nickel 6
Quarter 1
2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny 78
Dime 6
Nickel 0
Quarter 0
___________________________________________________________________
As with all events where Hick is around, I was discombobulated to be out of my routine, and left my phone in A-Cad when I went inside. Of course the minute I walked in, I saw a DIME! I picked it up, even with no picture to prove it happened. No sooner had I started down the sidewalk outside on the way to A-Cad than I saw a PENNY laying in my path. I picked it up, too, and took a picture of my special coins laying on the seat of A-Cad.
The dime was face-down, a 2015. The penny was also face-down, a 2019. I was pretty happy to start CasinoPalooza 4 on such a good note. Normally, we'd have met Sis and the Ex-Mayor about 20 miles up the road, in a different town. That check, which I got to the bank at 12:00 on Saturday, AFTER they'd locked the door, had put us in this location on this day. Oh, yeah. Hick won $25 on his scratcher, too.
CasinoPalooza was a three-day affair. We stayed at Downstream Casino on Monday night, but then Hick and I had to change to Indigo Sky for Tuesday night, because Hick didn't use his player's card enough on our Christmas trip with the boys to get a free night at Downstream like the rest of us.
We'd all been riding around to the assorted casinos in A-Cad on Monday. Hick used the valet service at Downstream. The Ex-Mayor had not used valet, but had parked his Expedition in the regular parking lot after dropping off Sis and the bags. As we checked out on TUESDAY morning, Hick got A-Cad and loaded up our luggage and drove over to the parking lot. We still had some playing to do to earn a free soft-side cooler. Then we all walked to the parking lot when we were ready to head out for different casinos. Sis and the Ex-Mayor wanted to get their coats out of their car, so Hick had parked near it.
We walked up to A-Cad, parked totally randomly by Hick, a row over, and 6-7 spaces down from Sis's Expedition. And there it was...
A PENNY, obviously meant just for ME, since it was laying right where I'd step on it getting into the door. Well. I must say, even Hick and Sis were kind of impressed. "Mom knows what we're doing," said Sis. I tend to agree.
This was a 2014, face-down. Of course I picked it up!
A couple casinos later, we were at Buffalo Run, in Miami, Oklahoma. I had just left Sis sitting at a slot, telling her I felt like going over to play Dancing Drums. There are three Dancing Drums in a row. I chose the one on the right end, by the wall. As I pulled out the chair, something caught my eye.
It was a NICKEL, under my Dancing Drum. Which, I might add, gave me a bonus. As did the one on the other end. Not a rich-making bonus, but still, a fun bonus.
__________________________________________________________________
And... our last-minute, stop-the-presses coin joined the penny party on SATURDAY at 11:27 a.m., a scant hour and 43 minutes before the scheduled posting of Val's weekly Saturday CENTus.
It was unmissable, gleaming at me there in the leftover anti-slick gravel left from the last freezing rain storm. I must confess, I sometimes do not want to find a coin on Saturdays, since they require extra work to stop the presses on my already-scheduled post.
No way was I going to overlook this face-down 1994 road-coin! It was meant for me, and I was going to harvest it, by cracky!
I'll never top last week's total, but 27 cents in one week is nothing to sneeze at!
__________________________________________________________________
2019 Running Total
Penny # 45, 46.
Dime # 5, 6.
Nickel # 5.
Quarter still at 1.
2018 TOTALS
Penny 131
Dime 17
Nickel 6
Quarter 1
2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny 78
Dime 6
Nickel 0
Quarter 0
___________________________________________________________________
Friday, March 22, 2019
Hick House Downstairs: Kitchen 03-14-19
You've seen the kitchen counter and sink and cabinets. Here's two more walls of the kitchen.
Hick and HOS covered up the old flue. By now, they've probably finished the top section, too. Hick is planning to use sheets of paneling over the bottom half of these walls, and paint the top. That's HOS's job. He's using a green paint that I assume goes with the countertop. Hick says it looks good, anyway. More pictures of that as I get them. Hick says he has a built-in table to build by this flue.
This corner is where Hick plans to put the stove and refrigerator. He wants the fridge in the corner, then the stove to the left. HOS wants stove in the corner, then the fridge to the left. Actually, HOS wants the fridge in the back porch pantry. Don't know who's winning this one, but I'm guessing it will be Hick. At least as far as keeping the fridge in the kitchen. This corner is where the dirty old sink was removed.
You can see across the hall to the bathroom, which has been enclosed with drywall. Still some to do on the inside of the bathroom.
The framing is ready for the drywall at the end of the shower. Looks like a little box for hooking up water (?) for the washer later.
In a couple days, I'll reveal the master bedroom. Be afraid. Be very afraid!
Hick and HOS covered up the old flue. By now, they've probably finished the top section, too. Hick is planning to use sheets of paneling over the bottom half of these walls, and paint the top. That's HOS's job. He's using a green paint that I assume goes with the countertop. Hick says it looks good, anyway. More pictures of that as I get them. Hick says he has a built-in table to build by this flue.
This corner is where Hick plans to put the stove and refrigerator. He wants the fridge in the corner, then the stove to the left. HOS wants stove in the corner, then the fridge to the left. Actually, HOS wants the fridge in the back porch pantry. Don't know who's winning this one, but I'm guessing it will be Hick. At least as far as keeping the fridge in the kitchen. This corner is where the dirty old sink was removed.
You can see across the hall to the bathroom, which has been enclosed with drywall. Still some to do on the inside of the bathroom.
The framing is ready for the drywall at the end of the shower. Looks like a little box for hooking up water (?) for the washer later.
In a couple days, I'll reveal the master bedroom. Be afraid. Be very afraid!
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Hick House Downstairs: Living Room 03-14-19
The kitchen and bathroom have been the main focus of Hick and HOS's efforts. Here are a few photos I took last week to show more of the downstairs layout.
Here is more of the living room, looking in from the entryway. HOS has been painting the ceiling. The front window is fine, just has a shade over it. Those two leaning windows are going elsewhere. The black frame will be in the master bedroom, and the other is going upstairs to replace a broken window, I think in the Fleetwood Mac bedroom, which is on the uphill side of the house.
If you stand with your back to that bright window, you can see the front door and entryway. Plastic is covering the archway to the master bedroom, to keep out sawdust from Hick's temporary workroom. The way Hick described it, I thought the archway was actually arched. Apparently not. The plan is for shelves here, for the living room, and in the bedroom on the other side. If Hick runs out of time and/or money, he will use drywall to close the opening.
Here's the entry to the kitchen, with shy Hick hiding behind the wall. I'm pretty sure he thought he was in the picture. That door behind him leads to the hall and bathroom. The dark corner is where the dirty sink was removed.
More from the kitchen tomorrow.
Here is more of the living room, looking in from the entryway. HOS has been painting the ceiling. The front window is fine, just has a shade over it. Those two leaning windows are going elsewhere. The black frame will be in the master bedroom, and the other is going upstairs to replace a broken window, I think in the Fleetwood Mac bedroom, which is on the uphill side of the house.
If you stand with your back to that bright window, you can see the front door and entryway. Plastic is covering the archway to the master bedroom, to keep out sawdust from Hick's temporary workroom. The way Hick described it, I thought the archway was actually arched. Apparently not. The plan is for shelves here, for the living room, and in the bedroom on the other side. If Hick runs out of time and/or money, he will use drywall to close the opening.
Here's the entry to the kitchen, with shy Hick hiding behind the wall. I'm pretty sure he thought he was in the picture. That door behind him leads to the hall and bathroom. The dark corner is where the dirty sink was removed.
More from the kitchen tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Hick's a Glutton For Aggrandisement
After my tour of Hick House on Thursday, just as I was buckling up my seatbelt in the shotgun seat of SilverRedO for a ride back to T-Hoe at the post office... Hick shoved his phone in my face.
"Look at that! My buddy sent it to me."
You can't be too careful looking at something on Hick's phone after such a preface. There's a reason both Genius and The Pony have decreed that Hick is not allowed to send them random pictures. I guess Hick thought it was safe, since I was strapped down, and in a moving vehicle.
It was a house.
Hick is like that Cookie-Mouse. If you give Hick money to buy a $5000 house, pretty soon he's going to want another house. And the 'nother house has to be a better bargain than
A $5000 HOUSE!
"It's over on Sixth Street. I'm going by later to look at it. It's ONLY $1600!"
Seriously. Just when you think houses can't get any cheaper. I told Hick to drive me over there. I didn't want to be hearing about it second-hand. Sometimes Hick's eyes glaze over with a lack of dollar $igns.
It's a house only Hick (and possibly HOS) could love. On the drive over, Hick already had grand plans to get this house. "I figure if I offer $1000, the guy'll probably jump at it, just to get rid of it." And grand plans to fix it up in three months and flip it. "I can do most of it myself. I'm sure HOS would help me for a share of the profit. I'd just need him for some plumbing, or climbing on ladders."
This is why I demanded to ride along with him!
Hick knew this house right away. "It's This Guy's old house! One of his rental houses, that he sold to Another Guy."
"I don't think this one is even worth $1000. You'd have to put so much money into it, even with just the basics. It needs a roof. There's a sag in the middle of the foundation. That can't be good."
"A roof for that would only run you about $2000. You could jack up the foundation. It may be nothing. I wonder what the inside looks like."
"You can go look in that end window. Because there's no window in it!"
With Hick so excited about his new flipping hobby, there's a slight chance that another flip house is on Thevictorians' horizon.
This house ain't it.
"Look at that! My buddy sent it to me."
You can't be too careful looking at something on Hick's phone after such a preface. There's a reason both Genius and The Pony have decreed that Hick is not allowed to send them random pictures. I guess Hick thought it was safe, since I was strapped down, and in a moving vehicle.
It was a house.
Hick is like that Cookie-Mouse. If you give Hick money to buy a $5000 house, pretty soon he's going to want another house. And the 'nother house has to be a better bargain than
A $5000 HOUSE!
"It's over on Sixth Street. I'm going by later to look at it. It's ONLY $1600!"
Seriously. Just when you think houses can't get any cheaper. I told Hick to drive me over there. I didn't want to be hearing about it second-hand. Sometimes Hick's eyes glaze over with a lack of dollar $igns.
It's a house only Hick (and possibly HOS) could love. On the drive over, Hick already had grand plans to get this house. "I figure if I offer $1000, the guy'll probably jump at it, just to get rid of it." And grand plans to fix it up in three months and flip it. "I can do most of it myself. I'm sure HOS would help me for a share of the profit. I'd just need him for some plumbing, or climbing on ladders."
This is why I demanded to ride along with him!
Hick knew this house right away. "It's This Guy's old house! One of his rental houses, that he sold to Another Guy."
"I don't think this one is even worth $1000. You'd have to put so much money into it, even with just the basics. It needs a roof. There's a sag in the middle of the foundation. That can't be good."
"A roof for that would only run you about $2000. You could jack up the foundation. It may be nothing. I wonder what the inside looks like."
"You can go look in that end window. Because there's no window in it!"
With Hick so excited about his new flipping hobby, there's a slight chance that another flip house is on Thevictorians' horizon.
This house ain't it.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Hick House Downstairs Entry: Abandon All Hope of Luxury, Ye Who Enter Here
Thursday, Hick offered me a tour of Hick House again. HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) had done some painting the night before. "It looks a lot different!" Hick is an eternal optimist. Val... not so much. I went, but only on the condition that Hick would pick me up at the post office in SilverRedO. I wasn't about to risk T-Hoe's arthritic gear box just to visit a $5000 house.
I stood in the small front yard for a picture of the side porch. I LOVE that porch! In fact, I might love it even more than the upstairs Sunroom that I think has so much potential.
Upon closer inspection, the front wall of Hick House is covered with the tarpaper brick, and not actual bricks. The porch, though, is built like a brick...um...porch. Hick and HOS are currently storing HOS's FREE siding that they're planning to use on the top front triangle area by the Sunroom, and also on the front of the house there at the porch. And also maybe that downhill side of the house where they replaced the windows. Depends on how much siding HOS can get. Right now the poor porch is kind of their staging area.
Stepping inside the front door, I could tell how much brighter the area was after HOS's first coat of paint. By no means is it finished, but it gives you an idea what it can become. Too bad I didn't have many before pictures of this area. But this is still pretty much before it's livable.
Straight ahead as you enter, we have the door to the future master bedroom. It's best that door remains closed right now. That's Hick Central, where he has his saw set up under the peeling ceiling.
If you turn right upon entering the front door, you see the landing of the two steps, and the door that leads to the other two flights of stairs that take you up to the Sunroom.
HOS's painting did not progress that far. Not sure how he got to the ceiling there with his tools on the landing.
It's amazing how a coat of paint can make an area seem light and airy, rather than gloom-and-doomy.
If you look left upon entering the front door, you see the living room. It's also kind of a staging area right now. Looks like HOS has saved every cigarette butt from every break. And looks like he takes a mustard break, too! I don't know what that's all about.
Don't worry, a baby doesn't live here! Hick had that bouncy seat in one of his storage units. He brought it over because HOD (HOS's Oldest Daughter) brought HOS's eight-month-old baby over early one day, and they needed something to keep him in! Can't have a loose baby in Hick House!
The window faces down the hill. It's the big one you saw in the outside picture of the window replacements. There's Hick, lurking in the doorway to the kitchen. He's got his installed cabinets plastic-ed off from the drywall work they've been doing.
More on the living room another time. This was just to give you an idea of the layout, and how much work Hick and HOS have to go.
I stood in the small front yard for a picture of the side porch. I LOVE that porch! In fact, I might love it even more than the upstairs Sunroom that I think has so much potential.
Upon closer inspection, the front wall of Hick House is covered with the tarpaper brick, and not actual bricks. The porch, though, is built like a brick...um...porch. Hick and HOS are currently storing HOS's FREE siding that they're planning to use on the top front triangle area by the Sunroom, and also on the front of the house there at the porch. And also maybe that downhill side of the house where they replaced the windows. Depends on how much siding HOS can get. Right now the poor porch is kind of their staging area.
Stepping inside the front door, I could tell how much brighter the area was after HOS's first coat of paint. By no means is it finished, but it gives you an idea what it can become. Too bad I didn't have many before pictures of this area. But this is still pretty much before it's livable.
Straight ahead as you enter, we have the door to the future master bedroom. It's best that door remains closed right now. That's Hick Central, where he has his saw set up under the peeling ceiling.
If you turn right upon entering the front door, you see the landing of the two steps, and the door that leads to the other two flights of stairs that take you up to the Sunroom.
HOS's painting did not progress that far. Not sure how he got to the ceiling there with his tools on the landing.
It's amazing how a coat of paint can make an area seem light and airy, rather than gloom-and-doomy.
If you look left upon entering the front door, you see the living room. It's also kind of a staging area right now. Looks like HOS has saved every cigarette butt from every break. And looks like he takes a mustard break, too! I don't know what that's all about.
Don't worry, a baby doesn't live here! Hick had that bouncy seat in one of his storage units. He brought it over because HOD (HOS's Oldest Daughter) brought HOS's eight-month-old baby over early one day, and they needed something to keep him in! Can't have a loose baby in Hick House!
The window faces down the hill. It's the big one you saw in the outside picture of the window replacements. There's Hick, lurking in the doorway to the kitchen. He's got his installed cabinets plastic-ed off from the drywall work they've been doing.
More on the living room another time. This was just to give you an idea of the layout, and how much work Hick and HOS have to go.
Monday, March 18, 2019
Emergency At 27,984 Feet!
That's 5.3 miles. The distance from home to town.
Remember when Hick House tried to kill T-Hoe? I sure do! I was sort of getting over it. After all, nearly a week had gone by. A pretty good week, too! Time was starting to heal my perception of T-Hoe's wounds. Hick himself was inside the belly of that beast, putting up drywall around the kitchen flue, when I drove to Country Mart on Wednesday, to get him his special ice cream.
Let the record show that this ice cream is not special because it's permissible for diabetics. Nor because it's made from the finest ingredients, virtually a health food that assures long life. Nope. Hick's ice cream is special because that's the kind he likes. Individual cups of vanilla swirled with strawberry and chocolate. He had run out the previous evening, so I went to get more. Because I'm a getter like that.
I'd stopped by my pharmacy for prescription refills, and came into Country Mart's lot from the side entrance. My favorite parking spot in front of the store was open. I turned right, to pull in. Normally I come down an aisle across from this space, and pull straight in, without turning. Since I had a 90-degree turn now, I was a bit discombobulated with the depth of this slot. I let T-Hoe roll a little too far, and bumped the yellow concrete parking-space bumper. That's what they're for, you know! To let you feel when you're all the way in the space, without going too far.
It was just a gentle bump. Not like my long-ago friend who jumped the bumper while parking at an Ozark Mountain Daredevils concert. I put T-Hoe in PARK, turned him off, and went inside for the ice cream, along with some Peaches N Cream store-brand instant oatmeal (mine), flavored water (Hick's).
When I came out, it was just after 1:00. A stop by The Gas Station Chicken Store for my 44 oz Diet Coke, and my errands would be over. Time to chill in my dark basement lair with lunch and my magical elixir and some scratchers and New Delly. This was a short trip. I didn't leave Backroads. Just a five-mile trip to town for my essentials, then back home.
I wrote down my debit amount in the checkbook, started up T-Hoe, and looked behind me for traffic or pedestrians before backing out. WAIT A MINUTE! T-Hoe wouldn't get in gear! He was stuck again. I turned him off and tried again. Nope. I yanked the steering wheel side to side, in case it was somehow locked in position and preventing shifting. C'mon! It's not like I can run a System Restore on T-Hoe. Dang it! Hick's ice cream wasn't going to like this much. I called Hick. He interrogated me about what I was trying to do.
"I'm just trying to move the shifter from PARK to REVERSE. It's stuck. Just like at the house. But I'm level. I bumped the concrete parking bumper, barely. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I've driven this car for 10 years, and hit those bumpers way harder than this time, and this has never happened before."
"Okay. I'll be right there. The only other thing to do is call AAA, but I can be there faster."
I listened to the radio until it went off (after 15 minutes). I got out and looked at the front tires. They were touching the concrete bumper thingy. But neither was indented or misshapen by pressure against the concrete. I leaned against T-Hoe's front end. Tried to give him a push backwards. Man! He's as solid as a brick porch on a $5000 house! I tried to rock T-Hoe back and forth. I might have moved him half a millimeter. I jiggled my excess adipose tissue way more than I jiggled T-Hoe. I got back in, turned on the radio, and waited for my Knight in Gray Hoodie to arrive.
This was about the time Hick should get here. It had been 15 minutes since my call. I started T-Hoe and tried to put him in gear. Nothing. Turned him off, then back on, and tried again. Nope. I saw Hick turning on the side street, approaching me, past the Hardee's, past the Dairy Queen, past the rock that a lady got her car stuck on last summer, past my pharmacy, and into Country Mart's lot. He pulled up beside me, and parked just right for T-Hoe's door not to open all the way because of the location of SilverRedO's mirror.
Hick asked if I had T-Hoe in 4 Wheel Auto. No, I did not. Just in the regular 2 Wheel Drive like any other car driving around on non-slippery streets. I figured Hick might attach a strap or chain to T-Hoe's rear pulling things, and jolt him out of gear, like over at Hick House. Hick acted like he didn't believe T-Hoe was stuck in PARK. I clambered out, he climbed in, started T-Hoe up, and POPPED HIM RIGHT INTO REVERSE!
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT????"
"I just put it in gear, Val."
"I tried SO MANY TIMES! It was stuck! You must have really yanked on it! I didn't want to break it. It wouldn't move, anyway. But I didn't yank on it hard."
"I didn't use much force at all, Val."
"I can't believe you did that! I must have loosened it up for you! I just tried it two times when I saw you driving down the street."
"I don't know. It could have been a fluke. Your tire against the concrete, and you put it in park without taking your foot off the brake."
"You mean I'm supposed to have my foot off the brake when I put it in PARK? I don't think so! I would be rolling!"
"Not if you were against the concrete stopper. If you'd let off, the car would have rolled back a little and adjusted itself."
"Huh. I think you yanked it really hard, and I didn't. But you do have that PopArm, so it couldn't have been REAL hard..."
"See? I told you. There's not a lot of things that could go wrong. There's just cogs in the differential. Maybe T-Hoe is getting older, and they stick."
"Wouldn't they be all worn and smooth if he's older, and more likely to slip OUT of gear, instead of sticking?"
"Well. Maybe... or maybe it's in the shifter arm. Maybe it needs a little bit of oil."
"Will you oil my arm?"
"Yes, Val. I'll oil your arm."
"My blog buddy Linda said she had this problem with her car, and her husband fixed it with a paperclip. I don't know if she was joshin' me, or if he was joshin' her... is that even possible."
"No, Val. You can't fix it with a paperclip."
So sayeth my Knight in Gray Hoodie, having ridden to my rescue, assuring me he would pull into The Gas Station Chicken Store with me to make sure T-Hoe didn't act up again... and then left me at the light while he bypassed The Gas Station Chicken Store and went back to Hick House.
I have my suspicions that something is going wrong with T-Hoe's transmission. Hick doesn't seem to think so. I guess I'll take his word for it. Because unlike the finer points of grammar and punctuation, assorted conspiracy theories, and trivial details concerning all episodes of Seinfeld... Val does not know much about cars.
Remember when Hick House tried to kill T-Hoe? I sure do! I was sort of getting over it. After all, nearly a week had gone by. A pretty good week, too! Time was starting to heal my perception of T-Hoe's wounds. Hick himself was inside the belly of that beast, putting up drywall around the kitchen flue, when I drove to Country Mart on Wednesday, to get him his special ice cream.
Let the record show that this ice cream is not special because it's permissible for diabetics. Nor because it's made from the finest ingredients, virtually a health food that assures long life. Nope. Hick's ice cream is special because that's the kind he likes. Individual cups of vanilla swirled with strawberry and chocolate. He had run out the previous evening, so I went to get more. Because I'm a getter like that.
I'd stopped by my pharmacy for prescription refills, and came into Country Mart's lot from the side entrance. My favorite parking spot in front of the store was open. I turned right, to pull in. Normally I come down an aisle across from this space, and pull straight in, without turning. Since I had a 90-degree turn now, I was a bit discombobulated with the depth of this slot. I let T-Hoe roll a little too far, and bumped the yellow concrete parking-space bumper. That's what they're for, you know! To let you feel when you're all the way in the space, without going too far.
It was just a gentle bump. Not like my long-ago friend who jumped the bumper while parking at an Ozark Mountain Daredevils concert. I put T-Hoe in PARK, turned him off, and went inside for the ice cream, along with some Peaches N Cream store-brand instant oatmeal (mine), flavored water (Hick's).
When I came out, it was just after 1:00. A stop by The Gas Station Chicken Store for my 44 oz Diet Coke, and my errands would be over. Time to chill in my dark basement lair with lunch and my magical elixir and some scratchers and New Delly. This was a short trip. I didn't leave Backroads. Just a five-mile trip to town for my essentials, then back home.
I wrote down my debit amount in the checkbook, started up T-Hoe, and looked behind me for traffic or pedestrians before backing out. WAIT A MINUTE! T-Hoe wouldn't get in gear! He was stuck again. I turned him off and tried again. Nope. I yanked the steering wheel side to side, in case it was somehow locked in position and preventing shifting. C'mon! It's not like I can run a System Restore on T-Hoe. Dang it! Hick's ice cream wasn't going to like this much. I called Hick. He interrogated me about what I was trying to do.
"I'm just trying to move the shifter from PARK to REVERSE. It's stuck. Just like at the house. But I'm level. I bumped the concrete parking bumper, barely. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I've driven this car for 10 years, and hit those bumpers way harder than this time, and this has never happened before."
"Okay. I'll be right there. The only other thing to do is call AAA, but I can be there faster."
I listened to the radio until it went off (after 15 minutes). I got out and looked at the front tires. They were touching the concrete bumper thingy. But neither was indented or misshapen by pressure against the concrete. I leaned against T-Hoe's front end. Tried to give him a push backwards. Man! He's as solid as a brick porch on a $5000 house! I tried to rock T-Hoe back and forth. I might have moved him half a millimeter. I jiggled my excess adipose tissue way more than I jiggled T-Hoe. I got back in, turned on the radio, and waited for my Knight in Gray Hoodie to arrive.
This was about the time Hick should get here. It had been 15 minutes since my call. I started T-Hoe and tried to put him in gear. Nothing. Turned him off, then back on, and tried again. Nope. I saw Hick turning on the side street, approaching me, past the Hardee's, past the Dairy Queen, past the rock that a lady got her car stuck on last summer, past my pharmacy, and into Country Mart's lot. He pulled up beside me, and parked just right for T-Hoe's door not to open all the way because of the location of SilverRedO's mirror.
Hick asked if I had T-Hoe in 4 Wheel Auto. No, I did not. Just in the regular 2 Wheel Drive like any other car driving around on non-slippery streets. I figured Hick might attach a strap or chain to T-Hoe's rear pulling things, and jolt him out of gear, like over at Hick House. Hick acted like he didn't believe T-Hoe was stuck in PARK. I clambered out, he climbed in, started T-Hoe up, and POPPED HIM RIGHT INTO REVERSE!
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT????"
"I just put it in gear, Val."
"I tried SO MANY TIMES! It was stuck! You must have really yanked on it! I didn't want to break it. It wouldn't move, anyway. But I didn't yank on it hard."
"I didn't use much force at all, Val."
"I can't believe you did that! I must have loosened it up for you! I just tried it two times when I saw you driving down the street."
"I don't know. It could have been a fluke. Your tire against the concrete, and you put it in park without taking your foot off the brake."
"You mean I'm supposed to have my foot off the brake when I put it in PARK? I don't think so! I would be rolling!"
"Not if you were against the concrete stopper. If you'd let off, the car would have rolled back a little and adjusted itself."
"Huh. I think you yanked it really hard, and I didn't. But you do have that PopArm, so it couldn't have been REAL hard..."
"See? I told you. There's not a lot of things that could go wrong. There's just cogs in the differential. Maybe T-Hoe is getting older, and they stick."
"Wouldn't they be all worn and smooth if he's older, and more likely to slip OUT of gear, instead of sticking?"
"Well. Maybe... or maybe it's in the shifter arm. Maybe it needs a little bit of oil."
"Will you oil my arm?"
"Yes, Val. I'll oil your arm."
"My blog buddy Linda said she had this problem with her car, and her husband fixed it with a paperclip. I don't know if she was joshin' me, or if he was joshin' her... is that even possible."
"No, Val. You can't fix it with a paperclip."
So sayeth my Knight in Gray Hoodie, having ridden to my rescue, assuring me he would pull into The Gas Station Chicken Store with me to make sure T-Hoe didn't act up again... and then left me at the light while he bypassed The Gas Station Chicken Store and went back to Hick House.
I have my suspicions that something is going wrong with T-Hoe's transmission. Hick doesn't seem to think so. I guess I'll take his word for it. Because unlike the finer points of grammar and punctuation, assorted conspiracy theories, and trivial details concerning all episodes of Seinfeld... Val does not know much about cars.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Val's Month-Late BirthdayGiftPalooza
Val has been feeling a positive flow of energy coming her way, especially last week. Not only did she find 26 PENNIES, but other riches came her way. Monetary, and not.
The tax refund came in on Tuesday, directly deposited, so that left Public Enemy #2 Val off the hook for ALLEGEDLY trying to deposit an ALLEGEDLY fake check at her bank.
Wednesday, as I sat in T-Hoe sorting through the mail, I was greeted by the back cover of a mail-order catalog:
Looks like the ladybugs haven't forsaken me!
Thursday, I ran some errands and toured Hick House, making me bypass the cemetery without a visit. "I just don't have time today. I'm headed the wrong way right now. I can stop by later." Wouldn't you know it, not even a mile up the road, a certain song came on the radio. "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye," by Patty Loveless. If I'd been sitting graveside in T-Hoe, having a one-sided conversation with Mom, that's when the song would have come on! Surely that wasn't a sign, was it? A sign of chastisement for not stopping? Or a sign of forgiveness because I was indeed busy that day? Or a sign that I really need to LET GO? I don't know, but I stopped by Friday, just in case...
Also on Thursday, I won $50 on a $5 scratcher. I didn't take a picture of it, even though it happened! Because it was only $50.
Friday, I made the time to stop by the cemetery on my way to the main post office. For the first time in three months, I got my DISH bill with enough time to get a check mailed back by the deadline! Yes. I consider that lucky. I'm tired of mailing my check the day after I get it, then having to pay online anyway when it doesn't arrive by midnight on the due date. Mailed it the same day this time. Take THAT, DISH! I think they drag their feet on the mail over there at DISH.
Since I was on that side of town (actually, in another town besides Backroads), I stopped at an unplanned Casey's for my scratchers. It was a good move.
I had the "L" symbol, which means WIN ALL. That's a $200 winner on a $5 scratcher. Val LOVES Lucy!
Yes, I had a good week, starting with those 16 pennies on Monday the 11th. Huh. It's almost like my birthday week came exactly one month late...
The tax refund came in on Tuesday, directly deposited, so that left Public Enemy #2 Val off the hook for ALLEGEDLY trying to deposit an ALLEGEDLY fake check at her bank.
Wednesday, as I sat in T-Hoe sorting through the mail, I was greeted by the back cover of a mail-order catalog:
Looks like the ladybugs haven't forsaken me!
Thursday, I ran some errands and toured Hick House, making me bypass the cemetery without a visit. "I just don't have time today. I'm headed the wrong way right now. I can stop by later." Wouldn't you know it, not even a mile up the road, a certain song came on the radio. "How Can I Help You Say Goodbye," by Patty Loveless. If I'd been sitting graveside in T-Hoe, having a one-sided conversation with Mom, that's when the song would have come on! Surely that wasn't a sign, was it? A sign of chastisement for not stopping? Or a sign of forgiveness because I was indeed busy that day? Or a sign that I really need to LET GO? I don't know, but I stopped by Friday, just in case...
Also on Thursday, I won $50 on a $5 scratcher. I didn't take a picture of it, even though it happened! Because it was only $50.
Friday, I made the time to stop by the cemetery on my way to the main post office. For the first time in three months, I got my DISH bill with enough time to get a check mailed back by the deadline! Yes. I consider that lucky. I'm tired of mailing my check the day after I get it, then having to pay online anyway when it doesn't arrive by midnight on the due date. Mailed it the same day this time. Take THAT, DISH! I think they drag their feet on the mail over there at DISH.
Since I was on that side of town (actually, in another town besides Backroads), I stopped at an unplanned Casey's for my scratchers. It was a good move.
I had the "L" symbol, which means WIN ALL. That's a $200 winner on a $5 scratcher. Val LOVES Lucy!
Yes, I had a good week, starting with those 16 pennies on Monday the 11th. Huh. It's almost like my birthday week came exactly one month late...
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Val Hastens Her AsCENT to Pennyillionaire Status
You'll never believe what I found MONDAY, March 11, when returning to T-Hoe from gathering the mail out of EmBee. That's right! You must be psychic! It WAS pennies. Yes. Plural. It's the amount you're not gonna believe. I found 16 pennies on the blacktop county road!
There are 11 of them. I guess the angle of the almost-sun had to be just right. I hadn't seen a one of them when I walked across the road to get the mail. One glinted as I walked back. The more I squinted, the more I saw, in a wide swath. The dirtier ones blended in with the gravel distributed for a recent freezing rain event. I picked them up, looked over my shoulder towards the mailbox side of the road, and noticed some MORE that I'd missed!
Here are the other five. I'm sure you'll have to look closely or zoom in. They're in a flying-bat kind of shape. I must apologize to those of you who would like to see an individual closeup of each of the 16 pennies. I WAS in the middle of the road, and didn't think it was safe to linger. As I picked them up, I did note that 10 were face-down, and 6 were face-up.
Don't worry! I WASHED these road pennies, because some were absolutely filthy. Put them in a little cup of water and DAWN, the dish detergent that gets oily baby animals clean. It got my pennies, clean, too!
When I came upstairs later to check their dates, I found it interesting that even that a random shaking-out on the paper towel, and sliding them apart for drying, resulted in 8 pennies face-down, and 8 pennies face-up. As it should be, with 50-50 odds. For the record, the years of these pennies were: 1957 (a WHEAT penny), 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2012, 2013, 2014 (4), 2015, 2017, 2018.
__________________________________________________________________
You'll never believe what I found on WEDNESDAY, March 12. Okay. You will. I'm a believable kind of Val. Of course I was on the lookout for pennies when I crossed the road to get the mail. But what I found was a DIME! Heads-up, from 2017, with kind of a bad scar on FDR's face. Of course I looked around, in case there might be 15 more.
There wasn't, but there WAS a penny! Face-up, from 2013.
I got closeups of those two, and that's all you're getting, because there are MORE COINS TO COME! I proceeded to town, feeling all special for getting coins at the mailbox for two days in a row. Of course when you least expect it, a coin falls into your lap. Not so much falls into my lap, as lays patiently on the floor of the Casey's over in Main Post Office Town until I find it.
No room for the closeup of this heads-up 1984, because when I turned to leave, I found ANOTHER NICKEL on the way out! "When I rains, it pours!" says Val and the little Morton Salt girl.
"Whew! Am I going to have a good Pennyillionaire story this week!" said Val as she pocketed her 1995 face-down rightful nickel and headed to her last stop, The Gas Station Chicken Store. Where you're not gonna believe it, but...
I found a penny on the way in! Face-down, from 1993.
_______________________________________________________________
With such spectacular good fortune on Monday and Tuesday, I was almost relieved when Wednesday rolled around, and I didn't find a singer coin. But you know what's coming, don't you?
On THURSDAY, March 14, at my very first stop, I was called over to a closed register by an Orb K clerk. When I looked down, it was obvious to me why she had chosen to open the register at the very moment I was next in line.
I'd have missed that somewhat-copper pair if she hadn't opened up. The front one was face-down, a 1998, and the second one was heads-up, a 2008. Here, I'll give you a closer look at these two.
Now I see why that one was so hard to pick up! It was trying to hide under the energy-supplement rack.
I went outside into the gale winds of the Great Midwest Bomb Cyclone of '19, and nearly stepped on ANOTHER penny as I reached to open T-Hoe's door. I swear it was not there when I got out. I always look around, because that's where I often find pennies meant just for me. Maybe it blew in on a 60 mph wind gust.
It was a bit awkward getting the picture, what with clutching three scratchers in my left armpit, T-Hoe's keyring in my right hand, and swaying the the gale-force winds. I did it, though. For YOU, and because as Genius likes to say, "Pics or it didn't happen." This was a face-down 1982.
Whew! As I type this up on Thursday night, I'm almost afraid to leave the house on Friday and Saturday. There might be a limit on the number of pennies you can harvest per week!
__________________________________________________________________
Val People Problems! Just as I feared, on FRIDAY, March 15, I stopped to pick up the mail, and found THREE MORE PENNIES! A face-down 2018, a heads-up 1979, and a heads-up 1994.
It's kind of hard to see the last two. Go straight up from the penny at the bottom, the area between the black dot and the twig, and look slightly left of center. I knew where they were, and could hardly find them in this picture.
__________________________________________________________________
Oh, NO! The nightmare to the nightmare! Today (SATURDAY, March 16), I found TWO MORE pennies by the mailbox! With the sun's glare, I couldn't even tell if I had them in frame, but a zoom-in shows I caught both.
The dirtier one, just to the right of center, was a face-down 1980. The other, off to the left of center, was a 1998, heads-up. I had to rush home and stop the presses to ad my two cents!
I've been closely inspecting the road here since my 16-penny windfall on Monday, so new pennies are springing up every day. It must be a kid on the bus tossing them out the window. I don't care where they come from! I'll gladly take them. If no new ones are there on Sunday, I can believe my school bus theory.
I made 46 cents this week! If this keeps up, I'll have to keep a tally for tax time next year.
__________________________________________________________________
2019 Running Total
Penny # 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.
Dime # 4.
Nickel # 3, 4.
Quarter still at 1.
2018 TOTALS
Penny 131
Dime 17
Nickel 6
Quarter 1
2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny 78
Dime 6
Nickel 0
Quarter 0
___________________________________________________________________
There are 11 of them. I guess the angle of the almost-sun had to be just right. I hadn't seen a one of them when I walked across the road to get the mail. One glinted as I walked back. The more I squinted, the more I saw, in a wide swath. The dirtier ones blended in with the gravel distributed for a recent freezing rain event. I picked them up, looked over my shoulder towards the mailbox side of the road, and noticed some MORE that I'd missed!
Here are the other five. I'm sure you'll have to look closely or zoom in. They're in a flying-bat kind of shape. I must apologize to those of you who would like to see an individual closeup of each of the 16 pennies. I WAS in the middle of the road, and didn't think it was safe to linger. As I picked them up, I did note that 10 were face-down, and 6 were face-up.
Don't worry! I WASHED these road pennies, because some were absolutely filthy. Put them in a little cup of water and DAWN, the dish detergent that gets oily baby animals clean. It got my pennies, clean, too!
When I came upstairs later to check their dates, I found it interesting that even that a random shaking-out on the paper towel, and sliding them apart for drying, resulted in 8 pennies face-down, and 8 pennies face-up. As it should be, with 50-50 odds. For the record, the years of these pennies were: 1957 (a WHEAT penny), 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2012, 2013, 2014 (4), 2015, 2017, 2018.
__________________________________________________________________
You'll never believe what I found on WEDNESDAY, March 12. Okay. You will. I'm a believable kind of Val. Of course I was on the lookout for pennies when I crossed the road to get the mail. But what I found was a DIME! Heads-up, from 2017, with kind of a bad scar on FDR's face. Of course I looked around, in case there might be 15 more.
There wasn't, but there WAS a penny! Face-up, from 2013.
I got closeups of those two, and that's all you're getting, because there are MORE COINS TO COME! I proceeded to town, feeling all special for getting coins at the mailbox for two days in a row. Of course when you least expect it, a coin falls into your lap. Not so much falls into my lap, as lays patiently on the floor of the Casey's over in Main Post Office Town until I find it.
"Whew! Am I going to have a good Pennyillionaire story this week!" said Val as she pocketed her 1995 face-down rightful nickel and headed to her last stop, The Gas Station Chicken Store. Where you're not gonna believe it, but...
I found a penny on the way in! Face-down, from 1993.
_______________________________________________________________
With such spectacular good fortune on Monday and Tuesday, I was almost relieved when Wednesday rolled around, and I didn't find a singer coin. But you know what's coming, don't you?
On THURSDAY, March 14, at my very first stop, I was called over to a closed register by an Orb K clerk. When I looked down, it was obvious to me why she had chosen to open the register at the very moment I was next in line.
I'd have missed that somewhat-copper pair if she hadn't opened up. The front one was face-down, a 1998, and the second one was heads-up, a 2008. Here, I'll give you a closer look at these two.
Now I see why that one was so hard to pick up! It was trying to hide under the energy-supplement rack.
I went outside into the gale winds of the Great Midwest Bomb Cyclone of '19, and nearly stepped on ANOTHER penny as I reached to open T-Hoe's door. I swear it was not there when I got out. I always look around, because that's where I often find pennies meant just for me. Maybe it blew in on a 60 mph wind gust.
It was a bit awkward getting the picture, what with clutching three scratchers in my left armpit, T-Hoe's keyring in my right hand, and swaying the the gale-force winds. I did it, though. For YOU, and because as Genius likes to say, "Pics or it didn't happen." This was a face-down 1982.
Whew! As I type this up on Thursday night, I'm almost afraid to leave the house on Friday and Saturday. There might be a limit on the number of pennies you can harvest per week!
__________________________________________________________________
Val People Problems! Just as I feared, on FRIDAY, March 15, I stopped to pick up the mail, and found THREE MORE PENNIES! A face-down 2018, a heads-up 1979, and a heads-up 1994.
It's kind of hard to see the last two. Go straight up from the penny at the bottom, the area between the black dot and the twig, and look slightly left of center. I knew where they were, and could hardly find them in this picture.
__________________________________________________________________
Oh, NO! The nightmare to the nightmare! Today (SATURDAY, March 16), I found TWO MORE pennies by the mailbox! With the sun's glare, I couldn't even tell if I had them in frame, but a zoom-in shows I caught both.
The dirtier one, just to the right of center, was a face-down 1980. The other, off to the left of center, was a 1998, heads-up. I had to rush home and stop the presses to ad my two cents!
I've been closely inspecting the road here since my 16-penny windfall on Monday, so new pennies are springing up every day. It must be a kid on the bus tossing them out the window. I don't care where they come from! I'll gladly take them. If no new ones are there on Sunday, I can believe my school bus theory.
I made 46 cents this week! If this keeps up, I'll have to keep a tally for tax time next year.
__________________________________________________________________
2019 Running Total
Penny # 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.
Dime # 4.
Nickel # 3, 4.
Quarter still at 1.
2018 TOTALS
Penny 131
Dime 17
Nickel 6
Quarter 1
2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny 78
Dime 6
Nickel 0
Quarter 0
___________________________________________________________________