The One Where Hick Acts as The Pony's Wiper, and Val is a Money-Sucking Thorn in His Side

The first order of business when we arrived at The Pony's apartment building last Wednesday was to replace his windshield wipers. Let the record show that The Pony had sent a text on November 16 that his windshield wiper BLEW UP. He meant blew out. Ripped to shreds. He thinks he turned them on when they were frozen to his windshield.

Anyhoo...his solution was: "I really don't have much time to drive right now anyway. It can wait until you guys come down. If I have to get out, I'll make sure it's a sunny day."

Don't pretend that you're surprised. Not even Hick's suggestion to have the Walmart automotive department, or O'Reilly's Auto Parts put them on, garnered any traction with The Pony. Nor my inquiry as to whether his Bestie would go with him and speak up for him. Hick had bought a set, and once we arrived, showed The Pony how simple it was to replace them.

The Pony carried in the treats we brought him, then we went to check in at La Quinta, an easy 5-minute drive from both The Pony's apartment, and the casino (which had no rooms available). It's not the Ritz, but I sleep well on their mattress and pillows (no horror stories, please), and the price is good. Not to mention the free breakfast.

At the casino, Hick dropped us off at the back entrance. Just inside was a Flintstones slot that The Pony wanted to show me. He'd played it when Hick passed through on his journey out west in September. There were two Flintstones slots, side by side. The Pony chose the one on the left. I don't like to play side by side. I figure if one slot is set to pay off easier, the one next to it will be set tighter. Anyhoo...we both played, and I doubled my money, while The Pony lost his twenty. He showed me a bonus game I could play, which won me an additional $36. Poor Pony.

We moved on to a Buffalo Gold game that he wanted to play. There were three. The Pony took the one in the middle, and I sat on his right, because that slot was on the end. Yep. It ate The Pony's money.

But with my original twenty still in play, mine gave me a bonus that paid $152. Poor Pony.

That's kind of how it went. He played a wheel spin game for a while, winning and losing, until it took his money. I played a new game (to me) called Huff n Puff, a perpendicular row behind him. It gave me a crappy bonus, but with only $4 left

I got this $90 line hit full of pigs. The Pony did not seem to share my joy. We wandered to some other slots of his choosing. One is a lightning zapper kind of thing. Three games side by side. He took the green theme on the left, we skipped the red one in the middle, and I took the blue one on the right. The Pony was hitting little paybacks like crazy, his machine making that exciting zapper noise. I was happy for him. Mine had no sound, and I had played down to my last dollar with only one payback, of less than three dollars. As I was pointing out how bad my slot sucked, I pushed the button while looking at The Pony.

"You just got something," he said. And I looked up to see that I'd hit some kind of bonus that paid me $71. Poor Pony. He cashed out $15. No picture of that one, because it was ONLY $71. Who takes a picture of that? Not this old Val.

After that, The Pony and I split up, me going up front to the bathrooms and FREE SODA area, with a plan to meet at the back door with Hick at 10:00. I wandered around like Midas, everything I touched wanting to reward me with gold. With only ten minute left until leave time, working my way to the back of the casino, I stopped to play Dancing Drums. There's a carousel of them, usually all occupied. Those Oklahoma folks love their Dancing Drums.

Anyhoo...I tried to put my ticket in one, but the ticket accepter wasn't accepting. The screen said CALL ATTENDANT. So I moved over to the next one. I had a ticket of almost twenty dollars that I put it. That was going to be it for the evening, as I had an even number built up on my "saving" ticket, to cash out a profit! With only 10 minutes left (5, really, because I had to leave time to walk to the back door, and to cash out my ticket), I played the second-level bet of $1.76, instead of my usual 88 cents.

BONG BONG BONG! On the third spin, I hit the bonus! The guy sitting to my right didn't seem to share in my joy, either. Sometimes it takes forever to hit a bonus on Dancing Drums. Anyhoo...here's my bonus, of $133.60.

Yes, I had a very good evening at the casino. And some more good luck the next day. You won't get my grand total yet. Just remember, it takes money to make money. And I was also subsidizing The Pony's wagering.