Even Steven Has Been Waiting For Me

Sunday, Feb 20, I made my third solo trip to town since my Unfortunate HospitVALzation. You may recall that I originally took sick on Jan 22. I had not been out on my daily 44 oz Diet Coke/scratchers run since Jan 21. Yes, my weekly allowance WAS burning a hole in my purse!

 

Anyhoo, while I was out of action, the long-awaited $50 scratcher ticket was released. The Pony and I had been waiting for a couple months, after seeing a sign for it in the Gas Station Chicken Store. The Pony got me one for my birthday. It won $50. Money back!

 

I cashed in that $50 winner on Sunday at the Gas Station Chicken Store. It was kind of surreal. Last time I was there, Man and Woman Owner were the only people who worked on the weekends. But this time, a familiar face was behind the counter. A familiar face that I hadn't seen in months.

"I've been gone so long I almost forgot how to buy scratchers! It's been about a month since I was in here. I've been sick."

"I almost forgot how to scan the tickets! I've been gone for 10 months!"

Okay. She had me there. I vaguely remember that she and another cashier had left to work at a liquor store downtown. Anyhoo... I got my new $50 ticket, and two $5 tickets, and two $3. Plus a couple $2 tickets for The Pony. I went on to Country Mart, where I bought some tickets out of their machines.

The machine on the right JAMMED when I bought a $50 ticket with money The Pony had given me for that purpose. I dared not walk away! Nobody was at the service desk except a customer waiting for service. Two cashiers were working, each with two customers. I stood leaning against the lottery machine.

A little old lady was at the machine on the left. She got some tickets, and was milling around. I wanted to yell, "TAKEN!" It was clear she was after my machine.

"I put $50 in here and it jammed! I'm not leaving until I get my ticket out!"

"Oh, this one always seems to jam up."

When the younger cashier was done with his customers, he went to the service desk and waited on the man waiting. Then he came to open up the machine and give my my ticket.

"This happens a lot. I think these tickets are just too big. When they tear off, they don't fall."

I took my ticket, pointed out that a $3 ticket also showed JAMMED, and he fixed it. The Little Old Lady started buying her tickets out of it. I had moved to the machine on the left. I bought two $5 tickets, two $3 tickets, and two $2 tickets for The Pony.

Once home, I started scratching. The $50 ticket was first.

 

It was a $100 winner! Made me sweat it out until the last number! And then the Bonus area also paid off. I was pretty happy to double my investment. Which was actually nothing, since I'd cashed in a winner to buy it.

The next ticket I scratched was from the Gas Station Chicken Store, the newest $5 ticket, which came out while I was in the hospital.

 

In case you can't see my winning number, here's a closeup:

 

It was a $100 winner! I scratch off the prize first, and thought I'd probably get a 1X or 2X multiplier. But no! I got the big one, the 20X!

My next ticket was a loser from the left machine at Country Mart. But my fourth ticket was the other $5 ticket that I got out of the left machine.

 

Let me show you a better view of my winner:

 

It was a $250 winner! If the other machine hadn't jammed, I never would have bought this ticket! I usually don't get this one, but it's the first thing that caught my eye when I scanned in my winners to buy tickets.

Thanks, Even Steven, for such a profitable day. I only had one other winner, $5 on a $5 crossword. The Pony's tickets all lost. He knows why. In fact, he said,

"Remind me not to ask you to buy tickets for me for a while. I think you've used up your luck for now."

Yes. I think I have. I'm pretty sure $455 in one day is a new record for me.