The Elusive Even Steven Has Resurfaced in Pittsburgh

Seems like Even Steven has been hopping around lately, bestowing good, foreshadowing bad, even continent-jumping to visit Blog Buddy River across the pond. Tuesday afternoon, he popped up in Pittsburgh, where Genius was scratching some hoarded lottery tickets.

I send Genius two scratchers per week in his letter. He sets them aside until he has a few, then commences scratching. I had just steered T-Hoe out of the driveway, onto our gravel road, when I heard a text come in. I stopped down by Mailbox Row to check my phone.

"Guess who just won $500 on a Fistful of $500 ticket from last week!"

"NOOOOO!!!"

"Deal with it! I haven't had a big winner since college."

"Congrats! I rarely buy those Fistful of $500s for myself. They look cartoony. Where from?"

[I put initials on the back, so I know where they came from. In case of a big winner, I don't want to buy the same kind of ticket there for a while]

"BC"

"That's the Backroads Casey's. I'm happy for you. Would have been happier for MYSELF!"

"I'm sure you would've!"

Heh, heh. I'm happy for Genius. Really. Here's the kind of ticket, though it's not his:

 

That's actually a picture from June 2, when THE PONY won $100 on this kind of ticket. I wrote about it on my super-secret blog back then.

Anyhoo... Genius can't cash that ticket outside of Missouri. He's sending it back to me, and I'll write him a check, then cash it in at the Gas Station Chicken Store. They're one of only two businesses that will cash over $100 winners.

Maybe Genius will put some of his newfound wealth into next year's pepper crop...