Some Days You're the Tire, Some Days You're the Frogger

The Universe has been jackpot-blocking Val! I've had a couple weeks of not-winning. Oh, I can manage to win money-back on some tickets. But no good jackpots. Just the minimum. Saturday was especially trying. I felt like the star of my current favorite ticket.

At least I enjoyed moderate success, with a win from the right-side lottery machine at 10Box:

Val was exhausted from jumping through all the hoops The Universe placed in her path to achieve this $25 win on that $5 ticket. 

Let the record show that I go to the Gas Station Chicken Store every day for lottery tickets. I like the crossword, and Frogger. In addition, I go to one other random business. Sometimes Casey's, or the Liquor Store, or 10Box, or Orb K. They are all located in Backroads. I go to whichever one I feel like will give me a winner. That decision is made before I leave home.

Saturday was not a good day for planning. According to The Universe.

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Gas Station Chicken Store

I pulled onto the lot, and saw a red sedan in my rightful handicap parking space. I looped around, and parked in the space behind it, next to the FREE AIR hose. No handicap plates, no placard. I just sat there waiting for it to leave. My knees were not eager to take extra steps. After three minutes, that sedan started up and left. Not sure what was going on, but nobody came out and got in with the driver.

The Gas Station Chicken Store had my crossword ticket. They were out yesterday. But they had no Froggers. The Man Owner had told my favorite cashier that people don't like them. So he put a different ticket in their slot.

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Backroads Casey's

I could see there were no cars in their parking spaces, save for the maroon mini-van that belongs to the Old Gal who is nice to me. I headed over there, only to have a black truck pull in and park sideways next to my handicap space. I could still park there. But a worker and an old dude who looked like Willie Nelson in blue Dickeys work clothes were standing on the sidewalk, smoking. Cigarettes, I assume. Though it WAS 4/20. They were in the area where I would have to step up on the sidewalk, holding onto T-Hoe's hood. No thank you. Not getting out and trying to elbow my way onto the sidewalk. I left.

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The Liquor Store

Not many cars on the lot for a Saturday afternoon. So I planned to go there. Except a car was coming out of the lot, taking up room I needed to pull in. AND the light changed, so I would have to wait for 20+ cars before turning left. No thank you. I got in the left-turn lane to go to 10Box.

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10Box

I nabbed the closest handicap space. Went inside. The left machine was out of Froggers! So I got a crossword. But I couldn't get to the right machine because a worker and her friend were standing in front of it. Not buying any tickets. Just standing. Watching. Then the worker said, "Oh, do you want to use this?" And I said, "Yes, I'd like to get my Froggers."

That gal said she thought she saw a new Taxes Paid $5 ticket when the machine was running its video it does when people aren't using it. I've not heard of such a ticket, but they've had them in the past. Anyhoo... I got two Frogger tickets out of it. Had I known how the rest of my search would go, I'd have gotten more!

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Orb K

Leaving 10Box, I figured I could stop by Orb K on my way out of town, to get a couple of Froggers. The parking space I like was taken. So I went around the sidewalk to the end, by the pay vacuum, to park and wait for that vehicle to leave. Well. There were seven cars in front of Orb K. I waited for five minutes, and NOBODY came out! So I figured there was a slow cashier, or everybody was trying to use their card and having problems. So I left, and headed back under the overpass and into town, to try Casey's again.

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Backroads Casey's (2)

I could see from the stoplight that Casey's had a full parking lot. Including the handicap space. So I scrubbed that try, and pulled onto the lot of the Liquor Store.

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The Liquor Store (2)

Only about five cars there, so I parked and went in. They were OUT OF FROGGERS! Such a disappointment. I got a couple of other tickets, but they turned out to be losers.

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Anyhoo... at least I won $25 on one of my Froggers from the 10Box right-side machine. And $10 on a crossword from the Gas Station Chicken Store. And $5 from a crossword out of the left-side 10Box machine. Not getting rich, but it's something. It's the least The Universe could do, after thwarting my efforts in a quest to buy Froggers.