Val IS a Logical Suspect

Yesterday I told you about the $50,000 scratcher winner that was bought at 10Box. Turns out I am not the only one curious about the winner.

I didn't go to 10Box on Sunday, because I visited The Pony. Nor on Tuesday, because I went instead to Casey's. I suppose the workers there had missed my almost-daily visit to their lottery machines to buy my crossword scratchers. Other stores run out, and I find myself going in 10Box even on days I had not planned. I'm pretty much a regular there.

Wednesday, I had finished getting my tickets, and was limping towards the door. A worker came over to greet me. Not so much greet, as stand at my shoulder and look at me with raised eyebrows. Much like I might have done to a student on the verge of unacceptable behavior, though I favored the ONE raised eyebrow tactic.

Anyhoo... Worker Gal is some kind of management, because they call her up front when they need somebody at the service desk for a problem, or to redeem a winning scratcher up to $500. She has stepped up to talk to me at the machines before, and bought tickets on her break. She also clears out the losing scratchers people put in the wastebasket between them, or the winners after redeeming them in the machines. They can be scanned on the MOLottery app for points and drawings. 

Anyhoo... I said to Worker Gal:

"I hear somebody won $50,000 on one of your Christmas tickets!"

"Uh huh. We're all trying to figure out who it was." Again, she gave me the raised-eyebrow look.

"It wasn't me! I guarantee you, if I won it, I'd be walking in the doors announcing it to everybody! No secrets for me! Sad thing is, I don't like those tickets, and I quit buying them after I gave them a try."

"I don't like them, either. But I bought some."

"You can bet I won't buy them now! No big winner here again!"

"They came back in and scanned it on our machine to see if it really won."

"Which machine? The one they got it out of?"

"Well, we don't know."

"Don't you have surveillance video you could look at, to see who it was?"

"We don't' know exactly when it was."

That's the thing. Worker Gal only knew what I did, having read it on the MOLottery website News Releases. You don't know the exact date it was bought. Only that she cashed it in during this month. Worker Gal followed me out the doors, to have a smoke break while I was getting in T-Hoe.

"We've been talking about who it could have been. Discussing all our regulars. And then we ask when we see them. We're really hoping it was one of our regulars. SOMEBODY got a nice Christmas present!"

"Yes. I hope it was someone who really needs the money. But who doesn't, right? I hope it's something that can change their life. I'll let you know if I hear anything. You know, sometimes they talk about it in other stores."

So the mystery continues. We may never know. Missouri has a law (since 2021) that they can't release the names of winners without their permission. They used to, listing everything from $1000 and higher, with the winner's name and town. Now it's just the town and the store.

Another Near Miss For Val

You may recall that I've been in a scratcher slump. I hesitate to say "losing streak," because I was still winning. Some. Like $3 here, and $6 there, and sometimes $10. Just not the amounts I'm used to winning. I had to dip into my casino bankroll! Surely you wouldn't suggest I quit playing the scratchers, just because of not-winning!

Anyhoo... last week I had a big turn-around in scratcher luck. [Earmuffs, Even Steven! Cover your ears. Add a blindfold while you're at it. This is not for your eyes.] I think it started on Sunday. Since then, I've only had one day of less-than. The other days, I was hitting a big winner every day. Big for me. A $40 winner, or $50, or $60, and two days, I even had a $100 winner. In fact, I paid back my casino bankroll with more than I had taken out. So there's that. 

Yep. Ol' Val was riding high on the lottery hog, which was strapped atop her high horse. She beamed down with pity at those poor losers who were throwing their good money after nothing. 

Welp! That pride preceded a major head-over-heels tumble for gloating Val...

A $50,000 scratcher ticket was sold at 10Box! I read the news a few days ago. It was a $10 Christmas ticket that I have bought there. Not often. They are hard to scratch. Kind of gummy. More like scrapers than scratchers. So after the initial couple of buys to see what they were like, I gave up on them. Shunned them, actually. And now this.

I hope the winner is thrilled. Who wouldn't be??? I congratulate her, though it is through gritted teeth and gnarled fingers.

Do you understand the gravity of this situation? No more big winners in Backroads for a while! The last big winner in Backroads was a year or two ago. I think it was $100,000. The top prize on a $5 scratcher that Val bought regularly, sold at the Backroads Casey's, which Val frequents a couple times a week. Just like 10Box.

A major prize, virtually ripped from my grasping hands! Oh, well. I'll still keep playing. But you knew that...

Two Wrongs Make It Right

The owners of the house next door to The Pony did some renovations, and put it up for sale during the summer. They moved, and the house was vacant. This was the guy who gave Hick $500 towards cutting down that giant pecan tree that could have fallen on either house. The Pony didn't really interact with them since the guy was gone all the time for work.

Anyhoo... when The Pony got home from work Monday afternoon, he sent me a text. He had walked to work that morning, because he had some dizziness (that later turned into a migraine), and wanted to see if that would clear his head.

"Home with a migraine. Guess the dizziness just showed up before the pain today. Also, my neighbors that moved in Saturday stole my trash can from the curb! Came home to see it there in their driveway. Checked to make sure my lid fit, then stole it back."

"Good for you! Did they see you?"

"I don't know."

"Well. You can always say that you thought it was yours, because nobody lived there. Maybe the wind blew it while you were at work. It was really windy today."

"When I left for work, it was sitting by my mailbox, with the bottom of it full of water. They took it! It had a bag of trash in it! I didn't have any trash in mine."

"What if you see yours laying along the street, and realize that you took your new neighbors' trash can? They are common. A lid might fit more than just yours."

"I walked to work! I would have seen it coming home if it was along the road."

The next morning, on our daily phone call, I asked The Pony where the trash can was now.

"Sitting here in my living room!"

"I guess you can hide it until trash day."

"TODAY is trash day! I only have a couple bags. I'm just going to set them out on the curb."

"Dad says maybe it blew into their yard, and they thought it went with the house."

"HA HA! No. They stole it!"

"Dad says he saw your chair from the back porch in their driveway when he went by the other day."

"I took my chair back when I got my trash can! I need to 'borrow' something from work besides a black marker to write my address on my trash can."

"Wite-Out would work. But that can be chipped off."

"AND it's harder to 'borrow' from work!"

Poor Pony. If it's not one thing, it's a neighbor. I hope this was all just a misunderstanding. The Pony has already lost one trash can. No wonder he wants to hang onto this one.

Val's Interrogation Pays Off

When Hick got home from his SUS2.5 on Sunday evening, I asked him about that sausage in his Reuben Sandwich meal from the Senior Center.

"Where did that sausage come from?"

"My buddy had it at the Senior Center. He sliced it and put it on a plate, and said anybody that wanted some could have it."

"Did everybody take three slices?"

"No. A lot of people took two. They was eating it there."

"Did you just pick it up with your fingers?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of sausage was it? Did he make it himself? Was it deer sausage?"

"I don't know. It looked like salami."

"So people just used their fingers. And you don't know where it came from, or why he was giving it away?"

"I didn't get the craps or nothin'. So it must have been okay."

"You said you ate two of the slices, and gave one away at your storage unit. Was it to Old Buddy?"

"No. It was to [redacted]. OH! He's coming out here tomorrow to look at the Gator."

"To buy?"

"No. To see if he can get it running, so I can ride it around."

"Good thing I asked. Were you even going to tell me?"

"I was gonna tell you when I got home, but then I went down to the basement and forgot."

"So you wouldn't have told me?"

"Yes! When you called me to say somebody was over by the BARn, I would have!"

"What kind of vehicle does he have?"

"An old Dodge truck."

"What COLOR? Like I would know an old Dodge is."

"Gray and red, I think."

Duly noted. Don't panic when the dogs go crazy because a man is over in the BARn field with a gray and red truck. Something I never would have known, except for my mad interrogation skillz.

Hick Supplements His Diet

When Hick brought home the Reubens from the Senior Center on Friday, he carried them in white plastic bags tied at the top. That's how he always brings them home, and I yell at him remind him not to carry them where they dangle sideways, because that's how slaw soup and beet juice get soaked into the bread of the sandwiches. I guess that's how they send out the meals at the Senior Center.

Hick set them on the cutting block to take the containers out of the bags. I asked him to bring one over so I could see the slaw, and if the bread was soggy. He brought both over to the table.

"This one is really heavy compared to the other."

"Oh, that one's mine. A buddy gave me some sausage. You can have a piece if you want."

Inside was Hick's Reuben sandwich meal, with three slices of sausage on top, spread out over the sandwich, crackers, and soup container. I wish I had taken a picture. It was like summer sausage. You know. It looked kind of like salami. About 2/3 the size of a bologna slice, and a half-inch thick.

No, I didn't want any. It was nice of Hick to offer. He said he would take it the next day to his SUS2.5 for lunch. So I asked if he wanted me to put it in a baggie for him. Hick said yes, if I didn't' mind. Later, as I was getting out the baggie, I got to thinking about how Hick got that sausage home.

Where did he get it from his buddy? Did his buddy have a roll of sausage at the Senior Center, slicing it off all willy-nilly? Or was he at the storage units? How did those three slices of Hick's sausage get into the tied-up meals from the Senior Center? Did Hick carry them in his hands, on the dashboard of SilverRedO, and later put them in the Reubens? Or was it from a buddy bagging Senior Center meals who put them in Hick's carryout? Makes you wonder, doesn't it? 

Hick is not here to ask as I'm typing this. I think I need to investigate.

Hick's Newest Business Venture

Hick is quite proud of his SUS2.5 (Storage Unit Store 2 new building). He has spent a lot of time getting it ready. That entailed wiring it for electricity, installing lights, putting down flooring, adding insulation to walls and ceiling, and setting up security cameras. Then he began moving merchandise from his still-operating SUS2.

Here is the outside view of the front of the SUS2.5.

Nothing fancy, just a storefront. He had the gravel hauled in. Probably Old Buddy did the leveling of that gravel.

Hick put a window in one of the side walls.

Nothing special, but it lets in light and air, and he can see out that side. These are pictures from September.

By early October, Hick was moving in merchandise. Here are the beginnings.

I think this was taken from the front door. You can see the side window on the right, just past the jackets.

This is a slightly different angle of the same stuff. Hick likes decorating with the fish and deer heads. He had a guy offer to buy one such item the day after he put it up. Hick told the guy that was part of his decorations, and not for sale. The guy really wanted it, and asked how much it would take to buy it. Of course Hick ended up selling it!

This week, Hick was pretty sure he had his shop set up just how he wanted it.

Here's a view from the back, looking forward to the front door and window.

As you enter, here's what you see:

Hick is quite proud of his display cases. This SUS2.5 is mainly for hunting and fishing supplies. That's what he does the most business with. His other items, like NASCAR collectibles, and Coca Cola stuff, and random items, are in the SUS2.

Let the record show that Hick is not some grungy flea market scammer, selling junk that most people don't want. He has all the required local, state, and federal licenses necessary to run his business, and pays state and federal taxes on his business income.

I think Hick has done a fine job turning a storage unit into a store. He thinks so, too.

Reuben Day!!!

Friday was Reuben Sandwich day at the Senior Center. When I asked Hick if he could get us one for supper, he started by saying how he would have to call and reserve them. As if punching in a number on his phone and speaking to people he knows there is so taxing...

Anyhoo... on Thursday night, I asked Hick if we would be getting our Reubens. He said that he had already talked to his buddy who dishes up the meals, and that yes, we would be getting Reubens for our supper. YES!

Here is how they were listed on the menu:

Grilled Reuben

Broccoli Cheddar OR Veg Soup

Slaw

Crackers

Variety of Desserts

Hick brought our meals home shortly before noon, and said that for lunch, he had cherry pie for dessert. I don't really like pie, but I had him look in the containers he brought home. We had brownies! I like brownies, but didn't feel like I should have a whole one, since Hick was giving me his slaw and soup. I decided on 1/4 of a brownie, just to have a taste, so Hick could have the second one the next night.

Different bread, not the marble rye I like so much. They were a little light on the slaw this time! At least it wasn't slaw soup. And for once, the "crackers" listed on the menu actually showed up on the tray. Hick said this was "potato soup," and I can't really tell. There did seem to be chunks of potato in there, and not necessarily broccoli. The sandwich was nice and dry, not befouled by slaw juice or beet juice. Warmed in the oven, it crisped up nicely.

Doesn't that brownie look tasty? I actually saved my 1/4 serving for the next night, so I can't report on the flavor. You can bet I am planning to take that edge portion for my 1/4.

I love Reuben Sandwich day!

Reuben Sandwich day must bring out the best in everybody! Hick reported that the Denizen of the SC who has been so mean to him was "actually nice."

"I went through the line and she said, 'I have your tea half ready.' She had half a glass of tea, but the bucket was out of ice. So she filled the ice bucket, and scooped the ice into my tea. We usually do that ourself. And then she brought my two take-out meals to the table for me."

"Were you nice to her?"

"Yes. I said 'Thank you' when she brought them out."

Well. That's a step in the right direction, I suppose...