Infernal Machine Bites Back

Hear yee, Hear yee ... the Magic Castle of Bingo was in good form on this night.  Is it a full moon?  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

Or maybe it was just the heat.  Though they said we were going to cook at 106 degrees, it only got up to 101, but that was WAY too high for me.  I struggled to stay cool until I finally turned on the AC.  Yes I have solar, but that doesn't mean I can go crazy, being the penny watcher that I am.

A 70 degree night turned into a very warm morning for Mr. Cooper and I, and of course his chew toy, which never gets very far away.  He keeps me sane, this kid.  And flexible, since yesterday was an epic day of playing the ball game.  

Thank you all for the rusty tool advice.  I will dump the box out on the lawn, rinse everything off and soak in vinegar, followed by a swim in WD40.  Once they dry in the sun, I'll let you see how it's going.  

My guess is I had a couple gallon jugs of water in that cupboard that may have been sitting on the box.  A small leak would account for the amount of water, but it must have happened at least a year ago.  The amount of rust floating on top of the water is amazing.  What a big fat mess!

I sorted through more junk, but couldn't fit another tiny piece of anything in the trash can, so I tried to catch a nap before the appointed hour.  It's Bingo time!!

Right off the bat ... the very FIRST transaction ... the infernal machine came up with $306.00.  I thought the little old lady would pass out.  No-no ... that's wrong ... so I rang it all up again.  That was ONE.  Two seconds later I rang up number two ... to the tune of $133.00 when it should have been $34.  What the heck is going on?

By the THIRD transaction I had to answer my phone ... my neighbor stating someone was at my door ... and it rang up $338.00 worth of Bonanza tickets.  STOP IT!!!!!!!!!  I set all those aside, to be corrected later, and on we went.  Thankfully, no one died of a heart attack when they saw the dollar amounts.

Here's something I don't talk about much.  These are pull tabs.  This is the BIG money game.  We usually sell two boxes of these at $1.00 each.  There is one $1,199.00 winner in each box.  Yessirree .... you can win BIG at bingo.  For the first time EVER, I bought $15.00 worth of these babies.  

Here are four LOSERS.  What you are looking for are cards with numbers on them.  Those games are called in between MY games.  Amazingly, I got TWO cards with numbers on them that my friend would play for me.  I watched $15.00 go right down the drain.  I didn't win, but her OTHER friend DID!  

I definitely see the draw ... to win that much money ... but I simply CANNOT reconcile losing $15.00.  I could have had a HABIT BURGER SPECIAL!!!!  So much for my gambling career.

Here's a good example of the paranoid people of the Magic Castle dungeon.  While I tore up 300 little red tickets one at a time, one of the peasants went through those two piles of little cards, spreading them all out over the table.  For a little over ten minutes, she stared at all the numbers, over and over again, to be sure she got the exact one with her EXACT winning numbers.  She bought two.  

No, she did not win.  The gal that DID win over $1,000 on this night (and almost EVERY night) just grabs the cards right off the top.  I pat her on the back all the time, hoping some of that juju rubs off on me.  So far, no such luck.

Not so sadly, the night came to an end.  Time to balance.  I had to void all those big bad tickets before coming up with a final number.  That's when I saw the $328 Bonanza error.  Good grief ... the Infernal Machine bites back!!  No matter what I did, I had $121 extra cash while the machine said I only had $8.00.  

If I had a hammer, the infernal machine would no longer exist.  I shut the cash drawer and unplugged it.  Take THAT!!  I explained to the King how it all went South, before heading out the back door into the heat of the night.  Until next time you infernal bleep bleep bleep!!!!!

It will be a two coffee morning while I recover.