The New Caller

 What can I say ..... it's HOT.  Not as hot as Arizona I imagine, but it's an ugly hot here.  Wouldn't you know that the day our Secretary takes off for ten days ... and you know who has to put on her Secretary hat ... the air conditioning going out in the office.  Completely ... no cool at all ... won't even turn on.  In other words, it's toast.  

So when I arrived yesterday morning at 9:00, it was already 85 degrees in spite of the two fans in the office.  Hopefully all those folks who were so mad at me for killing their fanciful expenditures, will now realize why.  Things happen, and this was a $12,500 thing.  We have a three story building this new unit has to go on top of.  SO ...... I went back home.

In no time, because it just seems to fly right out the window, I was BACK for BINGO!!  The office was up to 90 degrees by that time.  I grabbed all the paperwork and headed to the bar to peruse the bills.  SO much fun ... but the best was yet to come.

Both of my gals showed up, leaving me free to hit the bingo machine and once again practice handling the bingo balls.  They are actually ping pong balls ... super light and easy to drop.  I pulled 50 of them for the Bonanza game while the girls sold the cards.

And THEN ... the NEW CALLER arrived.  ME!!!  I'm the new Bingo Caller!  My Knight in Shining Armor called the first game while I watched, then I took over.  SCARED to death, but ready for the slings and arrows.  I made a couple of mistakes right off the bat.  It's nerve wracking to pull one ball while adjusting the next one so it shows up on the television screens, all the while watching the timer that tells you the exact second to call the number.  Surprisingly, no pitchforks came out.

Obviously no pictures ... I was WAY too busy.  The next game went just fine ... one lucky winner ... and on to the third.  BUT ... and there's always a BUT ... the flaming torches showed up in SPADES!  I dumped the board and began the next game without dropping the ball in the camera.  OOOWEEE did I ever get YELLED AT!!  

To make it worse ... the gal in front of me won $1199 on the first game, then won THE SECOND GAME.  If looks could kill, I wouldn't be typing right now.  Thank goodness the first four games went rather fast.  

To my shock and surprise ... the King said to call the Early Bird Games also.  Wait ... that's FIVE MORE GAMES.  I felt like I didn't know what I was doing, but I muddled through the next two games before one player came up to the stage in a RAGE!!  No kidding, she was screaming bloody murder!!

That lady keeps calling me a Mexican and says she's going to kill me.  What?  YOU HEARD ME!!  Thank goodness my Knight was still on the stage with me.  Here's what happened.  

We have one player of Asian descent who has Alzheimers.  This is the only thing she knows or remembers ... playing Bingo.  Every week her husband drops her off (probably not the best thing to do) so she can play and he gets a break.  She has never caused a problem before, but if you've ever been involved with this terrible disease, you know the symptoms.  When I looked up, they were both in a rage and shaking their fists.  

It took some time to calm them both down before I could continue.  How sad for everyone involved.  

Back to calling, I knew not what I was doing and couldn't remember what I was supposed to say each time, but I muddled through it without getting yelled at again.  In all I called EIGHT GAMES!!

The sweet grandmothers said I did a great job.  I certainly didn't feel like it, but with a little practice, I will get better!!  In the end, it was rather fun.  The best part ... I don't have to sit at the infernal machine all night long without a break!!

I celebrated with a cheeseburger and fries.  BIG MISTAKE Nancy, BIG!!  Now I was miserably full.

I ended the night not quite balancing the infernal machine, but it was fixable, so I showed my new cohort how to take charge.  I was out the door by 9:00.

Now for the bad news.  The King says for the next few weeks, I have to stay until the very end so I can learn how to close up the place when he's gone.  Oh yeah ... like that's two hours after my bed time!!  The New Caller protesteth (I'm sure that's a word) to no avail!!!

Though I would like to sleep in this morning, I'm off to the office to check messages and mail while it is still relatively cool.  Then I'm going to find a cool dark room and crash!!!