Hangover City

It's one of THOSE mornings.  I'm tired, sore, achy, cranky and wish the world would just go away.  Not from drinking mind you, but from the joys of working the Magic Kingdom of Bingo operation.  It happens to me every Wednesday morning.

You know the feeling ... it CAN'T be 5:30 YET.  Lay down ... it's NOT time ... as I roll over and try to cover my head.  My eyes are scratchy, my nose stuffed up and I just want to lay in that warm bed for the next four hours.  LAY DOWN!!  60 seconds later, I roll over the side of the bed, hanging on to the nightstand so as not to fall on my face.  Double UGH!!!

My plan was to sneak into the Magic Castle and wander up the back stairs for a coke ... all that sugar helps keep me awake ... and a dinner of popcorn.  They have WONDERFUL popcorn.  Along the way however, I noticed the table and chair crew forgot to set up the cash register table.

I don't say this in a bad way at all, but everyone who volunteers is OLD.  We are either limping, walking bent over or using a variety of devices to keep us upright.  That means the table installation belongs to me, after I search the hallways and byways looking for one.

I found it.  Laying on top of another table.  That made it easy to raise the legs and flip the little metal circle in place.  Too bad it didn't stay there.  The leg promptly came lose and tapped me on the head ... something like a hammer.  I finally got it to stay while I lowered the table to the floor, where it rested with a thump on my toe.  Thank goodness for cowboy boots.

No one told me it wouldn't fit through the door when opened up.  My stubborness kicked in.  I collapsed the legs, went through the door and set the whole thing up AGAIN.  No one appreciated my effort ... no one even noticed the table wasn't there in the first place.  I climbed the stairs for my coke, rubbing the knot on my head.

We only had two instances of drama ... both events centered around their inability to yell BINGO.  If I paid that much for cards and I won, you would hear me screaming in the next County.  The thing is, if you do NOT yell Bingo and the caller calls the next number, you are out of luck Charlie.  It's the rules.  It's not OUR fault if you don't yell loud, but the entire crowd gets up in arms because you didn't pay the poor lady.

When you DON'T pay the poor lady the SECOND time she wins, even though those at her own table didn't hear her, the crowd gets really surly, as does a volunteer or two who magically disappear for the night.  Seriously ... she won TWICE and never yelled Bingo loud enough for ANYONE to hear.  It doesn't help that ALL the volunteers are hard of hearing but really, you should yell like you won the lottery!!!   We harp on that rule at the beginning of every night, but no one listens.

While I'm usually home by 9:30, this time I was still counting money and was on my third coke in an attempt to stay awake.   We balanced perfectly, the Castle Lawyer and I as we kept slapping each other on the back to stay awake.  I made it home just in time for all that coke to kick in.  I was wide awake!!

All my little fall-asleep tricks didn't work.  With the latest ibuprofen scare, that's been taken off the table, causing me to toss and turn all night.  Please puppies, let me sleep in!

I try very hard not to have anything scheduled on the day after, giving me time to get my bearings back.  When my gardener knocked on the door so excited because he had found some outdoor lighting he could install, I could hardly turn him down.  I told him I had that work done two years ago, but he insisted.  It's FREE!!  They will come and set it all up so you can see what it will look like.  Then they will show ME (the gardener that is) how to install it.  

I didn't have the heart to burst his bubble.  He has replaced all those sprinkler valves at no charge.  So tonight ... at least it's not until 5:30 ... they will come and put more lights around my house so I can see how nice it will look.  It will take me at least that long to come up with some way to let him down easy ... I really don't need any more lights.

In the meantime, though I'd like at times make Cooper disappear (like at 5:00 in the morning), my grumpiness has cut him short of play time.  I'll try to catch up today.

I've no idea what Instant Pot meal will magically appear tonight, I'm still only thinking about my morning coffee and pretending to be a lump on a log.  Hopefully the Magic Kingdom of Bingo hangover will dissipate quickly.