The Peasants Revolt!!

 The Castle is alive and well.  It's me that's a little behind the eight ball today.   Coffee ... coffee ... my Kingdom for some good strong coffee.

I know I say this every year, but spring is lasting longer and longer.  It was another cool gorgeous morning as I sat on the patio admiring the grass.  I also admired four new gopher holes.  Did I mention the fox duo hasn't been around at all since the neighbor fixed the fence?  He hasn't done that in 13 years, and NOW he fixes it?

Alas, try as I might, there was no napping before BINGO began.  I rushed off in my one acceptable short-sleeve shirt.  I really do need to go shopping for clothes.  I arrived at ten to three, to find five peasants (members of the club) already ensconced at their tables.  

Good luck charms out, dobbers out and at the ready, cups for their coffee to stay awake and bags set up for their trash.  This group is Ready Freddy, 3-1/2 hours early!!!

I drug myself upstairs to have a chat with the Queen of the land.  Accounting gets you more than a chamber maids wages.  She who knows how to handle that accounting software like a pro, has complete reign over the land.   To make it even better, her family raised cattle at the far front end of our ranch, and so we are acquainted!  She's a peach!!!

Everything started out well .... one wonderfully organized Lady in Waiting set up my entire 25 square feet of selling area in style and my Court Counter arrived right on time.  We don't open until 4:30.  The line was around the room by 4:00.  The peasants were agitated and ready to roll!!

There is an order to things ... Bingo cards especially.  There are a set number of winners in the box.  Mix up the boxes and you will have a riot.  This caused a little problem since they are now delivering the bingo cards in all new boxes with numbers instead of colored stickers.  It took me some time to make sure I didn't have eleven winners splitting a $200 pot.  That maketh the peasants take out their leather straps and knives to flail and fillet the Castle Card Seller ..... Me!

Before we even opened the doors to our 25 square feet space, there was pandemonium on the floor.  Someone told the other someone they were sitting in her seat and they MUST move!!!  Yelling, pushing and shoving followed immediately.  Good grief ladies ..... cease and desist!!  

Both were made to move to other areas, so their Bingo mojo completely disappeared and the chair for that seat was taken away, only because one of them tried to sneak back.  Neither of them won anything in the end, but the lady sitting in that chair (which was later returned) won a total of $1700.  You cannot imagine the expletives that erupted from those two mouths.  IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!!!!!

Otherwise it went pretty well except I again ran out of cash.  When the peasants buy in, they are allowed to take out as much cash as they wish.  I am the ATM machine of the Elks Lodge.  Why you might ask?  Because they turn right around and spend it on our pull tabs in an attempt to purchase THE WINNING CARD for the $1199 game.  It's a win-win until I run out of cash to make my payouts.  It's okay since I just "borrow" it back ... $500 last night, the most I've ever had to retrieve.

And so I ended the night, exhausted but happy the infernal machine balanced for me on the first try.  It's pretty easy when there's only a hundred dollars left in the box to count.

Sadly I was up at 4:30 this morning, so tired I actually had to think about how to make my coffee.  It's hard to keep my eyes open ... not that I will fall asleep, I will just lay with Cooper on the couch in a stupor.

Hopefully I can get my act together before company shows up today.  Yup ... Cyndae is coming down so I have to make some sort of effort to clean up the house.  OH BOY!!!

AND ..... bad news .... when I let Cooper out this morning, guess what I smelled!!  It's time for an exploratory trip around the corrals!!