Wednesday, July 10, 2024

The Infernal Machine Wins Again!!

 Oh what a day .... there's a song in there somewhere.  102 on the schedule for today, 106 tomorrow, meaning I'm not going to get much packing done.  I'm going to turn on the fridge Thursday night and hope it gets cold enough to keep my food frozen by Friday morning.

Speaking of which ... remember the beautiful golden brown chicken pot pie that I cooked in the oven?


I took the recommendation to just cook it in the microwave.  It takes SO much less time.  Notice the difference?  It looks like me at the end of winter before I get any sun.  Didn't they used to put them in a box with a weird lid that would brown it?  No such thing any more.  I ate it, but it wasn't crunchy or all that tasty.  On the other hand, I didn't have to MAKE it, so there's that.


My company was off early to an appointment, and though she volunteered to work Bingo, I think she had second thoughts and went home instead.  Or maybe she remembered all the things I've told her about being a volunteer!!

It was hot once again, so Coop and I stayed inside most of the day.  These temperatures are wearing on me.  I went in to the lodge early, only to find the accountant was out for the afternoon, so I got nothing done.

The knights met upstairs as usual, where I sipped a cold one (Coke) and they ate popcorn!!  I was feeling pretty good because this is the last one I work for THREE weeks.  Oh YEAH!!!!

So here we are, getting ready for the rush.  I handed over the blue quilt to its new owner, who was very happy with it, as was all her seat mates.  That was good because I was a little worried about it.  

I opened the doors at 4:20 and right off the bat we had BRA money.  Really?  It's a hundred and something out, everyone is sweating up a storm and you hand me BRA money?  I declined and she had to use her debit card instead.  Not that it made much difference, because you KNOW where THAT was kept.  At least I didn't have to hold the card.


I got some good news from the King of the Castle.  Those little red tickets?  We give out pull tabs if your number is drawn.  Well they are not printing those pull tabs any more, and anything else will cause us to lose too much money.  SO .... NO MORE LITTLE RED TICKETS!!!  The other cashier and I did a big HIGH FIVE!!  She's not thrilled I will be gone for the next two bingo nights, but she can handle it!!

There weren't too many complaints on this night, except for when the caller decided to tell some lame DAD jokes in the middle of calling a game.  The pitchforks and flaming torches came out, but lucky for him, he was able to dodge MOST of them.  I don't think he'll do THAT again!!

For the first time in a long time, I decided to take a chance on the payouts.  I upped them to the max.  Sadly, our floor guys didn't sell much, so I knew I would be short.  When I finally rang out the register, I went into shock.  $250.00 short!!  What?  NO WAY!!!  Yes WAY!  That's a payout amount, so maybe we paid someone twice?

I'm freaking out ... the din from the Bingo room is LOUD so I can't think, and the infernal machine kept ringing up one penny instead of $25.00.  To make it worse, three men were standing there saying ... is she done yet?  Is she done yet?  Can we put the stuff away?  

NO she is not done yet because nothing is balancing.  To make it worse, the tiny calculator I have to use doesn't work like any other calculator.  Frustration ensued.  At long last I just counted up the money and was $15.00 short.  That's acceptable, but it didn't match the numbers on the printout.  The Infernal Machine WINS AGAIN!!  

To finish out the night on a high note, I completely forgot to wipe it's memory clean.  And so today I get to go back once again to make sure it's little brain starts over from scratch next time.  At least I won't be there when that happens.  Better luck to the OTHER cashier!!






18 comments:

  1. No food goes in my microwave, just the rice pack for body & headaches. Have learned to thaw without it. Makes food disgusting, IMO. Compare the texture of a microwaved potato v an oven-baked one. No contest.

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  2. Have a wonderful trip! Enjoy your new camper.
    Can't wait to hear how your trip goes.
    Frances:)

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    1. Thank you Frances ... I'm sure it will be exciting, hopefully in a good way!

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  3. TV dinner chef Ed said OK Miss calendar you missed the instructions it stays IN the box you peel the top back and you cook that little sucker for six minutes maybe here in Florida it’s different but our pies come out with a nice crust. It must be the California heat that’s doing it
    Did you know that you could cook that bad boy in your air fryer as well I won’t tell you how, but you’ll have to look up the YouTube instructions
    You could turn the refrigerator on any time it’s not running off of power it’s running off of your solar system all except your air conditioner everything is solar,
    I still think you need to bring your overcoat and go up to Bob’s eyes location I’m sure he has some. Oh wow places maybe you can talk him into taking you kayaking

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    1. I DID follow the instructions exactly! In the box, peel the top back ... six minutes ... and that's how it came out! LOL

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  4. Turn on your fricken fridge! With ALL THAT SUN you don't need to worry about not having power in the Camper Van. Now here we get afternoon clouds, and rain, so I don't get full sun all day. But my generator will turn on when batteries get down to 12v, and will run for 20-60 minutes, turning off when the get up to 12.7v (but 20 minutes is minimum). I go over and pull up next to it every day to see how the system is working (need to get close enough for the bluetooth to connect) and the generator kicks on for 20 minutes and up to 120 minutes per day (ran the cycle twice one day) so it does work.

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    1. It's not the power I'm thinking about ... it's the fridge running constantly trying to stay cold when it's 110 inside the rig. Same with the AC. It will never shut off. I'll do some testing today.

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  5. In that heat, it's better to turn the Fridge on earlier.
    Leave written instructions, on how to deal with the machine.
    Be Safe and Enjoy your preparation.

    It's about time.

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    1. Oh I'll definitely turn it on earlier in the day, I just don't know if it's good for the fridge to run all day and half the night without stopping, trying to get cold when it's 110 inside the rig. Same for the AC.

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  6. I buy Banquet pot pies and love them. They look like your top picture. I take them out of the box, and poke holes in the top, usually after one minute. The pie plates are coated with a metallic material, so they absorb the microwaves and get HOT. You can burn your fingers if you touch it too soon.. Cook for 5 minutes out of the box. Follow the directions on the box. Phil

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    1. I'm going to try them Phil! I used to love those pies when I was a kid!

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    2. Oh dont do it Nancy, just dont try Banquet. Leave your childhood memory in tact. I also loved them as a child. I tried them as an adult and they are not good. Dee

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  7. The pie should go in the microwave to cook through then in the oven to brown and crisp up otherwise it tastes awful as you found out.

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    1. Awwww ... that's the secret! Thanks Joanne ... I'll do that next time.

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  8. Enjoy your time off, you've certainly earned it! You know, everyone will think you are cheating them not giving them a red ticket.

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    1. You are SO right!! They are going to scream and cry ... but luckily it will happen next week when I'm NOT THERE!!!

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  9. It must have felt like your job, where you are going holidays and it's your last day. Sadly, it wasn't easy on you!!
    Glad you get a break from a couple of those crazy Bingo nights. Yay! No more red tickets!

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