EGAD!!!! FULL MOON BINGO!

 I was greeted on this morning with a FABULOUS 62 degrees.  Boy do we love THAT!  Sadly however, the forces that be snuck up on me as quiet as a mouse and stabbed me in the back.  It's a FULL MOON on Bingo night.  Da-dah Da-dah Da-dah ... can you hear the sharks circling?

I really do try to keep track of that kind of astronomical mayhem on the horizon, but I missed it completely this time.  I started yawning at 11:00 in the morning and just could not stop.  It was a sign.

I arrived right on time to discuss a few little problems and sign checks.  Sometimes we have to become creative on where the moolah will come from.  Right on schedule at 2:30, six folks showed up to claim their space.  We don't open until 4:30.  I was a little shocked to see this lady come in with a suitcase big enough for a 2 week stay in Hawaii.

No kidding ... she pulled out the boards you see on the left which hold her papers, not one but TWO drink cups, a lucky flower vase with Bingo sayings on it, pictures of her entire family and I counted TWELVE dobbers ... a different color for each game.  Even "I" was impressed!  Blurry picture to protect the innocent.

In an instant it was a madhouse of 132 folks jostling for their favorite space at the tables.  We had to bring in a few extras to make room.  After all, it does take up quite a bit of space for EIGHT packs of games.

Instantly I knew we were in trouble.  Is it a full moon?  Folks didn't have their money ... had to run across the street to the bank, didn't have their purse ... had to run to the car to get it, it was just one problem after another.  

One lady (she's a problem every single time) bought her cards, didn't have enough money, used her debit card, forgot to buy half the games, ran the card a second time for the extras she wanted, then tried to steal cards for one game by wrapping them around her finger and walking off.  HOLD ON THERE MISSY!!  You didn't pay for those in your hand.  And so we had to run the debit card a THIRD time to pay for that $2.00 purchase.

Is it a full moon?  Yes, that lady has a broken arm which will be set tomorrow at the hospital.  Nothing keeps them away!!  I looked it up.  I KNEW IT!!!  IT'S A FULL MOON!!

I picked a bad day to try a new way of distribution and collection of those pink games.  Those are Bonanza tickets.  We draw a bunch of numbers first and they mark the cards.  When the game is played, they only have to mark those left.  If you think you don't have enough numbers marked, you can turn in that card along with $1.00 and get TWO cards.

That completely messes up the accounting, so I decided to give the sellers 50 in a pack.  Bring me back the cash and the torn tickets and I'll give you 50 more.  I didn't think that through.  I got wads of cash and a gazillion torn tickets I had to count to see what they actually sold.  Is it a full moon?  Who thought up this dumb idea??  

I was instantly confused as to what I should be writing down to post in the cash register, all the while being slammed with grumpy bingo folks buying more and more cards.  Add to that the fact that we were short handed.  It was chaos I tell you!!  

One winner ... which I paid out ... was soon divested of her cash when someone yelled OH NO ... THERE'S TWO WINNERS.  There was a mad dash to get the $250 back, but it turned out the caller was wrong.  There was only ONE.   Seriously, it went on like that all night long.

This guy ... HE'S the bad guy!  The moon even tried to cover up so no one would see him.  This picture is from a friend showing there was a bit of an eclipse.  NO WONDER it was a crazy night!!!

Amazingly, even with all the problems and counting those stupid torn cards, I balanced to the penny.  The moon took pity on me for all the problems it caused.  

I walked in the door exhausted, to be greeted by the happiest sweetest puppy around.  This kid makes it all better.

On the schedule today is a meeting with the insurance folks.  This should be fun.  I don't think I'm being cancelled ... though that could be the reason for the meeting.  The whole thing about cancelling everyone's policy was to force the State of California to allow them to increase their prices to whatever they wanted.  It was 100% blackmail ... let us charge what we want or we will pull out of California.  I guess I'll find out today.