The Magic Castle of Bingo!

 The wonderful magical world of Bingo is upon us again.  Me ... it's upon ME!  First off, I was NOT able to slip in a nap.  That makes for a VERY long day when you are up at 4 am and finally get to hit the sack at 11:00 at night.  At least our temperatures were cool enough to keep the hotheads from going crazy.  ALMOST .......

Let's get to it.  The morning light brought a tad bit of sunrise, along with a few clouds.  It certainly doesn't hold a candle to Arizona however.  

And so I was off and running to the land of enchantment.  Something was in the air.  It was 2:00 when I arrived and the parking lot was full.  That never happens.

I went to sign checks, but they were not done.  That never happens either.  Ummmm this doesn't bode well for Bingo!!  

I no more sat down to count the coins, when there was a flood of MEMBER peasants who came rushing in.  THAT LADY IS NOT A MEMBER.  Those are fighting words.  Here's the deal.  If you paid your $225 dues for the year, you can come in the door any time you want.  If not, you are only allowed in at 4:30.  It's hard to control.

In a flash, tempers rose and pitchforks came out.  I thought they were going to draw and quarter her.  She was unceremoniously escorted OUT the door.  Good grief folks ... be nice!  Maybe NO ONE should be allowed in before 4:30.

Ten minutes later it happened again.  I called the King.  This time a MEMBER brought in a GUEST.  So here's the question of the day.  Do you let them BOTH come in?  If we did that, every single member would be bribed to bring their FRIEND in early.  The ruckus went above and beyond as I sunk down in my chair.  I know when to disappear quickly.

That's when the chair rearrangement began.  I can only shake my head.  There are four chairs per 8' table.  They move the chairs to OTHER tables ... one ... so they can get not only their favorite spot at the table but two ... their favorite chair.  They must have their names stamped on the bottom.  The OTHER chairs get moved far far away so no one can sit next to them.  I know, it's head shaking!!

All this drama before the games even began.  Add to that the excitement of the election and it was wild.

CRAZY wild in fact because we had many new peasants that moved into the Kingdom who have no idea how to play.   In total there were 149 looking for big payouts of moolah.  I think that's a record.  It also meant sitting closer than normal, not being allowed your four square feet of space for good luck charms, and getting railed for calling BINGO when they didn't HAVE bingo.  

This went on all night long. Pitchforks, shovels, flaming torches, arrows of disdain ... if looks could kill it would have been a bloody mess!!

But wait ... my Fairy Godmother made a terrible mistake.  She forgot to plug in the mini infernal machines internet line.  It refused to work.  Yeah, it took me a few minutes to figure it out.  Finally plugged in, it declined peasants right and left.  You can just imagine how happy that made them.  I tried them once, twice and even three times.  DECLINED.  One lady said "oh I forgot I changed the pin number".  Nope ... there's no money in your treasure chest Ma'am!

After three tries I take their papers away and give them the bad news.  No cash, no sale.  Thirty minutes later they come back with cash.  Did they rob a bank?  I don't care ... I just sell the cards.

At long last, while yawning every three minutes, I finally closed the infernal machine, balanced to a "T" and headed out the door.  Oh to breathe in the cool air of peacefulness OUTSIDE the building.

That was it ... another rousing night of BINGO.  Notice I didn't mention the election.  I don't want to jinx it.

Until tomorrow .......