Message board topic:

Well, Cheri and the kids waited till I got up, (about 11:30) and decided we were going to the Lake Of The Ozarks.  Not a bad day for it.  80 degrees but really windy.  It's about an hour and a half drive.

We went to Cheri's favorite fudge shop, then we went to a big arcade next door where we blew about $20 on the kids to play games and win 10 cent prizes.  The machines spit out tickets depending on how you do.  A couple of the machines didn't work at all.  Then the grandson got on one that spit out 5 tickets.  Then played a couple machines that didn't work at all.  Being no fool, he went back to the one that had given him tickets before.  This time he hit the jackpot.  The machine started cranking out 1000 tickets.  They were piling up on both sides of the machine, so he went to get a plastic bag to put them all in.  During all this the lady and boy next to us lost a ball from the machine they were playing, which rolled under out machine, so I got down with a flashlight and through the cobwebs, dug the ball out and gave it to her.  Meanwhile, the grandson's machine is still cranking out tickets.

When you're done, you feed all the tickets into a counter, which gives you a receipt that you exchange at the counter for whatever junk they have.  We were feeding tickets into that machine for 5 minutes.

At the counter, the granddaughter didn't have enough tickets to get anything but maybe 50 cents worth of junk or candy.  The grandson had an embarrassment of riches.  Seeing that his sister was saddened by not getting much, the grandson spent 450 tickets out of about 1300 to buy her a rose.  Probably the nicest thing they had back there.  He's 9 and she's 11.  His sister can be a little mean to him sometimes.  (I suppose most brothers and sisters can be sometimes.)  I was immensely proud of him for what he did, and now I'm trying to figure out what I can do to let him know it.  Nobody asked him to do that.  It was all his idea.  I want the kids to be well educated and I think they're getting that, but more than anything else, I want them to be decent, and that was a gesture that almost brought tears to my eyes.  He's a decent little guy.  John

 

Sounds like a fun day and yes, he did the right thing. :) Blood is thicker than tickets.

Good thing we went yesterday.  A little windy but 82 and the arcade is largely open to the elements.  Today the cold front is moving in and rain has started, changing to snow tonight.  From 82 to snow in a day.  4 days ago I was driving home in a snow storm.  This is the most wildly up and down weather I can remember.  John

Confusing for if you aught bring out spring clothes or not.

I never know whether to wear a big, heavy leather coat, a canvas coat, or a fringe jacket.  2 days ago I took a jacket to the Lake and it was too warm.  Yesterday a big heavy coat was just fine.  We got quite a bit of rain but if it snowed, I never saw any, even though it got below freezing.  Last night the wind blew so hard our internet and television went out about 12:30 AM and didn't come back on till 8:00 AM.  Everybody's was out.  Could also have been caused by heavy snow over toward Kansas City.  I hooked my computer to the television and we watched movies till about 3:00 AM.

Back in the 60s tomorrow.  With this up and down weather it's a good time to get sick, and the potholes will be in bloom.  John