March 12, Day 12, 5 miles, twinkies, lotto and the Weekly Grand!

Day 12, ran 5 miles, Total so far 30 miles, Miles to go - 970 3/100ths of the goal

Writing this post the morning after my run. Came home after 5 miles on the treadmill feeling tired but exhilarated...runner's high. Ate some brisket tacos I made from my left over pot roast washed down with the second half of the cheep Merlot, which tasted a little better than the night before, or so it seemed...maybe the 24 hours had breathed more life into it. I use a crystal wine stopper engraved with my initial which was given to me by a close friend....suspect it is not airtight. Went to bed after dinner, hence today's post about yesterday's run. I find that with all the running I am not doing, I do need more rest. I am sure my body is trying to compensate.

Dallas weather changed again yesterday. It was still sunny, but a cold wind blew in, a strong wind. I noticed how strong when I stopped at my favorite gas station/convenience store for my twice weekly gambling experience. I admit it. I buy one $1.00 Texas Lotto ticket for the Wednesday drawing and one for the Saturday drawing. If you want them to pay you gotta play. I have special numbers I use each time. I also purchase one 2 dollar Weekly Grand. The Weekly Grand is a scratch off ticket where the grand prize is $1,000 a week for 20 years. I once had a friend who knew someone who knew someone who won the Weekly Grand. The winner was a construction worker who stopped at the same convenience store every day for a breakfast of a package of Twinkies and a box of orange juice. He would also purchase a Weekly Grand and one day, viola, he won. He did not change his lifestyle. Kept his job and put the money in the bank so his kids would have a college fund. He is my hero.

Of course, since my kids are all out of college, except the youngest who has one year to go, I could keep all that money for myself....actually give it to my creditors! There is another part of my program that is very important. You can win three ways with the Weekly Grand. At the bottom you scratch off three symbols. If two match, you win an instant $20. I always scratch this first....have never won the $20. Then at the top you scratch off your number and their number. If your number is larger, you win the prize for that number. I have won up to 10 dollars with this option. Finally you scratch off six prizes in the middle and if three of them match, you win that prize. I have often won 2 or 4 dollars here and sometimes 10. Here is the key. Most people, if they win 2, 4 or 10 dollars, will immediately purchase more scratch off tickets, trying for the larger pay out. Generally they keep doing this and eventually lose back anything they have won. I don't. I consider my 6 dollar a week habit, just that, play money. If I win 2 or more dollars, I keep it, applying it to reduce my habit's cost. It is like the cost of admission, the ticket price for a ride. I do the same thing the few times I have gone to a casino. I decide what I would be willing to pay for the experience, usually 50 or 100 dollars, and play till it is time to leave or the money is gone. I know I need that discipline and have seen what gambling can do to people when the habit becomes a "can't stop" compulsion.

I told a friend one time about my system and he pointed out what he said was a fatal flaw. "Do you know why you have not won the Weekly Grand?" he asked. "It is because you don't buy the Twinkies!" That caused me to have a lot of angst for a while. What a delimma. I love Twinkies and actually used to buy one package and a carton of orange juice sometimes for breakfast when I worked as a teller in college at a bank in Shreveport. But now I try to eat a better breakfast and I really don't want to buy one every day....increase the cost of my habit by the cost of OJ and the Twinkies (which, to be fair, I would have to adjust by the lesser cost of breakfast at home that I would have cooked....eggs and bacon or oatmeal cooked at home being cheaper, but still having a cost). Don't like math. Didn't want to try to figure out the cost. Finally reconciled myself to the realization that my friend was wrong. In fact, taking his advice would have been disastrous. After all, what are the odds that two people who purchased a Weekly Grand, OJ and a package of Twinkies every day, would win the lottery? I am smugly convinced now that my odds of winning are enhanced by not buying the Twinkies! And I am also helping to keep my waist from being enhanced by the Twinkies!

I do think it is important to buy the lotto tickets and Weekly Grand from the same convenience store (like the hero of my story). The store owners get a payout too if you win. I like to think that we are partners. This Chevron store, near my house, is owned by some Indians (east Asian, not native Americans) but they lease out the deli to some Pakistanis in a example to the world that peace between enemies is possible (especially where money and commerce are concerned). There is a little blue tray by the cash register where people can leave pennies for those who are short (short on change, not short in stature...unless you are both I guess). I like using one of those pennies to scratch (my scratch off game). While doing so I joke with the cashier about this being our time to win the lottery. He always agrees and wishes me luck.

Back to yesterday's weather, it was so windy that when I pulled into the convenience store to buy my lotto and Weekly Grand, I noticed that the plastic top to one of the gas pumps, a large sign saying Chevron, had blown off and was lying broken in the driveway. Made me a little nervous, considering I was in a Miata. The idea of flying debri takes on a new meaning when all that is separating you from it is a clothe top. I hurried in while suspiciously eyeing the other gas pump plastic tops and trying to calculate what angle of trajectory they would have to take if blown off and were to hit my car. At the cash register there were no pennies in the tray - not a good sign. After I bought my lotto ticket and Weekly Grand, I had to use a key to scratch....no winnings from the Weekly Grand. I will have to wait for Wednesday now for my next crack at the Weekly Grand.

But tonight....may be my night for the lottery win. A good friend, who also is a lotto player, once told me that the only thing that would be sad about winning the lottery would be that he would miss me. I asked him why. He said "If I win, I won't be hanging around with your kind, you know. poor people!" But friends who read this blog, don't worry. If I win I won't change (well, not too much!) but if the blog goes silent.....

It was this same wind that forced me to run on the treadmill at the gym. Refreshed from taking the day before off, I was determined to run 5 miles. I like the treadmill because it tells you so much and measures accomplishments. I can see how fast I am going (11:45 minute a mile pace) and how many calories (895 - justification for the taco part of the brisket taco last night) and I can watch both the clock wind down (I had set it for one hour) and the miles pile up (ran a little more than 5, but will just count it as 5). Followed the run with a lot a stretching. Only thing I miss about my gym at school is that it does not have a jacuzzi, steam or sauna. That would have felt good after the run.

Legs a little stiff this morning. Will run less today...maybe more on Sunday (maybe not if I win the lottery tonight!) Life is Good!