You may have heard in the news that a longtime Atlantis player hit a $14M jackpot on Sunday night. We were there on Sunday and I passed the machine on my way back from the bathroom. We had thought we would play it on our anniversary weekend but we didn't - I felt the 'urge' to play it as I passed by but J. was waiting for me and I didn't want to keep him waiting. (He's used to me keeping him waiting. Poor guy. LOL.) He wouldn't have been at all surprised that I'd stopped at a machine - but I didn't.
She won sometime that night, had been playing 40 minutes and betting $10 a pull. I bet $10 a pull on that machine too? But I wouldn't have stayed for 40 minutes. The game itself is one of the tightest slots in existence - any slot player who plays regularly knows that - and I don't think I would keep going. Unless it started paying - who knows. We are happy for the winner and wonder if we know them. We will be there this weekend so maybe we'll find more info.
Our neighbor G. sent me a text with a picture of the win info from the news and said 'please tell me it was you and J. '. I said 'well it could have been - we were there that day - but no. Not this time'. Maybe someday.
J. is playing golf again though they had to cancel this past Tuesday for weather. We still wake up with surprise dustings of snow but so far it's more Spring like than not. It's lovely to have the sun and blue skies.
On Friday, our landscape maintenance company showed up unannounced. The guys sat in their truck for 15 minutes, finally got out - J. went outside to ask what they were doing - it was the 'Spring cleanup' service they said. They were there 15 minutes - we timed it and I wrote down their arrival time as well. I expected the invoice to reflect the (greatly) reduced amount of time they were here - but no. The invoice was for an hour of work. I emailed the billing person to tell her how shocked we were to be billed for a full hour when they did 15 minutes of work. Told her I would send a check for 1/4 hour and please cancel our service going forward. She wrote back and did what she's always done: turned it around to 'you could have just called me and I would adjust it'.
Here's the thing - this isn't the first time we've had issues with the billing. Not the first time the invoice charges are more than the amount of time they actually worked. I had a boat load of things I would have liked to blast back in a(nother) email but I let it go. Couldn't quite wrap my head around why it was bugging me so much - but I just sent a check for the 1/4 hour and let it go. Only today, it hit me with what REALLY bugged me the most about the issue: she did what she's always done. Turned it around to make it what the customer could do. Never (ever!) acknowledging that there has been and still is an often serious disjoint between what the workers are reporting as time worked vs. their ACTUAL time worked.
I almost emailed her today but figured why? She also mentioned something she did last year regarding an issue with service and said 'I showed grace but I guess it doesn't go both ways'. I wanted to write back 'I'm showing grace by not posting reviews detailing some pretty scathing factual issues that illustrate you are taking advantage of your customers. Perhaps counting on them to not be home and not notice that the work done was minimal while the billing isn't' - but I didn't do that either.
Sometimes I think the time on my hands that retirement creates is time my psyche is using to over-analyze and fret about stupid crap. The struggle is real.
H. is officially residing in a sober living house. There are (now) seven guys in the house. He says he is attending any meeting any of his housemates are attending trying to meet as many people as he can. The recovery community take care of each other and he's hoping he can get a lead on some jobs. A friend who was released on the same day as H. is working for his Dad's construction company and there's a chance H. can get some 'day work' assignments with that company. We started to look into getting the things he needs to get a Texas Real ID - but he said his probation officer is helping with all that - she realizes he can't get a job without an ID and social security card - all of which he had but lost (either the physical document or the right to drive) - so she is tracking down the documents H. needs to get an ID. And a SS card.
We are learning all the things affected by the lack of an ID card. We sent him a $200 Uber gift card for future rides to his probation officer's office. He set up the app on his phone but when he entered the gift card number into the app, it asked him to take a picture of his ID and send to them. He called customer service and they said that step wouldn't be needed if he entered a credit or debit card on the account. Which he (also) doesn't have. He entered our account info so now it's fine. He knew I would feel reluctant but I recognized we needed to do what's needed - otherwise, we'd wasted $200. We arranged for the Uber he took to and from his probation officer's office the day after he was released - $110 round trip. Thankfully, she is going to see him once via Facetime and once in person each month to cut down on the expense.
He sounds good - but he isn't calling often which is OK. (I'm not sure why he called 3x a week from the program but now isn't calling much - but it works). I keep reminding myself he is an (almost) 30 year old man and he needs to manage his life. I'm working hard on letting him do that.
The other bit of big news (for me) is that I decided I want to wear a dress to our niece's wedding in June. I ordered a dress and tried it on today (home alone - J. was playing golf) and think it's OK? But I haven't worn dresses in decades so I'm not sure. My friend C. (my go-to ride or die 'be honest' friend) has agreed to look at a selfie I will take tomorrow to see what she thinks about the outfit. And I said 'and if you think it's a keeper, I need help with color of shoes, bare legs or panty hose', etc. . And then I'll shop for those things as well as a slip. (Regretting all the slips I gave to Goodwill when we moved). Oh well.
It's going to be a beautiful wedding and I want to look nice and 'fancy' (for me) for the occasion. B. is coming too which is awesome!
That's it for now. I never intentionally take weeks to do a post but the days just fly by. April feels super busy - two vet appointments for the cats annual checkup (no 'two at a time' appointments available so we had to set up two separate appointments) and then their every six month grooming in North Reno. It's good that it's warming up a bit 'cuz I've been worried about having them both groomed because they will be cold. Nala has started using Chloe's 'dome bed' for warmth - glad we kept it.
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