I'm thankful for many things, not the least of which is that I'm alive and have a wonderful family and good friends. We just had a good meal at Cracker Barrel ($8.99 per person is quite the bargain for what we got) and now it's time to digest. Apologies for the lack of posts lately. I've wanted to post the story of my DROID (yes, I got one!) but something or other always seemed to derail my intention. No longer!
I couple Thursdays ago my family and I went out to the Verizon store in Allentown for me to get a Droid (my mom was getting one as well). I was convinced after seeing the features on it from three other family members that I needed one. In addition, I scored one for free, asking that it be an early Christmas gift (a $369 value after a $100 rebate!). So everything was fine, the Droid was great during work driving, and then the next day Friday the 13th struck...
I was minding my own business in the evening, just taking a quick break to pee before heading over to Scot's house. While doing my thing, the Droid rings from my pocket. What the heck, I can multitask, I think as I shake with one hand and snatch the phone from my pocket with the other. No sooner did I see it was Scot calling that the phone slipped from my grasp and into the toilet bowl!! With a clear disregard for cleanliness, I plunged my hand into the yellow water (where the Droid continued to burble its ringtone) to retrieve it.
I rushed the drowned Xmas gift to the sink where I gave it a quick rinse (can't have freshly used toilet water in my phone, now can I?!). It wept what appeared to be blood from its pores as I shook it dry (turns out a white label on the battery turns to red when wet so you can't fool the techies when you try to lie about what happened to your phone). After removing the battery and patting it and the phone dry, I took the parts to Scot's house and informed him, half-jokingly, to "never call me again." Of course, it was my own dumb fault and I wasn't overly upset--shit happens, right?
Despite an overnight rest in a plastic bad of rice in an attempt to draw out the residual moisture, I knew the Droid had breathed its last. Hoping for some kind of 48-hour "honeymoon clause" with a new phone, I drove out to Verizon and threw myself on the mercy of its court. Regrettably, I had failed to purchase insurance for the phone so I was left to pay what my dad had paid to acquire a new one (although with that deal I did pick up a few more accessories). So, disheartened and poorer, I returned home with a pissed away Xmas gift.
But this story turns out to have a happy ending. Two days later, I was at the Sands casino in Bethlehem where I had $25 of slot play to use up before heading to Wegmans. The Sands had given me $25 every Monday in November so I had been faithful in going to use it (turns out I have the same offer for December too). So, I dumped $15 of the slot play into a $1 Wheel of Fortune and began to slowly gamble. Now, I didn't really have hopes of winning big, just enough to cover my groceries and enjoy myself. Life had other plans.
In hindsight, I'm now convinced the good fortune that was about to happen was a karmic balance for not trying to lie about what happened to the first Droid (or for not buying the insurance and then coincidentally bring the phone in the next day for water damage). In any case, when I had just two pulls left on the slot machine, the "SPIN" symbol appeared on the third reel's payline. This allows you to spin the big wheel above the machine. Sure, this has happened before, and in each case you win anywhere from $20 to $50. Still, that would have been decent for not spending any of my own money. But as fate would have it, the wheel landed on $500!
It didn't seem real but the five $100 bills I left the place with were firm evidence. Enough to redeem my Xmas gift plus some bucks for my trouble. Thank you, universal balance, for your generosity. And thank you, gentle readers, for your time. Happy Thanksgiving!
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