B-I-N-G-O

Last Friday night Madelyn and I were frantically "dabbing" all of our I-26 squares on one of the strangest adventures we've had in Austin...... we were playing BINGO with a definitely different crowd then our usual Austin hangouts. At least 5 times a week we pass a giant BINGO hall off the side of the highway. Every time we pass it, we comment on how funny it would be to actually go play BINGO. The giant sign outside of the building says you can win 500 dollars! How hard could that be? One line across.... BINGO..... hand me my 500 dollars!

Last Friday we were sitting around our tiny apartment itching to leave. There was nothing playing at the movies, there was nothing happening downtown, and all of our friends were busy. Suddenly I remembered the funny looking BINGO hall off the side of the highway........ and we were off.


(waiting for our game to start. With the BINGO board in the background)

Before we jump to the next portion of the story, I think it's important to mention, that all BINGO establishments in Texas have to follow certain rules. The most important is that the BINGO hall is non-profit. All of the proceeds from BINGO go to local charities around the Austin area. So it's for a good cause.... except you have the possibility of winning! I don't see how it's much different than going to an auction for a charity: you give money, and you might walk away with something. Anyway..... back to the story.


(The official BINGO card. 12 games per card!)

We arrived for the first "set" of the night. We were honest with the people working there, and told them we had never been. They were very helpful, and explained the rules. Here is how it works: Each night there are 4 sets, each set consists of 5 games. This isn't elementary school BINGO, one line across isn't going to give you anything. Each game is completely different, you might have four corners and a line, three lines, an L shape, etc. For each game you get 12 bingo cards.... so for the set that we attended we played 60 BINGO cards in total. We played LOTS of BINGO, and for a whopping 6 dollars each, it was well worth the money. Also, in order to be an effective BINGO player you have to buy a special BINGO "dabber", which kind of like a giant marker with a large circular tip. This helps you mark the BINGO boxes efficiently.


(me with my "dabber")

Lets just say, there is a whole population of people who LOVE to play BINGO. I've never seen anything like it. Once the BINGO game starts the place is quieter than a library. There is a whole list of rules and the only one in bold is "TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES". Madelyn even sneezed and was met with a group "bless you" in stereo. The numbers are called one at a time off of little balls that come out of some machine. There are some extreme BINGO players who play multiple boards at one time (that's 24+ BINGO cards!), some have special BINGO bags to hold all of their multi-colored dabbers, some have special BINGO dabbers..... these people are dedicated.

Each game I thought I was going to win, every time someone called BINGO I was only one or two squares away. I was reminded by the women across from me that EVERYONE was one or two squares away. Of course! If people weren't so close to winning, why would they keep coming back?


(Madelyn outside the BINGO place, with her dabber and filled in BINGO card)

We had SO MUCH FUN! I know it sounds strange, but we had the best time. We partied with the Austin elderly! And I gotta say.... those people know how to have a good time! We didn't win the BINGO game.... but it didn't matter, because we had such a good time.

Madelyn: Bounty Hunter

So, as some of you may know, I have been on a quest for a new job. I have had countless interviews, but each one has a major deal-breaker, things they don't mention in the job description. Yesterday, I had a very interesting interview. I answered an ad for an Office Manager/Bookkeeper. I followed the directions on my google map through possibly the worst industrial "neighborhood" I had ever seen. I ended at the address (which I passed several times, since there was no sign or indication of a business) that I finally found on a mailbox on the side of the road. Surely, this must be some kind of mistake. I called the phone number I had written down only to find that I had found the right place. The gentleman on the phone told me to park by the side of the barb-wire fence and that he would come out to unlock the chain and let me in. He couldn't make it all the way from the door of the "office" to the fence without a cigarette. After entering the premises, I walked past what seemed to be some sort of junkyard full of cars. I was outrageously overdressed in my skirt and heels, and found it difficult to maneuver through the gravel/dirt path, I guess you could call it, to the door of the building. Everyone else was dressed in shorts and tank-tops with their bra-straps hanging out. Once I made it inside I was offered a chair to wait for my interview and I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between a few of my future coworkers.

"Hey Minda, what'r you doin' fer yer birthday?"
"Gittin' drunk--what else? I want to git a tattoo, but Bubba said I just got one last week."

I could tell I would fit right in. I felt like my interview went pretty well, the owner of the company asked me lots of questions about my skills and interests and after about 30 minutes, when I got a chance to ask him what it is exactly that he does, I was able to put it all together. It was a Repo Company. Suddenly it all made sense--the junkyard in front was full of all the vehicles that had been repossessed by the company. When my interview was finished, the same gentleman let me back out of the gate (with a new cigarette in his hand). On the way out I asked him how he liked working there and he replied, "Job's a job. The way I figure, if I can git up the next day and come back, it's a pretty good job."

Although the job sounds ideal, I don't think it's the right position for me. I think I'll have to turn it down.....

Austin City Limits Festival and Bexar Hall….. the best venues in Texas!

Sorry for the delay in recent blogs, it's been busy at our house. A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege of being invited to one of Texas’ finest dance halls/bowling alleys/social hall… Bexar Hall (if you need a little background see our previous post ..... the pictures below won't make too much sence without it). This time I had my camera and I took some pictures of this south Texas gem for everyone to enjoy. We went for my Great Grandfather's 95 birthday party. It was quite the event…food, drinks and Bunko…… could you ask for anything more?

(This is the Bexar beer tap..... right out of the wall. Who needs a bartender?)

(This is the vague warning sign.... we always laugh at the "21")

On the same weekend we were celebrating my great grandfather's birthday, my other great- grandpa, Adolph “Papa” Hummel, passed away. We spent the end of last week attending the funeral and visiting with family. Although it was a sad event, it was nice to celebrate the life of Papa with all of my relatives.

Over the weekend Madelyn and I decided to take it easy. Friday we went and saw “King Of Kong: Fistful of Quarters”. Madelyn was hesitant to go, the movie was a documentary AND about video games; two of Madelyn’s least favorite things. Luckily it was an awesome movie and I recommend it to everyone, you don’t have to be a video gamer or a nerd to appreciate the movie.

Later that weekend my uncle called me and told me he had ONE extra ticket to the Austin City Limits festival. Madelyn gave up one of the two days a week we get to hang out with each other so that I could go hear some of my favorite bands while she stayed home. The concert rocked, but not as much as my awesome wife for supporting me in spending the day at a concert. I got to see Wilco, Ghostland Observatory, Decemberists, and a little Bob Dylan. It was awesome!

(I wasn't the only one who thought of riding their bike)

(Wilco put on an amazing performance...... it helped to have amazing seats)

(only bands like Wilco and The Decemberists would make me deal with this crowd)

Our days of labor are celebrated by Labor Day

(Outlet Mall.... Texas sized. Every building you see on the right side of the highway is outlet mall. Its nearly twice this size now if you can believe it)

At this time last week Madelyn and I were planning for our labor day festivities. We thought we might go to a water park, or the pool, or maybe even Six Flags! Only three more days until the big three day weekend! Nothing is going to get in our way!

Come Friday we realized there was one element to our “Labor Day weekend fun extravaganza” that we could not control….. weather. The forecast called for rain, rain, and more rain. Our Labor day was looking a lot more un-exciting. That’s ok, we live in the U.S. of A! So we did what any other good American would do in these circumstances……. We went shopping and ate a lot.

After sitting around the house all morning on Saturday we decided that we had to go somewhere….. So we headed to the outlet malls! Madelyn was bored enough to spend money, and I was bored enough to go shopping….. the perfect pair. We couldn’t go to the outlet malls just to buy crap we don’t need, we needed an excuse…… CANDLES! Yeah! That’s it! We sure could use some candles, lets go to the outlets!

(Voice of reason): Couldn’t you get candles anywhere? Why go all the way to the outlet malls?

(Us): Be quite…. You’re ruining our fun.

With the new Spoon CD blasting, we headed down to the outlet malls and hit up all the stores, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware…. No candles. Oh well, time to go to Old Navy! I found some things, and Madelyn found LOTS of thing, looked like retail therapy cured our boredom.

Step two in a rainy three day weekend: Eat. So we headed to Waterloo Icehouse, where we both shared an order of hot wings, and we ordered two burgers. I won’t say how much of the food we ate…. But I’m pretty sure our car was bottoming out on the way home. I also remember eating some ice cream, Costco hot dogs, pretzels, Rice Krispie Treats, a ham sandwich, breakfast tacos and Taco Bell during the course of the weekend…. But it’s all a blur, I don’t remember the details.

Unfortunately later that weekend it kept raining, so we headed out again. We found ourselves eating more, and shopping more. This time we were at Old Navy, but its ok, this was different because it wasn’t the Old Navy outlet (or as we call it, “Older Navy”). I found some things, Madelyn found LOTS of things. We then headed to Pier One to find some candles (of course), and bought some new couch pillows….. we put the candles back.

We weigh a lot more, and we have a lot less money, I’d say it was a successful Labor Day.

Next weekend we really need to buy some new candles.