Review of Maryland Lottery's $2,000,000 Scratch Off Game

My apologies to any followers I might have. I didn't realize I didn't post anything for February 2017. I have lots of ideas for future posts and have even done some research for a few of them. I just haven't gotten around to making myself sit down and knock out some of them. Fortunately, here's one post I will get done in a timely fashion.

While visiting my friend Larry (retired city mail carrier) at his liquor store in Woodbine, Maryland, I decided to play Maryland Lottery's first ever (as far as I know) $2,000,000 scratch off game. According to the game webpage, the game was launched February 27, 2017. Tickets cost $30 vice $20 for the $1,000,000 prize games (seems like a better deal as you spend an extra $10 and could win twice as much money). It offers five $2,000,000 prizes, sixteen $50,000 prizes, sixteen $5,000 and numerous prizes of $500 to $30 (over 500,000 $30 prizes alone). At the time of this post, none of the big prizes had been claimed yet.

In regards to the game, one of the tickets I bought with MY own money (I don't get anything from Maryland Lottery for doing this and all opinions expressed here are my own and not in any way connected with the Maryland Lottery), states the games OVERALL odds of winning are 1 in 2.82. You can do better and, you can do worse like I did the first time I played this game (I hit a $30 on my 4th try). The ticket states on the front of it that Maryland Lottery is offering over $90,000,000 in total cash prizes. Each ticket offers 40 chances to win (again according to the ticket I bought). There are 6 numbers at the top of the ticket that you try to match and 8 rows of 5 numbers below your winning numbers. Make sure you scratch all 8 rows (I goofed on this and didn't for my first 4 plays on this game). There is an instant win symbol in the game which is a gold bar. You find a gold bar symbol and, you win instantly whatever prize is below it.

Concerning the $2,000,000 prize, the ticket I bought states that the $2,000,000 is paid over 20 years like Maryland Lottery does with its $1,000,000 games. There is a cash option which will be less than the $2,000,000 you would get through a 20 year annuity. According to my ticket, you have 60 days to decide which option you wish to take (20 year annuity or all the cash up front minus taxes).

For your information, the game does qualify for Lottery reward points with the player getting a minimum of 30 points for a ticket.

You must be 18 years old or older in order to play the game (lottery rules).

Overall, I thought this was a nice game with the only thing special about it being the $2,000,000 prize. As far as I know, this is the first scratch off game that the Maryland Lottery has offered with such a large prize. I know the Michigan Lottery has offered such large prizes in scratch offs as I remember seeing a $2,000,000 game and a $4,000,000 game there while visiting my Dad 2 years ago. Good luck to any players out there.

South Lyon Dollar Tree Store Review

This is the store that started me liking the Dollar Tree chain. My Filipino step-mother Geroncia (also known as Jane) loves this place. To help my Dad who doesn't like to drive for various reasons, I always offer to take Geroncia where ever she wants to go when I visit. This past Labor Day weekend was one such occasion. One of the places she always wants to go was the South Lyon, Michigan Dollar Tree store.

The store is located in the Glenwood Plaza at 21835 Pontiac Trail in South Lyon. It's open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays and 9 a.m to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There is plenty of parking at this shopping center. As Pontiac Trail is the main drag/street in South Lyon, it's easy enough to get to.

The store is of good size, has a refrigerated section (a plus in my book), is well stocked and well kept up. The store's staff do an excellent job maintaining and running this store.

Overall, I've visited and shopped at a number of Dollar Tree stores since I first visited this store 3 or 4 years ago so, I tell if a store is a good one or a bad one. This one is a very good one for the reasons I've mentioned. If you like Dollar Tree in general, you'll like this store if you live in this area. I give it a 2 thumbs up. Happy shopping all!

Greenfield Village

The Henry Ford is a number of different attractions. It includes the museum, Greenfield Village, and IMAX theater and a tour of one of Ford's auto plants. This Monday, I decided to drive to Dearborn, Michigan so I could see Greenfield Village for the first time. The village is an outdoor museum of sorts. It contains historic buildings from the 1700's, 1800's and early 1900's. The buildings include Thomas Alva Edison's laboratory complex from Menlo Park, New Jersey, the Wright Brothers home and bicycle shop and the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. The inside of the buildings look just as they would've when their occupants lived in them. In the Wright Brothers bicycle shop, you see bicycles and accessories for sale in the front of the shop. Further back, you bicycle parts and tool or machines for making those parts. In the farthest back shop, you see an airplane wing being built presumably for a glider or one of their airplanes. A guide in the shop explains how things were in the shop and answers any questions.

The village also offers different rides though not of the kind we normally associate with tourist attraction rides. How many tourist attractions do you know that give you the chance to ride in a vintage Model T car or in a horse pulled Omnibus? There is also a steam locomotive with cars to ride in that goes around the perimeter of the village and supposedly a vintage bus that runs through the village. I didn't see or ride on the bus. The last ride is a vintage carousel with painted animals including a giant frog and giant rooster. Personally, I enjoyed all the rides. I thought it was something to get to ride in a Model T car for the first time. The one I rode in was built in 1925. A village guide told me they use one that was built in 1913, just 6 years after Henry Ford came out with the car.

Lastly, the village has craft shops covering glass blowing, printing, pottery making, weaving and milling. The glass blowing shop was particularly interesting as you got to see the master glass blower got through all the stages of making an item while a narrator explains the various steps. Later, at the gift shop, you can buy items that actually made in the various craft shops. The glass blowers at the village make some very beautiful glass ware but, I will warn would be shoppers that the items aren't cheap. A very nice light blue glass pitcher sold for $56. Do keep in mind these items are hand made by master craftsmen.

Price wise for Greenfield Village was $22 for an adult and $21 for a Senior. I don't remember what the admission price for a child was. On the rides, you can buy individual tickets for the rides (average cost $4) or you can buy an unlimited ride pass for $10. If you want to ride either the open or inclosed horse drawn omnibuses, you must buy an unlimited ride pass. They don't sell tickets for those rides as the carriage drivers can't check or collect tickets. They do sell multi-attraction tickets example buying a ticket for the village and the museum. You will save money buying these but, I don't believe you can do justice to either attraction if you don't spend less than a day seeing each. From date of purchase, your ticket is good for 1 year though it can only be used 1 time. There are memberships you can buy starting at $54 a year that will allow free multiple visits throughout the year to the museum and village. Active duty military members may visit the museum and village for free any time. There is a $5 charge for parking which is automatically included in your ticket purchase. You don't have to put anything in your vehicle to show you've paid the parking fee. The complex website http://www.thehenryford.org/index.aspx offers directions to the complex.

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to the village. It was neat to ride a 1925 Model T and the train. The people who work at the village were very knowledgeable and helpful. The village was very clean and safe. I was at the village for over 5 hours and, I could've easily spent more time there. There is LOTS to see and do there. If you are in the Dearborn area, this is one attraction worth seeing. Good travels all.

Michigan

My various travels began Friday. I packed a small bag and loaded up my laptop backpack. At 5 a.m., I hit the road. It ended taking me over 9 hours to get to Michigan. I was surprised all the road work that was going on. At times, it brought traffic to a standstill. I wasn't thrilled with the tolls on the Pennsylvania and Ohio Turnpikes. Pennsylvania hit me for $11.35 and Ohio hit me for $10.50. Michigan caught me by surprise with its summer fuel mix. That mix caused fuel prices to jump. By the time I nearly reached my destination, I was nearly out of gas. I looked desperately for a gas station but about gagged when I saw they wanted $4.23 a gallon for regular. I bit my lip and paid it.

It was something to see the state again. I recognized some of the town and city names. I don't see a lot of the state because of my other travels. I was determined to make it to Michigan this time to see my Dad. It was really nice to get to see him again. Yesterday, my favorite Aunt Aunt Marge came up from Indiana. She is such a super nice woman and, she has been through so much. We caught up on news and talked about travels and motorbikes. Her husband Dave and her have done a lot of travelling through the Western United States on a touring Yamaha motorcycle they own. It was neat to hear of their travels.

Lastly, I got to enjoy some White Castle hamburgers. To my annoyance, they're not any White Castle restaurants in Maryland. I've enjoyed their hamburgers since I was a kid. They may not be the tastiest hamburgers but, they're neat with their small size and, you can buy a case of the things. Also, they bring back memories of when my parents would load up the family car and, we'd drive to Indiana to see my Grandparents. To keep my sister and I under control, my folks would promise to stop at the Cleveland White Castles for some of their hamburgers if we were good. That usually worked and, we always looked forward to enjoying some of their hamburgers.

That's it for this travel installment. Stay tuned. More travels are coming. Tomorrow, I'll visit Greenfield Village for the first time. Cheers all!

Vacation

Yesterday was my last day at work before going on vacation. It's hard to believe I won't have to work for 3 entire weeks. Work has been really crazy because of the manning. We don't have nearly enough people. My boss has hired 2 new subs that he hopes will complete training by the time I get back. 2 new people would be a big help. Working 6 days a week, week after week really wears you out.

In regards to my vacation, it's hard to believe I'll be in Ireland in a few days. I've looked forward to going for months. It should be an awesome trip that will create memories that will last a long time. My Ireland trip won't be the end of my adventures as I plan to see my Dad in Michigan once I get back from Ireland. I haven't seen him in a year and a half so I owe him a visit. I'm planning some special things while I'm there like visiting Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. I remember seeing the museum as a kid. It was impressive. Also, I look forward to enjoying some White Castle hamburgers. My Dad calls them gut busters. I think their fun because you can stack them.

So my readers, stay tuned for some hopefully interesting posts over the next 3 weeks. I plan to see and do a lot of new and cool things. Cheers all!

Return to Maryland

This is the last post on my recent trip to Michigan for my step-mother's funeral. The events this posts described happened on January 8th, 2009.

I would've liked to have stayed longer with my Dad, Jane (my Philippino step-mother) and Hank (also known as foodcreep or the bottomless pit). But, I couldn't. I have a deal with the Post Office where I work where I won't take long periods of time off except once every 4 or 5 months. As my readers know, I'll be going on a 12 day tour/cruise of Egypt in March so, I couldn't take lots of time off for my visit.

I hoped to be on the road around 6:30 a.m. to avoid commuter traffic. That hope went out the door fast. My Dad asked if I would clear the snow from the driveway. My Dad has one bad leg and the good one isn't that good either. I didn't want him falling so, I agreed to clear the driveway. He offered to let me use his snowblower but, I didn't think it would need that. I was wrong. The snow was powdery stuff but, there was a lot of it and, Dad has a large driveway. I spent over 30 minutes shoveling snow. Finally, I got it cleared and, I got my car loaded up. I saw my good-byes and drove to the Howell, Michigan White Castle restaurant. There, I experienced another delay. They weren't prepared for a 90 hamburger order (3 cases). I had to wait over 20 minutes though they were kind enough to give a free lemonade while I waited. Then, I needed to tank the car up with gas. I wanted to be able to drive as far as I could non-stop before having to fill up again. I got the car filled up, started to pull out and noticed the car was having a hard time getting through the snow. The car continued to have a hard time on the main road to the highway entrance. Then, I noticed on the dash that the brake light was on. Shit! I looked down and sure enough, I'd forgotten to release the parking brake. Duh! After that, I didn't have a hard time driving through the snow.

By the time I was finally headed out of Michigan, it was 9 a.m. Prime commuter time and, I ended up bumper to bumper for over 20 minutes. Groan. At last, I got past that. I made good time from there and reached the Michigan-Ohio border around 10:30. I found out Ohio also got clobbered with snow. The road crews did a great job of making the roads drivable but, there was a LOT of salt and dirt on the roads. It was easily kicked up onto my car's windshield. I had to repeatedly use the windshield cleaner. Also, when I finally stopped for gas in Hagerstown, Maryland, I had to clean the salt off the passenger windows.

My GPS unit work superbly again. I never had to look at a map and, I had a good idea when I would arrive back at my apartment. When I turned off to get more gas, it quickly re-calibrated the route to my apartment.

I arrived back to my apartment around 5 p.m. which I thought good considering I'd driven over 550 miles with one short stop for gas. My car had worked superbly. I was certain the servicing I had done the previous week helped. I believe I saved over $250 driving though it took me twice as long as it would've if I had flown. I was totally sold on my GPS unit and, I plan to use it for all long trips as well as trips in Maryland. The next day, I'd be back at work at the Post Office. Life would return to normal and, I'd get over my step-mom's death though I'll remember her for a long time. Cheers all!

2nd Day

My second day in Michigan was filled with mis-adventures and sadness. As I previously mentioned, I planned to visit the Lyon's Den bookstore in South Lyon. Its in an old building with wooden floors and wooden bookshelves. If you like a bookstore that has a feeling of mustiness and charm, this is it. I found only one thing to complain of with it. Its shelves were pretty lean selection wise. I don't know if they were trying to hold down their inventory or hadn't received a new shipment in. I bought a book on France that showed 25 must see sights. I was curious to see how many I'd seen. Also, I bought a copy of "The Hobbit." I've seen the cartoon version but, I've never read the book. With them hopefully starting to make the movie version, I felt it was time to read it.

My Philippino step-mother Jane had decided to tag along. It was an easy way for her to get out of the house and, she wouldn't have to drive. She found herself a couple books to read including one on sale.

The South Lyon Post Office is right across from the bookstore and, we walked over to one of their mail trucks. I pointed out the 7 mirrors on the truck and, how a mail carrier would deliver mail from it.

Then, we got in my car and, I got to try to program my new GPS unit. The address was 3832 East Grand River Avenue. I couldn't figure out initially how to punch in the east part of the street name. I didn't see a button on the choices saying space. I finally punched in Grand River Avenue and got a location in Detroit. According to White Castles website, the restaurant I wanted to go to was in Howell, Michigan. Still, I decided to try it. Jane and I drove all the way into Detroit and found out I got it wrong. Worse still, the neighborhood didn't look too safe. I didn't want to place Jane in any kind of danger so, I turned around quick and got out of there. When we got home, I figured out what button was the space button on the GPS. Using that, I was able to find the right address for the White Castle restaurant in Howell. It turned out it was only 15 or 20 minutes away. I drove out there and bought a case of their hamburgers, 2 very small sacks of their onion chips (Jane really likes these) and a very small sack of their clam strips. The hamburgers were great and, I thought the onion chips and clam strips were good too. I planned to drive out to the restaurant again the next morning to get myself and some friends some White Castle hamburgers before I headed back to Maryland.

Around 3 p.m., I got myself ready for my step-mom's funeral. I hadn't slept well the night before because of that. I was terribly sad about the thing. I decided to drive out there myself as it would be less hassle for my sister. I seemed to be getting the hang of my GPS unit so, I was pretty sure I'd be able to find the place with its help. To my surprise, Jane decided to come along. Once both of us were ready, we got in my car and, I programmed my GPS unit.

The GPS got the directions smack on. My only concern was the weather. It started snowing and, that made the roads treacherous. I slowed down to avoid going into a skid. Worse still, my step-mom's house was on a back road in the country. I kept my fingers crossed that I'd be able to get back out after the funeral service.

To my delight, a number of people showed up for my step-mom's service. There must have been at least 40 people. My sister, Jane and I showed up from our side of the family. My step-mom's stepson from her marriage to her last husband Ed showed up with his mom too. I hadn't met him since he was a kid. Now, he was going to be a father soon. I had a pleasant chat with them before the service.

My sister and the lady who took of my step-mom in the later stages of her illness found a fairly new Baptist pastor who lived close by. He said a small service for Kay. I felt he should have concentrated more on the fact that for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ would be seeing her again so, this wasn't good-bye forever but, merely a short separation (in relation to eternity). We'd get to see her again in her new resurrection body and, she wouldn't be sick or frail like she had been in her last days. Instead, he tried to save some souls among the attendees. Still, it was nice of him to come and say a few words on such short notice.

After the service, there were food and drinks available. I passed. I found the container holding my step-mom's ashes. It was hard to believe that small metal container held all her remains. Sitting next to her ashes was a wooden box of sorts. I thought that might be a more appropriate container for her ashes. I later found out it held the ashes of her late husband. So, both their remains were at the service.

When Jane was ready to leave, we hopped in my car and headed back to my Dad's place. The roads were bad so I went slow but, we made it back safely. The GPS unit worked great again. I was glad the service was over though I would spend a couple hours talking about my step-mom with my Dad. She may have been my step-mom but, she really was my mother for all effective purposes. From the age of 12 and 1/2, she raised me. I've had very little contact with my biological mother. I don't hate my biological mother but, she hasn't played a part in my life in over 30 years. My step-mom did. No one at the service knew her longer than I did. For approximately, 40 years I knew her. I suspect that's why her death and loss hurt so much. She was so much a part of me and my life. Also, I felt she died too soon. My Dad told me she was born in 1942. That meant she was just 66 years old when she died. She should've lived at least another 10 years. Now, she will live in my memories. I do take some comfort that I will get to see her again some day as I believe in Jesus Christ. The pain lingers some but, it will pass. As I said in another blog, life goes on. The next day, I would head back to Maryland and all my trials and tribulations there. Stay tuned.

Arrived

I managed to hit the road around 6:15 a.m. It was raining. By the time I reached Michigan, it was snowing. Thankfully, the road crews were out and, I was able to make good time the entire way. I was surprised by the toll charges in Pennsylvania and Ohio. PA cost me $10 and Ohio hit me up for $7.25. The GPS unit I bought performed outstandingly. I never had to look at a map. The device would tell me when it was time to turn right or left. It would also tell me how far I had to go till the next major turning point as well as what the speed limit was on all the roads. It only had one hiccup when I-76 broke off and became I-80. I was pretty sure I was supposed to keep heading toward Cleveland vice stay on I-76. About 30 seconds after I passed the I-76 off ramp, it changed and said to keep heading on I-80.

I found it kinda neat to stop to fill up on gas and do a bathroom break. It reminded me of the Globus tours I've been on. I'm still counting the days till Egypt. I can't wait to go.

Tomorrow is the funeral. I'm not looking forward to it. I wish very much my step-mom were still alive. I wish she had told me she was doing as badly as she was doing so I could've come up here before she died instead of after. (sigh) Oh well. There is little point in wishing for such things. I have to deal with what is. She's gone and it sucks. Tomorrow, I'll pay my respects and then, I'll carry on with my life as every one else will. That's how it is. Life goes on.

That's it for this update. Not the most cheerful one but then, funerals don't tend to be very cheerful. There will be some fun things. Tomorrow, I'm going to go to a nearby White Castles where I plan to pig out on their hamburgers. Also, I plan to visit a very cute book shop in South Lyon, Michigan. The owner is pretty cool and, I try to visit there every time I'm nearby. It'll be neat to say hi. Stay tuned for further updates.