The Mahjong Tournament and the Election Results

By the time this is published we should but might not know the winner of our presidential election. I say 'might not' because Trump is planning to gum up the works with charges of fraudulent voting in Republican led states so they won’t have to declaration a winner, and if they can drag it out long enough then it will be up to the party leaders in those states to award the electoral college votes to the candidate of their choice. Same playbook they tried and failed to do with the last election only this time they're operating on steroids with a money infusion from the richest yo-yo in the world---Elon Musk. But with any luck this entire paragraph will get filed in folder labeled "Worried For Nothing!" However, even if a clear winner was declared on Tuesday on election night, I doubt we'll see Trump concede the election and we certainly won't see the end of his drama machine until after January 20th is in the history books and we have a new president installed. God help us if he wins.

It's been a busy week with the highlight being my Mahjong Tournament which happened to coincide with UTI which added a level of an anxiety wondering if I could sit for four 30 minute games and then beat out the other tournament players for a choice spot in the restroom line during our five minute breaks in between games. I managed to win the latter race that most people didn't even know we were running but I came out of the tournament with a score of five (and dry underpants). I'd won one game with twenty-five points in round two but prompted lost twenty of my points in round three. No one scored super high. Two tied for first place with 70 points each. Our sister campus took first and third place and one of our ladies placed second.

It was a lot of fun and a lot of work of which I did 97% of since it was my idea and about half the ladies had to be coerced, sweet-talked or strong armed into taking part in it. The only help I had was the day of the tournament with setting up the room and game sets and with registration of the players. Judging by the feedback I got everyone had fun, though. Everyone left smiling, laughing and thanking me and of the twenty in attendance ten went home with a prize that ranged from $15 each to $5. At least four ladies in our Mahjong group offered to chip in for what I spent on the tournament but I turned them all down. "Next time," I told them, "now that everyone has had a taste of what a tournament is all about, we can spread the cost and the work around." But I might not live long enough to see that happen since our sister campus is already talking about hosting our 2nd annual tournament.

I wish I could share some photos of the activities but the continuum care facility hasn't posted any on their Facebook page for me to nab. We all had to  sign a paper when we moved in to give them permission (or not) to post our photos for their marketing Facebook page and so I know those photos are always fair game for me to nab. Others that were taken that day, I don't feel right sharing because a few ladies living here are fearful of Facebook…and email….and computers...and phone calls from numbers they don't recognize. But the picture to the left is of me at the tournament, looking happy it was over and that nothing went wrong. I didn't work in the wedding floral business for twenty years without learning a few things about long-range planning and making a lot of moving parts fit together.

The photo to the right is a sample of some of the documents I had to create for the tournament---score sheets, table rotation cards, name tags, tournament instructions and rules and welcome notes---and the photo to the left below is of the registration table after just about everyone had already checked in and taken their packets. Oops! 

Our CCC's photographer was on site so I didn't bother taking any pictures other than these two. Like so many of the 'jobs' here in independent living, she is self-appointed. She and her roommate/wife are our self-appointed newsletter publishers. They both taught graphic design at a local college and they've spoiled us with a first-class, four-times-a-year newsletters that always include biographies of a few residents.

When they were doing a photo shoot of the winners and me at the end I hoped I wouldn't embarrass myself before they finished and I could get to the bathroom. I did do an E-Visit with my doctor a few days before the tournament but the medication prescribed didn't help. An hour ago I went to the doctor's office to pee in a cup but it will take 48 hours for them to grow a culture so they can target a medication more precisely. I was hoping to be able to swing around to the drug store to pick it a new prescription on the way home. Boo Hoo! 

But on the good side I finally figured out how to get my face back on my smart watch after the time change. You shouldn't need to go through so much frustration for something as simple as that! It took me deleting and re-installing the app on my phone several times and standing on my head while singing I'm a Little Tea Pot. This watch will take my blood pressure and tell me how many hours I sleep at night vs how many times I get up to pee but it does not like Daylight Savings Time. Go figure!  ©

Until Next Wednesday.