After reading the thread, I looked to see what was the closest state to me that played Mega Millions. Texas was in the group and I realized my mom had just moved to San Antonio. It was less than an hour away from the draw. They had recently moved and I had their new phone number. I knew I had the phone number written on some obscure corner of a bill envelope I would probably not look at again for at least a month. I began frantically searching through my piles for that bill with the phone number. At about 30 minutes before the drawing, I was on the phone with my 75 year old mother who had her shoes kicked off engrossed in a murder mystery. I quickly explained to her about the historical significance of the Mega Millions Lottery for the evening and how we shouldn't miss our opportunity to participate in history. Realizing the significance of the event, mom got on her shoes and whisked her 81 year old husband into the van. Off they went to the local quicky mart for the sake of history.
With her eye glasses malfunctioning due to her puppy's playful exploration of the taste of plastic, mom found herself trying to operate a 14", touch-screen lottery machine. Technologically confused, she solicited the help of the underage looking cashier. Hunt-and-Pecking her way through the selections, mom successfully obtained her tickets. The clock read 9:53 central time. With relief from not wetting herself, as she had forgone a necessary bathroom stop, mom and husband returned home. The ending of the murder mystery still a mystery as they missed the ending.
10:30 mom calls to tell me she successfully fought the lottery machine to accept her much wrinkled $10.00 bill and had come away with 10 tickets, 10 chances at the lotto.
"Lotto?", I cried. "It was suppose to be the Mega Millions Powerball Lottery, worth something like $400,000,000!"
"What?" "Tonight is Tuesday. The Lottery is on Wednesday." "No, wait, the computer said it was tonight."
"That's why I called you." "I couldn't drive to Georgia in time."
"Well, there were too many choices." "The screen was too small." "The dog ate my glasses."
"Well", I said, "If it rolls over again, let me know." "Get us a ticket and I'll give you back your dollar, if I win."
"Well, I sure messed up." "I had to pee with everything else going on and the clock said 9:53 when I pushed the button." "Do you want me to call you tomorrow if I win the $50,000,000 Lotto tomorrow?"
