Road Scrabble

 Here is a game that Ann Marie and I often play when we are on the road. It is much like the “License Plate Game”, where you attempt to accumulate as many different state plates as possible, this game uses the basics of the board game, Scrabble.

    It is extremely easy to play and you can make up your own rules if you want to. No dictionary is needed. Here is the way we play it.

Using the three letters on most Pennsylvania license plates, we have to come up with a word using those letters in the same order as they are on the license plate. (any state will work as long as there are 3 letters on the plate) Some license plates just can’t be done.

    The letters don’t have to be in contact with each other, just in the same order. License plates with an “s” at the end are very easy because by adding an “s” to something, you’re pluralizing it. “R’s” at the end of the sequence are easy also by adding “er” to a word. The same as the rules in Scrabble, we don’t use proper nouns. Occasionally we will keep score using the numbers on the Scrabble tiles.

The numerical values of the tiles are;

Q & Z’s are 10 points

J & X’s are 8 points

K’s are 5 points

F, H, V, W & Y’s are 4 points.

D & G’s are 2 points

And all the rest of the letters are 1 point.

(If you are a regular Scrabble player, you already knew that.)

    We normally don’t bother with scoring, we just shout out a word as the car goes by, then another and another, until the car is gone or another one comes into sight. I often find myself doing it when I’m alone in the car. I’d like to think it helps keep our minds sharp. (and my mind can definitely use some sharpening!)

    Watching the license plates going by makes us notice vanity plates more often. They sometimes need a bit of brain power to figure out also!

    Here are a couple examples…

Happy, Hippy or Harpy are all good.

How about Lighthouse?

Shock or Showcase.

Oh, there’s a winner!

   

    And so the game goes on, until one of you gets tired and quits or you just forget about it and enjoy the sights you’re passing. You might want to try it on your Labor Day trips…

 

Seven and Eight Letter Words

                Quality has seven letters. So does Quinces, Quickly and Quasars. Hmm, how about Require and Quantify, no that has eight. But that would be even better if you could use it. I’m thinking about the game of Scrabble.

                I have been playing Scrabble on my Kindle and on the weekends with Ann Marie. It gets me thinking which I suppose is a good thing! While walking the dog the other day, seven letter words kept popping into my head. Most had the letter “Q” in them. One would lead to another and then that, to another. I was thinking seven letter words because in the game, if you use all the tiles in your holder, you earn another 50 points!

                When the game starts, if you would be lucky enough to get a seven letter word, with a Q or a Z in it and you could put either of those on a double letter space, that letter now becomes 20 points instead of 10.  Then the total gets doubled, so your 20 points now becomes 40! Then you add the extra 50 for using all your tiles. This gets your game off to a great start.

                To hit the double letter space you only need a five letter word. Q’s & Z’s, those are the big letters. Zithers, Azaleas, Zippers and Zoology. Request, Quarter, Quieter and Quietly. Oh there are so many of them, why can’t I think of them when I’m playing?

                What I’d really like to do is hit two of the triple word spaces in one turn. They are in the center and ends of the edges of the board. They are eight spaces apart so one letter (at least) would have to be already in-between the bonus spaces. Just imagine getting the letter score times three and then times another three since you hit both triple spaces. Then another 50 points on top of that since you used up all the letters in your holder. Oh it makes me drool just to think of it

                The problem is, I usually get seven vowels or seven consonants sitting in my holder. Four or five letter words are my average starting pick. A lot of this game is luck of the draw. Knowing some weird, odd words helps also. OK, a little strategy helps too.

                I walked a bit further, waiting for Red to do his business. I watched the sky above and thought about words…Quixotic, Barbeque or how about Zwieback, now that would be a good one! Or how about this seven letter word, Removal, which brings me to another topic.

 

                One of the conditions I have to abide by at work is the wearing of a mask. While working at our machine we can remove it but we have to put it on every time we are talking to someone or if anyone is close by. I’m not going to get into the pros and cons or the reasons why or why not we should wear them. During this pandemic, our employers have decided it is what we have to do. Since they are the ones paying me to come in and enjoy eight hours of fun and excitement, I’ll go along with their requirements. (Just a small bit of sarcasm there…)

Yesterday, after eight hours of work, covered in a fine layer of cast iron dust, I was more than ready to head home. The building is air conditioned but the mask I was wearing causes sweat to gather underneath it and with the moving it on and off, the hair of my goatee was getting pulled and tangled.  This caused the skin of my chin to get sore. Every time I pulled it back over my mouth and chin the hairs pulled again.

When I got home I went into the bathroom and took a pair of scissors and started chopping. I was just going to thin it a bit but before I knew it, I was going for it all. Hairs fell into the wastepaper basket, on the sink and all over the floor.

I am guessing that it has been about 30 years since I last shaved my chin. Back then it was black hair, not all this white and grey stuff. For some reason I seem to think it might have been Halloween when I did it. I do remember that my daughter Chelsey was not impressed. I believe a bit of crying might have happened, she didn’t recognize me and it scared her.

So, there I was, looking at a stranger looking back at me in the mirror. This wasn’t how I imagined I’d look. I’d like to think there was a bit of my dad looking back at me but mostly, it was a person I didn’t know.

Today, I was much more comfortable at work. The mask is still a pain in the ass… (yeah, I know what that implies…) but it feels a lot better than the day before! I’ll keep shaving it for awhile, but I miss it already and it has only been one day. Meanwhile, I have to make friends with that stranger in my mirror! That and think of a couple more seven and eight letter words! Success, Victory or Champion!