My Father-in-Law loved to go to Churchill Downs and bet on the horse races. When I was still a teenager, he took me to the Red Mile race track in Lexington, Ky. Melvin was a quiet man at home, but he could get excited at the races. I had only known him for a short time and had only heard him as a very calm person. As we set out to watch the first race, I was quietly drinking my Coke. There was a big commotion to my right, and when I looked, he was standing in his chair yelling, "Run Horse Run!". I was startled but loved to see him having such a good time.
I am no gambler because I like my money to stay in my pocket. That same day, I decided to bet on one of the races. I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow I bet a trifecta. For the uninitiated, that means you have to pick the first three horses to win, place, and show.
I was watching closely as the horses left the gate. In the first turn, they were running just as I had picked. I mentioned that to Melvin, and he said there was a long way to go. Funny thing is, they pretty much stayed in line and finished just as I had picked. I was thinking I might win enough to go get a hamburger and fries to go with my Coke. When I looked over at Melvin, he said, "You are going to have to pay taxes on that ticket."
I still had no idea what paying taxes on the ticket meant until he informed me you had to pay taxes at the teller if the winning is over $1,000. Remember that this happened in the late 1970s, and I was broke as heck.
So I went to cash the ticket, about to throw up. The ticket paid just under $1,000, so I did not have to pay taxes and was just about as excited as a person can get.
That winning ticket bought my first personal computer. I have been hooked on tech ever since that day.
The racing pattern is all cut from 1/4" thick wood. The stand is just over ten inches long. There are a total of 9 easy interior cuts, so I consider this a novice pattern even though there are quite a few parts.
If you love horses, then here is an image you can use as your desktop background on your computer.
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Set as your desktop background
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