"Peri-mutuel": "a form of betting in which those backing the first three places divide the losers' stakes (less the operator's commission)."

Peri-mutuel betting appears to be used with races rather than arena fighting. There is mention of it in horse racing. I have not seen horse racing. I wonder how different it is from chocobo racing.

Google says there is horse racing in Oklahoma City. Husband said Oklahoma City is bigger than Tulsa. Perhaps we should go see.

I looked at Husband's project list. At the top is

● Teleportation

We know Return works, but we have not tried Teleport because in Eorzea that took us to aetherytes in towns and cities, and we have not yet found an aetheryte in Earth. It could be something that Husband "has not observed", so this might be a possibly impossible thing. But I have learned that Earth is very big, so we may simply need to map more of it.

Possibly related to this is another project,

● Merging shards

We gain different-sized aether crystals from gathering, and use different-sized crystals in crafting. But the most complex recipes we currently have use aether clusters, which we have only ever found in Mor Dhona, in North Silvertear, the area completely covered in aetheric residue. While we would see aetheric residue scattered across Eorzea, I have seen none here.

So perhaps what Husband wants to do is take smaller shards and merge them into bigger crystals, so that we only ever truly need to find the smallest shards. It is an interesting idea, and it would make more things possible without travel, though we would likely need to harvest more shards than before. And it may remedy lack of an aetheryte -- which, after all, is a very large aether shard with some machinery -- if we can make our own.

Google says there are also clusters in the Sea of Clouds and Coerthas Western Highlands. I need to ask Husband where we can find islands floating in the sky or lands permanently covered in snow.

The next project appears to be about making materials:

● Hydrocarbon

○ Petroleum

○ Kerosene

○ Gasoline

○ Plastic

○ PVC

Wikipedia says hydrocarbon is a combination of hydrogen and carbon. I know about carbon. Looking at hydrogen takes me back to the "periodic table" Husband offered to explain to me once. I think this time I will let him.

Myra Stillwater, the woman who runs the Twin Pools Casino, emailed me, asking if I can fight Tuesday night. I have mostly been sharing nighttime duties at the diner with Husband. I will need a reason not to be if I am going to fight that night. Perhaps I will be busy trying to make petroleum.

The Pit had its usual Saturday crowd last night. Husband and I ate at the diner after an afternoon gathering shards and copper (which he is somehow using as money now), then went to the bar for my bouncer shift. Husband stopped at the shed to check on wiring work while I went inside.

I was met by the man who had retrieved my hat. "Evenin', Miz Tsu'na. Can I take your hat an' coat?"

I did not understand. "They are mine."

"No, I just mean...hang 'em up for you."

He nodded to the row of hooks near the door. I had seen something like this in a television show. It is apparently something Earth people do for one another. I removed my coat and beret and handed them to him. "Thank you..."

"Mitch."

"Mitch. Thank you, Mitch." He smiled, holding my clothes, and I turned and walked to the bar. It was only when I was settling onto a stool that I realized it left my ears and tail visible. What the men at the casino failed to do with aggression, Mitch did with friendliness.

I tried to relax. I tried not to turn around and see who was looking. They had seen my ears before. Husband had said they had heard about the tail. I looked in the bar mirror and did see some of the men looking at me and talking to each other, but none were staring at me like the night in the diner. These men would look, and talk, and do something else.

Except for one man, sitting at a table. He was wearing a hat that said "CAT" on the front, and he was staring. He was completely still, as if he was made of stone.

Then he moved. He got up and walked toward me. He sat on a stool beside me. He spoke. "Excuse me...ma'am?"

Sam was at the other end of the bar. He looked at the CAT hat man and me, then looked at some of the other men.

I turned to face the CAT hat. "Yes?"

"Hi. I hope you don't mind...I've heard about you and your cosmetic surgery. It really is impressive work..."

"Yes?"

"Yes indeed. I'm a medical professional myself, you see, and I'm always interested in seeing new developments. May I?"

"May you what?"

"Examine your ears. I'd really like to see what they did with the ear canal..."

A man clapped his hand on the CAT hat's shoulder. "This guy botherin' you, ma'am?"

I looked at the CAT hat. "Are you bothering me?"

"Please, it would just take a moment! I promise I won't..."

"Yes, he is bothering me."

The man nodded and took the CAT hat's arm. "You heard the lady. C'mon, Eddie."

"But..."

Eddie was pulled off his stool and led away from me. They stopped halfway to the door. When Eddie kept arguing, they continued to the door and Eddie was shoved out of it. The man gave me a nod and returned to his pool game.

Sam set a Coke in front of me. "Looks like you've got fans."

"That man was a doctor?"

"Animal doctor. Vet'narian."

"Is that why his hat says 'CAT'?"

"Think he thinks so. Lemme know if he hassles you any more."

"I thought it was my job to deal with problems."

"It's your job to deal with the bar's problems. You can let other people help with yours."

I smiled and sipped my Coke. Sam went back to work.

The bar was quiet after Eddie was put out, so I brought out a book to read. Mrs. Hobbes was right...Tony Hillerman was different from Zane Grey. There were more cars and fewer horses, more telephones and fewer guns. Though the talk of shamans and spirits was interesting.

I finished the book in an hour. I will need to spend time in the library looking for books that I like. And do vacuuming for Sunday access.

Husband was at a table with a bottle of cider, talking with some men. I decided I did not need to sit at the bar to do my job, as long as I could get to where there was a problem. I got up and went to Husband's table.

He was talking about his old life, or at least Original Him's life. "I mean, I'd been doing it for years, but I hadn't been what they call cutting-edge, you know? So all of a sudden everything's different..."

I sat down in his lap and rested my head on his shoulder.

He did not pause. He simply switched the bottle to his other hand and wrapped his arm around me. "...Like, imagine you do wiring, but someone comes up with something that replaces breaker boxes, and you don't know what it is or where it is or what it looks like...you can see everything's connected but you don't know how..."

An argument was starting near the pool tables. I could not hear what it was about, but things got quiet when someone said, "Wait, hold on, look at Miz Tsu'na!"

"What about her?"

"How pissed you think she's gonna be if she has to get up right now?"

I smiled and nestled against Husband.

"...All right, but watch yer fuckin' mouth, y'hear?"

I think I like having fans.