Jackpot

The lovely Miss Carol and I have a secret vice. We like to play the lottery.



We don't invest our life savings into the State Lottery, nor do we play it consistantly. We will spend $2, sometimes as much as $3 a week playing the Super Lotto or some such creation if we remember to buy the ticket. The stepson tells me that we'll never win because of the odds and he's probably right.



I stand a better chance of being hit by lightning in a thunderstorm than I do winning the lottery. My brother who is practically a CPA and has dabbled in Law told me at one time the best time to spend a dollar on the lottery was when the prize was over something like $15million... statistically, at that point you can get your dollar back.

As if I'll live that long.



One of the reasons I keep buying the tickets, though, is that it's a cheap way to dream for a day or two before the drawing. I have this vision of going and purchasing a motor home and a something to tow behind it, then taking the teenagers out of school to take a lap of the country. There are lots of places I'd like to visit, like forts and historical sites which would educate me and my charges, presuming of course that they will take advantage of the opportunity. I could delay that trip, on the other hand, and wait until the kids are out of the house so that Carol and I can take that trip by ourselves.



When we finally finish that trip, there would be others.



In between trips, we'd be living in a much bigger house with our own private windmill to keep us off the grid, and I'd build a really private swimming pool... one so private that I don't have to wear a swim suit if I don't want to.



Nice dreams, to be certain, but we won't win due to the fact that we lack a certain something in our personalities which prevents us from winning.



We have good sense and humility.



For instance, our plan starts with what we will give away and to whom before we even think of choosing an RV dealer. The Church, the Salvation Army, the local food bank... we would arrange to give some gifts to the worthy before jumping naked into our swimming pool.



I have seen too many times when someone wins the lottery and goes on a bender or comes to some sort of grief after their winning moment. It's not just the lottery, but there are other games, or moments of luck which seem to fall on the wrong people. For instance, there's this fellow I know of who just won a truck at the place where he works. He's already squawking that it's the wrong make of truck and that it's way too small for him.



Fer cryin' out loud, it's a free truck! I'd drive it even if I didn't like it!



This same fellow has been known to have more than his share of his beverage of choice... I wonder what will happen when this fellow damages his free truck after having imbibed. A guy I went to High School with parked his car into a tree at his parents' house at some point before he was 21 (drinking was legal in Ohio at the time for those between 18 and 21) and his father left the car right where it was for a number of years as a reminder of the son's carelessness.

Anyhoo, we are beyond that sort of nonsense at this point in our lives. We have good sense and a set of scruples which prevent us from most of our foiables - and are therefore ineligible to win the lottery.

How much is the jackpot the next time around?

Be Seeing You!