Saturday, March 31, 2012

Tiz List - "If I'd Won the Lottery" Version

I imagine that many of us spent at least part of the past few days contemplating what we'd do with 2/3 of a billion dollars. Even if you didn't buy a ticket, I'm sure you probably had at least a glancing thought about what you'd have done with the money.

I figure that the mere idea of that much money got people using their imaginations more than they have since they were six years old. I know it got mine moving.

So, here is a Tiz List of some of the things I might have done, had I won the money. (Not sure about what a "Tiz List" is? Check the others in the left-hand margin.)

1) Make my financial advisor's day by setting myself up for an awesome retirement.

2) Quit my job - or, maybe, buy the company (it's a decent concept, after all), dump the people who (seriously) don't do anything but watch YouTube all day, hire in people I know who could actually make it work, give everyone living wages that recognize what they do, double the size of the staff to match the amount of work everyone does, and start working 2-day weeks - if I feel like it.

3) Get a private jet, complete with pilot.

4) If not #3, then start flying everywhere First Class - and buying an extra seat or two so that I never have to deal with cramped legs again.

5) Bump out the side of the house by about four feet so that we could expand the dining room and kitchen so that we could entertain more often.

6) Condos in New York and Paris (to start), then maybe houses in Britain, Northern California, Montreal, and Vancouver. (These are parts of why I need #3 and/or #4.)

7) Major donations to my hometown - to the school system, to the town in general.

8) Lots o' philanthropy - arts organizations, medical organizations, maybe put myself on a few boards of directors so that I could actual be pushy AND listened to.

9) A massive party to celebrate. Possibly using those planes, or one or more of the new residences, or at least the expanded house.

10) Trust funds for my nephews and niece.

You know... Looking at that, I seem a little boring. But in my mind, those are all so much more fleshed out and amazing. There would be yearlong travels by plane, train, and oceanliner. There would be lots and lots of fresh flowers. There would be hours of time spent with friends I don't get to see that often. And there would be time to take time to not have to stress out about anything.

As it is, I did not win the lottery. Christopher and I got up today, went to brunch with a group of friends, ran a bunch of errands, stopped for a malt at Dairy Queen, came home and walked the dog, and are spending the evening at home.

Would the lottery win have been nice? Hell, yeah.

Would I give up a day like today for it? Hell, no.

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