Powerball up to 1 billion - what tools would you buy?

[ChiTownScion]

And most of them would probably be relatives. Just out of curiosity, does the winner have to go public or can they stay anonymous? I'd definitely want to stay anonymous and mostly because of ne'er-do-well relatives that I wouldn't want hanging around. I'd have to hire armed security to keep them out of my house...and that wouldn't even be a deterrent to some of them.

My understanding is that it varies state to state. Part of the selling appeal of the tickets of course is finding out, even if you don't win, who did win, and what plans they may have. I always get a kick out of hearing how some hard working man or woman with a lot of bills and responsibilities suddenly has a reversal of fortune for the better. Sometimes, however, the winners don't always seem so deserving- at least in my opinion. Like when some overly entitled trust fund baby wins.

I remember a few decades ago when one winner of a state lottery (jackpot, about $25 million) was some old geezer lawyer, a stingy old goat who sounded like he still had the first nickel that he'd ever made. When asked about his plans, he retorted, "I don't have to tell ANYONE how I'll spend my money!!" I remember thinking what a sour old jerk he seemed, and hoping that he'd die of a long painful illness that would take every dollar that he had in medical bills.

And then there was the guy who won big in a multistate lottery, who seemed like a hillbilly with a fourth grade education. He vowed that all of his newly found wealth was going to go "for the Lord's work." About a year later, an attache' case with over $100 grand in cash was taken from his pickup truck... apparently while he was in a strip joint... doing "the Lord's work," of course.

 

[Stearmen]

And then there was the guy who won big in a multistate lottery, who seemed like a hillbilly with a fourth grade education. He vowed that all of his newly found wealth was going to go "for the Lord's work." About a year later, an attache' case with over $100 grand in cash was taken from his pickup truck... apparently while he was in a strip joint... doing "the Lord's work," of course.

Actually, he was robbed twice at the strip club! His life has spiraled out of control ever since, with a trail of death and destruction behind him! The moral of the story is, any vice you have now, will only be magnified several thousand times with winning a big lottery.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Actually, he was robbed twice at the strip club! His life has spiraled out of control ever since, with a trail of death and destruction behind him! The moral of the story is, any vice you have now, will only be magnified several thousand times with winning a big lottery.

I want to think that he was sincere when he vowed that his wealth would go for "the Lord's work," and that he was not merely being dishonest by not just saying, "I'm going to reduce it all to tens and twenties and spend the rest of my life stuffing it into the g- strings of grateful strippers." Really....I do. But as you say, money like that magnifies one's vices. Planning prudently, subduing your basest passions, and acting in accordance with higher moral imperatives sounds so easy in the abstract, but clearly becomes more difficult in practice.

 

[sheeplady]

Since I didn't win (no tickets bought) but am still thinking about this, I would like to say that if I won, Sesame Street would no longer have its first run on HBO.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Since I didn't win (no tickets bought) but am still thinking about this, I would like to say that if I won, Sesame Street would no longer have its first run on HBO.

Absolutely. And I would also endow a cable channel that showed reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on a 24/7 schedule.

 

[Matt Crunk]

I would establish a major motion picture studio somewhere other than Hollywood, but largely based on to old Hollywood studio system, pre-1960s. Then set about producing a number of films I'd love to see made, that there's little to no chance of Hollywood ever doing. Most would be period pictures, and I wouldn't be that concerned if they were profitable or not.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Absolutely. And I would also endow a cable channel that showed reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on a 24/7 schedule.

Kudos on your idealism regarding educational TV, Lizzie. I have to admit that I'd be more inclined to push the Bob Clampett and Tex Avery 'toons of the 40's for the kiddies, if it were within my power to do so.

From what resources I did have at my disposal, I made sure that my son and my cousins' kids all got exposed to Red Hot Riding Hood and Screwball Squirrel when they were preschoolers whenever we'd gather for family functions. Compared to their usual Saturday morning fare- which late '80's /early 90's was essentially glorified toy advertisements- I think that it was a blow for cultural enrichment. And they- and their elders- actually thought that those classic cartoons were pretty funny, too.

 

[sheeplady]

Absolutely. And I would also endow a cable channel that showed reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on a 24/7 schedule.

I was thinking of assigning some money to re-animating Mr. Rogers, calculating that if he came back a little bit tainted (like in Pet Sementary) he'd still beat 99.9% of the kids tv out there....

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Mr. Rogers remixed. I could listen to this for days.