The Price of a Dream
For the small sum of six dollars, I got to spend Thursday, Friday and yesterday engaged in a wonderful dream. The dream that I held the winning Powerball ticket. This was such a big jackpot that two people who bought tickets here in California (the winning ticket was sold in Florida) and got five out of five without the powerball will still collect prizes in excess of $2.3 million each.
But I did get to dream for hours and I didn't have to stand in line to buy my tickets. I saw the line outside Bluebird Liquor in Hawthorne. I listened to a woman in line who was planning to buy $100 worth of Powerball tickets when she got to the front of the line. Didn't help her chances apparently, but then again who am I to judge? I could have bought just one. Buying two more gave me three chances out of 175 million rather than 1 in 175 million. So I lowered my odds to 1 in 58 million or so. I haven't checked to see if I won a small prize to recoup my six dollars but I don't care. It was a lot of fun.
I got to dream that the very first thing I would do is to call my brother and tell him that if my niece wants to stay at the university she is leaving, I will write the check. And to tell him I'll write the checks for the rest of whatever college education my niece and nephew choose to pursue. Undergrad, grad school, whatever. I got to dream that I'd be able to underwrite whatever my mother needs to provide for the care of my stepfather and that she would only have to continue working if she wanted to.
I got to dream that I'd buy up controlling interest in Buzztime and end the "split" that has driven many of us to play the game my friends and I enjoy on only a very infrequent basis.
I got to dream of buying a really nice car. Instead, I poured $300 into my current vehicle to make it run better yesterday. I wouldn't have bought a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Probably just a BMW or Lexus. Something nice.
I got to dream of owning a home instead of paying rent. I almost bought a home once, but backed out at the last minute. I guess it was a good call. It's been almost 30 years since I was last in Mississippi and the entire block where I would have bought that house was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. I'd have owned a home and lived in it for less than a year.
In the end, someone's dreams came true. Someone in Florida will college $590.5 million. Congratulations to them.
I was at the local mall a little while ago, getting a haircut. When I went back to my car, there was a "card" on the windshield letting me know about a new massage place not far away. I have no interest in going there. I have no interest in 100% of the advertisements I find stuck on my car's windshield. So the Centrist Party is going to start a letter writing campaign to the members of the CA legislature with a suggestion. Create a small sticker that vehicle owners can put in the corner of their vehicle, near where the VIN number goes that indicates that the owner of the vehicle has no interest in having advertising fliers or cards put on their cars. Those who ignore the sticker and put such items on a vehicle will be fined. $1 for every violation for the first offense. $2 per violation for the second offense. $5 for every violation thereafter.
I watched "G.I. Jane" last night. Well, just the last hour or so. Maybe I'm just growing nitpicky in my old age, but there was a lot wrong with it that I'd ignored in the past. If you haven't seen it, skip down to "This Date in History" which will follow this, so as to avoid spoilers. The real world stuff that they ignore is mostly forgivable. There is no such thing as CRT Selection training or CRT. SEAL training is in Coronado, CA, not Florida. You don't get your "Budweiser" (the trident pin) until much later in the real training process. All that stuff is easily forgiven.
But there are some things that just don't make sense. KH-12 satellites do exist, but do they really have weapons grade plutonium on-board? That's awfully risky to shoot into orbit. And we know well in advance when the orbit of a satellite is decaying, so the mission to recover it would have been ready weeks before it came down. They wouldn't need to call up a training unit from a training exercise to take part. They'd have had assets and contingency plans in place. But I'll forgive even all of that. What's not forgivable is that they've had a number of instructors with them throughout the training portion of the film, and suddenly the entire team is alone with the Master Chief? I don't think so.
This Date in History:
On this date in 1499, Catherine of Aragon marries Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales by proxy. She is 13 and he is only 12.
On this date in 1536, Anne Boleyn is beheaded.
On this date in 1568, Queen Elizabeth I orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots. Contrary to popular rumor, it was not Queen Elizabeth II. She hasn't been Queen quite that long.
On this date in 1802, Napoleon forms the Legion of Honour.
On this date in 1828, President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law.
On this date in 1848, Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of 4 other states to the U.S. for $15 million.
On this date in 1922, the Young Pioneer organization is created in the Soviet Union.
On this date in 1950, Egypt announces the Suez Canal will be closed to Israeli ships and commerce.
On this date in 1962, the highlight of a birthday celebration for JFK at Madison Square Garden was Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday".
On this date in 1986, President Reagan signed the Firearm Owners Protection Act into law. Since that date, none of the approximately 175,000 fully automatic weapons in the U.S. that are licensed by the BATF have been used to commit a violent crime.
Famous Folk Born Today:
Johns Hopkins
Albert Fish (notorious serial killer)
David Munson (no relation to Roy Munson)
Ho Chi Minh
Malcolm X
Pol Pot
Jim Lehrer
Nancy Kwan
Nora Ephron (RIP, your talents are sorely missed)
Peter Mayhew
David Helfgott
Grace Jones
Joey Ramone
Phil Rudd
Bill Laimbeer
Nicole Brown Simpson
Kyle Eastwood
Kevin Garnett
Movie Quote of the day comes from "The Last Samurai":
Algren: You want me to kill Jappos, I'll kill Jappos.
Colonel Bagley: I'm not asking you to kill anybody.
Algren: You want me to kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, I'll kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos... Rebs, or Sioux, or Cheyenne... For 500 bucks a month I'll kill whoever you want. But keep one thing in mind: I'd happily kill you for free.
#2
Simon Graham: [narrating] They say Japan was made by a sword. They say the old gods dipped a coral blade into the ocean, and when they pulled it out four perfect drops fell back into the sea, and those drops became the islands of Japan. I say, Japan was made by a handful of brave men. Warriors, willing to give their lives for what seems to have become a forgotten word: honor.
But I did get to dream for hours and I didn't have to stand in line to buy my tickets. I saw the line outside Bluebird Liquor in Hawthorne. I listened to a woman in line who was planning to buy $100 worth of Powerball tickets when she got to the front of the line. Didn't help her chances apparently, but then again who am I to judge? I could have bought just one. Buying two more gave me three chances out of 175 million rather than 1 in 175 million. So I lowered my odds to 1 in 58 million or so. I haven't checked to see if I won a small prize to recoup my six dollars but I don't care. It was a lot of fun.
I got to dream that the very first thing I would do is to call my brother and tell him that if my niece wants to stay at the university she is leaving, I will write the check. And to tell him I'll write the checks for the rest of whatever college education my niece and nephew choose to pursue. Undergrad, grad school, whatever. I got to dream that I'd be able to underwrite whatever my mother needs to provide for the care of my stepfather and that she would only have to continue working if she wanted to.
I got to dream that I'd buy up controlling interest in Buzztime and end the "split" that has driven many of us to play the game my friends and I enjoy on only a very infrequent basis.
I got to dream of buying a really nice car. Instead, I poured $300 into my current vehicle to make it run better yesterday. I wouldn't have bought a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Probably just a BMW or Lexus. Something nice.
I got to dream of owning a home instead of paying rent. I almost bought a home once, but backed out at the last minute. I guess it was a good call. It's been almost 30 years since I was last in Mississippi and the entire block where I would have bought that house was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. I'd have owned a home and lived in it for less than a year.
In the end, someone's dreams came true. Someone in Florida will college $590.5 million. Congratulations to them.
I was at the local mall a little while ago, getting a haircut. When I went back to my car, there was a "card" on the windshield letting me know about a new massage place not far away. I have no interest in going there. I have no interest in 100% of the advertisements I find stuck on my car's windshield. So the Centrist Party is going to start a letter writing campaign to the members of the CA legislature with a suggestion. Create a small sticker that vehicle owners can put in the corner of their vehicle, near where the VIN number goes that indicates that the owner of the vehicle has no interest in having advertising fliers or cards put on their cars. Those who ignore the sticker and put such items on a vehicle will be fined. $1 for every violation for the first offense. $2 per violation for the second offense. $5 for every violation thereafter.
I watched "G.I. Jane" last night. Well, just the last hour or so. Maybe I'm just growing nitpicky in my old age, but there was a lot wrong with it that I'd ignored in the past. If you haven't seen it, skip down to "This Date in History" which will follow this, so as to avoid spoilers. The real world stuff that they ignore is mostly forgivable. There is no such thing as CRT Selection training or CRT. SEAL training is in Coronado, CA, not Florida. You don't get your "Budweiser" (the trident pin) until much later in the real training process. All that stuff is easily forgiven.
But there are some things that just don't make sense. KH-12 satellites do exist, but do they really have weapons grade plutonium on-board? That's awfully risky to shoot into orbit. And we know well in advance when the orbit of a satellite is decaying, so the mission to recover it would have been ready weeks before it came down. They wouldn't need to call up a training unit from a training exercise to take part. They'd have had assets and contingency plans in place. But I'll forgive even all of that. What's not forgivable is that they've had a number of instructors with them throughout the training portion of the film, and suddenly the entire team is alone with the Master Chief? I don't think so.
This Date in History:
On this date in 1499, Catherine of Aragon marries Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales by proxy. She is 13 and he is only 12.
On this date in 1536, Anne Boleyn is beheaded.
On this date in 1568, Queen Elizabeth I orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots. Contrary to popular rumor, it was not Queen Elizabeth II. She hasn't been Queen quite that long.
On this date in 1802, Napoleon forms the Legion of Honour.
On this date in 1828, President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law.
On this date in 1848, Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of 4 other states to the U.S. for $15 million.
On this date in 1922, the Young Pioneer organization is created in the Soviet Union.
On this date in 1950, Egypt announces the Suez Canal will be closed to Israeli ships and commerce.
On this date in 1962, the highlight of a birthday celebration for JFK at Madison Square Garden was Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday".
On this date in 1986, President Reagan signed the Firearm Owners Protection Act into law. Since that date, none of the approximately 175,000 fully automatic weapons in the U.S. that are licensed by the BATF have been used to commit a violent crime.
Famous Folk Born Today:
Johns Hopkins
Albert Fish (notorious serial killer)
David Munson (no relation to Roy Munson)
Ho Chi Minh
Malcolm X
Pol Pot
Jim Lehrer
Nancy Kwan
Nora Ephron (RIP, your talents are sorely missed)
Peter Mayhew
David Helfgott
Grace Jones
Joey Ramone
Phil Rudd
Bill Laimbeer
Nicole Brown Simpson
Kyle Eastwood
Kevin Garnett
Movie Quote of the day comes from "The Last Samurai":
Algren: You want me to kill Jappos, I'll kill Jappos.
Colonel Bagley: I'm not asking you to kill anybody.
Algren: You want me to kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, I'll kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos... Rebs, or Sioux, or Cheyenne... For 500 bucks a month I'll kill whoever you want. But keep one thing in mind: I'd happily kill you for free.
#2
Simon Graham: [narrating] They say Japan was made by a sword. They say the old gods dipped a coral blade into the ocean, and when they pulled it out four perfect drops fell back into the sea, and those drops became the islands of Japan. I say, Japan was made by a handful of brave men. Warriors, willing to give their lives for what seems to have become a forgotten word: honor.
posted by me at 3:50 PM
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