Friday, August 28, 2009

Luck Might Have Been a Lady

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one"

I couldn't help but notice. On the way to daycare every morning that huge yellow billboard taunts me with it's ever climbing figure. It is no problem ignoring it when it flashes a paltry number such as $15, or $33, or even $75.

But beyond that I start to take notice. Anything over $100 and wistful thoughts begin to take seed in the back of my mind. But in the back they stay. After all I am a practical guy. A father now, and not easily given to throwing perfectly good money into an obvious black hole. Plus, who has the time with a demanding toddler to make that extra stop at a convenience store or a separate line at the customer service counter at the local supermarket?

Not to mention that I have a reputation as a horrible gambler. Lady Luck doesn't find me attractive. I'm not her type of guy I suppose. She is the type who knows she's smokin hot, and merely bats an eyelash at me ever so often. So when I have traveled to places such as Las Vegas, I wisely limit myself to a small amount of cash that I am ok with spending for the entertainment of watching it quickly disappear.

But the other day the number, as it occasionally does, reached a level that could not be ignored by even the busiest of new parents. $252 million, it seems, was the number would push me to action. But not until the last minute. I realized on the night of the drawing that it was 6:49 PM and I vaguely remembered the drawing time to be 7:00 PM. I couldn't let the opportunity pass. Mrs. LIAYF and I dream enough about what we would do with such a wad of cash that if we didn't actually buy a ticket now, then we should cease all such fantastical notions.

"How much cash do you have on you Sweets?" I called to the kitchen. "$2" "Me too. I am headed up to the 7-11 to buy Lotto tickets". To actually make it in time (not sure how long the line would be), I sprinted down our stairs and to jumped into the car, tires letting off a slight peeling noise as I took off down our street. Thankfully the store was only a couple of blocks away and I was able to get there in enough time to slap my $4 down on the counter and tell the clerk to "Make it a lucky draw, friend."

I arrived home a couple of minutes later, finished eating dinner, went through Lukas' bedtime routine, and arrived back downstairs at my computer in excited anticipation. Who knows, this could be it. The answer, baby. However, as Mrs. LIAYF read off the numbers, the excitement was immediately gone. The wistful air sucked out of the room. Perhaps my allotted luck for the week was spent collecting a pretty cool mixed tape from SciFi Dad.

Out of the $4 ticket we had exactly one number. One. Yes, major letdown. But, on the brighter side, it seemed that no one else was lucky either. The number rose again to $333 million. Suddenly, I was feeling better about my chances.

But, in the havoc of the day I failed to realize that the drawing was Friday and not Saturday...and didn't stop to pick up any tickets. Easy go. Two other lucky people will share the life altering prize. Not that I had a shot anyway, since Mrs. LIAYF read somewhere that a person has more chance of getting struck on the head and killed by a falling meteor than of winning such a lotto prize.

Maybe I'll stay indoors today.

14 comments:

Laurie said...

Love this. I do the same thing, except I never actually buy the ticket. I just love to dream, have you seen those shows on TLC about lottery winners? Trust me ur better off not winning.

Lady Mama said...

The exact same scene was played out here a few weeks ago: us realizing there was a huge jackpot and speeding to the store for a ticket. I'm not sure we had even one number. I have the same luck with gambling - none! But still we can dream heh?

Mrs. M said...

Ha ha... But it's SO FUN to think about everything you could do with the money!! :-)

Eric said...

I did the same thing.. Except I only used a dollar. The way I see it, you're only going to get the numbers once.

I was even thinking about if my blogging empire would increase because everone would want to read the Millionaire Dad Blog..

Not this time.

Anonymous said...

I never play, but when there is an office pool, I make sure I am included. There is no way the office staff is winning without me being included. That would have been a horrible way to spend Monday morning. We each put in $10...and since I didn't get a call Friday evening, I am going to still be setting the alarm for zero-dark-thirty Monday morning.

Anonymous said...

Whenever my wife talks about wanting to do something, I always say you can as soon as we win the lottery. The catch being you have to be in it to win it, so that isn't likely. Besides, winning would totally alter my lifestyle :)

SciFi Dad said...

Tape?

Sorry dude, I thought you had a CD player... I didn't realize you'd have to dub it to magnetic media. My bad. ;)

Ron said...

In my old downtown loft, that billboard was right outside my window... I mean RIGHT outside looking me in the face every night as I watched TV. Didn't bring me any luck though.

Krystal said...

Dude....I never do those things...not because I don't believe in luck but 2 bucks is lunch money in my house!! LOL

Kori said...

I ALWAYS dream about it....but then I buy a ticket ($2 max)and forget I have it until months down the road....so it would do me little good anyway.

As for gambling, a am not good at it, because to me it is stressful. I don't sit there and plug my money in thinking, "okay, this is going to be the big one." Nope, nope, it's more like, "oh crap, there went a gallon of gas...diapers!" Thank God for nickel and penny machines; I am cheap like that.

WILLIAM said...

I Play every week. I dream every week. I lose every week.

Eric said...

we only play when it is over $200 million... sometimes not even then... however, we always talk about "when we win the lottery..."

ugh... one day... I will buy a ticket and WIN!
I will! I will win dagnabbit!

DCUrbanDad said...

If I win, I will give you some.

A Free Man said...

I think anyone who plays the lottery is by definition not a very good gambler. I means, as odds go, the lottery ain't good ones!

;)