Do you have a lottery fantasy? Post it here...

[zolotiyeruki]

Assuming massive winnings, I would:


- Buy houses for my mom and MIL

Maybe too many people focus on winning the lottery themselves, and too few of us focus on raising children who--when they win the lottery--will buy us a place to live?

I dunno about you, but I try to raise the kind of children who are too smart to play the lottery :P

[pasadenafr]

- Probably give some money to a few close friends.

I feel like this would be one of the tougher minefields to navigate. Firm boundaries while still sharing good fortune.

There was that linked post somewhere with some good guidance. One was to decide how much, commit to it, but make very clear it’s a one time payment.

Yes, obviously. But I wouldn't expect it to be much of a problem with the specific friends I have in mind in this scenario, and the money would be limited to solve immediate, known material issues / goals.

Then again, I'm not playing the lottery, so hey, they can have all of my lottery fantasy money :)

[Sugaree]

I would clone my dog.  I know it's not the same, but he has been the best damn dog to ever walk the planet and he's only got a few days left.

[PDXTabs]

I would clone my dog.  I know it's not the same, but he has been the best damn dog to ever walk the planet and he's only got a few days left.

I'm very sorry to hear about your dog. I have a cat from my childhood that I wish I could have cloned.

[clarkfan1979]

No joke about the "skimpflation" at Disney world. Obtaining food requires planning.

Warning, Disney World Rant ahead...

Our family has been to WDW a few times over the last decade, and after our most recent trip (a few months ago), I started making a list of how WDW has lost its value.  Hiking ticket prices gets lots of attention, so it didn't happen a whole lot...until they introduced variable pricing, and now the old ticket price is the new minimum ticket price.  They didn't charge for parking.  Then it was $25/day unless you stayed at a Disney Resort.  Then it was $25/day even if you did stay at a Disney Resort.  Shorter park hours.  Less live entertainment.  Reduced ride capacity.  Laid off the Streetmosphere performers.  Less consistent trash pickup and bathroom cleaning.  The railroad at Magic Kingdom has been out of service for several years, and the parking lot trams were shut down for two years.  Star Wars Land opens with only one (later two) attractions, but two restaurants, two very expensive "experiences", and six gift shops.  Annual Pass prices have skyrocketed, but added blackout dates.  The deluge of special (extra cost) "dessert parties" and "character breakfasts."  The demise of the dining plan and other discounts.  And the cherry on top, Disney Genie and Lightning Lane, two blatant cash grabs.  Genie's predecessor, FastPass+, provided a greater benefit and was free.  Lightning Lane is a plain ol' "skip the line if you're rich" cash grab.

If we hadn't had the Disability Access Service, it would have been miserable.  We wait several years between visits, and DS, who qualifies for the DAS, graduates next year.  Even DW, who absolutely loves WDW, freely admitted that we will likely never go again as a family, because the value simply isn't there any more.  And that's after you consider that, thanks to packing our own food, heavily discounted tickets, driving ourselves, and a bargain of an Airbnb, we spent probably 50% less than the typical visitor does.  In other words, we stacked the deck very heavily in our favor, and it still came out marginal.

The sad thing is that the skimpflation doesn't seem to be hitting Disney's bottom line.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Depending on the day and the crowd level, between 30 and 50% of park visitors are ponying up the $16/day/person for Genie, and/or the $7-20/person/ride Lightning Lane passes.

Thanks for this description. It is very on topic for my family. We have been considering going to Disney next year for the second time as a family. I've heard things like what you've said but never so concisely put and only from news article type things rather than someone who just went personally. I realize Disney is pretty solidly anti-mustachian, but I'm fine with going even with that.......but it seems it's really tipped over into the not worth it category.

Yeah, I wish I could wave my magic wand and give people a chance to experience WDW the way it was 10 years ago.  IMO, Disney really needs a "fifth gate" (i.e. a fifth theme park) in Florida, or a whole new resort in, say, Texas.  The crowds are just too much, even in slow times.  But such an undertaking would likely be way more expensive than they'd be willing to risk without a partner, as they've done in other countries.  And besides, if they're raking in cash hand over fist by jacking up prices and cutting costs, why bother with a new park?

@zolotiyeruki

Could you share your days that you visited the parks, so we can avoid those dates in the future? I agree that the big crowds and lines can ruin the entire experience.

I had an annual pass to WDW in 2012-2015. We had pretty good luck avoiding crowds. anytime in October, early November (before Thanksgiving), late January, anytime in February or April. You could also avoid crowds in September, but we never did. September is too hot and humid for me to enjoy myself. I would do a water park in September, but my wife wasn't into it.

[zolotiyeruki]

It was the second and third weeks of November, but there isn't really a sloe season any more, except for maybe September. We had anticipated lower crowds, since Halloween is typically busier and international travel had been restricted, and we were expecting that many of the 50th anniversary crowds would have already passed through. Unfortunately, international travel opened up just before we got there, and word got out that the parks had been lightly attended in October, so it ended up being crazy.  Historically, November has been lighter, as has Jan-feb, bit that HSS not been true now for a few years.

If you last went to the parks in 2015, be aware that the experience today is much, much different (worse) today than it was back then.

[Villanelle]

No joke about the "skimpflation" at Disney world. Obtaining food requires planning.

Warning, Disney World Rant ahead...

Our family has been to WDW a few times over the last decade, and after our most recent trip (a few months ago), I started making a list of how WDW has lost its value.  Hiking ticket prices gets lots of attention, so it didn't happen a whole lot...until they introduced variable pricing, and now the old ticket price is the new minimum ticket price.  They didn't charge for parking.  Then it was $25/day unless you stayed at a Disney Resort.  Then it was $25/day even if you did stay at a Disney Resort.  Shorter park hours.  Less live entertainment.  Reduced ride capacity.  Laid off the Streetmosphere performers.  Less consistent trash pickup and bathroom cleaning.  The railroad at Magic Kingdom has been out of service for several years, and the parking lot trams were shut down for two years.  Star Wars Land opens with only one (later two) attractions, but two restaurants, two very expensive "experiences", and six gift shops.  Annual Pass prices have skyrocketed, but added blackout dates.  The deluge of special (extra cost) "dessert parties" and "character breakfasts."  The demise of the dining plan and other discounts.  And the cherry on top, Disney Genie and Lightning Lane, two blatant cash grabs.  Genie's predecessor, FastPass+, provided a greater benefit and was free.  Lightning Lane is a plain ol' "skip the line if you're rich" cash grab.

If we hadn't had the Disability Access Service, it would have been miserable.  We wait several years between visits, and DS, who qualifies for the DAS, graduates next year.  Even DW, who absolutely loves WDW, freely admitted that we will likely never go again as a family, because the value simply isn't there any more.  And that's after you consider that, thanks to packing our own food, heavily discounted tickets, driving ourselves, and a bargain of an Airbnb, we spent probably 50% less than the typical visitor does.  In other words, we stacked the deck very heavily in our favor, and it still came out marginal.

The sad thing is that the skimpflation doesn't seem to be hitting Disney's bottom line.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Depending on the day and the crowd level, between 30 and 50% of park visitors are ponying up the $16/day/person for Genie, and/or the $7-20/person/ride Lightning Lane passes.

Thanks for this description. It is very on topic for my family. We have been considering going to Disney next year for the second time as a family. I've heard things like what you've said but never so concisely put and only from news article type things rather than someone who just went personally. I realize Disney is pretty solidly anti-mustachian, but I'm fine with going even with that.......but it seems it's really tipped over into the not worth it category.

Yeah, I wish I could wave my magic wand and give people a chance to experience WDW the way it was 10 years ago.  IMO, Disney really needs a "fifth gate" (i.e. a fifth theme park) in Florida, or a whole new resort in, say, Texas.  The crowds are just too much, even in slow times.  But such an undertaking would likely be way more expensive than they'd be willing to risk without a partner, as they've done in other countries.  And besides, if they're raking in cash hand over fist by jacking up prices and cutting costs, why bother with a new park?

@zolotiyeruki

Could you share your days that you visited the parks, so we can avoid those dates in the future? I agree that the big crowds and lines can ruin the entire experience.

I had an annual pass to WDW in 2012-2015. We had pretty good luck avoiding crowds. anytime in October, early November (before Thanksgiving), late January, anytime in February or April. You could also avoid crowds in September, but we never did. September is too hot and humid for me to enjoy myself. I would do a water park in September, but my wife wasn't into it.

I'm no longer familiar with how annual passes work, but it used to be that you could pretty reliably predict crowd size by looking at black out dates for the passes.  If Disney won't allow you to use your pass, it is because they expect a lot of other, paying customers.  So the best days are those that are allowed on the cheapest annual passes, and the worst days are those that are allowed on even the most expensive passes, or on no passes at all. 

Combine that with information about which months are generally lightest and you can get a pretty good sense of things.

I was at Disney (FL) juuust before Covid.  Like, our last couple of days I was hearing the news and wondering "should I be here?".  (Late Feb 2020).  I don't see myself going back any time soon, even though, prior to that, DH and I had talked about doing a trip. (I'd gone, without DH to meet some international friends who were doing a Disney trip, and I stayed in a room with my sister and BIL, who have the Disney Vacation Club membership.)  It has gotten simultaneously more expensive and less convenient (and I'm sure less enjoyable because of that).  Unlike what I've read about Universal Studios which suggests they are trying to make more money by improving and adding to the experience, Disney is trying to squeeze more money out of the same resources by monetizing more things.  Universal  is adding to the offerings and Disney is just putting more and more behind a paywall. 

Even our early 2020 trip felt more stressful than previous Disney experiences.  Having to book Fast Passes ahead of time and commit to being at X ride at 1230 and Y ride at 400p already made it feel more stressful.  My disneyphile sister did all the planning and booking, but it was still so much more of a process than I was used to.  (My experience was with Disneyland and the parks in Tokyo, where you just get Fastpasses when you arrive at the park.)  And now the pre-planning is even more intense, and far more expensive.  I can stay for fairly inexpensively and get discounted military tickets, but there is just no longer a draw. 

[zolotiyeruki]

Just to add some more fuel to the "Disney World isn't worth it any more" fire:  Disney just announced price hikes for multi-day passes, by a modest 2-3%.  Drip, drip, drip...

[Turtle]

There would be a certain amount of helping the oldest and youngest generations of the spouses and my families were a crazy large lottery win to occur.

Beyond that, the remainder would likely center around preserving wild / undeveloped land.   

[Missy B]

My lottery fantasy is twofold.
I do not know how much money it would take.

#1. Start a business manufacturing highly durable washer and dryers meant to be fixable by the owner or any tool-oriented person, with parts readily available, and which can be readily dissembled at life end for recycling. Set up a manufacturing plant in BC or Alberta to make them. Destroy crooked home appliance market by providing a product that is designed to last instead of breaking down.

#2 start a business that does high-end woodworking on BC wood (luthiers, others) the supports craft and creativity in its staff, possibly including company housing.

[JoePublic3.14]

My lottery fantasy is twofold.
I do not know how much money it would take.

#1. Start a business manufacturing highly durable washer and dryers meant to be fixable by the owner or any tool-oriented person, with parts readily available, and which can be readily dissembled at life end for recycling. Set up a manufacturing plant in BC or Alberta to make them. Destroy crooked home appliance market by providing a product that is designed to last instead of breaking down.

Start a lottery ticket gofundme….I’d toss a couple bucks to help this fantasy come true!

[Missy B]

My lottery fantasy is twofold.
I do not know how much money it would take.

#1. Start a business manufacturing highly durable washer and dryers meant to be fixable by the owner or any tool-oriented person, with parts readily available, and which can be readily dissembled at life end for recycling. Set up a manufacturing plant in BC or Alberta to make them. Destroy crooked home appliance market by providing a product that is designed to last instead of breaking down.

Start a lottery ticket gofundme….I’d toss a couple bucks to help this fantasy come true!

I wish I knew how many millions this would cost. Probably it would be cheaper to contract out the metal parts.
If that got going well, the next project would be microwaves that don't beep.

[Askel]

#1. Start a business manufacturing highly durable washer and dryers meant to be fixable by the owner or any tool-oriented person, with parts readily available, and which can be readily dissembled at life end for recycling. Set up a manufacturing plant in BC or Alberta to make them. Destroy crooked home appliance market by providing a product that is designed to last instead of breaking down.

Some dreams are just too beautiful to come true.

Me, on the other hand- I give myself 18 months tops after a substantial lotto win before I make headlines after being arrested for some stupid altercation at a seedy bar. They'll find guns, drugs, and a seriously questionable amount of cash in my vehicle.  I will look like an utter trainwreck in my mug shot.  Truly, I will have lived the dream and burned ever so brightly if only for a few brief moments.   

[talltexan]

#1. Start a business manufacturing highly durable washer and dryers meant to be fixable by the owner or any tool-oriented person, with parts readily available, and which can be readily dissembled at life end for recycling. Set up a manufacturing plant in BC or Alberta to make them. Destroy crooked home appliance market by providing a product that is designed to last instead of breaking down.

Some dreams are just too beautiful to come true.

Me, on the other hand- I give myself 18 months tops after a substantial lotto win before I make headlines after being arrested for some stupid altercation at a seedy bar. They'll find guns, drugs, and a seriously questionable amount of cash in my vehicle.  I will look like an utter trainwreck in my mug shot.  Truly, I will have lived the dream and burned ever so brightly if only for a few brief moments.   

This is why if I ever win, I'll take the annual payments, NOT the lump sum. Then I can have this experience each year.

[dividend]

Pay off our siblings'  houses (buy a house for in one case). 
Remodel our house to be 100% perfect for us.  It's already in the perfect location and I can't imagine needing a larger primary residence. 
Then we'd buy one of the Park Lane penthouses in Honolulu.  And let our family and friends use it any time we weren't there.
Indulge my love of designer clothes/shoes.   
Travel spontaneously and see things that require money and/or where money allows flexibility, authentic experiences, and safety. 
Mostly the fantasy is being able to do all the things we want, without worrying about cost or time constraints.  We do scaled down versions of these things already - help our siblings, improve the house, vacation in Hawaii, buy nice clothes with an occasional pair of designer shoes, budget for the more exotic trips, etc. 

[SpeedReader]

Years ago when I had a job I hated, there was a Mega-Millions billboard I drove past every workday.  I had a lot of lottery fantasies then, mostly about being able to quit working.  Now that I'm retired, I suppose my biggest fantasy for myself is never having to cook again.  Maybe a personal chef, and a lengthy vacation in Europe.

If we won truly stupendous amounts, I'd like to pay off (or buy) homes for family and certain friends, donate to the community theater and other charities, and set my best friend's disabled son up with a home and trust fund to pay caregivers for life.

[talltexan]

I check in on the "mortgage payoff" thread periodically, and I haven't yet seen one person over there admit that their mortgage was paid off by a friend or relative who won the lottery.

[JLee]

Lately I've had the itch to open a gin bar / cat cafe / hangout space that's open a couple hours a week.

Given that's not financially feasible otherwise, I might need to find the winning ticket on a sidewalk first.

[ChickenStash]

It's been discussed and mostly agreed among my closer friends that if any of us wins a big lottery payday we agree to start a business that combines powersports (ATVs, snowmobiles, etc.), lawn equipment, and a pizzeria. We'd pay the other friends plus a couple of employees very well to be around for the off chance we actually sell anything, but it would mainly be someplace to BS, eat good food, and "demo" fun toys.

[shureShote]

I check in on the "mortgage payoff" thread periodically, and I haven't yet seen one person over there admit that their mortgage was paid off by a friend or relative who won the lottery.

First rule of mortgage payoff is…

I’ve been fairly nomadic over the last thirty years, so it would be easy to just pack up again and head to an area of the country where it would be (might be) somewhat unlikely to be discovered. I would really like to facilitate various educational programs. Not sure exactly what, but a motivated person with a thick wallet should be able to figure out some things to establish that will be impactful across all phases of lower education.

Another fantasy would be to be able to improve skills such as plumbing and carpentry since I would be comfortable “just trying” knowing the cost to fix my screw ups would not stress me out like it does now.

[2sk22]

I read through this whole thread with some interest. In our household, our savings have accumulated to about $6M. We did this slowly over a period of thirty years - almost all of it due to index fund investments.

According to this lottery payout calculator http://www.lottocalculator.com/Default.aspx, this amount is approximately equivalent to the lump sum settlement from a lottery win of $13M.  It is interesting to consider how different a lottery win feels compared to steady accumulation over a long period of time:

- We have lived in the same house for over 25 years. There is no mortgage on the house and we have slowly fixed it up over the years, as money became available. Never took a home equity loan. Also, we don’t have a second home.
- We haven’t bought expensive cars. My big splurge last year was to buy a Honda CR-V to replace my 11 year old Prius that I gave to my older daughter who needed a reliable car at college.
- The one true luxury we were able to afford was to allow our kids to apply to whatever college they wanted regardless of cost. But as it happens, both kids chose reasonably priced state schools.
- We do give a lot of money to charities

If the money had come all at once, I am sure it would have been an entirely different experience. Any way, as things stand, I don’t really have a lottery fantasy :-)

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

I read through this whole thread with some interest. In our household, our savings have accumulated to about $6M. We did this slowly over a period of thirty years - almost all of it due to index fund investments.

According to this lottery payout calculator http://www.lottocalculator.com/Default.aspx, this amount is approximately equivalent to the lump sum settlement from a lottery win of $13M.  It is interesting to consider how different a lottery win feels compared to steady accumulation over a long period of time:

- We have lived in the same house for over 25 years. There is no mortgage on the house and we have slowly fixed it up over the years, as money became available. Never took a home equity loan. Also, we don’t have a second home.
- We haven’t bought expensive cars. My big splurge last year was to buy a Honda CR-V to replace my 11 year old Prius that I gave to my older daughter who needed a reliable car at college.
- The one true luxury we were able to afford was to allow our kids to apply to whatever college they wanted regardless of cost. But as it happens, both kids chose reasonably priced state schools.
- We do give a lot of money to charities

If the money had come all at once, I am sure it would have been an entirely different experience. Any way, as things stand, I don’t really have a lottery fantasy :-)

This is an interesting point. I'd like to think that I would have the mindset to not blow a lottery winning even at 18, and I give myself a solid 75% chance that it's true. However, I am extremely confident that now I would be fine. I wonder if my estimation at 18 is true and how much the process actually changes us MMM'rs.

[Poundwise]

I have met a woman who said she lost the money from the sale of the house she inherited from her parents because she bought so many scratch-off tickets.

New York State is in for a world of pain because several prominent Democrats (and you know me, I'm a proud moderate Dem) have sold out to the gaming lobby and enabled mobile sports betting in the state and casinos in NYC.  The husband of our new Governor is in fact general counsel and senior vice president of Delaware North, a gaming and hospitality company. https://www.syracuse.com/news/2022/03/as-mobile-sports-wagering-explodes-in-ny-bet-on-this-a-spike-in-problem-gambling.html

[getsorted]

Lately I've had the itch to open a gin bar / cat cafe / hangout space that's open a couple hours a week.

Given that's not financially feasible otherwise, I might need to find the winning ticket on a sidewalk first.

Gin AND cats? Well, there goes my lottery money.

[FIRE Artist]

Do you have a Lottery fantasy?

I think, if we're honest, we're all animalistic enough to be curious about how it feels to stone someone to death.
But I'd rather pick the person myself. Amirite?  Using a lottery just seems ... impersonal.

WTF.

References: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery

Apparently, a popular reading in US schools.
 I remember this story from about 1977 ??7th grade???

Hmmm.

I've never heard of the book 'The Lottery' but read the comment above and was like, "Yeah . . . I guess we are all curious about that!"

:P

This was junior high reading in New Brunswick back in the 80’s.  I think it was a short story if I remember correctly. 

[ATtiny85]

Came up with a fantasy this morning. My laptop is from around 2009 and I run a dual boot situation with Win10 and Ubuntu. I spend 90% of my time on the Ubuntu side, but have a couple legacy programs on Windows that I need now and again. And of course there is always an update that needs to be installed when I select Windows in the boot screen, which stalls me out for way too long. And there are also software updates on the Ubuntu side all the time. So my fantasy is to pay top dollar to some “system updater” whose only responsibility is to maintain my laptop. I’d set up a system that alerts them I am sleeping each night, and they reach in through a secret portal in the wall of my lab, and perform whatever tasks are needed so when I walk in in the morning I can boot to either side and be confident I can get right to my “important” tasks.

Not as bad as hiring someone to come in and loosen and neatly arrange the laces on my running shoes, which also came to mind today.

[GuitarStv]

Came up with a fantasy this morning. My laptop is from around 2009 and I run a dual boot situation with Win10 and Ubuntu. I spend 90% of my time on the Ubuntu side, but have a couple legacy programs on Windows that I need now and again. And of course there is always an update that needs to be installed when I select Windows in the boot screen, which stalls me out for way too long. And there are also software updates on the Ubuntu side all the time. So my fantasy is to pay top dollar to some “system updater” whose only responsibility is to maintain my laptop. I’d set up a system that alerts them I am sleeping each night, and they reach in through a secret portal in the wall of my lab, and perform whatever tasks are needed so when I walk in in the morning I can boot to either side and be confident I can get right to my “important” tasks.

Not as bad as hiring someone to come in and loosen and neatly arrange the laces on my running shoes, which also came to mind today.

In my experience Windows updates are slow because of disk access.  I recently upgraded my window PC . . . and am now using an NVMe M.2 drive running off the PCIe bus.  It's ridiculously faster than the IDE drives I was previously using, and a fair bit faster than most SATA SSDs.  Besides a quick boot time (I'm getting into windows 11 within 20 seconds of pressing the power button) updates never take more than a minute.

[SunnyDays]

My fantasy is a private island somewhere tropical with a private plane to get me there.  That is all.

[lifeisshort123]

I've got a pretty good life.  If I won a small/medium size lottery, I would probably use it entirely to pay off mortgage, increase college funds, invest the remainder, etc.  Boring stuff, maybe some small home remodels, etc.

If I won a large jackpot, I would probably "upgrade" my home, help my family with some needs, maybe replace one or two of our cars (which are 9-10 years old), and would probably scale back or quit working.  I'd then devote much of the wealth and my time to philanthropic endeavors to various causes that interest me about healthcare insecurity, the arts, the church, etc.

[talltexan]

The first time I read this, I thought it said, "...maybe replace 1-2 of our cats."

Those critters better start being nice to you!

[JLee]

well I have a new one now.

I want to buy a castle and make an epic event space.

[GuitarStv]

well I have a new one now.

I want to buy a castle and make an epic event space.

Decorative, non-functional drawbridge?  That's a pass from me.

[JLee]

well I have a new one now.

I want to buy a castle and make an epic event space.

Decorative, non-functional drawbridge?  That's a pass from me.

I am not convinced it's non-functional. There's a significant gap between the bridge and the railings.

[GuitarStv]

well I have a new one now.

I want to buy a castle and make an epic event space.

Decorative, non-functional drawbridge?  That's a pass from me.

I am not convinced it's non-functional. There's a significant gap between the bridge and the railings.

Even if the wooden part raises, invaders to the castle could simply use the concrete railings to either side of the bridge (which certainly don't raise) to cross the gap and then start sapping the gate.

[JLee]

well I have a new one now.

I want to buy a castle and make an epic event space.

Decorative, non-functional drawbridge?  That's a pass from me.

I am not convinced it's non-functional. There's a significant gap between the bridge and the railings.

Even if the wooden part raises, invaders to the castle could simply use the concrete railings to either side of the bridge (which certainly don't raise) to cross the gap and then start sapping the gate.

This is true, but you could stab them through the lowered portcullis! (I actually found a video of it, that def works)

[Sugaree]

A pack of dogs.  Specifically four Golden Retrievers named Dorothy, Blanche, Sofia, and Rose.  Maybe a Dane or two. 

[clarkfan1979]

Not a lottery fantasy, but this is probably the most ridiculous thing that I am seriously considering. At some point, I will put solar panels on my vacation/rental house in Hawaii. Once that is done, I'm seriously considering converting the pantry into a "walk-in" refrigerator. I would then replace the current refrigerator with a stand-up freezer only.

[ATtiny85]

While out running this morning I came up with one. We live in a neighborhood that has an elementary school sort of diagonal from us across a couple blocks. The school is at the end of the road for now, so all traffic has to either come by our house or on the road to our south. Hard to describe without my whiteboard...

The neighborhood is still being built, so there is also non-stop construction traffic. As I watched the various vehicles zoom at a high rate of speed, with most of them with their noses buried in a phone I came up with my fantasy. I would hire a fleet of vehicles and drivers and have them make laps (in both directions) at the speed limit. Have just enough space between them that people can still make it through, but no chance for passing. Maybe even get custom bumper stickers to explain why. "If you drove the speed limit and watched the road you'd be to school by now."

I would have to figure out how to not have a huge environmental impact...maybe buy a couple carbon credit trees like all the cool companies do.

Not exactly putting my winnings to good use, but when I am running I tend to have mostly pessimistic thoughts.

[GuitarStv]

While out running this morning I came up with one. We live in a neighborhood that has an elementary school sort of diagonal from us across a couple blocks. The school is at the end of the road for now, so all traffic has to either come by our house or on the road to our south. Hard to describe without my whiteboard...

The neighborhood is still being built, so there is also non-stop construction traffic. As I watched the various vehicles zoom at a high rate of speed, with most of them with their noses buried in a phone I came up with my fantasy. I would hire a fleet of vehicles and drivers and have them make laps (in both directions) at the speed limit. Have just enough space between them that people can still make it through, but no chance for passing. Maybe even get custom bumper stickers to explain why. "If you drove the speed limit and watched the road you'd be to school by now."

I would have to figure out how to not have a huge environmental impact...maybe buy a couple carbon credit trees like all the cool companies do.

Not exactly putting my winnings to good use, but when I am running I tend to have mostly pessimistic thoughts.

I've fantasized about installing speed bumps in the middle of the night at certain locations for similar reasons.  :P

[Taran Wanderer]

I've fantasized about installing speed bumps in the middle of the night at certain locations for similar reasons.  :P

Yes!!!

[DeniseNJ]

I was thinking I'd like to put all of Puerto Rico on solar power with buried wires and a desalination plant.  It seems so dumb not to make use of the only resources they have, water and sun.  Instead, they limit water and power to like every other day when they get in trouble.  And the hurricanes wipe out the already fragile electrical grid.  Even without hurricanes those ppl spend a lot of time rationing water and power, which just seems absurd when they have all the sun and water they could ever need.

[iris lily]

I don’t think I already posted this but it’s hard to know in this long thread and I’m not gonna go back and read it.

I was thinking about what in the world I would do with one of those mega million lottery wins. What the hell. I wouldn’t even want to have to deal with that. All of the Do gooder organizations I give money to would be overwhelmed with millions. Honestly millions wouldn’t solve the problems that bother me most with unhoused pets, anyway. After giving out a few million here and there, I would be at a loss what to do with the rest of it.

I don’t give to  organizations for humans, so that’s out.

But then it occurred to me when I asked myself Iris, what is it that you like? And the answer is of course “Old buildings.”

I would get myself on the board or a committee of UNESCO world protected sites and I would throw all my excess money at them. I would give millions to Notre Dame  restoration and etc. That would eat up the money fast.

[BDWW]

While out running this morning I came up with one. We live in a neighborhood that has an elementary school sort of diagonal from us across a couple blocks. The school is at the end of the road for now, so all traffic has to either come by our house or on the road to our south. Hard to describe without my whiteboard...

The neighborhood is still being built, so there is also non-stop construction traffic. As I watched the various vehicles zoom at a high rate of speed, with most of them with their noses buried in a phone I came up with my fantasy. I would hire a fleet of vehicles and drivers and have them make laps (in both directions) at the speed limit. Have just enough space between them that people can still make it through, but no chance for passing. Maybe even get custom bumper stickers to explain why. "If you drove the speed limit and watched the road you'd be to school by now."

I would have to figure out how to not have a huge environmental impact...maybe buy a couple carbon credit trees like all the cool companies do.

Not exactly putting my winnings to good use, but when I am running I tend to have mostly pessimistic thoughts.

My large lottery fantasy would be to set up a grant system for my county and city governments. Free money to add/rebuild infrastructure if it was built to maximize pedestrian/noncar safety.  e.g. add separated bike lanes, elevate crosswalks, road diets, etc.   

[talltexan]

The same state and local governments that get the half of all ticket sales that aren't paid out as prizes?

[GuitarStv]

While out running this morning I came up with one. We live in a neighborhood that has an elementary school sort of diagonal from us across a couple blocks. The school is at the end of the road for now, so all traffic has to either come by our house or on the road to our south. Hard to describe without my whiteboard...

The neighborhood is still being built, so there is also non-stop construction traffic. As I watched the various vehicles zoom at a high rate of speed, with most of them with their noses buried in a phone I came up with my fantasy. I would hire a fleet of vehicles and drivers and have them make laps (in both directions) at the speed limit. Have just enough space between them that people can still make it through, but no chance for passing. Maybe even get custom bumper stickers to explain why. "If you drove the speed limit and watched the road you'd be to school by now."

I would have to figure out how to not have a huge environmental impact...maybe buy a couple carbon credit trees like all the cool companies do.

Not exactly putting my winnings to good use, but when I am running I tend to have mostly pessimistic thoughts.

My large lottery fantasy would be to set up a grant system for my county and city governments. Free money to add/rebuild infrastructure if it was built to maximize pedestrian/noncar safety.  e.g. add separated bike lanes, elevate crosswalks, road diets, etc.

Do you mean elevated crosswalks like this:


or like this:


I'm heavily in favour of the latter, but hate the former.

[bacchi]

Using the latest mega-millions lottery $(~700M USD) amount, I'd start a development company that would build out a true carless subdivision/town. It would draw inspiration from the few towns around the world (some built fairly recently via a public-private partnership) that allow cars but only parked on the outskirts. Pontevedra is one example.

Like others, I'd also buy and restore a castle. With a real drawbridge and moat.

[BDWW]

Do you mean elevated crosswalks like this:


or like this:


I'm heavily in favour of the latter, but hate the former.

Definitely the latter. I would call the former pedestrian bridges, not crosswalks.

Some pedestrian bridges are ok, others are peak car-insanity.

[Taran Wanderer]

There is a little hamlet near me that is at the intersection of two significant highways (these are two-lane roads, so think stop sign, not freeway interchange). It’s a complete dump. Gross buildings. Junk in people’s yards. Just gross. Yet it has two significant government buildings, a great fishing stream, easy recreation access, and a decent setting. I’d like to buy it, level it, and rebuild it into a place where people want to live and visit, making it a man incredible welcome to our area. 

[SpeedReader]

This post made me think.  The main reason I ever fantasized about winning the lottery was to be able to quit my job.  Now that I'm retired, there isn't much that a windfall would change unless it was HUGE.  I'm talking Alzheimers-Research-Grant huge here. 

[Tyson]

Using the latest mega-millions lottery $(~700M USD) amount, I'd start a development company that would build out a true carless subdivision/town. It would draw inspiration from the few towns around the world (some built fairly recently via a public-private partnership) that allow cars but only parked on the outskirts. Pontevedra is one example.

Like others, I'd also buy and restore a castle. With a real drawbridge and moat.

Someone beat you to it:

https://culdesac.com/