As you may know already, the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries have been steadily growing to about a billion dollars each. The latest drawing was Tuesday evening for the 1.2 billion dollar Mega Millions prize, and as of the time I'm writing this, no winner has come forward. On Monday, a winnerless Powerball drawing was held, as well. That results in another shot at this massive wealth come Wednesday evening (tonight), now at 865 million dollars. 

First and foremost, can we agree that these figures are beyond excessive? Nobody actually needs that much wealth, in my opinion. Chat with me in person sometime and I'll really tell you how I feel about our lopsided economy. I think it's silly that more and more people become interested and take their shot at the lottery the higher the jackpot is. I can all but guarantee that 200 million would change your world no differently than 800 million. The kicker is that as more individuals play, your odds decrease. If you're selective about when you buy a ticket, wouldn't you want to do so when you have the best shot at taking home a grand prize? 

I could continue with my distaste for gambling and the whole notion of lottery, but I don't want this to be a negative or critical blog. Rather, I thought it would be fun to give a little rundown on what I would do with the money, if such an amount was bestowed upon me. 

To begin, I'm hooking my friends and family up. I would buy a huge amount of property and invite whoever wanted to live upon it in a separate and distant house to do so free of charge. That's largely so I don't have to travel far to see those I love and to know my surroundings are secure. Naturally, I'd build a massive house for myself and Mackenzie, completely custom and surrounded by woods and wildlife. There would be crazy trails throughout my property, a go-kart track, a hot tub, a skatepark, a lake, and all sorts of cool stuff outdoors. Inside; a pool, movie theater, recording studio, range, arcade, second skatepark, shark tank, sauna, isolation tank, VR chamber, and whatever else I could think up are in the plans. 

Dinner would be pretty much identical to that of Ricky Bobby's in Talladega nights with all the fixings from all my favorite places. I'd hire butlers to take care of the things I don't like to do, and I'd pay them handsomely. I'd also probably hire a chef, a health expert, a maid or two, and most importantly: a mechanic ...which leads me to the garage. 

I'd have a huge garage. In it, there would be hundreds of different machines. I'd have the finest examples of every powersport vehicle I've ever wanted. There would be vintage motorcycles aplenty and newer bikes too. Of course, my car collection would be insane. My dream is to find exact replicas of every car I've ever owned but in showroom condition. I'd do a full restoration and custom job on my El Camino, and the Blazer would grow into a gnarly off-road rig. I'd own my favorite movie cars like Bandit's Trans Am and The General Lee, and I'd drive all my cars like I stole them. 

In fact, the very first major purchase I'd make once the money hit my account would be a Dodge Viper. They're far from the most expensive car available, but something about them screams success. You're a bigshot in one of them, if you ask me. Those cars are like rocket ships, too! It's between that or a white Lamborghini Countach. 

Initially, I'd have no interest in investing or diversifying my portfolio. I don't want real estate or stocks or businesses. I could go for putting money into gold and other precious metals, though. I'd just buy a lot of material stuff, to be honest! 

When it comes to bettering the community, I'd love to have the financial ability to make major impacts on some of the problems we face. Homelessness is near the top of my list, and litter too. I'd give money to the parks and animal rescues especially. Having supported them through WQMX, NEOPAT has become an important cause for me too; I'd make sure our heroic veterans receive whatever they may need. I never want to see a kid go hungry, and providing scholarships would be great too. 

I feel as though this blog is turning into more of an essay at this point, so I'll go ahead and grind to a halt here. I'll keep dreaming, though. To leave off, how would you spend hundreds of millions of dollars if you were to win the lottery? 

Till next time! 

For Gambling Help: More Support - The Ohio Voluntary Exclusion Program (timeoutohio.com)