$365M Powerball winner(s) in my hometown

[Ted Eschliman]

No truth to the rumor, Scott... Wasn't me.
No spontaneous Loar purchases in my future.

[mikeyes]

Couldn't you nearly buy all the Loars in existence with that much money? <G>

Then all the Rigels, I'm sure Peter Mix would not object <G> Then all the LaBella strings. I could go on, but they you'd have to shoot me.

[J. Mark Lane]

When I was in a Ph.D. program in economics, many years ago, my dissertation supervisor (Robert Heilbroner) had a thing he used to say. He said that the American dream is dead. The quaint old notion that you can work hard and make it to the top just doesn't hold any more, in this highly structured corporate economy. But the American dream is so much a part of the psyche of this country, it had to have a stand-in. And that stand-in has become the lottery. Having nothing to do with the individuals, nothing to do with their industriousness, or cleverness, or hard work...it's all about sheer luck. But if you "get lucky," you can indeed "make it" to the top.

I strongly dislike lotteries (ok, call me a sourpuss). I find the whole spectre quite sad, actually. It speaks to a loss, and to a disconnect between the ideology of America and the reality that most Americans live. I wish there were some way to get back to the notion that we reap what we sow. But I don't think we do, really.

Still, despite all that... I WISH I HAD BOUGHT THAT DAMN TICKET!

[RichieK]

I think that I had that guy Heilbroner as a prof. at Emory university in the mid 1970's!
He didn't know much about cross-picking.

[ronlane3]

I bought tickets, but unfortunately for me I didn't hit any of them. Of course, I would have made Scott's day with donation to keep this site up and running for a while. AFTER, I purchased a few mandolins of course.

[thekingprawn]

I would end up $365 billion in debt if I won it. Tis grace that I'm poor.

[ShaneJ]

The fact that most lottery winners are broke within 5 years seems to give credence to the old saying that if all the money in the world were taken and divided up equally between everyone in the world, within 5 years it would pretty much be back where it started.

BTW, I think the American dream is still alive and well (no thanks to the predatory lotteries). Hard work, perseverence, education, and a little risk-taking can still pay off. Not always, of course. You don't always get what you "deserve", but you sure increase your odds by working your butt off rather than taking up valuable space and time in the checkout line of the convenience store buying another scratch off ticket!

[Doug Edwards]

I witnessed a guy buy $500 in tickets once. A few days later the clerk said he'd won $6. It's a sad thing to see folks risk their hard earned money to chase a desperate dream.

I am hardly tempted to buy a ticket anymore, but often dream what if. I'd have a heck of a music room.

[Charlie Derrington]

I always said if I were to win the lottery, I'd just play bluegrass music until the money was all gone.

Charlie

[sunburst]

I always say I'll keep building mandolins 'til the money runs out...

[Greenmando]

A friend of mine won 6 million back in 1988. He had diabetes and could not buy health insurance at any cost. So he kept working. It was so funny working with him, I always set him up. I would wonder in front of a lot of people what I would do if I won the lotto. Other carpenters said they would drop their bags where they stood if they won.

Greg bought himself a nice ranch in Idaho, he got a new/used spleen and pancreas off the carpenters union insurance. No more diabetes.

[JEStanek]

Isn't this someones sig line? Money doesn't buy happiness, those with 10 million dollars aren't any happier than those with 8 million.

I bet you still couldn't buy all of the Loars with that money.

Jamie

[Tom C]

With a Grandprize of 365,000,000 (177M take home lump sum)and odds of winning at 146,107,962, it's not a bad bet.

Most times lotto is just a bad bet. When playing the 3 digit thing. Your odds are 1:1000 but you only win $500 on a $1 bet. At least if you go to Atlantic City or Vegas you will get the $1000 return.

[LiftedUp]

To be honest, I wouldn't want all that money. That's WAYY to much for any one person to handle... and money changes people; if not the moneyholder, at least others around them. To me, my dreams aren't about riches and possessions. I dream of working hard and living in a log home we've built in the country, growing old with my wife and raising good kids in a christian home. Money would stand in the way of my dreams.
That being said, were I to come across any large amounts of money in my life, I would likely pay for my dream home, put away for education for children I may have, pay off my parents' debt, and give the rest away to charities.

[arbarnhart]

We are getting the lottery here in NC soon. I have mixed emotions. I have also witnessed people who were out of control when I lived in Colorado. I never bought more than a couple of tickets at a time, usually just one and I probably only did it five times a year. I don't consider it gambling; I just pay a spare dollar for a really good day dream. Some folks dream too much and got through all the spare dollars and get into the butter and egg money though.

[Bill Van Liere]

I have worked hard all my life and now have everyting I want. More instruments than I can regularly play. The only thing the lottery would gain me is time away from work, but I like my job. My wife and I occationally purchase a ticket and play "We won the lottery". This game helped me see what to work for in my life. If you really want a nice mandolin try to save, I'm talking years here, for it. $100 a month saved for about three years can get a you pretty darn good mandolin these days. If you dream of a Brentrup, or whatever, save and buy it.

[Bill Van Liere]

Upon reviewing my message I will purchase yet another ticket, so if I win I will donate to the Cafe a sum to help create a spell check option.

[Tom C]

I only buy when it's a good bet. I bought 20 to knock the odds down to
1:7,305,398 I still lost. Oh well Mega millions is up to approx 150M. Come on baby. Daddy needs a Loar. Or a house. Ok a nice vacation. A car? I'll settle for the pair of shoes.

[bluegrassjack2]

I keep complaining to the wife that i never win anything at this lottery thing, then she reminds me that I have to buy one of those ticket things first. Always problems.

[Mark Walker]

Charlie Derrington's comment reminded me of someone (I think it was Ronnie Bowman) who once said, "If you want to get a million dollars playing bluegrass, it's easy. Start out with two million, play bluegrass for a few years and then you'll have a million dollars."

[PlayerOf8]

I missed it by 6 numbers

G

[arbarnhart]

Some interesting info at CBS about odds, fate of past winners and whatnot:

http://cbsnews.com/htdocs/lottery/framesource.html

[Greg H.]

Well. . . .$20,000,000 invested with 5% interest would give you #$1,000,000 a year for the rest of your life. So, if you win $177M that seems like a great way to do some good for a lot of people supporting any and all charitable causes you feel strongly about and still live VERY comfortably (leaving your kids to do the same after you). That's what I'd like to think I'd do should I win (but who knows what might happen once the money was in my my greedy little paws. . . .).

[Tim]

Considering how many lotteries there are - here in virginia I have the opportunity to buy into four drawings per week - the four hard luck stories don't seem that significant. #The problem is that the hundreds of people who've won and successfully manage their winnings are news.

I do agree with the various messages that the problems come when the lottery tickets are bought out of the "bread and butter" money instead of out of the "entertainment" money.

From a governmental view, lotteries are usually sold as benefiting schools or parks or some hard-to-oppose segment of government spending. #But, unless the pre-lottery funding of these programs is maintained and the lottery proceeds are an add-on, it is just a shell game.

For mandolin content: #I wouldn't be so inclined to buy expensive mandolins. #I'd quit my job and use the extra time with practice and lessons.

[sgarrity]

I'd invest a chunk and live of the interest. The rest I'd use to help my family and friends as well as having one heck of a mandolin collection. A Loar and a Fern would be my first purchases followed by ordering mandolins from every small builder I can think of.