Texas has joined the rest of the states who play Powerball, a national lottery game.
For a buck, you can buy a ticket and either hand select or let the computer select a series of numbers. The top prize right now is around $100 million, or about $50 million after taxes.
The odds are about a zillion to one that any one person can hit the jackpot.
Still, it's fun to daydream about what I'd do with $50 million.
I've heard that friends and family can become relentlessly crazed with greed and demands toward big winners.
I'd solve that potential nightmare by giving my immediate family a set amount of cash, with the proviso that expecting or demanding more would nullify the gift.
For my beloved nephews, I'd match whatever yearly salaries they earned, dollar for dollar. I'd make sure my youngest nephew would first get off his slacker ass and earn at least a bachelor's degree, which I'd finance 100 percent. If he refused, I'd just match the salary he makes as a waiter, tips included.
For friends, I'd set aside a half million or so and dole it out carefully on a one time only basis. Probably that would mean buying them cars.
I'd build a nice compound in Texas somewhere near the water and offer my siblings and their partners their own separate wings. We'd have a giant organic garden and raise miniature donkeys and fainting goats.
I'd buy tiny apartments in NYC, San Francisco and Paris and hire stooges to manage them and rent them out when I wasn't using them.
I'd travel, travel, travel for the first year, which would help me avoid all kinds of people coming out of the woodwork and hitting me up for money.
In my travels, I'd create an amazing travel guide with sensational photographs and lots of anecdotes. Proceeds from book sales would go to charity.
I'd hire a full-time trainer for daily workout sessions for me and my family at my fully loaded home gym.
For my best bloggy pals, I'd treat them to a great trip where we could all hang out and have fun for a week or so.
I'd give money to charities that fund education, empower women, support the arts and help provide poor people who own or wish to adopt animals with proper nutrition, veterinary care, spaying and neutering.
I'd create a few new businesses there's a definite need for--like a pie throwing company, a graffiti removing service, a dessert delivery service, a comfortable shoe store and a kitty spa and dude ranch.
What would you do with $50 million?