Powerball Fever

When the Powerball jackpot goes over 300 million you start to see news reports about people buying tickets who don't usually play the lottery. This year I joined a lottery pool, which is the easiest way to play Powerball. We have 14 people in our pool. Each month the manager of the pool collects 8 dollars from each member and then buys 112 dollars worth of Powerball numbers. Actually, since there are 8 drawings each month, we get 28 sets of numbers and we play the same group of numbers for the whole month. It makes managing the lottery pool a lot easier. Once a month each member gets a copy of the numbers, so everyone knows which numbers we have.

So far we have only won a few dollars on some of the drawings. It would be so sweet to have our lottery pool win a large jackpot. There have been many lottery pools that have won large jackpots and I can only imagine how great it would be to share that experience as a group. What would I do with my share (about 10 million after taxes)? I would get a bigger house, a nicer car, and probably invest the rest so that I could afford to travel and pursue my hobbies.

100th Blog Post

It has been just over two years since I started using Blogger and today I am making my 100th post; a milestone only I can appreciate. Anyone who reads my blog usually gets a small nugget of money saving or tech advice, along with updates on my web design projects. It would be nice to spout opinions on politics or religion, but I try to stay clear of those subjects. Not because I don't have an opinion, but because anything you put on the Internet has a tendency to hang around indefinitely.

I like that new show on ABC called iCaught. They have Internet stories that really open your eyes to what some people are doing out there. Most of it is Internet foolishness, but there are some real gems in the mix. It never ceases to amaze me how clever some people are.

This week I am working on a quote for a trucking company. It is always interesting to do research on a new business or industry. It reminds me of some of the web design assignments I had in Tech school. Each industry has its own unique set of web design challenges.

Ever feel like you are...

Ever feel like you are on one of those fair rides that spin you around and around? I guess we all do from time to time. I just wanted to share this cool looking picture with you that I took at this year's Northern Wisconsin State Fair.

For those of you that have been following my Xbox360 vs PS3 posts, Microsoft announced this week that they are cutting the price of the 360 by $50. That' s in addition to the recent price cut on the HD DVD player for the 360. This will make it that much harder to decide which one to get. One more nod goes to the 360 after hearing John Carmack (id software) in a recent interview say that the 360 has more memory dedicated to graphics. After listening to Carmack talk about his latest graphics engine, he wins my vote for computer graphics super-geek. If you want to hear the interview go to GameSpy.com , or your favorite hardcore video game site.

I have decided to create a sub-domain in order to develop a web site that will allow small machine shops to list themselves and make outsource contact with other machine shops. This project may take a while because I want to make it secure from spam and self managed using php and a database. My plan right now is to allow shops to post info for free and to use Google adsense revenue as my compensation. I see other machine shop listing sites with free listings, but they almost always ask for a premium to get a better listing.

Tight Budget

Living on a budget sometimes feels like being chased by a bus. You want to stay ahead of the bus, but the only way to do that is with a steady pace and no wasted movement. Unfortunately there are unforeseen obstacles (bills) that can trip you up. As I try to compensate for these unexpected expenses, I usually forgo any recreational activity that costs money, until I have recovered from the set back. In the winter it is easier to stay at home because of the cold and snow. But in the summer, having to sit at home because your budget says you can't travel, go out to eat, or see a movie, is frustrating. These days I spend most of my free time trying to figure out how to make extra money so that I can stay out of this situation. I don't remember feeling this way before I got laid off and had to take a lower paying job. I guess the effect of the cut in pay is finally starting to catch up with me. A lot of things haven't produced the results that I expected. Stocks that I have invested in did not produce, the web design business has been slow, and the dream of publishing a novel has resulted in a lot of wasted time and energy. At least I don't have an adjustable rate mortgage! I guess I'll keep plugging away and hopefully someday I won't have to work so hard and will have more time and money to enjoy life.