Matching Numbers

I buy a Powerball ticket twice a week - religiously. I can't win if I don't play right?

I admit to having become rather blase about my chances of winning - but hey, if I don't play....

The fine folks at Powerball send me an e-mail every Thursday and Sunday letting me know what the winning numbers were the previous night. After comparing the numbers in the e-mail to the numbers on my ticket, I toss my ticket in the trash can.

I spend no time mourning the loss of the dollar nor do I fret over the spending of a dollar for the next drawing. I look at it as an investment with return potential equal to that of the stock market.

When I discovered a matching number on my ticket the other night I didn't get excited - but I did take the time to consider how nice it would be to walk into the bank the following week and pay off my car loan.

The second matching number grabbed my attention - I would pay off the car loan and the mortgage.

Three. There were three matching numbers. Now I was thinking about buying beach front property.

...And that's where it stopped. Three matching numbers worth seven bucks.

You're laughing right? Well, hey, seven bucks is enough for another chance to win - and a trip to the Caribbean.

After redeeming my ticket, I bought a chance in the next drawing, picked up a six pack of cold ones, and headed home. I timed the popping of the first bottle cap to the start of the television show The World's Top Ten Beaches. High definition ocean surf rushed toward my recliner and the family room filled with steel drum music as the cold beverage rushed down my throat.

Ahh, what a life.