Thursday, January 14, 2016

What I would've done if I had won the Powerball. It's brilliant.

I haven't written since 2012. It's 2016, so there's no way I can catch up on 4 years of life in a blog, so I won't try. Back to the Powerball. It was 1.5 BILLION dollars and to be clear, I only ended up winning $15. The largest jackpot in history at least 3 people have won. I don't normally play lottery, but I figured it was worth a shot at so much money to be able to help out our family and friends.  When Jeff and I were discussing what we'd do with the money, the obvious stuff came up. Pay off all the bills for us and our families, set up college funds for nieces/nephews/God children, travel the world, donate to charities, etc...but then I had a brilliant idea that I have no idea how to make happen. 

There's so many homeless veterans on our streets who need help and there's so many animals in shelters who are facing death. Why not buy some land and build a tiny home community for the homeless veterans to live in? It would also be an animal sanctuary and the veterans "rent" is taking care of the animals. There would be a building for the cats, one for the dogs and a barn for livestock and the veterans could choose which animal they wanted to stay with them in their house for the night. That way, they get some company and the animals get some love, attention and socializing. There could be a garden that the veterans also tend to that would supply some food and we could have a cow and/or goats for milk and chickens for eggs. The houses would all be built with geothermal heat/air and would have cisterns to reuse gray water for flushing and whatnot. 

I'd name it after my grandfather. He was a veteran and also loved animals, so it seemed fitting. Jasper Meadows. Lucky Bastard's Village. Jack Haven. I don't know. I hadn't settled on a name yet because I couldn't figure out how to make something like that happen. Location would be important and it would need a shuttle to town for groceries and meds for the veterans, etc...but that's not self- sustaining. I wouldn't get any return for the investment without government subsidies or donations. Maybe the whole idea is a bit idealistic and a pipe dream, but then again, the same can be said for the lottery, right?