Good Times Bad Times

[FourAces]

A woman who won the powerball jackpot 5 years ago was found dead in her Kentuky home. What makes this story interesting is his husband, who equally shared in her winnings, died 2 years ago at age 45. If that isn't enough good luck bad luck a year ago a dead body was discovered in the woman's home. The deceased died of a drug overdose.

 

Here is a direct link to the story.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/26/powerball.death.ap/index.html

[+ friendofsheila]

Wow! Sounds like The Hope Diamond curse-thingy!

 

When I win MY zillion I'll practice a lotta restraint.:7

[Guest Dan]

RE: Good Times Bad Times and the late show

 

I just saw Walk the Line and I knew that Johnny Cash had died shortly after June, but not so close - only 4 months. Neither one of them was really that old, 71 at the most.

 

Or what about when you loook at older movies and your suprised at how many of the cast has passed? Best case in point - Rebel Without a Cause. All 3 stars were dead by 1982. Also Network, when two of the top three billed stars, Peter Finch and William Holden were both dead by 1982 as well.

 

Anyone else have any examples like that?

 

 

Dan Dare

http://www.geocities.com/dandare_laca/DanDare4Hire.html

[+ deej]

Winning a lottery jackpot is generally bad luck.

 

I forget where I read it, but it seems an absurdly large number of lotto winners declare bankruptcy within 2 years of their windfall.

[BgMstr4u]

This theme reminds me in an odd way of time I spent in West Africa in the early 80's. The colonial administrations had left all kinds of modern functional systems, telephone, electricity, broadcast, print, roads, manufacturing, retail outlet systems, building industries, the whole gamut of western technology. By the 80's it was mostly gone or so decrepit that it could hardly be used. Why? Because the people who got it had not really done the work to get it. Others had installed systems which their cultures had developed patiently over the ages and which were organic for them. But for these people, they were just things to be used for their personal benefit, and when they broke or ran out, they would just start whining to the international community for more instead of learning the systems and building them themselves.

 

Lottery winners seem to be the same. They do not work for their new money, accumulating it gradually and adjusting to it organically as time passes. They know how to spend it for things, but not how to live with the money itself and make it work for them and for good. That's why it's often damaging or even fatal to them.

 

Which did not keep me from buying a lottery ticket when the MegaMillion topped $300 million. But it did make me wonder just how many dysfunctional relatives I have!

[+ deej]

I played that $300 Mil lotto too, in an office pool. Mostly so I wouldn't be the only one that showed up for work on Monday if they won. ;-)

[+ Lucky]

RE: Bad Times...

 

There is a brilliantly told story in today's New York Times magazine about the tsunami as it affected just one city in Indonesia, killing 90,000 people. The story is well-worth reading if you are wondering how life can take sudden and surprising turns. No matter how prepared for disaster some of these people might have been, they were helpless against nature. That so many see it as Allah's plan is stunning.

[Luv2play]

RE: Bad Times...

 

I have heard the same attitude from the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan. The majority of the victims are Muslims and see the disaster as a form of divine retribution. These attitudes are ageless and you will read of similar occurences during the times of the Greeks and Romans. When their gods were upset, they were likely to wreek havoc on the poor old humans.

 

For those of us in the West, the Age of Enlightenment changed all that, although there are still a lot of superstitious people around. As for lottery winners, Canada's newest mega-millionaire was a 50-ish lady who recently won $27 million (and that's tax-free). She is a financial planner by profession and it sounded like she wasn't going to go hog-wild when she was interviewed about her winnings.

 

As for me, if I ever won a big lottery, there would be a lot of escorts driving around in new cars!:7

[+ Charlie]

If I won the lottery, I would buy this site and run it in a way that would make everyone happy! (Well, maybe there would be one or two malcontents.)

[CT Dick]

Last week, I heard a spot on NY radio about the couple in Oregon who won over $100million and swore that it would not change them.

 

They were invited to come to NYC to be interviewed on network TV. They demanded a private jet, use of a limo while there, Broadway tickets, etc.

 

So much for modesty. x(

 

Now, given a chance, I KNOW I would do better. :7

 

Dick