THE WINNERS

[aletalete]

Just throwing my 2 cents in for good measure (lol)..

I once was able to dream who the Super Bowl winner would be, but in backwards. Meaning, whoever won the Super Bowl in my dreams were actually the losers. I would have to know who was actually going to the bowl and then I would dream about it sometime before the game. It took a couple of years before I "got" the switch-a-roo thing in the dream, so every year, I bet on the wrong team. On the third year, everyone wanted the Bengals to win. EVERYONE. But my dream showed me that they won in the dream, which meant they were actually the losers. I tried telling everyone, but they all bet on the Bengals. Instinct told me to not bet that year, so I didn't... When the Bengals lost, I caught so much flack for it. I supposedly "jinxed" the Bengals and worse. Friends really gave me a lot of crap about it, mainly because they had bet so much money on the game, and needed someone to blame for losing it... It hurt very deeply at the time... Then the next year, these very same friends came to me to ask if I knew who was going to win? Ugh.. I was so disgusted with them! But as it turned out, there were no more dreams of the Super Bowl for me. I think the whole thing hurt and disgusted me so badly, that I lost that particular ability to predict the winners.. Many years later, while living in Las Vegas, I started predicting when the Megabucks machines would go off and where, but I never knew the specific dates or time, but knew it would be within a few days. I never tried playing the machines, mainly because of my turn-off from the Super Bowl episode. And I had friends pushing for more details (they wanted to win).

I know that money does not buy happiness or fix all problems. I've lived in both worlds too - rich grandparents who took me to the finer restaurants, plays, and operas, but Mom was either on welfare or married to a roughneck. However, in my present state (unemployed for over 5 months now and literally no income whatsoever), winning a lottery would be nice... When it was at $500 million last weekend, I picked numbers, but didn't actually purchase any tickets. Four of my numbers were picked. I wouldn't have won, but it was cool knowing a bunch of my numbers were selected.

If I did play and won, I have so many things I would do with this money, that wouldn't just benefit me, but a whole lot of people - not just friends and family. I would first and foremost, take care of all of my family and a few of my closest friends. Then a bunch would get donated to homeless shelters and programs.

Getting real here...2015 was the worst year for me and aside from losing my income, apartment, and having to sell off most of my belongings, I am in the technical sense "homeless". I stayed with one daughter in Hawaii temporarily and another where I am at now. Though I am and have stayed with family, I was told each time, that I am not "living here; just temporarily staying or visiting". I am currently on a time limit to get employed or seek "other options" elsewhere. My time limit has since passed, but I do have job interviews coming up, so I guess I've been given extra time. I have, however, actually looked into going to homeless shelters because I have nowhere else to go. Unfortunately, most or all are packed full and have waiting lists to get in.

This whole episode has been extremely difficult and honestly, hurtful. Because I have been treated and thought of more as a out of work bum, than like family. Not as their mother. I have never treated my kids this way, even in their adult life, and they always knew that they could always come "home" whenever they needed to. I guess I assumed they felt the same about me. The stress has been unreal and I think because of it, it has caused a great deal of dream interruptions. I've had a few dreams, but nothing like I'm used to doing.

Anyways, going through all of this has made me realize a lot about something... Unless I am literally on the streets homeless, physically being abused (DV situations), on drugs/alcohol and seeking treatment, or mentally disabled, there are NO housing options for single women and men, who are in between jobs or not getting paid enough yet to rent their own home, or are a little older, but not old enough to live in retirement communities. Most of the living quarters at the YMCA and YWCA's have closed, but they were really expensive anyways. I stayed at a YWCA once and for a daily/weekly/monthly price, we got either our own room or a shared room with shared baths, 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner), a phone in the room (local calls only), there was a social room, TV room, a computer room, and regular activities, and a garden area. And they held self-improvement classes for anyone interested. There were elderly and other women who lived there just for the feeling of community, but didn't want to live in a nursing home or their own apartments. It was women only and at 10pm, the main doors locked. You could get in with a code, but it essentially locked down at night. Visitors had to check into a waiting area and were not allowed into most areas of the facility. Only the garden and social room. So it gave the women staying there a great sense of security and privacy. Aside from the cost of staying there (over $500 a week), I thought it was a brilliant idea. It's just a shame that most of them have closed down now.

I have since realized that I fall into this weird, funky, not discussed, bracket of people who need some kind of transitional housing, because they don't have friends and family that can help them in anyway. If I was to win the Powerball, I want to create some kind of non-profit long/short term housing situation for folks like myself. Not sure if it would be communal like the Y, but I think it would be similar. There would be some kind of subsidy going on to pay for their rooms - whether it be unemployment, welfare, social security, pensions, or donations? But no one would be turned away due to lack of income - they would just have to work on getting some kind of income after getting there. Or trade skills for work around the facility (construction/handy man, office, cooking, etc). And they can't fall under those brackets where they can get housing and assistance from other groups (DV shelters, halfway homes, etc), but if they did, they could stay long enough until an opening came up in those types of facilities. It would be mostly segregated into womens or mens communities, but there could be coed, too. I could buy old apartment buildings and motels to do this. Add a cafeteria or turn a connected restaurant into one. Or buy large homes. I don't know.. It's something I've thought a lot about and the only way to get it going is to win a Powerball like this one.

So while most people would quit their jobs and live like they were always rich, until the money disappears, I would actually have a bigger plan for the money and do something for good..

IT WARMS MY HEART TO HEAR THAT THERE ARE STILL REALLY GOOD, LOVING PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD. YOU ARE THE TYPE OF PERSON I HOPE WINS THE LOTTERY.

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Aletalete, we darn sure can take our conversation elsewhere. Thank you letting us know you don't like it. This is *your thread, primarily.

PS Edited, NHWatcher, not ignoring you so if you want to head to "Miscellaneous" for example, and continue our sincere sharing, I'm in!  

I JUST WISH ANYONE THE BEST WHO ENJOYS THE LOTTERY.