Powerball Purchases

Tonight is the Powerball drawing for close to $500 million. Talk about a life changing amount! Lunch is on me! The odds of me actually winning, however, are about the same as Taylor Swift cooking me dinner tonight. Ah, but the fantasy...

People always love to talk about their fantasy purchases and I have a couple. But they are not the exotic Italian cars whose fender benders cost more than an average cruise for two. Hell, I wouldn't even fit in them. I want a fire truck.

It really is a cliché about little boys and their interest in becoming fireman. Watching the 70’s TV show Emergency certainly helped spark my interest. But I never seriously consider the occupation, though I've always been interested in the apparatus.

That was one of the things I loved about the show, the chance to see some sort of specific use equipment like the foam truck or the ladder truck with the solo compartment in the rear to help it steer. And the multi-station call was the cherry on top.

So I will buy an engine when I win this big one. I'll have a couple of wooden structures built to be torched and then I'll put them out with my new fire engine. You know I'm going to pull that horn and run those sirens. I even have in mind a couple addresses where to test out the volume.

But I'm not going to keep, I have enough trouble keeping my 2002 Camry clean, let alone a huge fire truck. I know the novelty would where off soon, so my new toy will be donated to a deserving community here or in Mexico.

My other transportation related purchase I will keep. It is definitely in the milieu of millionaires. No more traveling like the unsorted masses crammed together in the same compartment. I am buying my own rail car.

 Now I love traveling by train. I've ridden on almost all the intercity miles in Northern California and the major ones in LA. I can stand up, stretch my legs, get a little snack for the bar car. It really is a comfortable to travel. But my own rail car? That's straight from the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

The most common practice is to refurbish an existing single-level passenger car, usually from decades ago. Some will try to duplicate the original decor and others put a modern tint on it. My plan would use the modern bi-level design, but trick it out like an MTV show.

A kitchen is an absolute must. I might want to dabble again in the culinary arts every now and then, but I'll hire a Bourdain-want-a-be to do the vast majority of the cooking. The ability to design a private bathroom will also take traveling in comfort to a new level. 

Bedroom, sitting room, dining room, office, game parlor will also be included in the design. I'll go for a modern, clean look, which means that I can't have anything to do with the interior decorating.

Though I live in Fresno, I'll most likely have to base it in Bakersfield or Oakland, as they are the terminal stops of the San Joaquin Amtrak route that goes through Fresno. Depending how many cross country trips I take on it, the base might have to be Oakland. (Better make sure I spring for the anti-graffiti coating.)

I’ll get some other toys, but those are the most unusual things I’ll but. Plus, I’ll always be able to tip like I printed the stuff. I will love to see the reaction of some poor server that has had a rotten day when I pull out Benny and say, “Keep it.” So leave a comment on your fun purchase and remember, lunch is on me.