Foo - What would you do if you had. . .

a million dollars?

Not in the literal sense, but in a more dreamy sense - if you could do anything for work, or have any job you wanted, without worrying about money or your qualifications, what would it be?

My own answers:

1) Violin virtuoso

2) Gourmet chef at a flashy restaurant

3) Own a retail store called "The Hobby Shop" where I could dabble in a selling stuff related to a wide range of unrelated hobbies, simply because they interested me. I'd be rich enough that when someone said "why are you selling bonsai trees next to bike parts?" in a snotty voice, I could just kick them in the groin.

Oh, and to get the standard Office Space replies out of the way:

4) I'd put half into mutual funds, and give the other half to my cousin who's in to investing

5) Nothing at all

6) Two chicks at the same time

a million bucks? I'd put most of it away, pay off all debt (which I don't have a whole lot of anyway), and spend time working as a wrench, maybe. Go hunt for some job with a bike company. Come up with a little dohickey to sell and market. Be outside a lot. Stay close to IT stuff, just cause I could continue to do some code/design/consulting on the side for kicks.

And build a couple really, really nice bikes. Start building bikes for friends. Maybe turn that into something....

Jobs:

Start my own software company with me and a couple of really good coders I know. Build a couple applications in market I know is just ripe for a new product, and triple my investment. Work a noon-7pm shift during the summers so I can ride in the mornings.

Weekends, have my own little warehouse bike-shop Co-Op thing goin on. Helping out teaching wrenching and getting older bikes back on the road.

Other Stuffs:

Nice house on a couple acres of land in the country, but not too far from work/etc. Big workshop & bicycle show room on the side. And a flute studio practice room for my wife (on the other side).

Oh, and it's got to be on a lake too.

Do some traveling and buy more property.

1. Buy an island (pave a circle around it for the bikes)
2. Buy a boat
3. Buy a hammock
4. Can one buy a cabana boy?

^^^ not in the USofA. You could hire one tho' :D

4. Can one buy a cabana boy?
I'm willing to work pro bono.

I'd imagine that if one bought one's own island, you could declare independance and become your own nation, with your own laws - one of which could be the right to purchase a lovesla. . . errr, poolboy.

Run a sailing school. Race sailboats. Ride my bike. Spend time with my family. Order would vary daily, but those four things would all feature prominently.

Oh, and as to the topic of this thread... I'd buy one million lottery tickets!

Million bucks?

Pay off the mortgage! Plenty left to pay for my girls to attend college.

After that, working my same decent work-a-day job without a mortgage to worry about, I'd be able to:

Get me and the wife a custom tandem from Seven or someone like that.
Travel a bit more.
Finish the basement (and include a killer cycling room for winter training)

Oh yeah, I said this in a similar thread ages ago.... I'd contact Joe Gardner to see about what it would take to fund Bike Forums with more than my pittance of a red-star donation. This site would fly!

....4. Can one buy a cabana boy?


Everything can be had for enough money. Pardon me, I mean Anything can be had for the right price.

And then with my lottery winnings I'd buy a solid gold dancer!

Oh, and I'd cruise the Mediterranean on a private yacht.

Everything can be had for enough money.
Or for free... but only if, at least once a week, she's willing to wear her hair in a bun, held together by a couple pencils and tell me I'm being a noisy cabana boy and that I need to be punished...

Husband: "Honey, pack your bags - I just won a million dollars!"
Wife: "That's great news! Should I pack for the mountains or the ocean?"
Husband: "I don't care where you go - just pack up your stuff and get out of my house!"

But seriously, I'd like to run a little preschool. I used to drop off my daughter at preschool and stay about 30 minutes in the mornings - that was the most enjoyable part of my day. Little kids are the coolest.

1) Move back to california

2) Buy a house out in the hills, with enough property to build a decent house, but have a woodshop, metalshop, small scale electronic fab, and chemical lab in a separate building out back. That right there is my dream, the ability to perform any experiment I so desire, right in my own backyard. I would also require a sizable library for all my books.

3) see what cool crap i can invent! Make myself a professional inventor.

Invest in gold.

1) Move back to california

2) Buy a house out in the hills, with enough property to build a decent house, but have a woodshop, metalshop, small scale electronic fab, and chemical lab in a separate building out back. That right there is my dream, the ability to perform any experiment I so desire, right in my own backyard. I would also require a sizable library for all my books.

3) see what cool crap i can invent! Make myself a professional inventor.

2 and 3 are quite possible, but not in California (on a million dollars) :p

Or for free... but only if, at least once a week, she's willing to wear her hair in a bun, held together by a couple pencils and tell me I'm being a noisy cabana boy and that I need to be punished...

I am dying. I literally laughed so hard I fell out of my chair. You KNOW you're being loud when other librarians are shushing you.


not in the USofA. You could hire one tho'


I'd imagine that if one bought one's own island, you could declare independance and become your own nation, with your own laws - one of which could be the right to purchase a lovesla. . . errr, poolboy.

What am I calling this mythical island Nation? And will everyone come over for drinks and pie, and help keep my cabana boy under control?

I am dying. I literally laughed so hard I fell out of my chair. You KNOW you're being loud when other librarians are shushing you.





What am I calling this mythical island Nation? And will everyone come over for drinks and pie, and help keep my cabana boy under control?
Eboolient?

You can call the place whatever you want, as long as it has a creative acronym.

Drinks and pie? At the same time? That would be a tough one, unless carefully chosen. Say, maybe a nice thick stout with something sweet, like maybe Guinness and apple pie - that would be a good combo. Or something quick and hoppy with a fruit pie, like Magic Hat #9 and a raspberry pie. Mmmmm!

As far as keeping the cabana boy under control, I guess it would depend on the situation. I mean, if he was treating you rough, I'd be willing to kick him in the nads or something.

I'd get some varient of a GT40, some property up north with a nice little house, and that would be it.

Eboolient?

No, that sounds too much like some scary disease you'd get on vacation in Mexico.

I would start a foundation in honor of my brother. Work with children whom don't have much support from parents.
Pay off debts of course.
Invest for sure.
Do some tweeking of myself. :)

2 and 3 are quite possible, but not in California (on a million dollars) :p


FINE, I'll settle for Nevada then....happy now? :p

if I had a million dollars....

pay off the house and debts




what would I do if I could do anything I wanted?

full-time artist

run a used bike shop

Or for free... but only if, at least once a week, she's willing to wear her hair in a bun, held together by a couple pencils and tell me I'm being a noisy cabana boy and that I need to be punished...

How open for interpretation is "punished"?

Wait, would said cabana boy be fully taken care of as far as food and shelter?

Fly a Stemme (http://www.stemme.de/daten/e/index.html) from the Aleutian Islands to the tip of Tierra del Fuego.

http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/images/stemme-7.jpg

get some good health insurance

buy a road bike

home entertainment crap

some iron cookware

a house (maybe)

get my gynecomastia cut out

find out if my depression is really just a thyroid problem

buy some nice weights and atlas stones and other weight training stuff

some video games

other stuff

Id pack up my bike and take time off of work and travel, of course after buying a few things and that convertable I always wanted.

Wait, would said cabana boy be fully taken care of as far as food and shelter?

Sure, dental and health, too. Negotiations are still being held over vacation days, but I think it's all going to work itself out.

How open for interpretation is "punished"?
I'm the cabana boy, remember? You tell me how open "punished" is for interpretation...

touche...i'll warn you that our library has an exhibit on knarly dental tools used in the 19th century...

touche...i'll warn you that our library has an exhibt on knarly dental tools used in the 19th century...
Ummmmm... maybe I should narrow down the interpretation of "punishment" to exclude any kind of metal objects, most especially the pointy/sharp variety. I was thinking more along the lines of Greco Roman style wrestling. Submission moves and the like. Except in a baby pool full of olive oil (to keep with the greek theme)...

Put it in a good bank and live off the interest, otherwise Ild spend it way too fast. Alot so much per year and thats it. Ild also dress as a pirate and wear a cape wherever go.

" i'll tell ya what'd I'd do man. Two chicks at the same time man."

" Ya don't need a million bucks to do two chicks at the same time."

" The kinda chicks that would double up on a guy like me would.."

Dental tools from the 1800s? So you do the dental work yourself? Kind of cheap way to get out of real insurance. Makes me wonder what your health insurance is like.

Dental tools from the 1800s?

Look, I found some pictures:

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/csk/CSK164/KS6612.jpg

http://www.earthwalknorthwest.com/images/stoneknife2.jpg

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2006-04/06/xin_140403060849157166692.jpg

Note that none are metal. Heh heh!

Note that none are metal. Heh heh!
Uh-uh, not so fast :) The spear head and the celt in your bottom examples are in fact bronze. While a highly malleable metal, I'm sure I could still inflict some pretty convincing "punishment"*

I love that you posted these. I got my undergrad degree in anthropology, specifically, I did underwater archaeology, concentrating on lithic/stone tool analysis. I never got to make anything bronze, though I do have a couple of wicked sharp obsidian and chert points.**




*Please note that I'm not actually going to hurt, maim, or poke any member of BF.
**Again, none that I'm going to use on any member of BF.

Not even poking? :(

Sticks are fun, especially when used on a sleeping person's forehead.

Ok, maybe light poking and/or prodding. Not enough to leave a mark ;)

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j59/gorideabike/miscellaneous/OfficeSpaceLawrence.jpg

Uh-uh, not so fast :) The spear head and the celt in your bottom examples are in fact bronze. While a highly malleable metal, I'm sure I could still inflict some pretty convincing "punishment"*

My bad. That's what I get for images.googling "stone knife" and posting the first three images that come up.


I love that you posted these. I got my undergrad degree in anthropology, specifically, I did underwater archaeology, concentrating on lithic/stone tool analysis. I never got to make anything bronze, though I do have a couple of wicked sharp obsidian and chert points.**

You're kidding! I love that stuff. I did a paper back in college trying to prove the origin and spread of North American natives based on lithics. When I was a kid, one of my favorite activities was rooting around old sites looking for arrowheads and other artifacts. I should have majored in something interesting like that. My mishmash engineering degree is useless to me now and wasn't much fun to get either.