Go to I WRITE, THEREFORE I AM
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- Go to "What a bummer" does not even begin to cover that!!!!
Man-Boy,
Thanks very much, for everything.
posted by
Julia.
on March 13, 2005 at 6:52 PM
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Hi Quirky! I am doing well. I didn't come by for a while...
I see your life is just as fabulous and dire as always. I won't stay away.
As to the poor lottery loser- I have not checked my old numbers. I just don't want to know.
BTW... telling the truth. The truth must be told.
I turned into a terrible liar early in life. I feel as if I have worked out all that karma now. I am happy.
I read your prayer blog too. Very sensitive stuff.
Manboy
posted by
man-boy
on March 13, 2005 at 12:05 PM
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Saul Relative,
Thanks for your comment. You make some good points and explain your beliefs well. --Our beliefs may not be the same but I respect yours.
posted by
Julia.
on March 13, 2005 at 10:26 AM
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Man-Boy,
So true. Philosophical, but true. Nice to see you, hope you are doing well.
posted by
Julia.
on March 13, 2005 at 10:23 AM
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word.smith,
Perhaps you're right!!
posted by
Julia.
on March 13, 2005 at 10:22 AM
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I do not believe in predestination, Quirkyalone.
The belief that everything happens for a reason implies a predetermined accounting for events, a master plan that would by its own nature become somewhat predictable, even with random equations thrown in. And this lottery story has occurred to quite a few people, I am sure. It happened to me on a much smaller scale: About 15 years ago, I had played a pick-4 number every drawing for about six months without fail. One weekend I went out of state, the numbers I played religiously (and I use that term as loosely as possible) came up, and I failed to win $5000. I had just become unemployed. A friend of mine saw the drawing that night, told me he couldn't stop laughing. I couldn't start. It still pisses me off. I haven't played pick-4 since in any state that currently has it.
I believe in cause and effect, action and reaction. I didn't play the lottery, therefore I did not put myself in a position to win. I did not lose, either, for the same reason. That is it. That is all there is.
Being a realist, predestination is true in only one instance: once born, you are guaranteed to die, leaving even your time of death an unknown, if certain, and undetermined variable. That is not defeatist, nor fatalist. It is simple truth and bonewearying sad.
posted by
saul_relative
on March 12, 2005 at 10:42 PM
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Hi Quirky.
I just recently stopped buying lottery tickets. After some 20 years straight...
I just stopped. I don't miss them at all. I know I need far more than monry to be happy.
Manboy
posted by
man-boy
on March 12, 2005 at 7:19 PM
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She is also probably wondering what type of monster
he would have turned into had they actually won the money.
posted by
word.smith
on March 12, 2005 at 6:58 PM
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word.smith,
I think that's what the guy's wife must be thinking.
posted by
Julia.
on March 12, 2005 at 2:48 PM
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lady,
If you can actually kick yourself in the ass, that's something I'd buy a ticket for!
posted by
Julia.
on March 12, 2005 at 2:47 PM
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reecie, lol.
Thanks for the great comment...I agree...tragic indeed!
posted by
Julia.
on March 12, 2005 at 2:46 PM
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Mmmm, I'd also console myself with the
thought that if it was really meant to happen, it would have.
posted by
word.smith
on March 12, 2005 at 9:01 AM
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Quirky
Oh that sucks! I would be kicking myself in the ass too. But then again, wasn't meant to be
posted by
ladyofshalott
on March 12, 2005 at 8:41 AM
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Quirkyalone
I used to believe God was involved in worldly goings-on; I don't anymore. I now believe life simply happens ... we have the choice to view things as either "good" or "bad." Are spiders good or bad? Is the wind good or bad? Is losing millions good or bad?
Was the church couple better off by not winning the lottery? No one will ever know. Sure, one can argue, "Most lottery winners wind up worse off because family and friends constantly badger them for money." Valid point. One could also argue, "They would've had a chance to improve someone's quality of life--their own, their kids', etc." Another valid point.
How would I feel if I was the husband? Well, I'd certainly wouldn't be as accepting as this guy's wife ("easy come, easy go.")! I'd probably need weed--daily--to cope with my depression. I know some mistakes are costly. But, multi-million dollar mistakes aren't costly--they're tragic!
posted by
Reecie
on March 12, 2005 at 7:48 AM
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thanks for your comment
Yes it is rather sad, but as you continue reading you will notice that there come positive things out of it too.
Dirk (brabander)
posted by
brabander
on March 11, 2005 at 10:41 PM
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jimmy,
I have heard a lot of stories like that too, of people not being able to handle it, and it ruins them.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:22 PM
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Kaelen,
Thanks for sharing!
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:21 PM
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HG,
I'd be pretty mad too.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:20 PM
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Although I think I am evolved enough at this point to handle the millions..
so if you win millions, hand it over, I'm prepared to buck the odds...
posted by
jimmy68
on March 11, 2005 at 7:00 PM
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They should be thankful...
winning millions usully ruins peoples lives...the suicide rate among lottery winners is out of this world, and most of them wind up broke again in just a few years....
posted by
jimmy68
on March 11, 2005 at 6:57 PM
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I Agree!
with Blasphemous Rumors. In watching and observing people for so long, I believe that God has a really twisted sense of humor. Who knows?
Kaelen
posted by
Kaelen-Myril
on March 11, 2005 at 5:31 PM
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I'd be f-ing pissed as hell!! But it would be my luck...Oh and yes the song is called Blasphemous Rumors...
posted by
Holy_Grail
on March 11, 2005 at 4:38 PM
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It might be titled Blasphemous Rumors, not sure
the lyrics include:
"I don't want to start any blasphemous rumors
but I think that God has a sick sense of humor
and when I die
I expect to find him laughing..."
you get the idea
posted by
FactorFiction
on March 11, 2005 at 4:29 PM
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Factor,
Is it titled "What a Bummer"--?? lol
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 4:00 PM
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I think there is a Depeche Mode song about this...
posted by
FactorFiction
on March 11, 2005 at 3:52 PM
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ARIALA,
Yeah...me, too! We'll probably never know.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:56 AM
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Quirky, perhaps...and that's how I usually look at it, but I'm open to
being wrong and that nothing has meaning might be right LOL
posted by
Ariala
on March 11, 2005 at 10:38 AM
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Ariala,
I was at first inclined to say, yeah, maybe that's true, maybe it's only the bigger things. But then it becomes a question of, how do you say what is big or little? Where do you draw the line? What seems little and of no consequence might be part of a bigger chain of events that we can't see. So perhaps if that newspaper boy hadn't been five minutes late, he would have been hit by a speeding car or bitten by a dog that had been out.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:25 AM
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MayB,
She must've had a prenup or she could have gotten rid of the louse a lot sooner than waiting for her win! But yay for her!
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:22 AM
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Quirky, I do agree about that for most things, but it's the little stuff
that happens that sometimes has no meaning or connection to anything...I sometimes wonder if we give everything meaning and connection because we want to find meaning and connection? For example, let's say the newspaper is thrown every day at 6 a.m. and one day it's at 6:05 a.m...there was no result good or bad about the difference in time...but had we left the driveway earlier or later we may have made a connection and thought about how cool it was that we were there at the "right time" and therefore would have said, "That wasn't a coincidence!"
I realize this is going against what I usually write -- that there are no coincidences -- but sometimes I do think we "look" for unique happenings and therefore seem what we want to see.
posted by
Ariala
on March 11, 2005 at 10:20 AM
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offbeatpub,
Only an hour? I commend you!
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:19 AM
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Merry,
So true!!! I have read that the people who play the most, are the least likely to be able to afford it.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:18 AM
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Darrke,
Okay, but don't maim yourself (at least not permanently). lol.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:17 AM
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I think his attitude shows that he is not cut out for a big win because money is too important and he couldn't cope easily. My aunt and grandmother lined up once to buy lottery tickets. My aunt was married to a rich man and wanted for nothing (but love, her husband was not a nice man) and my grandmother never had two coins to rub together and dreamed of winning the lottery and told us what she would give us when she won.
My aunt bought a winning ticket. In the end it was for the best because it was the start of her being able to make a new and happier life for herself
posted by
Azur
on March 11, 2005 at 10:16 AM
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word.smith,
That is a good attitude to have, and you are absolutely correct, it doesn't pay to let it wreck your life...but I know I would be quite upset for longer than just a few days.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:16 AM
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I think I would be bummed out for an hour.
posted by
Offy
on March 11, 2005 at 10:15 AM
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Ariala,
I (sort of) agree with you.....except that I don't believe in random little happenings or coincidences. In other words, God doesn't control them because they don't exist.
posted by
Julia.
on March 11, 2005 at 10:14 AM
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It's that old saying,
there is no use crying over spilt milk. What's done is done (or not done in this case) and there is no point in getting upset about it. Besides (here is my practical side) if they had invested that money every week in a high interest account or something they would have a lot more money now!
posted by
MerryAnne
on March 11, 2005 at 10:13 AM
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I would be completely devestated, for at least 5 minutes. Then I think I'd let it go. I would have to beat myself up for a few minutes about not buying that ticket though!
posted by
DarrkeThoughts
on March 11, 2005 at 10:12 AM
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I would have thought about the big chance I missed
for a few minutes for a couple of days and then moved right on. What's the use in mooning over what you don't and probably will never have? That gent needs his head examined.
posted by
word.smith
on March 11, 2005 at 10:10 AM
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I would say God had a sense a humor, but I'm not sure every
little random happening is controlled by God, though God is in control.
posted by
Ariala
on March 11, 2005 at 10:02 AM
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