A humorous interlude

From an on-line cartoon I follow:

Two stragglers

Judith C. and Marion P. both joined the cause today, and since the first drawing on the other tickets is tonight, they are on the same schedule as the rest of us.

And below is the most recent set of lucky numbers:

And here are the tickets I bought

Don't they just look lucky?

The future winners of Winter 2009

Thanks to Joan's efforts (and mine), we have a record number of "investors" this round. I have just returned from the corner newsagent with $1,196 worth of lottery tickets. That's $26 x 46 players. If you're being particular, it's only 45 players, as Ilene S. bought one for herself and one for her brother, Elizabeth G. bought one for herself and one for her grandchildren, and Amy S. and Madelon R. are sharing a share.

So, who is on the honor roll?

From the 11th floor, in no particular order: Robert A., Susan C., Tim D., Sylvia F., Sharon Fr., Janet G., Michelle G., Effie G., Elizabeth G., Deena G., Steve H., Jean K., Felicia R., Ilene S., Joan S., Irwin S., Mary V., Regina M., Marilyn R. and Sharon Fi. (welcome aboard to those last two).

From the 10th floor: Linda A., Susan B., Linda D., Randi E., Ethan F., Julie J., Peter H., Regina K., Carolyn K., Viv L., Steve L., Linda M., Mark M., Len M., Gillian S., Amy S., Madelon R., Michelle S., Christopher S. (me!), Evonne T., Neil T., Susan V., Scott K., Laura F., and Sue Z. (welcome to these last three).

Good luck to us all!

The last tickets from the summer round. For real this time.

So I cashed in the last tickets as shown in the last post. We won $4. I added this to the $13 I had left over from the last round and bought these tickets. If we win big on these tickets, the big winners will be the folks who were in the summer round, not the new folks who just joined up this month. Just to be clear.

The last tickets from the summer round

These will last us until Thanksgiving. Insert harvest metaphor here:

MegaMillions for the Win(ter)!

After a slow start, our investment has begun to pay off. However, the time has come to buy more tickets. As per usual, the amount is $26, which will be good for at least 13 weeks’ worth of drawings, more likely longer if past experience is anything to go by. You can pass along your cash to me at 66 John on the 11th floor Mondays and Tuesdays and on the 10th floor on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. I believe that Joan will also be collecting, so you can give your money to her, as well. The deadline is Friday 27 November (the day after Thanksgiving) at the close of business.

The investments are paying off. Finally.

After some pretty puny winnings for the first two months ($4 and $12, respectively), we have finally begun to find ourselves "in the money". The last month of our project yielded $76. I will use this cash to tide us over until the end of the month. Huzzah!

Laggards

Two more folks contributed on Monday. Since we didn't win The Big One last Friday, I decided, what the heck, the more the merrier. Two more tickets are better for everyone, right? So, everyone, give a warm welcome to DOH/ECB's Judith C. and Regina M.

This is what $1,014 in lottery tickets looks like

Scanned and saved. I'll check in periodically on our investment.

Future winners

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the latest crop of future ALJ millionaires, forty-one proud, wise jurists, who have made a solid investment.

From the 11th floor, we have: Robert A., Susan C., Tim D., Sylvia F., Sharon F, Janet G., Michelle G., Effi G., Elizabeth G., Deena G., Steve H., Jean K., Felicia R., Ilene S. (and her brother, David S.), Joan S., Irwin S., and Mary V.

From the 10th floor, we have: Linda A., Susan B., Linda D., sharing a share with Jane O., Randi E., Ethan F., Peter H., Julie J., Regina K., Carolyn K., Viv. L., Steve L., Linda M., Mark M., Len M., Gillian S., Amy S., sharing a share with Madelon R., Michelle S., Christopher S. (me!), Evonne T., Neil T., and Susan V.

Good luck to us all!

I'll scan in the numbers tomorrow (I spent too much of today scanning documents into NYCServ to face anther scanner right now).

Why we invest

I just made our investment, but before I post the list, I thought I would share with you an article I tripped over on the web:

http://wellheeled.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/why-i-always-buy-in-at-the-office-lottery-pool/

Basically, it explains that the investment is a kind of insurance against being the only one in the office who didn't win big.

Sounds about right to me.

Deadlines

Forgot to mention in that last post that the deadline for getting money to me is the end of the day on Thursday July 23.

Thanks.

Time to re-up

Our last ticket expires Tuesday July 7. I'll apply any winnings from that to keep us in the game as the jackpot continues to balloon. So, if you're interested in continuing with the MegaMillions, you'll need to re-invest. As per usual, the amount is $26, which will be good for at least 13 weeks worth of drawings, more likely longer if past experience is anything to go by. You can pass along your cash to me at 66 John on the 11th floor Mondays and Tuesdays, and on the 10th floor on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. I believe that Joan will also be collecting, so you can give your money to her, as well.

We'll win big one of these days, I'm sure of it.

Next to last cashing in of this round

I checked the tickets again today, and we won another $19. There is only one ticket left with more drawings on it, the last of which is on June 12th. I'll make one last re-investment, and then it will be time to collect again.

And yet more winnings

We won yet another $23. Hooray! I turned it around and invested the remainder of our winnings in a ticket that will last us through June 12.

Another $11 closer to being millionaires

I did a check on our investment a few weeks ago, and we won another $11. We're rich! Well, almost. In any case, I reinvested our winnings, and I have scanned in the latest tickets. Peruse them below and keep your fingers crossed.

Numbers

It dawns on me that I have yet to post the numbers we played. Behold, through the magic of scanning, here they are.

We're winners.

Well, of course we are all winners one way or another, but specifically, since our investment in late February, we have won $32. With the upcoming fare increases, that equals more than ten rides on the subway! Since we would have to draw straws as to who gets to go, I'm simply going to re-invest the cash, which not a bad bet, since the jackpot is over $100 million right now.

More future millionaires, and a purchase is made

I'd like to welcome a few more ALJ future millionaires: Michelle G., Judith C., Elizabeth G., Sharon F., Effie G. and Irwin S. at DOH, and Viv. L. at ECB. Good luck to us all.

And yes, I have purchased the tickets, and I will scan them in as soon as I get back. Where am I? Abu Dhabi. Yep, I can see the Gulf from my window, through the sandy haze. I remembered to buy the tickets right before I left (checklist: get cash, buy bagels for my hosts, pick up trousers from the cleaners, buy lottery tickets. Check!). See you all when I get back, by which time I expect we will all be rich beyond our wildest imagination. Or that we will be, soon after.

More future millionaires

We have five more participants in our "investment": At DOH, Jeane K., Deena G. and Susan B., and at ECB, Gillian S. and Carolyn K. I got notes from two more people at DOH when I got back from jury duty on Friday, so I will hold off on making our investment until I collect from them (yes, I said no extensions, but I'm not a complete jerk, either). In the meantime, the jackpot has gone up to over $140 million, so this is a delay I can live with.

Can you feel the excitement?

It's almost time to make our investment, and the atmosphere is practically turbocharged with anticipation. I'm not quite sure what that means, but it sounds good, right?

So, who will be sharing in the big jackpot that will inevitably be coming our way? A first prize of sorts goes to Sylvia F. (DOH), who contributed to the pool before I even got around to asking. Following her, in no particular order are: Ilene S. of DOH, who also got a share for her brother Allen; Susan C. (DOH); Regina K., Jay L., Linda D., Linda A., Randi E., Ethan F., Neil T., Steve H., Joan S., Susan V., Steve L., Linda M., Peter H., Evonne T., the team of Amy S. and Madelon R. and yours truly, Christopher S. (ECB).

As a reminder, I will be collecting through Friday, so if you want to join up, speak now, etc. I will be on 10 on Thursday and on 11 on Friday.

A notice is sent out

Future Millionaire ALJ’s:
In 2008 we won $87, which has been plowed back into more tickets. Let’s not focus on how much we “invested” to win that much. For those who would like to do better than that in 2009, it is time to re-invest. Again, $26 gets you into the pool for the MegaMillions for 13 weeks (two drawings a week). If you would like to play specific numbers, just let me know. I will be buying tickets on Friday February 20, so you have a month to decide and get me the cash. Sorry, no extensions. You can find me on the 10th floor on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and on 11 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. You can also reach me at 646-752-1237 or christopherjstephens at gmail dot com.

Bonus innovation for 2009: instead of copying the numbers I will be scanning them and posting them on a blog (“Future Millionaire ALJs”, to be found at http://megamillions-aljs.blogspot.com/). I’ll also list the names of your fellow “investors” – sounds nicer than “gamblers”, no? – with your first name and the initial of your surname because, honestly, do you want this to show up when people Google you? I thought not.

Good luck, and champagne dreams!

Christopher S.