PowerBall Mania - the Power of a Dream

The PowerBall jackpot was estimated to be about $900 million the other night. Every news program throughout the days leading up to the drawing showed long, long lines waiting for tickets. Believe it or not, Nevada is one of seven US states that does not allow a lottery. Therefore, if residents want to participate in a chance to win, they have to drive to Primm Valley, on the California line, to purchase tickets. Judging from this AP photo, I'd say lots of Nevadans made the trip.

The odds of winning aren't all that good … 1 in 292,201,338, except in our case. Since we don't buy tickets, our odds are nil, but really, that's not far from the folks who buy tickets. Admittedly, they do have a slight edge. I've read that there are ways of increasing your odds minimally … let the computer generate the numbers for you, buy more tickets, rely on Chinese fortune cookie lucky numbers, let your fairy godmother do the picks. In our case, buying a ticket would help, but again, only by a slight margin.

I got a charge out of reading what events had better odds of happening than winning the lottery. For instance:

• Being killed by a vending machine - 1 in 112 million
• Being hit by falling airplane parts – 1 in 10 million
• Being killed by flesh-eating bacteria – 1 in 1 million (really?)
• Being killed by a meteorite – 1 in 700,000
• Pigs flying – 1 in ?????

Who figures out these things?

Well, nobody won the $900 million jackpot. I checked the numbers first thing. Oh, my … now it's getting interesting. It's Powerball-mania. Estimated at $1.3billion, America's largest lottery jackpot ever is causing normally sane people to go wild. The already-crazies are beyond help. According to USA Today, the lottery is “a pipe dream Americans throw about $66.5 billion dollars at yearly. It’s a game that’s largely for poor people to lose, as numerous studies have shown.” Despite the odds, everyone thinks they're going to win. It's the dream … winning a billion dollars.

So what would we do with $1.3 billion. First of all, if we took a lump sum lower payment, it would only amount to an $806 million payout, then there's federal tax and maybe state taxes … so it would net out to significantly less. Still, that's a fair amount of money. Well, jeez … we can't quit our jobs … we don't have jobs. We can't buy a boat and sail off into the sunset … we already do that. We can't travel any more than we already do. We could buy a country, I guess … there are 10+ countries with a GDP below $800 million … which would still leave some change after purchase for supporting all our new friends.

All that said … we might be heading out of Nevada to a Powerball vendor in a nearby state in the next couple of days. You just never know … we might want to increase our odds of winning.

Pupusas, Lunch and El Salvador

No, we're not in El Salvador; we're still in Las Vegas. Last time we were here, however, we noticed several restaurants offering “pupusas”. We thought octopus … no, that's pulpo. Pupa is Spanish for blister … nah, they weren't serving blisters. It's not a papoose nor a life stage of a butterfly nor a doll (Latin). So, exactly what the heck's a pupusa? We decided we'd try Las Pupusas for lunch and find out.

Pupusas, we soon discovered, are a Salvadoran specialty and I can only describe them as stuffed soft tacos. I ordered a pollo con queso pupusa (chicken and cheese) and a calabaza con queso (zucchini and cheese). David and Mary ordered pupusas revueltas (a mix of pork, beans and cheese). They were served with a side of churtido (cabbage slaw with a hot pepper kick) and a tangy tomato sauce. Delicious!

Salvadorans in Las Vegas? Evidently, there's a fairly large population of Salvadorans here … considered to be the second largest Hispanic group in Las Vegas. The restaurant was busy, even at 2pm on a mid-week day, with mostly Latino customers. A Spanish soap opera played on the TV. Spanish conversations, soft and melodic, could be heard all around us. The décor included pictures of El Salvador … lots of them. We looked and ate and then thought … we've never visited El Salvador. We've never really spent any time in Central America at all except for Panama.

Now this is a dangerous thing for us … seeing beautiful beaches and vibrant cities and cultures we've never seen before. It got us thinking. Hmmm … El Salvador …. but it's on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal! It also has the dubious honor of being the world's new murder capital.

Okay, okay … next time lunch at Mickey D's.

Goodbye, Boston - Hello, Las Vegas

Traveling from east to west in the USA is usually pretty easy. The time zones are in our favor and there are lots of flights. If you're interested in a cheap ticket, however, the route becomes a bit more circuitous and the flight schedules are a bit more sparse. There are direct flights to Las Vegas from Boston, but in the interest of the budget, we chose a Southwest Airline flight with a 4-hour layover in Austin, Texas. There were cheaper flights, but they charge for baggage and some (Spirit Airlines, for instance) even charge extra for carry-ons which ends up costing more than the SW flight we booked. There's one thing when you have to pay for your pillow and blanket or be denied a cup of coffee on a 6-hour flight if you've already indulged in a free OJ, but charging for carry-ons? Yikes!

Lin dropped us at Boston's Logan Airport around 10:30 for our 12:30 flight. We had emptied our luggage of all the souvenirs we'd brought from our travels and then refilled it with all the presents we received plus some of the thrift shop goodies we'd purchased. The luggage was definitely crammed full and as heavy as it had been when we arrived. Miraculously, there were NO boat parts packed (although David's project, supplies and equipment took up a bit of space). This is a bad omen for our eventual trip back to Trinidad.

We sipped Dunkin Donuts coffee (Boston runs on Dunkin!) while waiting. No hassles; no stress. The all-seats-full Boeing 737-800 left on time and we arrived in foggy, rainy Austin, Texas about four hours later after an uneventful (best kind) flight. We spent our layover time listening to “Austin sound” live C&W music, checking out the airport artwork and eating BBQ for dinner. I was hoping to chat with Willie Nelson or Michael Dell (CEO, Dell Computer), but neither showed up.

We were delayed a few minutes by the weather, but arrived pretty much on time in Las Vegas. David's sisters, Mary and Karen, were waiting for us at baggage claim. Lots of hugs and kisses ensued and all of our luggage arrived promptly. The weather outside was cold and windy … are we really in Las Vegas?

Lots to do here. David's already got his list of boat parts to order and projects to complete, not to mention house projects for Mary. I have several articles due and a long list of non-boat chores to accomplish. A busy time ahead … what's new? Certainly beats being bored.