# If you could step into a time machine with a wad of cash ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677 "2005-10-11T01:25:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677/21 "2005-10-11T14:41:30Z")
Bethany Beach, Delaware, 1962, right after the storm. I’d buy up about ten parcels of land – each for about $12,000 – and put the deeds in a safe deposit box. I would also set up a trust fund including detailed instructions on purchases for the coming years. I’d need two lawyers and a stock broker who were in on it, too – a series of double envelopes would prevent anyone from knowing that I’d written instructions to buy MSFT before MSFT existed. Also, give the lawyer a few more letters to mail while I’m at it: - October 1963, to the Chief of the Secret Service, the White House - January 1974, to the head of the CIA - June 1987, to Warren Buffett ('cause I’d have Berk/Hath shares, and I’m a nice guy) - January 1986, to the Head of Safety, NASA - August 30, 2001, to the FAA - Early summer, 2001, to Mohammed Shah Massoud (the “Lion of the Panjshir”) - September 1994, to Miss Monica Lewinsky oh yeah, and: - December 1996, to myself, in boarding school (I already have a copy of this one – I’ll just mail it again) Last time I made a bundle of money and my letters prevented the 1985 ICBM exchange with the USSR, but that apparently caused the German reunification to happen later, and on the Western side, preventing the German Freedom Revolution of 1987. The Germans were strong enough militarily that a complete invasion of Iraq was practical back during DESERT RAIN (DESERT STORM to this timeline). ---
**Author:** ![GrahamWellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/54ee81/32.png) [@GrahamWellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrahamWellington)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677/22 "2005-10-11T15:38:21Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Of course, during the first 4 years you’d be contending with the fact that WWII was going on. If you weren’t actually in the armed forces, you’d be dealing with rationing. Very unlikely you’d have had a convertible of any kind; even if you did, you’d be fortunate to be allowed enough gas to do much aimless riding around. > > FWIW, many families didn’t have a TV of any kind until into the '50s. I know for my family, a trip to a diner was a rare treat. My parents said they knew the war was over for sure when they could go out and buy me a tricycle made of actual metal. Before then, metal was needed for weapons and tanks, and not for trivialities like children’s toys. > > Oh, yeah, and tooth repair was not that comfortable then, either. None of this sissy anaethetic for a mere filling – which took, incidently, considerably more time than it does now, high-speed drills not being invented yet. And you didn’t usually go to the dentist until it was really, really necessary, since dental insurance hadn’t been invented yet, either. > > Better check your time line. Elvis, having been born in 1935, was seven years old in 1942. And Steveland Morris (aka Stevie Wonder) was not born until 1950. > > As for me, I wouldn’t go back to that time period for any amount of money. Been there, done that. I much prefer the medical care of today. Gosh, you make me seem like some kind of a dunce. But I’m goin’ anyways! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GrahamWellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/54ee81/32.png) [@GrahamWellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrahamWellington)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677/23 "2005-10-11T15:43:29Z")
> [@lorinada](#): > > I’m not sure what your requirement that we “lurk in the shadows” and “observe” mean, so I’m not sure if I would even be able to do this under those rules, but… > > I would go back the the decade starting when my son was 5 years old, because we were so so poor because of my illness and subsequent recovery, and he so deserved a better childhood than the one he got. If a wad of cash was injected into it, so many things would have not happened that affected his life negatively. I’m not sure what I meant either. I hope you and your son are doing a lot better now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677/24 "2005-10-11T16:08:50Z")
> [@GrahamWellington](#): > > Gosh, you make me seem like some kind of a dunce. But I’m goin’ anyways! 😃 Many times people are overcome with nostalgia for a golden past that never existed. ---
**Author:** ![GrahamWellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/54ee81/32.png) [@GrahamWellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrahamWellington)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677/25 "2005-10-12T02:31:12Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Many times people are overcome with nostalgia for a golden past that never existed. Truer words were never spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Foaming\_Cleanser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Foaming\_Cleanser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foaming_Cleanser)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677/26 "2005-10-12T15:19:17Z")
> [@GrahamWellington](#): > > Truer words were never spoken. But they were much truer back in the old days. I occasionally go back to Jan. 16, 1938, and dressed as an usher, materialize inside Carnegie Hall, just as the Benny Goodman concert gets underway. (Repeatedly materializing as ticket-holders and taking up a bunch of seats would change the timeline.) Of course the more I do this, the more the place is filling up with ushers. If I’m not careful, I’ll bump the Dionne quintuplets into also-rans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-step-into-a-time-machine-with-a-wad-of-cash/325677.md?page=1)