New career: money no object?

In My Humble Opinion
1

What would you do with your life if you won the lottery? After you got tired of traveling or bumming around (assuming that’s possible), in what new or long-neglected pursuit(s) would you spend your waking hours, if you didn’t have to worry about putting food on the table and a roof over your head?

Me, I’d open a small cafe, where I could cook whatever struck my fancy that day, without ever having to wash the dishes…it would also have live music on weekends, and the work of obscure but talented local artists on the walls. During off hours, I’d invite representatives of local ethnic communities to come in and teach cooking classes. (My theory: you can’t hate people if you’ve enjoyed the best of their cuisine! or, put differently, the way to mankind’s hearts is through their stomachs, and the minds will follow.)

I’d also fund at least a couple of not-for-profits; one would offer scholarships to single moms and other people in dire circumstances because someone they should have been able to depend on had let them down, and another would promote health education, computer literacy, and feminist empowerment in the less-developed areas of the former Soviet Union.

And in my spare time, I’d learn to blow glass, and take lots and lots of different music classes.

Fantasize away!

2

I’d build a huge no-kill cat shelter, a forever home type deal. I’d have separate living quarters for FeLV positive cats, and bunches of staff to play with all of them. No cages, just compatible living groups. And then I’d do the same for horses, I’d save a bunch of Premarin foals, and older horses that can’t be used anymore.

3

Seriously, if I won a significant chunk of change, I’d find ways to help people help better themselves while contributing in whatever way they could to this cause…so it can grow. We all have a skill or talent to share with the next person. Together, we can move mountains, educate the underprivileged and/or those in need of certain skills to obtain employment. Through some type of reciprocal agreement, we can all help each other succeed. And, such a place would produce quality products or services to be self-sufficient. (Sheesh! If only the Gov. could put its collective mind to work for the betterment of its citizens, for once!)

Perhaps it sounds utopian, but I believe it could work. I believe in concepts expressed in movies like “Pay It Forward”, “The Power of One”, “Dave”, and “The Grand Canyon”. We weren’t put here to be selfish couch potatoes while our fellow man lives on the brink…or falls off the brink. And as for the gripe that some would abuse the system, I think there could be checks and balances to safeguard against this…or at least minimize it.

I think it could be done. Maybe someone out there listening has the clout and/or resources to run with these thoughts… One last note: It would not go to my head nor would I suddenly become money-hungry, or a stone-hearted entrepeneur. - Jinx

P.S. Well, I can dream, can’t I?

4

Serious stuff:
I’d set up a fund for the caregivers of people who suffer from MD.
Mental and physical support. It is a brutal disease.

I’d set up a scholarship fund for girls only with such strict parameters that essentially giving girls that were like me ( C student, deceased father, Irish/Catholic Middle Class, adopted, family ravaged by terrible disease) get a chance.

I would like to set up a private school where all religions are taught ( even the off beat ones) and the fundemental things in life:(along with those other courses like Math, Science, Lit and French.) Cooking, Accounting, Home Finance, Manners, Music, Car and Home maintence, Basic medical emergency stuff and speech skills. Also, extra curricular sports would be mandatory for every student and there would be no Homecoming Court. Evolution will be taught. Students would live at this school during the week and go home on weekends. No tuition, but students are responsible for the care of the school and raising X amount of dollars towards the upkeep through whatever legal means necessary. There would be no tenure offered to teachers. Only a renewed contract at the end of each term with a satisfactory job well done. Teachers housing ( Nice town house style buildings, possibly.) would be on campus and they would live rent free, only paying for upkeep. Admission is through the student writing an essay on why they think they would be an asset to this academy.

**Kinda silly **

I would start my own film production company ( either named *S O F.U. Prodctions * or *Rat’s Ass Productions *).and start looking for and possibly writing my own script to make a decent movie. One of those indie films that takes everyone by surprise. That’s what I want to make. and I want Brad Pitt without his shirt on in every scene. Jennifer Lopez would die a horrible death in the first scene, possibly Brittany Spears, too.

5

If I didn’t have to work for a living…

I’d rescue, train and use therapy animals.

Throughout much of my childhood we visited my elderly relatives (grandparents and great-aunt) every weekend in rest homes. They were as nice as any available but still pretty depressing. The kind nurses turned a blind eye when we smuggled in our tiny dog, whom they all adored.

So many–so damned–of their roommates and floor mates had no one, NO one, visit them. Ever. Not even on holidays. They were basically warehoused until they conveniently died, and knew it. We got in the habit of “doing the rounds”, i.e. stopping in to chat for a few minutes, letting the pup cuddle frolic up to them and cuddle for a bit, etc. Sometimes we chat for a minute in one room and she’d frolic into another, pleased as hell to see her buddies and soaking up the attention.

The change in those lonely folks was remarkable. The nurses permitted it, despite the regs, because with some of 'em it was the only time during the week they perked up, wanting to bathe, looking forward to it, saving treats for the dog, etc.

I sure wasn’t a saint as a kid, and sulked about it badly. But I’m really glad my parents made me do it. After a while I looked forward to it. It’s pretty damned hard to resist that much simple joy, from people who loved our dog as much as we did.

One of my most treasured possessions is a worn old clothback of Riders of the Purple Sage my grandfather’s roommate gave me when I was 10. My grandfather was (to be blunt) a nasty, grumpy old man, but his roommate was the sweetest old guy. He found out I loved to read and gave me his beloved old western. He also cackled about making the staff save his jello at meals for the dog. He hated it; the dog loved it, rubbery as it was. A spark of rebellion!

I’d love to be able to do that again, on a much wider scale.

Veb

6

I’d do the Ted Turner thing and buy a large ranch and manage it for wildlife, and possibly raise some livestock if I thought that was the appropriate use for the land. I’d then sponsor field trips and public education on the ranch for elementary through college students, and establish summer ecology camps for highschool and grant scholarships for kids interested in biology careers.

7

I’d call a good accountant and put them on retainer, then…

I’d help my wife set up that farm to raise Percherons or Belgian Drafts, with an Arabian or two. I’d also get a good health insurance plan to cover the bent bones that come with working horses.

I’d start a fund to finance human expression–opera, punk bands, impressionist oils, graffiti artists on billboards, you name it. The focus would have to be on connecting with common people, and it would be good if it could sometimes break even financially (think Apple, don’t steal the roof.)

Myself, I’d like to set myself up with a woods and metal shop and maybe try to make a small income off of some of my work. Beyond that, maybe become a GP doctor in a poor/rural setting or, as funny as it may sound, just keep the type of job I have now.

8

Somebody on this board mentioned how much he changed a life by giving a chocolate bar and a dollar to a woman in Biafra. She cried.

I think giving little to lots of people would mean a lot more than giving a lot to an organization. I used to work for a large non profit group, and while they did good things, 75 percent of your money wound up going for salaries and administration. (A trick for future donors. Write “for research only” or “for food only” or “for children only” on your memo part of the check, and by law, it can only be used for that purpose! Non profits hate when you do that as they cannot use it for administration.)

I would buy computers for schools in third world countries, musical intruments for kids in America, give teachers an extra fund for classroom supplies and books, buy dvd players and discs for hospices, pay off poppy growers in Afganistan to grow edible crops, educate people about organ donation, give scholarships to runaway gay and lesbian teens, build parks and give small business loans in every ghetto and wind up broke after about three years doing the above.

9

I would go crazy. In the Emperor Norton kinda way.

I would think of amazing crazy plots to subject my city to all with one goal. To make the average joe stop for a minute, shake their head and smile.

I also agree with cornflakes A nice metal and wood shop woud keep me entertained for a great deal of time.
I have always enjoyed doing stone sculptures. I would hire someone to research all the law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty here in Madison county, then create life sized granite statues of each. I would focus on detail (making sure the uniforms matched the time of their service) and Show them as not only officers but as human beings. Such as one sitting and smiling on the hood of his police cruiser, another standing tall with his hand on the shoulder of his grandson (in a cub scout uniform).

10

I am not sure about that. The groups I worked for set a ceiling of using 10% of the funds for administration (inc. salaries).

11

Well, the relevancy of that figure completely depends on the nature of the organization’s mission, in any case. If it doesn’t mainly provide tangible goods or money to it clients, then much of its funds will inherently go to salary and administration.

I once worked for a nonprofit that provided job training and placement for refugees. Our main non-administrative expense was paying for outside training for clients (or sometimes for state licensing, if they had training already in a profession that requires licensing, like, say, cosmetology or truck driving). But as most training was done in-house, naturally our biggest expense was staff salaries. It’s hard to teach ESL or data entry if you have no teachers! and in most cases it was much more economical to provide training in-house than to outsource it. Our staff didn’t make very much.