Lottery Luck

Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.32.20
Current Song - Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Here was my monthly horoscope, according to the March edition of the "lottery bible" -

"You are quite satisfied with your life, enjoy. Wise spending brings you things you will treasure a long time to come. A friend or companion may need you this month. Help them." My lucky pick 3 numbers are "079," with my four's being "7909."

I don't know about being satisfied with my life, but I'm trying to spend wisely. I guess the last part means that something awful will happen to either one of my writers, or a family member, since I do not have life "companion."

By trying to spend wisely, I'm cutting back on a few things. The first thing I tried was to pack a sack lunch to take with me to games. I went to a wrestling meet in the suburbs on Tuesday, a one-and-a-half-hour drive. Normally, I would take a few bucks and have a quick something from a drive-thru window. Instead, I packed a peanut butter sandwich, some pretzels, and filled my Shell mug with water.

After the meet was over, I opened up the bag. I was disappointed that the pretzels had worn out, but the sandwich was still good. I didn't feel like I had to eat or drink anything else on the way home. That was one of my longer trips during the year, and there are a few more coming up within the next few weeks. I just have to remember to pack it.

Wise spending also comes in the form of not buying scratch-off tickets. Once in a while I will buy a couple, as well as the Pick 3 and 4, but what games are the best ones to play? Sometimes the tickets that command attention are not always the best.

Most reatilers have a list that tracks how many winners are out there, and how many are left. Some math conducted after looking at it will help narrow the choices. Once the choices are narrowed, there's no need to go through a guessing game.

According to the most recent list, the best $1 ticket is called "Double Doubler." It's one of those tickets where you match three like amounts and win that prize, but with a multiplier option of 1, 2 or 4. The best $2 ticket is called "Cash Money." You get two numbers and have to match them with a group of numbers, and if there's a match you win the prize shown below. The best $3 ticket is the Crossword. You have a crossword puzzle and a group of individual letters, how much you win depends on how many full words you reveal using these letters. The best $5 ticket is "Jumbo Bucks." It works like "Cash Money," except you get four numbers instead of two and have to match them (in a bigger pool of numbers).

If you're really willing to spend, the best $10 ticket is "Super Cash." Like "Cash Money" and "Jumbo Bucks" you get six numbers and match them in a pool. The best $20 ticket is called "Fabulous Fortune." It's a big ticket with different games on it: three-like-amounts, match-in-a-row, pool-of-numbers, etc. There are two different $30tickets, but they both have to same odds.

This list changes every two weeks or so, and things may be different. So if you ever wanted to know what this list was, check it out because it does come in handy.