Millionaire Odds

For Christmas I treated myself to $120 dollars worth of lottery tickets for the Florida Holiday Millionaire Raffle. I know many people think of lottery as a tax on the poor (or the stupid) but I look at it differently. Fortunately…or maybe it is due to hard work and staying within my means…I live a comfortable lifestyle. The loss of $120 will not keep me from having food, shelter, sporting goods or anything else that I desire (within reason) but is giving me hope (no matter how small) of a life changing event.

A few days from now I will either have enough money to buy a house and retire 10 years early or I will be out $120 that I won’t even miss. It seems like a worthwhile chance to me. Should I feel the need to justify the expense I can always say I’m supporting education or paying back the lottery grants I received in college.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed...although it makes it hard to type…and enjoying dreaming of being financially secure so I can pursue other life goals. My great novel, daily blogging and more travel time are only a few numbers away!

Cat “Show me the Money” Cathy

Gotta Have the Girl in the Mercedes Benz

After 17 years of driving a pick up truck I’m enjoying having something nicer and all the celebrations that go along with it showing it to my friends. I’ve spent the last month just celebrating with small groups of friends as they see my shiny new blue Mercedes SLK hard top retractable sports car. This fun alone has made the car purchase a great idea and I’m hoping for many more fun experiences in the years to come. Here are some of my celebrations to date:

-I showed up at my boyfriend’s parents’ house with the car straight from the dealer’s lot. I wasn’t sure they would be up to celebrating but they came running out of the house with the dogs and bells and lots of happiness and laughing.

-I surprised my friend who has a matching burgundy SLK by just showing up for our weekly skate without telling her first. We took pictures and compared cars. We decided to form a club. The former roller derby skaters SLK club…we don’t expect to get many members with such tight guidelines.

-After a social event, several girls came out to see my car and we put the stereo on loud with some dance music. All the girls started dancing on the car and it was like something out of an MTV video as these girls could really move it. It was so much fun just dancing in a parking lot and something I hadn’t done in years.

-I showed it off to a few coworkers who started asking about the motor size. To which I responded “it’s blue”. That’s my way of saying I have no clue but I’m just a girl so who cares. Unfortunately these were my engineering coworkers so they said that wouldn’t work and as an engineer I needed to know about the mechanics.

-I showed it to a bunch of my mountain biker friends at a party. I wanted to let them hear the loud stereo which was playing The Little Mermaid music at this point. So we sang and danced along while hanging out in the street.

-My boyfriend who helped tremendously in my car buying decision also joined the celebrations. I’m not sure if he is happy about the car or happy that he no longer has to spend time looking with me and hearing me complain. He gave me a huge list of Mercedes songs. It was funny and sweat but quickly deleted most of them since they were gangster rap and not really the image I was hoping for in my new car. His second favorite was Gold Digger by Kanye West which says "She gonna make it into a Benz out of that Datson". This seemed appropriate since my last car was a Nissan (Formerly known as Datsun). But his absolute favorite song was Mercedes Benz by Say Yes which says "I gotta have the girl in the Mercedes Benz". This was so sweet and romantic to me but I guess I have a silly idea of romance.

Wow and I thought I made a big deal out of birthdays but they pale in comparison to my car celebrations. I’m ok with that since it will be a long time before I get another chance for ‘new car’ celebrations. I think we should all take time to celebrate all the good things in life!

Cat “Happy to be Blue” Cathy

Love my Job of Pay the Bills ???

I recently attended team building training for my job. One of the first questions we were asked was “why did we come to work each day”. The room was silent. I was thinking, probably like everyone else in the room, “because I need the money”. Our trainer said if it is just for a paycheck then you need to rethink your motives.

She had a point. As something you do five days a week it should be more than just a paycheck but lets be honest here….who grows up saying they want to pick up trash or any of a number of menial jobs that are out there? But these jobs need to get done. Since my job is not in the entertainment field as a professional athlete, actress, comedian or rock star I think I’ve pretty much settled. Is that a bad thing? I’m not necessarily sure. Yes I’d much rather be a rock star but it didn’t seem to be in the cards (or guitars) for me. Should I give up what I have and live in squalor while I try to make my dream come true? I’d say my chance of rock stardom is zilch since my voice is horrible and I can’t play any instruments and don’t have a long enough attention span to learn. My chances at being a professional athlete are only slightly better. I have been a pro-am Jet Ski racer and a professional roller derby skater in the past but neither career paid much and now that I’m 41 it would be harder to compete with people 20 years younger. My best chance of making it would be as an actress or comedian but even those are long shots for making a decent living.

Maybe just realizing that I am doing an important job and will do it to the best of my ability and make the most fun out of it I can even if it is not really my ‘dream job’ is ok. I’m not really sure. Some days I wish I hadn’t settled but that is easy to say as I sit in my comfy office with my comfy car and other toys. There are a lot of choices in life and it’s not always win or lose but rather shades of grey. Chances are I may have enjoyed an entertainment career more but would have struggled more, not gotten my engineering degree which I’m very proud of, and most likely have different regrets if I’d chosen that path. I guess I will never know. But what I do know is I have a great life anyway and I can blog and work part time in the entertainment world on the side. Plus I don’t know what the future holds and I’m always ready if a new and interesting opportunity presents itself.

Cat “The Entertainer” Cathy

Touristy Day in NYC

Our last day in NYC was a trip to the Statue of Liberty. I was really excited to see this even though I know it is basically a tourist trap and I have enough of that with Walt Disney World. But my grandparents were some of the huddled masses that came over and saw Lady Liberty and I just loved feeling like I was seeing history.

This trip took much longer than I would have liked with most of the day just waiting in line for ferries and entrance to the statue. After Liberty Island we headed over to Ellis Island which was completely refurbished a few years back. They have a great museum with lots of old pictures of immigrants. The museum also shows the history of the island and it was interesting to note that the island was abandoned and the buildings in disrepair as recently as the 80’s.

We returned by ferry to Manhattan with the dilemma of how to get rid of the bikes before we got on the subway in rush hour traffic. We had speculated throughout our trip on what we would do with them…give them to charity, a helpful local kid, sell them…who knows. While we were trying to decide a man opened a nice little box and said “wanna buy a Rolex”? I said “no, wanna buy a bicycle?” And just like that one of our bikes was gone. The second bike went to another vendor selling t-shirts. He seemed like a good kid and I was glad I could help him out a bit. We sold these bikes cheap since we really just wanted to get rid of them and had already saved a lot of money by buying bikes over renting them for the week anyway. Of course, being the sentimental people we are, we just had to take goodbye pictures with our bikes before we sold them.

Without bikes I felt a bit like a kryptonite infected superman. All of a sudden we were moving at mere mortal speeds. We walked to the New York Stock Exchange – where most of my fortune was lost. Then we walked to the former location of the twin towers just days before the 9-11 anniversary. The day was so pretty and peaceful that it was hard for me to even imagine that day 8 years ago. It was a very sad moment for me. I felt bad for all the families forever affected by that horrible event. The one bright spot was thinking of all the friendly New Yorkers I’d met during my vacation and the many people I saw enjoying the Brooklyn Bridge and other city landmarks. I’m sure many of the people lost that day loved their city and will be happy that it is still prospering and a safe and happy place to be.

Cat “Farewell my Northern Friends” Cathy

End of an Era

Bill Clinton becomes president.

A powerful bomb explodes in an underground parking garage beneath the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring over 1,000.

Cheers ends its 11-year run and Catastrophe Cathy buys a 1991 Nissan Pickup truck.

What do all these things have in common? They all occurred in 1993. It’s hard to believe but 1993 was the last time I purchased an automobile…until now!

I can’t really say why I waited so long. I guess since my truck kept running there was no pressing need to get a new one. I’ve called my truck a ‘disposable’ pickup for over 5 years. I kept thinking something major would break and I’d be forced to get something newer. But it never happened so I just kept on truckin’. I also liked saving money and not having to worry about something new getting dented or even washed for that matter. Is it wrong to only wash your automobile biannually??? Not if it’s a beat up old truck! .

But finally my boyfriend, father, mother and total strangers on the street convinced me I needed something newer and safer. So after many many hours and much analysis (I am an engineer after all) I narrowed down the numerous options to a small range of years for one make/model. Then I had to wait to find it at a price I could live with. This was no easy task and took over six months of hard work with Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book and Carfax quickly becoming my best friends.

In this supposedly bad economy it seemed surprisingly hard to get what I considered a reasonable deal and I was about to give up. But I got it! A pretty blue 2002 Mercedes SLK hardtop convertible!

When you only do something once every 17 years it’s a big deal and you need to celebrate. I’ve done a few celebratory chest bumps with my boyfriend and a cute little ‘I’ve got a new automobile’ dance. I’m thinking of putting a bow on it for Christmas and of course I will be singing some of the many Mercedes songs. Also, if I’m feeling down I just say ‘hey I have a new Mercedes convertible’ and my world is happy again.

Life is good! I know the car is just a small part of it but I’m thankful for a cute, fun new car that is also safer. I know there are tradeoffs since I spent a lot of money and I will have to wash it more often but it will be fun to cruise with the top down singing for all to hear. Anyone want to buy a well used but well loved Nissan pickup?


Cat “Got my hard top down so my hair can blow” Cathy

D-U-M-B-O and Dumbo is the Name Oh!

Yet another day in the big apple with much left on our ‘must do’ list. So we woke up early and took off on our bikes exploring. We biked into a street market just by accident. I always find it exciting to find something you were not expecting so we walked through the market which went on for several blocks and provided some tasty food and fun shopping.

Our first planned stop on our bikes was the Empire state building. It is a ‘must do’ as a first trip to NYC but now that I’ve done it I doubt I would ever do it again. The lines and the wait were just too much and I’ve been in many high buildings before. But it was cool at the top when we tried to call our parents but had no signal. I can only imagine we were too high above the cell towers or it was some security measure. The fencing on the observation deck is wide enough in spots to stick your head through…which of course I did. It was a bit scary to not have my vision blocked at all but also very invigorating.

Our next stop was the Museum of Sex. It sounded interesting in an educational kind of way but ended up being just a few crappy displays and a public porn watching session really. My advice is just skip this and rent a movie at home if that is what you are in to.

Since we were in the downtown area we did some biking on the main streets with the taxis zooming buy us. Although not an official tourist activity it was a blast and much cheaper and more enjoyable than the Museum of Sex or Empire State Building.

Next we biked to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was easy enough to see the bridge from the bike trail on the river but when we got to it we realized we had to cut into the city to actually get on the bridge. It took a bit of work to find the entrance believe it or not. But once we did we were shocked by the crowd. It was packed solid on the walking side. It was a pretty weekend day and I guess everyone was out to enjoy it. Luckily there is a bike only side which we used with a much smaller crowd. Even with the crowd it was a blast biking up and enjoying the view. We stopped at the top and sat on a structure that made us higher than anything but the towers and suspension. The cars were directly below us which was a bit unnerving and yet exciting too.

After a pleasant stay at the top we went down the other side of the bridge to a place called DUMBO – Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Here we purchased some tasty food to go and ate it in a park while we watched the sun set over the city. We met a couple that was seeing if they could spin around several times and then walk straight. They both did it and then I tried. Somewhere around spin number 8 I fell down and never made the walk. This was something I hadn’t tried since I was a kid and was so much fun!

After sunset we bought some hot chocolate and went back to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge to enjoy it and the view. I felt like queen of the world!

From there we biked back to the hotel to end our long fun day. I find it amazing how the simple and mostly free activities of the day were what I enjoyed the most. In this difficult economic time it is good to have reminders like this. A beautiful sunset, acting like a kid and spending time with the one you love are all fabulous and free!

Cat “truly a dizzy blonde” Cathy

St. Cathy’s River

My boyfriend and I were trying to decide about what to do on a mid October Saturday morning in Florida and I suggested mountain biking seeing as it should be cool out. Unfortunately the weather man didn’t realize this and scorching hot weather was forecasted for the entire weekend. So a last minute plan of jet skiing the St John’s River was decided.

We took his two sit down jet skis. As a 21 year veteran of stand up jet skis I’m almost a little embarrassed to say I rode a sit down and even took pictures of it thereby providing damning evidence. I’ve always said I wouldn’t use a sit down until I was 65 years old. But it was colder water and was supposed to just be a chill day so what the heck…sit downs here I come.

The St. John’s River was so empty I renamed it the St. Cathy’s River…I guess other Floridians had planned for colder weather activities too. With few people around we saw lots of wildlife including manatees and birds and gators…oh my. We ate lunch at what qualifies as an ‘upscale’ restaurant on the river. I think that just means flip flops are preferred over bare feet. We rode over 70 miles and hardly got wet thanks to the comfy sit down jet skis and finished the ride with a beautiful sunset on the river! It was a nice ‘local’ adventure and a great way to spend the day.

So if you ever have the chance, rent a pontoon and cruise the St. Cathy’s (John’s) River. But you might want to wait until summer since it is finally starting to get cold now.

Cat “Gator Bait” Cathy