June 2, 2006

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  Internet Island Topic Post #12.00

  
  

  Money Money Money: Questions for the topic can be found by clicking the above link.

  
  

  These are my responses to Topic Post #12 for the Internet Island: Money Money Money
  12.01: The first thing that comes to mind is a commandment. “Thou Shalt Not Steal”. Obviously, money falling out of the back of an armored car doesn’t belong to me, and taking it would constitute theft. Even if I were inclined to think about taking the bundle, the scenario is a city street, and no matter how deserted, somebody could be watching and taking down my lisence plate number. I don’t think I’d leave the bundle in the middle of the street, as that could be tempting to somebody else. I would immediately take note of the armored car service, and call them on a cell phone or pay phone. There could be a reward.
  12.02: Another commandment comes to mind. “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. No matter who the stranger is, I don’t want a hand in his death. Since the conclusion of the Twilight Zone Episode on which I based this scenario ended with the last person to have won the money being the “stranger” that of course means I wouldn’t even have any time to enjoy their winnings since the next person who pushed the button would be ending my life, as I would be their “stranger”.
  12.03: I’ve actually seen this scenario quite a few times, and although I believe in the instances I encountered no ill events were happening, they easily could. I would never submit to a paypal “donation” without really knowing the person, and then I could mail them a donation. I don’t even renew internet subscriptions through email anymore. I go to the site to which I first visited, and go to the payment screen on the site. Too many hucksters use cyberspace for their ill begotten gains.
  12.04: Very often in life, things happen that are not expected, and sometimes these involve tragedy. Look at the many victims of Hurricane Katrina. Liz and I had a conversation just the other day about what would happen if a major earthquake hit L.A. As with all these exercises, using good common sense usually will help rather than hurt the situation. In the event that I would lose my job, I would make it “job #1″ to find another, even if it weren’t what I wanted, in order to at least gain some income. I do have a lot of credit card debt, and I call the financial institutions all the time trying to get better ‘deals’ so that I can pay more of the principal. There are “insurance policies” and “debt management” programs that these providers offer. Prime consideration, when having a family, is feeding the brood. Enlisting everyone in the family to help and try to gain some income in whatever way possible would be first on my mind.
  12.05: I’m about ready to pay off my car in a few months, and if the gas prices aren’t lower by then, I’m seriously thinking of considering a motorcycle again. I used to ride one, and only gave it up because of the girl with whom I lived at the time. This isn’t a solution for everyone, however.  Motorcycles can be dangerous if you aren’t carful riding them.
  12.06: I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I have “found” money lying on the pavement, and I’ve looked around  before picking it up, but we’re talking a 20 dollar bill at the most. In fact, when that incident happened, I was enlisting a friend’s help to move, and I gave the money to him because he was helping me. Once I was buying beer with a supposed “buddy” in our group when I was in my 20s, and both of us went to the market in my car. I had just met the guy a couple of weeks earlier, and he wasn’t the most honest individual I ever knew. I bought my beer, while he was still “shopping”. I got out to the car, and waited. He came running up to the car a bit hastily. After we got back to the “party”, I found out he had stolen the liquor in his bag. Later on, I once left my jacket at his house. Inside the pocket was a credit card I rarely used. This guy “used” the credit card to ring up over $1000.00 worth of “free beer” and concert tickets before somebody yanked the card. I didn’t find out about it until I got the bill the next month. Putting two and two together, I confronted him, and then when he denied stealing my card, I turned him in to the police.

  
  

  We all need money in order to survive. We should work for those wages , and never try to get “easy money”. I used to go to Las Vegas every year. These “excursions” were not primarily for gambling. I am a home theater buff and would go to visit the Consumer Electronics Show for three days every year in January. I did a fair amount of gambling, but I’m not addicted to the practice. Some people will sit at a slot machine for hours waiting for it to “hit” and get a jackpot. I’ve heard people who like to say “I won $500.00 in Vegas”. The never tell you that they spent over a grand trying to “win” that 500. My way of playing slots is to drop quarters in a number of machines. Sometimes I would drop a few bucks in one machine (usually those with Betty Boop as the featured figure) but if I play for a couple of minutes and don’t get anything, then I move on. I would “budget” the amount of money I wanted to “spend” gambling, and when it disappeared, so would I. I’ve won $250.00 in quarters on a “Wheel of Fortune” machine after only dropping a dollar in quarters in the machine. This filled two of those plastic tubs, and helped pay for some of my stay.

  
  

  Easy money never comes easy.

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