I woke up yesterday morning, drove Cara to the train and then went to the grocery store. In addition to buying lunch and dinner, I bought a couple of scratch off lottery tickets. I got home and the first thing I did was scratch off the tickets. I was playing "The Price is Right," which has three games on one ticket. The first game, I lost, the second game, I lost but the third game, I won one million dollars!

I called Cara and told her the great news. She had her doubts but I was 100% sure I won. I ate a quick breakfast, took a shower, grabbed my: birth certificate, social security card, passport and camera. I drove to the New York Lottery claim center and presented my ticket.


The lady took my ticket, scanned it and said, "Why do you think this is a winning ticket?" Oh crap, I thought. I explained in Showcase 2, my number 225 ("YOUR BID") is lower than the "ACTUAL PRICE" 275. She told me the numbers in front of those numbers had to match too. I thought those numbers were just identifying numbers for their use because they were separated. Confused? Join the club. Darn! So embarrassing.

I apologized for my mistake and walked out of there with my tail between my legs. If I had won, I'd get the million over 20 years ($50,000 for the next 20 years). After taxes, that's not really a life changer. But I wouldn't have turned it down either, ha ha.

What a morning! UGH!

The icing on the cake of this day:


I overcooked my dinner! We have a charcoal grill. I don't think I grilled one piece of meat properly all summer. SIGH!