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Category What If?

Winning a Home Makeover

0 comments By Nicki Filed in What If? Tagged with , March 12th, 2010 @ 10:39 pm

Here’s another “What if?” entry, just because they’re fun.

What if I won a home makeover sweepstakes that said I could have unlimited funds to completely redo my current home and property? What would I do?

  1. Rip down the wallpaper.
  2. Refinish all the woodwork to it’s original state.
  3. Rip up the carpet.
  4. Refinish the hardwood floors.
  5. Buy area rugs.
  6. Replace all windows with high-efficiency models.
  7. Waterproof the basement.
  8. Get a clothes washer and dryer.
  9. Redo the kitchen with new appliances.
  10. Expand the downstairs quarter bath to a full bath (or at least a half).
  11. Remove and resell all the cabinets (they’re in good shape).
  12. Replace cabinets and counter top, but keep the sink.
  13. Completely redo upstairs bathroom with tile, new tub/shower, new toilet, new sink.
  14. Rip up shag carpeting in the kids’ rooms.
  15. Buy matching shelving and furniture for the entire house.
  16. Buy a really comfortable chair set for the front porch so we can people watch.
  17. Rebuild the garage.
  18. Fix the brickwork outside.
  19. Replace our asphalt roof with a green roof.
  20. Install some solar panels, if possible.
  21. Get new curtains.
  22. Get someone to mount our television on the wall.
  23. Buy everyone in the house a desk.
  24. Get a dining room table and chairs.
  25. Finish the basement so it’s not so scary to go down there.

Yeah, I think that’s about it.

You’re Fired!

0 comments By Nicki Filed in What If? Tagged with , , February 3rd, 2010 @ 6:00 am

So it’s currently 2:10 a.m. as I write this. I forgot when I was making my grand plans for the start of February that Tuesday was the start of LOST. I slept for 4.5 hours, and am now currently waiting for the new episode to get put online. I’ll crash in another 15 minutes until 4 a.m., giving me my usual total of about six hours of sleep, with the added benefit – hopefully – of having watched LOST before I get in to work.

As I waited I went through my feed reader and as usual, Seth Godin posted interesting, thought-provoking content. Which leads me to…

What if you got fired…tomorrow?

If I got fired tomorrow, would I wallow for a day and then jump back into a job search?

If I got fired tomorrow, would I take advantage of my free time to live life a little bit before trying to find another place to slave away at?

If I got fired tomorrow, would I follow a passion instead of trying to find a grind?

Lemonade is a 35 minute video about a bunch of people who got laid off from various ad agencies and decided to take their lives in completely different directions. They started their own businesses, dealt with family illnesses, changed their genders, and changed other people’s lives. They didn’t go back to the jobs they’d been let go from, whether they enjoyed them or were slaves to them. They took their passions and rode them like freshly castrated bulls.

It’s good, inspiring stuff. That’s what I watched while I waited for LOST.

I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I got fired tomorrow. Would I drink until I was stupid? Would I sob and cry and be depressed for weeks on end?

I would like to think instead that I could spend a day mourning (crying, drinking, ranting, venting, vegging) and then get on with it. Do I have a dream I would follow? Well, I did always want to be a published author. But my main dream is to make a million dollars and never have to worry about money. I think that counts as a dream, yes?

Would You Rather…

1 comment By Nicki Filed in What If? Tagged with , , January 28th, 2010 @ 6:00 am

Would you rather always have exact change in your pocket for whatever you wanted to buy (large purchases like cars and houses included), or a large lump sum of money?

In all the years I’ve asked people this question, I’ve only ever had one person agree with my point of view, and that was my mother.

I would much rather have exact change in my pocket for whatever I wanted to buy. I could buy a round of drinks for a bunch of friends, or pull out a $20 for the homeless guy walking down the street, or buy a new car when I needed one. I could fix my house, I could adopt ten cats (yes, I’m going to be the crazy cat lady eventually), or I could buy a new iPad and all the apps I could ever dream of wanting.

I could pay off the national debt. I could fund the best political candidate. I could hire a housekeeper!

As opposed to having a set sum of money, $100 million, for instance. Your dreams are limited with limited funds.

Just sayin’…

Money Can’t Buy Happiness – But If It Could…

0 comments By Nicki Filed in Completely Off Topic, What If? Tagged with , , , December 7th, 2009 @ 8:03 am

money buys happiness?I’ve heard that money can’t buy happiness, and though I don’t have a lot of experience in that area, I tend to agree. Buying things won’t make you happy, or get you friends, or whatever. But I still like to think about buying things, and I was just in the shower and I thought, what if…

What if you had a million dollars and you couldn’t spend it all on yourself?

I know someone who drives an old junker with bad brakes because they can’t afford anything else. The money simply isn’t there. So I would buy them a new car, and pay for the car insurance for the first year.

I know another someone who does well at their job, but really wants to start their own office. I would invest in that.

I would buy state of the art technological equipment for my current employer – once they find a new building.

I have a two friends who are single moms, and another who might as well be. I would help them start saving for their kids’ college educations.

Since one million dollars isn’t enough to quit my job and move to San Diego, California, I would have to redo my house. I know someone who is struggling whose husband is a general contractor. I would hire him to replace all the windows, remove the wallpaper that is everywhere, rip up carpet, replace appliances, finish the basement, upgrade the hot water heater thing, everything except finish the floors. I have a friend whose brother does that.

I would also hire the above mentioned guy to fix my parents’ house up to sell so they could buy a one-story home with a lower payment so they don’t have to worry about the stairs anymore.

I would give a lot of money to local food banks, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, local homeless shelters, local women’s shelters, and local animal shelters.

I would give every staff member in my office, associate assistants included, a big fat bonus for 2009. We’ve all had a rough year, and we need to know that we’re appreciated.

I would make the biggest donation ever to my favorite writing program for 2010’s event.

I know someone who is really struggling financially and emotionally. I would wipe out their work related debt and pay for their apartment for a year so they could focus on getting their feet under them without taking a step back. (This would most likely have to be done anonymously.)

Just to be spiteful, I would make a donation to a very left wing charity in the names of some very right wing people in my office. Is that mean? Well, anyway…I can’t be good all the time.

I would of course start worrying not only about my own kids’ educations, but my husband’s and my retirement as well, and put some funds towards that.

And if I still had money left, I suppose I would buy a bunch of beer, a grill, and some bratwurst and throw a major party in my teeny tiny back yard for the neighborhood and friends from the office. BYO chips, salads and desserts. And kids would be totally invited to drink all the soda they could handle.

I think those things might just make me happy.

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plan: to devise or project the realization or achievement of

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