HOW TO BECOME A BILLIONAIRE

Nothing earthshaking occurring around the world and in the USA, so I'll start with a reminder:  Our women's soccer team plays tonight against Portugal.  3AM EDT or 9PM in Hawaii on your Fox channel.

Kickoff at Eden Park is set for 3 a.m. ET. Caesars Sportsbook lists the United States as the -390 favorites (risk $390 to win $100) in the latest USWNT vs. Portugal odds, with Portugal listed as +1000 underdogs. A draw is priced at +420, and the over/under for total goals scored is 2.5. (For more soccer coverage, click here.)

For those who don't understand American Odds, -390 means that the U.S. has an 80% chance of winning.  If they even tie, they will advance to the next round.  Speaking of betting, the next most important news of the day is the drawing for a billion dollars in the Mega Millions lottery tonight.

You can lie and cheat and become a billionaire, such as Donald Trump.  He supposedly is worth $2.5 billion.

Forbes says there are 2640 billionaires from 77 countries in the world.  If you are one, you are among the top 0.000033% richest people.  Or, in other words, there is one billionaire for every 3 million people.

So how can you immediately become a billionaire?  Win the Powerball or Mega Millions lottery.  Your chance of doing this, though, is about one in 300 million.  In comparison:

• 1 chance in 12,000 of finding a pearl in a restaurant oyster.
• 1 in 10,000 to find a four leaf clover.
• 1 in 15,300 of being struck by lightning.
• 1 in 44,459 of being killed by a venomous animal or plant.
• 1 in 88,000 of dating a supermodel.
• 1 in 46,562 of being killed by a bee or hornet.
• 1 in 75,000 of dying in a global impact of an asteroid.
• 1 in 188,365 of being killed in a plance cras.
• 1 in 2.7 million of being killed by a bear at Yellowstone.
• 1 in 3.7 million of being attacked by a shark.
• 1 in 112 million of being killed by a vending machine.
• 1 in 9.2 quintillion of picking a perfect NCAA bracket.  Or just about 1 followed by 19 zeroes.

Buying a $2 lottery ticket is not a good investment.  But gambling is not smart anyway.  Yet many flock to places like Las Vegas, knowing they will most likely lose money.  There is entertainment value  too in the national lottery.

Another common comparison is getting struck by lighting. Even if you bought a lottery ticket for every drawing over 80 years — two times a week for Mega Millions and three times a week for Powerball — you would still be far less likely to win than to be struck by lighting once in your lifetime, Syracuse University mathematics professor Steven Diaz added.

Plus, say you strike it rich and win a billion dollars, they will only give you $516.8 million, which does not qualify you for billionaire status.  What the fine print says is that you can get the full billion if you distribute this winning over 29 years.  Even worse, there are Federal and State taxes.  But Powerball just recently was hit for $1.586 billion on a $2+$1 ticket.  Half of that, minus taxes, gets you closer.  The largest winning was $2.04 billion for Powerball in 2022.

The winner of that $2.04 billion was Edwin Castro of California.  But even that amount did not quite make him a billionaire, for he only got $997.6 million.  Ah, but life is not all that easy.  Castro was sued by Jose Rivera, who claimed he bought the ticket and it was stolen by Castro.  However, three months later, on Valentine's Day, Castro was confirmed as the legal winner.

Oh,, Joe Chahayed, who sold the ticket in his Altadena Mobil gas station won $1 million.

So anyway, what's your next opportunity?  

• The Mega Millions jackpot will be worth $1.05 billion and will be determined tomorrow, Tuesday, at 11PM EDT.  Well, not exactly, for it depends on the state.  New Jersey, for example, has a deadline of 9:15PM EDT, while Arizona is 6:59 PM Mountain Time.

• 
  Pick five numbers for $2 and a Megaball number for $1, or $3.  The white balls are numbered 1 to 70 and the golden Mega Ball from 1 to 25.  
• These tickets can be usually be bought in grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores.  Some states allow online purchasing, but beware of scam websites.

• 
  You can play in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  But Alabama, Alaska, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii residents cannot participate in your home state.  You can, though, have someone buy your ticket in a qualifying state, or go yourself to another state.  If you win, you still need to pay state taxes, and of course, to the IRS.

Hawaii protects us from gambling.

• There is some history, for a lottery bill was almost approved, but in 1893 Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown.
• There was legal horse betting before 1940, but no more.

• 
  Interestingly enough, in 1972 Del Webb's Kuilima Resort Hotel and Country Club was built to be a casino.  However, "his" bill failed to pass.  This is today the Turtle Bay Resort.
• In 2019 a bill was introduced to allow a state lottery, which would open up Powerball and Mega Millions, but only passed first reading.

Hawaii does have two billionaires, Larry Ellison and Pierre Omidyar.  Ellison doesn't live here, but owns 98% of Lanai.  Steve Case is from here, cousin of Congressman Ed Case, is worth $1.5 billion, but lives elsewhere.  Similarly, Blair Parry-Okedan is worth $8.4 billion, but lives in Australia.  They all earned their status.

Let me end with a note that Barbenheimer has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.  I've hyped Barbie and Oppenheimer for a couple of weeks now, and I guess I was right.  The expectation is Barbie will alone someday surpass a billion, for it has already reached $800 million.  There seems to be a constant 2:1 ratio, for Oppie has earned $405 million.

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HAWAII: The Happiest State in the Nation

Wallet Hub, which regularly shows that Hawaii is too expensive, reported that it is the happiest state in the USA. 30 metrics determined happiness.

Finland was for the sixth year in a row the happiest country in the world.  Nordic countries took the top three positions, Denmark #2 and Iceland #3.  All this comes from the United Nations World Happiness Report.  Blue is best, although dark green is okay, and the U.S. is ranked #15.  Black is bad, and that is Ukraine.

If you lived in Hawaii as long as I have, there is a lot of reminiscing to do.  Someone sent me a link to the past:  here, and more here.  Thanks for the Memories.  

While I'm into this mode: 

• from the Man of La Mancha, The Impossible Dream
• from Casablanca, As Time Goes By

• 
  Old Movie Stars Dance to Uptown Funk
• to I'm So Excited
• Mary Hopkin with Those Were the Days from The Ed Sullivan Show
• you've seen Tony Bennett with Lady Gaga, here he is with Judy Garland for I Left My Heart in San Francisco
• Judy Garland's final performance of Over the Rainbow in 1969.

• 
  Born in Dublin, Sinead O'Conner passed away at the age of 56:  her most famous songs, and six minutes of Nothing Compares 2 U.  She was married and divorced 4 times, with 4 children.

Just watched Honolulu, a 1939 movie, which got a 20% rating from Rotten Tomatoes, meaning don't bother doing the same.  However, even this film has some scenes you don't see anymore.  Robert Young plays three roles and Eleanor Powell taps to the hula, and has a blackface performance.  Also, George Burns and Gracie Allen look relatively young.  

Also released in 1939, here is the entire production of Charlie Chan in Honolulu.  In that year he already had 13 children, with one more to come.  It's only around an hour long, but you need to consider that Rotten Tomatoes only gave it a 46 rating.

Typhoon Khanun is now up to 105 miles/hour and could well strengthen to 135 MPH when it gets closest to Naha Tuesday afternoon.  How close?  Too close.  There will then be a weakening as China is approached, and early projections of landfall over Wenzhou next weekend seems to be changing to now more closely head in the general direction of Shanghai.   So if you're flying to that city later this week, watch out.

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A DAY IN MY LIFE AT 15 CRAIGSIDE

If you've visited this blog site, you know that I have been living at a senior's community now for almost a decade.  Early in my stay here I joked about 15 Craigside perhaps being Purgatory:

• COULD 15 CRAIGSIDE BE PURGATORY?
• MY LIFE IN PURGATORY

Life here at 15 Craigside is actually very close to Purgatory.  Here is what I did just during the past 24 hours or so:

• First, a few things about this place.  They run a clean and safe ship.  For example, mask wearing is back.  Why?  Not sure, for no resident is currently infected.  About the next photo, I caught perhaps a 1000 cockroaches in Hoy Hoy traps during my 32-year stay at the adjacent Craigside apartment, most on my penthouse roof.  Here, I have yet to see even one in my rooms.  However, I still use Hoy Hoy (and I'll report on this Japanese device sometime soon) traps on my small lanai, and in my stay here have caught around ten roaches.  All very large.  So they surround us.

All that cleaning allows us to better see rainbows.  Nothing today, and I might note that the residents tend to be religious and patriotic.  Every floor also decorates to the season.

Note the free water provided.  A nice amenity.

The Bus stops close by, and I caught one to get a haircut in downtown Honolulu.  I was first greeted by my blue-bar pigeon.

I found my walk through town a bit disconcerting.  I was prepared for the Belly Bowl Ramen next door, but it looked like they had given up and shut down the place.  So I walked another block to Senia, and it too was closed.  Maybe they only now serve dinners.

So I thought I'd have some noodles anyway, and went to Long's to get a can of beer.  It too had closed, forever.  Downtown Honolulu is sliding, when you also consider that the major outlet, Walmart, also recently shuttered.  Marugame Udon, however, had a line outside the door.  So first went next door to a brand new Daiso, the modern Japanese chain of what was once popular, the 100 Yen store.  Back to Marugame for their most expensive curry udon.  I really don't like thick noodles, and this one must hold some kind of record for diameter.

Walked by Safeway for some sashimi, then caught the #4 bus back to 15 Craigside.

We sing a lot here.  Two sessions, first sing along with Masaru, and our Aloha Hour, which this month featured karaoke.

Then on to our Solarium for Aloha hour, which welcomes new residents, features a changing theme, and provides food and drinks.

And, of course, Masaru singing.

Plus group singing.

The highlight of the day was Steak night.

Anyone know what haricot verts are?  French green beans, shown here with nishime, rice, loaded mashed potatoes, and way on the other side, Grilled and Sliced Beef Tenderloin with two kinds of sauces, cognac and chimichurri, which is Argentinian and green.  Then, the Prime Rib with Au Jus and Creamy Horseradish.

Of course, the usual fruit, vegetable and side dishes bar, plus chicken vegetable soup.

Various wines and other drinks.

Two desserts, Tiramisu and a 7-layered chocolate cake.

Want to also live in Purgatory?  Click on this for information, and on this for how we rank, from Family Assets.  Cost?

A new storm has formed in the West Pacific,  Khanun is currently a tropical storm, but will soon attain hurricane strength, skirt north of Taiwan and south of Okinawa, attain Category 2 strength, then make landfall over Zhejiang, China on Wednesday.

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