La Reve (The Dream)

No, this post is not about the lame Cirque ripoff at the Wynn.

It's my one pie-in-the-sky post. I don't allow myself to dream too much in my life. I try to be in the present and plan for the near future and I don't delve into hypotheticals much. I don't generally think it's a very productive use of my time. But sometimes I indulge myself, and this is one of those times.

LET'S JUST SAY, that in some drunken fever dream I sit down in front of a progressive Wheel of Fortune machine some night while in town. Something I would never do unless severely hammered, because the odds on those machines are beyond crap. And let's just say I, I don't know, hit a $12M jackpot. Hypothetically.

What then?

Well first you pay the man. I would want to take a lump sum if an option, so lopping off all the IRS shit say I'm left with, like $6.8M, clear and in the bank account. Then the decisions start. The first obvious decision is to quit my job. Via email. Then I have to decide where to live. I haven't seen much of the world, but honestly I don't have a desire to see much of it. I don't think I would want to do the "travel around and find my bliss location" thing...I'm too damn old and too impatient to spend a year doing that. I'm a nester. I'd want to find a place ASAP and get settled right away.

Readers (all one of you) of this blog might think this would be a no-brainer. ALL I talk about on this blog is Vegas, I hardly ever even mention the place I've lived for the last 9 years. I DO love San Francisco, though, it's a place I'm proud to be from and a place I could certainly imagine dying in one day, despite its flaws (and there are many). But the biggest of those flaws in the cost of housing. The real estate market here is some Lord of the Rings level fantasy world shit. Even though I would be in a position to get a condo here, I know it would be double to triple or more what I would pay elsewhere. I love the City - I don't love it that much.

So that leaves the obvious. Las Vegas. And in this case the obvious is the correct answer. With the .8 of my $6.8M I can get a pretty amazing pad on the strip and get it furnished out for $5-600K easily. Something high floor and with a strip view would do nicely. Something with a fitness center, pool area, massage/spa services and surrounded by great food. Something like the Veer towers (above) would be a nice fit but I could spec out all those details when the time came. I would still spend time in SF but Vegas would be the home base.

With the other $200K of the .8, a car or two would be in order. The first one for me would be a Porsche 911R. Absolute dream car, and only a couple years old. That would be the "impress the valet" car for the big nights out. Then I would need a more subtle daily, something that could carry passengers but still be a stealth rocket. Something like an Audi RS5 coupe might do nicely. Blows the doors off of the teeny speed racers out there but can still be parked in the lot at Target without attracting much attention. Then there's the less expensive stuff like getting a new wardrobe and not looking like a slob anymore. A nice watch. A few trinkets for the condo. Nothing crazy.

So that leaves $6M left to spend the rest of my life...spending. I'll be in one of the most exciting cities in the world on any given night. Exploring those great bars and restaurants every night, or getting off-strip to that hole in the wall Italian place that makes the killer Bolognese. Or spending a night in watching a Giants game and drinking beer. Vegas is the best of all worlds, if you feel like a social bug one night it's all out there, 24/7/365. If you want to stay in and have a pizza, all good. The crazy is out there for you tomorrow night.

Then that leaves the days. Sleeping in as long as I fucking want is a given, but beyond that there's room for self-improvement. Having the time, finally, to hit the gym and get fitter. Hiring the best doctors in town to make sure I'm around long enough to spend all this money. Maybe a social event here and there. Maybe some charitable work. A long drive in the 911R to nowhere in the desert. Sit around doing nothing reading a book. Honestly I've always felt being "rich" is about having time and freedom. That would feel so amazing to me to have, for once.

Then once everything is in place, it's just making sure that on the day I die (hopefully in about 30 years) that I don't have a cent left to my name. I'm basically 50 now, if I live to be 80 (a stretch) that's $200K a year that I have to live on. Not counting any interest or investments. I can do that.

Because I will leave no heirs, I will have no wife, and I'm a selfish son of a bitch.