and the winning number is........

I work at a gas station (won't name which one) and everyday I am amazed to see how many lottery tickets people will buy. I have seen people buy dozens of lottery tickets at a time, bring them all in the next day, and lose all of them. Then what will they do? They'll proceed to buy a dozen more. The worst I have seen is when one of my customers just finished cashing his paycheck, and used it all on Powerball. It made me sick. The chances of winning are slim to none, so why bother. I suppose people would then insert the "you can't win if you don't play" card, but i'm sure you won't win even if you do play. I honestly don't see what the point is; I figure it's just a big waste of money. With everything being said, I bought a Badger 5 ticket today. I wanted to see if the allure of money is the only thing that drives people to buying these tickets, or if it is something greater.

Looking at the front of the ticket, there is a small black font that says the winning odds. The odds of winning a measly dollar are 1:7, the odds for winning $2 are 1:53, the odds for winning $50 are 1:1308, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1:169,011. If I win back my money, I would be a happy camper, but I have a good feeling developed from seeing thousands of tickets winning nothing that I will be winning the same.

I never really studied the back of a lottery ticket, but I happened to find a gambling problem hotline:  1-800-Gamble-5. I have a feeling that the people who come into the gas station should definitely call this number. Of course not all people who play the lottery have a gambling problem, but the one's who waste paychecks on lottery tickets should definitely call the number.

If I win thousands of dollars I'll be sure to let you know!

Mega Ramp.

I love skateboarding, but the only thing that causes me to shy away from it is the fear of falling. That being said, it amazes me to see skateboarders use mega-ramps. Mega-ramps are giant monstrosities made for skaters to come as close to death as they possibly can get. The basic concept is have a skater roll down the biggest drop in imaginable, hit a huge ramp, fly through the air over a gap which can be up to 68 feet long, and land on the other side only to have to hit a gigantic quarter pipe. The whole sequence is extremely dangerous. If you haven't seen what it looks like, this should give you a hint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xycA3D_EG7M . Crazy huh?

Before I die, I want to try and skateboard a mega-ramp. I have always wondered what it would be like to fly!

Kettle Moraine

   This weekend I felt compelled to get off my butt and enjoy the weather. I decided I was going to bike from my house to the Kettle Moraine mountain bike and hiking trails. Besides the initial "pukey" feeling for the first couple miles or so, and that crazy-ass dog trying to bite me and my bike, it was a good ride. Eventually I made it to the the Kettle Moraine trails, and decided to hike one. Hiking might not seem that exciting or fun to most people, but walking the trails makes me feel great. I love to hunt and I've grown up with a giant swamp and forest in my backyard, so walking the trails comes naturally to me. It is really nice just to enjoy the fresh air of the country, instead of being stuck at work or school; the feeling is almost freeing.
    The kettles are a beautiful place to explore. There are about six different trails that one can mountain bike or hike, along with the ice age trail made for hiking. Each trail has a difficulty rating, and a time average. For example, the blue trail is the hardest trail because it takes almost three hours to hike, and has very rocky terrain. Each trail is made conveniently into a loop, so people can park their cars at the start and end where they started.
   I decided to hike the white trail. It is a pretty easy trail, and takes almost an hour to hike. I really need to invest in some hiking shoes, instead of worn out skate shoes. Some of the areas have quite a bit of snow and mud, so it was tough getting through it. I never saw anybody on the trails, which was really nice.
   If you really want to "get away from it all" consider taking a trip to the kettles this summer.