If you could

[SeaCat]

If you had the money what kind of job or business would you start?

I've thought about this a bit and the wife and I talked about it a bit.

At first I thought about such fun things as owner manager of a Nudist Camp. (I would probably get sued by some pasty skinned idiot because they got sunburned in uncomfortable places.) The owner operator of a Gun Range teaching fire arm safety. (I would end up arrested for shooting some of the local Billy Bad Ass wanna be's.) I even thought that opening a BBQ Place would be kind of fun but I soon realized that not only are there too many BBQ places in south Florida but most people down here like either the cheap and fast BBQ or the Memphis style while I do Texas Style.

Then I hit upon the perfect one for me. Grab a large chunk of property towards the middle of the state. Start a non profit Feline Rescue, rehab and Adoption company dealing with everything from Domestics to the Big Cats. Keep me in the back dealing with the cats and let others like my wife deal with the public.

So what would you do if you had the money?

Cat

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The best barbecue on the planet is made by a Canadian couple at Lakeland. I drive 75 miles for it.

[cloudy]

I'd open a facility for the rehabilitation/retraining of thoroughbreds off the race track...retrain/recondition them to be steady, dependable kids first show horses or trail horses.

I've owned two right off the race track. They don't even enter their prime of life until years after the racing's over, and once they're retrained, they're really, really nice horses. The first one I had was gentle enough that I used to let my four and five-year-old nieces and nephews ride him all by themselves in the ring.

The second one I had...not so much. He was really lovely to handle on the ground. You could pick his feet up, do whatever you wanted to, but once in the saddle he only had two gears: stop, and wide-ass open. He never did learn anything in between, but since I've been riding since I was really small, I coped with him okay. I wouldn't let anyone else anywhere near his back, though. He could have easily hurt someone.

[voluptuary_manque]

I'm giving serious thought to trying to market my Safari Hot Sauce. Then, if I can sell it in a few years, moving onto starting American Crucible, a company for recycling urban trash into salable byproducts and turning out clean energy by the use of plasma converters. I think it would work, yanno?

[mikeaday]

i would own a couple of houses like big brother with cameras all over, the occupiers, attractive 20 something females would get a reduction in rent for allowing me to film them

[rgraham666]

Buy a nice house in a quiet neighborhood.

I'm going nowhere near the business world ever again. Every time I try I'm driven insane by the hypocrisy of it.

[SeaCat]

Originally Posted by voluptuary_manque

I'm giving serious thought to trying to market my Safari Hot Sauce. Then, if I can sell it in a few years, moving onto starting American Crucible, a company for recycling urban trash into salable byproducts and turning out clean energy by the use of plasma converters. I think it would work, yanno?

I have a complete design for a solar powered smelter. We're talking I have it designed right down to the crucibles. I'm currently working on a design for a solar powered furnace for destroying medical as well as chemical wastes.

Cat

[carrie-on]

Since I started my med profession as an aide in a nursing home, I had decided even way back then that if money was no object, that I would build a large nursing home where there is plenty of room in the bathrooms for the patients (and their wheelchairs), where the staff was paid what they deserve for doing such a hard job, and that could house elders who have nowhere else to go at no cost to themselves.

[TheeGoatPig]

I would own and run a martial arts school. Of course I would need a lot more of my own training, but I'm well on my way in that regard already

[jomar]

Originally Posted by JAMESBJOHNSON

The best barbecue on the planet is made by a Canadian couple at Lakeland. I drive 75 miles for it.

Wrong. Starnes. Paducah, Kentucky.

[SeaCat]

Originally Posted by JAMESBJOHNSON

The best barbecue on the planet is made by a Canadian couple at Lakeland. I drive 75 miles for it.

So give me the address so I can give them a visit and check them out.

Cat

[SeaCat]

Originally Posted by carrie-on

Since I started my med profession as an aide in a nursing home, I had decided even way back then that if money was no object, that I would build a large nursing home where there is plenty of room in the bathrooms for the patients (and their wheelchairs), where the staff was paid what they deserve for doing such a hard job, and that could house elders who have nowhere else to go at no cost to themselves.

I thought about that. I've worked in a Nursing Home. Then I realized a couple of problems with it.

No matter how I designed it the family members of the occupants would scream their family members were being mistreated.

No matter how much you paid the staff you would always have scum working there who felt it was only a job and they were in controll.

There would still be the politics between the R.N.'s, the L.P.N.'s, the Aides and the Administrators.

Cat

[Bianca_Sommerland]

I'll be original I'd be a publisher and start off publishing all the neglected genius'. Then I'd get currupt and publish crap like Twilight. Then I'd shoot myself in the head.

Damn. I hope I don't ever win the loto

[TE999]

I have always loved books...I would open a new and used book store...I have been in several in different parts of the country and they were all doing well in spite of the chain stores. I think it would be fun.

[Tx Tall Tales]

I'd Travel the World as a travel writer/photographer, in an AirCam twin-engine ultralight, modified with folding wings, seeing the interesting, the unusual, the odd, the disappearing, the amazing. I'd have a sag vehicle crew to travel with me, leapfrogging my travels. And enough money to smooth the way and bail me out of trouble.

[john-the-author]

Originally Posted by SeaCat

I have a complete design for a solar powered smelter. We're talking I have it designed right down to the crucibles. I'm currently working on a design for a solar powered furnace for destroying medical as well as chemical wastes.

Cat

Bill Clinton was on Letterman the other evening and talking about this very kind of thing, where their foundation is trying to link up people with amazing ideas with funds. You might check them out. And the Gates Foundation, as difficult as they are to deal with, might be interested in this kind of thing, too.

(If you can show numbers and a business case on how this might be profitable, you might pitch the idea to Paul Allen, too, who likes funding things and also making money, even though he doesn't need the latter.)

[sadangel]

Originally Posted by rgraham666

Buy a nice house in a quiet neighborhood.

I'm going nowhere near the business world ever again. Every time I try I'm driven insane by the hypocrisy of it.

This...

and I'd also like to open a Battered Woman's Shelter that would be a little different than most. It would have the Administration offices in the front, with a courtyard between the Admin office and the housing. The housing would have areas for mother's with kids and a second area for those without kids. It would be handicap accessible to all. There would be a full time counselor at all times. (Needing a counselor to talk doesn't just happen during the days and though advocates are great for talking to, sometimes you just need a real counselor.) There would be a meeting area for group sessions so that the women don't have to be afraid to go out to the group sessions. There would be a donation area where they could get some clothes and things that many need. A food pantry so that if when they leave, and have trouble making ends meet they could come get some help. (There would be rules to how often, etc...with one requirement being donating some time in return for the help) There would be staff that would try to checkup on former residents of the shelter for at least 6 months to let them know they are not alone. There would be someone to help specifically with getting food stamps, housing, etc so they don't feel like they don't know what to do. They would do all the leg work, but the worker would be able to help them to know what they need and how to fill out all the forms.

There would be counseling and a daycare for the kids. Including art and music therapy. I know, maybe I think on too grand a scale, but this is what I envision. A place where women can come and not be afraid every moment. A place where at least for a short while, they can actually feel safe. I would hire someone who actually knows what they are doing to run it. I'd finance it and work with the architect until it's what I want, what I envision.

[jm_kaye]

I'd make a movie.

[oggbashan]

I did it.

I opened a secondhand book shop and ran it for ten years, covering the costs but not making a profit.

I enjoyed buying and reading books. I even enjoyed selling them and particularly finding books that people really wanted.

If I could, I'd open another much bigger store that would rival Hay-on-Wye's book town. A secondhand book shop the size of a large Walmart, backed up with several warehouses would be about right. I'd employ people who enjoy books as much as I do and enough of them on shifts so that the store could be open seven days a week, 24 hours Monday to Saturday and as long as legal on a Sunday. I would need several vehicles and book-loving drivers to collect books and contracts to take all the books that charity shops send for recycling.

I'd go bust but it would be enjoyable.

Og

[JackLuis]

I'd go to Kona and rest happy.

[McKenna]

Originally Posted by SeaCat

Then I hit upon the perfect one for me. Grab a large chunk of property towards the middle of the state. Start a non profit Feline Rescue, rehab and Adoption company dealing with everything from Domestics to the Big Cats. Keep me in the back dealing with the cats and let others like my wife deal with the public.

So what would you do if you had the money?

I've often joked that if I won the lottery, I'd open a "dog ranch." I'd rescue every large breed mutt I could and provide for them a home with fenced pastures in which to roam, a pond, plenty of chow, and a warm place to sleep. I'd even hire a kid to take them for rides in the truck just so they could stick their heads out the window to sniff.

[lance gt]

I wanted to help battered wives and kids as well, but in a different way. Knowing the immediacy of leaving sometimes is key to survival, I wanted to buy two or three houses/ townhouses in different parts of the city, in different cities, and work with the local agencies so they had places in and out of town to provide shelter on a short-term basis. All the homes are furnished and supplied, donations and used appliances keep down costs and safety is key. It provides a safe haven to keep their lives as normal as possible, while they sort out the legal matters and make the transition back to a normal life after the threat has been removed. The write-offs in taxes and donations from food banks, offset on going costs considerably. Each house would have a panic button connected to a 911 caller for immediate assistance by Police and the agency involved, assuring quick response to situations. A couple of million and you have a worthwhile and beneficial investment, that not only makes you a little bit of money, but helps and saves lives of innocent women and children from abuse, when there's no place to go, Right Now!

[sadangel]

Originally Posted by lance gt

I wanted to help battered wives and kids as well, but in a different way. Knowing the immediacy of leaving sometimes is key to survival, I wanted to buy two or three houses/ townhouses in different parts of the city, in different cities, and work with the local agencies so they had places in and out of town to provide shelter on a short-term basis. All the homes are furnished and supplied, donations and used appliances keep down costs and safety is key. It provides a safe haven to keep their lives as normal as possible, while they sort out the legal matters and make the transition back to a normal life after the threat has been removed. The write-offs in taxes and donations from food banks, offset on going costs considerably. Each house would have a panic button connected to a 911 caller for immediate assistance by Police and the agency involved, assuring quick response to situations. A couple of million and you have a worthwhile and beneficial investment, that not only makes you a little bit of money, but helps and saves lives of innocent women and children from abuse, when there's no place to go, Right Now!

We could make this idea work in conjunction with my idea! I like the idea a lot Lance.

Hm. An idea along this...There are often old apartment buildings that with some work, could be made very nice. You would be able to do this idea that way and provide more homes, and/or apartments that way. The panic button. Priceless. I truly wish I had one.

[lance gt]

Originally Posted by sadangel

We could make this idea work in conjunction with my idea! I like the idea a lot Lance.

Hm. An idea along this...There are often old apartment buildings that with some work, could be made very nice. You would be able to do this idea that way and provide more homes, and/or apartments that way. The panic button. Priceless. I truly wish I had one.

The idea is more one or two women and possibly children per house to minimize risks of attackers knowing where their whereabouts are, and still have freedom of movement to a degree. An unlisted number for phone calls to contact agencies and employers and other assistance. If a place is discovered, it is sold immediately and another purchased and outfitted from the other one. Privacy is the key to security in this issue. The less advertizing of it the better. The money is in the write-offs, the reward is in the people you help by doing it.

[Bianca_Sommerland]

Nice to see there's good people here. Feel bad for not being one of them.
Does it help that I'd be willing to contribute?