Tagged - part 3

I didn't want to dive in to completing the impulse blade project so the meme goes on...

If I Were a Billionaire
It’s a lot of money. It’s quite difficult to spend that kind of dosh. Let’s start with me ‘cuz I think it would be fun, especially as I am so poor right now.

I’d certainly buy a place in NYC and I’d probably stay on the Upper West Side. With a billion, I’m sure I could get into The Dakota and I’d see Yoko Ono in the elevator, but it’s not so much my style. I may not wander far from Central Park West. The only exception I could foresee is The Plaza; it is renovating for condos/co-ops. I’m not for big, I don’t like to clean it all and I don’t like to be far from anything in the house. But who knows, I could get a cleaning person and change my habits.

I would probably buy a place in Paris as I have so many friends from when I lived in France and one of my sisters, so I would certainly be traveling there more often. Buenos Aires would be tempting too; I love that city and one of my brothers lives there. It is no small trip, at least 11 hours by plane. Not sure if I’d buy but I’d visit more often.

I’d like a boat and so perhaps a place on Long Island or the Jersey shore, depends which has better scuba diving. That would also mean doing a dry suit certification, been meaning to do that, not enough time.

But that’s all together only $3 million tops (well, $12 million if I get a crib at The Plaza). I’ve not put a dent in a billion. Assuming also that it is a billion after taxes otherwise the question would be “What would you to with the $11.36 in after-tax proceeds from your billion dollar windfall?”

I have my favorite charities such as EWB. I also have some pet projects. When I lived in Rio de Janeiro, I saw 11 abandoned vessels in the Guanabara Bay. I recall a news report saying it cost R$1 million just to check in on these abandoned boats. (Not all the boats in the pic of Rio are abandoned but certainly some are.)
Also, I’ve added a nice pic of the Atlantic Trader that ran aground near Puerto Cortes, Honduras (not far from where I work with EWB). As an avid scuba diver I, like my colleagues, love ship wrecks. They have been shown to make nice artificial reefs. So, let’s find a nice place outside of shipping lanes and sink these babies. The great advantage to this is they can be prepped in advance: chemicals removed, doors taken off, bubble holes created, etc. – all make for safer waters and safer diving.

Clearly, I would give lots towards building agricultural systems in Africa, solar stoves/ovens, and the like. I’m trying to keep to things that are a bit off the beaten track for the meme.

I’d give some money for writers too but I can assure you that if I don’t get any freakin’ comments to these memes, that idea will get nixed.