Wasted Lottery Tickets

Last week I went through some papers that I stuck in my Franklin Quest day planner that got so voluminous I had to take it out because it wouldn't close -- mostly lottery tickets, although there are some sports tickets in there I keep as souvenirs.  That's where I saw that I had winning lottery tickets in there.  Winning?  I didn't think I had anymore.  But there are four of them, totaling $38.

Unfortunately, all of them are more than a year old, and rules say that you have only a year to claim your winnings.  I had to drive down all the way to MN Lottery offices yesterday to make absolutely sure, but she denied me, too.  So I have four tickets that have been languishing in my possession since 12/24/10 (Gopher 5, two entires of two winning numbers x $1 = $2), 8/10/11 (Hot Lotto, a line with three winning numbers with the Sizzler = $12), 1/27/12 (Mega Millions, a Mega Ball x a megaplier of 4 = $12) and 2/11/12 (Hot Lotto, an entry with two numbers plus the Mega Ball with the Sizzler = $12).

I could use those $38.  I need those $38, especially now.

I've always kept lottery tickets after I've won them.  I never immediately went out to get the money after I realized I won.  I've been too busy to check, and I always thought I'd be able to check at The Store.  Also, sometimes I "give" some winning tickets to The Store since I often printed out my lottery tickets there, where I scan it as a winner but not take out any money.  I think the state gave The Store credit for winners.  But now, in retrospect, it's stupid to keep them so long that I can't collect the money, and since it's been about a year since my parents gave back the lottery machine I obviously can't "credit" The Store any winning tickets.

I'm an idiot.  But I don't feel as bad as I should.  I'm just about broke, so why am I not angrier at myself?  A bunch of reasons, I guess:

• It's Tournament Time, and how pissed off can I be on the eve of The Greatest Three Weeks In American Sport?
• I'm battling a bad cold, which got a hell of a lot worse yesterday;
• I think I'm starting an assignment Friday;
• Everything checks out with the car again (and by the way, the mechanic charged me nothing to look it over a second time -- Van's Automotive, guys!);
• I have to worry about writing an NCAA Tournament Preview column that I'm not done yet;
• Oh, and I have to fill out my bracket;
• And moreso than all the above reasons, like I said, I had no idea I still had any winning tickets I hadn't cashed in yet.  OK, that's more of an excuse.  Right now, I'm in a good enough mood to take it.

One other thing: Looking through all these tickets I stumbled upon even more tickets.  However, these are still good, though barely; I guess I printed these out at The Store in late March, at most ten days before the cutoff date.  Unfortunately, most of them were losers; I've garnered a total of $9.  But it is $9 I didn't know I had, and if I didn't look through those tickets I could have wasted $47 instead of $38.  So I will cash these in, hopefully tonight, and I can comfort myself with knowing that I finally got around to going through my papers and at least caught these tickets just in time.

And I will have to throw those $38 in winning tickets away, like after I get done with this blog post.  I can't bare to see my shame and idiocy staring right back at me.