What Does the P.V. Millionaire Badge Really Mean?

Recently I received what I consider to be one of the top emblems of recognition given by Associated Content to it's writer/contributors. Reaching the milestone of having your material read 1,000,000 times is no small accomplishment. Sure the badge looks nice on my profile page, but after thinking about it for a while the question came to mind "What does the P.V. Millionaire Badge Really Mean"?

Today's world of Power Ball or Mega Million Lotteries would have you believing that 1 million of anything was a rather insignificant amount. For many of us (myself included) plunking down my $1 hope of a wealthy retirement is reserved to times when the lottery jackpot is at a minimum of $100,000,000. Hey, if you're going to wish for pie in the sky you might as well go big, or go home.

Reading the daily paper does much to reinforce this perception. Contracts were awarded today for remodeling the local high school to the tune of 10 million dollars. Road construction to rebuild a bridge that has become dangerously weak will cost the city $5,000,000. The U. S. government awards bids for a fleet of B-1 bombers expected to cost $283,000,000 a piece. I could go on endlessly with facts and figures that would back up the notion that the lowly figure of 1,000,000 amounts to mere pocket change in the financial world.

It's easy for the human mind to lose connection with figures and amounts when they don't have anything tangible and real world to use as a comparison. Is 1,000,000 a substantial amount or not?

Lets look at your pocket change. Lay out a single copper penny on the table and imagine it in a pile along with 999,999 other similar coins. Just how much does one million pennies weigh?

The answer is 5,580 lbs. That's over 2-½ tons, or approximately what a new diesel dually pickup with all the goodies would weigh.

I live in the Midwest city of Duluth Minnesota. Currently Duluth has a population of 84,419. If you include the immediate surrounding area, as much of the rural population works in the city, the figure is closer to 100,000. This is a figure with meaning to me because Duluth is big enough to be the 4th largest city in the state but small enough we seldom experience grid lock on our highway system.

Our rush hour lasts about 30 minutes, yet we have all the retail establishments, fine dining, and cultural outlets of cities many times over larger then us.

Every single person in my home town would have had to clicked on 100 of my articles for me to earn the P.V. Millionaire Badge. That's almost mind boggling. Lets take this fact even farther.

For the most part I write articles that would be considered "Ever Green", meaning I don't follow current news or trends in my articles. With few exceptions I tend to avoid editorial/opinion work as well. Let's face it opinions, everyone has one... mine won't stand out above any other. Of course this piece is the exception and I'm sure it will be found to be fascinating and educational.

I tend to write on subjects that could be considered off the beaten track. More fringe related, or aimed at specific audiences. For there to actually be 1 million people that would be intrigued enough by the title to click on my articles just floors me.

None the less, it has happened. I've made it past the 1,000,000 milestone, and have developed a solid following of readers, both here at Associated Content and my two main blogs, Stealth Van Dweller and RVing On The Cheap

In the words of the famous actress, Sally Field, "They really, really like me". Though this isn't the red carpet of the Oscars, it's an achievement that wouldn't have been possible without those of you who are reading along. To you, I say "Thanks, for me 1,000,000 readers is truly a noteworthy number".