Bradley Bullock was back at it Thursday afternoon, working as a lineman in East County.
This, despite having won $10 million from the California Lottery.
Bullock, an East County resident, was on a hot streak back in July, he told lottery officials. One night while he was out at a casino, he hit a jackpot for two grand on a one-armed bandit.
The next morning, the 4th of July, “I was able to sleep in a little because I didn’t have to work, but I needed a little caffeine pick-me-up, so I got an energy drink and a couple of Scratchers" at the 7-Eleven on Prospect Avenue in Santee, Bullock said in a news release issued by the California Lottery released.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
"I didn't even scratch after I got back home," Bullock told NBC 7 when reached him by phone on Thursday afternoon.
It wasn't until after he went back out and returned home that his life changed.
"It was funny 'cause I was — kind of a watching-TV type deal — just lounging around, and I forgot they were there," Bullock said.
Local
Because Bullock didn't want to miss any of the show he was watching, he flipped his ticket over, where each ticket has a barcode. It turns out the California Lottery has an app and ticket holders can scan the barcode instead of scratching the number off, and the app tells you if you're a winner.
When Bullock scanned his Royal Riches ticket, the app matter-of-factly told him he won $10 million — no sirens, no confetti — and instructed him, in the same way it would if he had, say, a a two-dollar winner, to fill out a claim form and sign the back of the ticket.
To be sure of his windfall, Bullock then scratched off the front of ticket for confirmation, he told NBC 7. Just how excited was he?
"Oh, man, I kind of just … it was more of a shock," Bullock said. "It probably took 7 or 8 hours that day to come down from the excitement of it."
It can take a while to get your money if you have a winning ticket. California Lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Becker told NBC 7 on Friday that winners have to submit claim forms, and big winners are actually interviewed by law-enforcement officers to vet the "claimants," who only get called "winners" after they make it through that process, which can be as fast as four weeks or take months. Plus, "claimants" don't have to come forward immediately, she said; in fact, they even have a certain amount of time after the run of the lottery scratch-tickets "game" ends.
Bullock has company: So far, including him, three other $10 million winners have been identified from the Royal Riches game, Becker said, and there are still three other golden tickets out there.
Eventually, Bullock decided to take the one-time payout of $5.8 million. All those zeros in the bank weren't enough for him, however.
"I'm still working," Bullock said, "been doing that for almost seven years now," adding later, "you know, someone who's never had that much money, I don't know how far it will go, so I'm still working for now."
