I was tagged for this challenge by @deirdyweirdy but I do not know who started it. If someone tells me in the comments I will be happy to credit them!

If you hand me a million dollars today the first thing I will do is put half of it in savings. No, I am not going to the bank...

BUY LOCAL!
(Yes, I know they moved on but when we purchased these they were casting Idaho silver.)

I would wipe out what is left of our debt next. We have been working that way long enough it would not take that much. I would probably have to endolphinate myself as long as I was at the computer paying off debt. I mean a measly $10K in steemit and now I have a vote that gets attention!

Fortunately, that would still leave me plenty to go hot spring shopping. I happen to know where I can buy a lot over a geothermal aquifer. It would cost about $80,000 for the well but I just got a million dollars, right? I don't want a big fancy home. Now, I don't want a tiny home either. I want a small, efficient home that I would have built. I can't build a house in the first 24 hours anyway so lets talk some more about that geothermal lot I just paid cash for. I know the owner, I know I got a better price than the list price. ;)

I would have to go have a hot soak at the local pool next. I mean, it will be months before I am in my own hot soak! I just got a million bucks. I am now debt-free, have a stack of silver that is so big I wore myself out carrying it from the store to the car and the car to the house. Time for a beer and a hot soak! But do you know this sad, sad fact? Hot springs and silver do not really go well together. That "rotten egg" smell so common at geothermal pools is sulfur. Sulfur is what tarnishes silver.

Lets talk a little about keeping our shiny nice and shiny, shall we?

The most awesome way to prevent silver tarnish is to electroplate it with gold.

Bullion images are my own

It is a little tough to do that with the tools you have at home, or on every piece of silver you might want to own. A very common option is "silver cloth" which is felt embedded with microscopic silver particles. The sulfur in the air (it is there in ALL air, it is just thicker near hot springs) is attracted to the particles in the cloth, thus sparing your goodies inside. Sort of. This method certainly slows the process but your stuff still is not completely protected.

You will note most bullion is sold in sealed plastic wrappers or cases. Those are great, as long as they stay DRY. The same plastic that is keeping sulfur molecules out will keep moisture in and guess what is in the water? Sulfur molecules. You do not want water trapped with your silver in a plastic case.

Honestly, the EASIEST way to keep tarnish at bay is to use your silver. The daily washing and drying (NO lemony products, please!) keeps everything sparkling. There are polishes you can use but they take some elbow grease. Here is a trick I occasionally use when I am in a hurry: Put the silver in an aluminum pan (or line a pan with foil) then sprinkle baking soda generously over it all. Pour boiling water over it to cover everything. STAND BACK - it is going to stink. You may need to touch up a few spots but it is amazing how fast most of the tarnish just bubbles away. However, polishing and the hot bath I described to remove microscopic particles of silver, so use those methods sparingly.

My recommendation involves a bit of everything... Get it polished up first, use the cheats if you need to. Wrap it in silver cloth. Put it in a plastic bag and throw in a few silica-gel packets or rice wrapped in netting, like for a wedding. Seriously. Plain old instant white rice is a very good desiccant. Seal everything up as airtight as you can. NO rubber bands! Rubber off-gasses sulfur!!

Precious says "No rubber, please!"

Be sure to check out all the banners @welshstacker is working on here

Thanks for reading, I hope you got something from it that made it worth the effort! Here is where I tag some people so lets see what @deadgrlsuppastar. @bennetitalia, @c0f33a and @welshstacker would do on their first day with a cool mill...