Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail will stop this retired Bronx postal worker from spending his lottery riches.
Peter Gee, 59, walked off with a cool $8.5 million lump sum in Lotto jackpot cash yesterday.
The numbers he selected — 6, 10, 19, 22, 37, 43 — initially won him an $18 million jackpot, until Uncle Sam took a cut.
Gee said he was so paranoid about protecting his winning ticket that he became a recluse until he could hand it over to lottery officials.
“I didn’t leave the house for the rest of the weekend because I wanted to keep the ticket safe until I could claim it,” Gee said.
He was handed a giant ceremonial check at the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway yesterday — and swore he didn’t have lavish plans for his newfound cash.
For now, all that’s in the works is a nice vacation with his wife.
“All my wife really wants is a trip to the West Coast,” said Gee, who has no children. “We’ll take a few weeks and travel the California coast line. Everything is still in the works.
“I’m still going to live my life the way I have been,” the Westchester resident added. “But now if I want something, I’ll buy it.
“I never have to worry about a bill again in my life,” said Gee, who worked at the Williamsbridge post office in The Bronx for 36 years and retired four years ago.
The regular lottery player was going to the post office in Croton-on-Hudson to mail his sister a letter in July when he asked his wife, Ruth, to buy him a ticket at a store next door.
The next day, he checked his numbers one-by-one — and realized he’d hit it big.
“I saw that I had four numbers and I thought, ‘Great,’ ” said Gee, who lives in Cortlandt Manor.
“I saw that I had five numbers and I said, ‘OK.’
“Then I saw that I had six numbers and I said, ‘Wow!’
“I asked my wife to come over,” he added. “I checked the Web site and saw that I just won $18 million. My wife slapped me on the back of my head and she told me not to lie to her.”