The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: rich

  • Whistler

    During my most recent trip to Canada, I had the opportunity to visit Whistler, which is the ski resort mecca of British Columbia. That was a surreal experience. Everything was clean and well-manicured. Even the concrete looked somehow artificial. It was like being in Disney World without the rides. That is, if everyone who visited…

  • Living in Gingerbread Houses

    Now that I live farther from work, and my commute is a typical Seattle nightmare (I had no idea how spoiled I had been!) I have even more time to take flights of fancy. In today’s traffic snarl, this is where my mind went: What would it be like if we all lived in gingerbread…

  • What is Your Jewelry Worth?

    For the first time in my life I can say I feel sorry for Kim Kardashian West. It’s got to be terrifying to have a gun pointed at your head. No doubt it’s traumatic to be robbed and to fear for your life. I hope she’ll get some therapeutic support. But having said that, the…

  • Basic Economics

    Many people fall for the fantasy of the American Dream. Who could blame them? It’s a beautiful story. Its moral is that you are completely in control of your own destiny. If you work hard enough, do everything you’re supposed to, and floss your teeth once a day, you’ll live happily ever after. Pffft. If…

  • The REAL Sword of Damocles

    Most of us are sort of familiar with this Greek story. The sword represents peril. It hangs by a single horse hair over Damocles’ head. All well and good. But the moral of the story is actually that people in positions of power can never rest easy in spite of their luxurious lives. They have…

  • More Money Than Sense

    As a bridgetender, I often observe people in million dollar vessels doing the most idiotic things you can imagine. First of all, the price of the vessel seems to be directly proportionate to the lack of safety equipment on board. Rich people don’t seem to believe in marine radios or horns. They simply assume people…

  • Bring It On

    Without going into the gory details, let’s establish that I no longer have heat or defrost in my car, and after several reputable quotes, it would cost about 900 dollars to fix. Well, the vehicle isn’t worth 500 dollars, so that seems like a rather silly investment. Dandy. So I’m buying a portable defroster and…

  • Stuff Like This Never Happens to Me

    Rumor has it that a former coworker of mine found a bag of money on the side of the highway and came in to the office and retired the very next day. I also used to work with a nurse who won a million dollars from a McDonald’s game. She continued to work, though, which…