Buying Another Yacht

And back in the land of internet access.  Boy, talk about getting used to something then not having it.  Boy.

I'll tell you this after hanging out for 10 days with a lot of really wealthy people: they are some of the most dissatisfied, bitchy, discontented people I've ever been around.  These people are blessed with as much material stuff as anyone in the world and they're consistently no happier than anyone I've run into on this trip, and I've run into some people who don't have very much going for them in the stuff department.  I mean a lot of these folks have money and the casual mention of second homes and boats and high-end travel is tossed out too casually to be anything but calculated.

And then I'll stand there in amazement, jaw slackening in amazement, as they try to stonewall a vendor down an extra dollar on a four dollar pair of elephant pants.  It makes no sense.  It is a disconnect.

There's a guy here who bought something in a market.  "$4," said the vendor.  He handed her a five.  "How about $5?" he asked.  That's what I aspire to.

There's a lot of looking through the staff.  I suspect the company that runs this high-end cruise - an American company - doesn't pay the foreign employees very well and is probably pretty wealthy.  

On one of the days the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.  I try to get as far away from the humdrum of everyday news as I can when I travel and don't have much interest in something that affects very few people, mostly those buying something expensive like a home.  One of my fellow passengers complained to me, a man standing there trying my best to blot out her very existence.

"Yeah, I'm upset," I said.  "Right when I"m in the middle of buying a yacht."

"Oh, you're buying a yacht," she said, clearly impressed.

Earned me some cheap respect.