Alternatives

Lifestyle

Via the Knuckledragger, I see this little exercise:

Get Taylor Swift front row seats, or buy this instead

Given that I would rather be boiled in oil than have to sit through a Taylor Swift concert, never mind caught at a distance where I would be sprayed by her saliva as she mimes her way through her dreadful repertoire, it’s an interesting thought:

What’s a decent way to blow $11,000 (!) instead of a front-row ticket in Hell?

The guidelines are:  assume that you have no debts to pay off, and that the eleven grand is just to be spent on yourself.  What would give you the greatest satisfaction or enjoyment?  (Be as silly as you want;  one of the suggestions in the article was to buy yourself a pallet of Arizona Iced Tea — which for me, by the way, would be only marginally less horrible than the aforementioned concert ticket.)

You can choose to spend it on just one thing, or on several.

Your suggestions in Comments;  my choices will be below the fold.

If I could only spend the money on one thing:

A trip to the Goodwood Revival (airfare, hotel, food/booze and clothing for the occasion):




And now the alternative.

If I couldn’t do Goodwood, and had to spend the eleven grand on more than one thing, then:

Longines Master (manual):  $3,000

 

Mauser M12 (9.3x62mm):  $3,300

…and a decent scope:

Leica Amplus 6 (2.5-15x50i):  $1,500

…and lastly,

CZ Bobwhite G2 (20ga, matched pair):  $2,000


…and the rest on ammo for the guns.

All that said, I’d still take Goodwood over the lot of them.

42 comments

  2. I’d choose the Goodwood package but with an added feature: my choice of car to drive around the circuit for 30 minutes or so.

  3. Like the meme says, “Taylor Swift writes whiny songs about all her exes. Stevie Nicks made her ex play guitar while she sung about what an asshole he was.”

  4. Earn my private pilot license. I got partway through it as a young man, but dropped it as I moved overseas, had kids, etc., etc., etc. would love to start over and finish it this time.

    1. would love that, had to drop it for medical reasons. Sadly my medication (which I will need for life most likely) precludes me from ever being allowed to solo, making it impossible to earn my PPL as that requires solo hours.

      1. Look into a category called Light Sport Pilot license. No medical required. You can’t progress to things like an instrument rating, VFR only, but you can still fly. Approach a local flight school for more information. Or Google it. Light Sport Pilot (LSA).

      2. The Sport Pilot license does not require the traditional FAA medical certificate. It only requires a drivers license. The pilot privileges are limited to very simple aircraft and only during day VFR conditions. I have never been denied a medical, so I can still fly using my Private Pilot License, but restricted to Sport Pilot privileges. I might be able to get a medical certificate, but only under what is called a Special issuance and if I was denied I would no longer be able to do Light Sport. For someone starting from scratch, getting the Sport Pilot license takes about half the time and expense of the Private.

  5. Goodwood is a good choice, But I would prefer this trip.

    https://fastlanetravel.com/2023-24-hours-of-le-mans/

    The 100th anniversary of the 24 hours of Lemans — OK it’s a little more than the budget and Airfare to Paris is NOT included, but stay in a Chateau – Super Pit passes – Hosted by Derek Bell — seats above the pits — Porsche return to Le Mans with a front running car. What’s not to like.

      1. I would choose tickets to Wimbledon for me and the wife (she played tennis in high-school) and then stay for the Goodwood Festival of Speed the week after.

  6. For $11k, I could probably get a decent 16 ft Jon boat with trailer and 25 hp motor. Just right for back bays, bayous, and shallow water fishing. A boat like that would give a good 20 years of enjoyment with no whiney singing allowed.

    I just don’t see how anyone could spend that much for a few hours entertainment. I must be in the wrong demographic.

  7. If it’s within the rules, wait until my 30th wedding anniversary and spend a month in Europe.

  9. Goodwood certainly is tempting! Love the attire. Not a piercing or tattoo visible on any of the women.

    11k? Multiple trips to Gunsite to take their 250 class and their rifle class.

    I would want something substantial for that kind of money. So rifle, handgun it may very well be. My wife and I have shotguns we like. She has a Beretta A400 and I have a Browning Citori I bought in 2002 that we both enjoy. Maybe I’d get a hand engraved S&W.

    JQ

  10. I guess one good thing about this ticket master scalping with Taylor Swift is that she has the fan base to bring attention to the Ticket Master monopoly and their outrageous fees. Maybe this will trickle down to make other concert tickets more affordable. I went to see John Fogarty a couple of years ago. He was great! he still has tons of energy and put on a great show. Many other musicians come around but the prices and fees are ridiculous.

    JQ

  11. Do I have to pay retail list price, or can I shop on eBay? I could get a lot of camera gear for $11G. Or maybe I’d finally get me a ’56 Les Paul.

  13. I literally cannot imagine spending $11K to see….ANYBODY.
    Not even Taylor Swift, bareass nekkid.

    I’ll take the Goodwood Revival (not to be confused with Operation Goodwood, thank you), and a drink and dinner with that sporty little stewardess on the far right in the airplane photo.

    1. A self guided tour of Japan. Okinawa (I was there for three days, no money) to Hokkaido (I’ve never been), and I’ll be my own guide along the way. There’s a Japanese TV show ‘Kodoku no Gurume’ (the solitary gourmet) that has piqued my interest in a few dishes I’d like to try.

      I’m also mildly curious if the place I used to live in is even there any more. Google Earth leads me to believe it may be gone.

  17. Sawmill. The retirement compound is in progress. The battlements are erected, the moat’s in & filled and the arctic grade ‘gators are on backorder. I’ve dropped enough trees to build the manse, just need to make timbers out of ‘em.

    1. Sawmill is about where I would put the money. Our place has some standing hardwood that could be converted into nice cabinetry and furniture.

  19. Never understood the appeal of expensive wristwatches. I own two: my everyday digital watch that doubles as my dive watch, and a very attractive Olevs for more formal occasions. Spent less than $100 for both.

  20. First class round trip airfare to Amsterdam. Attend a performance of the Concertgebouw Orchestra – Mahler by preference. Dine in at least one Michelin starred restaurant. Tour the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and view Rembrandt’s magnificent “Night Watch” in person. Drink at least 1 tipple of Genever!

    Consolation prize – elk hunt out west resulting in a freezer full of the best tasting game meat on the planet.

  21. Oh, this one is easy for me. I would spend about $7 or $8 grand to upgrade my camera gear – body plus a couple of new lenses – and the rest I would use for travel to a very picturesque place to practice with the new gear. Yellowstone in the winter. Italy again. Iceland.

  23. Rent a piloted helicopter with a door mounted minigun, an appropriate range full of stuff to shoot and however much ammo I could get for it for the remainder of the $11k.

  24. Drive in the ADAC Classic 24h at the Nürburgring. For 11k it would be something like an Escort or Alfa but wottheheck. If I went to the Goodwood Festival of Speed I’d enter the hillclimb.

  25. Goodwood Revival? Top man! I’ll see you there.

    As for me, $11k will fund my 2024 trip to the USA to see the eclipse and make a road-trip from Dallas or Houston to Savannah. Business-class seats aren’t cheap, nor is car rental if you’re travelling across state lines.

  26. Forgot about this bucket list item: the Bach tocata & fugue performed by a badass player in a cathedral acoustically designed to showcase an old-school organ with 20,000+ pipes. It’s how they turned it up to 11, back in the day.

    1. I’m with you on that one!
      In 1993, we were visiting our former Dutch exchange student at her home in Zeerijp, Netherlands, and bicycled over to the retired organist’s home, she talked nice to him, I made a small donation to the church, we walked across the street into the church, up a wooden ladder onto a balcony, where I was treated to an hour and a half concert, sitting on the bench with the organist, turning pages for him. IIRC, the tracker organ was installed ~ 1651. It even has a nightingale stop, where the pipe bubbles through a bucket of water. I think that experience is probably the musical highlight of my life.
      Here’s the congregation’s view or the organ:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Zeerijp_-_orgel_-_uitgeklapt.jpg
      And a sample from the bench: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Z_hpgdcr8

  28. Been eye-balling a nice thermal scope – it would use up half the taylor tickets. The rest spent on a hunting trip for some dastardly mean beasts that only come out at night.

    And should the shtf, I gets to do it for FREEEEEE.

  29. Black Les Paul custom and a Marshall JCM 800 and if there was any change a Fender Vibroverb 64 reissue with Diaz mods

  30. $11,000 would be a couple of hundred short on the cost of one mainsail, 2 jibs and a spinnaker for the sailboat!

  31. Goodwood is a very enticing suggestion, as would be any European tour. My first thought though, was for an M1941 Johnson in .30-36, with a high number M1903, M1917, and an M1A, or however many I could manage with the balance.

Comments are closed.