We had Doc Russia and his exquisite wife over for dinner last Saturday, and as always, a really good time was had by all, what with funny stories, jokes, lengthy discussions on interesting topics, all enhanced by one of New Wife’s excellent cooking choices (roast pork nom nom nom) and shall we say a sufficiency of booze.
One conversation was really interesting, and it revolved around the question: “If you had $3,000 spare, what would you buy?”
The immediate stipulation (made by Mrs. Doc Russia and endorsed by New Wife) was “No guns”, which stopped both spouses in their tracks.
It’s not that we have all we desire — far from it — and we could spend a lot more than three grand on, for example, a new car. But both Doc and I have no actual need for a lot of things (outside guns).
In bygone times, I might have been seduced by the acquisition of a watch, say this lovely Longines Equestrian piece for New Wife:
…except that while she thinks it’s a lovely watch, she’s perfectly happy with the one she has (Olivia Burton Floral, $140) and sees no reason to own another, at any price.
As do I, because having acquired my Tissot Heritage manual, I see no reason ditto.
(I should point out that the above costs less than $500, and since getting it my desire to own any other watch has, amazingly, disappeared.)
I should point out that the question stumped both Doc and Mrs. Doc as well. She talked about jewellery, being a woman, but although also a woman, New Wife has no interest in any of that stuff (“I own enough, and don’t want any more.”) I am sure as hell not in the market for that crap, either.
Well, if not a watch or jewellery, then what?
A few decent knives? Honestly, no. As much as one could never have too many knives (or guns), I can honestly say I can’t see spending that amount on bladed stuff because my modest knife collection is perfectly adequate for all my needs and wants (see sample below).
(that’s my “Crossing America” selection)
The “no gun” restriction was proving to be a pain in the ass, but in the end, I settled for a vacation for New Wife and myself, in essence deciding to buy memories. A 10-day trip to, say, Montana’s Glacier National Park or the Bitterroot Mountains:
Or (if we wanted to leave the country), there’s always the option of seven days in Montreal or Quebec City — I know, I know, but she’s never been to either place, and I love Montreal.
Both the above would cost around the $3,000 amount, and would leave us with a treasure trove of lovely scenery and fine dining.
Have to say, though, it sure would be hell not to be able to buy that Colt Single Action Army:
Anyway, what say you, O My Readers? On what would you spend three grand, assuming guns were off the table?
A guitar. I’m a guitarist and guitar collector. Over a period of about 40 years I’ve collected 20+ guitars, mostly Les Paul’s either by Gibson or various Japanese companies such as Tokai, Burny, Edwards and Epiphone (pre Chinese manufacture). Much like guns, a man can never have too many guitars.
There’s a lovely Cherry Sunburst Burny on one of the Japanese sites right now for about $2500, and if I had the money (I’m now retired, so no) I’d buy it in a flash.
And although it’s outside the rules, I’d love to have a rifle chambered in 7×57 Mauser to cuddle up next to my 6.5×55 Swede in the safe. One of these days.
Yup. A lovely Les Paul; new or used, doesn’t matter; all a matter of looking and playing and looking and playing till you find the one. The search is much of the fun.
The problem is that $ 3k doesn’t go very far anymore. That will probably cover 4 days at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, but not also the airfare from TX.
However, it will soon be Mid September and time for Apple to announce the latest upgrades for the iPhone and whatever else they have planned as the surprise tech toy for this year. ….and I need an upgrade. OK….. maybe just want an upgrade. That should cover both the iPhone and the iPad.
As Ted said, $3k doesn’t go very far any more.
And as you said, there’s just not much I want.
I guess I’d spend it on a new wood lathe and a few accessories.
Dinner sounds like great fun. Regards to Doc!
I wouldn’t find it hard to spend three grand without buying a firearm, though that would obviously be my first reflex (half a dozen of the new Inglis L9A1 BHPs, for example, to share with my friends).
The following non-gun items spring to mind:
– thermal spotting gear from Pulsar, or,
– a lathe or a milling machine, or
– a “Tornister” euphonium from Wessex Tubas, or maybe one of their new “British F” tubas (basically an obese euphonium), depending on the price.
As others have mentioned, $3000 doesn’t go very far and basically anything less than $3000 that I want, I already have. With guns off the table there’s not much else. I suppose I could get a Big Green Egg smoker with custom table and accessories. I’ve been eyeballing those recently even though I already have a good smoker. Anything left over would be used to fill the freezer with briskets and pork butts.
https://shop.biggreenegg.com/xlarge-big-green-egg-in-acacia-table-package/
Well, we got our income tax refund a while ago, the first time in the last 5 years we actually slightly overpaid since our guess on income was a little off. After taking care of some necessary stuff, I had just enough left over to buy my first NEW camera in 17 years. Back in 2007 I bought a Pentax DSLR that I’ve been using ever since, and upgraded last year to a pair of used DSLR’s I found for very cheap. They were only a year newer, but hugely improved (and only about 1,000 shutter actuations on each one). But I’ve hit the limit of what they can do.
I found a fair deal at B&H (a GREAT company to buy from, even if they’re out of NY-effing-C) on a new one that was paired with a lens as a kit for the same price as the bare body. What with adding accessories (a better strap, spare battery, a couple of 128-GB SD-cards) it ran just around $750.
So if somebody dropped $3,000 on my cringing head, my next purchase would be the incredible Pentax 150-450mm zoom lens to go with the camera, and a really sturdy tripod to mount it on. Living here in NW Wyoming there are lots of critters to shoot (literally and photographically), and pairing that lens up with a 1.4x TC gives a combination equivalent to a 6-power to 18-power scope, putting that somewhat-distant grizzly right in your lap.
But for now I’ll live with the lenses I’ve got (my best is an SMC-A* 300mm/f4, the most compact but heavy f/4 300mm ever made) and still be able to shoot in poor light with the new camera at high ISO.
If I had $3k lying around… the practical choice would be to put the money towards paying off my car and/or my mortgage.
But since that really isn’t the spirit of the question…
Now that I finally have a house, I’m planning on getting back into model railroading. So I’d put my money towards supplies for a new HO-scale layout (I’m starting from scratch) and/or acquiring the rolling stock to complete my dream train: the Southern Pacific Coast Daylight circa 1950-ish. Already have the locomotive, GS-4 Class #4449; I just need the passenger cars. All of the passenger cars. That’ll probably cost a grand; the rest will go towards the table, track, and DCC system.
As I’m sure you are aware, a substantial number The current generation of H.O. Model railroad Titians is rapidly heading for the sorting yard in the sky. As a consequence, there is an expanding inventory of rolling stock, engins, scenery, even benchwork available on Ebay / Facebook Marketplace etc. Several of my local club layouts in the Boston area have faded away over the past few years.
There’s a local club near me that I’m going to get around to joining one of these days. Seems to be a healthy mix of old-timers, folks about my age, and some youngsters fresh out of high school.
Celestron 9.25″ SCT (telescope) and a couple Televue eyepieces. I’ve already got a solid mount to put it on. Astronomy is going to be part of my upcoming retirement activities.
Hello new furnace!
Could I tear out this dreadful carpet and install hardwood floors for $3k? I’ll do the work myself and put the money towards materials. Lumber Liquidators is having financial trouble so maybe I can get the materials at a good price.
Maybe a small john boat with a little motor and do more fishing. Then again I don’t really want to deal with the Registry of Motor Vehicles to register and insure the boat and trailer. That’s been my reason for not getting a small boat for years.
HAM radio gear would be interesting but I have no place to set it up.
I have long lusted after a set of Vortex 10×42 binoculars with laser range finder and built in ballistic solutions.
About $2K, the rest of my $3K dropped on match ammo.
Born and raised in Montreal, so that would always be a good start, especially summer or fall. Never consider it in winter or spring. Québec City is beautiful, but is essentially unilingual French, which may or may not be an issue.
Since I’m not really much of a gun guy anyway, $3,000 of “treat yourself” money would mean steel armor for the underside of my Jeep, or a rooftop tent and awning setup, and if I got that $3k after having bought all of the above, it would be gas money for the drive to the top of the world (Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean in the Northwest Territories, via the Dempster Highway—the furthest north it’s possible to drive in the Americas).
Somehow, the $3,000 reminds me of Alfred Doolittle’s troubles with 3,000 pounds per year in Pygmalion. But I suppose this is different.
Maybe I’d redo the interior of my 85 Suburban. Or get $3,000 worth of work toward a deck in the backyard, then finish it up myself. Trouble is, I don’t want much these days.
Being forever practical, I’d spend it on paying a professional to repaint the outside of my house, a job that’s been planned for about 2026 anyway.
$3K might just cover a Nvidia RTX 5090 when it appears.
At your age, you will probably need it for dental work. $3,000 is just enough for two crowns these days.
Second hand Martin D28
Gibson SG with P90s
Fender deluxe reverb
Scuba gear
Boat stuff
We’d hook up the camper and figure out some way to make a completely random choice from four options. The options of course would be north, south, east or west. We’d head off in the chosen direction with no schedule and no real destination in mind, other than to play “I wonder where this road goes?” When we spent half the money, we’d turn around and come home by a somewhat different route. We haven’t gone exploring like that in many years and the journey, not the destination, is the goal of such a trip.
My first honeymoon (1979) was to Montreal and Quebec. I wanted to go to France, but didn’t have the money. I had no idea (21 at the time) that you didn’t have to go all the way to Paris to be rudely treated by the French!
We stayed at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec and the day we arrived (July 1st) I discovered that my one and only credit card had expired June 30th. Put a real damper on the trip. The hotel I’d booked in Montreal wouldn’t honor the booking without a credit card. Couldn’t pick up the rental car either. Plus, it was Canada Day. My Dad sent me $1000 via Western Union a couple of days later, but by then the constant rude treatment and outright verbal abuse we’d suffered ruined the whole trip, so we changed our flight reservations and came home 8 days early. My new credit card was in the mail.
I went back to Montreal in the late ’00’s to help a friend move his business from there to Maine. On the whole, it was a better experience, but there’s no chance I’d ever vacation there again. Maine, on the other hand, is glorious (at least in the summer).
I’d put that towards a full set of custom fit golf clubs.
As I’ve gotten older, my game has changed, and I’d like to have clubs that fit me.
Ammunition. Hey, that’s not a firearm! Okay, I’d like a night scope or two. What, that’s not allowed either?
Well, if gun food and accessories are also nixed, I’d spend the money on an outdoor kitchen. That should pay for the materials to set up a screened pavilion. I would pipe in utilities and build a large food dehydrator as well as the obligatory sink, stove/oven and preparation area.
There are means of self-defense other than firearms. Might you consider a sword? Or a sword-cane? In addition to the better-crafted being beautiful items in themselves, there are few equals when it comes to saying GTFO when you cannot shoot.
I’d use it to upgrade my motorcycle. I came to it as a late mid-life crisis (cheaper and less dangerous than a mistress). But now my hips get cramped pretty easily. I have a 2013 “Modern Classic”, air-cooled Triumph Bonneville T100, that is what they call a “standard” configuration. My feet are pretty much right under my knees, maybe a little back of that.
I need a cruiser setup, not too big, but I’d be more comfortable with a cruiser where you are more seated like in a chair and your feet are forward on platforms. My hips get much less crampy. I could sell my bike and get a used cruiser that I’d like (new bikes are stupid IMO) with about $3,000 cash.
Realistically, though, now that my son has moved away, I don’t ride much anymore, and I may have two more seasons, maybe 3 before I give it up, so I likely won’t change bikes at this point. But if someone dropped $3,000 in my lap, I’d trade up to a used Triumph America in a heartbeat.
Try a Bonneville Bobber at your local dealership.
I guess I could put $3k to custom built bookcases and then spend any left over money on yet more books, a better chair for the living room and a good lamp and side table for drinks and a canister of dog treats for my buddy. I’d get a matching set up for the missus too.