Tweet
Candidate #1: my roommate, Mr. Anti-Social. Since he does not have a credit card (various reasons I'm not going to go into), I often order him stuff online. He pays me cash for the item(s), I use my bank credit card, and deposit the cash the next day. He gets his stuff, I help him out, and it costs me nothing. Everyone wins!
Now, usually he orders various computer parts, stuff, or equipment. He's into computers, so that makes sense. But every now and then he orders something that raises my eyebrow, like the time he ordered a cooking knife that probably cost more than all of my knives combined....and yet he barely cooks, other than to make basically the same rather basic dishes for himself all the time. And this is not merely my opinion...he's even SAID that he really doesn't cook. But there he was, paying through the nose for this (admittedly killer) knife. Seemed a waste.
And then, there was tonight. Wherein Mr. Anti-Social had me order him two pairs of sunglasses....for $400!
Okay, I know that I'm a believer in cheap shades, as you can get good stuff for decent prices, but it goes beyond my innate frugality with shades (even though I am a self-admitted sunglass whore). The fact is, Mr. Anti-Social is as close to a vampire as you are ever gonna meet. He's Eastern European, with a Dracula-esque accent to match, he's paler than the average corpse, he's very nocturnal, and about the only time he sees the sun is during his afternoon bike ride to work. And here he is, dropping four bills on two pairs of shades.
Really?!?
Candidate #2: Me! Yep, your very own Jester.
For while my roommate is dropping four Benjamins on shades, I have been convinced to drop over $200 on rum. "But Jester, you love rum!" Yes. Yes I do. But this is far worse than it sounds.
I enjoy many rums that I can acquire, even in the expensive market of the Keys, for anywhere from $40-$100 a bottle or so. Many of then are quite lovely. So for me to be willing to pay more than twice that--$233, to be exact--it would have to be for some amazing rum. And it is....and that's where things turn ugly.
The rum in question is Mount Gay Tricentennial, a limited edition rum the Mount Gay distillery made in 2003 to commemorate their founding 300 years earlier. And when I say "limited," I'm not kidding. This is one of the hardest rums in the world to find. How hard? When my friend Popcorn met one of the Vice Presidents of Mount Gay, Popcorn asked the VP about Tricentennial, and what Popcorn would have to do to get some. To which the VP said, "Listen, if you find a bottle, you let ME know!" To put it simply, this is one do the Holy Grails of rum.
I know what you're thinking. If this is such a great, rare, amazing rum, $233 is a steal for it. And you're right. You are so right that I will tell you right now that if you ever find a bottle of Mount Gay Tricentennial for that price, grab it and RUN! But I'm not paying $233 for a bottle of it.
I'm paying $233 for a sixth of a bottle of it.
One of Popcorn's friends found a bottle of Tricentennial elsewhere in Florida, for the sticker price of $1,400. A few texts went out, one from Popcorn to me--naturally while I was in a bar drinking--and I agreed to become one of the six, as we've come to be called, Knights of the Rum Table.
So at some time this fall, the six of us will gather here in Key West and toast to our good fortune, with one of the rarest runs in the world. And hopefully one of the best. I say "hopefully" because not one of us has ever tasted it. But its reputation, and the fact that its been sitting for ten years, just getting better, lead me to believe it probably is. And no, I'm not sharing. Not even if Keira Knightley showed up in a string bikini and sat in my lap would I share my portion of this bottle.
So, the question remains...which one of us is the bigger idiot, financially speaking? Cast your vote now! And please, weigh in and tell me why you voted the way you did!
Now, usually he orders various computer parts, stuff, or equipment. He's into computers, so that makes sense. But every now and then he orders something that raises my eyebrow, like the time he ordered a cooking knife that probably cost more than all of my knives combined....and yet he barely cooks, other than to make basically the same rather basic dishes for himself all the time. And this is not merely my opinion...he's even SAID that he really doesn't cook. But there he was, paying through the nose for this (admittedly killer) knife. Seemed a waste.
And then, there was tonight. Wherein Mr. Anti-Social had me order him two pairs of sunglasses....for $400!
Okay, I know that I'm a believer in cheap shades, as you can get good stuff for decent prices, but it goes beyond my innate frugality with shades (even though I am a self-admitted sunglass whore). The fact is, Mr. Anti-Social is as close to a vampire as you are ever gonna meet. He's Eastern European, with a Dracula-esque accent to match, he's paler than the average corpse, he's very nocturnal, and about the only time he sees the sun is during his afternoon bike ride to work. And here he is, dropping four bills on two pairs of shades.
Really?!?
Candidate #2: Me! Yep, your very own Jester.
For while my roommate is dropping four Benjamins on shades, I have been convinced to drop over $200 on rum. "But Jester, you love rum!" Yes. Yes I do. But this is far worse than it sounds.
I enjoy many rums that I can acquire, even in the expensive market of the Keys, for anywhere from $40-$100 a bottle or so. Many of then are quite lovely. So for me to be willing to pay more than twice that--$233, to be exact--it would have to be for some amazing rum. And it is....and that's where things turn ugly.
The rum in question is Mount Gay Tricentennial, a limited edition rum the Mount Gay distillery made in 2003 to commemorate their founding 300 years earlier. And when I say "limited," I'm not kidding. This is one of the hardest rums in the world to find. How hard? When my friend Popcorn met one of the Vice Presidents of Mount Gay, Popcorn asked the VP about Tricentennial, and what Popcorn would have to do to get some. To which the VP said, "Listen, if you find a bottle, you let ME know!" To put it simply, this is one do the Holy Grails of rum.
I know what you're thinking. If this is such a great, rare, amazing rum, $233 is a steal for it. And you're right. You are so right that I will tell you right now that if you ever find a bottle of Mount Gay Tricentennial for that price, grab it and RUN! But I'm not paying $233 for a bottle of it.
I'm paying $233 for a sixth of a bottle of it.
One of Popcorn's friends found a bottle of Tricentennial elsewhere in Florida, for the sticker price of $1,400. A few texts went out, one from Popcorn to me--naturally while I was in a bar drinking--and I agreed to become one of the six, as we've come to be called, Knights of the Rum Table.
So at some time this fall, the six of us will gather here in Key West and toast to our good fortune, with one of the rarest runs in the world. And hopefully one of the best. I say "hopefully" because not one of us has ever tasted it. But its reputation, and the fact that its been sitting for ten years, just getting better, lead me to believe it probably is. And no, I'm not sharing. Not even if Keira Knightley showed up in a string bikini and sat in my lap would I share my portion of this bottle.
So, the question remains...which one of us is the bigger idiot, financially speaking? Cast your vote now! And please, weigh in and tell me why you voted the way you did!
I never got the chance as she had a miscarriage.
Comment