1 in 499

Today I bring you a little story about the absurdity of the area in which I live. Some of you may know of it as the Gold Coast, made famous by the Nelson Demille book of the same name. Don’t be fooled, the entire area is not like this, there are plenty of normal neighborhoods and the community I live in was a great place to raise a family.

But! Part of raising a family here is to keep them grounded in the midst of some crazy money. Silly money really. Silly money sitting next to regular families like ours. My friend Twentyfour at Heart writes about the LA version of this life and she refers to it as moneytown. Well, 24, you will love this story!

Enter the story of the red Ferraris. We were in a shopping center nearby – buying sneakers of all glamorous things – and we ran into some friends we have not seen in a long time. We started to chat in the parking lot when we saw a red Ferrari F430 16M Scuderia Spider parked with the license plate 1 in 499 (yes, I am miserable that I did not get a shot of that). Wow, a little research tells me that sucker sells for around $220,000 and in fact only 499 of them were produced.

Yeh, that’s not nuts. I mean, shouldn’t it come with 3 bedrooms and some major appliances for that price? Ok, so wow. This guy is really loaded. Or he is in a lot of debt. Or he wants us to think he has a really big dick (most likely).

So, we chat,chat, chat a bit more and then my friend says, “Oh boy, Mr. 1 in 499 is going to be really pissed off, here comes another car just like his.” Yep, that’s right. There we were in a parking lot with not one but TWO of these cars. As we wondered where the other 497 of them were residing you would never believe this but a THIRD one drove into the lot.

Ok, that is just crazy. Funny money. There we were in the midst of $660,000 worth of red Ferraris revving their engines trying to get their 3 dicks to be as big as they were when they left their driveways that morning.

And you know what? I was still just happy to have a new pair of kicks.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under absurdities, communities, humor

Tagged as 1 in 499, ferrari, ferrari F430 16M Scuderia Spider, gold coast, gold coast of long island, neslon demille, twentyfour at heart

May 23, 2009 · 11:46 pm

Spy Shop

spy_shops

This picture was taken on the north service road of the Long Island Expressway just before exit 37. For those who are not familiar with the North Shore of Long Island, this is what I like to refer to as the belly of the money beast. Like moneytown on my friend Twentyfour’s blog, this is a place where wealth is most often worn on the sleeve, and usually it is a designer one.

Yes, this is the land of the lifestyle of the rich and clueless.

I had seen it on my way out of the area earlier in the day and made it a point to stop on the way home to take this picture. I pass this spot often, but have never seen this store. Perhaps it is new.

I could not help but wonder how a spy shop could survive here. Note the ‘s’ at the end of shops. Does this infer a chain of these stores?

Really now, are there that many spies living on the Gold Coast? I was at a party tonight and showed a few people the picture. I asked how they thought this place stayed in business. The first response was that it was for spouses to catch each other cheating. The second was that they sold nannycams. The third was the same as the first and came from her spouse. Don’t worry, they just think alike, neither one of them would need this store.

So, any other thoughts on how a Spy Shop stays in business in an upscale suburban town?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

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