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The Rich People’s Ten

Drive Time

Here’s an article for those who want to pass for wealthy:

What does the car you drive say about how well you’re doing? There are particular brands that suggest the person behind the wheel is a high earner, according to a new report. It has revealed the 10 vehicles makes that are owned by those who earn in excess of £75,000 a year.

Well, two things jump to mind immediately.  Firstly:  in these Bidenflation times, 75k (UK, Euro or US) isn’t “wealthy” anymore.  (175k, and now you’re getting close.)  Secondly:  the truly wealthy don’t care about how they look — in fact, they often try to disguise their wealth because they don’t want to be targets.  (And ignore the article’s tinges of wealth envy;  they’re Brits, and wealth envy seems to be genetic Over There.)

But just for the hell of it, let’s go with the DM’s definition.  Here are their top ten:

1. BMW – 16%

2. Audi – 15%

3. Ford – 14%

4. Mercedes – 12%

=5. Toyota – 8%

=5. Volvo – 8%

=7. Nissan – 7%

=7, Vauxhall – 7%

=7. Volkswagen – 7%

10. Land Rover – 6%

Unlike my normal outpourings on this website, wherein I just read SOTI and then offer an opinion thereon, I decided to do some actual research for this one.

You see, I live in an upscale area, loosely defined as North Dallas Metro (north Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Allen — and, in a stretch, McKinney, Parker and Fairview).  There are areas of all the above that are not high-income enclaves — e.g. where I live — but within these areas there are also enclaves where the cops will pull you over just for driving around in a car that isn’t one of the models I list below.  (Pickups with trailers full of lawn equipment, for obvious reasons, get a pass.)  Areas such as Park Cities (Highland- and University Park) and Turtle Creek in north Dallas;  Willow Bend, Normandy Estates, Kings Ridge and Wolf Creek in Plano;  and Adriatica in McKinney:  all are examples of said enclaves of wealth.  Total population of the areas (estimate):  about 1.25 million.

So yesterday I took a long drive around some of these places (except where I was stopped by gates, Q.E.D.) and took a highly unscientific but I think nevertheless representative survey of what kind of car these knobs are driving.  I included the doctors’ parking garage at Plano Medical City, street parking on Plano West and the valet parking area at Willow Bend Mall, just for the hell of it.

What struck me is that you can’t just group the cars by brand;  you have to include the model for the study to make any sense at all.  (Example:  Audis are like Fords in Plano — but the Audi A8 and S8 aren’t;  ditto, Mercedes are like Chevy — but Maybach aren’t;  and Maseratis and Porsches are commonplace, until you get to the Quattroporte and upper-end 911s, which are not so common.)

Here’s what you need to drive in this North Dallas Metro area if you want people to think you actually live there instead of just driving through:

  • Mercedes G-wagen (G550 or the AMG, $150k):  I counted half a dozen of them, all driven by women, i.e. they’re the family’s second car, ditto
  • Audi Q7/8 SUV ($80k):  lost count, easily more than twenty though, but every single one was driven by Mommy, as were
  • Range Rover ($130k):  about a dozen of the big ones (forgotten which model), three of which were parked outside the Beretta Gallery in Highland Park, and two outside the Orvis store on Preston Rd
  • Bentley ($250k+):  two Continentals and two Bentaygas;  one Continental was parked outside my Sooper-Seekrit address when I picked up my mail
  • Maybach ($175k+):  I counted two sedans and two SUVs — all parked outside the North Point Mall
  • Mercedes S500 or SL 500 ($125k+):  lost count, more than ten parked just in Legacy West — they are the Audi A4 of Plano
  • BMW 7-series ($120k+):  maybe a dozen
  • Porsche 911 Turbo ($200k+):  five — one was parked in the student parking lot at Plano West High School
  • Rolls Royce:  only one, parked in the driveway of a house in Willow Bend
  • Tesla:  almost as popular as Ford F-150 trucks, out here (ugh)
  • Ferrari:  only one 488 in the doctors’ lot at Baylor Hospital;  I suspect that Ferraris are mostly weekend cars, not everyday drivers.
  • And on the above note:  I suspect that a Saturday morning drive would reveal a lot more high-end car models than as indicated, because there are a sprinkling of “exotics” (Lambo, Maserati GT, Aston Martin and so on) which I’ve seen on a regular basis during my travels herein.

Some other brands were represented, but Lexus and the smaller Mercedes sedans and SUVs are a dime a dozen, and as for the smaller BMWs… think VW in any German city as a definition of popularity.  There are a ton of the bigger, high-end SUVs:  Toyota, GMC Denali, Escalade etc.  Cadillacs (outside of the Escalade) seem to be almost non-existent, at least while I was driving around.  I saw one Caddy CT (4? 5?) in Plano West.

Hardly any Jaguars, of any stripe.

I remember driving Mr. Free Market around a few of these Rich Phartte areas, and his comment was that the houses’ architecture was pretty Nouveau Riche;  but as I told him, there’s almost no Old Money in the North Dallas Metro (as Brits would define it);  wealth outside the Awl Bidness is generally self-made or else first-generation-inherited, e.g. Troy Aikman (north Dallas) and G.W. Bush (Bluff View/Preston Hollow).

Anyway, there you have it:  what to drive in the North Dallas Metro area if you want to announce that you’re wealthy.

And About Time, Too

Good Stuff, The Gun Thing

Well now, lookee here:

Colt has reintroduced its legendary Python .357 Magnum revolver in a blued finish.  The reintroduced blued Python comes with either a 4.25″ or 6″ barrel length and holds six rounds of ammunition.

That’s indeed good news.

Sadly, from what I can see in the pic it’s not Colt’s Royal Blue finish, which for me made the original Python the best-looking revolver ever made:

Compare the Python (Royal Blue) with the Officer’s Match below (Standard Blue) and I think you’ll see what I mean.  The difference is what made the Python so beautiful.

Still, I’m not going to complain too much, and at least the new Python is going to sell at the Colt premium price (~$1,400) compared to the old Python’s nosebleed one.

And yes, the new gun’s action isn’t the same either — but I’m told by a gunsmith buddy that while the new action isn’t as smooth, it’s also less complicated and therefore less likely to break (like my old Python’s did).

Time for the obligatory lottery ticket check… damn.

Hunkering Down – The Response

SHTF

As I suspected, the response to last weekend’s Hunkering Down post was thoughtful, and in some cases dismissive.

Pretty much everyone dismissed the original thesis’s choice of Hinsdale County CO as unworkable, as did I.  And most regarded that choice as “confirmation bias”, i.e. getting the facts to support a preconceived conclusion, or close to thereof.

The most supportable argument came from Reader Mike S., who wrote in part:

Lived in Fairfax Co., VA, a contiguous suburban county of DC. Slowly turning into Southern Maryland.
After visiting 5 states (including Texas) and filling in spreadsheets (Wife does NOTHING w/o a spreadsheet) we settled in East Tennessee.
Her health issues preclude further movement but Southern Appalachia is well watered, (mostly) self-sufficient in food, HEAVILY armed (It’s not “Are you carrying?” but “What are you carrying?”), and compared to the DC metro area crime free*.

*Almost anywhere is going to be crime free compared to our Nation’s Capital/Capitol.

And from Comments:

“Most people will never get out of the planning phase of this, treating it as a thought exercise. The few that might, will likely undersell the effort necessary to make it happen. It’s an expensive proposition to set up a redoubt or bunker. A true survivable landing spot will not come ready-made–it needs to be lived in, the land farmed, the ponds and streams kept clean, neighbors known, that sort of thing. Fewer than 3% of the population can sustain two livable homes simultaneously, so most believe their primary choices are to flee (to what, they have no idea) or hunker down and wait for FedCo and the Military to rescue them.” — Topcat

“And while big game and hunting may play a role, here in WY if the S truly hits the F, you won’t be using any vehicles (short of a mountain bike) to get around since gasoline will at best be rationed, and at worst simply unavailable. After a couple of years whatever you have stored (regardless of treatment) will be essentially useless. If you can’t hike to your hunting area and then pack out your kill, it don’t mean nothin’.” –– Blackwing1

The general consensus seems to be that the time to “bug out” is either in the past, right now or very soon.  During or after the ‘Pocalypse isn’t going to work.  Almost everyone seems to be resigned to staying put (as am I).

In similar vein, given that the average age of my Readers is ummmm advanced, the most pressing, and pretty much insurmountable problem is that of Rx resupply, with some saying that after about 90 days they’re gonna die anyway.  I’m willing to bet that nobody has a year’s worth of critical prescription meds in the cache.  I have about two months’ worth, and I’m probably in the distinct minority even there.  (New Wife, despite my urging, has less than half that, to my great despair.  Her response to my warnings can be summed up quite simply as:  “I have no interest in living in such a world anyway.”)

Let’s face it:  nobody is going to survive for very long if our current civilization turns into the New Dark Age.  Sure, some may survive a little longer than others because they’re well-supplied or else already close to being hunter-gatherers (living in the boonies, hunting / growing their food needs etc.).  Or else they’ve prepared to be predators to get what they need, although even that is going to be transitory as things like food, medicines and other essentials slowly disappear altogether from any kind of supply chain.

But as SOTI pointed out not long ago:  human beings survived being hunter-gatherers for centuries, but the average life expectancy was about 25-35.

The optimists among you suggested that perhaps some kind of order would be restored after a few months or so — but given how our society recently responded to a simple lockdown (let alone a complete breakdown), I’m not that confident.

Me?  I’m not going anywhere except maybe to Doc Russia’s little Festung  a couple-three miles from here.  I’m reasonably well-armed (coff coff ) and have several large Wal-Mart / Sam’s Club-type outlets within walking distance, so I’ll probably just do some shopping (of the AK-47 variety)… until those giant stores are emptied of everything I need.  After that… que sera, sera.

I’ll go down fighting, if I can;  but go down I most certainly will, eventually.  We all will.

Range time?  I think so.  If I’m going to go down, I’m damn sure going to have some fun, and take a few assholes with me.

News Roundup

Bad News

And speaking of friends not worth Smirnoff:


...just for kicks, we need a couple of Christian families to ask for an opt-out too, based on… ummmm I think it’s called… equal protection?


...like ordinary old headaches weren’t enough?


...at the moment, the ANC government is too busy offering support to Hamas to worry about the White Man’s Magic.

And speaking of the latter:


…1.) I don’t think that many Pals live in Gaza in total, and even if there are, 2.)
#Don’tCare #TheyStartedIt #Fuckem.

And the Great Cultural Assimilation Project News:


...there should be a LOT more of this.  (Not the slashy-slashy, the shooty-shooty.)


...could somebody pass the news on to this asshole?

And speaking of “shocking”:


...newsflash:  we never are.  Go peddle your panic somewhere else.


...for once, they got it right.  And proud we are of it, too.


...the Catholic church was unavailable for comment.  No doubt they were too busy hosting the funeral of a trannie atheist.


...her half-dozen OnlyFans subscribers must be distraught.  A quick reminder of whom we speak:


No man should;  but at least one man apparently has, as she recently popped a sprog:

…to prevent mass vomiting.

And speaking of the unspeakable:


...I had no idea that Pedo / Paedo World even had a hierarchy.  So what’s Joe Biden’s title, then?

And in the Travel Department:


...don’t go to:  1) Monaco, 2) London or 3) New York City.  Ask me how I know this.

And in today’s

  


...I imagine that the Hotness Competition among female firefighters is not that strong, but lessee anyway:

I guess her background as a porn actress has helped her in her new career.

And that’s the news.

Simplifying

Drive Time

I have often thought that our transportation problems can be largely solved by the re-introduction of the pared-down small pickup truck, similar to the Toyotas, Datsuns and Mazdas of years past, i.e. the 1970s:

Then I came upon this article, which talks about Toyota’s current attempt to do just that, the result looking something like this:

The 70s light pickups look almost dainty by comparison, but that’s because Nanny Gummint decrees that even the simplest and most basic of cars need to have all sorts of safety equipment included.  (By comparison, the earlier pickups had about as much safety equipment as a skateboard.  My old Mazda pickup from that era didn’t even have seat belts.)

And as for selling such things for only $10,000?  I’ll bet Mr, Free Market’s country house that not one American car manufacturer would even give lip service to the concept.

Not when a loaded F-150 sells for $75,000 and yields about $25,000 profit.

Afterthought:  my last Chicago car was a Mazda B4000 (similar to the Ford Ranger of the early 1990s), and I loved it.  I lost it in the Great Divorce Of 1996, and Ex-Wife drove it until (I think) 2012.

All the power I’d ever need, complete reliability, plus room for guns in the little extended cab.  If I could get its clone (11,000 miles on the clock as it had when I bought it, for $9,000) I’d grab it now with both hands.

Prole Drift

Food & Drink, Travels

I think it was the late (and much-missed) Paul Fussell who in one of his books (either Class  or Bad ) coined the term “prole drift” to describe how American society was shifting inexorably towards the working classes in terms of clothing, manners, taste and so on.  (Aside:  I love books written by ur-patricians like Fussell because I’m one of them, and unashamedly so.)

So I gladly admit to bias when I read articles like this one:


Almost a quarter of the population of Marlow in Buckinghamshire are aged over 65 and many of them think a Wetherspoons pub will attract ‘the wrong sort of people’.

For Readers of the non-Brit persuasion, Wetherspoons is a massive chain of pubs found all over the place, whose modus operandi  is typically to buy a failing pub (or any failing business, for that matter) and reopen it (sometimes under its own name even) as a place that sells cheaper fare — beer, wine, food whatever — to attract a large and it should be said loyal customer base.  Needless to say, the toffs and trendies tend to look down on Wetherspoons because inevitably, the kind of people attracted thereto are quite definitely Not Our Kind, Dear.

So this latest kerfuffle in Marlow should be seen in that context.

As it happens, I’ve actually been to Marlow simply because in looking for a place to have lunch while on a road trip, I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up there.

It is undeniably beautiful, as these English small towns go, but like the curate’s egg, only in parts.  While the main street is lovely, there are also parts that resemble Typical Brit Suburbia (i.e. fugly semi-detached dwellings) with a population to match. Not Yorkshire Mining Town, to be sure, but not a place where Mr. Free Market would feel at home either.

Here’s what I discovered when I retraced my steps and went back up to Marlow Road (the main drag):  fucking hell, it’s an expensive place to eat and drink, even by Brit standards.  Worst of all, the high street pubs are of the gastropub variety — at least, the ones I looked at were — and when I finally did find a place to eat — off the main street —  I ended up ordering a simple cheese sandwich, chips and a pint which still set me back close to £10 (which was a lot, back in the early 2000s, when the same meal in London cost me just under £5).  I don’t remember which pub it was, but it sure as hell wasn’t The Coach (as mentioned in the article).

So I can see why Wetherspoons would choose to open one of their corporate or franchise pubs there, because if you’re not one of the Snooty Set, there’s nowhere to get a decently-priced pub lunch in Marlow.  And while the Snooty Set are well represented in the town’s demographics, there is also a sizable percentage of people like, well, you and me;  and that that makes for a sound business case.

Finally, I find the outrage at the “prole” Wetherspoons to be hypocritical.  Why?  Because on that same Marlow Road can be found a Domino’s Pizza and Subway sandwich shop.

And if that ain’t prole, I dunno what is.