Every Friday
shattered kneecap but make it aesthetic
Breaking news in the ongoing Saunter narrative that no-one asked for: James is sidelined with a shattered kneecap. Pour one out for your boy. TBD on if he’ll be in fighting shape by May 2nd.
The peachtree three are back together this weekend for a Nashville mess-around. We’ll be seeing you on the gauntlet:
Shelby → Red Headed Stranger → the Turkey and the Wolf → Skinny Dennis
There is a Chinese curse which says, 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.
— Robert F. Kennedy
Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering.
— Leonard Cohen
Top of Mind
Feeling Poor on $600,000 A Year (New York Times, April, 1987)
“The average guy who has sort of made it is worth a few million. He has a $1 million to $2 million co-op. He’s 40 to 42 years old. He works like a dog… These people are chasing the same things: co-ops, houses in Southampton, art, maybe a co-op in Aspen, an East Side apartment. Then he comes to think about moving from the 8-room to the 16-room and it’s a whole different society.” (1987)
$600k (1987) ~= $1.725m (today)
This week the New York Times dropped another entry in its classic rage-bait format — the one that goes viral every time it runs, playing on the coastal HENRY crowd. The latest: How a Family of 3 Lives on $500,000 on the Upper West Side (New York Times | Gift Link). A couple making half a million, saving $10,000 a month, sharing a bedroom with their one-year-old, agonizing over $4,200 daycare and $6 sticker bribes to get the kid into a stroller. They describe themselves as “middle class for this area.” Nobody felt bad for them.
That piece led me to one from 1987, written in a similar mold but about the fat-cat Wall Street tycoons of the ‘82–’87 boom. It’s one of those articles written at the absolute peak, with comedic timing that only reveals itself in retrospect — published five months before Black Monday wiped out 22% of the Dow in a single session. The cast is different — these bankers were shopping for Park Avenue co-ops, Ferraris, and oceanfront homes in Southampton, not Trader Joe’s runs and museum memberships. But the story is the same one the Times has been telling for 40 years: people earning multiples of the national median, surrounded by people earning multiples of them, genuinely convinced it doesn’t stretch far enough. Nobody felt rich then either.
1987 Prices (NYT):
Living Private School: $10,000 a year for each child
Ferrari: $70,000-$110,000
Driver: $26,000-$31,200 a year
Nanny: $20,800 a year
Housekeeper: $7,800-$18,200 a year
Designer Clothes: $1,000+ per outfit
Christmas in Antigua, Easter in Aspen: $10,000 a week for a family of four, including first-class airfare and accommodation only.
House in the Hamptons:
Near the ocean: $40,000-$60,000 to rent, $400,000+ to buy.
Oceanfront: $60,000+ to rent, $800,000+ to buy
Art: No limit
Catered Dinner Parties: $80-$125 per person
ICYMI: Happy Hour Edition
No matter where you stand on Steven Colbert (I somehow find my way back to this interview once a year) - tapping a comedian to write the Lord of the Rings is a swing. On the bright side - it can’t be worst than season one of the Ring of Power.
“Youth is like the river, and adulthood the lake. Your parents, your upbringing, the circumstances of your childhood are a river you find your boat in. You’re ripping downstream and bumping into boulders and falling off waterfalls, half drowning as you learn how to steer and stay afloat. But all the while, there is movement.
Then, somewhere between 18 and 25, the river dumps you into a giant lake. The water slows and suddenly you’re there, unleashed and floating. If you want to move, it’s up to you to row.”
After binging the latest season of Drive to Survive (which is very good and you should watch the whole series if you haven’t), it’s clear who the coolest team principal is.
Best of Substack this Week
This Week in Relay’s Shopping Cart
Project Hail Mary (Zach, Jack)
I know, I know, we’re late to this. However, we’re speed reading Project Hail Mary this week so that we can catch it in 70mm while it’s still showing here in NYC.
Titleist Pro V1, (Zach)
Once a year Titleist runs a promotion: buy 3 dozen balls, get 1 dozen free. Perfect time to stock up for summer.
YARDMAX Mini Excavator, James
Operation Make-The-Backyard-Not-Look-Like-A-FEMA-Camp is officially underway. Will I rent the YARDMAX Mini Excavator or just hire a contractor? Stay tuned.
It’s Not That Deep, Randy
Thanks for reading—or for mega scrolling all the way down here.
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