# You come into a huge fortune. What frivious thing do you buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440 "2010-07-12T20:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/21 "2010-07-12T22:11:55Z")
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos each have their own aerospace company that designs and builds rockets. I want one of those too. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/22 "2010-07-12T22:23:08Z")
An official sized, 50 meter by 25 meter, Olympic pool. I also want starting blocks, the best lane lines, the works. Indoor of course so I can swim year round. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/23 "2010-07-12T22:25:26Z")
Two things. First, a house that had a very normal-looking living space above-ground. Three bedrooms, two baths, nice kitchen. Nothing that looked like burglar bait, though. However, it would have a huge underground structure to it. Indoor tennis court, bowling alley, possibly a swimming pool (but, at the very least, a hot tub), billiard room with a wet bar and a dart board, and a state-of-the-art movie theater. Second, a private train, if I could afford to make that happen. Traveling the country in style! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/24 "2010-07-12T22:26:33Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > First editions of all 12 Heinlein juveniles, in as close to mint condition as possible. Then a set in readable condition for every day use. I know I said everyone could define _frivolous_ for themselves. I was, of course, lying. That is NOT frivolous, damn it! It’s clearly an investment, plus it’s freaking Robert Anson Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/25 "2010-07-12T22:26:51Z")
Sex slave. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/26 "2010-07-12T22:27:49Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > But half the fun of having a moat is to have snakes and alligators that shoot lazer-guided bees out of their mouths. Well, the alligators would be trained, so I wouldn’t consider them pests. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/27 "2010-07-12T22:28:17Z")
The government of a small third-world country. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/28 "2010-07-12T22:35:13Z")
> [@I'm Not Dennis Bergkamp](#): > > Well, the alligators would be trained, so I wouldn’t consider them pests. :: evil hat on :: Alligators are not trainable, as better men than you have learned to their sorrow. Little reptile brains. > [@Rigamarole](#): > > Sex slave. :: evil hat off :: Must you? > [@Maeglin](#): > > The government of a small third-world country. :: nerd hat on :: I would have thought all the cities that interested you would have fallen ages and ages and ages ago. Okay, so the nerd hat doesn’t actually come off. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/29 "2010-07-12T22:48:37Z")
Trivial things - air conditioning, someone to fix all the niggling things in the house I haven’t had time to fix, a new lawn and a gardener. And someone to finish indexing my books and put the index on the web. I have reading copies of all the Heinlein juveniles already, in the Ace editions, and I prefer quantity to quality anyhow. But the real frivolous thing is a trip to the space station, assuming they think my heart can take it. Most of the science fictional things from my youth have come true except space travel for the average person. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/30 "2010-07-12T22:53:51Z")
An island. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/31 "2010-07-12T23:02:06Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > But the real frivolous thing is a trip to the space station, assuming they think my heart can take it. Most of the science fictional things from my youth have come true except space travel for the average person. Seconded. The back page of this month’s Kiplinger had an interview with a guy who mentioned that he’d bought a seat on a sub-orbital flight for $200,000, so with my $100 million, I could do that once or twice a year for the rest of my life and still have plenty left over for more practical things. And if suborbitals get old in a couple of years, I’m sure they’ll have private rich-people space tourism developed soon. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/32 "2010-07-12T23:04:20Z")
Nothing for myself, just whatever my wife and kids want. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/33 "2010-07-12T23:20:22Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > :: evil hat off :: > > Must you? I must, but I promise I would treat her well. And anyway I only buy free-range sex slaves. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/34 "2010-07-12T23:25:04Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Let’s define _huge fortune_ as being over $100 million. > > Define _frivolous_ however suits you. All that matters is your own opinion. Frivolous? Something like an [8 speed Omafiets](http://www.wheelhousebikes.com/classic-omafiets/). I think they are SO. NEAT. LOOKING. Even though they’re not that practical where I am (hilly.) Or a bike built just for me. (I’m on the bike a lot these days.) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/35 "2010-07-12T23:36:35Z")
I’m so glad you asked this question. I would give to the City of L.A. whatever it costs to sheathe the domes of Griffith Observatory in gold, and maintain it. Do I even have to ask you to imagine how glorious it would look on a clear day? Besides it would probably provide good protection for the underlying structure. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/36 "2010-07-12T23:38:30Z")
This house: [http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/637-N-Batavia-Avenue\_Batavia\_IL\_60510\_1105840828](http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/637-N-Batavia-Avenue_Batavia_IL_60510_1105840828) And then spend the same amount in fixing the atrocious “renovations” the previous owners had done. I’d return it to it’s original state as intended by Wright. I’d also have furniture custom made to match that of the furniture originally built for the house. And an Edsel. Just because I could. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/37 "2010-07-12T23:56:11Z")
Permanent hair removal. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/38 "2010-07-12T23:58:14Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The kitties have to be able to look out from it to watch the rest of the world. If I could find something else that served a similar function and looked better, I’d be all over it. Seems to me that with a good stone or brick fence, surrounding just that little acre you talked about, you can let the kitties wander about freely. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/39 "2010-07-13T00:01:21Z")
I want a room of Legos. Connected to a workshop with machine tools and injection-moulding equipment and CAD systems so that I could _design my own_. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440/40 "2010-07-13T00:01:52Z")
Property with multiple buildings with secret underground passageways connecting each one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-come-into-a-huge-fortune-what-frivious-thing-do-you-buy/546440.md?page=3)