Most of the time, One-upping the person next door involves nothing more than getting the latest Apple gadget. However, when you live in Yarrow Point, one-upping the neighbors require a lot more creativity and a ton more money. I got an example of that during the 4th of July celebration when a few of the neighbors went it at to see who can put on the best private fireworks display.
Spending thousands on private fireworks is just one example of neighbor one-upmanship. Several of the houses at Yarrow Point have private sea planes docked next to the boats. A less expensive one-up example came during the 4th of July parade. One neighborhood kid decided to one-up the rest by equipping this Tonka truck with an iPod music system. Of course, it wasn’t playing any music since it required a 120V power source.
The best example I’ve seen so far of millionaire one-upmanship came from my neighbor across the water. I guess winning the private fireworks display wasn’t enough. He turned his backyard into a giant water slide and is now the envy of all the parents in the neighborhood.
Now if you’ll excuse me, Sally and I are going to head across the water to try out the slide.
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Wow, that is one cool slide….
My high school would set one of these up a few times per year in front of the dorms (main grass area was a hill similar to that in the photo).
One year they put the slide on the bluff! 60 degree angle water slide down a cliff!
I never understand the need for people to know your bank account and financial ability.
Haha, that slide is actually a cool use of money. Who gives a crap about a fireworks show.
Yeah i have also seen slide really coooooooollll.
I bet this one is really cool
It appears to not be very expensive, it’s just plastic sheeting and a few sandbags.
haha…..really coooooooooool ya
I believe you are a millionaire, so everything told about yourself. However I will continue to learn from your blog
@Golfman i agree we are learning everyday from johnchow
The person who wasted the most money is the winner of the shine FREQUENCY jerk rally.
The title of your post is very misleading. When I read it I thought of the book “The Millionaire Next Door”, which is totally opposite from what you talk about in your post. Most millionaires are not into conspicuous consumption. The best way to get rich is to NOT keep up with the Jones’.
It appears that John lives in one of the areas where the local millionaires do actually do this. I knew exactly what was meant by the title.
That is one sick slide but what’s blocking it? I would hate to slide on it and hit a wooden pole!
It looks like that post is far out in the water. The zoom photo makes it look closer than it really is.
Is it just me or does that slide run right into two huge poles?
That was the first thing I noticed too when I looked at the picture. That would hurt.
Yeah.. now I noted it too. May be these poles are some distance ahead..
Haha! Yeah, it does look a bit risky. Someone could get hurt. In addition to the water slide, that house is really nice.
The pole is far enough away that you’ll never hit it.
@Joshua the poles could be very dangerous
Yep I agree your neighbours have slight ego problems.
Keeping up with the Jones’ is all about wasting your money for a little ego boost and making yourself feel better. The feeling lasts for a few days until the next ego-boosting opportunity turns up.
That waste of cash on fireworks could have been spent instead on helping education where it’s really needed.
I wish if I could have been there on the slide. The house architecture is wonderful. What I believe is NO PAIN NO GAIN.
No doubt the house is so beautiful and idea of this slide is excellent.
Man, envy is the worst thing but generates some creativity.
Very Interesting point. The picture of house is really beautiful and surely he has one up on the neighbors..
I guess it is just the millionaires who need to re-assure themselves. Warren Buffet has been living in the same house since decades, Bill Gates is known to travel ordinary class and Mark Zuckerberg lives in a rented apartment.
Neither Bill nor Warren has flown ordinary class in years. Bill is a Netjet customer, which is own by Warren. Bill’s house is the next community over and is part of the Points Communities made up of Yarrow Point, Hunts Point, Clyde Hill and Medina. Bill puts on private fireworks display for New Years. Not sure about 4th of July.
Mark recently moved into a $7 million house 10 min from the Facebook office. It has a salt water pool among its many amenities.
Ha ha.. Nice John. Sam you should do a little research before commenting here.
While a lot of millionaires might live less extravagantly than their peers, flying in business or higher class is rarely an amenity they will give up. It’s just about impossible to get anything done in cattle-class (where I fly, haha), and self-made millionaires have stuff to get done.
In Biz, you get plenty of room and comfort to work away the hours on those long haul flights.
That water slide is so cool. Perfect for the summer weather!
Good luck and enjoy, john!
Little bit fun…!!!!!
I really enjoy reading most part of the article. glad you all liked the post.
This is awesome man……made me laugh. I’m pretty sure I don’t have any millionaire neighbors though..at least not that I know of!
oh man i wish i had such a house, need lots of money i guess
One day you will have it.. Just keep trying..
How does he keep that slide wet? I see some seriously burned elbows at the mid-point of the that slide, just saying.
He has a sprinkler system that goes down the length of the slide. It’s pretty wet at all times.
so thats how it works smoother. Sprinkler system is serving the purpose..
Yeah i have also seen slide really cooooooool
I love this post, and really nice slide John
Yep I agree your neighbours have slight ego problems.
Keeping up with the Jones’ is all about wasting your money for a little ego boost and making yourself feel better. The feeling lasts for a few days until the next ego-boosting opportunity turns up.
That waste of cash on fireworks could have been spent instead on helping education where it’s really needed.
Nice point @forex it’s really a kind of waste
Thanks for sharing an nice post
i enjoyed watching this video thanks for it
its great to hear about mark and bill gates
This is a beautiful place. Nice to see how your neighbor lives.