Apple TV is one of the best gadgets I’ve bought this year. It’s a small gadget you plug into your TV.
With an iTunes account (hopefully you have one with a US address) you can pick out any movie from its vast menu and rent it for 3.99 or buy it for around $9.99 more or less.
This afternoon Jeroen and I had one of our movie dates in bed. For $3.99 or about Php 163, two of us got to watch a movie we chose at the time we wanted without having to get dressed, join the traffic and drive to a mall, spend for gas and junk food, or leave our kids at home.
Today we watched a movie we’d never heard about. We chose it on a whim and became engrossed. But after the movie I felt a certain sadness and fear.
Many of us are fascinated by how rich people live, especially those who spend money like there’s no tomorrow.
But what if these rich people were high-living beyond their means, spending money borrowed from the bank or some other means, and what if one day that money goes away?
Queen of Versailles follows the true story of David Siegel and his wife Jackie, who made lots of money selling time-share vacations all over America. At one point Siegel was worth 1.8 billion dollars.
They live with eight children, lots of pets, and Filipino nannies among their household staff.
They ride private planes, hobnob with the likes of Donatella Versace and Donald Trump, and were in the process of building the biggest house in America when the economic crisis hit them badly in 2008.
Hotels and resorts were sold, thousands of employees were laid off, and their life changed drastically.
When forced to take a commercial flight for the first time, their kids wondered what were all these people doing in their plane?
With household staff let go, they are left with a messy house, dead pets and a severely depressed man of the house.
In spite of all that, the Queen of Versailles lives in denial and cannot stop buying things they don’t need.
They realize their kids may have to go to college and make their own money (something they hadn’t planned for) and probably apply for a college loan.
Watching this will make you feel one of two things: one is relief that we are better off with less, by living simpler and within one’s means, without any debt.
The other one is fear that you can lose everything you’ve ever worked for without warning. Where will that lead you and what would you do?
To know more, go to http://www.magpictures.com/thequeenofversailles/
Originally published at Chuvaness.com. You can comment here or there.