I just want an apartment... I don't need a "commode on legs".

From The Daily Beast today comes a list of 16 things John Thain, the outgoing head of Merrill Lynch, bought to redecorate his office, etc:

1) $2,700 for six wall sconces.
2) $5,000 for a mirror in his private dining room.
3) $11,000 for fabric for a "Roman Shade.”
4) $13,000 for a chandelier in the private dining room.
5) $15,000 for a sofa.
6) $16,000 for a "custom coffee table.”
7) $18,000 for a “George IV Desk.”
8) $25,000 for a "mahogany pedestal table.”
9) $28,000 for four pairs of curtains.
10) $35,000 for something called a "commode on legs.”
11) $37,000 for six chairs in his private dining room.
12) $68,000 for a "19th Century Credenza" in his office.
13) $87,000 for a pair of guest chairs.
14) $87,000 for an area rug in Thain's conference room and another area rug for $44,000.
15) $230,000 to his driver for one year’s work.
16) $800,000 to hire celebrity designer Michael Smith, who is currently redesigning the White House for the Obama family for just $100,000.

As I'm reading that, the other three tabs in my Firefox window are: this, my email, and Craigslist apartments in North Jersey.  The email is to stay in touch, this is to stay sane, the Craiglist window is to dream.  The hubby and I literally cannot afford an apartment right now.  One of these days we have to sit down and do a budget, crunch numbers, look at our bills (see 101 in 1001 list item #29: Develop a bill paying strategy with my husband), and see how far we are, exactly, from being able to afford an apartment (i.e. rent, utilities, cable/internet, groceries/toiletries, and gas - just the basics, ma'am).  I don't know how far we are, but I suspect we're far.  I have very little leftover money each month but of course I pay for the storage unit currently holding 90% of my belongings (oh, belongings, how I miss you so).  What I pay towards that can move towards rent, which is helpful... but nowhere near enough.

But, seriously - $87,000 for a pair of guest chairs?  They don't have an IKEA near him?  $15,000 for a sofa?  I have two great sofas (in storage, sniffle) that I got at Bob's Furniture for not probably 10% of that.  (I honestly forget what I paid.)  I have an armchair that I loooooove that I bought for just a couple hundred dollars on clearance.  (I probably don't need to tell you where it is now; you get the point - I miss my stuff.)  $230,000 to a driver?  Hell, I'll be a driver for half that!

This guy is a crook.  I can't believe he was allowed to do this and then allowed to "resign" today.  They should have fired his ass and then literally set fire to it.  (Well, okay, maybe not so much with the setting on fire part.)  But he is a crook and needs to be held accountable.  You're an ass and an idiot if the President of the United States gets that much of a better deal than you do.  You know who his customers are?  Us, the American people.  Some of us were also your customers; you're lucky you don't have to answer to the public with an election in several years.  I hope you do have to answer to a court of law, though.  You most certainly should have to answer to your conscience, but that clearly seems to be failing you.

For now, I'll go back to gazing at this listing for a 1br for $1280 that includes utilities and cable/Internet.  It doesn't have a custom coffee table, but I have a good IKEA one in storage.