I'm in Southern France testing the new Mercedes SLK 350. Somehow I've ended up in Monaco, down near the docks. Yeah...I'm lost...as usual. The boats here are considered mega-yachts, the type of ship you can land a helicopter. I've parked the SLK amidst Ferrari 430s, Aston DBSs and dozens of Audi Q7s. I think the harbormaster is giving me the stink-eye, what, being in an SLK and all. He can bite me. I'm watching two guys in a heated discussion. They both look well moneyed. One dude's got a watch that fetches 100k. Though I don't speak whatever language they were speaking (could have been Farsi), I can tell one is challenging the other, calling him out. This goes on for 20 minutes or so and then they both split in a big huff. A crewmember from one of the boats comes down to check of the SLK. I chat him up for a bit, let him sit in the SLK, fondle all it's nifty knobs and buttons. I ask him about those two guys. He tells me they are princes for an Arab state. They are arguing over whose jet is faster. One of them claims he can out climb anything in the sky. Apparently his aircraft has been fitted with special "hotrod" engines. The other guy thinks he's full of *** and his plane will go far faster. I seem to remember the same thing going down in high school with Camaros, VWs and Mustangs. The need to go faster than the other kid's car was a powerful urge. I guess that urge doesn't go away, no matter how many billions you have. It doesn't matter if it's a $5000 VW Jetta or a _$36 million Gulfstream G550. It's all relative