Even Billionaires Want to be Accepted

The Zuckerbergs bought 11 homes in Palo
Alto to construct their compound.

Where does a billionaire live?

(It's the answer to the old elephant joke riddle "where does an elephant sit"?)

Answer: anywhere he wants.

In Mark Zuckerberg's case he and his wife Priscilla Chan want to live in Palo Alto in the Crescent Park neighborhood, which lies between Highway 101 and Stanford University.

he’s attempted to placate the surrounding community with an assortment of gifts.

Zuckerberg — who’s now worth approximately $257 billion — sent Krispy Kreme donuts, sparkling wine, chocolates and noise-canceling headphones to his neighbors as a form of consolation. Zuckerberg’s press representatives did not confirm to SFGATE which brand of wine and chocolate he gave to neighbors by the time of publication.

Though Zuckerberg’s $110 million project started in 2011, neighbors are reportedly concerned that it’s slated to continue. In total, he reportedly purchased 11 homes, sometimes offering owners up to $14.5 million to vacate their properties along Edgewood Drive and Hamilton Avenue. One of these properties, which operated as a small private school that included his two kids, reportedly violated city law. (In Palo Alto, a school or business cannot function inside of a home if employees do not live there and it creates substantial traffic).

Priscilla Chan and her statue (Artnews)

Overall, Zuckerberg’s luxe compound is anything but modest: it reportedly features a seven-foot-tall statue of his wife, Priscilla Chan, in a silver flowing robe, along with a pickleball court and several guest houses.

At least three Bay Area billionaires--Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sergey Brin (Google), Lauren Powell Jobs (Apple)--have chosen to live in Palo Alto.

Not for them the big house on the hill; within walking distance they can mingle with the normals in downtown Palo Alto and Stanford Shopping Center. Some of the wealthy--think of Warren Buffett--don't want to lose touch with their humble origins. And they can live anywhere they want.

Stanford Medicine

Charging stations can be found in every building

Since the beginning of 2024 family members have often used the medical facilities at Stanford. We have availed ourselves of the services in neurology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, dermatology, oncology, radiology, and early drug development, as well as the laboratories and emergency rooms.

The personnel, equipment, and buildings are uniformly excellent. If we must be critical, we have experienced an occasional slip-up in scheduling, probably due to growing pains from Stanford Health's multi-billion-dollar expansion program.

But the greatest drawback, IMHO, is something that Stanford can't do much about, namely the difficulty getting to its facilities quickly. The tony Peninsula towns Palo Alto and Menlo Park have blocked traffic improvements, so cars must traverse the same local streets as they have since World War II. Getting from the freeways to Stanford can be heavy going, especially when one considers the growth in the Silicon Valley economy.

Nevertheless, we'll live with the inconveniences. Both Stanford and UCSF have world-class medical facilities, and we know people who fly here for treatment. The quality of medical care is one benefit of living in the Bay Area that we don't often hear mentioned.

Great Moments in Real Estate Marketing

You don't need this home if Susie just wants to go to Cal (Street view/Merc)

Palo Alto homes have always commanded a premium over already-pricey Peninsula real estate because of PA's highly rated school distrct. This, however, is next level. [bold added]

A home listed for sale at $4.8 million on Friday in Palo Alto boasts that since its 2017 rebuild, the children of every subsequent owner have gone on to Harvard or Stanford, “paving the way for even greater achievements.”

“Now, it is ready to pass on its extraordinary energy to the next family,” the listing reads.

The five-bedroom, four-bathroom home appears to have been staged to highlight the children’s academic success — the framed diplomas and acceptance letters are poised above the mantel, featuring prominently in some of the photos.

That's a lot of pressure on the child. If he or she doesn't get into Stanford or Harvard (or an Ivy or MIT or CalTech), the parents will have overpaid substantially for a comparable house that they could have gotten for at least $1 million less in other Peninsula cities.

Let's hope the feng shui is strong with this one.

The Lines Were Quick

Khaled Meshaal (NY Post/Reuters)

Last month there was a moment's trepidation when I booked a flight on Friday the 13th.

Bah! rational guys like me shouldn't let superstition rule their lives. I clicked the pay-and-submit button.

It was more than superstition that paralyzed some people with fear yesterday. Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal designated yesterday as the "Day of Jihad":

The former leader of Hamas called on Muslims to stage global demonstrations in support of Palestinians on Friday, and urged Arabs in neighboring countries to take up arms against Israel.

In the Bay Area some schools cancelled classes:

Schools and universities across the Bay Area said they were bolstering security measures — and in some cases canceling classes — amid so-far unsubstantiated threats of pro-Hamas violence.

Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, Wornick Jewish Day School in Foster City and South Peninsula Hebrew Day School in Sunnyvale said they would be closed Friday amid concerns that Jewish institutions could be targeted, Jewish Weekly reported.

Stanford Law School announced it would be holding all of its classes Friday on Zoom in the wake of students’ fears around safety on the “Day of Jihad.”

Just in case TSA had installed extra procedures, I showed up 2½ hours before the 8:20 AM flight. The caution was unnecessary as the lines were quick, and I spent an hour nursing a coffee and croissant before boarding.

We disparage law enforcement, the FBI, the CIA, and other alphabet agencies, but a point in their favor is that there has not been a major terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. Because of that record, there is still hope that the agencies can be fixed.

And yes, the flight went well.

Pictures on the Wall

A family member had an appointment with an opthalmologist, and so it was that we were at the Stanford eye clinic, three miles east of the university's main campus.

Rather than look at my phone I prowled the halls and gazed at the collection of '60's pop art. There were Andy Warhols and Roy Lichtensteins (pictured above) on both floors, along with less well-known artists like Allen Jones, Mel Ramos, and Guy Dill.

The screens will always be there, and when you're in a new place, even as nondescript as a doctor's office, you can be pleasantly surprised by getting up and looking around.

Making Nice in Palo Alto

(Mercury News photo)

It's not as noteworthy as the lion lying down with the lamb, but the most prominent businessman and one of the most prominent politicians in the U.S. made nice today:

Tesla has decided to base its engineering headquarters in Palo Alto at a former Hewlett-Packard site, the company’s top boss Elon Musk announced on Wednesday.

Musk made the announcement in Palo Alto during an unusual joint appearance with Gov. Gavin Newsom. The pair have sparred in the past over California’s business climate...California and its political establishment...were jolted in 2021 when Tesla decided to decamp its headquarters from the Golden State and move the company’s corporate offices to Texas.

Both men have attracted attention by making public statements that inflame political activists on the left and right. But they didn't get to where they were by passing up opportunities to make a win-win deal.

IMHO, the "real" Gavin Newsom and the "real" Elon Musk are both shrewd, calculating individuals who measure both the short- and long-term consequences of their actions. The next time they issue a provocative tweet that makes you cheer or sputter, that's exactly what they wanted you to do.

Junk Thoughts

The odometer at 27 years--220,044 miles

Although I posted about it in 2018, today is the fifth anniversary of scrapping our 1990 Toyota Camry Wagon (that's September 27, 2017 for the chronologically challenged). The car had given us 27 years of service and 220,000 miles.

The Camry was breaking down every week, and repairs couldn't be justified under any set of cost-benefit assumptions. Luckily, California's clunker buy-back program was paying owners to take old cars off the road.

The requirements were that the car be operating, be at least 22 years old, and pass a visual inspection (for example, minimum of one headlight, one taillight and one brake light). Provided I could drive it to the Buyback scrapyard, the BAAQMD [Bay Area Air Quality Management District] would pay me $1,000.

Just behind the stacks of tires and rusted autos.

The junkyard had been there for decades. It was adjacent to East Palo Alto marsh land, land once considered hostile to development.

Now the land would be worth many millions of dollars to home builders because of the Bay setting and proximity to tech employers.

The marsh land was now an open space preserve and will, along with the junkyard, likely remain unchanged.

Based on past patters of ownership, I'll be back around 2045 when it comes time to scrap our two cars (mfg 2018 and 2019). Governor Newsom, who banned the sale of gas-powered automobiles after 2034, will undoubtedly be disappointed in us bitter-clingers, but since there's no room in my retirement fund for a Tesla I'll have to live with his disapproval.

A Lot of Trouble to Replace

Bent out of shape: I did that without help.

The best $150 I ever spent was in 2008.

Our 20-year-old dryer was irredeemably broken, and the new dryers at the time were too wide and cost at least $500, not including tax, installation, and hauling the old one out. On Craigslist the ideal replacement miraculously appeared. It was narrow enough, and the door hinge was at the bottom which was a "try-for" specification from the household CEO.

The seller, a lady in Palo Alto, had bought a new laundry pair and thought she could find a use for her old dryer but had given up trying. Her Kenmore had been sitting on the back patio for a year, covered with a tarpaulin. Before taking it, I asked her to plug it in to prove that it worked. It did.

The dryer easily fit in the 11-year-old Dodge Grand Caravan. (I always use an old car--for different reasons, of course--when I have to negotiate a purchase, do charity work, or go to crime-ridden areas like San Francisco.) The used dryer worked like a champ, and the garbage haulers took the old dryer on one of the two annual bulk-disposal days.

[Note: I forgot that I had blogged about the purchase in 2009. Most of the details are still clear in my memory. I'm not that far gone....yet.]

This week the dryer that had served us for 13 years finally failed. The drum turns but doesn't heat; the problem was likely due to one of three parts, said the Internet, each of which costs less than $50. But first the bottom cover plate has to be opened. It had never been removed by myself, nor likely the original owner, too, so I'm using brute strength and WD-40 against the rusty metal. So I can't even get to step 2: testing the continuity on the three parts to see which of them is busted. So I'll be spending a bit more time, probably through New Year's weekend, working the problem before giving up.

Fortunately for me the household CEO did not act disappointed though I bent the bottom plate out of shape. She knows that the hired help doesn't respond well to criticism and will be a lot of trouble to replace.

When We Said It, Some of Us Really Meant It

Over the decades the subject matter has changed. Initially we talked about our companies, spouses, and travels.

Later, as certain members of our class achieved lift-off (allusion to William Shatner, who showed that frontiers are not the province of the young), the conversation shifted away from worldly success to children, aging parents, and those who were not present this weekend, or sadly, forever.

I've only gone to a few reunions of my high-school or university classes--the big ones ending in "0" and the 25th--but the passage of time, catalyzed by the coronavirus, brought a change in perspective.

The average age of our graduating class is in the mid-70's, so despite its being a "minor" reunion year, I signed up for the Saturday night dinner. Who knows when, or if, I might see any of them again?

Psychologists say that a normal human response to our mortality is laughter. There was a lot of laughter this evening, and when we parted with a "let's have dinner (or lunch) again," some of us really meant it.

Palo Alto Loved Big Government Until It Came for Palo Alto

A friend's modest Palo Alto 3BR sold for $1.3MM in 2011.
$300K was put into it. Zillow's current value is $3.3 MM.

Liberals often turn conservative, that is, anti-big-government, on issues that affect them personally. The latest example is deep-blue Palo Alto's resistance to State directives to build multifamily housing:

Housing advocates say the city has a unique opportunity to change the course, and embrace multifamily housing rather than individual lots to help counteract housing and school segregation. But an uphill battle is on the horizon.

Shortly after the Palo Alto City Council tightened restrictions against multifamily housing, a group of anti-growth homeowners and politicians held a town hall arguing that more housing could lead to problems and urged attendees to challenge a state directive for the city to approve 6,000 new homes by 2030.

To halt construction the usual bag of tricks are being employed: insistence on time-consuming environmental studies and protests against traffic and "developer giveaways." But this time the tactics are being used against the Progressive dream of dense housing along mass-transit corridors.

One surprise is denigrating the Sacramento housing directive as "Soviet economics", which I didn't think had any traction in the town that is home to Stanford University. One would think that the woke who dominate the campus and the town would welcome a chance to bulldoze single-family homes and small shopping centers to create a demonstration city of high-rise apartments. So far the lack of enthusiasm is shocking.

Carbon Indulgence

The above graph and commentary are from the WSJ on the week's action in auto stocks. [bold added]

As traditional car giants sputter, Tesla is in the lead. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. gave tepid outlooks for the year ahead to investors as they deal with weakening demand and rising labor costs. Meanwhile, investors are gravitating to upstarts like Tesla, whose valuation soared in recent days to more than $130 billion—higher than that of GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV combined. Telsa shares gained 20% Tuesday.

When we left for Honolulu on Tuesday, TSLA was taking off like a rocket ship. It's fallen sharply but still finished 15% higher for the week.

I checked out the Tesla store at Ala Moana. The displays are more polished, and the products are, as expected, more advanced, than they were three years ago in Palo Alto.

Within the next five years we'll probably swallow hard and buy the Powerwall battery storage, the solar roof, and the car.

For an outlay in the low six figures we'll not only be independent of PG&E but more importantly signal our low-carbon virtue to the neighbors. A red Tesla, like the one in the showroom, will do the trick.

Sunday Worship

Out (for over 200 years): unification of Church and State.

In (for this Sunday): unification of Church and football.

Politics will be forgotten this afternoon as a dozen church members gather in the Parish Hall to root for the 49ers. I will have to remember to be careful about the words I use when the local team makes a mistake.

Tête d’homme au béret,
1971, oil on canvas,

One lady who disdains football will see the Picasso exhibition at the Pace Museum in Palo Alto.

With a sizable section of the population watching the game, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the best times to play golf, shop, dine at popular restaurants (without TV screens), or drive.

It's an unofficial holiday where everyone wins, except for fans of the losing team.

Stocking Stuffers, 2019

We first posted about Senior Stocking Stuffers in 2006, when Jill lived in Foster City.

Our Lady in Sonora now lives over two hours away, yet returns to the Peninsula every Christmas to make over 1,000 gift bags for seniors and other shut-ins.

We arrived at the Palo Alto Boy Scouts clubhouse at 11 a.m. Jill and her helpers from the Santa Clara Thunderbirds Club were mostly finished.

There would be another assembly line tomorrow at the VA Hospital, where the small items we brought could be used.

Jill provides an example of the most effective style of leadership---leadership by example. She works harder than anyone else.

As long as she wants to do Stocking Stuffers, we'll be there.

Easy to Fool

Today I drove a 97-year-old lady to Palo Alto for an outpatient procedure. She has no relatives in the area, and remarkably she lives alone, without assistance, on the second floor in a condominium complex. She didn't want to pay $55 each way for a van service, and, after being contacted by a mutual acquaintance, I didn't have an excuse to say no.

A task for burly men and the right equipment

The afternoon was far from stress-free: 1) traffic on the Bayshore Freeway was moderate, but in Palo Alto it was murder; 2) the maps app kept guiding me to the wrong building; 3) another car scraped ours in a parking lot while we were asking for directions--I'd have let it go but the other was a late model Camry, so we exchanged information by the book; 4) lacking a disability placard, walker, or wheelchair she could barely limp the distance to the front door; 5) the procedure and tests were inconclusive, so she has to return next month after the biopsy results.

Adding to her agitation was that she had locked herself out of her condo. The spare key was with a relative, two hours away. One ray of hope was that her balcony was unlocked.

Maybe I could go home and get a ladder? Nope, just one glimpse showed we needed professional help.

And so it was that I found myself at the Foster City Police Department explaining our predicament. The after-hours dispatcher totally believed me--I wore my most open, trustworthy expression--and a fire truck with three burly men solved the problem in less than 10 minutes by climbing to the balcony and unlocking the front door.

After I walked her safely upstairs, my new friend asked how I could remain calm throughout the afternoon. When one's interlocutor has poor eyesight and hearing, she's easy to fool.

Kim Walters (1951-2018)

My friend Kim Walters discovered in his later years that Buddhist teaching resonated powerfully, and so it was that the memorial service for the Tennessee native, who died of cancer at the age of 66, was held Friday at the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple. (A brief obituary is here.)

I had lost touch with Kim after we worked as junior staffers in a public company in the 1980's but saw him recently over the past five years when I helped him with his consulting practice. Alas, he couldn't finish a software product that could have sparked explosive growth.

A man is known by his loves--Kim loved his wife and two grown children, of course, as well as working on his company. He enjoyed riding famous roller coasters, tasting expensive whiskeys, and taking long car trips. His eyes would light up when he bought the latest device made by Apple, and he was always rescuing dogs from the shelter. Tennessee football was a special case (he graduated from UT), and he would spend hours discussing the high school seniors who had committed to Volunteer football.

I'll miss the hundreds of stories he would tell in his Southern drawl, the invitations to "supper", the how you doin' that started every conversation, and the kitschy birthday e-cards. These days, 66 is far too soon. R.I.P.

Beer and Barbecue

18-hour brisket, pulled pork, house salad, and JÅGØV light.
The brisket was a little dry.

I hadn't seen Kim for a month and Bill for a year, and the start of 2018 was a good excuse to get together.

We met at Dan Gordon's, a new beer-and-barbecue place in downtown Palo Alto. Dan Gordon, who with Dean Biersch founded the Gordon Biersch chain of brewery restaurants, opened his eponymous restaurant at Gordon Biersch's first site, 640 Emerson.

We had met in 1978 while working at a lumber company (!) in Menlo Park. After 1983 we went our separate ways. We talked about bitcoin and blockchain and wished we were 40 years younger. Nevertheless, there's a lot to be grateful for, especially that we bought our houses long ago, i.e., in the 20th century.

Now that we're retired with nest eggs that allow for these outings, we'll be meeting up more often.

Stocking Stuffers, 2017

Jill moved to Sonora in 2016 but returns to the Peninsula every December. Her calling--creating "stocking stuffer" bags for elderly shut-ins, residents of veterans' hospitals, and the homeless--will not let her rest. And inspired (shamed?) by her example we, her followers, cannot do less; after all we don't drive three hours to get here.

We arrived at the Palo Alto Boy Scouts center at 11 a.m. last week Thursday. The production line was ramping up. Each bag had toothpaste, soap, shampoo, body lotion, a book, candy, a comb/nail clipper/grooming item, and a scarf or small pillow.

We assembled about a thousand bags, which were transported by other volunteers that afternoon.

We don't know how long Jill can keep doing this, but we'll be there.

Along the Bay Trail

Despite 40+ years of living on the Peninsula, I had never been to this part of East Palo Alto.

Largely undeveloped, the area is pockmarked with small industry and public utilities connected by dirt roads.

Bay Area land is going for premium prices--and even with strict building restrictions--I would not be surprised to see dramatic changes in the next 20 years.

The Harsh Marsh

It's all protected, now.

The junkyard, only a few feet from the Bay, pre-dates the EPA.

The history of land development in the Bay Area is one of contradiction. 100 to 150 years ago the best land for housing, town centers, and agriculture lay miles inland from San Francisco Bay. The marshland ringing the Bay was ugly, smelly, difficult to build on, and cheap; where it was feasible, light industry moved in.

Now environmental restrictions make it extremely costly and more difficult to build next to the Bay than on the inland areas. (Also, advances in earthquake science require that construction be able to withstand liquefaction.) Existing businesses, often polluting, are grandfathered. (They can't be seized without "just compensation"--This is America!)

The harsh marsh was, is, and ever shall be.

Timetable Delayed

Two years ago we first heard about Palo Alto-based Theranos and its revolutionary blood testing technology. With only a few drops of blood Theranos claimed that its machines could run hundreds of blood tests.

Theranos tests at Walgreens: a fraction of competitors' prices.

Theranos's processes are faster, cheaper and more accurate than the conventional methods and require only microscopic blood volumes, not vial after vial of the stuff.

At the time we said that "It does seem too good to be true", yet why not? Multi-billion dollar businesses that didn't exist 15 years ago have arisen seemingly from nowhere, disrupting entire industries.

In October serious questioning of Theranos' technology began [bold added].

the Wall Street Journal ran a report that Theranos has overstated its technology’s reach and reliability. Theranos has attracted great acclaim because it claims to be able to perform a wide variety of tests by drawing a few drops of blood instead of using a full-sized needle to take larger samples; and because of its promises to make it cheaper and easier for consumers to get blood tests without having to go through a doctor. However, the Journal’s article argued that its tests are not reliable, and revealed that it does only a few tests with its own devices, using other firms’ technology for most of them.

In response to the WSJ article and questions from scientists and regulators founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes says

she would release data proving their machines work—the data academics, clinicians, and doctors have been asking to see for over a year, comparing Theranos’ tests to industry standards.

Your humble observer knows nothing about the science of blood analysis or microfluidics. As a student of human behavior, however, let me make a couple of obvious points about why we latched on to this story so willingly:

(SF Business Times photo)

1) 31-year-old Elizabeth Holmes came along at just the right time to be declared the next Steve Jobs. Her oft-worn black turtleneck cinches the comparison, and the dearth of young, female self-made billionaires made her a rockstar.

2) No patient enjoys the inconvenience and discomfort of drawing blood and the days waiting for results. When Theranos promised to be faster, cheaper, and better, everyone (except competitors) wanted it to be true.

We'll defer judgment until after Elizabeth Holmes releases the information and it has been reviewed by experts. One result is certain: unless she has complete vindication the timetable for the IPO will be delayed.