Search Results for: palo alto

Suicide Blonde

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I was amused yesterday evening to read about the implosion at Theranos, which is located right here in my beloved Palo Alto. Elizabeth Holmes has been the darling of the business press for years, what with her flowing blonde hair, big blue eyes, and slender neck peeking out of the Steve Jobsian black top. Like Holden Caulfield, I have no fondness for “phonies”, and she seemed like one to me.

The thing is, the phenomenon of attractive women leading high-tech companies is a relatively recent one. On the surface, we as a society will pat each other on the back about how progressive we are, now that we have unvarnished gender equality, even at the highest echelons of corporate power. But let me just spoil your little party and tell you something. The reason men gawk at photos like this……….

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Ten. Million. Dollars.

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I have written about my town, Palo Alto, many times here on the Slope of Hope (a sampling can be found by clicking here), and these posts tend to focus on its rapidly-escalating real estate prices. I personally think we’re past the top at this point, since I’ve noticed the For Sale signs in my neighborhood are actually just sitting there. It used to be that houses sold instantly. At this point, I’m noticing the signs lingering for weeks. Something has changed.

In spite of this, I noticed something on my regular early morning dog walk that I wanted to mention. In the twilight of 5:30 a.m., I noticed a small home around the corner from mine had a For Sale sign. I had long noticed this little house, because it was on a surprisingly large lot, almost completely devoid of anything but squirrels, and it was a cute little cottage. Having seen the sign, I was curious what they were asking. Two million? Three million, perhaps?

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This is Getting Silly

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I’ve offered many tales about the insanity of real estate here in the Silicon Valley, such as:

But now I’ve got a new high – – not in Palo Alto exactly, but just up the road a few miles. This big-ass (20,000 square feet) house is going for Eighty Eight Million dollars (which is a non-too-subtle inducement to some Chinese billionaire, since the more superstitious among them are really, really hung up on the number 8). But if this strikes your fancy, you don’t have to be Chinese, so long as your money is green. Form a single line! No cutting, please!

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