IT TAKES A VILLAGE Jerry’s Meetup — is in the Trophy Room of Menlo Soleil, just a few blocks from downtown Menlo Park. Menlo Soleil is just like a YMCA, if your family plays Polo and owns a two-to-three-digit home (the millions are implied). The Trophy Room overlooks the Polo Field from an angle, and has a pleasant waterfall burbling away. There are only about twenty of us in the intimate space, so I have about twenty tries depending on how many I pitch at a time. While the mini lobster rolls are being passed around, I go for one of the big fish. “Hi Larry, how are things in Lanai?” “Very nice: it is where I created my ultimate garden and retreat: very Zen and reinvigorating. You should visit sometime” “That would be wonderful, but the drive will kill me.” I am quite sure the invitation was not sincere. “Ha, most people fly, but I have heard you don’t” “Not until I get wings or my own private jet” “I understand the feeling” “I am sure you do” I say with a smile, knowing full well he is neither a vampire nor plebeian enough to touch a commercial plane. So he does not understand the feelings of ‘most people’ at all. But still, I have to chase the money. “I would like you to help with a problem” I continue. “I need a fair amount of land in the Bay Area, and I would like you to own it.” “Prices in the Bay Area are a rip-off, even for me, can’t you just buy land in the Midwest or Hawaii?” - 77 -