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Rants and Raves
All Around.

Oktoberfest Saturday was a great day. While Dana Carvey didn’t make it, and the dunking booths were all rented, Brendan Moylan showed up. Talk about a worthy celebrity!  Brendan brought us his big beautiful “Brewed in Marin” truck, and happy fest goers gathered around and enjoyed each other’s company, the great beer, and authentic German music by the Jim Ragle Band all afternoon.  This year, for a change, nobody had to worry about running out of beer.  Next year, dunking booth anyone?  Police Chief Phil Green has already agreed to take his turn.  And I’m sure our wonderfully good-natured Town Council members will also sign up.

Marin Brewing Company has supported us every year, even though beer sales are thru the roof. To thank them, let’s all show up at Brendan’s excellent Larkspur Landing restaurant, Noonan’s, whose location does present some challenges. If Noonan’s were in downtown Larkspur, it would be hugely successful.  They have the best stocked bar in Marin, according to manager Curtis, with over 330 types of Tequila and 300 kinds of Vodka. Favorite menu items include mini duck burgers for cocktail hour, lamb loin chops with a blackberry glaze for dinner, and for lunch, how about a $13.95 Chef’s Salad with fresh mozzarella and all the good stuff?   Let’s meet  there next Friday night after work. Book group, plus Girl’s night, plus Beautification Committee, plus everybody!  Friday, October 27, 5:30 pm or so.  Mark your calendar. Show up to toast Brendan for helping make Corte Madera even more beautiful!

Recreation Center Planning Underway.

I got hives walking into the rec center last week for the presentation of plans for the facility.  As some may remember, I was the appointed chairperson of the ill-fated task force in the late 90’s which worked so hard to come up with reccomendations that the majority would embrace.  It occurred to me that leading this new effort will require the willingness to stand in the center of town park and have virtual hand-grenades hurled at you from every direction. “Make it bigger.”  “Make it smaller.” “Use no additional green space.” “Why do we need all these soccer fields?”  “Add a pool.” “Over my dead body.”  “That can be arranged.” “What about parking? And noise?”  “Who’s going to pay for it?”  “Why isn’t the new Madera Center part of a master plan? We need a master plan.  Ten years goes by in a flash.”   

We need a strong, charismatic leader who can capture and express a vision that the majority will embrace. Someone of the calliber of a Mark Schotz, who helped Mill Valley with their community center.  (It rocks.) A consensus builder with an embracable vision.  And I surely hope the current organizers are revisiting the past, so that they won’t have to repeat it.

On the home front, here’s some great little Only-in-Marin real estate tales:

Heard the one about the gorgeous $3 million house in Murray Park that got nine offers and sold for $3.5?  I’m told that the top three bidders were all a new kind of “down sizer”.  They were grandparents, moving down, literally, off the hills, to live in a flat, accessible neighborhood, and in a home that big enough to host the kids and grandkids for holidays and vacation visits. Wouldn’t it be nice to “downsize” to a $3.5 million dollar home?

On the flip side, inventory of homes for sale throughout Marin County is nearly 40% higher than a year ago, and, with only 20% of all homes in contract, the market decidedly favors buyers.  By now every realtor has one of these stories: A home in contract at a certain price. Inspections reveal very few problems. Nothing to quibble over. The buyer agrees to remove contingencies, if, and only if, seller agrees to reduce the sales price substantially, to reflect current market conditions.  The seller, accepting the new realities of the market, agrees.  After all, who wants to go back on market now, with the rains and cold and short days coming on? 

Upgrades are downright Degrading.

I hate it when someone comes in and “upgrades” my technology.  By the time I have spent the necessary time installing it, adapting to it, and then fixing the problems it causes, I have taken one step forward, but end up two steps behind.
 
Only Bill Gates wins when I spend hours messing around with computer issues. My first computer and me would still be getting along fine.  It was an IBM 486 and its black and white screen was perfect for writing.  I was e-mailing on it, and accessing my Prodigy internet account in 1987, back when Al Gore was still inventing the internet.  So when someone tells me they have given me a “super fast processor” or some brand new system software, I shudder.  How many frazzled panicked moments will I spend searching for lost work or fighting some stupid new auto-formatting feature?
 
Evolutionary Leap Anyone?

I am either channeling Buckminster Fuller these days or I am becoming a crotchety old lady with Turrets.  Either way, it feels good to reach the point where you don’t give much of a darn whether any certain person agrees with you or not. You can create fresh air when you blurt.  And I have long wanted to rant and scream about certain things. And holding it in is causing me way too much stress.  So here it goes.  Okay?  (Reader caution advised.)  Wait. I have a list of dozens. Let’s start with a simple one. That “Desperate Marin Housewife” makes me ill and ashamed to live in Marin.  The new IJ column which sounds like a copy is even worse.  What is wrong with the people in this county?  Why would anyone want to take the worst possible reflection of the most vapid, inane, shameful segment of our population, and hold it up for all to see?

More on that next week, unless I get hand-grenaded.  To those who wrote me this week, saying such nice things, thank you. I live for your praise, just like a loyal little puppy dog.

Your devoted civil (sometimes) servant,

Neighbor Pat

Your turn to write to me!  pravasio@fhallen.com

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