VALLEJO - THREE BEDROOMS

     Friends ask what I need 3 bedrooms for.  I tell them: one for me, 1 for guests, and I fancy a room for my desk and books and a chaise longue for when I feel like leaning back, gazing at the river, and eating chocolate bon-bons after having written a few lines. 

     In my little condo, every room has a head on view of the river. It's walking distance to the ferry and downtown.  But it has no style, like the beautiful old Victorians downtown, whose drainpipes, let us not forget, always need care, and whose foundations are iffy, at best.  My little condo is simple, practical and carefree so I can just close the door behind me and fly to Athens, or Hong Kong, without worrying about mold or dry rot or termites taking over while I'm gone.  Plus it seems to me to be such a desirable property I can always sell it if I decide I hate it.  Can't I?  But I'm sure I won't.

    I’ve got a pile of New Yorker Magazines I’ve been wanting to read, too many for the hectic life I lead in L.A.  But rather than throw them out, I'll pack them for my move to Vallejo.  Then I’ll be able to sit on my patio, watch the boats sail up the river, and read the New Yorker.  That’s my idea of heaven.  

    I’ve been thoroughly and rightly reprimanded by savvy Vallejoans for not doing my homework.  I apologize for my ignorant remarks about how schools are funded.  It’s true, I didn’t know, and simply surmised the city fathers had something to do with the terrible state people tell me is in Vallejo’s public schools.  I can’t speak from personal experience, but people with children have told me this, so I report it as hearsay.  If Vallejo’s schools are in good condition, all the better, I like to be wrong. 

     When I moved from Switzerland to New York, I paid the highest rent in the building for my apartment in the Chelsea Hotel.  To me, it seemed more than reasonable, but my neighbors were angry that I let the owner think he could get more for his crummy apartments.  And now, buying a condo in a great location in Vallejo also seems like a bargain to me, while I’m sure many have paid far more for similar spaces in this complex.  If I’m setting a precedent, I’m sorry, but coming from Los Angeles, and considering San Francisco, I feel pretty lucky to buy this place for what I consider a low price. 

     After a few years, my rent at the Chelsea was no longer so high, relative to what the owner got from others who followed, and perhaps it will be the same for Vallejo real estate.  Aupre moi le deluge.   Prices may well rise, making my investment more valuable, and bringing more speculation. 
     Intellectuals may not know how to take apart a motor, wire an electric outlet, or calculate the value of real estate.  Or understand city finance.  But we can learn.