Don't pull a Barkley tonight!

For those of you who haven't head, Charles (Chuck) Barkely was arrested early today on suspicion of drunk driving. I won't tell you his excuse for running the red light which led to his arrest, but if you check out the full story (which you won't get on ESPN!) I am sure it will bring a smile to your face.

The bottom line is this, if Chuck had been in a limo, he could have gotten what he wanted without the DUI on his record, and without endangering the lives of others. I hope you all have a safe New Year's Eve and I hope to see you in one of cars early next year!

Cars are still available for New Year's Eve!

I just checked our schedule, and we still have a couple of cars available for tomorrow night. With the promised increase in drunk driving enforcement by the CHP, why take a chance?

Call now while there is still availability! Mention that you saw this blog post and receive an additional discount and a complimentary bottle of bubbly!!

Premier Wedding Show

Wedding season is almost here and for all of you brides and friends, the Premier Wedding Show is where you can find all of the area's top wedding vendors under one roof. The show will be held this Sunday at the luxurious Arden Hills Resort & Spa from 11AM to 4PM.

Luxury Limousines will be providing transportation from the parking area to the show. This will give attendees the opportunity to inspect our cars and meet our drivers first hand, In addition, we will also have a booth where you can sit down and discuss you specific needs and we can customize a transportation plan that will fit your needs and budget.

This vendors in this show are by invitation only, so you can be assured that only the finest wedding professionals will be in attendance. The setting at Arden Hills is also very relaxed and spacious, so you will not feel rushed in any way. Hope to see you there.

On a more serious note...

The "artsy, fartsy" design of the website of every37.com is in stark contrast to the site's real purpose which is to help reduce the rate of drunk driving in Sacramento County, especially in males between the ages of 18-34. The name of the site is taken from a study which showed that there is a drunk driving fatality somewhere in the US every 37 minutes.

While I can't vouch for some of their other "Plain Truth" statements ("the average person drives drunk 300 times prior to a first DUI arrest" or "30% of all Americans will eventually be involved in an alcohol-related crash"), I do strongly believe in their purpose, and encourage you to support this non-profit organization.

Back from Christmas!

I am now back from a very short but very busy Christmas Holiday in which limos played a major role. We actually started Tuesday night when several friends and business associates took our bus out for a tour of the holiday lights. I now understand why this is such a great tradition, and why we have so many repeat customers who make this part of their annual holiday tradition.

On Wednesday, my best friend's girl and I traveled by limo to the City to take in the Nutcracker. I hadn't seen a ballet in at least 20 years, but I can pretty much guarantee that it will not be that long again. The strength, agility and pure beauty of the SF Ballet performers must be seen to be believed. It was also wonderful to have someone else fight the SF traffic and to not have to deal with parking around the War Memorial Opera House on a cold and rainy day. (BTW, both my best friend and his girl are featured (albeit separately) in the slide show to the right of this post).

Finally, we took a limo to last night's Boston Massacre at Arco Arena. Being in the limo before and after the game gave me time to catch up with my friend Ralph Murray (no relation) who had driven up from Napa for the game. Ralph supervises the tasting room at Charles Krug and I would strongly suggest that you stop in to see him on your next trip wine tasting expedition.

Luxx Limo clients get free admission to The Park Ultra Lounge!

We are pleased to announce that passengers in Luxx Limo's will now receive free front of the line VIP admission to the Park Ultra Lounge on Thursday and Friday nights. Passengers on Saturday nights will receive $10 off the regular cover charge as well as no waiting in the VIP line.

The Park is located at 15th and L and is one of Sacramento's hottest night spots. If you would like to take advantage of this outstanding opportunity, just let our staff know when you are booking your reservation.

Dennis Prager visits Arnold

Yesterday, it was our privilege to provide transportation services to radio talk show host Dennis Prager as he visited with Governor Schwarzenegger. Mr. Prager chose to ride in our Hybrid Tahoe. Here is a video of part of his meeting.

White glove not included...

Pictured here is the interior of Michael Jackson's custom made Bentley stretch limousine which will be auctioned off in late April. According to the sales brochure, the limo will be the spotlight of the eight to ten cars that will be included among the more than 2,000 items belonging to the King of Pop that are being auctioned.

While I like the white leather seats with the black piping, the rest of the interior is a bit over the top for my tastes, so I doubt that it will be showing up at your doorstep as part of our fleet.

Green Preferred Supplier List

We are pleased to announce that Luxury Limousines has been included in Green Ride Global's Preferred Supplier List. The list is utilized by major corporations when selecting ground transportation companies.

By choosing a provider from this list, companies can be assured that they are utilizing a transportation company that can verify their reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Our day in Napa - Part 2 - Far Niente

Everything about Far Niente is pure class - from our warm welcome to the winery which included our names being displayed on a sign as we walked in, to the tour which included a visit to Mrs. Nickel's private library of every wine ever produced under the Far Niente label, and concluding with a comparison tasting of three of their wines each of which was pared with a special selected cheese to enhance its flavor.

While the cost of this hour and half tour is relatively steep at $50 per person, it is well worth it, especially if you are into classic cars, as included as a bonus is a visit to Mr. Nickel's collection which includes a red 61 Vet with white scoops (my all time favorite car) as well as the same model Ferrari the Ferris Bueller made famous.

Our day in Napa Part 1 - Artesa

As I mentioned yesterday morning, I spent the day yesterday wine tasting in Napa. We wound up visiting three wineries, two of which were brand new to me.

The first winery was Artesa, which is located in the Carneros District. This makes it an ideal first stop for any Napa tour. Artesa's Visitors Center is absolutely amazing - - not only does it offer breathtaking views of the Napa Valley and San Francisco Bay, but it also features some of the best artwork of any winery I have seen thanks to Gordon Huether, their own Artist in Residence.

We arrived in time for the 11AM tour - the cost was $10 per person, but included the standard wine tasting. Reserve tasting is also available for $15 (here is a hint - if your guide likes you, he may just upgrade you - ours did!).

The winemaker at Artesa takes great care from hand picking the grapes only at night, to allowing the whole berries to ferment before crushing to even playing playing tapes of monks singing and chanting in the barrel room. Unfortunately, at least for our group, all of these careful steps didn't seem to matter as except for the chardonnay. we were a little underwhelmed with the wines. Nevertheless, as you can see from the picture, the winery itself is worth a visit, and as everyone's palate is different, you may find their wines to your liking.

Off to Napa again!

Today brings another road trip to Napa to check out several wineries including Artesia and one of my personal favorites, Far Niente.

I have never been to Artesia as they have a "no-limos" policy, but one of my friends got the policy waived for today. Generally, wineries with such polices are trying to avoid groups who are only interested in free or low cost tastings, and have no intention of buying wines either that day or in the future. Hopefully, I can convince the owners that our customers do not usually fit into this category.

As for Fart Niente, all I can say is that I am leaving my American Express Card at home!

Here is a novel idea to help prevent drug driving

A new gift card is now on the market that targets individuals who might be at risk for driving while intoxicated. The card is co-branded with Visa, and works just like a credit card so it is accepted anywhere that takes Visa.

It seems like a good idea, especially for college students who may be away from home for the first time. It also could come in handy for those who have used their last dollars to buy the last round of the night.

For more information, contact Plan Against Drunk Driving.

Not just for brides...

We have recently started a joint marketing promotion with our friends at Azukar Lounge and Sacramento Body Wraps. While the promotion is geared toward brides, we would also like to extend it to readers of our blog.

Therefore, if you would to receive a coupon for a free VIP admission to Azukar (before 11PM that is) and/or a free Lumiere Light Therapie Facial, just send me an email at bill@luxxlimo.com. In addition, the coupon entitles you to 10% off your next limousine ride with us!

Holiday Light Tours

It is that time of year again, and we are Luxx Limo are prepared! Every year we take all of our chauffeurs on a training tour of all of the best sites in and around Sacramento. Pictured here is a house that you may not see on any other tour but ours!

Whether you have two passengers or 22, our vehicles are perfect for this simple family activity. Call today and ask for Pa, Shad or Ozzie for special holiday rates.

Reminder - texting while driving will soon be verboten in California

Effective January 1st, it will no longer be legal to text will driving. While this has been common sense for most of us, it took the California Legislature quite a while to figure this one out.

The new law applies to all drivers even when stopped. The only exception for a driver is if there is a true emergency. However, passengers may continue to text away.

A recent study by the Transport Research Laboratory found that the reaction time of people driving while text messaging was 35 percent slower than normal. Interestingly, people under the influence of alcohol were found to be only 12 percent slower. Since it takes only a second for something to go wrong, if obeyed, this new law will undoubtedly save lives.

For more information, check out the DMV website.

Sealing the deal

As I announced on Tuesday, Luxx Limo is now the official limo company of the Sacramento River Cats. Here we are celebrating the deal at the bar in the new Morton's. To show what great people the Cats staff are, they even allowed me to bring my corporate attorney!

The results are in! I am a woman!!

No, I didn't have a sex change operation, but according to the Gender Analyzer computers, there is a 60% probability that this blog is written by a woman. The same computers believe that there is a 55% probability that my other blog, which focuses on taxes is written by a man. However, they rate both blogs as being "quite gender neutral".

Using artificial intelligence, the creators of the Gender Analyzer site have gathered data from over 4,000 blogs to teach their computers how to distinguish text written by a man versus a woman.

While they are only batting 50% on my two blogs, I guess this use of AI is much better than letting the computers run wild and create Sky Net!

Luxx Limo Chosen as Official Limousine Company of the Sacramento River Cats

I am pleased to announce that Luxury Limousines has been chosen as the official limousine company of the Triple-A and Pacific Coast League Champion, Sacramento River Cats.

As the official limo company, we will be providing transportation services to the River Cats as well as co-sponsoring several events at Raley Field including the Green Awareness Weekend, Suite Holders Tasting Event as well as three Office Getaway Days during the upcoming season.

Check back here for more information as the season approaches!

Congratulations David Dwyer!

David is the lucky winner of our KHTK Sharks promotion. David and three of his peeps will be heading to the Sharktank (aka the HP Pavilion) take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night.

The Sharks lead the league with a 20-3 record for a total of 41 points. The Leafs have struggled to an 8-9 record worth 22 points.

One very important piece of advice for David and his friends. As my companion found out last Wednesday night, the ushers at the Tank enforce a very unique rule that I have never seen before - you are not allowed to lean forward in your seat to watch the game. Supposedly, this blocks the view of the fans sitting behind you. Now I wasn't the greatest geometry student (as Mr. Carridi who doubled as the Vice-Principal would attest), but for the life of me, I can't figure out how leaning forward blocks the vision of the people behind you.

In any event David, enjoy the game and try not to get to many "tickets" for violating this and the other rules (my companion got two!).