The Limo Driver and the Cardiologist

If you read my profile, you know I have a very fun cardiologist. As luck would have it, we had dinner with him last night - interestingly, he was the only one of us who had red meat - hmmm....

Anyway, this morning will searching limo stories, I came across this joke and just couldn't resist positing it - sorry Dave!

A Cardiologist came up with a new operating procedure that would cut down the time that heart surgery would take and would cause less trauma to the patient. He was praised by his peers when he presented it at a convention in Washington D.C. He was also paid $50,000 to present his findings.

The cardiologist did a few more of these presentations and realized that it would be more lucrative to do lectures on his findings rather than continue to work as a surgeon. So he decided to do the lectures full-time. He hired a driver and purchased a limousine.

One day, after he'd been doing the lecture circuit for about 6 months, his driver turns to him and says, "You know... This is completely unfair.""What do you mean?" asks the surgeon."Well, you get paid $50,000 every time you do this lecture and that's more than I get paid in a year," replies the driver.The surgeon explains to him that it is a very complicated procedure and that he is the only person that can give this lecture."That's not true. I can do your lecture blindfolded. I have seen you do your lecture so many times that I know it by heart," says the driver."Well if that's the case, I'll tell you what. You do this lecture and you can keep the $50,000 if you do it right." replies the surgeon.The driver replies, "Ok. You're on."

So when they arrive at the lecture hall, the surgeon and the driver change coats and the surgeon puts on the driver's hat and sits in the back of the room.The driver nails the presentation. Not only that, he also answers all the questions without any problems. Just when the driver thinks he's done, an audience member, wearing a lab coat and tape covered glasses stands up and asks a complex question that the driver is not able to answer."You know..." says the driver, "I have done this lecture 287 times and I have never been asked such a stupid question. As a matter of fact, that question is SO stupid that I am going to let my driver answer it."

We add another Sonoma winery to our recommended list

Morton's Thursday night free wine tastings continue to be a great place to relax and network. Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Aeron Heath, the Northern CA Manager for Freixenet (pronounced "fresh-eh-net") and Gloria Ferrer.

I am a long time consumer of Gloria Ferrer's very reasonably priced Sparkling Wine (which by the way is made in the traditional methode champenoise); in fact this is one of the wines we feature in our limos as gifts to our customers. However, last night I tried their Jose S Ferrrer Pinot Noir, which all of us thought was simply outstanding. As a consequence, even through I haven't personally been to their winery (yet), I feel confident in adding these wineries to our Sonoma County recommended list.

"It's an 8 pack now"

Here is a new entry into our funniest limousine video contest. Since it deals with the "inner" workings of a fictional (or at least I hope it is fictional) limo company in Beverly Hills, it is actually one of my personal favorites. For any of you who might be fans of Showtimes 'Dexter", you will love Dylan one of the "featured" chauffeurs. For the politically incorrect, you might just crack a rib or two as you watch "Mad Drama" flip a ueee while trying to catch up with a potential customer!

BTW, there is a $50 Luxx Bucks Gift Card to the first person who can name all of the "Celebrity Guests" that make cameo appearances in this one - email your lists to bill@luxxlimo.com.

Smith System Training

At Luxx Limo we take as many precautions against accidents as possible. We consider driver training along with proper vehicle maintenance as the two most important elements in keeping our safety record spotless.

That is why every Luxx Limo Chauffeur receives hands on training in the Smith System of defensive driving. This system, which is used by over half of the Fortune 500 companies emphasises proper spacing, forecasting of probable actions of other drivers and how to isolate vehicles and reduce the risk of accidents.

Next time you are in one of our vehicles ask your Chauffeur for other safety tips that may help you some day to avoid an accident.

Luxx Limo comes through for the American Cancer Society!

Luxx Limo and its friends helped raise over $5,000 today to benefit the American Cancer Society. John Rinehart, who is CFO of the Kings organized and hosted a charity poker tournament. All proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Survivors at Mercy General Hospital.

Long time Luxx Limo blog commentator Jean Jordan finished 8th, Bruce Erman who plays in our monthly game and is Chief of Staff at Mercy finished 5th. Bryon Bayer who is featured in the Buffett Concert pictures to the right finished third, and yours truly took second after suffering a bad beat to runner, runner 7s while heads up.

In addition to dominating the final table, Luxx Limo also donated part of the grand prize which was roundtrip transportation to a dinner for 10 prepared by Christophe Cornet, Executive Chief to the Maloofs. A big thank you also goes out to Davin Anderson who ran the tournament, and also to Morton's for furnishing food and our lovely bartender, Elyce.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words!

In this case, I am sure that most of the thousand words were the kind with four letters! And thankfully no, this is not one of our limos or drivers!

Time to honk our own horn a liitle

It is not often that a little eight car limo company from Sacramento gets a mention in one of the industries leading national publications, but we managed just that feat today. LCT, the magazine for the Limousine and Chauffeured Industry, reported that Luxury Limousines of Sacramento (aka Luxx Limo), was accepted into the EPA Climate Leaders Program. For the full story, click here

Raiders Suites

In another example of it is not what you know, but who you know, Mike Lamb hooked me up with Robert Davis who is the "Top Dog" for Raiders Suite sales. Robert and I worked out some great packages - for the Monday Night Opener against the Broncos, we have a Plaza suite which holds 24 Rowdy Raider Faithful. Including round trip party bus service, and a $500 food and beverage credit the suite, the price is only $425 a person.

If that is to much, we also have a Loge Suite available for only $325 a person - while the food and beverage credit is gone, there is a gourmet buffet available along with coupons for two drinks. Not a bad deal at all.

Robert can also arrange groups of regular seats if that is more to your liking. Just call our office and let us hook you up. If you would like to see where these Suites are located, check out their virtual seating chart here.

FUEL Miser

As part of our ongoing green commitment, we were selected as BETA testers by Green Ride Global for a new fuel enhancement product called FUEL Miser. In layman's terms, the product is supposed to direct a magnetic field into the fuel line which supposedly makes the fuel molecules combine better with oxygen. Being I am an accountant and not a rocket scientiest, I can't tell you why, but supposedly this increases our fuel economy.

While the results of our testing are still being evaluated, a recent study by one our industry publications found that FUEL Miser actually did work. In fact it beat all of the other products tested including better known ones from Gumout and Prestone. If you are interested in more information about FUEL Miser's click here. I will post our results as soon as they are known.

Illegal Limo Operators

Wow! I knew there were some illegal operators out there, but I had no idea just how many. According to the Greater California Livery Association, so far this year, the California Public Utilities Commission has caught 84 unlicensed operators, impounded a whopping 69 vehicles, and started 42 criminal prosecutions.

If you would like to check out this limo company or for that matter any limo company, simply follow this link.

My friends rock the Capitol Casino!

Today's was Capital Casino's monthly "Freeroll" No Limit Poker Tournament. Although it is not technically totally free (I paid a $5 bonus for the dealers and a $25 add-on) , it is nevertheless is a great little tournament.

I especially want to thank Davin Anderson for getting us on the VIP list, and also congratulate my friends Neil, Jean and Shane (aka "Goose") who took 7th, 4th and 2nd respectively. As there were a total of 90 players, this is a great achievement.

If you have not played at the Capital, I strongly encourage you to check them out - not only is it the nicest card room in Sacramento, but it also has an outstanding menu and great variety of tournaments and limit and no-limit games. Since parking can be a bit tight, please consider taking our Town Car or Hybrid Tahoe to or from the casino - with a little skill, a dash of luck and a heavy dose of Dan Harrington, you can probably pay for the ride and still come out ahead!

Movable tailgating is here

Just got back from touring our facility with our new spokesperson, Mike Lamb. Although Mike had been in several of our cars, he had never seen our bus, and to put it mildly, he was impressed.

We got to talking a little bit and brought up the fact that the bus was the perfect vehicle for taking groups of people trips to Bay Area football games. So we put together a package deal - for a flat fee of $2,000, up to 25 people can take our party bus to the game. That's right - for less than $100 person, you and 24 of your friends can party on the way to the game, at the game, and even a little bit on the way home and not have to worry the hassles of driving and parking.

News Flash - Arthur & Gryffindor get their own wine locker at Morton's!

In an amazing development, "Arthur" Bayer (above right) & his pal "Gryffindor" Murray shown here at play, become the first dogs in the country to have their very own wine locker at the new Morton's. Scheduled for opening sometime this November, the new Morton's will feature an amazing view, a dazzling new lounge, and the same great steaks that have made the word Morton's synonymous with fine dining.

What does this have to do with limos? Well, not much, but Gryff did get to ride in one back from SFO after his 14 hour ordeal on Lufthansa - and Arthur, well, I am not sure he would even fit in anything but our Hummer or Bus! (PS - that's their friend Fenway in the background - unlike his owners, Fenway doesn't drink so no wine locker for him!)

Bummed

Google's Blog Spot which hosts our blog announced a slew of new "gadgets" today - they sounded great, but unfortunately, they should have spent some more time in BETA testing as they just don't work. I tried two - first one was Classic Car of the Day - sounded like a natural for a limo website, but it didn't work - all I got was a white space and some paid ads. The second was "Kill Kenny" - I chose this as a tribute to a certain ex-fiancee (trust me she would have gotten the irony), but once again it didn't work.

Oh well, maybe I am just more interested in women's beach volleyball than I am in trying to figure out how this works. Of course, with the picture above, who could blame me?

Luxx Limo accepted into EPA's Climate Leaders Program

I am pleased to announce that Luxx Limo (aka Luxury Limousines of Sacramento) is one of the first five limousine companies nationwide to be accepted into the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders Program. This Program requires us to continue inventorying our greenhouse gas emissions, set goals for their long term reduction and report our progress to the EPA.

Although I personally dislike the idea of more government intervention in my small business, I think reducing dependency on foreign oil through every means possible is necessary for the continued well being of our country. Therefore, I look forward to participating in this program.

Congratulations Nick Klironomos - Luxx Limos Employee of the Month!

Nick has been a Chauffeur for Luxx Limo since October of 2007. Prior to coming over to Luxx, Nick owned and operated King Limousines here in Sacramento. Preceding that he spent 25 years as a logistics specialist in the shipping industry.

Nick is the proud father of two boys, ages nine and fourteen. Besides trying to keep up with his sons, Nick enjoys playing card games and following sports. Nick was selected as Luxx Limo's employee of the month because of his consistently positive attitude, as well as his smooth handling of some of our most challenging clients (yes, we do have some challenges from time to time!).

Nick is a consummate professional and someone we value having on our staff.

Sorry CHP, you are not going to get us!

Here we are on our way home after Mulvaney's. As you can see by looking at our eyes, we are very happy to have been chauffeured home. Speaking of our eyes, the blurred reflection in the mirror on the ceiling is just about all that I was seeing at this point.

Must eat at Mulvaney's, Must eat at Mulvaney's

Nothing subtle about that title is there? But as you can see from the picture we had a great time there last night. Sitting behind me is Neil, the GM at Morton's and to his left is Patrick Mulvaney, the proud proprietor himself. To Patrick's left (your right) are Craig & Kimberly (the same Craig and Kimberly that almost had to use a limo as a moving van - scroll down to see that story).

I had the Jerk Pork Shoulder and my dinning companion had the Rib Eye - both were excellent. The wine list while not extensive, was never the less impressive and reasonably priced (we had the 04 Ladera Howell Mountain Cab - just try to find a Howell Mtn Cab for under $100!). Add to this the atmosphere on the outside patio and you have the perfect combination of factors to make your dinning experience memorable. Needless to say, we will be back very soon!

Mike Lamb joins Luxx Limo

We are pleased to announce that Mike Lamb has agreed to become Luxx Limo's official spokesperson. Mike is co-host of 1140's Sportsline which is heard Monday through Friday and he is also the host of Comcast SportsNet's weekly "Insider" show.

Prior to becoming our spokesperson, Mike had been in our cars twice and enjoyed it both times. The first involved a night of multiple appearances which required precise timing - so not having to deal with driving or parking was essential. The second involved an all day event from a remote location. Suffice it to say, I understand he enjoyed the luxury of having an ice cold adult beverage as he was chauffeured back to his home after spending the day in the sun.

We welcome Mike to our team, and we hope that you enjoy hearing his discussion of our services on KHTK.

150 MPH Limo? Must be seen to be believed!

Here's another entry into our best limo video series. I must admit, this guy is good, even though he probably is behind bars.

Blood Alcohol

I had an interesting conversation at lunch today about blood alcohol. My companion was explaining how a friend of his actually had his license suspended even through his blood alcohol was less than .08. Since I was planning on going out tonight sans a car and driver, I thought I should do a little homework as to how much I could safely drink.

I found a number of static reference charts, but also this interactive calculator provided by the Police Department of the University of Oklahoma.

I am not sure of its accuracy, but suffice it to say, after playing with it for a few minutes, I decided to take one of my own cars out rather than risk a DUI.

BTW, even if you don't use the calculator, it is interesting to see what "Sooners" like to drink - there are no fewer than five types of Canadian Beer listed as well as something called a "Harry Buffalo".

Go Luxury and Go Green!

I am pleased to announce that we (meaning me!) have finally settled on a new business tag line. I really had no idea how hard a process this would actually be, but I finally found one that I think truly represents our company. Obviously, whenever someone uses Luxx Limo, they are going some where in Luxury, and as we are working hard to make our company environmentally responsible, I felt the "Green" reference to be appropriate.

I want to thank all my friends and business associates that have critiqued my suggestions, and especially those of you who supplied their own ideas. Even though they were not used, they were a big help in getting to the final result.

Green Ride Global

I just completed a meeting with Justin Raymond, The President of GRG and Ian Lipton, the COO. They were in town from Ontario visiting their west coast affiliates.

Green Ride Global specializes in assisting limousine and other transportation companies in establishing and maintaining their environmental strategies. We have only been members since January, but they have already helped us to achieve a 23% decrease in our quarter over quarter Greenhouse Gas emissions from those of the prior year. Since that quarter ended, we have added our first Hybrid to our fleet, so we are hoping to have even a better result in the future.

After a tour of our facilities and fleet, we set down with Justin and Ian and discussed various aspects of our green initiative including future additions to our fleet, their world wide referral network, and also the possibility of establishing a commercial bio-diesel facility here in Sacramento. We are excited about these plans and we will be updating our blog and website as the plans become a reality.

Bottle Shock opens Wendesday

The movie "Bottle Shock" recounts the story of how two California wines surprised the world in 1976 when they won blind tastings as both the best red and white wines. The film, which was largely shot in Napa and Sonoma Counties, starts Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman.

It will undoubtedly spur interest in wine tours, which of course is good news for Luxx Limo! Here is the link to the official trailer - don't blink - it even features a Gremlin! (which brings back special memories for me as mine was purple).

Josh, stick to limos!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks is one of the many stars who have been in our cars. Apparently, we didn't totally convince him that limos should be his preferred method of travel.

ESPN is reporting this morning that Josh was arrested for drag racing his Lexus against a VW. In a bit of irony, Josh was busted, but the driver of the VW (which was presumably the slower vehicle) got away. To make matters even worse, Josh was in North Carolina for a basketball camp sponsored by his foundation. At least there are no reports of injuries so hopefully Josh will learn something from this that he can pass on to those who are attending his camp.

Will the IRS ever understand the meaning of business entertainment?

Last night was the perfect example of where my two worlds collide. By day, I am a mild mannered CPA, and by night I am the wild and crazy limo company owner (at least that is how I envision myself!).

So last night after the free wine and sandwiches were gone at Morton's, I got down to business - I met with both my General and Operations Manager of the limo company and discussed how the month of July had gone (third best month ever - thank you very much!) and what we were planning for August. During this meeting, Angela from Bistro 33 stopped by our table and we not only made arrangements for providing services for the next El Dorado Hills concert, but we also discussed how each of us could help the Sacramento County Sheriffs - Luxx Limo is going to donate a limo for auction at a dinner honoring the SWAT Team Members, and Angelia is going to help out my friend who is a Canine Officer at their next golf event.

After that, I booked a wedding ride for one of the waitresses, and even managed to talk to Neil the GM of Morton's about next years Poker Tournament for Make a Wish. All of this before our actual dinner arrived - and here is is where the worlds collide. Even though I was conducting business (and a lot of it), I can only deduct half the cost of the meal on my taxes. While I did get some personal benefit from the meal I was severed, there is no way I would have incurred anywhere near that type of cost if it were not for the business I was generating. So why was I (and the same applies to you), limited to deducting only half the cost of this true business meal?