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?