February 12, 2005
Getting there and back
Checking into the pricing of getting me and my 'bike to Europe and back. Interesting dynamics with the pricing. Flying out of San Francisco, it will cost about $4000 round trip for the 'bike, while it will cost about $1100 for me. But if I decided to fly from Vancouver, British Columbia, I can save $1000 on the round trip costs for the 'bike, while it costs an additional $300 for me. I haven't decided yet if the $700 in savings is worth it to take a 2 day drive up the continent... I'll have to think about it some more, and do a little more research...
Posted by Michael at 11:10 PM | Comments (0) | EuroTrip2005 | Motorcycles
Bye bye old friend
My old friend, the 240Z, is gone... I'm sad to see her go, but at the same time, I'm glad to be rid of her. She's been sitting up on jack stands for the past 3 years; I just haven't had the time to spend on her. The family that bought her has the time and the resources (and the connections) to get her all fixed up and running; I'm sure that she'll be back on the road in a few months now, rather than in a few years if I had kept her. A couple of pictures of her leaving my driveway below. Kind of interesting how I came about finding a buyer, especially since I wasn't really looking to sell her...
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| Z on Truck | Bye Bye Z! |
One of young Sean's school mates, Brandon, was having a party at a pizza place to celebrate his good grades. Sherri took Sean to the party and there met the mom of another of Sean's school mates, Jonathan. Somehow, the two ladies' discussion turned to cars (I'm still a bit fuzzy on how that happened!!) and Sherri mentioned the Z project car I had. Apparently Stephani (the other mom)'s husband Scott was looking for exactly that kind of a project car! Sherri and Stephani helped put Scott & I in touch, and though I really did not want to sell the Z quite yet, I decided it would be best to go ahead and sell it after all. Besides, Scott and family live really close by, so if I ever want to visit the Z, I can. Also, Scott has some great connections in the automotive business, something I can take advantage of once I start on getting the Porsche restored... Nothing like having the connections to get the work done right!
Posted by Michael at 09:39 PM | Comments (0) | Automobiles | Vehicles
A quick run to the heart of Texas
I took a quick trip to the capitol of Texas, Austin, this week. Austin's a pretty busy place. A lot of high tech companies in the area. I was told it's the new "silicon valley", probably because the land is real cheap and the government is doing a fine job of enticing businesses. And they are building infrastructure like crazy! It seemed like everywhere we went (and we covered Austin north, south, east, and west), there was new freeway building going on, along with a great deal of overpasses and over-overpasses. It was strange to see small forests of spindly looking concrete pillars ready to hold hundreds of tons of concrete and steel... in some cases the overpasses were partially complete, the roadway heading up, up, up, until suddenly there was no more road, just a shear drop hundreds of feet straight down. It reminded me of a roller coaster gone haywire...
The weather was decent at the time we went, very much like the Sacramento valley. Austin is fairly close to the Gulf of Mexico however, so they do have a monsoon season where they get tons of rain all at once in short bursts. I've been caught in one of these storms more than once when I've traveled to Texas in the past, and it is pretty wild. The amount of rain that comes out of the skies is unbelievable. The thunder and lightning that comes along with it is awesome.
The food we got at the restaraunts was quite good too. Not surprisingly, many Texas restaraunts specialize in beef. And often there's a Mexican influence on the food as well. So there are several places that offer really spicy beef dishes. The one place we had a chance to go was the Texas Land and Cattle steakhouse. Wow! Excellent sirloin, with a real nice spice to it. Cajun shrimp, with a Chipotle topping. Very good dinner! Oh, and the dessert was simply awesome! Jack Daniels chocolate chip cookie dough filling up a shallow dish, with a HUGE dollop of vanilla ice cream. Wowsie!! I think it's a chain, so if you ever happen to go to, or pass through, Texas, try to find one of these steakhouses. It'll be well worth your effort.
Flights were fairly painless... We took Southwest and since they've got on-line checkin now, it's so much nicer than before. Southwest does not assign seats; rather, you find your own once you get on the plane. It used to be that I'd have to arrive at the airport extremely early and then wait in line forever if I wanted to be in the first group of folks to get on the airplane to get a choice seat. If I showed up late, I'd be relegated to the left over seats, and invariably I'd end up between two rather large passengers. Now, it's possible to login any time after midnight on the day of the flight to "check in" and print out a boarding pass. That completely avoids the whole check in procedure (and the associated waiting in line) at the airport and allows me to walk straight to the security entrance and then to the gate. Very nice; I think I can live with this "on line" thing!
Should be back home near about midnight... I'm writing this on the flight home... I'm looking forward to being back in my own bed in my own house with my own family again... funny how even just two days away make me miss all that so much!
Oh, by the way... the meeting with the customer went beautifully... since they had experience with us before, they are very eager to work with us now. I enjoy meetings like this very much!
Posted by Michael at 08:33 PM | Comments (0) | Business | Travel
February 05, 2005
What I Heard About Iraq
I have relayed to my friends and family many the things I have heard about Iraq, spoken by our leaders and others, which frighten, sadden, or just plain disgust me. Eliot Weinberger does a fine job of putting together things that he has heard, that I have heard, that all of us have heard at What I Heard about Iraq. Sadly, there are a great deal of my fellow country men and women that seem to be turning a deaf ear to those things they should be concerned about most...
Posted by Michael at 12:37 AM | Comments (0) | World
February 04, 2005
Meeting the "god-mother" of my 'bike
Several years ago, when I first moved to the foothills, I would commute by car, taking Highway 50 from the hills down to the valley. There were several mornings where I would see a beautiful BMW R1100RT making its way through the traffic. It was a breathtaking Mist Green color; both its color and its shape convinced me that this was the motorcycle I wanted to have when I could afford it. Well, it turned out I got a very pretty burgundy R1150RT instead, which was nearly identical in shape to the older model with just a hair more displacement.
Today, as I was riding in to work, I happened to catch up to what I believe to be the very motorcycle that caught my fancy so many years ago. At first, I did not realize it was that motorcycle, but thinking about it now, I'm certain that it was. We were both stuck in a little traffic jam trying to get to the freeway entrance, so I was able to exchange a few words with the rider, but not much more than greetings and compliments. Quite exciting, though, to meet the rider and 'bike that helped get my 'bike and I together!
Posted by Michael at 07:58 PM | Comments (0) | Motorcycles
