Friends and Fam! (Day 2 of 4)

After dominating the Sonoma wine valley, it was time to make our Nebraska footprint in "the City" (San Francisco). Aside from the crazy liberalness, I really enjoy San Fran! Not only is it the home city of Michael Savage (genious radio-host who wrote the book 'Liberalism is a Mental Disorder'), but it's really a neat city with a lot of character. And we had a great day for it...60's and sunny. Overall, we did the usual...Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Alta Plaza overlook of the city...but then we added a pretty darn sweet twist: GoCars!!!

Every time I had been to the City before, I had seen these little three-wheeled, two-seater yellow go-cart things zooming around on the streets. After searching on Google for a half hour (ya, kinda long for a google search, but that's Al Gore for ya!) I found it...GoCars! And we were all in agreement that they are a must do! And I must admit, I really don't know how these things are legal on the streets. They have a GPS guided system that take you all over the City...Golden Gate National Park, Cliffhouse, Robin William's house (I guess he lives in San Fran), Alamo Square, Lombard Street...but then we also took them off the course and went our own ways too. We spent 3 hours racing around the city and after getting multiple weird looks and waves, and water balloons thrown at us, we ended our rampage! Oh my, I don't think San Francisco saw this coming...they can handle the Purple Hand of the Gay Agenda, and the crazy protests of CodePink against the Marine recruiters (see http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/07/berkeley.protests/index.html), but they definitely couldn't handle these five Nebraskans (well, I guess 4 nebraskans and 1 minnesotan...emphasis on the "o") tearin' up their streets!

In front of GGB at Crissy Park

These things rock! There's Jeff struggling along behind!

Driving down Lombard Street...we were definitely the shiznit...lots of foreigners waving and taking pics!

Recognize these houses? Here's a hint:
What ever happend to predictability?
The milk man, the paper boy, evening T.V
You miss your old familar friends, but
waiting just around the bend.
Everywhere you look...
Chity Chi bob botta!

Friends and Fam! (Day 1 of 4)

I figured the best way to recap the fun and festivities of last weekend is a day-by-day breakdown. There are several reasons for this. 1) There are lots of pics and fun to tell of 2) It gives me blogging material for the next 4 blogs!

Our first day wine tasting in Sonoma Valley! More specifically, it was barrel-tasting weekend -- all the wine you can drink for $55. This is when they "tap the bungholes" (that is the actual term) of the wine casks and siphon it out for us to drink. There also were food pairings with each wine that were pretty darn culinarily pleasing! The best news...I only had one run-in with a "cougar", so I deem that a pretty successful day :) By the end, we had visited 5 wineries and tasted a little Chardonnay and Merlot, but mostly Zinfindel, Cabernet, and Pinot Noir. We went home and pretty much crashed...darn depressents!

Would you like some cheese with the wine?

Jeff gets wine from a cask (To make this tagline more funny, replace "gets" with "taps", delete "wine from", and replace "cask" with "bunghole") [snickering]

The group in front of the wine caves

The group at Ledson Vineyard

59 Holes in 5 Days

Whew! The last nine days have been a whirlwind. Tate, Brenna, Jeff, and Amanda (Brenna's friend) came to visit me last Friday. They stayed until Wednesday, except Jeff, who just left today. There was much fun to be had which I will fill you in on very soon. But in short, I'm definitely in friend withdrawal right now!

For the last five days, Jeff and I have hit the golf courses around Santa Rosa, We averaged 12 holes per evening after I got done with work each day. And then on Saturday we played at a really sweet course in the redwoods about 12 miles from the ocean, designed by the same guy who designed Augusta. The course was only 9 holes and was pretty short, but it was pretty darn narrow! There were several times where my ball ricocheted off several trunks and still managed to land in the fairway! Frustrations aside, it was definitely a gorgeous course and we had a blast. All told, we ended up laying 59 holes of golf in 5 days...I didn't even want to look at my clubs today! The most frustrating thing is I played my best golf on the first 9 holes on Tuesday, and it went downhill from there!

Pics of Northwood Golf Club in the redwoods

Dual with a Scam Artist!

In trying to sell my Nissan Maxima, I came across a real live scam artist trying to doop me! Boy, did they choose the wrong sucker...this one Tanner Augustin is a little quicker than the average bear. Enjoy the email correspondence! (Her responses are a bit lengthy at times).

Goodday seller,
My name is Teresa, and i want to make enquiries about this item for my
client which is interested in immediate purchase of this item and is ready to
pay through US cashiers check. Before the check will be sent to you i want to
tell you that it will be including some extra amount on the check which is meant
for the shipping of this item to the buyer destination,what you are to do when
you get the check is to deduct your money[asking price]and send the remaining
money[leftover] to the shipping company immediately in order for them to come
for the pick up of the item faster.If all this is understood by you get back to
me with your full name,address,phone number and where to send the check to
immediately.And also i will like to know the present condition of the item and
the final asking price if available?Here are the information needed from
you:
FULL NAME?
ADDRESS?
CITY AND ZIP CODE?
PHONE #?
FINAL ASKING PRICE?
hope to read from you soon.
Regards,Teresa.

Teresa,
My name is Tanner Augustin and my phone number is 916.708.7380. The final asking price of the car is $12,000. Before I give you my address, I'd like to know what company you're with? How much will thecost of shipping be? I assume I can cash the check before I send the car? I tried calling the number you provided, but it didn't got hrough. Thanks. Hope to hear back. Tanner

Thanks for reply to my email...i want to let u know that i will be theone to take care of the shipping and i want u to get back to me withur final selling price and ur full details to send out the payment....ty and hope to read from u soon.

Teresa,
My final selling price is $12000. I would like to talk to you over thephone if that's okay so I can ask some more details. You didn'tmention your company name or whether I can cash the check before Isend the car. You can send the check to 3001 Aurora Ct, Santa Rosa CA95405. Thanks.
Tanner

Hello , Thanks for the reply and the information you sent and am very happy,well its all good, I want you to delete the Advert from the Website. Concerning payment I have just contacted my Client now and he has said he will issue out a check of nothing less than $12,000 to your contact address in you will remove the asking price $15,000.00 after cashing it at your bank, Since it will be a check so i would want you to get an extra $100 for your running around which makes all your money $15,0100 and then send the balance to my shipping agent via western union money transfer SINCE I WILL BE HANDLING THE SHIPMENT so that they will use for all their flight charges and for the insurance of the shipment when being shipped and also I would want you to do this for me because the shipper also has some other shipments of mineto handle for me in the state. I hope I can trust you on this? The information of the shipper will probably be sent alongside with the Check or when my agent is been assigned by his company for my shipments. I will notify you if my client has sent the payment and he will contact you to confirm the details you gave to me, So that there won't be any mistake whatsoever when sending the payment. Looking forward to complete this transaction with you. Get back to me as soon as possible so that we can proceed with the transaction..
Note: All western union charges and bank fee for cashing must be deducted from the Shipping funds..

Teresa,
I'm not sure I get this all. What is the Advert? And I'm supposed tocash the check and then wire you all $15,100? That doesn't sound toosmart on my part. A phone call would help clear all this up for me.Thanks.
Tanner

What i mean i is that after u might have cash the check u are to deduct ur item money from the money and then take an extra $100 for urself and send the rest money back to the shipping company so that they can come for the pick of the item...Understood??

Teresa,
Just to recap. I would get the certified check. Wire $3000 to you oncethe check clears (leaving $12100 in my account). Then the movers wouldcome get the car? Tanner

yes thats exactly what u are to do and i want u to get back to me with ur full info to send out the payment asap.

Teresa,
Forgive me for being suspicious, but this sounds pretty much like a textbook scam. If you're okay with me waiting the full 10-12 businessdays for the check to clear before I wire you any money for shipping,I'd feel more comfortable about it. Would that be okay? Thanks.
Tanner

[No reply]

And the winner of this dual is....Tanner!

Monday Night B-Ball

I must say I'm pretty darn sore today! My right groin is tender, my back aches, and legs could barely get me up and down the stairs today. All this from 2 hours of basketball last night! I've been playing on Monday nights recently at a local high school. There are usually enough guys for 4 teams of six and we play two cross courts. Until playing there, I had yet to see a wooden basketball court in California! The YMCA and 24 Hour Fitness both have rubber floors that my grade school court puts to shame.

I remember back in the day, I used to be able to 2 hours of basketball every night for 4 months straight. Those were, of course, during the glory days of high school! The days where I would be the guy in whose hands the coach wanted the ball to be in down by one in the conference championship game. Now I'm just a has-been baller that can barely hold his own on a court against 45 year-old men. I still have the heart, but I definitely ain't got the moves! The good ballers can score at will on me, and the slowest ones can steal it from me! Oh well, I have nowhere to go but up, so I'll keep on playing and hopefully my body and mind can catch up to my heart. I do have one consolation though, even my worst baller days, I'm still much better than Zach in his best days!