California State Fair Video

See a tortoise eating corn at the California State Fair. This clip was taken with my iPhone 4 video camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VpBNuxBL2Q

Trip To Fremont

My friend Dan and I took a hundred mile trek to the city of Fremont today. The mission: to test drive a 2005 Nissan 350 Z and determine whether it is worthy of ownership, by Dan, as my garage is already looking like a mini Car Max. If the Nissan was to measure up to the rather lengthy laundry list of criteria that we considered essential prior to making a purchase decision, than the odds were that we would be returning back to Sacramento in separate cars. When we left my house around eleven o'clock this morning, I would say the odds were fifty/fifty that the decision could go either way. Dan had done his due diligence, as much as you can do online through web sites such as Cars.com and Auto Trader and by communicating via email and phone calls to the fleet manager of Fremont Ford where the car was being offered for sale. Now, it was time to get down to the nitty gritty and see the car up close and personal. Pictures and words can only tell you so much, such as whether it's even worth driving a hundred miles to continue your research - after some discussion, we decided that this particular car was worth the time and effort necessary to make the trip to Fremont. Remember, Dan and I are both retired, so on occasion we do have a little bit of free time to do these kind of things. So off we go into the abyss of car buying, making sure that we had curbed any unnecessary enthusiasm about the mission so that we didn't bias the decision before we even arrived at the dealership. Dan was determined to have the right mindset upon arrival.

Dan and I both liked the looks of the car the moment the fleet manager, named Tomaze, drove the car to the front of the dealership's entryway. The exterior was very much blemish free, particularly for a 2005 vehicle, but we both agreed that some more detailing was needed on the interior. The interior wasn't bad, but it definitely needed some further cleaning. That aside, if the test drive went well, this 350 Z might well be a keeper.

The manager let Dan and I go together in this two-seat sports car, which is to say that there was no salesperson with us on our thirty minute, or so, test drive. Of course, not knowing the city of Fremont, we got lost for a short time, but when we finally made it back to the car lot we both had a good feel for the car. Our overall impression was that it was a good car and worth buying, if the price was right.

The negotiating to a final price was about what one might expect. Dan had already did most of the bargaining with the fleet manager prior to our actual visit to the dealership, and although I had headed home by this point, Dan said the back and forth with the finance manager, the final cog in the process, was somewhat intense, but nothing much out of the ordinary. Another words, the finance manager kept trying to get Dan to buy add on's to the sale and Dan just had to consistently explain the meaning of the word "no" to him. That is how Dan characterized the interaction to me, but it's not surprising, as that is typical of what fiance managers do for a living - they try to sell things while they complete the financing. It can be irritating, but it comes with the territory. I can't recall ever closing a sale at a dealership where this didn't happen.

All and all, the purchase process went about as well as you could expect, especially when it comes to buying a used vehicle, and I think Dan would agree, that for the most part, the people associated with the dealership were professional in their demeanor.

The pictures you see posted above this text are of Dan's new "toy". It's a cool looking set of wheels and at some point I'll have to take a photo, for the blog, showing my Crossfire next to Dan's 350 Z. Dan and I both intend to drive our vehicles for years to come and to let the wind blow in our hair for as long as we have hair to blow, or until we grow up and find better ways to spend money on things other than "toy" cars. Don't really know if that will ever happen, but I guess our wife's can only hope.

Peggy Sue Revisited

I remember the first time I heard Buddy Holly singing his hit song, "Peggy Sue". The record was a 45 and the player was a cheap off brand machine, but to me, it sounded fantastic. I was hooked on the Buddy Holly sound right from the get-go. The distinctive phrasing of the words and his hiccup vocalization was a style that I could really appreciate. I even liked some of the imitators who tried to be like Buddy, even though that was ultimately an impossibility, as there was really only one singer, Buddy, who could perfectly capture all the nuances of the style.

That said, Bobby Vee did a good job of mimicking the Buddy Holly sound. In fact, one song that he penned is right up there with Buddy's "Peggy Sue' and "It's So Easy". The song... "Suzy Baby". It's got the unique sound needed to be included in the Buddy Holly genre and Bobby put just the right words together to make it his own. You can hear it on the You Tube link below. Hats off to Bobby Vee for capturing the essence of the great Buddy Holly.