New Orleans - NADA

New Orleans hosted the 2009 NADA (National Automotive Dealer Convention), and thus the Nuspire Networks crew. Dan attended from last Saturday to Tuesday morning. Great times (Burbon St), good food (hurricanes, alligator, crawdads, shrimp, calamari, peanut butter burgers), and good business. A great city - and it has come back a lot since Katrina.

California Dreaming

Manhattan Beach

While most people in Michigan froze all weekend, Dan had a weekend in Los Angeles. LA is experiencing unusually warm temperatures right now - on the first day in town it got up to 85 degrees. For part of the weekend there was a 100 degree temperature change from LA to Detroit!

After meetings with clients Wednesday through Friday, Dan spent most of the weekend in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach with Dennis. A day at the Ocean, a jaunt up to Sainte Rock, great weather, more than a few drinks, and a good friend is a much better way to spend the weekend.

Best Camping Ever

Ok, so what is the big deal about Camping? I'll tell you: its the fire and the tent. What else? Not the drive, not the bugs, not the void of electricity. It is because people feel rustic by making life miserable. Someone says "You know what would be great? Ditching this whole heating and cooling fad, and sleeping on the ground." Someone else confirms the idea with an equally great statement like "Oh great! And I'll bring some pre-processed food like hot dogs and canned goods. We can warm it over our fire so as to pretend we actually cooked this meal."

So I did it. I took the best part about camping - The Tent and Fire - and put it right in the living room. Why you ask? Because the living room is the most comfortable place on earth. Its got all the goodies (Plasma TV, kitchen access, and heat) that you miss while you are camping.

Check this badboy out. Our camp site had high speed internet, food delivery, and Free HBO. Plus we got to do all the usual camping rituals: We slept in the tent, we started a fire, and we wished we were doing something less stupid.

Twilight Benefit Foundation New Year's Eve

After a year of planning, the Twilight Benefit Foundation Board (Dan and Annie are board members) finaly put on thier New Year's Eve Gala. It was a great success.

The Twilight Benefit Gala is one of Michigan’s finest and most exclusive formal events. The night included amazing entertainment (five live bands), outstanding food, spirits and a great time... all for a worthy cause. All proceeds from the event went to the American Cancer Society. What a unique way to give something back to those who need it most, and at the same time have an unforgettable New Year’s Eve!

Special thanks to all those who traveled to come to the event with us (Dennis, Kate, Trent, Kristin, Micah, and Erin). It was great to see you all.

Rodeo

At this weekend's performances, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, more than 125 cowboy and cowgirl contestants -- including former World Champions and top 10 nationally ranked riders -- competed in six sanctioned events: bareback bronc riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, cowgirls' barrel racing, calf roping and bull riding.

The Nuspire Suite was located about 10 feed above the bullpens, and horse rings. The view was great, the smell a little strong (even for those in attendance who have worked on a farm). A new game developed from the event - "Man Vs. Cow." It is a great drinking game where the contestants bet on one of the next two performers - the cow or the man. If your performer - the cow or man- does not outperform the other a drink is in order.

Special congrats to Becca DaSilva (Upland Hills Farm Alum). At the time of this blog, she was in second place for the barrel competition.

For this competition, we bet on the bull.

Blogging is Easy