Tax-Free Real Estate Investments

I'm going to summarize the book The Insider's Guide to Tax-Free Real Estate Investments by Diane Kennedy and Dolf De Roos by section.

Section 1

Basically this is the introduction to why the current retirement plans won't exactly make you rich easily. We all (should) know there are the the basic retirement plans such as 401(k), IRA, and Roth IRA. This books describes these plans and some new plans that have a tax advantage that go along with them. It also mentions the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which is a tax between 26% and 28% of your adjusted gross income. To help avoid this tax, this book introduces the Solo 401(k) and the Solo Roth 401(k) retirement plans.

Section 2

This section talks about the different kinds of income including Earned Income, Portfolio Income, and Passive Income. The book mentions "The Jump Start Program" which consists of the following steps:

1. Create a business, and maximize your business income with tax loopholes.
2. Maximize your tax-free benefits with tax loopholes by discovering your hidden business deductions.
3. Once you have minimized your taxes from your business, pay your taxes.
4. Invest in real estate, and maximize your real estate investments with real estate loopholes.
5. Maximize your cash flow with real estate loopholes.
6. Buy a house, and maximize your home investments with home loopholes.
7. Get money out of your house! Maximize your cash flow with home loopholes.

Something else worth noting here is the two-out-of-five-year rule which says once you have lived in your home for at least two years out of the preceding five years, you can sell the property and take the first $250,000 in gain tax free (or $500,000, if you're a married couple filing a joint tax return).

Two Ways that Tax-Deferred Plans Can Get You

1. If your tax bracket is low now but will be higher later, you've traded a low tax for a high tax.
2. If the income you're deferring is considered long term capital gains (from the sale of assets held over 1 year), you've traded capital gains income tax (maximum of 15%) for ordinary income (maximum 35% tax rate).

This section of the book describes the differences between several different plans, the most important of which were listed earlier in my summary(Solo 401(k) and the Solo Roth 401(k)). I also wanted just to mention the Education (Coverdell) IRA where you can contribute a maximum of $2,000 per year for each beneficiary.
There are three basic rules for the two pension plans which I mentioned above (Solo 401(k) and the Solo Roth 401(k)):

1. You and your spouse are the only full time employees allowed.
2. You have to draw a salary from the business.
3. You have to contribute the right kind of income.

For these types of plans you must receive income through either a Sole Proprietorship or a (S or C) Corporation. The book describes in more details the above mentioned pension plans and then lets the reader know why they beat the other plans. The Solo Roth 401(k) has no income limitation, you can put away a significant amount into a Roth fund (for 2006 $15,000 per year or $20,000 if you're over 50), you can use your tax free Roth funds to invest in things you couldn't before like S Corporation stock or life insurance policies, you can borrow up to $50,000 or 50% of your plan's value, there is no mandatory distribution requirement for your Solo Roth 401(k).

Section 3

This section describes things you can and can't do/invest in with your Solo Roth 401(k).

You must find a custodian to hold your pension assets and administer your pension funds so that you stay within compliance with the IRS. These are the questions you should ask and the answers you should get:

• Will the custodian allow you to invest in real estate and businesses? Yes.
• Is your proposed custodian government regulated? Yes.
• How much malpractice insurance does your proposed custodian have? Enough. This is important because the IRS is very unforgiving.
• Who are your proposed custodian's auditors? What does their last audited financial statement show? Ask for a copy and make sure that the auditors did not include any comments of concern.
• Does your proposed custodian offer ongoing client education? Yes.
• Ask about standard operating procedures and time requirements for new account setup, transfers, purchases, sales, funding, distributions, IRS reporting, statement productions, and phone contacts.
• How much are your proposed custodian's fees? Preferably a flat fee.

Avoid Prohibited Transactions

• The sale, exchange, or lease of any property between a plan and a disqualified person.
• The furnishing of goods, services, or facilities between a plan and a disqualified person.
• Using any portion of your pension fund as security for a loan of a disqualified person.
• Use of income or assets of a plan by a disqualified person for his or her own profit.

Disqualified Persons

Direct line relatives (parents, grandparents, or children) are disqualified persons.

Prohibited Investments

• Collectibles such as art, rugs, antiques, metal, gems, stamps, coins, alcoholic beverages, or other tangible personal property
• Life Insurance

Section 4

The problem with being self directed is that you must have a plan administrator to purchase and sell your investments and since they are not available 24/7/365, this may slow down your response time to some investments. There is, however, a way around this by using a IRA or Tax-Free LLC. This method allows you to use your pension plan in conjunction with your LLC. The LLC is important because it limits your liability to that which has been invested into it and it also allows you to personally manage your funds faster. The LLC usually should be set up in the state in which the investment such as property is. It is very important how you set up the LLC, because otherwise you could suffer a hefty fine or two. I won't go into it, but the most important thing is to set up the Tax-Free LLC where you are the only manager (no salary) and your pension plan is the only member. The LLC is then funded by your pension plan and you can act as the manager to direct the funds into the investments we discussed above. But be very careful when signing checks to make sure you sign it as the manager of the LLC and not with your personal signature! It is also still very important to let your plan administrator know what you're doing. You will be held responsible for making prohibited investments, not your plan administrator. Many more important details for this section need to be read in the actual book as it would take too long to summarize them here.

Section 5

This section is about leveraging the money you have in your pension fund or LLC. Essentially it says that if you don't have enough money to buy a property (investment) out right, then a bank can loan you a money. Typically they want you to put at least 30% down and they will loan you 70%. This is called a 70% non recourse loan. One downside of leverage in an IRA LLC is that you are subject to a Unrelated Debt Financing Income Tax(UDFI) and Unrelated Business Income Tax(UBIT) tax on the percentage of the profit made from the portion of the investment funds that was loaned to you.

Section 6-7

The rest of these short sections discuss what type of investment is a good investment, what types of property to buy, etc. I won't go into this details, because it doesn't exactly relate to why I read this book.

All in all, this book was very informative and up-to-date, which is more than I can say for a lot of books I read. This field is constantly changing which makes it hard to keep up with all the information. Hopefully now you'll know enough to at least ask pertinent questions to accountants, plan administrators, etc. Read the rest of the book and leave a comment if you like.

Exercise Your Mind (Mind/Matter)

Today I finished Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki. I actually read it in ebook (a pdf) on my computer in two days. I like the ideas presented in it and I see a similar trend in most of these books which is investment, specifically in revenue generating real estate. While my father was a commercial real estate appraiser in Memphis, he never really invested in real estate with one exception. That one exception had at least a 2000% return. Why he didn't do more of that, I will never really know. He said he wasn't interested in it, but clearly he had the knowledge to be able to do it... and successfully.

I, in my quest for knowledge, have been picking up more and more books and reading them faster and faster. I started The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell two days ago and right after that I started and finished Rich Dad Poor Dad. I also downloaded several audio books that I can listen to in my car on the way to and from work and to and from midtown including Freakonomics by by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss, and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I am also looking for 16 Percent Solutions by Joel Moskowitz and Beating the Street by Peter Lynch. I think I've become a little obsessive, but that's ok. There are much worse things to be obsessed with like Unreal Tournament, Grand Theft Auto, or drinking.

All of this talk of reading made me think of the time when I told my mom, "I hate reading." That was the dumbest thing I've ever said. I'm pretty sure I meant reading subjects that I'm not interested in, but that is still stupid. Now I love reading.. especially those subjects I'm interested in and some that I'm not. It exercises your brain and makes you want to read more and more. I'm just hoping I can implement some of these principles that I'm learning. That's when the real learning starts.

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday, May 25, 2007

Diana, Elek, and I had a couple people over for a relaxed cookout. This may have been apparent to everyone but me, but you're supposed to season the hamburger meat then mix it all together and grill it. That way the meat is seasoned on the inside. I feel like somewhat of an idiot since I can cook... at any rate, I'll know how to do it better next time.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Diana, Elek, and I left Memphis around 10:00 AM and drove toward Jonesboro, AR. We got to Lake Thunderbird around 1:30 PM. Jake Mohundro (friend of Diana's family) has two lake houses and a couple of boats. We rented our own house and got to ride in a pontoon boat and do some tubing. This was Elek's first time in lake water. We bought him a little turtle floatie. He didn't really know what to think. It was also his first boat ride and he HATES the life preserver! Going to the lake was very relaxing.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Diana and I dropped off Elek at my mom's house so we could go eat at Bluefin at 6:00 PM with Connie and Adrienne. It was really good. We also went to see India Arie at the Orpheum at 8:00 PM. It was an awesome show. I wasn't really a huge fan of her music, but I really enjoyed her show and I became a bit more open to her music. After the show we went to Celtic Crossing for a bit and hung out. Finally we retired about 1:30 AM. So far, it's been a fun filled, excellent weekend. Tonight is the Jolley's house at 6:30 PM or so and I'm really looking forward to that. :D

The Meaning of Life

So I dropped off the face of the planet (in the blogosphere) pretty much since my son, Elek was born. I finally decided to pick back up.

My friend Chris and I were talking the other day about what we want to do with our lives. Currently, the one bad thing about my life is my job. Chris currently doesn't have a job (lucky him) and doesn't want one similar to the kind of dream job I'm hoping to secure. He wants to promote the freedom of information through a serious of papers and lectures, somewhat following in the footsteps of Richard Stallman, who some consider somewhat crazy. This is beside the point. Chris brought up the fact that he doesn't really want to work, but to discover the secrets of the universe, study quantum physics, and try to extract the meaning of life from life itself. That got me thinking and I don't think I've stopped since he said that. In the back of my mind that question has been there for quite some time as it is for many people. "What is the meaning of life?"

I think for each individual the meaning of life can be quite different. I recently discovered the meaning of life while feeding my 7 and a half month old son. It is simply him. He is the meaning of my life. He is the reason I strive to be better. He is the reason I want this country to turn itself around. And he is the reason I named my business Elek Technologies. While I was thinking this, I took one step back and thought that perhaps the meaning of life for all of mankind... the real meaning of life is life itself. To live life. To create life. To enjoy life.

Tonight I rewatched one of my favorite movies American Beauty and was reminded of what really matters in life when Lester shouts "It's just a couch!" followed by "This isn't life, it's just stuff." Money is not the answer, though I can see how someone could easily slip into that mindset. Happiness is the answer. Living life is the answer. And preserving that which makes us happy is the answer.

Mind Dump

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should step down for firing nine of the U.S. Attorneys for political reasons, lying under oath, and being incompetent. Hopefully there will be a no-confidence vote and he will be forced to step down.

The RIAA is evil and will eventually self destruct and implode. The reason I say this is because they are attacking everything that helps spread the music that pays their bills, from internet radio to regular radio. There is only one path that I see them taking and it's straight down the drain while more 'indie' music replaces the mainstream. Since equipment and the such is getting cheaper, then more bands can afford to go without a large record company. Their position is being phased out and they're helping to do it. Bravo!

In other news in the great state of Tennessee, a pornstar was pulled over and found to have illegal drugs in her possession and the TN state trouper accepted sexual favors in order to turn a blind eye.

Investing 2nd Edition

So now that I've read books like All About Asset Allocation by Richard Ferri, The Bull Hunter by Dan Denning, Rule #1 by Phil Town, The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni, and Creating Wealth by Robert G. Allen. One of the better ones for me was The Bull Hunter. The others market themselves by making the consumer think by reading them, the consumer will somewhat automatically become a millionaire. This is not the case. While that may be obvious to some, it's not nearly obvious enough to many. Not to say that these books can't help you understand more about how to create, build, and maintain wealth. They can, but they're not going to give you the exact recipe to do so.

I have discovered, at least for me, through reading these books that I do NOT want to spend my time investing in individual stocks. In my opinion, it's a waste of time for me and I don't enjoy it that much so it's not really worth doing. Of course to every rule there is an exception and mine is MySQL. When MySQL goes public I will be investing in it. I believe in Open Source and free software AND I've used it so much that I want to have a stake in its future. At any rate I'm done for the most part with individual stock investment. edit: I am much more interested in Mutual funds for their increased diversification and security. There is a lot of potential there. /edit

Investing

So lately Nick and I have been really interested in money management. I don't know why, but I've become almost obsessive about it. I've read Rule #1 by Phil Town and have begun my extensive research into hundreds of stocks. Not to mention that I just got a Roth IRA set up through Scottrade today. I'm transferring funds and soon I'll be able to invest tax free (for retirement at least). There are lots of rules and I'm understanding them slowly but surely. The guys at the Memphis Scottrade branch are really nice. I encourage you to go talk to them.

Americans are in the Dark

Apparently many Americans are in the dark about Israel. I found this article on Reddit today and I think everyone should see it. There are several videos that were not shown to Americans. It is located here. This is also an interesting website. I hope you enjoy.

Working weird hours again

So I'm working odd hours again. Yesterday I went in from 8AM to 5PM and then again from 10:30PM to 4:00AM. I really really wish I got overtime, but alas. Again tonight I'm going in for the same time, but at least we're accomplishing a lot.

I'm also trying to keep cooking, though I'm running out of things to make. Diana and I have a couple of Southern Living Magazines and Real Simple Magazines that have some recipes in them. Some of them look pretty good and I think we may try to make one tonight or tomorrow night. In fact I may call her now to see if she would like to try one. :) More on this later.. also enjoy the new music video on the right. -===>

Fishing in Arkansas with Nick

So Nick and I thought it would be a good idea to fish in Arkansas on the Little Red River with some fishing equipment my dad gave me. We also took two tents and some other supplies (mainly beer) so that we could stay the night. Of course we didn't both to check the weather.. or to make sure we had everything. We were missing pillows and the tarp among other things including the bigger tent poles. D'oh! So we now had to set up a tent that was able to sleep two nine year olds comfortably. Great! Now Nick and I get to spoon and I can't even stretch out. We got to the camp site maybe at 5:00 PM. We had plenty of time to set it up before it started pouring. It so happens that the campground's power was out therefore we had to eat hamburgers at the camp ground restaurant. They were actually pretty good. That's when the rain came. We took cover under a pavilion that we weren't supposed to be under, but nobody knew or cared so that's where we stayed for hours as the rain came thundering down and filling our tent with water. I admittedly left the tiny window open for air circulation. Luckily there was one sleeping bag that wasn't too wet so we slept on top of it.

We awoke at about 6:15AM to start our day of fishing. On our way to Ramsey's Access, we passed the dam. There was an overlook with a great view. The dam wasn't generating and we took about 3 or 4 pictures from the overlook. This alone was worth the trip. There were many things that made me think the trip was worth it. The cold front that came through there was another reason it was worth going and the cool breeze that blew off of the river when we were near it.

First we went to Ramsey's Access where we of course caught nothing and the water was freezing! It made my feet numb. But we had a good time there. We also saw a Great Blue Heron, I think, in a tree across the river. Can you spot him? After that we decided to go to Mossy Shoals where my dad told me we should fish. He also warned me to keep my eyes open for signs that say that it was a catch and release area and not to use a barb on your hooks. I kept my eyes peeled. We had to walk through 5 minutes of utter hell to get to the river. It was like a bog with lots of high growing grass and tons of sticks. God only knows if there were any snakes in there. Luckily we did get to see a butterfly that landed near us once we got to the river. I took this as a sign of good luck... my mistake. If you look carefully in the picture to the left, you can see the Arkansas Game and Fish Warden in the background and Nick in the foreground fishing with barbed hooks. This is a recipe for disaster. Once again we saw no signs that said this place was catch and release. So the game warden came over and talked with us. We both ended up getting a ticket for $205 for using a barb on a hook. We still hadn't even gotten a bite and this was the nail in the coffin. It was time to go home and fishing is definitely not for me. There's way too much to do and it takes way too much trouble to actually fish for me. We both had bought licences costing $52 for the whole year. My paper that was printed expired two days before and the good ol' boys at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission failed to send me my actual licence and of course this is my fault. So the actual cost of the trip is as follows:
Two Fishing Licences with Trout Added: $104
Cost of campground: $18
Cost of Food the night before: $13
Cost of Gas: $35
Cost of beer etc (of which we have a lot left over because we cut our trip short): $50
Cost of two tickets given to us: $410
This all adds up to about the cost of our dignity. This is probably something I will never do on my own without someone else who provides a boat, the knowledge etc. But at least we saw a dam, Great Blue Heron, butterfly, felt a breeze, and went on a trip.

Part two of today's blog

OK, so here's part two of my blog today. When I was still at work with my coworker C, we were working hard on this new project that was recently assigned to us. Swizzle.

Next, after we picked up Luna from the vet we went to Ben and Rebecca's house near my old apartment at Poplar and Highland. Luna was doing pretty well, but she was out of it. She seems better now. We left our apartment at around 6:10PM and go to Ben and Rebecca's house at about 6:35PM.
So once we got there Diana was introduced to the dogs Kyla (the 3 legged dog) and Roo (the scared one). Ben and Rebecca also have a chinchilla named Gabriel and a rather large rabbit named Lilith. Lilith isn't really scared of anything and neither is the chinchilla. The chinchilla enjoys night time play for one to two hours,
many dust baths, and a raisin or two. Kyla is a very sweet dog who loves to lick and is really horny for some reason, while Roo is afraid of almost everyone and everything. He barks enough for both dogs for sure!
While we played with the dogs in the backyard we also walked around and saw their pretty garden on the side of their house. All the time we were out in the back yard, they were preparing a wonderful dinner in the kitchen. Dinner consisted of fettuccini with parmesan topped with browned mushrooms, steamed broccoli, and garlic bread. It was very tasty. I drank a lot of water I think because I was dehydrated. Finally, for dessert we had fresh pie that Ben's grandmother made topped with whipped cream. It was fantastic! We had some nice conversations about pets, movies, the new idiotic statue of liberty at the "World Overcomers" church near Diana and my apartment, and idiots in general. We had a really good time and we will have to have them over a couple of times in the near future. It was a good time to be had by all.

Moving on at work

Today is the first day that I've felt like I actually spoke intelligently about a sub project of one I've been on since December. I feel bad for the guy hosting the calls because he somehow knows less than anyone. C and I feel that he needs to actually go to the operation to learn the projects. We've been in the operation for almost two weeks now trying to catch up and learn about this porject (thanks for that upper management). Our group, does not like to involve us until the very last minute which makes it hard for us to support whoever needs it. Our upper management does not really back us up with the sole exception of our immediate boss. He's a good guy and boss. At least this sub project is on the upswing. I'm learning a LOT in a relatively small amount of time and get this... we're actually performaing our role. I'm glad we have direction, but not too happy about the fact that we have "advisors" in our group that just don't advise. That's unfortunate.

Tonight Diana and I are going to Ben and Rebecca's house for dinner. I'm really excited and glad that we get a night off of cooking. We will definitely have to have them over a couple of times in the near future.

In other news Luna, the dog, got spayed today and we have to pick her up at 5:30PM after work. Or rather right now. Gotta go, but may continue this later. ;)

My Apartment

I haven't ever posted pictures of where I live so I thought I'd do that now. Remember I just moved into this apartment June 26th, so it's still not completely done of course. This picture is the front of our apartment.



This one is right when you walk in.



Next is after you take a step down into the living room, our little bar area.



Now for a pic of the living room from the far side.



Now we take the stairs to the left of the entrance in the previous photo. Up we go, and we take the first left into the baby's room!



Directly across from the Baby's room is the master bedroom which looks like the following:



Then you take a left into our walk-in closet/bathroom which looks like this.



Next pic is of the bedroom from the far side.



Since we don't have the 3rd bedroom/office in order, I won't show it here. Finally, we go out the back sliding door.



And last, the whole back yard area.

So I hope you all enjoyed your virtual tour of my home. Stay tuned for more pictures. ;)

Feeling Better

I'm feeling better now. My appetite is back pretty much and I'm a little less stressed. We did spend a LOT of money this weekend on a washer and dryer among other things, but at least I have my music back thanks to the temporary use of the neighbor's wireless. My hours at work are back to normal and I'm beginning to work on a new project which hopefully will go pretty smoothly and help me learn this other gigantic project I'm on. I think tomorrow is payday! SWEET and FINALLY! I'm still looking for a damn "L" shaped desk like they have at Staples, which can be found here. The only problem is that Staples signed a contract with UPS and UPS refuses to deliver this particular desk to Memphis, TN so it looks like the customer isn't always right. Oh well, I guess I'll take my money that I would have thrown their way somewhere else. That being said, is there anyone out there that has an "L" shaped desk for sale?

Side note: I'm going to start adding more pictures to my posts. I think it will make them more attractive and easier to read.

So I got Butch Walker's "The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Lets-Go-Out-Tonights" and started listening to it. So far so good... nothing amazing yet, but I guess that's why I have Aural Review. ;) Tomorrow is the start of a new week. New earnings. New and better hours.

For those of you who don't know, I'm having a baby boy due October 5, 2006 with the most wonderful woman I've ever met. Our baby's name will be Elek Owen. We're not sure about a middle name quite yet. I suppose I should get back to the main reason I got on the computer in the first place and calculate some monthly expenses. Oh what fun. "Goodnight and have a happy tomorrow."

Something's Weird

So I've been working weird hours this week... 2PM to 12 midnight. I think maybe I'm a little depressed or lonely because I get to see Diana maybe 2 hours a day. I've lost my apetite and eat very little now, which is weird for me. I wonder what's going on. I've been thinking about it a little bit and the only thing I can come up with is that I haven't been able to do what I like to do in a while.

I was going to mooch off of the neighbor's internet, but I've decided to actually buy it since I want a stronger signal and faster downloads. Hopefully I can get back into my other blog called Aural Review. I kind of think that breaking that blog out of this one was a stupid idea since it's harder and more time consuming to manage two blogs than just one.

I am learning a lot at work, which is good, and makes me more of an asset to the company, though overall I'm depressed with the way things work around here. For example, recently we got our annual earnings report and we made something like 104% of our goal.. therefore our bonuses got a higher percentage so that means we get a larger bonus than last year right? Wrong. Someone thought it would be a good idea to mind trick the employees into thinking they're getting a better bonus, but they changed their obscure formula to actually pay out less than they would have last year if we had obtained the same goal. Great. I think I've decided to always speak my mind (i've done a good job so far) regardless of whose company i'm in at work. I may and probably will get in trouble, but who cares. I've already been wearing old tennis shoes to work for two months straight and now I'm at work wearing sandals. What a rebel. Anyway, I hope this feeling of being stagnant passes soon and my appetite resumes. "You have to let the world change you and then you can change the world."

I'm back.. finally

Finally, after exactly 2 months I'm back to hopefully start posting again. I moved into a 1600 square foot apartment with my pregnant girlfriend June 26, 2006. She was on vacation the whole week so guess who got to move all the heavy stuff. :P We're finally moved in and pretty close to being settled. We still need to buy some more things and get everything set up the way we like it. It's been a long tiresome project, but ultimately definitely worth it. I will post pictures of the place once its finished or maybe even once I get this wireless desktop card from Nick.

The other day Ben helped me (actually he did all the work) install a $30 programmable Thermostat by Hunter. It was really simple to install and now I can program the temp whenever I want so that way we can save $ on the utility bill. I haven't gotten to program it yet because I'm working some weird hours at work.

PS does anyone have a large yard and a desire for a cute 50 pound 7 month old puppy? If so, please contact me! We have one that we want to find a good home because the ba by is coming in October and we really don't need the extra responsibility of a dog AND the dog needs someone who will pay more attention to it than we can. A yard is a big plus. Until next time, you stay classy San Diego!

Life is coming at me fast

So I decided since I listen to so much music that buying an Ipod would be justifiable. My own parents even thought I already had one. So I bought a 60 gig black one that looks fantastic. I put it on the charger last night and plan on setting it up and using it today. I do need to also get a protective case, maybe some better headphones, and perhaps at some point the radio transmitter so I can use it in my car. The one thing I already have is music. I can't wait to be able to use it.. I'm sitting here at work wanting to go home so bad to get it set up.

Lately I've also been looking for an apartment with Diana. We have looked around a bit including looking at a house or two as well as duplexes and apartments. So far we like the Poplar Place apartments out near and on Kirby. If anyone has any suggestions about places to live in East Memphis between Poplar and Highland and Kirby or so, please let me know. :)

Startup School in Palo Alto, CA

The whole Palo Alto/Startup School experience was absolutely AMAZING. I'm going to try to relive it day by day.

Day 1, 4/28/06
I arrived in San Francisco, CA at roughly 11:00AM. After I got off the plane and collected my checked bag, I took the airport shuttle to the BART connection. I got on the BART to go to Millbrae where I met Nick and Doug. I had to rush to get a ticket for the CALtrain so I could continue to Palo Alto, CA which is south of San Francisco. I love their public transportation there! About 25 minutes later we were walking down El Camino Real to our first hotel. This was a nice hotel. $260 a weeknight nice. After putting our stuff down, we decided to walk about 2.5 miles to Fry's, an electronics store. It's like a Best Buy, only bigger, better, and cheaper with more electronics. By the time we got back, it was almost time for the reception at Y Combinator for some selected startup school attendees. They served free beer, wine, salmon, cookies, etc. There were many people there, none of which Nick or I knew.

There were several metal robots there, one of which was basically a copy of human legs. The operator set something and then would gently push the robot in one direction and the robot would shift its feet in order to keep its balance. There was a homemade segway there that we both got to ride. Now I really want one. I didn't even attempt to ride the unicycle segway.. I may have killed someone.

While we didn't know anyone there, we did happen to meet Aaron Swartz who helps the Reddit guys and has his own website called Infogami. We also met a guy named Vinnie Lauria of Meetro.com. Meetro is a creative location aware instant messaging program. That night we rode the train back to Palo Alto and then hung out with him among others. We went to a Sushi Bar where whenever a group of people wanted to do a shot, they would all stand up in their chairs with one person leading, shouting "Sake!" and then the rest yelling "Bomb!" three times and then they drank. The energy in that place was awesome.

Later we went to a bar called Nola's across the street from the Cardinal which is where we stayed my third night. We made it back to the hotel and fell asleep.

Day 2, 4/29/06
This was startup school day. We woke up early and walked to the Stanford campus to the location of the presentations. They went on from 9AM to 5PM roughly. It was a long day. The notes for what happened at startup school can be found here. After that day Nick and I worked on Scenefoo a little, got something to eat at a good Thai restaurant, and then went to sleep.

Day 3, 4/30/06
We woke up early and got something to eat at the University Cafe which was pretty good in my opinion. After that Nick and I decided to go into San Francisco via train to see the city. We saw the city all right. We walked about 7 miles that day from the baseball stadium down to Fisherman's Warf. There we saw these seals that were just sunning themselves and play fighting.

We ate above them in a seal cafe where we could also see Alcatraz in the distance. Luckily we were able to catch the trolley about two blocks from there and ride it back to the train station where we took the train all the way back to Palo Alto. Vinnie texted us and invited us over to drink some beer at the Meetro Headquarters. We accepted and walked about 10 blocks over there. The Meetro crew was just hanging out in front of their place with a sign that said "Beer 10 cents" so we paid and drank.

We talked for a long time, traded stories, bought more beer, and rode in their rickshaw. We had a great time talking about ideas, what Nick and I have been working on, Meetro, the future of the internet startup world among other things. At one point an employee of google came over from across the street to hang out. At about 10:30PM we decided to go and to keep in touch with the Meetro guys. I left the next day around 12 noon.

The overall experience of Palo Alto was a truly inspirational one. Hanging out with people that have similar ideas, experiences, backgrounds, and interests was one that does not happen often at all at least in Memphis. I truly hope I can arrange to visit again, possibly move out there.. where it's a perfect 68 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

Impeach the President?

Apparently there have been three states thus far that are starting to build cases to impeach the president of the United States. Notice it's not the united federal government of America. I'm surprised and relieved that this country can manage to at least start a change for the good. In this article, it says that Vermont has joined Illinois and California state legislatures in discussion about impeaching our current president. It is refreshing to me.. very much so.. to see this kind of response to actions (in my humble opinion) that are just wrong and evil. I've been told that I'm a pessimist at times. This is true. But I'm also trying to move myself more towards a realist. It's better on that side of the fence.

SceneFoo

SceneFoo is finally online, but it's not available for testing yet. It's coming along pretty well and I'm hoping within a month we'll be able to have alpha testing. :D There is still plenty to be done before that point, but the good thing is that we're still moving forward! Peace out.