I finally moved to Phoenix!

[Rick Lee]

Yesterday was the realization of several years of dreaming and planning and I arrived in Phoenix in my 993.



I drove from Fairfax to Bristol, VA Friday afternoon, made it to OK City Sat. night and Phoenix late afternoon yesterday. I made it from OK City to Albuquerque, 560 miles, in a little over six hours with two stops. I drove over 100 mph for several hours yesterday. I-40 is really empty.

Had lunch with Joeaksa and Eric Coffey today and it was a blast. Six years of emailing with Joe and missing him a few times in various cities around the US and we finally met today in Phoenix. Movers won't be here until next week, so I have a very empty house with just a lawn chair, two laptops, lots of guns and some bourbon. But I'm finally here and it feels great. I think I'll meet Charles Kieffner at Gogar's show on Apr. 1. I'm riding my bike to San Diego for business on Thurs. What an exciting time. Anyone in Phoenix who wants to wrench, let me know. My wife isn't here yet, have lots of time on my hands and want to meet all the local Pelicans and bike guys.

[slodave]

You realize you parked in a no parking zone....

I'm glad you had a safe trip.

Or is that a no peeing sign?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Congrats!

Welcome to North Mexico.

[red-beard]

Say hi to Dr. Phil for me, and welcome to Civilization.

[livi]

Congrats!

Whats in Phoenix?

Just asking.

Thats one of my absolute dream cars by the way. Beautiful!

[Type911]

Congrats !

In June when it's a buck-ten in Phx, you should come up to Colorado for some of the best Porsche driving in the country. I'm in Durango just 7 hours north, nice mild temps & plenty of twisties for your 993.

Here are some shots of last years TDC. We usually have 3-5 guys caravan up from the Valley of the sun.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/349295-early-911-tour-de-colorado-july-20-22-2007-a-post3391529.html?highlight=#post3391529

Have fun in the desert, this is one of the best times of the year to be there

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Congrats!

Welcome to North Mexico.

You know, I went to Wal-Mart in Anthem yesterday and it was a completely different experience than what I had grown used to. It was a Super Center, which I had never seen before, was almost empty and all the employees I saw were native English speakers. Go to any Wal-Mart in the DC area and you almost never hear English, they're always packed full, even the 24-hr. ones. I live way north of the city, about eight miles north of the 101. I went to Albertson's last night and again, everyone there was a native English speaker. I'm starting to feel like I live in a different country. In DC the only Americans I ever dealt with were my office co-workers and clients. Otherwise, every single person I dealt with, whether it was in a restauarant, fast food joint, grocery store, gas station, whatever, they were all foreigners. I'm wondering now if I'm going to miss the cosmopolitan aspect of east coast living. For now I sure enjoy the thin crowds everywhere I go except when on the I-17.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

You should go to the one by me. It's literally a third-world country inside. In fact, I think it's actually considered "foreign soil" like an embassy now.

[KFC911]

You'll know we've arrived when you need a passport to enter Walmart !

[Wickd89]

Enjoy. Phx is a pretty cool town; except in the summer when it hits 129!

Have the home prices dropped a lot there?
One time when I was considering joining Intel early in my EE career, I was looking at a 5+3+pool+3car garage home in Chandler for $190K. What would a similiar 10 year old house go for there...

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Wickd89

Enjoy. Phx is a pretty cool town; except in the summer when it hits 129!

Have the home prices dropped a lot there?
One time when I was considering joining Intel early in my EE career, I was looking at a 5+3+pool+3car garage home in Chandler for $190K. What would a similiar 10 year old house go for there...

Been living in Arizona for around 20 years and its never hit 129 except possibly in Yuma, and only Marines stay there in the summer.

Last summer most of the time was 110-114 or so and thats livable. We have 9 months of absolute heaven and while its snowing on the rest of the country we are in shorts and a tee shirt with the top down.

Just in the last month have home values started rebounding. They are not on the raise just yet but the "free fall" has stopped and thats a good thing. All in all, there are a lot worse places to live in the world than Arizona!

Rick, Great to finally meet you and thanks for lunch! Glad to help with the car and such. Will know my future schedule shortly and if I am in town on the 1st lets all get together. If I do not head overseas shortly will have you over for a burned steak in a day or three!

Joe

[Drago]

Rick,

Congratulations,

Just don't trust that Coffey kid...he's bad news, and an EX PNW guy to boot.

Joe on the other hand, while I've never met him in person, seems like a good guy.

Again, good luck in the SW, at least you're a little closer to nirvana, the PNW.

Marc

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Yesterday was the realization of several years of dreaming and planning and I arrived in Phoenix in my 993.



I drove from Fairfax to Bristol, VA Friday afternoon, made it to OK City Sat. night and Phoenix late afternoon yesterday. I made it from OK City to Albuquerque, 560 miles, in a little over six hours with two stops. I drove over 100 mph for several hours yesterday. I-40 is really empty.

Had lunch with Joeaksa and Eric Coffey today and it was a blast. Six years of emailing with Joe and missing him a few times in various cities around the US and we finally met today in Phoenix. Movers won't be here until next week, so I have a very empty house with just a lawn chair, two laptops, lots of guns and some bourbon. But I'm finally here and it feels great. I think I'll meet Charles Kieffner at Gogar's show on Apr. 1. I'm riding my bike to San Diego for business on Thurs. What an exciting time. Anyone in Phoenix who wants to wrench, let me know. My wife isn't here yet, have lots of time on my hands and want to meet all the local Pelicans and bike guys.

[the]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Just in the last month have home values started rebounding. They are not on the raise just yet but the "free fall" has stopped and thats a good thing.

Rebounding?

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by the

Rebounding?

Prices aren't rebounding, but sales are up, which is the first step.

From today's Arizona Republic:
http://www.azcentral.com/realestate/articles/0325housing0325.html

[LeeH]

Hey Rick... got sticky tires for the 993? Last one of the season:
http://az.pca.org/azpca/calender/view_event.asp?event_id=544

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Sales are up, but they're getting outpaced by defaults. Net loss.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by the

Rebounding?

Yep, the prices have slowed from going down at over $10k a month to now around $5k a month, all in the last 2 months. I live in a pretty descent part of Phoenix, and the rest of the town may not be in the same situation but it is here.

Drago,

Thanks and boy do I have you fooled!

We do need to get "that Coffey kid" back in a Porsche! He was driving a BMW yesterday!

Joe

[The Gaijin]

Good luck Rick Man.

[SXSMAN]

If you want to go shooting this weekend I'm sure someone over at www.arizonashooting.com would be happy to show you some areas to shoot .

PM azjogol , super nice guy and always looking for new people to shoot with .

( Tell him Side by Side man sent you )

They also have a nice for sale forum with everything under the sun , even class 3 .

What end of town did you decide on ?

Glad you made it safe , SxS

[charleskieffner]

dear senor lee, the first thang ya gotta do to get kind of settled in is:

1) buy snake shot

2) visit all the lower elevation amusements/parks/national parks etc. now. its cool out. basic edumacation.......spring fall winter play in dezert. summer play in mountains.

3) get swamp cooler working now so you dont have to pay for palo verde nuke klar gen station. a/c is spendy.

4) buy ice chest(trust me on this juan)

5) get your concealed carry weapons permit(one day class now)

6) understand that all bands on your radar detector used in this state K KA LAZER BEAM DEATH RAYS over 85mph yer going to da pokey.

7) understand that alot of intersections have red light cameras and photo radar

8) photo radar on 101 in snobbsdale

9) dont come to carefree/cavecreek and get drunk and drive. call me or taxi. this is the DEATH ZONE FOR LOUD PIPES/DUI/SPEEDING/ SHOOTING GUNS WHILE DOING THE AFOREMENTIONED!


10) visit ben avery gun range I-17 and carefree highway. p/u game and fish lit and get combo hunt fish lic. yes you need a hunting permit to shoot snakes.

11) do not shoot guns within 400yds(1/4 mile) of ANY BUILDING OCCUPIED OR NOT!

12) DO NOT CAMP WITHIN 400 yds of water hole

13) avoid any foaming at the mouth or slow moving critters plague and rabies here in lower dez.

14) get a ******* suntan slow. not in one day. vinegar poured into bathtub will help drunken lay out by pool fall asleep tan(burn).

15) visit patrick motorsports/stuttgart southwest both are great people. patrick is racey. jack is maintenance.

16) do not hire illegal aliens

17) throw all your black clothes away. throw black cars away also. trust me they are hot in da summer.

18) do not conceal weapon in car until you have ccw. must be in plain sight holstered can be loaded(cool huh?)

19) visit scottsdale gun club and dillon mfg. and DROOL!

20) call me at 602 558-1987 and i will give you 50 years of advice about da richest most diverse dezert in da world. da sonoran dezert. and how to break the fun barrier or how i avoid getting killed or caught!

21) recharge a/c unit on p-car just for drill. you will thank me