Back at it on a Monday afternoon. This is a busy time of year for me as I am in the midst of meetings with all of my agents in Northern California and having them sign an Agency Action Plan for 2003 with specific goals and a premium goal for the year. It is also a time that I eat way too much as I'm out to lunch at least three times a week spending my expense money on my best customers. I am off to the unimaginable excitement of Fresno on Wednesday and to further tempt my excitement meter, Bakerfield on Thursday. I will attempt to come down off my high before I write again. Unfortunately in the coming weeks, I'll have to suffer through trips to Monterey, South Lake Tahoe and San Francisco, but I will have the enduring memory of the smell of oil refining on a balmy Winter's night in Bakersfield to salve my emotional wounds.
The weekend just passed left some nice memories as Darla and I went to the final basketball game for David this year. We were playing for the title against Rocklin, a team with smaller players, but fundamentally well coached and sound defenders and adequate offensive power to complement the defense. We fell behind early with a rash of turnovers and were on the wrong side of a 10-2 score in the first five minutes. We worked our way back with good defense and some timely three-pointers to lead at halftime 29-26. It was the second half that saw the tide turn as Rocklin played sound defense and took advantage a scoring miscue to take a 41-39 lead. In truth the score was 41-39 for us, so the four-point mistake by the official scorer took the wind out of our guy's sails. The crowd was hooting and hollering when the scorer added one of our baskets to Rocklin, depriving us of two points and adding it to Rocklin, a four point swing. We ended up starting the 4th period down by two, rather than up by two. We lost the game 57-52, so you could say it didn't make a difference, but the fans and the players were so mad, it took them out of their game. Luckily, this is just JV and we can look forward to Varsity and more accomplished scorers and officials next year. The official scorer was a 16 year-old Rocklin student. Duh.
Darla and I ate out on Saturday night enjoying steak and prime rib at a restaurant in Carmichael. The establishment is Brother Oliver's and is famous for their prime grade beef, their $18.95 complete lobster dinner and their soup and salad bar. We gorged ourselves and then stopped at a store and bought Daniel some new bedding. He has had the same comforter on his bed since he was a baby and Darla had sewn a new cover over the 101 Dalmation's print. We decided that his room needs a makeover. I painted the laundry room on Saturday afternoon before our jaunt out for dinner and shopping. Darla said that I did it so that I wouldn't feel guilty about playing golf on Sunday. The truth is that I never feel guilty about playing golf...unless I'm helped along in that regard.
I am currently the handicapper for our golf club and keep all of the handicap information and tournament handicaps for the club. The current vice-president, Harry Wharff, will move up to president next year and has asked me to be his Vice-President. I will then follow up the food chain to President and run the club in 2005. I've agreed to run alongside Harry and learn as I go. I will get free green fees at the club and a token salary. I'm paid $300 a year as the handicapper. It is all a life lesson as far as I'm concerned.
Darla and I are going to Vegas with Dad and Shirley in April and have booked our flights already. Darla will fly on a free ticket that I have and I will fly on my Rewards card working toward another free flight. We have been to Vegas with Dad and Mom in the past and this will be our first visit with Dad and Shirley. We will have a great time, but I'll miss Mom in Sin City. She was always so much fun. She could drink a few $1 margaritas, that's for sure.
Finally, I was relaxing yesterday afternoon after my golf outing and a walk of the dog with Darla. I was reading McNally's Chance, a novel based on Lawrence Sander's character, Archy McNally, but written by Vincent Lardo, a writer hand-picked by Lawrence Sanders to carry the ball on the McNally capers following his death. Lardo and Sander's had co-wrote the last of the McNally novels that Sander's had a hand in. Be that as it may, I was reading the book, relaxing on our new sofa with my bride when we heard a sonic boom that sounded as if the house had been hit by a car. I ran out to see what had happened and several of the neighbors were also gathering outside to see what had happened. It turns out that a neighbor had managed to catch some gas fumes on fire as he worked in his garage. The gas water heater had clicked on and exploded the fumes. He was able to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but had burns on his hands. The fire department responded very quickly and made us all feel just a little safer. They got to the house almost as fast as the neighbors did.
Oh....my golf game. I'm quick to write when I play well and I've been on a roll, so I was due to drop a stink bomb, especially after my last blog dumping on my once and former partner. We played at Mather Field Golf Course, a former Air Force golf course. The military is known for their pristine golf courses, starting with the Presidio course in San Francisco and including the Sun and Sand course on the island of Coronado in San Diego (which I've played). Unfortunately, my game started with the sign of the devil....6....6....6! That was a par 4, a par 5 and a par 3. On the par 3, I hit the ball just right of the green into the bunker and took three to get out. I never have problems in sand, so it was a shock to say the least. I finally blasted onto the green with my fourth shot and had a two-foot putt for double-bogey, which I missed. Ouch!! I shot 49 on the front, a side that included two separate signs of the devil and a par 5 to finish the front at less than 50. I never shot more than a six, but I had a lot of them. I pulled it together on the back side and shot a more recognizable 40 for an 89. I didn't win any money to put it mildly. As I said, I was due. That is my confession for the week. Be well and treat each other with love and respect. God is in heaven and all is okay in my world.
Monday, February 24, 2003
Monday, February 17, 2003
Hello again. It is President's Day here stateside, but here at the helm of the good ship U-Haul, we get but 7 days off a year and none between New Year's Day and Memorial Day. Darla, who has finally emerged from the warmth and safety of the down comforter on our bed and is showering at 9:50 a.m. on a Monday, is enjoying her fourth day off of the year thus far. Social workers may be under-appreciated and somewhat underpaid, but they know how to work the system.
The weekend was as good as ever. I played golf on Saturday, the second leg of a two-day tournament qualifier that sends four of our club's golfers to Spyglass in Monterey. I played steady, solid golf, but made the ignominious error of allowing myself to be talked into teaming up with a high-handicap golfer. I was swayed by his argument that he is allowed a stroke on 17 of the 18 holes. Unfortunately, my partner is a 23-handicap who would have needed to have played six strokes under his handicap to break even in this tournament. He, in fact, played spectacularly awful and shot a horrendous 11 strokes per round average above his handicap and left me befuddled and bemused. I shot 83 on the first day and a stellar 38-41=79 on Saturday. All for naught. Any hole that I had a net bogey on, our best ball score was a net bogey as my partner was building snowmen (8's) around the proximity of the course. I learned a hard lesson, and as the handicap chairman, I had to sign and attest the scores of the four golfers who are going on the paid holiday to the Pebble Beach area in April. Drat. I will keep myself in the company of real golfers in upcoming tournaments and qualifiers. I've already signed up to play in the two-man team competition with a 4 handicapper in the club and dropped my one time partner like a bad smell. He wasn't a partner, he was human freight and my back needs a chiropractor after this tournament. If you think I'm being hard on my partner, well, I am. He stunk up the course. He shot rounds of 102 and 110. Live and learn.
We had our new sectional sofa delivered on Wednesday. That delivery left us with our old eight-by-eight foot sectional sitting in the garage. I had called a couple of haulers to see if they could pick it up and deliver it to one of the thrift stores (American Cancer Society, etc.), but got no takers for the job. Most of them haul trash and clippings, etc to the dump and wanted to charge me $75 to haul it to the dump. The furniture has some life in it and having a social worker wife, having it hauled to the dump would not fly. I finally got Deseret Industries to agree to pick it up this last Friday, Valentine's Day. The dispatcher told me that they would be here between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. I had to do some registered mail for my job on Friday and left at eight o'clock to get it done and come back for the vigil at home waiting for the truck to arrive. As is my wont, I had waited until D-Day to get Darla a Valentine's Day card and left the Post Office and ran over to the store to pick up a card, arriving back home at 8:45. As I drove up, I could see a bright green sign on my front door handle and was completely dismayed to see that the Deseret truck had arrived at 8:40 a.m. to pick up our furniture. I ran into my office and called the dispatcher to see if the truck could turn around and come back. She called back five minutes later to say that he was too far out of the area. I had a Valentine's Day card for my wife and a sectional sofa taking up residence in her parking space in the garage. I could see her being somewhat unhappy with me. The dispatcher called back fifteen minutes later and said that they were low on current donations and that the general manager had approved the truck driver rerouting back to Roseville to collect our donation. I was saved and some needy family will reap the benefit of Darla's hard work re-upholstering the sofa. And I was able to clear a space for Darla's car in the garage. Oh, Happy Day.
David's basketball team suffered a narrow overtime loss on Friday night at Natomas. The Natomas team is quite good (in spite of their record), having beat Rocklin, the team that beat us earlier this year and were able to come back from six points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game in regulation. We took the lead in overtime only to lose it on two fast-break baskets and lose the game on a questionable call by the officials. They were up by two with 2.2 seconds remaining and missed a second free throw. We immediately called time out and the clock operator let 2 seconds run off the clock. We had told the officials that we wanted a timeout immediately if we rebounded the miss. The officials refused to put more time on the clock and we lost the game. It was their second bad call in the game. At the end of regulation, there were five seconds left, when Natomas tried to inbound the ball under our basket, and their player threw the ball the length of the court and their player grabbed it out of bounds. The clock operator allowed three seconds to run off the clock and the official ruled that the ball was touched inbounds and then the player stepped out. Clearly the player had stepped out of bounds and then touched the ball. Not only was the time allowed to run off the clock, but we had to inbounds the ball at their end of the court instead of under our own basket. It was frustrating for the guys and especially for the fans, who let the officials have it. David's team plays Rocklin for the league title on Friday night. If we lose, we take second. If we win, we share the title with Rocklin. It should be a GREAT game.
Jennifer has finished her school in Arizona and is back in Georgia at Fort Gordon in Augusta. She finished second in her class in Arizona and continues to excel at her chosen field. Jennifer really struggled with school and decisions as she approached eighteen, but has really found her place in the military. She continues to excel at PT, at her chosen field of electronics, and in life. I'm very proud of her.
Darla and I are off to Chico today. I have an inspection to do and she will join me for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Chico, The Italian Cottage. I may have to work, but working out of the house, I choose the tasks. It should be a good drive and I'm on expense account so it's all good.
Hope you are all well. Keep the Lord in your life and the Lord will keep watch over you. Ciao.
The weekend was as good as ever. I played golf on Saturday, the second leg of a two-day tournament qualifier that sends four of our club's golfers to Spyglass in Monterey. I played steady, solid golf, but made the ignominious error of allowing myself to be talked into teaming up with a high-handicap golfer. I was swayed by his argument that he is allowed a stroke on 17 of the 18 holes. Unfortunately, my partner is a 23-handicap who would have needed to have played six strokes under his handicap to break even in this tournament. He, in fact, played spectacularly awful and shot a horrendous 11 strokes per round average above his handicap and left me befuddled and bemused. I shot 83 on the first day and a stellar 38-41=79 on Saturday. All for naught. Any hole that I had a net bogey on, our best ball score was a net bogey as my partner was building snowmen (8's) around the proximity of the course. I learned a hard lesson, and as the handicap chairman, I had to sign and attest the scores of the four golfers who are going on the paid holiday to the Pebble Beach area in April. Drat. I will keep myself in the company of real golfers in upcoming tournaments and qualifiers. I've already signed up to play in the two-man team competition with a 4 handicapper in the club and dropped my one time partner like a bad smell. He wasn't a partner, he was human freight and my back needs a chiropractor after this tournament. If you think I'm being hard on my partner, well, I am. He stunk up the course. He shot rounds of 102 and 110. Live and learn.
We had our new sectional sofa delivered on Wednesday. That delivery left us with our old eight-by-eight foot sectional sitting in the garage. I had called a couple of haulers to see if they could pick it up and deliver it to one of the thrift stores (American Cancer Society, etc.), but got no takers for the job. Most of them haul trash and clippings, etc to the dump and wanted to charge me $75 to haul it to the dump. The furniture has some life in it and having a social worker wife, having it hauled to the dump would not fly. I finally got Deseret Industries to agree to pick it up this last Friday, Valentine's Day. The dispatcher told me that they would be here between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. I had to do some registered mail for my job on Friday and left at eight o'clock to get it done and come back for the vigil at home waiting for the truck to arrive. As is my wont, I had waited until D-Day to get Darla a Valentine's Day card and left the Post Office and ran over to the store to pick up a card, arriving back home at 8:45. As I drove up, I could see a bright green sign on my front door handle and was completely dismayed to see that the Deseret truck had arrived at 8:40 a.m. to pick up our furniture. I ran into my office and called the dispatcher to see if the truck could turn around and come back. She called back five minutes later to say that he was too far out of the area. I had a Valentine's Day card for my wife and a sectional sofa taking up residence in her parking space in the garage. I could see her being somewhat unhappy with me. The dispatcher called back fifteen minutes later and said that they were low on current donations and that the general manager had approved the truck driver rerouting back to Roseville to collect our donation. I was saved and some needy family will reap the benefit of Darla's hard work re-upholstering the sofa. And I was able to clear a space for Darla's car in the garage. Oh, Happy Day.
David's basketball team suffered a narrow overtime loss on Friday night at Natomas. The Natomas team is quite good (in spite of their record), having beat Rocklin, the team that beat us earlier this year and were able to come back from six points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game in regulation. We took the lead in overtime only to lose it on two fast-break baskets and lose the game on a questionable call by the officials. They were up by two with 2.2 seconds remaining and missed a second free throw. We immediately called time out and the clock operator let 2 seconds run off the clock. We had told the officials that we wanted a timeout immediately if we rebounded the miss. The officials refused to put more time on the clock and we lost the game. It was their second bad call in the game. At the end of regulation, there were five seconds left, when Natomas tried to inbound the ball under our basket, and their player threw the ball the length of the court and their player grabbed it out of bounds. The clock operator allowed three seconds to run off the clock and the official ruled that the ball was touched inbounds and then the player stepped out. Clearly the player had stepped out of bounds and then touched the ball. Not only was the time allowed to run off the clock, but we had to inbounds the ball at their end of the court instead of under our own basket. It was frustrating for the guys and especially for the fans, who let the officials have it. David's team plays Rocklin for the league title on Friday night. If we lose, we take second. If we win, we share the title with Rocklin. It should be a GREAT game.
Jennifer has finished her school in Arizona and is back in Georgia at Fort Gordon in Augusta. She finished second in her class in Arizona and continues to excel at her chosen field. Jennifer really struggled with school and decisions as she approached eighteen, but has really found her place in the military. She continues to excel at PT, at her chosen field of electronics, and in life. I'm very proud of her.
Darla and I are off to Chico today. I have an inspection to do and she will join me for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Chico, The Italian Cottage. I may have to work, but working out of the house, I choose the tasks. It should be a good drive and I'm on expense account so it's all good.
Hope you are all well. Keep the Lord in your life and the Lord will keep watch over you. Ciao.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Back from the grind of a long week delivering files from Monterey to Phoenix. I was gone all week last week and decided to take Darla up to Reno for a quick getaway on Sunday and Monday. Darla was off work on Monday for Lincoln's Birthday, which is actually on Wednesday, but people who plan days off default to Monday. We drove up Sunday morning and stayed at the Atlantis Casino in Reno.
The Atlantis gave us a $120 voucher for dinner in their Italian restaraunt, Monte Vigna, and we enjoyed a romantic dinner on Sunday night. I have a frequent player card at the Atlantis and they generally either give us a free room (which is only a $45 value) or offer to buy us dinner or sometimes both. I had a delicious filet mignon and Darla had porcini ravioli. We also enjoyed an appetizer of fried calimari and I downed all of it with a Peroni italian beer. It was a great meal and for those of you who know me well, it was made even more delicious by the fact that it was complimentary.
I dropped a $20 bill out of my pocket while I was sitting at the table. Casinos pump pure oxygen through their ventilation system, which somehow effects casino guests to the casino's benefit. The oxygen makes my nose run and on one of my forays into my pocket for my hankie, I dropped the twenty.I realized it when I left the restaurant, but by the time I ran back, the money was gone. I found the waitress and asked her if she saw the bill. Fat chance. Strangely, about an hour later as we were sitting playing video poker, the waitress tracked us down and had my $20. The busboy had seen it and pocketed it. He handed it over when she asked him about it and wanted to find us because she enjoyed waiting on us. It was refreshing to see that level of honesty and I ended up giving her the bill anyhow. It sort of renews confidence in your fellow man when you experience something like that.
Darla and I dropped about $200 in the casino and we should be set for our next "free" dinner and night's stay next time.
The trip to Phoenix was anything but routine. I took a 17 foot U-Haul van with a gross vehicle weight of 11,000 pounds. The truck itself weighs 7700 pounds, which leaves the renter only 3300 pounds of goods to pack. I realized I had a problem about a third of the way through packing the truck with files. We had 420 cartons of files and each carton weighs about 35 pounds. Do the math. With the equipment and other miscellaneous items, I had over 15000 pounds of freight packed into a 7700 pound truck. I turned that U-Haul into an 11 ton behemoth. I knew I had a problem when I left the storage site and almost couldn't stop the truck at the intersection.
I left Monterey at 10:30 bound for Bakersfield. I knew by one-thirty that I would cancel my hotel reservation and drive on farther. I wanted to get as far down the road as I could. I had two concerns, one was tire blowouts due to the weight of the truck and the other was getting stopped by the highway patrol and not being allowed to continue on my sojourn. I took Highway 58 out of Bakersfield through the Tehachapi mountains and up to Boron and Tehachapi and Edwards AFB where the shuttle used to land. I stopped in Barstow for the night and the truck creaked to a stop in the parking lot. The next day I got a late start as I sat transfixed in front of the tv and watched Collin Powell lay out the case against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. I drove onto Highway 40 and the trip to Needles. The forecast was for high winds in the high desert areas and a warning to high profile vehicles. That I guess would be me with an eleven foot panel truck packed with files. I creeped my way up the mountain leading to Needles and finally crested the summit and started down the slope. As hard as it was to get up the hill, it was equally difficult to keep from going down the hill too fast. The wind was gusting up to 50 miles an hour and pushing hard against the van. I had to fight to keep the truck in my own lane. I looked down at the speedometer at one point and was shocked to see it approaching seventy. It scared me and I pressed the brakes to slow down just as a gust of wind hit the truck. It began to rock violently back and forth and my heart jumped into my throat and that adrenaline rush that almost blinds you hit my body. The steering wheel was suddenly jerked out of my hands and I could feel the truck rolling. I could just imagine flipping the U-Haul out on I-40 in Needles. I was able to wrest control of the steering wheel from the wind and eased the truck to the side of the road. I did a quick inventory of my faculties and realized that I was still in one piece and my drawers were bunched but dry. It was scary.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful and I arrived at Dad and Shirley's home in Sun City about 4:15 local time. Dad did mention to me that his son-in-law, Cameron, is now dyeing his hair. That was the second thing he said to me. I know my beard is getting a bit white, but c'mon, Dad. I think I've earned this gray beard as the step-father of two teenaged boys and the father of a female. Frankly with both of my grandfathers being cue ball bald, I'm thrilled to have hair. The color is beside the point. Dad fixed steaks and I enjoyed their company and hospitality immensely. I was tired and fell asleep about nine-thirty on the couch and woke up near ten-fiteen. I turned to apologize to Dad and Shirley for falling asleep on them and they were both out cold in their twin recliners snoozing away as well.
The next day, I met five guys from the office at a local U-Haul storage center and we unloaded the truck. I knew that the contents had shifted as I could hear something crash in the back on my trip. It took four of us to get the back door open and about three rows of files had toppled against the back door and were open and scattered. We cleaned up the mess and it took us about two-and-a-half hours to unload the files and properly categorize and file them properly. I bought all of the workers lunch at a local authentic Mexican food establishment and had my Arizona marketing rep drive me to the rental car site where I picked up a Jeep Grand Cherokee and got back to Dad's about two-thirty. That afternoon, for the first time in my life, I played golf with my Dad....and Shirley of course. We played at the local Sun City course, one of six courses that they have access to. I wore tennis shoes and used my old clubs and suffered through a 44 on the back side. We played at twilight rates and there was still light, so we went out on the front and played number 1 and walked over and played number 9 in. I had a ball and really enjoyed the game with Dad and Shirley. Dad has played golf sporadically in his life and he is just now beginning to get serious about the sport. He has a nice swing and was hitting the ball well off the tee. In fact he had several drives that were right next to me and I play at least once a week. I don't recall what he shot, but he putts well and has good tempo and I can see him being a mid-teen golfer in short order. Shirley is very consistent and hits the ball right down the middle and is a good match with Dad from a tempo and a temperament standpoint. The golf course is in wonderful shape and they are blessed to have a great life in the Phoenix area.
I was able to meet our CFO on this trip. He was instrumental in helping me in my battle with the Underwriting AVP. My meetings on Friday ran late and I got out at twelve-thirty. I had a two-thirty flight back to Sacramento and I had time just to poke my head in and say Hi. I thought he might be at lunch and that I'd miss him this trip. His door was shut as I approached and I almost walked on, but something made me knock. I heard a scratchy voice say, "Yeah". I announced myself and he told me to come in. He was rumpled and looking tired and he sheepishly told me that he was catching a cat nap, that his allergy medication had wiped him out. We had a good visit and he had some nice compliments for me. We set up that we'd get lunch together on my next trip to Phoenix. As I was leaving, he said, "Hey, Ken. This little nap I was having is just between you and Me. Okay?" Yeah, you and me and my blog readers.
That's it for this installment of Life with the Lyon's. Hope all is well with each of you.
The Atlantis gave us a $120 voucher for dinner in their Italian restaraunt, Monte Vigna, and we enjoyed a romantic dinner on Sunday night. I have a frequent player card at the Atlantis and they generally either give us a free room (which is only a $45 value) or offer to buy us dinner or sometimes both. I had a delicious filet mignon and Darla had porcini ravioli. We also enjoyed an appetizer of fried calimari and I downed all of it with a Peroni italian beer. It was a great meal and for those of you who know me well, it was made even more delicious by the fact that it was complimentary.
I dropped a $20 bill out of my pocket while I was sitting at the table. Casinos pump pure oxygen through their ventilation system, which somehow effects casino guests to the casino's benefit. The oxygen makes my nose run and on one of my forays into my pocket for my hankie, I dropped the twenty.I realized it when I left the restaurant, but by the time I ran back, the money was gone. I found the waitress and asked her if she saw the bill. Fat chance. Strangely, about an hour later as we were sitting playing video poker, the waitress tracked us down and had my $20. The busboy had seen it and pocketed it. He handed it over when she asked him about it and wanted to find us because she enjoyed waiting on us. It was refreshing to see that level of honesty and I ended up giving her the bill anyhow. It sort of renews confidence in your fellow man when you experience something like that.
Darla and I dropped about $200 in the casino and we should be set for our next "free" dinner and night's stay next time.
The trip to Phoenix was anything but routine. I took a 17 foot U-Haul van with a gross vehicle weight of 11,000 pounds. The truck itself weighs 7700 pounds, which leaves the renter only 3300 pounds of goods to pack. I realized I had a problem about a third of the way through packing the truck with files. We had 420 cartons of files and each carton weighs about 35 pounds. Do the math. With the equipment and other miscellaneous items, I had over 15000 pounds of freight packed into a 7700 pound truck. I turned that U-Haul into an 11 ton behemoth. I knew I had a problem when I left the storage site and almost couldn't stop the truck at the intersection.
I left Monterey at 10:30 bound for Bakersfield. I knew by one-thirty that I would cancel my hotel reservation and drive on farther. I wanted to get as far down the road as I could. I had two concerns, one was tire blowouts due to the weight of the truck and the other was getting stopped by the highway patrol and not being allowed to continue on my sojourn. I took Highway 58 out of Bakersfield through the Tehachapi mountains and up to Boron and Tehachapi and Edwards AFB where the shuttle used to land. I stopped in Barstow for the night and the truck creaked to a stop in the parking lot. The next day I got a late start as I sat transfixed in front of the tv and watched Collin Powell lay out the case against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. I drove onto Highway 40 and the trip to Needles. The forecast was for high winds in the high desert areas and a warning to high profile vehicles. That I guess would be me with an eleven foot panel truck packed with files. I creeped my way up the mountain leading to Needles and finally crested the summit and started down the slope. As hard as it was to get up the hill, it was equally difficult to keep from going down the hill too fast. The wind was gusting up to 50 miles an hour and pushing hard against the van. I had to fight to keep the truck in my own lane. I looked down at the speedometer at one point and was shocked to see it approaching seventy. It scared me and I pressed the brakes to slow down just as a gust of wind hit the truck. It began to rock violently back and forth and my heart jumped into my throat and that adrenaline rush that almost blinds you hit my body. The steering wheel was suddenly jerked out of my hands and I could feel the truck rolling. I could just imagine flipping the U-Haul out on I-40 in Needles. I was able to wrest control of the steering wheel from the wind and eased the truck to the side of the road. I did a quick inventory of my faculties and realized that I was still in one piece and my drawers were bunched but dry. It was scary.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful and I arrived at Dad and Shirley's home in Sun City about 4:15 local time. Dad did mention to me that his son-in-law, Cameron, is now dyeing his hair. That was the second thing he said to me. I know my beard is getting a bit white, but c'mon, Dad. I think I've earned this gray beard as the step-father of two teenaged boys and the father of a female. Frankly with both of my grandfathers being cue ball bald, I'm thrilled to have hair. The color is beside the point. Dad fixed steaks and I enjoyed their company and hospitality immensely. I was tired and fell asleep about nine-thirty on the couch and woke up near ten-fiteen. I turned to apologize to Dad and Shirley for falling asleep on them and they were both out cold in their twin recliners snoozing away as well.
The next day, I met five guys from the office at a local U-Haul storage center and we unloaded the truck. I knew that the contents had shifted as I could hear something crash in the back on my trip. It took four of us to get the back door open and about three rows of files had toppled against the back door and were open and scattered. We cleaned up the mess and it took us about two-and-a-half hours to unload the files and properly categorize and file them properly. I bought all of the workers lunch at a local authentic Mexican food establishment and had my Arizona marketing rep drive me to the rental car site where I picked up a Jeep Grand Cherokee and got back to Dad's about two-thirty. That afternoon, for the first time in my life, I played golf with my Dad....and Shirley of course. We played at the local Sun City course, one of six courses that they have access to. I wore tennis shoes and used my old clubs and suffered through a 44 on the back side. We played at twilight rates and there was still light, so we went out on the front and played number 1 and walked over and played number 9 in. I had a ball and really enjoyed the game with Dad and Shirley. Dad has played golf sporadically in his life and he is just now beginning to get serious about the sport. He has a nice swing and was hitting the ball well off the tee. In fact he had several drives that were right next to me and I play at least once a week. I don't recall what he shot, but he putts well and has good tempo and I can see him being a mid-teen golfer in short order. Shirley is very consistent and hits the ball right down the middle and is a good match with Dad from a tempo and a temperament standpoint. The golf course is in wonderful shape and they are blessed to have a great life in the Phoenix area.
I was able to meet our CFO on this trip. He was instrumental in helping me in my battle with the Underwriting AVP. My meetings on Friday ran late and I got out at twelve-thirty. I had a two-thirty flight back to Sacramento and I had time just to poke my head in and say Hi. I thought he might be at lunch and that I'd miss him this trip. His door was shut as I approached and I almost walked on, but something made me knock. I heard a scratchy voice say, "Yeah". I announced myself and he told me to come in. He was rumpled and looking tired and he sheepishly told me that he was catching a cat nap, that his allergy medication had wiped him out. We had a good visit and he had some nice compliments for me. We set up that we'd get lunch together on my next trip to Phoenix. As I was leaving, he said, "Hey, Ken. This little nap I was having is just between you and Me. Okay?" Yeah, you and me and my blog readers.
That's it for this installment of Life with the Lyon's. Hope all is well with each of you.
Monday, February 03, 2003
Unlike some other postings, today is a spectacular Monday with a bright blue sky and an unobscured sun that makes the lawn and the plantings around the Koi Pond seem that much greener and more vivid. I have a "roadie" planned this week with a trip in a 17-foot UHaul truck to Monterey to clear out the old underwriting files from our storage unit there and then a trip across three states to Phoenix, Arizona. The fact that the weather is ideal makes the prospect of this trip seem a little brighter. I have a local hauler meeting me at the storage location tomorrow morning to help me load the truck and then four guys at the company end of the trip to unload. I may supervise at the unloading as the guys will all be in their twenties. I finally, after seven years, feel like I actually work for a susidiary of UHaul. I guess I had a similar feeling on 9/11 when I drove the box truck home from Vegas. For some reason life is never boring here in Nor Cal.
Darla and I went out this weekend and finally bought a new sectional sofa for the family room. We've been living with a garage sale sectional that Darla re-upholstered in a delf blue design. We likely would have replaced it sooner, but she put in two months of work on that sofa. She had done the work back in 1999, so we got four years out of the sofa. It was one of her purchases that she "surprised" me with when I got back from golf one weekend. She'd grown tired of my sofa that I brought into the marriage and knew that we couldn't afford a new one at the time. I just smiled and watched her work her hands into a blood streaked state as she sewed and stitched and refashioned that sofa into a new appearance. It was an awesome job and we are finally passsing that on to a thrift store and we will enjoy our new sofa from Brueners with the double reclining seat and the 18 foot surround size. It is a "coffee" tan color with a velour appearance and manufactured by Lane. Darla and I are finally updating our furniture. We bought a new dining room set complete with china hutch last year and will update our bedroom furniture next. Once we are done with furniture, we will look at some new floor coverings in the house, both carpet and wood flooring.
Surprise! I DID play golf this weekend at Whitney Oaks in Rocklin. It is a championship course and one of the toughest in the area. We played Saturday morning and I played with Greg Meacham, one of David's football coaches and the father of one of his best friends. Greg is a six handicap and we played through a light drizzle that turned to a shower on two of the holes. I managed an 89 and beat Greg by a stroke. It was a wet, soggy day and we were banished to the cart paths on several holes due to the wet conditions. The course was designed by Johnny Miller who is a well known sadistic golf course designer. This course is no different in his stable and includes several holes with sand traps in the middle of fairways and a par five with a huge outcropping of boulders 120 yards from the pin. I've played the course four times and hit my second shot into those boulders four times. I even had Greg, who is a member at Whitney, help me line up my second shot and I hit it perfectly for a layup to the left of those rocks. I hit the 150-yard yardage marker in the middle of the fairway and skipped into the boulders. I cursed the ground that Miller walks on and took a drop and a bogey on the hole. The course was a large cattle ranch years ago and there is a crypt for old man Whitney next to the sixteenth green. It is a huge pyramid shaped out of granite and we saluted the old man as we played through. It was a great day.
I talked to Dad and Jennifer over the weekend and their visit together was going well. Jennifer was looking through picture albums and laughing at her Dad in confirmation robes and braces and Halloween costumes. My ears were burning when I got home from dinner on Saturday night and now I know why. I took Darla and the boys out to Black Angus, a steak restaurant, on Saturday night and those two six-footers enjoyed prime rib, appetizers and dessert.
David's basketball team bounced back from their first conference loss on Wednesday night with a 15-point route of the Placer Hillmen on Friday night. They are now 7-1 in league and 16-3 overall. David continues to start at small forward or "wing" as they call it in high school. He is averaging eight points a game and plays tenacious defense. Darla and I have really enjoyed the basketball season. They have two weeks left and finsh the year at Rocklin, the only team to beat them. We have some payback for them that night.
Well, I have to go run some errands and get some cash for my trip. Darla will be here in an hour to take me to the Uhaul center. I wanted to update my blog before I got out of town. Hope you are all healthy and happy. Ciao.
Darla and I went out this weekend and finally bought a new sectional sofa for the family room. We've been living with a garage sale sectional that Darla re-upholstered in a delf blue design. We likely would have replaced it sooner, but she put in two months of work on that sofa. She had done the work back in 1999, so we got four years out of the sofa. It was one of her purchases that she "surprised" me with when I got back from golf one weekend. She'd grown tired of my sofa that I brought into the marriage and knew that we couldn't afford a new one at the time. I just smiled and watched her work her hands into a blood streaked state as she sewed and stitched and refashioned that sofa into a new appearance. It was an awesome job and we are finally passsing that on to a thrift store and we will enjoy our new sofa from Brueners with the double reclining seat and the 18 foot surround size. It is a "coffee" tan color with a velour appearance and manufactured by Lane. Darla and I are finally updating our furniture. We bought a new dining room set complete with china hutch last year and will update our bedroom furniture next. Once we are done with furniture, we will look at some new floor coverings in the house, both carpet and wood flooring.
Surprise! I DID play golf this weekend at Whitney Oaks in Rocklin. It is a championship course and one of the toughest in the area. We played Saturday morning and I played with Greg Meacham, one of David's football coaches and the father of one of his best friends. Greg is a six handicap and we played through a light drizzle that turned to a shower on two of the holes. I managed an 89 and beat Greg by a stroke. It was a wet, soggy day and we were banished to the cart paths on several holes due to the wet conditions. The course was designed by Johnny Miller who is a well known sadistic golf course designer. This course is no different in his stable and includes several holes with sand traps in the middle of fairways and a par five with a huge outcropping of boulders 120 yards from the pin. I've played the course four times and hit my second shot into those boulders four times. I even had Greg, who is a member at Whitney, help me line up my second shot and I hit it perfectly for a layup to the left of those rocks. I hit the 150-yard yardage marker in the middle of the fairway and skipped into the boulders. I cursed the ground that Miller walks on and took a drop and a bogey on the hole. The course was a large cattle ranch years ago and there is a crypt for old man Whitney next to the sixteenth green. It is a huge pyramid shaped out of granite and we saluted the old man as we played through. It was a great day.
I talked to Dad and Jennifer over the weekend and their visit together was going well. Jennifer was looking through picture albums and laughing at her Dad in confirmation robes and braces and Halloween costumes. My ears were burning when I got home from dinner on Saturday night and now I know why. I took Darla and the boys out to Black Angus, a steak restaurant, on Saturday night and those two six-footers enjoyed prime rib, appetizers and dessert.
David's basketball team bounced back from their first conference loss on Wednesday night with a 15-point route of the Placer Hillmen on Friday night. They are now 7-1 in league and 16-3 overall. David continues to start at small forward or "wing" as they call it in high school. He is averaging eight points a game and plays tenacious defense. Darla and I have really enjoyed the basketball season. They have two weeks left and finsh the year at Rocklin, the only team to beat them. We have some payback for them that night.
Well, I have to go run some errands and get some cash for my trip. Darla will be here in an hour to take me to the Uhaul center. I wanted to update my blog before I got out of town. Hope you are all healthy and happy. Ciao.
