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.