Good Monday to all. Today is a bit of a transition day for us weatherwise. Autumn has hit Sacramento with a frontal assault as we already have over 4 inches of rain for the period with more on its way this week. It rained all day on Saturday and I started trimming plants and trees in the morning and ended up getting drenched to the skin as I collected leaves and branches after the trimming. It was a warm rain, so it wasn't bad, but the weather forecast was for some cloudiness. Well, those clouds were awfully wet.

It cleared up yesterday and I played golf in the annual Past President's tournament. It was a peekaboo sun early on, but the sun finally won the battle in the afternoon and it ended up about 68 degrees with a light breeze. Darryl sent me an e-mail showing that the average high temperature in his area is 90 degrees at this time of year. Frankly, it is so hot here during the Summer, that our current average high of 76 degrees appeals to me much more. The severity of the climate in Texas is something you never get used to. It seems to go from Summer and 90 degrees to frozen rain overnight. I don't know how the body is expected to adapt to that. Here in Northern California we have seasons, and the Spring and Fall are some of the best days of the year.

My golf game was in high gear yesterday and I shot six pars, a bogey and a birdie coming in to number nine. I hit a good drive on the 455 yard par four. My second shot ended up just short of the bunker at the front of the green. I then went on to an "out of body" experience where I hit the chip short into the sand, left the ball in the sand on my fourth shot, skulled the ball over the green into the fence behind the green. I took a drop and proceeded to three putt for a NINE. I finished the front nine with a 41 after being even par coming in to the ninth. It was like falling down a cliff and knowing that it will hurt when you hit the bottom. In years past (pre Prozac) I would have been useless on the back side and probably shot a 45 with the images of the 9th playing over and over in my head and my anger mounting as I played it over in my mind. But the miracle of modern medicine and the regulation of the seratonin in my brain led me to a 39 on the back side and an 80 for the round. I shot eight over par, with five of the over par strokes coming on that one hole. I still managed to shoot low gross in my flight, take $12 from my playing partner, $23 in skin money and the $45 first place money in the tournament. Wow.

Darryl's golf game is improving, he shot an 81 on his home course and is ready to take me on. Hey, Darryl, we'll be in Kauai in June of next year. Come on out and we'll play some golf in paradise. I have a painting of the third hole at the Makai course at Princeville resort, where our time share is located, hanging on the wall above my computer here in the office. It is a 180 yard par three down hill with a pond in front of the green and the Pacific Ocean and Bali Hai in the background.

Football. Some things are hard to explain. David did lose his starting position on offense after the Natomas game. In fact, it seemed like the coach was rubbing David's face in it as he was also dropped from the defense against Roseville and spent his time on special teams only. The brilliant brain trust of coaches had devised a defense intended to stop Roseville's potent rushing attack and pulled our safeties and inserted two additional linebackers. David prowled the sideline like a caged animal and spent time before each special teams assignment stretching and trying to loosen up. We jumped out to a 16-0 lead and carried that into the fourth quarter. I felt sure that the coaches would put a passing defense into the game, but left the slow footed linebackers in as our 16-0 lead with six minutes left turned into an embarassing 20-16 loss as Roseville's quarterback picked apart our defense in the fourth quarter. We were screaming in the stands for the coaches to put our base defense in. The boobs left the linebackers in and we lost the game. Idiots. That game was played on Monday night because of the fires.

Friday night we played a non-league game against a game, but overmatched El Dorado team. David started at strong safety and played the entire game, defending against El Dorado's 6'6" tight end, who only managed one catch for thirty-three yards. David also recovered a fumble in their end of the field that lead to our second touchdown. We won the game 31-6, but had six unsportsmanlike conduct calls against us as the kids just couldn't keep their mouths shut. We must be the cockiest 3-4 team in the Sacramento area. We play the once beaten Woodland team this week and Adam will find out what it's like to play quarterback against a great defense. He had all day to throw against El Dorado and finally ended up 7 of 15 with two touchdowns and an interception, after starting the game 1 of 6. The kid has a great arm, but is a complete wreck when under pressure. If David had his arm, we'd be undefeated...or if Adam had David's heart, courage and desire....Adam is a great practice quarterback and plays his best when he has a red jersey on and the defense can't touch him. Put some pressure on the kid and he collapses like a cheap suit. David seems to have handled the demotion with aplomb. He did say after the Roseville game that he couldn't understand how kids can show up to every game and just play special teams. It drove him nuts. I told David to be ready this week as Adam will probably panic against a big rush and either fake an injury or be picked off so many times, the coach will be forced to put David in.

David and Daniel had their homecoming on Friday at school with the dance on Saturday night. David went stag to the dance and had dinner with a bunch of the football players beforehand. Daniel did not buy a ticket to the dance, but joined his friends for dinner before the dance. Tara had accepted an invite by one of the new kids to go to the homecoming dance. She was then named the Homecoming queen and the kid didn't know what to do. She went to dinner with him and told him that she wouldn't be able to dance because she hurt her back. He ended up going home and leaving her at the dance without a ride. Well, David and Tara hooked up and David danced with her and took her home afterward. She is still sore at him for not asking her to the dance.

I haven't heard from Jennifer in almost three weeks. She tried calling me at work last week, but I missed her call. Hey, Jennifer, if you're out there, call me. I have some company people in today, but will be available all week.

Emery Jensen, my former boss at Republic Western, took Darla and I out to dinner last night. He and his underwriter, Rob, will be in the office today and will take the underwriters out to lunch. Emery now works as a manager with Scottsdale Insurance Company, our largest company in terms of both policy count and premium.

Well, that's it for this week. Be well. Ciao.

Back to the blog on a rainy Monday. Our skies finally cleared on Saturday and I was able to play golf. We have had some terrible fires up in the Sierra, to the point that the boy's football games were postponed on Friday night because of the smokey skies and the problems that presented from a health standpoint. Thursday, there was smoke and ash all over the area and my car was covered with a light film of ash from the Fred fire up in the Pollock Pines area off Highway 50 when I got off of work. The state freeway Highway 50 which leads up to the Sierra and Lake Tahoe has been closed since Wednesday of this last week and is expected to remain closed until Wednesday of this week. With the heavy rains that started yesterday, the fires are no longer a problem, but mudslides are expected.

I did venture out to the golf course on Saturday. I've played golf with Mel, the husband of our policy typist, several times and he called Friday to see if I wanted to join he and a friend for a game on Saturday. I said "absolutely" just let me know the time and place. He said, "well, would you mind making us a tee time?" That was a first, being invited to play golf and then invited to make the arrangements. I set us up with a 9 a.m. tee time at Woodcreek Golf Course in Roseville. I shot 44-44=88 and felt like I could have scored better. It was windy and I only managed four pars, twelve bogeys and two double-bogeys. It was good to be out there again. I have a tournament on Sunday, the annual TOC (Tournament of Champions). Mel told me that Cora (his wife) and the rest of the staff are glad to see me in charge of the office. It was good to hear, even if he was just schmoozing me.

My old boss from Republic Western, Emery Jensen, is coming out to California on some marketing calls and will take Darla and I to dinner in Old Sacramento on Sunday night. He will then visit the office on Monday with his Package Underwriter. Emery is now a Manager with Scottsdale Insurance Company, our largest carrier.

Darla took Friday off work ill and decided (as is Darla's wont) to paint Daniel's room. She painted it a light almond color and is afraid that Dan will think it is too dark. Daniel has trouble keeping white walls white, so this will work fine. We also put some wood blinds up on his window and it looks as good in there as it ever has.

I just took a break for my morning constitutional. As I entered the men's room, there was a rather large man in the room washing at the basin. He had his sleeves rolled up and was washing his hands and arms as if he'd just assisted in the birth of a milk cow or something. The worst part was I then picked a stall and the commode was WARM. It made me want to take a shower. Perhaps you can file this under "too much information".

I've had several people ask why I write a blog. Truthfully, it allows my family to keep up with me, but more so, it is a creative outlet that was severed for me in 1999 when my Grandfather on my Dad's side died. We had been pen pals from the time I was about nine and I could write him several times a month and we kept up quite a dialogue over the years. I still have many of the letters that he sent me over the years. It was fascinating to hear his struggles with his decision to retire and his decision in his late seventies to give up his car and the freedom of having a license. He told me the story of his sister-in-law dying in his home, the confliction that he had over selling the family home and moving in to a condo in his later years. I then got a front row seat in watching his pure joy in being a part of the condo association and all of the friends that he made there. I also suffered with him as Grandma had her stroke and slowly withered away in the hospital. I then laughed with him as he told stories of Dad and he trying to live as bachelors after Gram passed away. My father modeled for me how to handle an older parent as he stayed with Gramp for months after Gram's death and helped him prepare to move into a care home.

Wow, how did I get off on that rabbit trail? I guess the lack of high school football left a void in the blog. I filled that, eh? The boys are supposed to make up the missed game tonight, but the last I heard the district was still trying to get an officiating crew for the game tonight. It could be a soggy mess out there.

I have to head up setting up a booth for our office this afternoon at the downtown convention center. Tomorrow is the Sacramento Insurance Day (Big I Day) and we will have a booth at the show. I've already purchased $200 worth of gift certificates from Home Depot for the drawing. We will have plenty of marketing materials as well as some candy and give aways at the booth. It is an all day event, beginning at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Well, that is the news that's fit to print and even some that isn't. I hope you are all well. God bless. Ciao.

Back to California and I can leave the Jet Lag behind. The trip to Michigan and the annual Branch Managers meeting was a big success and a great opportunity for me. It was long and intense and the jet lag that I experienced was omnipresent. I've actually never experienced jet lag before, but the intensity of these meetings and the long days in warm rooms with panelists and technical jargon lead me to the brink of intense jet lag. I flew in on Saturday night at about 5:30 and we were off to dinner at a local sports bar by 7:30 that night. The dinner was hosted by SRD International, our in house Lloyd's syndicate group that writes some of our toughest risks. I was fine being on California time. What made the trip rough was that we started out the next morning at 8:00 a.m. in a New Managers meeting and went straight through to six p.m. with only a few breaks. 8:00 a.m. in Detroit is 5:00 a.m. in California. I was so tired by that night that I skipped the dinner hosted by the Hiscox group, one of our London affiliates. I got a good night's sleep and was ready for Monday, which is the formal day, with business attire.

I was presented during the awards presentations as the newest Underwriting Manager at Burns and Wilcox. I received a very warm reception from the other Managers and the Home Office Vice Presidents and staff. It was generally a very good meeting with a positive presentation of ideas and success stories. I have an opportunity to run the branch and audition for the permanent job of Branch Manager and I feel very positive about the opportunity and the prospects.

The jet lag really hit me on Tuesday morning when my alarm did NOT go off and I slept right through to 9 a.m. I missed beakfast and the breakfast presentation by one of our companies. I woke up with a start and saw the clock at 8:55. I never sleep in like that and always wake up at 6:00 or 6:30 whether I have an alarm or not. The morning session began at 9:15 a.m. and I dashed up, quickly showered and shaved and made it down to the meeting. Harvey, the San Francisco Branch Manager and Vice-President, was a little miffed, but after I told him what happened, he said it had happened to him a couple of years ago and he learned to set his cell phone, clock radio and a wake up call. It turns out that the maid had turned the volume on the radio off, probably when dusting it. Oh well. I felt bad, but the jet lag was unbelievable.

We played golf on Tuesday afternoon at Tam-O-Shanter Country Club in suburban Detroit. It is an enclave of the rich and richer and was a very tough, but fair test of golf. We played a modified scramble and I found out the extent of the expectations on me when we teed off on the first hole. I played with three of the Vice Presidents from Home Office. Each of them teed off before me and one went dead left, one dead right and the other skulled his shot short of the lady's tee. I had to carry the group and we struggled to 14 pars, two birdies and two bogeys. The modified portion of the scramble was that if you teed off and the group used your tee shot, you couldn't hit the next shot. I spent the day hitting pretty good drives and then having to chip onto the green after the other three hit the approach shots. It was a scramble to make par and the two birdies came on a par three where I put the ball about ten feet from the cup and a par five where I put our third shot from behind a tree about two feet from the cup. The Burns and Wilcox Management group is not embued with golfing talent and we managed to take second place out of twelve groups with a 72. The winning group shot 69 and had a Vice President from Scottsdale Insurance Company who was on the ASU golf team. ASU has year in and out one of the finest college golf teams in the United States. It was fun and I got a nice Tam-O-Shanter golf jacket for my efforts as well as the gratitude of several of the Home Office executives.

I have a lot of ideas and changes that I will slowly bring to the office in the coming weeks and months that I culled from the meeting.

Football. David is suffering a bit this week, after a very tough outing in his last game. We lost 35-20, but David was sacked six times, intercepted once and had three fumbles, two of which were returned for touchdowns. It was his worst showing as a player in four years of high school ball and unfortunately, he lost his starting position at quarterback because of it. He was under intense pressure the entire game and he had a huge problem hanging onto the ball. They blitzed him early and often and our line and backs couldn't control the blitz. David was often running for his life. He is handling his demotion with the grace and character that he always shows, but the biggest problem is that he lost his starting qb slot and he is now second string on defense. I can't imagine that he'll be on the sideline much, because the coaches need his fire and leadership on the field, but you can imagine the angst that he is experiencing. He told me last night that he is playing on both special teams and that he will make big plays and force the coaches to play him. He PLANS to block a punt in the next game.

Daniel's team suffered another loss and the energy at Woodcreek is tough right now. Daniel did play both ways on offense and defense and played well. We play our crosstown rival Roseville High School this week and I'm really concerned with Adam at qb, but it can't get worse than last week. It is Roseville's Homecoming and a big game for them.

Well, I have to get to work, so this is a short and sweet update this week. I'll write more on Monday. Ciao.

It is Tuesday and I'm back in the office after a relaxing and enjoyable weekend in Monterey and Carmel. The trip was a bit rushed because of football and the annual football dinner dance on Saturday night. I skipped the Saturday round of golf at Laguna Seca golf course and had planned on missing that all along, but we had planned on leaving Saturday morning and making a long weekend of the outing. As the week wore on and Darla heard about some of the plans that David had at the dinner, she finally sat down and told me that she was conflicted. She wanted to go on the Carmel weekend, but she wanted to go to David's dinner event as well. We'd already paid for the dinner, as it is required of player's families. We finally compromised and decided that we would attend the dinner and leave for Monterey by nine p.m. The dinner started at six and we should be able to see all of the activities and simply miss the dancing.

The dinner was fun and I'm glad we went. The cheerleaders were there and the Varsity players and they served the dinner this year. In the past, it had been a buffet-style dinner and the lines were ridiculous. This year, a team of three players/cheerleaders were in charge of each table and brought out our food. This event is the largest fundraiser of the year and includes a silent auction of donated gifts (Darla donated some of her handmade jewelry) and an auction of "six packs". A six pack is six players or cheerleaders who are auctioned off to do manual labor for the bidder. They can clear leaves or paint your shed or wash your cars, etc. Each "six pack" had a theme and the players did a little dance routine. They would pick a song like " Wild Thing" or for the cheerleaders "I feel like a woman" and do a dance set and then the audience would bid. It was hilarious and David was right in the middle of it, shaking his rear and trying to get heavy bets. He was in a group with the starting fullback, running back and middle linebacker and they raised $300 just for their group. David also participated in one of the cheerleader group's songs and Tara used him as a prop while singing about being on a "manhunt". It was a hoot and Darla got pictures. David is still being coy about his relationship with Tara, but Tara is anything but coy. She thinks David is it and David is just a little slow to the party. His Dad teases the kids so much that they just shut down and hide everything from him. Funny. Tara came and sat with Darla and I when David was doing his routine. We were able to leave by about nine p.m.

We got to Monterey at about 12:45 after gassing up and making a stop at home for some medication that I forgot. We stayed at the Hyatt Resort at Del Monte Golf Course and had a wonderful time. I teed off at Poppy Hills at 11:08 the next morning so we were able to get a good night's sleep and make it to breakfast the next morning before going to the course. Darla met Gary's wife, Liz, at the course and the two girls spent the day in Carmel having lunch and buying out the town. Darla bought some picture frames at Danske and some wine and water goblets at Villerie and Bosch (I'm SURE I have that name wrong). She also found a new purse that she never would tell me what it cost. Oh well, she had fun and that's what matters. (That's the Prozac talking not me, I'm screaming inside, but calm on the outside.)

I hadn't played golf other than last weekend since July 4th weekend and didn't expect much out of my round. That was a self fulfilling prophesy as I hit a perfect drive on the opening hole, left my second shot short of the green in the greenside bunker. I then went on an odyssey that was almost an out of body experience as I hashed the sand shot over the green and onto the second tee box dead behind a stand of trees. I then skulled that shot over the green and onto the lip of the sand trap. I deposited the next shot back into the sand, chipped onto the green and two putted for an 8. Nice. I shot a very pedantic 47 on the front side and pulled myself back into the game with a 43 on the back for 90, a net of 77. Believe it or not, my 90 was good for second place as the course ate up some very good golfers. My foursome included the low gross golfer with an 81, the low net with a 75 and the second low net with my 77. Amazing. The day was foggy, drizzly and cold. It didn't rain, but the fog was so thick that it made everything wet and clammy. Meanwhile it was 70 degrees and sunny back in Monterey.

Darla and I stayed over Sunday night and took a leisurely drive home yesterday.

Last week was difficult for me and for the office. I was called on Monday by a Vice President in Home Office. He asked me to close my office door and then told me that they had made the decision to let my boss go. He is a good manager, but does not know how to underwrite or produce business. They decided that they could release him, promote me to an Underwriting Manager position and we would lose his salary and maintain our production numbers. I am unofficially in an interim Branch manager position, but officially the underwriting Manager in the office. I had to sit on that news until Thursday, when the regional VP came in to do the deed. The reaction from the staff is positive so far and I've reintroduced flex time and casual Fridays. I've also introduced a contest, whereby if we can make our "nut" this month, I'll buy an Italian lunch for the office. Our nut is about $85,000, the point where we break even on our expenses. We've done it twice so far this year, but fell back last month. Our "nut" with Bill was closer to $93,000, so we have something to shoot for.

I also have to leave Saturday morning for the annual Manager's meeting back in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The meeting includes all of the Branch Managers and three Underwriting Managers. I'm one of the three because our office does not currently have a Branch Manager. So, my blog will be very late next week...Thursday as a matter of fact as I'll be in Meetings until Wednesday. I've also been drafted into the Underwriting VP's golf group for the golf tournament on Tuesday afternoon.

Football. Well, all good things must come to an end sometime and we got absolutely thrashed at the hands of Del Oro. They won the JV game 35-6 and we didn't score until late in the fourth quarter. Daniel got pulled on defense early in the game and only played on the offensive line. Odd, in that he was tied for second in tackles this year and lead the team in sacks with two and a half. David was pumped up and ready to win, but they ran into a team that could probably beat several Community College teams. They jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on their first series and then our center hiked the ball over our punter's head on the next series where he inexplicably covered the ball on the three yard line. We were all yelling for him to kick it out of the end zone for a safety, but he lost his head and covered the ball. It was quickly 14-0 on the way to a 32-0 halftime lead that included a safety. We beat them 7-3 in the second half, but the final score was 35-7. David threw the lone touchdown pass and we only managed 99 total yards in the game. David played all but the first series on defense and lead the team with 16 tackles in the game. He was also 8 of 15 passing for 66 yards and the score. I caught up to him after the game and told him that he played with heart. He told me that half the team showed up for the game with a defeatist attitude and didn't think they could win. He was furious. They play another undefeated team on Friday night (Natomas High School) and it will be interesting to see if he can get the guys in a winning mindset. At least we play this game at home where we are undefeated this year.

I did visit with Harry Wharff last week. Harry is not only the President of the Golf Club, but he has a Bowen Works office. Bowen Therapy is soft manipulation of the muscles around the spine and joints. It increases the blood flow and allows the body to heal itself. I said last week that I would suspend my disbelief at this notion and give it a try. Well, it is amazing. I am pain free for the first time in months. I can bend over and touch my toes, wash my feet in the shower and put on my own socks. I know, big whoop, but after what I've been through the last eight weeks, the change in my level of physical abilities is nothing short of amazing. I had to be fitted for a new suit on Monday and the tailor told me that I have one arm shorter than the other. I then went to Harry and he massaged the muscle on the left side of my neck and the shoulder dropped. Now, I'll have a suit with one arm too long. Oh well. I'll pick the suit up on Thursday. The Bowen Therapy has been a success in many cases including those who suffer the after effects of Bells palsy. Darryl, there is a specialist in Austin, Texas on Bowen, you might want to look her up. They have had great success in energizing the facial muscles following Bells Palsy and curing the condition. I guess I'm a convert.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print for this week. I will add to this after the Manager's meeting next week. Ciao.