It is a crisp, clear Autumn day and the only problem with the frost on the rooftops is that our new heating system will not be installed until Wednesday. The weather has turned frosty cool with lows dipping down to the low thirties overnight and highs just creeping into the sixties. We did meet with Mike on Monday last and decided to have a brand new air conditioner and heater installed. The existing system is just too small to adequately handle the 2400 square feet in our house. He will check the venting throughout and make sure that it is properly sealed and has no kinks or blockages and has guaranteed that we will be thrilled with the new system. The old system is 15 years old and practically obsolete, in fact the heating manufacturer went bankrupt in the late '90s. The new system is energy efficient and expensive (it will cost us almost $7,000), but with rebates and the savings in our heating and cooling bills, we should be in good shape. Darla and I love the house and plan on staying here for a good long time so we look at the cost as an investment in our future. I look forward to getting the new system installed as when I get out of the shower at 6:00 a.m., frost is not only on the rooftops, if you get my gist.
Darla and I spent Thanksgiving in Monterey. We ended up without the boys because their Dad is a toad. But that is another story for another day. The weather was ideal and I was able to get us hotel rooms at the Hyatt Regency resort for $45 a night through Priceline. Darla's brother, Steve, his wife, Kirsten and daughter, Shea, joined us along with Alicia, Darla's sister. We arrived about nine pm on Wednesday night and I was bushed. Darla visited with Alicia and Steve while I decompressed on the bed and relaxed. Darla and I were up early on Thanksgiving and drove into Carmel for breakfast. Our favorite little restaurant, The Swiss cafe, was closed, so we drove into Carmel Highlands and ate at the Bear Diner. Alicia and Steve are sleepers and wake up about ten each morning, while Darla and I like to get up and on with our day, especially on vacation.
We met up with the gang at Cannery Row in Monterey, where we window shopped and Alicia and Kirsten bought some silver jewelry. Darla was good and didn't buy anything. We drove back and watched the first half of the Dallas game in our room and then went down to the on site Sports Bar, Knuckles, to watch the second half. We sat by a roaring fire and drank black and tans and enjoyed the game and some appetizers. Steve had made dinner reservations for seven thirty at the Chart House, one of the nicer restaurants in Monterey. The problem was that we had snacked so much during the game at the sports bar, that none of us were hungry. Darla and I would have blown off dinner if we didn't have family obligations. Darla and I ended up splitting a Prime Rib and a salad bar and then the whole gang split a Chocolate Lava cake for dessert. We were all claiming to be stuffed until that chocolate slice of heaven arrived piping hot and topped with a melting slab of vanilla ice cream. We tucked into that plate and made short work of it. We had a great visit and enjoyed the company. I couldn't help but think of Jennifer toiling away in Kuwait and stopping to eat a turkey and observe this most American of holidays in the middle of the middle east.
Jennifer called on Thursday night when we returned to our hotel room. It was Friday morning for her and she was supposed to be leaving for Germany on Saturday. Well, as is the wont of the Army, she had been called and told that there were "maybe" two seats available on a plane leaving for Germany that morning and was to report by 11 am with her baggage and gear for the flight. IF they could get her on the plane, they would, if not, she'd be sent back to barracks to await the next day's flight. She was irritated as she assumed it was likely some CO who couldn't make up his mind if he was leaving on his scheduled flight. I never heard back from her, but know that she is in Germany now, one way or the other. I simply look forward to her being home for Thanksgiving next year.
We came back for the funeral on Saturday and there were many tears and remembrances of Jerry. His two older boys spoke at the service and both were reflective and strong, although his older son, Tyler, broke down when he was railing against fate and the fact that he won't be able to share the Kings winning an NBA championship with his Dad or have his Dad meet his wife and be a part of his wedding. It is sad.
Darla spent yesterday at a crafts show in Auburn at the fairgrounds. She was able to get in for only the Sunday portion of the show (because of the funeral on Saturday). She did quite well and enjoyed herself, selling her jewelry.
The Christmas season is in full swing and I will help host the annual Christmas party for the Roseville Golf Club on Saturday night. We will enjoy Prime Rib and chicken , prizes, awards and a DJ for dancing afterwards. It should be a fun night and will mark the end of my reign on the RGC board of officers. It will be a relief to hand the wheel to someone else.
Well, that is it. Dad and Shirley have arrived back in Canada after a tumultuous week in Vegas that found Dad ill and every manner of appliance breaking in their condo, including the toilet, which was not a good thing given Dad's illness. I talked to him briefly yesterday as he was waiting for the shuttle to the airport. Darla and I were invited on the trip and Dad said it was a bit of luck that we didn't join them. I don't know, with Darla along it would have been simply another reason to laugh. Take care. Ciao.
Monday, November 29, 2004
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Just a quick update. I talked to Jennifer this morning. She is preparing for a celebration of Thanksgiving in Kuwait on Thursday with friends. She will fly out on Saturday and be in Germany for about three weeks as she trains for her role as the division armorer. She is looking forward to seeing Germany and enjoying the sights and sounds. Give Thanks for our brave soldiers as you eat Turkey and watch football this weekend. I am so grateful to have a daughter willing to put aside her comfort for the well being of all of us.
As to the death of my friend, Jerry. He was killed when he missed a turn at the Off Highway Vehicle park in Foresthill. His bike jumped the embankment and he was thrown 150 feet and landed 40 feet below the embankment in the American River. They are not sure if it was the fall that killed him or whether he drowned. Jerry was an accomplished motocross rider and had riden professionally as a youngster. Again pray for his family as they mourn his loss. Thanks.
As to the death of my friend, Jerry. He was killed when he missed a turn at the Off Highway Vehicle park in Foresthill. His bike jumped the embankment and he was thrown 150 feet and landed 40 feet below the embankment in the American River. They are not sure if it was the fall that killed him or whether he drowned. Jerry was an accomplished motocross rider and had riden professionally as a youngster. Again pray for his family as they mourn his loss. Thanks.
Monday, November 22, 2004
I just got some BAD news and I hate to press, but this is a call to prayer. A friend of mine was killed yesterday in a motorcycle accident. His name is Jerry Parsons and he leaves behind a wife, a 20 year-old son , a 15 year-old son and a 5 year-old son. Jerry liked to ride motocross with his kids and he died doing something he enjoyed. Jerry and I were just getting to know each other better and he had played in my poker group. Please pray for his family, in particular his wife, who will be absolutely heart broken. And take a minute today to tell someone you love them. Thank you.
It is another Monday. Thanksgiving Week and a short one at that. I just finished a leftover strawberry filled Krispy Kreme and chased that with a cup of hot coffee and an original glazed Krispy Kreme. There is little wrong in my world at the moment. (Sorry, Jennifer, if you are reading this, but you'll be in Germany soon and enjoying all of the tastes and sounds of that great country).
Football is done and over and there is a bit of a void left. The Friday Nights were a great deal of fun and enjoyment and to watch the kids work with the coaching that they had to get to a 5-5 record was awesome. We finished 5-1 at home and 0-4 on the road. Unfortunately, the league felt that we had to play some of our games on the road, or we might have made the playoffs. Two of the teams from our league did make the playoffs, one won this past weekend (Del Oro ranked Number One in the area and 10-0) and one lost.
Woodcreek had the Football awards banquets last week. Daniel won the coaches award for overall excellence on the field and was tabbed a brainiac by the coaches. David won the Captain's award and another patch for his already crowded Varsity jacket. I'm proud of both boys who play hard and have a real "team" attitude. Both of them help charge up their teams on the field and on the sideline and are both big reasons for the success of their respective teams.
We had our home heating system go on the fritz last week. I was sitting in my office at home working on the computer and felt a draft. I thought someone had left the garage door open and when I went to check, it was all battened up tight. When I sat back down at the computer, I realized that it was the fan from the heater. I went up in the attic and could hear the electronic ignition attempting to fire, but with no success. I turned off the system and checked the gas lines. Gas was flowing, but the igniter was not working. I turned the gas off to the heater, unplugged the system and called a friend of ours who owns a heating /AC business. He said that he could get his guy out there on Friday (this was Wednesday night). I figured the iginiter would be about $250 plus labor. Well, I was right, but the heater is on recall and they have to replace it. The good news is that I don't have to pay for the heater, the bad news is I have to pay labor to have it installed, the cost of the permits for the city and any extras needed to install the new system (piping, wiring, etc.). Mike, the owner of the business, will be out this week to let us know what this will cost. He is "suggesting" that we replace the A/C system at the same time. We'll see. He is also suggesting that we "upgrade" from the builder model heater that will be allowed in the recall. It sounds like someone wants to squeeze me like a sponge. We'll take his advice and make a decision on what to do. The house is 15 years old and some of the appliances are in need of replacement. (If you recall, we replaced the hot water heater this past Spring).
Darla had a Holiday Open House on Saturday and along with some friends who sell clothes, cosmetics, household items, and perfumes/body lotions, she sold her jewelry and some Creative Memories items. Darla did very well and even had Gail from my office come and spend $150 on her jewelry.
I made myself scarce during the Open House and went to....where else, but the golf course? I was due for a little come down from my high on the course and shot a rather pedantic 44-41=85. Boyd, who is a 4 handicap, even got into the swing of things and shot a 79. Usually, Boyd inspires me to play my best, but somehow I dragged him down to my level and we shot a combined 72, which was good for nothing in the tournament. At least it got me out of the house for a few hours.
I went home and cleaned up the last of the leaves from the park trees. We finally got a night near freezing followed by a breezy day and the last of the leaves gave way to the inevitable and came raining down to the ground and were swept by the wind into my yard. I used the leaf blower in vacuum mode and made short work of the leaves. I still have a few trees on the side yard with leaves and the back yard has eight trees that still have leaves left to keep me from getting too comfortable. I know it seems that I have a fixation on Fall and leaves, but when you have 22 trees on your property and a grove of another fifty across the street in the park, it is a full time job to keep up with the process.
The boys left early yesterday for Linden and Darla's folks' house. Both boys are going to Mexico this Easter to build houses for the poor. The cost of the trip is $500 a piece and Darla's Dad is doing a remodel of his home and has agreed to pay the boys $100 a day each for labor on the project. They should both get plenty of money and excellent experience on the building trade. David wants to be a Computer Assisted Design artist and Daniel wants to be an Architect, so the experience should be great for both of them. They drive back this afternoon as David has basketball practice.
We had thought that the boys were spending Thanksgiving with us and had turned down an invitation from Dad and Shirley to join them in Vegas for Thanksgiving. As it turns out, the boys will be with their Dad and Darla and I will try to get away to Monterey for a few days. No tradition here is too strong to break.
Well, that is the news that's fit to print for this week. Jennifer, call me, I miss talking to you. We have your Christmas gifts ready to send and will get them in the mail this week. Be nice to each other. Ciao.
Football is done and over and there is a bit of a void left. The Friday Nights were a great deal of fun and enjoyment and to watch the kids work with the coaching that they had to get to a 5-5 record was awesome. We finished 5-1 at home and 0-4 on the road. Unfortunately, the league felt that we had to play some of our games on the road, or we might have made the playoffs. Two of the teams from our league did make the playoffs, one won this past weekend (Del Oro ranked Number One in the area and 10-0) and one lost.
Woodcreek had the Football awards banquets last week. Daniel won the coaches award for overall excellence on the field and was tabbed a brainiac by the coaches. David won the Captain's award and another patch for his already crowded Varsity jacket. I'm proud of both boys who play hard and have a real "team" attitude. Both of them help charge up their teams on the field and on the sideline and are both big reasons for the success of their respective teams.
We had our home heating system go on the fritz last week. I was sitting in my office at home working on the computer and felt a draft. I thought someone had left the garage door open and when I went to check, it was all battened up tight. When I sat back down at the computer, I realized that it was the fan from the heater. I went up in the attic and could hear the electronic ignition attempting to fire, but with no success. I turned off the system and checked the gas lines. Gas was flowing, but the igniter was not working. I turned the gas off to the heater, unplugged the system and called a friend of ours who owns a heating /AC business. He said that he could get his guy out there on Friday (this was Wednesday night). I figured the iginiter would be about $250 plus labor. Well, I was right, but the heater is on recall and they have to replace it. The good news is that I don't have to pay for the heater, the bad news is I have to pay labor to have it installed, the cost of the permits for the city and any extras needed to install the new system (piping, wiring, etc.). Mike, the owner of the business, will be out this week to let us know what this will cost. He is "suggesting" that we replace the A/C system at the same time. We'll see. He is also suggesting that we "upgrade" from the builder model heater that will be allowed in the recall. It sounds like someone wants to squeeze me like a sponge. We'll take his advice and make a decision on what to do. The house is 15 years old and some of the appliances are in need of replacement. (If you recall, we replaced the hot water heater this past Spring).
Darla had a Holiday Open House on Saturday and along with some friends who sell clothes, cosmetics, household items, and perfumes/body lotions, she sold her jewelry and some Creative Memories items. Darla did very well and even had Gail from my office come and spend $150 on her jewelry.
I made myself scarce during the Open House and went to....where else, but the golf course? I was due for a little come down from my high on the course and shot a rather pedantic 44-41=85. Boyd, who is a 4 handicap, even got into the swing of things and shot a 79. Usually, Boyd inspires me to play my best, but somehow I dragged him down to my level and we shot a combined 72, which was good for nothing in the tournament. At least it got me out of the house for a few hours.
I went home and cleaned up the last of the leaves from the park trees. We finally got a night near freezing followed by a breezy day and the last of the leaves gave way to the inevitable and came raining down to the ground and were swept by the wind into my yard. I used the leaf blower in vacuum mode and made short work of the leaves. I still have a few trees on the side yard with leaves and the back yard has eight trees that still have leaves left to keep me from getting too comfortable. I know it seems that I have a fixation on Fall and leaves, but when you have 22 trees on your property and a grove of another fifty across the street in the park, it is a full time job to keep up with the process.
The boys left early yesterday for Linden and Darla's folks' house. Both boys are going to Mexico this Easter to build houses for the poor. The cost of the trip is $500 a piece and Darla's Dad is doing a remodel of his home and has agreed to pay the boys $100 a day each for labor on the project. They should both get plenty of money and excellent experience on the building trade. David wants to be a Computer Assisted Design artist and Daniel wants to be an Architect, so the experience should be great for both of them. They drive back this afternoon as David has basketball practice.
We had thought that the boys were spending Thanksgiving with us and had turned down an invitation from Dad and Shirley to join them in Vegas for Thanksgiving. As it turns out, the boys will be with their Dad and Darla and I will try to get away to Monterey for a few days. No tradition here is too strong to break.
Well, that is the news that's fit to print for this week. Jennifer, call me, I miss talking to you. We have your Christmas gifts ready to send and will get them in the mail this week. Be nice to each other. Ciao.
Monday, November 15, 2004
I forgot my glasses at home today. Fortunately I keep a Wal Mart pair of reading glasses here for just such an eventuality. Of course, the "readers" are not perfect and I am just a workday away from a throbbing headache as I will squint and frown my way through a backed up desk. I had our VP, Harvey, in on Friday and we went through the budget for the Sacramento Office in 2005. I'm thrilled to say that Harvey bought in to all of the changes that I proposed in 2005, including the promotion of my assistant, Anthony, to a Junior Underwriter position. We also built in another underwriter position for mid-year. The good thing about that is that we were either going to add another underwriter position OR a Branch Manager position. I will continue to run the office and we will add four new staff in 2005.
Funny how when you are out of work and looking, you can't get a company to return a phone call, but when things are going good and your run at your current job is nothing but positive, that's when the offers come. I got a call last week from Magna Carta, a New York based insurer with a growing West Coast presence. They want to expand into Northern California. They currently have agent representation in NorCal, but the business is written and serviced out of a Los Angeles office. They are looking for a seasoned Manager to handle business out of his or her home in Northern California. The business that they write is principally restaurants, apartments motels and lessors risk only...the same business that I wrote at Republic Western. I talked briefly with the West Coast Regional Vice President and he was simply gauging my interest in the position as they are also working on budgets for 2005. I told him that I'd be open to meeting with him to discuss the possibility of becoming the Northern California Regional Manager, but that I was very happy where I am now. We'll touch base in the New Year.
Football. Amazing how things change in a week. David, who has not had a sniff at the quarterback position in four weeks, ended up starting and playing the whole game on Friday night. The reason is nothing short of classic. It was the last game of the season and the tradition at Woodcreek is that the red shirt is lifted from the quarterback in practice and the guys are allowed to go "live" on the qb. It's all in fun, but Adam has been a world class wimp all year about any kind of contact. That came to a head in the last game when Adam was forced to scramble and found himself wide open and lumbering untouched. He had twenty yards open in front of him and he stumbled along until a linebacker was gaining on him and Adam threw himself down when the linebacker got within ten yards of him. It was truly one of the all time gutless moves on a football field. There was a groan that went up in the stands and more than a few disgusted looks from his teamates. The fact that it was open season on Adam was embraced wholeheartedly by the defense and Adam went under a barrage of hits and shoves where the offensive linemen were telling the defense, "I'll go left, you go right". Finally, there was an all out rush by our middle linebacker where he lifted Adam up and pile drove him into the ground. Adam got up and ran to the coaches and started yelling at them. Apparently, Adam had been muttering a few things under his breath and the defense was incensed. The head coach made the middle linebacker run "down ups" for the vicious hit and the defense complained. The coach then made the whole team run the drill, except Adam who had a boo-boo. He sat on the bench basically crying while the team ran the drill. The captains, including David, had the team yell out "We love football" on every down up and drove the coach nuts.
The upside to all of this is that Adam went home and complained to his Mommy and Daddy that he was being hurt in practice. They ended up sending a strongly worded e-mail to the coach, the principal, the vice-principal and the Athletic Director. The e-mail basically threatened the coaches with reprisals for the hits in practice, that it was considered harassment by them and that they were concerned that Adam may have suffered a head injury. The intent was to get the team to back off. The reality is that the principal benched Adam for the game due to a perceived liability against the school. David was given the starting nod and he played his best game of the year.
Our opponent was Placer, a team lead by twin 6-4" running back/ tight ends. The boys have been written up in the Bee as players to watch in Division I colleges next year. David was assigned as a spy on defense against the running back. David went wherever he went on the field. David and the defense held this 1200 yard runner to 48 yards, a season low. Placer was 6-3 coming in and third in league. David played even better on offense in our 14-6 win. David scored a touchdown on a naked bootleg from 26 yards where he had to juke two defenders. He turned the corner and sprinted to the end zone. I tell you, my throat was raw by the end of the game. We had three runners who all had excellent games, one went for 114 yards, one for 77 yards and the other for 66 yards. David had 44 yards rushing and was 3 of 5 passing for another 60 yards. It was Senior night and Darla got to escort her son onto the field before the game and he presented her with a rose and we took pictures. I also took my digital camera down on the field after the game and got some pictures which I will send to some of you this week. It was a perfect ending to a decent season. We ended the year 5-5 (2-4 in league), David was 3-2 as our starter and better things are on tap for this team in the future.
Golf. Naturally, I played this weekend. We had a Turkey Shoot, which is basically a medal tournament with turkey certificates for prizes (actually supermarket gift cards). I continue to play my best golf of the year and shot a 38-40=78. Unlike last week, that score was good enough for first place and a $45 gift card. Ever since Harry did his Bowen magic on my back, I have been feeling so good and really driving the ball well. I'm routinely hitting 280 yard drives and my irons have all increased by 15 yards. I now hit my pitching wedge about 115 yards, my nine iron 120-130 yards, my 8 iron 135-145 yards, my 7 iron 150-160 yards and so on. The one club I want to add is a 19 degree hybrid iron. That is next on my buy list and certainly on my Christmas list. I had three birdies on Sunday and I am playing with confidence. I play in another Turkey shoot on Saturday and will play with Boyd Robertson as my partner. Boyd shot a 74 yesterday.
The leaves continue to cling to the trees, but about 75% of the foliage is now on the ground. Hopefully the park workers will come and clean them up across the street from our house before the next storm. I have moved all of the leaves on my side of the street to the side street in neat piles to await the city workers who bring in a bobcat with a modified spade claw on the front and they load them into a truck and haul them to the city composting yard. Hopefully they come today or tomorrow as a storm is expected this week.
Daniel has decided to take a break from sports and will not play basketball. He's decided that his sports are baseball and football. David tried out and made the Varsity team this weekend and is expected to start at small forward. So football is over, long live basketball. Daniel's Dad has threatened to disown him because of his decision vis a vis basketball. Steve needs to back off and let the kid make these decisions himself. The problem is that Steve's entire social life is tied up with the kid's sports and this decision puts a crimp in his life. Too bad.
Well that is all the news that's fit to print. for now anyway. Take care of each other Ciao.
Funny how when you are out of work and looking, you can't get a company to return a phone call, but when things are going good and your run at your current job is nothing but positive, that's when the offers come. I got a call last week from Magna Carta, a New York based insurer with a growing West Coast presence. They want to expand into Northern California. They currently have agent representation in NorCal, but the business is written and serviced out of a Los Angeles office. They are looking for a seasoned Manager to handle business out of his or her home in Northern California. The business that they write is principally restaurants, apartments motels and lessors risk only...the same business that I wrote at Republic Western. I talked briefly with the West Coast Regional Vice President and he was simply gauging my interest in the position as they are also working on budgets for 2005. I told him that I'd be open to meeting with him to discuss the possibility of becoming the Northern California Regional Manager, but that I was very happy where I am now. We'll touch base in the New Year.
Football. Amazing how things change in a week. David, who has not had a sniff at the quarterback position in four weeks, ended up starting and playing the whole game on Friday night. The reason is nothing short of classic. It was the last game of the season and the tradition at Woodcreek is that the red shirt is lifted from the quarterback in practice and the guys are allowed to go "live" on the qb. It's all in fun, but Adam has been a world class wimp all year about any kind of contact. That came to a head in the last game when Adam was forced to scramble and found himself wide open and lumbering untouched. He had twenty yards open in front of him and he stumbled along until a linebacker was gaining on him and Adam threw himself down when the linebacker got within ten yards of him. It was truly one of the all time gutless moves on a football field. There was a groan that went up in the stands and more than a few disgusted looks from his teamates. The fact that it was open season on Adam was embraced wholeheartedly by the defense and Adam went under a barrage of hits and shoves where the offensive linemen were telling the defense, "I'll go left, you go right". Finally, there was an all out rush by our middle linebacker where he lifted Adam up and pile drove him into the ground. Adam got up and ran to the coaches and started yelling at them. Apparently, Adam had been muttering a few things under his breath and the defense was incensed. The head coach made the middle linebacker run "down ups" for the vicious hit and the defense complained. The coach then made the whole team run the drill, except Adam who had a boo-boo. He sat on the bench basically crying while the team ran the drill. The captains, including David, had the team yell out "We love football" on every down up and drove the coach nuts.
The upside to all of this is that Adam went home and complained to his Mommy and Daddy that he was being hurt in practice. They ended up sending a strongly worded e-mail to the coach, the principal, the vice-principal and the Athletic Director. The e-mail basically threatened the coaches with reprisals for the hits in practice, that it was considered harassment by them and that they were concerned that Adam may have suffered a head injury. The intent was to get the team to back off. The reality is that the principal benched Adam for the game due to a perceived liability against the school. David was given the starting nod and he played his best game of the year.
Our opponent was Placer, a team lead by twin 6-4" running back/ tight ends. The boys have been written up in the Bee as players to watch in Division I colleges next year. David was assigned as a spy on defense against the running back. David went wherever he went on the field. David and the defense held this 1200 yard runner to 48 yards, a season low. Placer was 6-3 coming in and third in league. David played even better on offense in our 14-6 win. David scored a touchdown on a naked bootleg from 26 yards where he had to juke two defenders. He turned the corner and sprinted to the end zone. I tell you, my throat was raw by the end of the game. We had three runners who all had excellent games, one went for 114 yards, one for 77 yards and the other for 66 yards. David had 44 yards rushing and was 3 of 5 passing for another 60 yards. It was Senior night and Darla got to escort her son onto the field before the game and he presented her with a rose and we took pictures. I also took my digital camera down on the field after the game and got some pictures which I will send to some of you this week. It was a perfect ending to a decent season. We ended the year 5-5 (2-4 in league), David was 3-2 as our starter and better things are on tap for this team in the future.
Golf. Naturally, I played this weekend. We had a Turkey Shoot, which is basically a medal tournament with turkey certificates for prizes (actually supermarket gift cards). I continue to play my best golf of the year and shot a 38-40=78. Unlike last week, that score was good enough for first place and a $45 gift card. Ever since Harry did his Bowen magic on my back, I have been feeling so good and really driving the ball well. I'm routinely hitting 280 yard drives and my irons have all increased by 15 yards. I now hit my pitching wedge about 115 yards, my nine iron 120-130 yards, my 8 iron 135-145 yards, my 7 iron 150-160 yards and so on. The one club I want to add is a 19 degree hybrid iron. That is next on my buy list and certainly on my Christmas list. I had three birdies on Sunday and I am playing with confidence. I play in another Turkey shoot on Saturday and will play with Boyd Robertson as my partner. Boyd shot a 74 yesterday.
The leaves continue to cling to the trees, but about 75% of the foliage is now on the ground. Hopefully the park workers will come and clean them up across the street from our house before the next storm. I have moved all of the leaves on my side of the street to the side street in neat piles to await the city workers who bring in a bobcat with a modified spade claw on the front and they load them into a truck and haul them to the city composting yard. Hopefully they come today or tomorrow as a storm is expected this week.
Daniel has decided to take a break from sports and will not play basketball. He's decided that his sports are baseball and football. David tried out and made the Varsity team this weekend and is expected to start at small forward. So football is over, long live basketball. Daniel's Dad has threatened to disown him because of his decision vis a vis basketball. Steve needs to back off and let the kid make these decisions himself. The problem is that Steve's entire social life is tied up with the kid's sports and this decision puts a crimp in his life. Too bad.
Well that is all the news that's fit to print. for now anyway. Take care of each other Ciao.
Monday, November 08, 2004
It is Monday morning (of course) and time to bring my three regular readers up on the doings in my life. Today is a typical fall morning in Sacramento, with a chill to the air, but a bright blue sky and temperatures that are bound to reach the low seventies.
The trees still cling stubbornly to the red and yellow remains of their leaves and we are just a strong storm from the end of leave raking in this area. The front of my house is choked in fallen leaves from the grove of trees that make up the park across the street. (And this is two days after the boys and I spent an afternoon clearing the leaves and mowing the yard). We live due East of the park and the prevailing winds blow all of the leaves across the street and into my yard. Most of my leave raking could be filed under community service as they are public leaves that I am tending to. I don't get much chance to wield my rake during the week. After ten years of working out of my house, this working in an office deal can really throw a wrench in my yard work chores.
Football. We are winding down the season and the boys actually managed a win this past week. The defense was solid and forced three turnovers on our side of the field. Fortunately, even an inept Adam was able to turn one of those into a score and we prevailed 7-0. We should have won 21-0, but Adam cannot manage to rally the team from the quarterback position. He was 4 of 9 for 38 yards and a touchdown and the team is now 4-5 (1-4 in league), with each starter having a 2-2 record with the first loss being a combined effort between the two of them. David played receiver and had the longest reception of the game, a pass caught over the middle for twenty-five yards. Adam continues to telegraph his passes and I sent the coach an e-mail this week with specifics. When it is a run play, Adam walks out of the huddle and immediately steps under center. When it is a pass play he walks to the line, takes two steps back and surveys the defense and then drops under center. It is so obvious that I call out "pass!" in the stands every time he does it. The fans laugh as I'm right every time. I've pointed it out to several of them and it is a matter of time before one of our opponents figures it out too. There was no change in his setup this week, so I'm sure the coach just blew it off. The coach did mention to Adam that he got a "strange" e-mail from Ken Lyon and did he know me. You can only lead a horse to water...
The great thing for Daniel is that the Varsity head coach was fired last week by the Athletic Director. He will finish out this season and then hang up his whistle. Daniel will be able to play on a team with a fresh new attitude and a chance to win. Our current coach is a big loser in Woodcreek tradition and the 4 wins this year is his best season by far out of the four that he's been here. We play the 11th ranked Placer Hillmen this week and they are a stout squad. Perhaps Adam will feel the pain of a real pass rush. Here's hoping.
Daniel's team has struggled through their last three games (all losses), but Dan has played both offense and defense and lead the team in tackles one week and had another quarterback sack this past week. He will surely be one of the big award winners this year as he has been solid all year. He should start as a Junior on Varsity next year.
Darla was involved in a big open house this weekend at one of my golf buddies' house. His wife was the hostess and Darla showed her jewelry and her Creative Memories scrapbook line. Alicia went along and sold her Southern Living line and Mary Kay. Darla also invited one of her friends that sells Italiam charms. They all did rather well with sales in the $200-$300 range.
As all of that was going on, I went to Allister Mackenzie golf course and played in a tournament with the Roseville Golf Club. I played in a group with Boyd Robertson (a 4 handicap), Mark Konrad (a 15 handicap) and Mel Pediernos (a 12 handicap). Mel is the new member and Cora's (in my office) husband. Boyd shot 75, Mark shot 82, Mel shot 84 and I managed a nice 40-39=79. My net was a 68 and, believe it or not, I didn't win a damn thing. One of the guys in my flight shot a 72 as a 12 handicap and another shot 76 as an 11. I got an "attaboy" for my hard work and $9 from Mark, who always insists on betting with me every time we play. He actually beat me head up, but wanted to play skins and got smoked.
Mel played in his first tournament and played pretty well. He had one hole where he missed a putt for par and then swiped the ball away from the hole where it sat two inches away. Normally, that would be a disqualification, but the group gave him a reprieve. He had a triple bogey on the fourth hole and was so disappointed. I told him to let it go, that all he needed was a birdie to turn his round back to positive. He did me one better by knocking his second shot into the hole for an eagle from 150 yards on the very next hole. He did the "eagle" dance in the fairway. Mel is a great guy and I'm glad he joined the group...and so is he.
My handicap should move down into single digits next month and I will have managed to meet one of my pre-season goals. My goals were to win my flight in the Club Championship (I didn't play because of my back problems), to qualify for the Rose Cup (ditto with my back), to qualify for the NCGA event ( I missed out, but won money in the event), and to lower my handicap to single digits.
Jennifer has just returned from "live fire" manuevers in Kuwait. They had live ammunition and were practicing firing out of their Humvees (Jennifer was a driver and had to brace her M16 over her left forearm and fire out the driver's side window as she drove). They were in the field for four days without real food or fresh water and ate MREs morning, noon and night. As Jennifer said, "that makes the food in the cafeteria bearable". She will be updating her blog this week so check it out.
I believe that Dad and Shirley are in Texas right now. I don't know their exact schedule, but it seems to me that they were heading in that direction. One of you Texas readers give me an update under the comments section. I'll try to call one night this week.
Well, that is the news up to the minute. Harvey, the regional VP, will be in this week to work on the 2005 budget with me and I'll try to press him on some expansion plans next year, including moving my assistant into a junior underwriter position. Take care. Ciao.
The trees still cling stubbornly to the red and yellow remains of their leaves and we are just a strong storm from the end of leave raking in this area. The front of my house is choked in fallen leaves from the grove of trees that make up the park across the street. (And this is two days after the boys and I spent an afternoon clearing the leaves and mowing the yard). We live due East of the park and the prevailing winds blow all of the leaves across the street and into my yard. Most of my leave raking could be filed under community service as they are public leaves that I am tending to. I don't get much chance to wield my rake during the week. After ten years of working out of my house, this working in an office deal can really throw a wrench in my yard work chores.
Football. We are winding down the season and the boys actually managed a win this past week. The defense was solid and forced three turnovers on our side of the field. Fortunately, even an inept Adam was able to turn one of those into a score and we prevailed 7-0. We should have won 21-0, but Adam cannot manage to rally the team from the quarterback position. He was 4 of 9 for 38 yards and a touchdown and the team is now 4-5 (1-4 in league), with each starter having a 2-2 record with the first loss being a combined effort between the two of them. David played receiver and had the longest reception of the game, a pass caught over the middle for twenty-five yards. Adam continues to telegraph his passes and I sent the coach an e-mail this week with specifics. When it is a run play, Adam walks out of the huddle and immediately steps under center. When it is a pass play he walks to the line, takes two steps back and surveys the defense and then drops under center. It is so obvious that I call out "pass!" in the stands every time he does it. The fans laugh as I'm right every time. I've pointed it out to several of them and it is a matter of time before one of our opponents figures it out too. There was no change in his setup this week, so I'm sure the coach just blew it off. The coach did mention to Adam that he got a "strange" e-mail from Ken Lyon and did he know me. You can only lead a horse to water...
The great thing for Daniel is that the Varsity head coach was fired last week by the Athletic Director. He will finish out this season and then hang up his whistle. Daniel will be able to play on a team with a fresh new attitude and a chance to win. Our current coach is a big loser in Woodcreek tradition and the 4 wins this year is his best season by far out of the four that he's been here. We play the 11th ranked Placer Hillmen this week and they are a stout squad. Perhaps Adam will feel the pain of a real pass rush. Here's hoping.
Daniel's team has struggled through their last three games (all losses), but Dan has played both offense and defense and lead the team in tackles one week and had another quarterback sack this past week. He will surely be one of the big award winners this year as he has been solid all year. He should start as a Junior on Varsity next year.
Darla was involved in a big open house this weekend at one of my golf buddies' house. His wife was the hostess and Darla showed her jewelry and her Creative Memories scrapbook line. Alicia went along and sold her Southern Living line and Mary Kay. Darla also invited one of her friends that sells Italiam charms. They all did rather well with sales in the $200-$300 range.
As all of that was going on, I went to Allister Mackenzie golf course and played in a tournament with the Roseville Golf Club. I played in a group with Boyd Robertson (a 4 handicap), Mark Konrad (a 15 handicap) and Mel Pediernos (a 12 handicap). Mel is the new member and Cora's (in my office) husband. Boyd shot 75, Mark shot 82, Mel shot 84 and I managed a nice 40-39=79. My net was a 68 and, believe it or not, I didn't win a damn thing. One of the guys in my flight shot a 72 as a 12 handicap and another shot 76 as an 11. I got an "attaboy" for my hard work and $9 from Mark, who always insists on betting with me every time we play. He actually beat me head up, but wanted to play skins and got smoked.
Mel played in his first tournament and played pretty well. He had one hole where he missed a putt for par and then swiped the ball away from the hole where it sat two inches away. Normally, that would be a disqualification, but the group gave him a reprieve. He had a triple bogey on the fourth hole and was so disappointed. I told him to let it go, that all he needed was a birdie to turn his round back to positive. He did me one better by knocking his second shot into the hole for an eagle from 150 yards on the very next hole. He did the "eagle" dance in the fairway. Mel is a great guy and I'm glad he joined the group...and so is he.
My handicap should move down into single digits next month and I will have managed to meet one of my pre-season goals. My goals were to win my flight in the Club Championship (I didn't play because of my back problems), to qualify for the Rose Cup (ditto with my back), to qualify for the NCGA event ( I missed out, but won money in the event), and to lower my handicap to single digits.
Jennifer has just returned from "live fire" manuevers in Kuwait. They had live ammunition and were practicing firing out of their Humvees (Jennifer was a driver and had to brace her M16 over her left forearm and fire out the driver's side window as she drove). They were in the field for four days without real food or fresh water and ate MREs morning, noon and night. As Jennifer said, "that makes the food in the cafeteria bearable". She will be updating her blog this week so check it out.
I believe that Dad and Shirley are in Texas right now. I don't know their exact schedule, but it seems to me that they were heading in that direction. One of you Texas readers give me an update under the comments section. I'll try to call one night this week.
Well, that is the news up to the minute. Harvey, the regional VP, will be in this week to work on the 2005 budget with me and I'll try to press him on some expansion plans next year, including moving my assistant into a junior underwriter position. Take care. Ciao.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Back at it on a Monday. We just finished the month of October at work and actually made a profit for only the second time this year. Not bad for my first month as the acting Branch Manager. I had several calls from home office and a nice note from the Regional Vice President in San Francisco. I will take the office out to lunch at Spaghetti Factory on Wednesday to celebrate. I have set a goal of $95,000 in net income this month. Our goal last month was $85,000 and we hit $96,600 in October. November is a smaller renewal month so we will have to work that much harder. I've made the Underwriting Assistants into Renewal Underwriters and ordered each of them business cards. I've also told the Underwriters to plan to travel with their assistants more and develop a team atmosphere for the agents. So far things are clicking in the office and we have some of the Underwriters and Assistants flexing in and out and everyone so far seems to be drinking the Koolaid.
Football season is winding down and our Varsity team is going out with a whimper. After dominating an overmatched team last week, we played two good quarters against Woodland, actually tying the game with a second half kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the game 14-14. We went on to lose 34-14, as our offense was stuck in the mud and our defense couldn't stop their passing game. I had to work late on Friday night as we were changing out our phone system. The tech finally showed up at 5:45 after being scheduled to be here at 4:00 pm. He took two hours to get the equipment in and then couldn't get the phones programmed. I finally kicked him out of here at 8:00 pm and left for the game. I got to Woodland at halftime and some yahoo on a John Deere "carryall" told me that I couldn't get into the game, that they close the gates after halftime. I told him it was halftime and he shrugged his shoulders. I walked around to the "home" side of the stadium, bought a ticket at the open window, walked in and over to the vistor's side. I walked over to the visitor's gate and told "Farmer Bob" that he was a dumb &%$#@*& and then went and found Darla and Alicia. David played both strong safety and Z back (receiver). He caught two passes and played well. Our qb is still a doofus and had one play where he dropped back to pass and fell over the forty yard line stripe and lay on the ground like a wounded turtle while the defense played "smear the queer". It was a disgrace. Can the coach not see that we need an athlete at quarterback? Spoken like the stepdad of the deposed qb, eh?
I did not get to see Daniel's game this week thanks to the smelly little phone tech. This guy had a horrible case of bo, what Seinfeld called BBO (beyond b.o.). His clothes were dirty, he wore a filthy ball cap pulled to the side and he mumbled when he talked. He was going to record the greeting for us, but I took that responsibility as I didn't want the business to sound like Bob's House of Crack on the phone. This guy was a little pig, but he probably makes $80,000 a year as a computer technician for Nortel, the bankrupt Canadian phone giant.
I played golf this weekend. I have lured one of my employee's husbands into the Roseville Golf Club and he will play in his first tournament this coming weekend at Alister Mackenzie in Sacramento. Mel is an 11 handicap and a really nice guy. I shot 83 this weekend, Dave Armijo shot 85, Boyd shot 76 and Mel 90. It was a beautiful day in Roseville with temps in the low 70's and nothing more than a light breeze. This week is supposed to stay in the 70's all week and this morning is a bright blue sky. Looking out on the grove of trees that surround our office complex and seeing the greens, gold and orange, I'd like to be out playing golf right now.
Saturday night, Darla and I attended a house warming at the home of our Accounting person and my personal assistant, Dinda. Dinda lives in a brand new 3000 sq ft custom home that was planned as a party house. The bedrooms are relatively small and the living area is huge. She has three gazebos in her yard as well as a waterfall. She is Philipino and her husband is Lebanese and they featured a belly dancer for entertainment as well as two rows of hors de oevres and a full bar with servers. It was a great party and Darla heard and shared with me many very nice compliments on the way the office is being run. Darla took pictures and created a scrap book from the party that I will share with the staff this morning.
It is All Saints day today, which I guess was created to help rid us of the image of ghosts, gouls , goblins and devils from the night before. I sat and watched football as Darla answered the door and handed out candy to the neighborhood kids. We had maybe thirty to forty in total last night. The churches do a good job of offering Harvest Festivals for the kids. Our church had rides, games and a petting zoo for the kids and it offers a safe haven for the smaller children to go and have fun.
Jennifer has updated her blog and is a bit cranky with the Army right now. Take a look at her blog, I have a link at the bottom of this page. I talked to her last week and she will be leaving for Germany and training for her role as Armorer on November 29th. We have sent her several packages and I urge you all to do the same. Her address is:
Specialist Lyon, Jennifer
385th SC CO
Kuwait City, Kuwait
APO - AE 09889
I hope all are well. I will add to the blog next week. Be nice to each other. Ciao.
Football season is winding down and our Varsity team is going out with a whimper. After dominating an overmatched team last week, we played two good quarters against Woodland, actually tying the game with a second half kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the game 14-14. We went on to lose 34-14, as our offense was stuck in the mud and our defense couldn't stop their passing game. I had to work late on Friday night as we were changing out our phone system. The tech finally showed up at 5:45 after being scheduled to be here at 4:00 pm. He took two hours to get the equipment in and then couldn't get the phones programmed. I finally kicked him out of here at 8:00 pm and left for the game. I got to Woodland at halftime and some yahoo on a John Deere "carryall" told me that I couldn't get into the game, that they close the gates after halftime. I told him it was halftime and he shrugged his shoulders. I walked around to the "home" side of the stadium, bought a ticket at the open window, walked in and over to the vistor's side. I walked over to the visitor's gate and told "Farmer Bob" that he was a dumb &%$#@*& and then went and found Darla and Alicia. David played both strong safety and Z back (receiver). He caught two passes and played well. Our qb is still a doofus and had one play where he dropped back to pass and fell over the forty yard line stripe and lay on the ground like a wounded turtle while the defense played "smear the queer". It was a disgrace. Can the coach not see that we need an athlete at quarterback? Spoken like the stepdad of the deposed qb, eh?
I did not get to see Daniel's game this week thanks to the smelly little phone tech. This guy had a horrible case of bo, what Seinfeld called BBO (beyond b.o.). His clothes were dirty, he wore a filthy ball cap pulled to the side and he mumbled when he talked. He was going to record the greeting for us, but I took that responsibility as I didn't want the business to sound like Bob's House of Crack on the phone. This guy was a little pig, but he probably makes $80,000 a year as a computer technician for Nortel, the bankrupt Canadian phone giant.
I played golf this weekend. I have lured one of my employee's husbands into the Roseville Golf Club and he will play in his first tournament this coming weekend at Alister Mackenzie in Sacramento. Mel is an 11 handicap and a really nice guy. I shot 83 this weekend, Dave Armijo shot 85, Boyd shot 76 and Mel 90. It was a beautiful day in Roseville with temps in the low 70's and nothing more than a light breeze. This week is supposed to stay in the 70's all week and this morning is a bright blue sky. Looking out on the grove of trees that surround our office complex and seeing the greens, gold and orange, I'd like to be out playing golf right now.
Saturday night, Darla and I attended a house warming at the home of our Accounting person and my personal assistant, Dinda. Dinda lives in a brand new 3000 sq ft custom home that was planned as a party house. The bedrooms are relatively small and the living area is huge. She has three gazebos in her yard as well as a waterfall. She is Philipino and her husband is Lebanese and they featured a belly dancer for entertainment as well as two rows of hors de oevres and a full bar with servers. It was a great party and Darla heard and shared with me many very nice compliments on the way the office is being run. Darla took pictures and created a scrap book from the party that I will share with the staff this morning.
It is All Saints day today, which I guess was created to help rid us of the image of ghosts, gouls , goblins and devils from the night before. I sat and watched football as Darla answered the door and handed out candy to the neighborhood kids. We had maybe thirty to forty in total last night. The churches do a good job of offering Harvest Festivals for the kids. Our church had rides, games and a petting zoo for the kids and it offers a safe haven for the smaller children to go and have fun.
Jennifer has updated her blog and is a bit cranky with the Army right now. Take a look at her blog, I have a link at the bottom of this page. I talked to her last week and she will be leaving for Germany and training for her role as Armorer on November 29th. We have sent her several packages and I urge you all to do the same. Her address is:
Specialist Lyon, Jennifer
385th SC CO
Kuwait City, Kuwait
APO - AE 09889
I hope all are well. I will add to the blog next week. Be nice to each other. Ciao.
