Memorial Day

The sun is out and warming the landscape. It should be mid-eighties today and we have a picnic planned with our life group from church. The nice thing is that the picnic starts at 4:00 PM and even better, it is at the park across the street from our house.

I'd like to offer a prayer of thanks to the men and women of the military, the ones who bravely serve us now and the ones who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for this country. There was a story in the paper of a 22 year-old soldier who served in Fallujah and threw his helmet over a live grenade at a checkpoint and then covered the helmet with his body. He was a platoon leader and saved his squad from injury, but died when an eraser sized piece of shrapnel pierced his skull. He was home at Christmas and told his parents that he was going to extend his four years of service until his unit finished it's tour in Fallujah. His mom asked him if he wanted his dress blues at his funeral and he said, "Yes". The amazing thing is that his little brother, who is 17 wants to be A Marine as well.

Darla and I enjoyed the San Francisco Giants game on Saturday at SBC Park in San Francisco. Our inspection company invited Anthony and I and our significant others to the game. We met for lunch at Amici's across from the ballpark and then walked across the street and watched the game. It was about 68 degrees in SF and the Giants lost. We hiked back to our car to find our front right tire flat. Our host had left and Anthony and Erin were leaving for Santa Maria. We sent them on their way and called AAA. AAA was not helpful in that they directed us to the services booth at Lot A. The Giants run a tow truck service and they unlock cars and change tires and tow if necessary. We hiked all the way back to lot A to find that the tow truck had not shown for this game. We called AAA back and they argued with us, before Darla finally let them have it. They finally sent a truck and he changed our tire. The tire had a large bolt in the tread. We got home about 7:00PM. It was a long day.

Today, we took the tire in to Firestone. I was afraid that they wouldn't repair the tire due to the fact that we have 49,000 miles on the tires and, true to form, they called to say that the tread was too thin to repair. So, now we sit waiting for the $550 worth of tires to be installed and balanced and a front-end alignment to be done. Hey, it's only money.

Work has turned into a chore with not only Gwen, one of the Commercial Underwriters having quit, but Dinda, my Accounts Receivable person having given her two weeks notice. Dinda has had health issues and now has a tumor in her stomach about the size of a softball. She will work until June 15th and then fly to the Phillipines for surgery. Dinda is the sister of Cora, Mel's wife, and an Underwriting Assistant in the office. I'll miss Dinda and wish her a speedy recovery. It was like piling on this past week after Gwen gave her notice. Dinda felt so bad, but I told her I was numb and I was only worried about her. Not true, I'm worried about replacing her, but it will all work out in the wash.

On the positive side, I did meet with Peter Morrison and I think we will nail him down this week. Pete worked for me at Republic Western. It is a frustrating experience, in that I will be paying Peter more than I make, but my bonus situation is much more lucrative. It's just frustrating in that I have to beg, plead and cajole to get anything for myself and it seems they bend over backward for others. Pete will be a great addition to the office. Gwen was the least engaged Underwriter I had. Her territory is beginning to take off and Pete should be able to keep the momentum going as he is a new business machine. He knows the agents so well in the territory and is very well liked.

David's graduation went pretty good on Friday night. Destanie even joined us and watched the boredom as 460 seniors were graduated. I know it is a rite of passage for the kids, but the ceremony lasted two hours in the blazing sun and we had to listen to the valedictorians quote Hercules, Cinderella and even Alladin. I thought I'd fallen asleep and awakened at an 8th grade graduation. Both of the female speakers quoted Cinderella and Hercules. What's up with that?

David and Destanie then went out with some friends bowling. I got to know Destanie a bit better over the interminable two hours of the ceremony. She is a very responsible young lady from a close Christian family. She will graduate next year and then enter a one-year missions program, where she will train for four months in Hawaii and then travel overseas for eight months on a missions trip.

I will update this blog but one more time before we head off to Hawaii. The trip cannot come fast enough especially with the problems at work. I just want to get away and relax on a beach and forget about the problems of dealing with employees. People just tend to care about themselves and my only joy in the Gwen situation is that I know the guy she is going to work for and he overpays his people because he is a tyrant. He is a rager and tends to blow up in the office about once a month. He is the nicest guy other than that problem, but he usually loses an employee every time he has one of his fits. He ends up screaming at an employee and then apologizing and trying to buy them off with extra vacation or a gift. Good luck, Gwen. Will I miss her? Well, I didn't try to match her salary or keep her if that's any indication.

Take care and be well. Ciao.