Oh to be 25 years old and living in Kuwait. Jen, you are living the dream. Of course, it is the dream of an Iraqi sand dweller, but it is the dream. If you haven't had a chance, check out the update to Jennifer's blog at the link below. She is back and hating the changes in Kuwait. Her unit has moved from Camp Doha, but the Army, in it's own unique brand of intelligence, has left her job back in Doha for now and she has to take a bus every day from her Camp to Camp Doha. Well, at least gas is cheap in the middle East. I hope your birthday was at least a celebration, although it appears you had to work. Sorry we missed you, but you have an amazing knack of calling us when we are at church on Sunday. It is one of the few times that I have my cell phone turned off.
David starts college this week and he is running about buying textbooks and trying to get the lay of the land at the campus in Rocklin. He will continue to work at the Engineering firm on Mondays,Wednesdays and Fridays during the school year. He was able to make some nice bank during the Summer and hopes to buy a car in the coming months. He has grown tired of the Mustang and wants an SUV so that he can take some friends in his car and it has something to do with being 6'3" tall. Daniel has been back to school for three weeks and is deep into football practice for the upcoming year. Dan will be on the starting special teams unit and play backup offensive line. I was surprised, but the OL is all Seniors except for the center who is a junior and 6'5" 250 pounds. The guy that Daniel backs up is 6'0" and 265 pounds. I told Daniel to be ready, because that boy is going to need some oxygen, especially early in the season.
The boys spent Saturday up at Earl's new home in Paradise, helping him set up his shop. He had a trailer with most of the shop equipment and material that is collected in close to forty years in the same house. They got the shop set up, but David had an injury when some sheets of tin siding slipped and peeled his shins like a potato. He is raw and red and will be in for a tetanus shot tomorrow. He had to go to his grandmothers on Saturday night and wore long pants to hide his injuries or she would have made him go to the emergency room.
We spent the day with Alicia and the boys at Folsom Lake yesterday. We brought the ski and set up on one of the inlets (same place we set up, Jen) on the back side of the lake. We used just the tank of gas in the ski and added an extra 5 gallons from the tank that is now in the ski. It was a relaxing day spent reading and floating on our air mattresses. Darla and Alicia took the ski out and Darla rode with David. David wanted to get me on the ski, but he blew it when he promised not to break my hip. Wise guy. I told him, I'd been on the ski with Jennifer and that fear was not an issue. Each of the kids drives the ski so differently. David likes to get air where he can and really runs tight circles. Jennifer likes to get wet and does 360s right into the wake and drenches the ski and the rider. Daniel is a speed freak and likes to turn on a dime with speed and usually ends up in the water more often than on the ski. We have yet to flip the ski over, but David and Daniel came close yesterday. We are still enjoying the toy and all were thinking about Jen yesterday as we spent her birthday at the lake.
I played golf on Saturday and had one of those rounds that begs for understanding. I shot 48+44=92 and we all pushed on the bet. The course was wet and the greens were in bad shape. We played at Cherry Island in Elverta, which is not my favorite course. It gets a lot of play and is not kept up as well as some other courses. I was invited by Mark Konrad for a 6:39 am tee time. I didn't lose any money as both Mel and Mark struggled as well.
I was not going to play golf on Saturday as Darla and I are still working on the tile work in our house and she wanted to go to the tile store Saturday morning. When I told her I was playing, her response was, "You couldn't give me a whole day could you?" I guess not. We got over to the tile store about noon and spent about ninety minutes picking out tile and deciding on samples to bring home. We have a granite tile for the kitchen counters with a marble backsplash and a porcelain tile for the floors. We should be getting a quote this week on installation from the tile man (a licensed contractor!!). It is likely that we will only do a portion of the job now, probably the kitchen and back hallway, bathroom and laundry room. We will do the front entry, hall, bathroom and master bath later. The master bathroom is the biggest job with a new shower pan and tile around the tub and shower, countertops and floor. Perhaps we will do everything except the master bath. It depends on the cost.
I did call Florian, the Romanian tile guy back and left a message for him about his contractor's license. I thought that I would never hear from him. I'd checked his license number and found that he was using a defunct number from a plumber who went out of business in 1979. Florian called back and asked why I was checking his number. I told him that I wanted a licensed contractor who was bonded and insured. He said, "Of course I'm licensed, I'll give you my specialty license number." He proceeded to give me a number that corresponds with a rollup door contractor in San Diego. The jig is up, Florian. You're a fraud and I'm keeping the 50 foot tape measure you left at my house. Why would a guy even call back? Perhaps his countrymen are morons and he can pull his scams with them. He's a hell of a nice guy, but... likely the cost of having a licensed contractor do the job will be 30-50% higher than what Florian would do the job for, but I'll have some recourse if we have a problem. Working with a non licensed individual is a crap shoot. Plus, my father-in-law would disown me and I need access to his boat so the kids can wake board. Just kidding, Earl.
Darla and I did have a company out on Friday that does a granite composite kitchen countetop. The composite fits right over the existing tile and is epoxied on. It's nice, but when compared to the granite tile or the slab granite, it just doesn't measure up. We had a 4:30 appointment with Granite transformations and I got there about 5:10 as I had the Flowmaster exhaust and the K&N cold air intake installed and they weren't done when I got there. I had arranged to have a single inlet/ dual outlet muffler installed and the Mustang's drive train wouldn't allow the duals to go in. They ended up putting in a single outlet and tying in the tailpipe to a dual exhaust. It took them longer than I had hoped, but Jennifer you nailed it. The car has more horsepower, has a nice deep resonance and I have no hesitation when I pass now. An added benefit is increased gas mileage due to the leaner mixture of air and fuel. The K&N cold air intake is chrome and looks really sharp and I had dual chrome tips installed at the rear of the car. Yep, I'm 18 again, but this time I have money.
Well, work awaits. We are having a great month and I will be taking the staff out to Benihanas next week. I'm happy to spend the money. Have a great week and work on your hunger for the Lord. Read the Psalms..Psalm 73 is really encouraging. Ciao.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Monday, August 22, 2005
Dog Days of Summer
Sorry, no pictures this week. The dog days of Summer have arrived. Although the days are shorter and the evenings cooler, the heat of the day is beginning to be oppressive as the grass is stressed and the Dallis Grass and Crabgrass seem to flourish in the heat. I've been waging my own personal battle with these elements and so far they are winning, but I have gained a foothold in about a third of my lawn and I'm gaining on the insurgents. I was out last night with my weapon of mass destruction, the tank sprayer and a solution of MMSA hitting the offending weeds where they live. On another topic, Earl was over this past weekend and pointed out that I killed one of my crepe myrtle trees by weedwhacking the bark at the bottom of the tree and completely stripping the bark. The tree is about six years old and one of the grander decorations in my yard with it's annual display of bright pink blooms. Darla and I will replace the tree with a fifteen gallon variety and hope that it grows quickly.
We finally met with a tile man, this time an immigrant from Romania named Florian. He spent the better part of two hours at our house and gave us a great quote on all of the tile work that we wanted done, including granite countertops in our master bath and full tile work in our bathtub and shower. He was to do about 810 square feet of tile, including our front entry hallway, all three bathrooms, laundry room, hallway off the garage and the kitchen. He would use traveltine in the front entry, hallway and bathrooms and ceramic tile for the kitchen, laundry room, hallway and bathroom. I speak in past tense, because I found out that he is not licensed by the California Contractors Board, nor does he appear to have a business license in Roseville. We are back to square one and I will be calling contractors who I have checked out on the Contractor's board website. Earl pointed out a truck at Home Depot with a tile man's name and number on it, but he isn't listed on the contractor's board website either.Oy vey.
Darla and I went to see the Trailer Park Troubadours on Friday night. It was a smaller version of the Flock Rock that has been held at the Placer County fairgrounds the last three years. It is a fundraiser by the Active 20-30 club and they barely broke even last year. They decided to move the show to a mansion in Roseville called the Victorian. It is a large facility designed for weddings and private parties. They held the concert outside and limited the tickets to 200. The city has a noise ordinance and they had to be done with the concert by ten pm. As is the norm, the concert which was to begin at 7 pm promptly started at 7:25. At ten PM the band was just starting their encore when the police showed up and told the owner of the house to shut down the party. She walked out and tried to get the band to quit and was booed off the stage. She left for about five minutes and returned and was gesturing loudly for the band to shut down, again they ignored her. Finally at 10:10 PM the electricity was shut off and the band went quiet. Two police cars were still on scene talking to the owner of the Victorian and the President of the charity when we left at 10:30. I'm guessing that they will be looking for a new venue to hold the concert again next year. We had a ball and met a couple of Darla's friends from work and their husbands.
Earl was in town this weekend trying to get a buyer of a hot tub at his rental to pick up his purchase. I played golf on Saturday (42+43=85) missing the cut for the Rose Cup team. You have to shoot under your handicap to get in. 69 was the cutoff and my 72 was good for an "attaboy". Earl picked up a refrigerator from my Personal Lines manager and delivered it to our house. The boys met him and helped load it up. It is about a five year-old Admiral that Darla deemed not nice enough for our kitchen, so it is in the garage cooling our sodas and acting as an extra freezer. It was apparently too "plasticy" according to Darla and white in color. Somehow the white clashes with our almond cooktop. Hey it has ice and water in the door, which our thirteen year old almond fridge doesn't, but the kitchen is definitely Darla's domain. They then took our old garage fridge to the dump and paid $27 to send it to the freon graveyard.
I showed up at Earl's after golf and found Earl and his spa buyer in the backyard of the rental. I was ready to help load the spa, but the buyer was a couple of beers to the far side of sober and was there to do some reconnaissance. He said that he "might" be there on Sunday to pick up the tub, but he wasn't sure. The new tenants are moving in today and have little kids. In the process of disassembling the gazebo Earl "accidentally" spilled a large glass of this bozo's iced beer. This guy was a serious nut job and he finally staggered out of there after saying some inappropriate things to Earl in the course of conversation, including some comments about his own wife best left unmentioned. Earl was getting pretty peeved with this doof and finally called him yesterday morning and told him to either pick up the spa or he'd take it up to Paradise, that it HAD to be out of there on Sunday. Somehow that lit a fire under Mr Miller High Life and he showed up about two to get the spa. We had the boys come over and finally got it packed up and Earl and I went with him to his house and we delivered it to his front yard. I told Earl to take his check to a branch of the guy's bank first thing this morning and cash it.
Frances was able to join Darla and I at church yesterday and we listened to a guest pastor speak about his death experience. He was legally dead in an operation for about seven minutes and was revived and had an out of body experience in the operating room and a close encounter with God. The pastor has a church in Cincinnati that has 6000 members, but was a terrible speaker. He fidgeted and wandered around and ran off on rabbit trails and really made me appreciate Rick. This pastor claimed he had the gift of "gathering", which if he was speaking of moss I might believe.
Well, I'd best get on to my week. I will be in Modesto on Wednesday to see the gals in the office there. Thursday I will get a new Flowmaster dual exhaust and K&N chrome cold air intake installed on the Mustang. I'm not quite through with my midlife crisis just yet. Keep your feet on the ground, but keep your hands reaching for Heaven. Ciao.
We finally met with a tile man, this time an immigrant from Romania named Florian. He spent the better part of two hours at our house and gave us a great quote on all of the tile work that we wanted done, including granite countertops in our master bath and full tile work in our bathtub and shower. He was to do about 810 square feet of tile, including our front entry hallway, all three bathrooms, laundry room, hallway off the garage and the kitchen. He would use traveltine in the front entry, hallway and bathrooms and ceramic tile for the kitchen, laundry room, hallway and bathroom. I speak in past tense, because I found out that he is not licensed by the California Contractors Board, nor does he appear to have a business license in Roseville. We are back to square one and I will be calling contractors who I have checked out on the Contractor's board website. Earl pointed out a truck at Home Depot with a tile man's name and number on it, but he isn't listed on the contractor's board website either.Oy vey.
Darla and I went to see the Trailer Park Troubadours on Friday night. It was a smaller version of the Flock Rock that has been held at the Placer County fairgrounds the last three years. It is a fundraiser by the Active 20-30 club and they barely broke even last year. They decided to move the show to a mansion in Roseville called the Victorian. It is a large facility designed for weddings and private parties. They held the concert outside and limited the tickets to 200. The city has a noise ordinance and they had to be done with the concert by ten pm. As is the norm, the concert which was to begin at 7 pm promptly started at 7:25. At ten PM the band was just starting their encore when the police showed up and told the owner of the house to shut down the party. She walked out and tried to get the band to quit and was booed off the stage. She left for about five minutes and returned and was gesturing loudly for the band to shut down, again they ignored her. Finally at 10:10 PM the electricity was shut off and the band went quiet. Two police cars were still on scene talking to the owner of the Victorian and the President of the charity when we left at 10:30. I'm guessing that they will be looking for a new venue to hold the concert again next year. We had a ball and met a couple of Darla's friends from work and their husbands.
Earl was in town this weekend trying to get a buyer of a hot tub at his rental to pick up his purchase. I played golf on Saturday (42+43=85) missing the cut for the Rose Cup team. You have to shoot under your handicap to get in. 69 was the cutoff and my 72 was good for an "attaboy". Earl picked up a refrigerator from my Personal Lines manager and delivered it to our house. The boys met him and helped load it up. It is about a five year-old Admiral that Darla deemed not nice enough for our kitchen, so it is in the garage cooling our sodas and acting as an extra freezer. It was apparently too "plasticy" according to Darla and white in color. Somehow the white clashes with our almond cooktop. Hey it has ice and water in the door, which our thirteen year old almond fridge doesn't, but the kitchen is definitely Darla's domain. They then took our old garage fridge to the dump and paid $27 to send it to the freon graveyard.
I showed up at Earl's after golf and found Earl and his spa buyer in the backyard of the rental. I was ready to help load the spa, but the buyer was a couple of beers to the far side of sober and was there to do some reconnaissance. He said that he "might" be there on Sunday to pick up the tub, but he wasn't sure. The new tenants are moving in today and have little kids. In the process of disassembling the gazebo Earl "accidentally" spilled a large glass of this bozo's iced beer. This guy was a serious nut job and he finally staggered out of there after saying some inappropriate things to Earl in the course of conversation, including some comments about his own wife best left unmentioned. Earl was getting pretty peeved with this doof and finally called him yesterday morning and told him to either pick up the spa or he'd take it up to Paradise, that it HAD to be out of there on Sunday. Somehow that lit a fire under Mr Miller High Life and he showed up about two to get the spa. We had the boys come over and finally got it packed up and Earl and I went with him to his house and we delivered it to his front yard. I told Earl to take his check to a branch of the guy's bank first thing this morning and cash it.
Frances was able to join Darla and I at church yesterday and we listened to a guest pastor speak about his death experience. He was legally dead in an operation for about seven minutes and was revived and had an out of body experience in the operating room and a close encounter with God. The pastor has a church in Cincinnati that has 6000 members, but was a terrible speaker. He fidgeted and wandered around and ran off on rabbit trails and really made me appreciate Rick. This pastor claimed he had the gift of "gathering", which if he was speaking of moss I might believe.
Well, I'd best get on to my week. I will be in Modesto on Wednesday to see the gals in the office there. Thursday I will get a new Flowmaster dual exhaust and K&N chrome cold air intake installed on the Mustang. I'm not quite through with my midlife crisis just yet. Keep your feet on the ground, but keep your hands reaching for Heaven. Ciao.
Monday, August 15, 2005
A Soldier returns to work
Jennifer has come and gone again, off to take on the final leg of her military career. She has decided that her tour of duty will end in November and she will begin to unravel the rest of her life from that point forward. She had considered the Air Force and a duty station in Hawaii, but the unit was on active status and could have been deployed at any time. She's been there and done that, as they say. She's not sure what her next steps are going to be, but she has time to mull the possibilities. She may move in with Sara when she gets back or she may live with Bill, her Stepdad, who is now estranged from Diane (See, it wasn't me). Jen had a great trip home and looks forward to bidding adieu to the Army. It has been a great experience for her, but enough is enough. She is actually in Atlanta right now visiting her friends from Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia and will return to Kuwait via Germany on Thursday. She is not looking forward to the 125 degree temperatures and will recall fondly our days on the water here in Norcal. We were able to get out three times on the lake with the jet ski and Jennifer was so enthralled with our new toy that she asked for a ski vest for her birthday. With our bruisers and Darla at 5'10", there wasn't a vest that fit Jennifer, so we ordered her an embossed neoprene vest size small ladies. She doesn't have much concern that we'll be using the vest while she is gone unless we invite some young children to join us on the ski.
David and Destiny have gone their separate ways. It was a tough breakup and David took it hard. Destiny (the actual spelling of her name is a phonetic nightmare so I'll stick with this) was pretty immature and left David with a bruised heart, but a stronger sense of the female animal. He will take what he learned and use it in his future relationships. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that Destiny has some friends who are not in relationships for one reason (horseface) or another and weren't enthralled that Destiny was spending so much time with David. They conspired to make sure that Destiny was able to be available when they needed their moustaches waxed. Dave will survive, but it is hard for Darla and I to see him hurt.
David begins college in a few weeks and Daniel is already back in school. The Summer is fast reaching it's zenith and Fall will be here before we know it. I was in the office at 6:45 today and had to have my lights on right into the parking lot today. The days are growing shorter and the nights are cooler. It has been a hot Summer, so the cooling nights are a welcome respite.
I played golf at D'Andria golf course in Sparks, Nevada yesterday. I drove up early (missing church in the process) and was at the course by 10:30. Our group played D'Andria on both Saturday and Sunday and I signed up for just the Sunday tournament. The course is very difficult and built into the side of some rolling hills above Reno. The vistas are quite nice with views of downtown Sparks and Reno in the distance. I played 16 good holes, shooting 6 over par and two bad holes where I went another six over. It was the type of day when I should have shot 79 or 80, but had to settle for 84 and second place in the tournament. I played right to my handicap, but there were so many guys shooting net 80 or above that I easily took second place with my net 72. My next golf tournament is Saturday and it is the qualifier for the Diamond Oaks Rosecup team. I would be thrilled to be on the defending champion's team this year for two days of golf in October.
Darla and I are still trying to get a tile contractor to come out to our home and give us an estimate on doing our kitchen, entry, hallway, master bathroom, laundry room and the hallway into the kitchen from the garage. We have had two appointments that were missed by a contractor who was recommended by our neighbor. He is now off the list. He refers to himself as "your tile man", well not ours. We also plan to have a fireplace insert installed soon to prepare for the Winter months ahead. I'd like to use the fireplace to heat the home and cut back on the use of the furnace. I'm not looking to replace the furnace, simply supplement the heat with the fireplace.
That is about it for this week. Work continues to go well and we are building toward something good in this office. Pete is beginning to build his book and Anthony is also having a great month. I may have to take the office out to Benihanas this month, which I'd be thrilled to do. We have to hit $110,000 in net income to go to lunch. Our "nut" is about $95,000 to pay the bills and I've set $15,000 in profit to afford a celebration. Unfortunately with the changes and new people I haven't bought lunch in four months. Hopefully this month will put us over the top. Be well and keep striving for heaven and you'll be fine. Ciao.
David and Destiny have gone their separate ways. It was a tough breakup and David took it hard. Destiny (the actual spelling of her name is a phonetic nightmare so I'll stick with this) was pretty immature and left David with a bruised heart, but a stronger sense of the female animal. He will take what he learned and use it in his future relationships. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that Destiny has some friends who are not in relationships for one reason (horseface) or another and weren't enthralled that Destiny was spending so much time with David. They conspired to make sure that Destiny was able to be available when they needed their moustaches waxed. Dave will survive, but it is hard for Darla and I to see him hurt.
David begins college in a few weeks and Daniel is already back in school. The Summer is fast reaching it's zenith and Fall will be here before we know it. I was in the office at 6:45 today and had to have my lights on right into the parking lot today. The days are growing shorter and the nights are cooler. It has been a hot Summer, so the cooling nights are a welcome respite.
I played golf at D'Andria golf course in Sparks, Nevada yesterday. I drove up early (missing church in the process) and was at the course by 10:30. Our group played D'Andria on both Saturday and Sunday and I signed up for just the Sunday tournament. The course is very difficult and built into the side of some rolling hills above Reno. The vistas are quite nice with views of downtown Sparks and Reno in the distance. I played 16 good holes, shooting 6 over par and two bad holes where I went another six over. It was the type of day when I should have shot 79 or 80, but had to settle for 84 and second place in the tournament. I played right to my handicap, but there were so many guys shooting net 80 or above that I easily took second place with my net 72. My next golf tournament is Saturday and it is the qualifier for the Diamond Oaks Rosecup team. I would be thrilled to be on the defending champion's team this year for two days of golf in October.
Darla and I are still trying to get a tile contractor to come out to our home and give us an estimate on doing our kitchen, entry, hallway, master bathroom, laundry room and the hallway into the kitchen from the garage. We have had two appointments that were missed by a contractor who was recommended by our neighbor. He is now off the list. He refers to himself as "your tile man", well not ours. We also plan to have a fireplace insert installed soon to prepare for the Winter months ahead. I'd like to use the fireplace to heat the home and cut back on the use of the furnace. I'm not looking to replace the furnace, simply supplement the heat with the fireplace.
That is about it for this week. Work continues to go well and we are building toward something good in this office. Pete is beginning to build his book and Anthony is also having a great month. I may have to take the office out to Benihanas this month, which I'd be thrilled to do. We have to hit $110,000 in net income to go to lunch. Our "nut" is about $95,000 to pay the bills and I've set $15,000 in profit to afford a celebration. Unfortunately with the changes and new people I haven't bought lunch in four months. Hopefully this month will put us over the top. Be well and keep striving for heaven and you'll be fine. Ciao.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Jennifer looking more like a California girl than a soldier
It is a Tuesday morning in Northern California. I've had my coffee, made small talk with the early arrivers here at work and I'm now adding to the blog. Darla and I took a night up in Reno Sunday night and for that reason the blog is a day late. We had hoped to have Jennifer join us, but the pressures of friends and family were a bit too much for her and she begged off the trip. Darla and I shrugged and decided to take a trip up to Reno ourselves.
We drove up after church on Sunday and relaxed Sunday afternoon. The clouds had rolled in and Darla read and I watched the final round of the International golf tournament on television. We had dinner at Benihanas at the Golden Phoenix. We then played a little video poker at the Phoenix and I got creamed. Darla won a few pots and I itched to get out of there and back to my comfort zone at the Atlantis Casino. We just play nickle slots and with 20 coins as a maximum, we can't get hurt too bad. I fell down about $80 before finally hitting a $100 jackpot. I then hit another $50 and finally four Aces with a 2 for $200. Darla and I cash out whenever we hit a four-of-a-kind and by ten-thirty we had over $450 in vouchers in Darla's purse. We took a break and went to the room so Darla could change. We decided to leave $400 of the vouchers in the room and took $50 to play with. At one point Darla hit four dueces with a 4, but only saved the dueces and went from a 2000 coin payout to 400. Ouch. We played until about 12:30 and returned to the room with just over $50, so it was a really good trip. We had an early lunch in Reno and then drove back to Roseville and spent the afternoon relaxing at Alicia's pool. We didn't even look at the machines on the way out of Reno and enjoyed taking some money home with us this trip.
Part of the allure of Reno this weekend was the final day of Hot August Nights, the annual car show and cruise in Reno. This year was as good as any and I always especially enjoy seeing the 1957 Chevys. It is my birth year and still one of the all time cool cars. I like Dad's collection and he is once again winning car shows ( I just received a note from him and he took first place in a show in BC), but the '57 Chevy is my favorite. They had a candy apple red one at Atlantis that was a dream. Dad, you need to come up to Reno in early August next year and bring the '44.
As you can see, Jennifer has made good use of the jet ski on her trip home. In fact, she decided she wants her own vest and Darla and I are getting her a new Body Glove vest which should arrive today. We have added two fuel containers on a rack to the jet ski trailer and I have a set of trailer guides coming today and a lock for the hitch slip. We will take Jennifer out a final time on Thursday to the lake and she leaves for Atlanta on Friday morning. We will take her out to dinner after the lake and celebrate her birthday, which is August 28th, but she will be back in Kuwait by then. She will spend the weekend in Atlanta and flies back to Kuwait on Monday.
Jennifer has had a good trip home and it has been a good mix of friends and family. She took the trip to Santa Cruz and has been out with most of her friends and went to the lake and water skiing with Jason. She went out to the clubs with David, her old boyfriend from Folsom last week. They went with one of his frends, Jay, a fireman. On their way back to our house at two in the morning they came across a house fire and were the first ones on scene. Jay kicked in the front door of the home (which turned out to be vacant) and Jennifer ran to the neighboring homes to awaken the residents. She ended up as the "unknown woman" who alerted residents in the Sacramento Bee. Jennifer had kicked off her heels to run door to door and by the time she returned to their car, the fire department had arrived and had hoses all over the ground and she lost her shoes. She went by the scene the next morning, but her shoes were nowhere to be found. I don't understand the bar scene and what the draw is there. At 24, I had a one year old and had been married for four years. Anyhow, thank God that Jennifer and her friends were up and able to alert the fire department of the fire as well as the neighbors.
Work continues to improve and I'm beginning to see signs of real progress with Anthony and Pete in this office and the Modesto office in particular. I'm having a great month and received the order on my largest renewal on the 1st of August to the tune of $225,000. My month is made and it's only the ninth.
I did not play golf this past weekend and it is the first weekend without golf since we got back from Hawaii. I will play in a tournament in Reno (Sparks actually) on Sunday. I'll have to get out this week and hit some balls to refresh my game. Next weekend is the qualifier for Diamond Oaks' Rose Cup team and it is one of my annual goals to qualify for the team. I missed the chance last year as I was rehabbing a bad back.
Well, that is all of the happenings in our neck of the woods. My prayer is that God help lead Jennifer to the next stage in her professional life (and while I'm at it, He bring a strong Christian man in to her life and help her settle down. Hey, I'm out on a limb already, I'll reach for the stars). It will be interesting to watch God move in her life in the next several months as she prepares to conclude her service and get back to life in these here United States. Take care and keep God alive in your life. Ciao.
We drove up after church on Sunday and relaxed Sunday afternoon. The clouds had rolled in and Darla read and I watched the final round of the International golf tournament on television. We had dinner at Benihanas at the Golden Phoenix. We then played a little video poker at the Phoenix and I got creamed. Darla won a few pots and I itched to get out of there and back to my comfort zone at the Atlantis Casino. We just play nickle slots and with 20 coins as a maximum, we can't get hurt too bad. I fell down about $80 before finally hitting a $100 jackpot. I then hit another $50 and finally four Aces with a 2 for $200. Darla and I cash out whenever we hit a four-of-a-kind and by ten-thirty we had over $450 in vouchers in Darla's purse. We took a break and went to the room so Darla could change. We decided to leave $400 of the vouchers in the room and took $50 to play with. At one point Darla hit four dueces with a 4, but only saved the dueces and went from a 2000 coin payout to 400. Ouch. We played until about 12:30 and returned to the room with just over $50, so it was a really good trip. We had an early lunch in Reno and then drove back to Roseville and spent the afternoon relaxing at Alicia's pool. We didn't even look at the machines on the way out of Reno and enjoyed taking some money home with us this trip.
Part of the allure of Reno this weekend was the final day of Hot August Nights, the annual car show and cruise in Reno. This year was as good as any and I always especially enjoy seeing the 1957 Chevys. It is my birth year and still one of the all time cool cars. I like Dad's collection and he is once again winning car shows ( I just received a note from him and he took first place in a show in BC), but the '57 Chevy is my favorite. They had a candy apple red one at Atlantis that was a dream. Dad, you need to come up to Reno in early August next year and bring the '44.
As you can see, Jennifer has made good use of the jet ski on her trip home. In fact, she decided she wants her own vest and Darla and I are getting her a new Body Glove vest which should arrive today. We have added two fuel containers on a rack to the jet ski trailer and I have a set of trailer guides coming today and a lock for the hitch slip. We will take Jennifer out a final time on Thursday to the lake and she leaves for Atlanta on Friday morning. We will take her out to dinner after the lake and celebrate her birthday, which is August 28th, but she will be back in Kuwait by then. She will spend the weekend in Atlanta and flies back to Kuwait on Monday.
Jennifer has had a good trip home and it has been a good mix of friends and family. She took the trip to Santa Cruz and has been out with most of her friends and went to the lake and water skiing with Jason. She went out to the clubs with David, her old boyfriend from Folsom last week. They went with one of his frends, Jay, a fireman. On their way back to our house at two in the morning they came across a house fire and were the first ones on scene. Jay kicked in the front door of the home (which turned out to be vacant) and Jennifer ran to the neighboring homes to awaken the residents. She ended up as the "unknown woman" who alerted residents in the Sacramento Bee. Jennifer had kicked off her heels to run door to door and by the time she returned to their car, the fire department had arrived and had hoses all over the ground and she lost her shoes. She went by the scene the next morning, but her shoes were nowhere to be found. I don't understand the bar scene and what the draw is there. At 24, I had a one year old and had been married for four years. Anyhow, thank God that Jennifer and her friends were up and able to alert the fire department of the fire as well as the neighbors.
Work continues to improve and I'm beginning to see signs of real progress with Anthony and Pete in this office and the Modesto office in particular. I'm having a great month and received the order on my largest renewal on the 1st of August to the tune of $225,000. My month is made and it's only the ninth.
I did not play golf this past weekend and it is the first weekend without golf since we got back from Hawaii. I will play in a tournament in Reno (Sparks actually) on Sunday. I'll have to get out this week and hit some balls to refresh my game. Next weekend is the qualifier for Diamond Oaks' Rose Cup team and it is one of my annual goals to qualify for the team. I missed the chance last year as I was rehabbing a bad back.
Well, that is all of the happenings in our neck of the woods. My prayer is that God help lead Jennifer to the next stage in her professional life (and while I'm at it, He bring a strong Christian man in to her life and help her settle down. Hey, I'm out on a limb already, I'll reach for the stars). It will be interesting to watch God move in her life in the next several months as she prepares to conclude her service and get back to life in these here United States. Take care and keep God alive in your life. Ciao.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Summer Sizzle
Heat continues to be a major factor for us here in Sacramento. The temperatures have been close to or over a hundred degrees for most of July and this week looks just as toasty. We were able to take a day at the lake with Jennifer and her friend, Sara, on Thursday and we had a ball. Jennifer and David ended up sore after an epic battle to see who could throw whom off the jet ski with more alacrity. David ended up being thrown straight backward and he hit his tail bone on the rear deck of the ski. Jennifer was simply unrestrained in her enthusiasm for the ski and spent a total of several hours on the ski by herself and with David, Daniel and Sara. Darla and I mostly watched the proceedings figuring that we can use the ski anytime. We plan to get back out to the lake tomorrow with Jennifer and some of her friends. They ran the ski so much that we had to pull it out of the water late afternoon and run over to the local gas station. The tank only took 12 gallons so there were over 6 left, but David is a full time worker and was bringing us dinner, so we didn't want to present him with an empty ski.
We haven't seen Jennifer other than last Thursday as she left that night for Santa Cruz with Sara. They stayed with some friends and Jennifer truly enjoyed the 69 degree highs and overnight lows in the 50's while she was there. After the broiler of Kuwait, the cool weather was welcome. They stayed over Thursday and Friday night and were back on Saturday evening. She spent yesterday with her Mom and they went to church. She said that she will join Darla and I next week at our church and we look forward to that.
Darla and I took the boys yesterday to Linden and a final goodbye to the only home that the boys have ever known Earl and Frances to have. We spent the afternoon playing in the pool and Darla took some pictures. It was a melancholy afternoon, but the farm was just too big of a burden on Earl and I can see that he is demonstrably more relaxed. He has a lot of work with the house and grounds in Paradise, but it will be a labor of love and won't be predicated on time constraints. He'll be able to up and take a month's vacation without worrying about the farm. They also bought a rental three doors down from Alicia's house in Roseville. The boys will be keeping up the lawn and I'll be the contact for any problems or repairs that need to be done.
I played golf in the three club tournament on Saturday and I can only say that I'm glad I have 11 other clubs on a regular basis. It is really difficult to attempt to play with such a limited number of clubs. I shot 44+44=88 and struggled most of the day. I only managed four pars and missed some putts along the way, but was routinely chipping to the green for birdie and then two putting for bogey. It was tough. The groundskeeper burned several of the greens in the last week by sanding them and not watering enough during the week. There are several areas with large burn spots. Moron. Our next tournament is in Reno on the 14th. I hope to spend some time with Jennifer next weekend.
We had a guest speaker yesterday at church. Our pastor, Rick, is going through a series on Hot Topics and we heard from a man who was immersed in the gay lifestyle in the seventies and eighties and has emerged through the grace of God into a family man, married for eighteen years with two children. His sermon was not on the evil of homosexuality as one might expect (like a reformed smoker who is hell bent on eradicating tobacco), but more on the theme of reaching out to the gay and lesbian population and inviting them to experience the healing power of Jesus Christ. The man's name is Steve Dallas and he is a powerful speaker. He told the story of a middle aged pastor who felt the call to reach out to people suffering from the Aids epidemic. He started a ministry that befriended those suffering from Aids and he ministered at the local hospital's Aids ward. The gay and lesbian population soon heard of his works and invited him to be interviewed on a local gay radio program. Soon his church was visited by the gay population who wanted to hear from this compassionate minister. They came and heard and returned to hear him preach week after week. Finally, several of the church leaders met with the pastor and asked him what he was doing as their church was being overrun with Gays. The pastor said that there was plenty of room next to the adulterers, tax cheats, idolators and bigots for any sinner. Steve's point was that as Christians, it is much easier for us to espouse our ideology than it is to live up to it. Powerful and convicting stuff.
I was in the office at 6:45 AM this morning as I have several accounts that I'm working on. The depressing part of the day was that I had to turn on my headlights when I left the house. The Summer is quickly escaping. In fact, Daniel returns to school next Wednesday and David starts college the end of this month. August is here.
Well, that is the drivel that is on my mind this week. I'll try to remember my camera when we hit the lake this week and put some pictures on the blog next week. I hope all are well and living La Vida en Cristo. Ciao.
We haven't seen Jennifer other than last Thursday as she left that night for Santa Cruz with Sara. They stayed with some friends and Jennifer truly enjoyed the 69 degree highs and overnight lows in the 50's while she was there. After the broiler of Kuwait, the cool weather was welcome. They stayed over Thursday and Friday night and were back on Saturday evening. She spent yesterday with her Mom and they went to church. She said that she will join Darla and I next week at our church and we look forward to that.
Darla and I took the boys yesterday to Linden and a final goodbye to the only home that the boys have ever known Earl and Frances to have. We spent the afternoon playing in the pool and Darla took some pictures. It was a melancholy afternoon, but the farm was just too big of a burden on Earl and I can see that he is demonstrably more relaxed. He has a lot of work with the house and grounds in Paradise, but it will be a labor of love and won't be predicated on time constraints. He'll be able to up and take a month's vacation without worrying about the farm. They also bought a rental three doors down from Alicia's house in Roseville. The boys will be keeping up the lawn and I'll be the contact for any problems or repairs that need to be done.
I played golf in the three club tournament on Saturday and I can only say that I'm glad I have 11 other clubs on a regular basis. It is really difficult to attempt to play with such a limited number of clubs. I shot 44+44=88 and struggled most of the day. I only managed four pars and missed some putts along the way, but was routinely chipping to the green for birdie and then two putting for bogey. It was tough. The groundskeeper burned several of the greens in the last week by sanding them and not watering enough during the week. There are several areas with large burn spots. Moron. Our next tournament is in Reno on the 14th. I hope to spend some time with Jennifer next weekend.
We had a guest speaker yesterday at church. Our pastor, Rick, is going through a series on Hot Topics and we heard from a man who was immersed in the gay lifestyle in the seventies and eighties and has emerged through the grace of God into a family man, married for eighteen years with two children. His sermon was not on the evil of homosexuality as one might expect (like a reformed smoker who is hell bent on eradicating tobacco), but more on the theme of reaching out to the gay and lesbian population and inviting them to experience the healing power of Jesus Christ. The man's name is Steve Dallas and he is a powerful speaker. He told the story of a middle aged pastor who felt the call to reach out to people suffering from the Aids epidemic. He started a ministry that befriended those suffering from Aids and he ministered at the local hospital's Aids ward. The gay and lesbian population soon heard of his works and invited him to be interviewed on a local gay radio program. Soon his church was visited by the gay population who wanted to hear from this compassionate minister. They came and heard and returned to hear him preach week after week. Finally, several of the church leaders met with the pastor and asked him what he was doing as their church was being overrun with Gays. The pastor said that there was plenty of room next to the adulterers, tax cheats, idolators and bigots for any sinner. Steve's point was that as Christians, it is much easier for us to espouse our ideology than it is to live up to it. Powerful and convicting stuff.
I was in the office at 6:45 AM this morning as I have several accounts that I'm working on. The depressing part of the day was that I had to turn on my headlights when I left the house. The Summer is quickly escaping. In fact, Daniel returns to school next Wednesday and David starts college the end of this month. August is here.
Well, that is the drivel that is on my mind this week. I'll try to remember my camera when we hit the lake this week and put some pictures on the blog next week. I hope all are well and living La Vida en Cristo. Ciao.