Yes. The unthinkable occurred yesterday, I received a call and found out that I have a long lost daughter. She left in January for Korea and we'd lost contact with her for a few months, but communications have been re-established and all is well. Jennifer has been very busy in Korea and the initial assessment that she would be back in the USA in March has given way to the realization that the job is bigger than originally thought, several new contracts have been added and it looks like May for her return at this point. There is good news and that is that she had her ninety day review. They've not only decided to retain her services, but agreed to place her in the new San Francisco office. So, she doesn't have to move to Warner Robbins, Georgia. As Jennifer put it: "I can travel the world and still return to Cali between assignments." She is doing really well in her job and is respected for her knowledge and her skill. It is a great thing for her confidence and for her well being to be respected and appreciated. Jennifer had some problems on this trip and one of them was not being able to get her contractor ID. For whatever reason, the wheels of bureaucracy turned way too slow and she had to be signed in and out of the base by her supervisor every day. On top of that, she didn't have her retired military ID and couldn't even shop at the PX. She had to have one of the guys in her company buy her things, including tampons. Poor thing. Her boss acknowledged the difficulties, apologized and offered her the position in SF. Nice. One of the guys in her group lives in Vegas and was jealous that she got SF as he is based out of New York City.
It was a beautiful Saturday this week, followed by the start of a five day storm that promises to bring us up to five inches of rain. I went to bed on Saturday night with a slight sunburn and woke up in Vancouver Sunday morning. What happened? The storm hit hard last night, but let up a little this morning and the commute was cake. There was a slight rain and it amazed me to see how many people were huddled at bus stops along my route without a hat or an umbrella. What gives with people? They'll show up at work looking like a drowned rat. I suppose the fact that they are taking the bus alone might indicate the level of sophistication present. Before I get slammed by the masses. I know that senior citizens use the transit system for transportation after their driving years are over, but they are not in line at the bus stop at six thirty in the morning unless they've completely given in to dementia.
I was in Redding on Thursday and Friday and had 65 voice mail messages waiting for me. My assistant, Connie, handled my desk on Thursday, but was herself out of the office on Friday. I am basically digging out right now, but it was a great marketing trip and well worth my time and effort to see the people in Shasta County.
Saturday was a great day for golf and although I only shot 42+42=84, I was on the green on number seven, a par five, in two and left my eagle putt on the right lip for a tap in birdie. Some things transcend score and that was a moment in time. The hole is 485 yards. I will not play in the next tournament as Darla and I will travel over my birthday. We had thought about going up to Reno, but we have the boys that weekend and I am considering a trip to Monterey/Carmel. Dad and Shirley, why don't you drive up and join us? The next tournament is a three-day, two man scramble, shamble and best ball. Fun, but not real golf and I won't miss it. My next tournament will be the Master's tournament in April followed by the two- man, four ball qualifier in late April. Boyd and I will again try our hand at winning there. They will take the two lowest two-ball teams and they will combine to play four-ball in the regional qualifier in June. We're getting closer and I hope to break through in one of these tournaments soon.
Boyd is a great guy. He is Mormon and went to school at BYU. We've had several religious discussions and I think he is open to hearing about Jesus. The Mormon church is so cult-like in it's beliefs. They believe that Jesus was a prophet, but that Joseph Smith was the messiah. It is a backward religion and has a foundation of "earning your way to heaven". Of course as a Christian, there is no earning heaven, Jesus died for our sins and he is the only way to heaven.
Boyd told me a story this week of his son's mission to Guatemala. Boyd and his wife flew down to Guatemala to pick up their son following his year-long mission. As they were driving their rented car back to the airport, they were ambushed by a group of banditos. The bandits had the crossed gunbelts with bullets. Boyd said that they were actually waiting to rob a bus that crossed the path every day and had workers from the local winery as well as the owner of the winery on it. The bandits were stupid and stopped Boyd and his family so they could block the road with their rental car. They searched Boyd three times and missed his wallet in his back pocket each time. They did take money from his wife's purse. She had about $200 in American money and Boyd's son convinced the bandits that US money was worthless in Guatemala. They gave the money back to them. In truth US funds are worth much more than Guatemalan money. They also locked the car when they got out and the bandits couldn't figure out how to work the keys to get in to the car. Boyd says that it is funny now, but it was life or death at the time. They did rob the bus and left on foot, leaving them with the car keys. Boyd was able to get his family back in the car and drive to the police station. The police told them that they were lucky, that many of the local bandits killed their hostages to eliminate witnesses.
Well, work awaits. I have my door shut and my team keeps poking their head in the door to say good morning. I had best get on to my day. I hope you all have a good week. God bless and be well. Ciao.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
Presidents Day 2006
It is another holiday in 2006 that finds me at work and being productive while the balance of Sacramento sleeps in and enjoys their day off from work. Today dawned with a bright blue sky and not a cloud in evidence, but it is COLD. A front from Canada rolled in last Thursday and continues to hold sway on our weather. We awoke to frost on the lawn and rooftops and steam is now rising from what is left of the frost now that the sun has come out to burn off the silvery pest. It will be a tremendous day, though a high of only 59 degrees after an overnight low of 33.
The weather that pushed in over the weekend threatened my golf game, but despite a few drops of rain on Saturday I was able to play the two day tournament with little distress. I did wear a golf shirt over a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of Reebok sweat pants both days. It was the two-day zone qualifier for a chance to advance to Spyglass Hill in Carmel/Pebble Beach. Boyd and I played well, but a tournament like this requires luck as well as skill and we had several putts that lipped out and stopped on the edge of the cup, that if they had dropped would have propelled us to the win. As it is, we finished 4th out of 18 teams with a 64+63=127. The winners had 59+61=120 and 59+65=124. I shot very consistent golf with 37+44=81 and 39+42=81. If I had played better on the back nine we might have had a chance. Boyd shot 78 on Saturday and 73 yesterday, so we both brought our A games. It just wasn't to be. We had one team that shot 57 on Saturday and they are both mediocre golfers. They have been known to have some problems with basic math and the Board decided to place them with one of our tougher "rules" teams on Sunday and they struggled to a 77, perhaps the biggest two day swing in scoring in memory. We also lost one of our members on Saturday night. He played in the tournament on Saturday and died at home of a massive heart attack after dinner. Skip Orr was 62 and his wife called to tell us how much the golf group meant to her husband. The golf group will dedicate a plaque and tree in his honor somewhere on the course. Skip was a former President of the Roseville Golf Club.
Darla and I will have our new bedroom furniture delivered this week on Wednesday. I put our old furniture on Craig's List, a local E-Bay of sorts, although you specify a price and the buyers can look at the goods online and contact you. I had no clue that this process existed, much less that it was so popular. I had about ten calls and twenty e-mails within minutes of posting the ad. We are selling our old dresser and armoire, as well as a futon that was in the study. Our old bed is being moved into the study, which will become a guest bedroom and we had to move out the futon which was frankly too big for that room with the desk in it anyway. One couple called Darla and insisted that they come to see the futon on Thursday night. I work late and dragged home at six-thirty to find out that we had these people coming. We had the futon listed at $150 on Craig's List. The couple showed up in a Ford Taurus and had a sob story about their mother who was coming home to live with them after being in a rest home for six months following a stroke. They came and looked at the futon and laid it flat and measured how far it sat from the wall. They hemmed and hawed and finally offered us $100. Darla said no, but that we'd take $125. The guy said that they'd spent so much getting the mom home that he could only afford $100. Darla finally gave in and decided to show some Christian charity. I helped them take the futon apart and literally cram it into their Taurus. He laid the back seats flat and we placed the slats into the trunk and then had to fold up the mattress like a taco and push and pull and slam the door shut. They thanked us and drove off with their treasure like the Beverly Hillbillies. The next morning I went back onto Craig's List to check our ads and saw a new ad for our futon being sold by the couple who bought it and they were asking $150. Those sons of ... Who knows if there was a sick Mom or it was just a scam, but shame on them and shame on us. I'm now jaded. If your Mom is sick and you need some cheap furniture, go see the Salvation Army and tell them your sob story, I'm not buying it. We have someone coming tonight to buy the dresser and armoire for $150. I probably priced them too low, but who knew?
I haven't given an update on Jason Ramos for awhile. Jason is Jenn's friend who is in the hospital with throat cancer. Jason turns 26 this week and will celebrate his birthday in the hospital. His cancer is under control, but the size of the tumor damaged his vocal cords and he has a hole in his throat that needs to be closed with surgery. They are now expecting that he will be in the hospital for another four to six months.. Please continue to pray for this courageous young man and for his parents, who lost his twin to a suicide last year and have watched Jason suffer so much over the last few months.
I will be up in Redding late this week for a marketing visit to my Redding agents. Work continues to thrive. We made a nice profit in January and February is going along nicely as well. I'm having a very good month in spite of having lost a couple of large renewals this month. I'm leading the office in both premium and net income this month, which is what the powers that be want. I am in conflict with home office right now on a new contract that they wanted us to sign. We sign a bonus contract that pays us based on our production. The contract has read in the past that we could not take any of the business that we put on the books for a period of one year after we left. I had no problem with that wording. Unfortunately, they changed the wording this year to include not contacting any of our agents for one year after we leave. I disagree with that wording and feel that it is "restraint of trade". I have agreed to sign the old contract or simply line out the wording that I disagree with. I have put the ball in their court and have yet to hear where it will finally settle.
Well, that is the news that's fit to share with all of you. Work awaits. I am sending the troops home early today as most of our agent and almost all of our companies are closed today. Put the LORD at the front of your day and the living will be easy. Ciao.
The weather that pushed in over the weekend threatened my golf game, but despite a few drops of rain on Saturday I was able to play the two day tournament with little distress. I did wear a golf shirt over a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of Reebok sweat pants both days. It was the two-day zone qualifier for a chance to advance to Spyglass Hill in Carmel/Pebble Beach. Boyd and I played well, but a tournament like this requires luck as well as skill and we had several putts that lipped out and stopped on the edge of the cup, that if they had dropped would have propelled us to the win. As it is, we finished 4th out of 18 teams with a 64+63=127. The winners had 59+61=120 and 59+65=124. I shot very consistent golf with 37+44=81 and 39+42=81. If I had played better on the back nine we might have had a chance. Boyd shot 78 on Saturday and 73 yesterday, so we both brought our A games. It just wasn't to be. We had one team that shot 57 on Saturday and they are both mediocre golfers. They have been known to have some problems with basic math and the Board decided to place them with one of our tougher "rules" teams on Sunday and they struggled to a 77, perhaps the biggest two day swing in scoring in memory. We also lost one of our members on Saturday night. He played in the tournament on Saturday and died at home of a massive heart attack after dinner. Skip Orr was 62 and his wife called to tell us how much the golf group meant to her husband. The golf group will dedicate a plaque and tree in his honor somewhere on the course. Skip was a former President of the Roseville Golf Club.
Darla and I will have our new bedroom furniture delivered this week on Wednesday. I put our old furniture on Craig's List, a local E-Bay of sorts, although you specify a price and the buyers can look at the goods online and contact you. I had no clue that this process existed, much less that it was so popular. I had about ten calls and twenty e-mails within minutes of posting the ad. We are selling our old dresser and armoire, as well as a futon that was in the study. Our old bed is being moved into the study, which will become a guest bedroom and we had to move out the futon which was frankly too big for that room with the desk in it anyway. One couple called Darla and insisted that they come to see the futon on Thursday night. I work late and dragged home at six-thirty to find out that we had these people coming. We had the futon listed at $150 on Craig's List. The couple showed up in a Ford Taurus and had a sob story about their mother who was coming home to live with them after being in a rest home for six months following a stroke. They came and looked at the futon and laid it flat and measured how far it sat from the wall. They hemmed and hawed and finally offered us $100. Darla said no, but that we'd take $125. The guy said that they'd spent so much getting the mom home that he could only afford $100. Darla finally gave in and decided to show some Christian charity. I helped them take the futon apart and literally cram it into their Taurus. He laid the back seats flat and we placed the slats into the trunk and then had to fold up the mattress like a taco and push and pull and slam the door shut. They thanked us and drove off with their treasure like the Beverly Hillbillies. The next morning I went back onto Craig's List to check our ads and saw a new ad for our futon being sold by the couple who bought it and they were asking $150. Those sons of ... Who knows if there was a sick Mom or it was just a scam, but shame on them and shame on us. I'm now jaded. If your Mom is sick and you need some cheap furniture, go see the Salvation Army and tell them your sob story, I'm not buying it. We have someone coming tonight to buy the dresser and armoire for $150. I probably priced them too low, but who knew?
I haven't given an update on Jason Ramos for awhile. Jason is Jenn's friend who is in the hospital with throat cancer. Jason turns 26 this week and will celebrate his birthday in the hospital. His cancer is under control, but the size of the tumor damaged his vocal cords and he has a hole in his throat that needs to be closed with surgery. They are now expecting that he will be in the hospital for another four to six months.. Please continue to pray for this courageous young man and for his parents, who lost his twin to a suicide last year and have watched Jason suffer so much over the last few months.
I will be up in Redding late this week for a marketing visit to my Redding agents. Work continues to thrive. We made a nice profit in January and February is going along nicely as well. I'm having a very good month in spite of having lost a couple of large renewals this month. I'm leading the office in both premium and net income this month, which is what the powers that be want. I am in conflict with home office right now on a new contract that they wanted us to sign. We sign a bonus contract that pays us based on our production. The contract has read in the past that we could not take any of the business that we put on the books for a period of one year after we left. I had no problem with that wording. Unfortunately, they changed the wording this year to include not contacting any of our agents for one year after we leave. I disagree with that wording and feel that it is "restraint of trade". I have agreed to sign the old contract or simply line out the wording that I disagree with. I have put the ball in their court and have yet to hear where it will finally settle.
Well, that is the news that's fit to share with all of you. Work awaits. I am sending the troops home early today as most of our agent and almost all of our companies are closed today. Put the LORD at the front of your day and the living will be easy. Ciao.
Monday, February 13, 2006
75 degrees and Sunny
Life is good in Northern California and I feel little empathy for my co-workers who are slogging to work today in a fierce blizzard in Detroit, Michigan. Frankly, they choose to live in the rust belt and I choose to live in California. The weekend was spectacular and I got my first sunburn of the year. I played golf on Saturday in shorts and although I applied sunscreen liberally, I'm a white boy and my winter white skin attracted the sun like honey attracts bears. I spent yesterday outside trimming bushes and plants and applying fertilizer and crabgrass preventer to the lawn. It truly was a spectacular weekend without even a hint of clouds or a puff of wind and it was the type of weekend that makes one very happy to be a Californian. The weather should hold for the first part of this week and then turn to clouds and rain by Thursday. Hopefully, the weekend will be dry as I have a two day qualifier tournament for Spyglass Hill in Carmel/ Pebble Beach.
Boyd and I played Saturday as a tune-up for our partnership next weekend. We will play two days of two-man best ball for a chance to represent our club in the NCGA 2-man best ball championships played at Spyglass Hill in April. Our practice round was played in ideal conditions and we can both say that we got the bad round out of our systems. I shot 45+42=87 and had a sole birdie to go with the rest of the mess of my round. Boyd shot an 80 and we shot a combined 69. We played in the tournament last year and shot 66+66=132 and the winners had 123. We need to be sharp and play good golf to win. Next week is a new week, so we'll see how we do. I will get out and practice this week a couple of times.
We had a small experimental plane crash yesterday in Roseville. The pilot was out doing barrel rolls and stunts way too close to his neighborhood. In fact, his wife was filming the stunts from their front yard when his plane lost control and he crashed into a two story home about three blocks from his house. The plane burst into flames destroying the house and badly damaging an adjacent home. The pilot and his passenger were killed on impact. The family that owned the home was out of town, but their 18 year old son, who graduated with David from Woodcreek High School, was in town and is unaccounted for. The upper story of the home was destroyed on impact and the plane came to rest in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The FAA was to get a crane out to the crash site today to remove the plane and make the house safe for searchers to get into the home and look for the teenager. Hopefully, he was out of the house as the crash occurred at about 11:30 in the morning, when I was driving home from church.
We had a video taped message from Pastor Rick at church yesterday. He is in the middle of a three month sabbatical and the tape showed Rick and his family on the beach and enjoying their time together. He has grown our church in 12 years from a small neighborhood church of 120 people to a 3,300 member mega church and he is tired. We look forward to seeing him back preaching next month.
David finally got his stereo installed this weekend and he's thrilled. Several of our Christian CDs were missing on the weekend and they were in his car. It is Lincoln's birthday today, which is not a federal holiday, and David is off to his job. Darla is off because she gets EVERY holiday off. Daniel is off from school today because teachers are lazy and Darla and Dan will likely go and visit her grandfather who is in his 80's and lives in a retirement center in Ripon, California. He sold his house last year and finally decided to move into the retirement village where he spent a great deal of his time visiting friends and helping out with the church service and special meals, etc. He and his wife, Liz, live in an apartment on the grounds and still have their car. Liz suffers from dementia and Andy is getting older and it is hard for them to care for each other now. We are all happy that they have moved into the home as it gives them a social outlet, but also gives them access to health care and assisted living.
My assistant called to tell me that she has a nail in her tire. Her husband is in Fresno on a job this week and she didn't know what to do. I put her in touch with Pete Morrison, one of my underwriters who lives in her area. Hopefully, Pete will be able to get her over to a Big O tires and get her tire fixed. It was an interesting call and she was looking for guidance more than just calling to tell me she'd be late.
Daniel has finished his driver's education and will be taking his license exam this week. His grandmother is buying him a car worth up to $4,000 and Dan is busy hunting for a new car. We helped David and Jennifer with their first cars and put it on Steve to help Daniel. Lucky for Daniel his grandmother stepped to the plate or Dan would have been stuck with one of the junkers that Steve has at his house. He has a 65 Ford pickup, a broken down 1980's Jeep Cherokee, a 1970's Ford El Camino, as well as his 2004 Chevy Tahoe. None of the other vehicles are road ready and Daniel would have been stuck if not for Grandma. I wanted Steve to buy the car as I want our insurance to be secondary. We already pay close to $4,700 for insurance on three cars. Darla and I used to pay $1,100 for our two cars and then we added David. I couldn't afford to add Daniel, much less buy him a car. Geico, our insurer, will let us add Daniel to our policy for only $100 a month if he has primary insurance with his father.
I haven't heard from Dad and Shirley. I know they were going to be in Texas for a month, but don't know if they have flown home yet or not. I may try to call over to Darryl's tonight. I thought about it too late last night.
I did hear from Jennifer and got her address in Korea. She can actually pick her mail up a the Army Post Office. Her address for now is:
Jennifer Lyon
Das Net Corp
Box 12074
APO, AP 96278
She expects to be in Korea through March and into April as her contract has been extended on the current job. She is enjoying herself and has been into the cities of Korea a few times. I wonder if she has had the experience of eating live octopus. It is a deadly delicacy in Korea and one that I could do without.
Well, that is it for this week. Remember to explore your world around you. God made this world for us to enjoy and to proclaim His love. Ciao.
Boyd and I played Saturday as a tune-up for our partnership next weekend. We will play two days of two-man best ball for a chance to represent our club in the NCGA 2-man best ball championships played at Spyglass Hill in April. Our practice round was played in ideal conditions and we can both say that we got the bad round out of our systems. I shot 45+42=87 and had a sole birdie to go with the rest of the mess of my round. Boyd shot an 80 and we shot a combined 69. We played in the tournament last year and shot 66+66=132 and the winners had 123. We need to be sharp and play good golf to win. Next week is a new week, so we'll see how we do. I will get out and practice this week a couple of times.
We had a small experimental plane crash yesterday in Roseville. The pilot was out doing barrel rolls and stunts way too close to his neighborhood. In fact, his wife was filming the stunts from their front yard when his plane lost control and he crashed into a two story home about three blocks from his house. The plane burst into flames destroying the house and badly damaging an adjacent home. The pilot and his passenger were killed on impact. The family that owned the home was out of town, but their 18 year old son, who graduated with David from Woodcreek High School, was in town and is unaccounted for. The upper story of the home was destroyed on impact and the plane came to rest in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The FAA was to get a crane out to the crash site today to remove the plane and make the house safe for searchers to get into the home and look for the teenager. Hopefully, he was out of the house as the crash occurred at about 11:30 in the morning, when I was driving home from church.
We had a video taped message from Pastor Rick at church yesterday. He is in the middle of a three month sabbatical and the tape showed Rick and his family on the beach and enjoying their time together. He has grown our church in 12 years from a small neighborhood church of 120 people to a 3,300 member mega church and he is tired. We look forward to seeing him back preaching next month.
David finally got his stereo installed this weekend and he's thrilled. Several of our Christian CDs were missing on the weekend and they were in his car. It is Lincoln's birthday today, which is not a federal holiday, and David is off to his job. Darla is off because she gets EVERY holiday off. Daniel is off from school today because teachers are lazy and Darla and Dan will likely go and visit her grandfather who is in his 80's and lives in a retirement center in Ripon, California. He sold his house last year and finally decided to move into the retirement village where he spent a great deal of his time visiting friends and helping out with the church service and special meals, etc. He and his wife, Liz, live in an apartment on the grounds and still have their car. Liz suffers from dementia and Andy is getting older and it is hard for them to care for each other now. We are all happy that they have moved into the home as it gives them a social outlet, but also gives them access to health care and assisted living.
My assistant called to tell me that she has a nail in her tire. Her husband is in Fresno on a job this week and she didn't know what to do. I put her in touch with Pete Morrison, one of my underwriters who lives in her area. Hopefully, Pete will be able to get her over to a Big O tires and get her tire fixed. It was an interesting call and she was looking for guidance more than just calling to tell me she'd be late.
Daniel has finished his driver's education and will be taking his license exam this week. His grandmother is buying him a car worth up to $4,000 and Dan is busy hunting for a new car. We helped David and Jennifer with their first cars and put it on Steve to help Daniel. Lucky for Daniel his grandmother stepped to the plate or Dan would have been stuck with one of the junkers that Steve has at his house. He has a 65 Ford pickup, a broken down 1980's Jeep Cherokee, a 1970's Ford El Camino, as well as his 2004 Chevy Tahoe. None of the other vehicles are road ready and Daniel would have been stuck if not for Grandma. I wanted Steve to buy the car as I want our insurance to be secondary. We already pay close to $4,700 for insurance on three cars. Darla and I used to pay $1,100 for our two cars and then we added David. I couldn't afford to add Daniel, much less buy him a car. Geico, our insurer, will let us add Daniel to our policy for only $100 a month if he has primary insurance with his father.
I haven't heard from Dad and Shirley. I know they were going to be in Texas for a month, but don't know if they have flown home yet or not. I may try to call over to Darryl's tonight. I thought about it too late last night.
I did hear from Jennifer and got her address in Korea. She can actually pick her mail up a the Army Post Office. Her address for now is:
Jennifer Lyon
Das Net Corp
Box 12074
APO, AP 96278
She expects to be in Korea through March and into April as her contract has been extended on the current job. She is enjoying herself and has been into the cities of Korea a few times. I wonder if she has had the experience of eating live octopus. It is a deadly delicacy in Korea and one that I could do without.
Well, that is it for this week. Remember to explore your world around you. God made this world for us to enjoy and to proclaim His love. Ciao.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Great weekend and a good week ahead
Well, I thought I'd write it and see if it comes true. It was a great weekend, one that included poker, golf and football. Sprinkle that in with some quality family time and it is an ingredient for a great weekend.
Darla's brother, Steve, has gone into full middle life crisis mode and moved he and his wife to Hawaii. He retired from the bread route that he worked for ten years or so and will try to scratch out a living in Hawaii. He's not sure what he'll do, but his wife has a job in the psych profession and he will turn over some rocks and see what he can find. His oldest daughter, Shae, moved with Steve's wife, Kirsten, to the islands and spent three months trying to acclimate herself to the locals, but it just didn't take and she came home over Christmas and will not return. One of the problems is that she is 18 and in her senior year of school. She had to leave all of her friends in Sonora and tried hard to make a go of it in Hawaii, but the schools are pretty laid back and all of the kids have their long term friends and she just couldn't fit in. She came back to the mainland and refused to return. There is a drug culture in Hawaii that is pervasive in the schools and she never felt comfortable. So, Steve has packed up his wife, his dog and cat, a couple of cars and his furniture and is on a flight to Hawaii this morning. He leaves behind his old job, his old friends and his two daughters. I don't get it, but it sure smells of a major midlife crisis. I hope he doesn't wake up in a few months or years with a deep regret that he left his kids behind. Shae is 18 and his other daughter, Taylor, is 15. They live in Willits with their mother and step-father, who runs a mortuary.
The girls, Taylor and Shae, stayed with us this weekend and saw their Dad on Saturday for a final goodbye before his retreat from sanity (is my bias showing?). We had a great time with the girls and they joined us for church on Sunday. David was able to pry his way away from his father and join us for dinner Saturday night and for church and breakfast out on Sunday.
Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day and I was able to do some chores around the house and clean my golf equipment from the mud and sludge of a sloppy Saturday outing. The sky was clear and the sun was almost hot as it pushed the upper sixties yesterday. I pulled out a beach chair and sat on my front driveway idly enjoying a sunny Winter day and drifted off to sleep. I must have slept 45 minutes and woke up with a slight sunburn and mildly refreshed. It was great.
Friday night was poker at my house, the first game of 2006 and the first in about four months. I had ten players and we had to break off into two tables. It was great catching up with the guys and I had my entire foursome for Saturday's tournament at the game. Rain was forecast overnight and sure enough it blew in about 3 A.M. although it was gone by the time I awoke at 7:30 in preparation for my 9:44 tee time. Conditions at the course were wet and wetter and it was a sloppy, muddy round of golf. The balls were plugging in the fairway and roll was simply a theory on this day. I shot 46+42=88 and don't know where I ended up in the tournament as I left early to catch up with Darla, the girls and Darla's parents at our house. I had two birdies in the round and won some skin money, but I'm sure finished out of the money in the tournament. I'm an 11 now and a net of 77 is nothing to get excited about.
Sunday was church and football and nap time in the front yard. This week looks to be sunny and in the low seventies all week. Spring fever will be in full bloom as we slog through the week. I have a new receptionist starting today. The last one was a temp and she never seemed to pick up the nuances of the job. She was such a nice lady and cried when we let her go, but I have 13 people in the office and I need a file clerk/receptionist/claims person/loss run specialist, etc. with some get up and go. I'm hiring temp-to-permanent through an employment agency and it is amazing how few qualified people are available. Unemployment is at less than 5% and some of those don't want to work and the others really ought to be unemployed. The replacement will be here this morning and we will be back to training. I've asked Gail in the office to take over the supervision of the new employee.
Jennifer's friend, Jason, continues to struggle with his cancer and treatment in the hospital. He has been in UC Davis Medical Center for 2 1/2 months and is now expected to remain in the hospital for six more months. He has a hole in his windpipe caused by the cancer and the growth of the tumor. The doctors did a temporary repair, but have to wait for the tumor to shrink to do the permanent repair. Jason has regained some strength, but the biggest concern now is his mental health as he is so ready to get out of the hospital. The cancer has subsided, but he had to stop chemo therapy when the latest crisis occured, so he will have to start up chemo treatments again, shrink the tumor and then get the throat surgery. 25 years old and going through all of this. Pray hard for Jason.
Darla bough herself a new bedroom set this weekend. She has never liked the bedroom set that I brought into the marriage. According to her, it is too large and bulky. We will finally be able to move our old bed into the study and set up a real guest bedroom, so that Dad and Shirley will feel comfortable in coming to visit us in California and not always have to run off to Texas when the rain in Vancouver gets to be too mind numbing for them. We will move the bed and the bookcase into the study and move the desk and computer back into our room. We'll also now have a soft landing for Jennifer when she finds herself in Sacramento/Folsom/Roseville and wants to stay with us.
David did buy the stereo, a Pioneer deck that will allow him to manipulate his MP3 player. Nice, but he hasn't been able to get in to have the deck installed. He still needs to get speakers and a subwoofer for the truck.
That is the news for this week. I hope all are well and looking to the LORD for help with decisions in your lives. Stay well. Ciao.
Darla's brother, Steve, has gone into full middle life crisis mode and moved he and his wife to Hawaii. He retired from the bread route that he worked for ten years or so and will try to scratch out a living in Hawaii. He's not sure what he'll do, but his wife has a job in the psych profession and he will turn over some rocks and see what he can find. His oldest daughter, Shae, moved with Steve's wife, Kirsten, to the islands and spent three months trying to acclimate herself to the locals, but it just didn't take and she came home over Christmas and will not return. One of the problems is that she is 18 and in her senior year of school. She had to leave all of her friends in Sonora and tried hard to make a go of it in Hawaii, but the schools are pretty laid back and all of the kids have their long term friends and she just couldn't fit in. She came back to the mainland and refused to return. There is a drug culture in Hawaii that is pervasive in the schools and she never felt comfortable. So, Steve has packed up his wife, his dog and cat, a couple of cars and his furniture and is on a flight to Hawaii this morning. He leaves behind his old job, his old friends and his two daughters. I don't get it, but it sure smells of a major midlife crisis. I hope he doesn't wake up in a few months or years with a deep regret that he left his kids behind. Shae is 18 and his other daughter, Taylor, is 15. They live in Willits with their mother and step-father, who runs a mortuary.
The girls, Taylor and Shae, stayed with us this weekend and saw their Dad on Saturday for a final goodbye before his retreat from sanity (is my bias showing?). We had a great time with the girls and they joined us for church on Sunday. David was able to pry his way away from his father and join us for dinner Saturday night and for church and breakfast out on Sunday.
Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day and I was able to do some chores around the house and clean my golf equipment from the mud and sludge of a sloppy Saturday outing. The sky was clear and the sun was almost hot as it pushed the upper sixties yesterday. I pulled out a beach chair and sat on my front driveway idly enjoying a sunny Winter day and drifted off to sleep. I must have slept 45 minutes and woke up with a slight sunburn and mildly refreshed. It was great.
Friday night was poker at my house, the first game of 2006 and the first in about four months. I had ten players and we had to break off into two tables. It was great catching up with the guys and I had my entire foursome for Saturday's tournament at the game. Rain was forecast overnight and sure enough it blew in about 3 A.M. although it was gone by the time I awoke at 7:30 in preparation for my 9:44 tee time. Conditions at the course were wet and wetter and it was a sloppy, muddy round of golf. The balls were plugging in the fairway and roll was simply a theory on this day. I shot 46+42=88 and don't know where I ended up in the tournament as I left early to catch up with Darla, the girls and Darla's parents at our house. I had two birdies in the round and won some skin money, but I'm sure finished out of the money in the tournament. I'm an 11 now and a net of 77 is nothing to get excited about.
Sunday was church and football and nap time in the front yard. This week looks to be sunny and in the low seventies all week. Spring fever will be in full bloom as we slog through the week. I have a new receptionist starting today. The last one was a temp and she never seemed to pick up the nuances of the job. She was such a nice lady and cried when we let her go, but I have 13 people in the office and I need a file clerk/receptionist/claims person/loss run specialist, etc. with some get up and go. I'm hiring temp-to-permanent through an employment agency and it is amazing how few qualified people are available. Unemployment is at less than 5% and some of those don't want to work and the others really ought to be unemployed. The replacement will be here this morning and we will be back to training. I've asked Gail in the office to take over the supervision of the new employee.
Jennifer's friend, Jason, continues to struggle with his cancer and treatment in the hospital. He has been in UC Davis Medical Center for 2 1/2 months and is now expected to remain in the hospital for six more months. He has a hole in his windpipe caused by the cancer and the growth of the tumor. The doctors did a temporary repair, but have to wait for the tumor to shrink to do the permanent repair. Jason has regained some strength, but the biggest concern now is his mental health as he is so ready to get out of the hospital. The cancer has subsided, but he had to stop chemo therapy when the latest crisis occured, so he will have to start up chemo treatments again, shrink the tumor and then get the throat surgery. 25 years old and going through all of this. Pray hard for Jason.
Darla bough herself a new bedroom set this weekend. She has never liked the bedroom set that I brought into the marriage. According to her, it is too large and bulky. We will finally be able to move our old bed into the study and set up a real guest bedroom, so that Dad and Shirley will feel comfortable in coming to visit us in California and not always have to run off to Texas when the rain in Vancouver gets to be too mind numbing for them. We will move the bed and the bookcase into the study and move the desk and computer back into our room. We'll also now have a soft landing for Jennifer when she finds herself in Sacramento/Folsom/Roseville and wants to stay with us.
David did buy the stereo, a Pioneer deck that will allow him to manipulate his MP3 player. Nice, but he hasn't been able to get in to have the deck installed. He still needs to get speakers and a subwoofer for the truck.
That is the news for this week. I hope all are well and looking to the LORD for help with decisions in your lives. Stay well. Ciao.
