The long weekend has come and gone and the reality of having taken a day of golf on Friday followed by the long weekend hits me as I sit in my office digging out from under piles of paper, phone messages and just general stuff. The periodicals are stacking up in my "in" box and I look at all the trade journals and magazines and wonder why I get all this stuff. Do I really ever think there will be time to put my feet up and read it? Amazing. It is Tuesday after a long weekend and the calls from staff have already started coming in. "I don't feel well and I'll take the day off." We close the month on Thursday, get your lazy butt up and get in to work.
I had a great Memorial Day weekend and I played 4 golf games in 5 days. I had actually cancelled my weekend game as Darla wanted to go up to Lake Almanor and visit her folks. We ended up not going as the weather was so bad up north that it actually snowed on Friday night. I looked at the long range forecast and it was 48 degrees and showers. Somehow sitting in a fifth wheel in the rain didn't really appeal to me, so we cancelled the trip. I worked feverishly to get back into the Memorial tournament and was able to get an 11:15 tee time. My game deteriorated a bit from last weekend and I shot 85, 89, 43 and 82 over the course of the four games. The 82 was a 42+40 on the weekend in the tournament and at least I saved the best for when it counted. The weather here locally was outstanding with temperatures between 78 and 83 over the long weekend and I'm sporting a slight sunburn from the fun of the weekend.
We got together with five other couples from the golf league yesterday for a barbecue of kebobs, grilled sausage, appetizers and margaritas. It was a fun and enjoyable visit with the gang and we always deign to get together more often whenever we get the group together. We had the barbecue at the home of some friends in Granite Bay right next to Folsom Lake. The lake was so crowded on Memorial Day, that the CHP had set up a roadblock and were turning people around. Charlie had to go down to the roadblock and leave our names so the officer would let us through. He wanted to know what we were cooking before he'd okay it though. Funny stuff.
Daniel is out of school and has a boring Summer ahead of him. His father will NOT let him get a job because it takes time away from him when Dan is working. Oh, boo hoo. Get a life or a girlfriend or something. Why is a 16 year old kid responsible for the well being of a 51 year old divorced man? My concern is that Daniel already tends toward being lazy, sleeping in until noon and then getting up to eat before going back to bed to rest from the stress of having to be upright for ten minutes. He would do well to focus on working and making some money. His car gets about 12 miles to the gallon. Right now his father is the wallet and I think he likes it that way. It keeps Daniel under his thumb. David is already working full time this Summer and doesn't need his Dad's charity. It is tremendously frustrating to me and I can't fathom Daniel living every other week at my house like a mole in his room. He'll be sleeping at 6:30 at night when I get home from a day of work and I just get cranky at him.
We are still trying to fill some holes here at work and I have an offer out to an Underwriting Assistant as of Friday. The CEO wanted to amend the contract with the placement firm from 90 days to 180 days in case the candidate doesn't work out and they would need to give us a replacement candidate. I am hiring this person on a temp-to-perm basis. I have finally hired a new Accounting person and have one more Assistant Underwriter position to fill and I'm interviewing for that position now.
We hope to get the jet ski out of mothballs and on to the water this weekend. Darla wants to go up to Lake Almanor, but I'd like to stay local and get the ski out to Folsom Lake. I have no golf this weekend and the weekend is free. Somewhere and somehow, we will get the ski out on the water.
Well, this is short, but the mounds of work on my desk are calling me to attention, so I better stand up and salute. You don't really want to see that salute though. Really. Have a good week. Ciao.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Monday and it's back to Rain...What's Up with That?
Yep..it is raining in Northern California on May 22nd. I had kind of hoped that the rains of the early Spring would leave us with nothing but sun and fun now, but alas the great weatherman in the sky has decided that we need some continued drenching. So far the rains, which arrived yesterday and are expected to leave us tomorrow, have been light though constant. We should see half an inch out of this storm and I can turn off the sprinklers for a few days.
The early arrivers are a little peeved with me lately. I have dropped coffee from my diet, in fact the last cup of coffee that I had was with Dad and Shirley at the Seattle's Best coffeehouse in Las Vegas. I decided that I was drinking too much coffee and rather than reduce the intake, I'd just cut it off. I went through some initial withdrawal headaches, but feel great now. I've replaced the coffee with water which is much better for me. The coffee, which used to be hot and ready when the troops arrived, now goes wanting.
I did a pretty intense trimming of the bushes and trees in the backyard over the weekend. The rain that we had in March and April really brought out some dense green foliage and it was beginning to choke the gardens, so I trimmed back all of the bushes and plants to allow us to see the individual plants. I have an arborist coming out next Friday to trim the scrub oak in the front yard and to cut down the fruitless cherry tree on the side yard. The former owner liked to prance about sans clothing in the yard and wanted a tree to block the bedroom windows on the two story next to us. The problem is that we only have about 14 feet between the houses and the tree is growing onto both roofs.
Golf was an A+ this weekend. I shot 40 in my Thursday night league. We've played four nights and my scores are 42-40-40-40. Saturday Boyd, a 4 handicap dropped out and left me to play with Gary, a 25, Bob Hand a 22 and one of Bob's friends Howard, also a 22. I had visions of ineptitude creeping into my psyche, but shot one of my best rounds of the year at 37+38=75. Somehow I would have rather put that score together with Boyd in the group as I was up against a 91, 99 and 101 and paid $1.00 out in skins. How? Well, those handicaps allow two strokes on 15 holes combined and a par for them is a net eagle. I had two birdies, five bogies and eleven pars in my round. I've shot 74 twice at Diamond Oaks and now a 75, so my game which has been stuck at 83 and 84 is coming around. I actually have four games planned for this week ahead, so my game is rounding into shape at the right time.
I've included a couple of pictures from our evening with Anthony and Erin from Friday night. Anthony is the underwriter in the office who used to be my assistant and is now one of the top underwriters on my staff. Anthony and Erin are getting married on June 24th and Darla and I have been invited to the wedding. They have asked me to videotape the ceremony and we were getting together to discuss that and to have some private time to talk about things. They are both really busy with the wedding approaching and we finally carved out a night to spend together.
The pictures from that night were taken with Darla's new digital camera, a Canon Rebel XT. The Canon has lenses that are interchangeable with her Canon Rebel 35 MM SLR camera and we had been waiting for the price to come down on the digital. Finally, the price had dipped below $1000 late last year and I was able to get the camera for closer to $500 recently and pulled the trigger. Darla loves to take pictures and has been less than impressed with the quality of the digital cameras. I think the Canon will change her mind.
It was David and Darla's birthday last week coming on the heels of Mother's Day as they always do. May is an expensive month in the Lyon family and this May was no different. We went out to dinner at the Cliffhouse restaurant in Folsom, overlooking Lake Natoma. Darla's sister who was born on the same date, but five years later joined us as did Darla's parent's Earl and Francis. We had a great time and were able to celebrtate all of the birthdays at one fell swoop.
I was still struggling with the decision of who to work for as of Tuesday night and it was nice to have the benefit of Earl's wisdom. His advice was to pray on it and see if the answer was revealed to me by the next morning. Indeed, it was, as I woke with a calmness and a surety of my decision. I talked several times to Dad and he gave me the benefit of his business background and his own ideals, but it was the simple suggestion to pray about it that made the decision for me. Not that we hadn't been praying. I think the problem was I was doing all of the talking and not listening for an answer.
Darla and I attended a Christian Financial planning seminar yesterday afternoon at church. I have been wanting to update my will, but the attorney and financial planners who were at the seminar strongly suggest a living trust which will avoid probate. Darla and I will be meeting with a representative to put together a living trust for the family. The financial planners and attorneys will draw up all of the documents and help us retitle our home in the name of the trust and there is no charge for the service (it usually costs $2000-$5000). We only have to agree to set aside a percentage of our estate for the church. Given that probate costs are 6-8%, leaving 5% to the church is really a bargain and we would likely want to leave a charitable donation to the church anyhow. The trust is revocable, meaning we can change it at any time, but I need to get serious about providing for Darla and the family if something happens to me and there is no time like the present.
Well, on that thought of my own mortality, I leave you to your day. I just want to give praise to God for all of the blessings in my life. My hope is that He continues to bless you as well. Ciao.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Back in the Saddle
Decisions are made and I will remain in the saddle here at Burns and Wilcox. Unigard made a spirited effort to recruit me over to their office and even offered me a serious cash signing bonus to make the move more palatable. What it came down to was my comfort level. I've earned my stripes here at BW and I'm finally on the threshold of being rewarded for all of my hard work. BW responded with a very generous pay package including a car allowance. It wasn't all about money either, it never was. I have the backing of my two immediate superiors, Harvey in SF and Bill McCord in Michigan. What I didn't have was a sense that Alan Kaufman, the CEO and President of Burns and Wilcox and the head of the Kaufman Group, our parent, was on board. I called Alan on Monday and told him that I needed to hear where he stood. Alan was very gracious and said all of the right things about being thrilled with the changes in Sacramento and standing behind the decision to keep me in place. He will be in Sacramento this Summer to officially promote me. That was worth as much to me as the money, to hear from Alan that he sees value in my role here in the company.
I was really quite humbled by the interest and the respect shown to me by Unigard. It's too bad in a way that I put them through such a circus in trying to land me. I named my price and, frankly, they came up just a tad short of what I wanted to make the move The upside here at BW is far greater than Unigard, and, frankly, I know the pitfalls of my job here. The unknown over at Unigard was daunting. Their offer of a pension almost drove me over the top.
I am in the process of hiring several people in the office and have to share a quick story. I had two interviews set up last week and one company representative coming in to meet with the staff. The company rep was in at 10 AM and the interviews were 1 PM and 3 PM. At 10 AM, Ben at the front desk called to tell me that Karen was here. I gathered the staff and invited Karen into the conference room. She looked a little unsure, but went along with the plan. The underwriters each shared a business card with her and sat down to hear her "dog and pony" pitch. I excused myself to get her a cup of water. As I was walking by the front hallway, I saw Sharon Haenig, the rep from Hartford Steam Boiler waiting for me. It turns out that my 3PM interview had her time wrong and was there at 10 AM. Gail had figured it out and brought Karen out of the meeting to meet with me and I sent Sharon in to do her presentation.
To make matters worse, I use some common interview questions, including "what is your greatest strength" and "what is your biggest weakness or something you need to improve upon?" Karen's biggest weakness was Public Speaking. Poor thing. The good news is she is a great candidate and I'm making her an offer this week.
Well, I promised to let you know the outcome of my job decision. I'm very comfortable with the decision that I've made and feel that my relationship with BW took a real turn in the last week. I prayed hard about this decision and God spoke to me through the process. It is a pretty humbling experience and I give all of the glory to God. Be well. Ciao.
I was really quite humbled by the interest and the respect shown to me by Unigard. It's too bad in a way that I put them through such a circus in trying to land me. I named my price and, frankly, they came up just a tad short of what I wanted to make the move The upside here at BW is far greater than Unigard, and, frankly, I know the pitfalls of my job here. The unknown over at Unigard was daunting. Their offer of a pension almost drove me over the top.
I am in the process of hiring several people in the office and have to share a quick story. I had two interviews set up last week and one company representative coming in to meet with the staff. The company rep was in at 10 AM and the interviews were 1 PM and 3 PM. At 10 AM, Ben at the front desk called to tell me that Karen was here. I gathered the staff and invited Karen into the conference room. She looked a little unsure, but went along with the plan. The underwriters each shared a business card with her and sat down to hear her "dog and pony" pitch. I excused myself to get her a cup of water. As I was walking by the front hallway, I saw Sharon Haenig, the rep from Hartford Steam Boiler waiting for me. It turns out that my 3PM interview had her time wrong and was there at 10 AM. Gail had figured it out and brought Karen out of the meeting to meet with me and I sent Sharon in to do her presentation.
To make matters worse, I use some common interview questions, including "what is your greatest strength" and "what is your biggest weakness or something you need to improve upon?" Karen's biggest weakness was Public Speaking. Poor thing. The good news is she is a great candidate and I'm making her an offer this week.
Well, I promised to let you know the outcome of my job decision. I'm very comfortable with the decision that I've made and feel that my relationship with BW took a real turn in the last week. I prayed hard about this decision and God spoke to me through the process. It is a pretty humbling experience and I give all of the glory to God. Be well. Ciao.
Monday, May 15, 2006
A New Day is Dawning
I have been a little coy in discussing what is happening with me regarding work and that was due to the internet and the fact that this blog can be viewed by anyone. I have been recruited to go to work for Unigard Insurance as a Commercial Account Manager. My function would be that of a field manager handling the key agents with accounts over $25,000 and up to $250,000 and higher. A recruiting firm had been in contact with me back in 2003 when I left Republic Western and this firm, in Dallas, had kept my profile of the "perfect job". I've always enjoyed the freedom and relationships that are built in a field underwriting environment. I spend alot of time with the agents and create accounts that fit their needs, meet with them regularly, trouble shoot accounts and make sure that their needs are met. The company, Unigard, is located in Bellevue, Washington within a stone's throw of the Microsoft campus in Redmond. In fact, between the two companies is a road, Bell-Red Road which is the dividing line for Bellevue and Redmond. I flew in to Bellevue last Tuesday and visited with the upper management of Unigard and was suitably impressed. The company is a large regional insurance company and they are owned by an even larger Swiss parent, the Winterthur Group, who also owns National Casualty, a large East Coast regional insurance company. Unigard put on the dog for me and I really enjoyed the staff and managers that I met.
Friday, Darla had some minor surgery, oral surgery in fact and I stayed home to drive her to the clinic and back home again. Unigard wanted to have a phone conference with me on Friday at 10:30, which was during Darla's surgery so I was okay with that. I got Darla set up at the oral surgeons (she was having gum surgery, where they graft a strip of skin from the roof of your mouth to the recessed portions of your gums. It sounds hideous, but she seemed to handle it fine.) Unigard called right on time and offered me a wonderful starting salary and pay package. It was not quite what I had hoped for, but given that I would no longer have to commute (the office is in Roseville), the job includes a pension and 401K, and I'd no longer have any management responsibility, it is a great offer. I told them I needed the weekend to decide what I would do. I then called my boss and told him that I'd been approached by another company and offered a very tempting position. He listened and told me that he'd discuss it with his superiors and give me their response. True to his word, they were able to get back to me within an hour and offered me a 5% bump from what Unigard offered and a $300 a month car allowance. I, in turn, passed on that information to Unigard and will see what response they can come up with. I'm trying now to get ahold of Alan Kauffman, the CEO of Burns and Wilcox. I need to hear from him that he considers me his guy in Sacramento. I have the confidence of Harvey, my boss, and Bill McCord, Harvey's boss, but I want to hear from Alan. Things will untie themselves this morning.
The surgery for Darla was a stunning success and I'm still amazed at how well she did. The grafting was hard for me to imagine, much less having it done. She popped out of surgery feeling fine. It was partially due to the fact that the surgery went so well and mostly due to the wonderful drugs that she was on. Darla has such a bubbly personality that I really couldn't tell that she was looped when she came out of the office. She wanted a frappacino from Starbucks so I stopped and got her an iced frappacino, which the doctor recommended. As we were driving home and she was prattling on about this and that, I looked over and she had the frappacino running down her chin and on to her blouse. Her mouth was still frozen from the novacaine. I looked at her and told her I'd marry her all over again...or something like that.
I had poker Friday night and Darla stayed home to rest and recoup from the surgery. It was a surprise 55th birthday party for one of the guys we play with and he was caught totally off guard when we showed up. One of the guys had gone on his computer and traced back our game to May 15, 1987. We've been playing poker for 19 years. Some marriages don't last that long. The game went late and I got home about 1:30 AM. I crept into bed as Darla was fast asleep and turned the alarm off that I thought we'd left set from Friday morning. Saturday, Darla woke with a start at 7:45 and asked what time it was. I told her and she jumped out of bed. Her new jewelry sales organization, Silpada, was having a Sacramento convention and her sister and friend, Missy, were coming over at 8:00 AM to pick her up. So much for babying herself and taking it easy. Off she went to the conference, one day after surgery. What can you do?
I played in the final day of the three-day golf tournament Saturday and after shooting 84 and 82, averaging 83, I shot 39+44=83. I was really disappointed in my back nine, but the greens were really bumpy and I just lost focus. So I played three days as an 11 handicap and ended up 33 over par or even par net for the tournament and took fifth place in my flight. I didn't shoot great golf, but played steady and kept myself in the running with a consistent run of golf that now stands at about three months and counting.
Jennifer sent Darla a very nice bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day that arrived just as we got home from her surgery on Friday. Thanks, Jennifer, you are really showing some class lately. We went to church yesterday and then out to breakfast. From there we took the boys up to the Empire Gold Mine in Grass Valley. Darla and I had toured the grounds last year and wanted the boys to see the history and the mansion and gold mine shaft. They had all of the docents on staff and we were able to tour the blacksmithing shop, the mine shaft and the pump house, as well as the gardens and mansion and the clubhouse. It was a fun day.
Well, work awaits. I will update this when a decision has been made. Ciao.
Friday, Darla had some minor surgery, oral surgery in fact and I stayed home to drive her to the clinic and back home again. Unigard wanted to have a phone conference with me on Friday at 10:30, which was during Darla's surgery so I was okay with that. I got Darla set up at the oral surgeons (she was having gum surgery, where they graft a strip of skin from the roof of your mouth to the recessed portions of your gums. It sounds hideous, but she seemed to handle it fine.) Unigard called right on time and offered me a wonderful starting salary and pay package. It was not quite what I had hoped for, but given that I would no longer have to commute (the office is in Roseville), the job includes a pension and 401K, and I'd no longer have any management responsibility, it is a great offer. I told them I needed the weekend to decide what I would do. I then called my boss and told him that I'd been approached by another company and offered a very tempting position. He listened and told me that he'd discuss it with his superiors and give me their response. True to his word, they were able to get back to me within an hour and offered me a 5% bump from what Unigard offered and a $300 a month car allowance. I, in turn, passed on that information to Unigard and will see what response they can come up with. I'm trying now to get ahold of Alan Kauffman, the CEO of Burns and Wilcox. I need to hear from him that he considers me his guy in Sacramento. I have the confidence of Harvey, my boss, and Bill McCord, Harvey's boss, but I want to hear from Alan. Things will untie themselves this morning.
The surgery for Darla was a stunning success and I'm still amazed at how well she did. The grafting was hard for me to imagine, much less having it done. She popped out of surgery feeling fine. It was partially due to the fact that the surgery went so well and mostly due to the wonderful drugs that she was on. Darla has such a bubbly personality that I really couldn't tell that she was looped when she came out of the office. She wanted a frappacino from Starbucks so I stopped and got her an iced frappacino, which the doctor recommended. As we were driving home and she was prattling on about this and that, I looked over and she had the frappacino running down her chin and on to her blouse. Her mouth was still frozen from the novacaine. I looked at her and told her I'd marry her all over again...or something like that.
I had poker Friday night and Darla stayed home to rest and recoup from the surgery. It was a surprise 55th birthday party for one of the guys we play with and he was caught totally off guard when we showed up. One of the guys had gone on his computer and traced back our game to May 15, 1987. We've been playing poker for 19 years. Some marriages don't last that long. The game went late and I got home about 1:30 AM. I crept into bed as Darla was fast asleep and turned the alarm off that I thought we'd left set from Friday morning. Saturday, Darla woke with a start at 7:45 and asked what time it was. I told her and she jumped out of bed. Her new jewelry sales organization, Silpada, was having a Sacramento convention and her sister and friend, Missy, were coming over at 8:00 AM to pick her up. So much for babying herself and taking it easy. Off she went to the conference, one day after surgery. What can you do?
I played in the final day of the three-day golf tournament Saturday and after shooting 84 and 82, averaging 83, I shot 39+44=83. I was really disappointed in my back nine, but the greens were really bumpy and I just lost focus. So I played three days as an 11 handicap and ended up 33 over par or even par net for the tournament and took fifth place in my flight. I didn't shoot great golf, but played steady and kept myself in the running with a consistent run of golf that now stands at about three months and counting.
Jennifer sent Darla a very nice bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day that arrived just as we got home from her surgery on Friday. Thanks, Jennifer, you are really showing some class lately. We went to church yesterday and then out to breakfast. From there we took the boys up to the Empire Gold Mine in Grass Valley. Darla and I had toured the grounds last year and wanted the boys to see the history and the mansion and gold mine shaft. They had all of the docents on staff and we were able to tour the blacksmithing shop, the mine shaft and the pump house, as well as the gardens and mansion and the clubhouse. It was a fun day.
Well, work awaits. I will update this when a decision has been made. Ciao.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Spring has finally Sprung
Thank God. Spring has finally arrived in a rush of foliage and flowers and, even better, temperatures in the upper seventies and low eighties. I played two days of golf this weekend and I'm sporting a nice farmer's tan with a golfer's twist to the tan..shorts and ankle socks. I actually have a slight burn on my neck and I'm wearing some Aloe Vera lotion on my neck and arms. It feels really good.
Darla was up in Lake Tahoe this weekend with the women's retreat at church. She left Friday afternoon and returned home yesterday about 1:00 PM. They had a good time and even took a cruise on Lake Tahoe as part of the package. I took full advantage of her schedule with the first two days of a three day golf tournament.
As of Wednesday, I was fully prepared to cancel my golf game and spend the weekend curled up in a ball nursing a sore back. Harry was able to get me in to the Bowen clinic on Tuesday. I walked in hunched over and listing to the left and an hour later left feeling much better, walking straight, but with an ache in my back that wouldn't be ignored. Harry told me to get up and walk around about every half hour and not to sit or lie down for extended periods until I went to bed. I got home and promptly fell asleep on the couch after dinner (a hangover from the weekend in Vegas). I got back up about ten o'clock and could barely move. Wednesday morning I was no better and when I got stuck against the car and the wall trying to get into my car at six thirty, I decided to stay home. I had a back spasm and fell onto my knees between the wall and the car and it took me five minutes to get back up and out of the garage and I was covered in sweat when I finally did make it out of there. I crawled (literally) back into bed and called Harry to see if I could get back in. Harry got my message and decided to wait until Thursday to call me back as he knew there was nothing he could do for me. Thursday I felt much better, but still had some recurring back pain. Harry told me to meet him at the course and he'd give me a quick treatment there. I showed up with no intention of playing in my Thursday twilight league, but Harry told me that I needed to heat up my back to get his treatment to work, so I played. Naturally, I shot a 39 and played great. My back loosened up and I've been fine since. I see Harry today at 4:00 PM for a tuneup.
Golf was great this weekend and I continued my mastery of the number 84 with a 41+43=84 on Saturday. My tournament handicap is 11, so I shot a net 73. The leader in my flight shot a 75 as an 11 handicap for a net 64. I was nine shots down with one round in on a three day tournament. Yesterday, I shot 40+42=82, for a net 71 and a two-day net total of 144. The leader is at 133 with second at 136. I sit in a tie for fifth place with one day to go. It was nice to shoot other than an 84 and actually have it be lower. The weather was ideal and the course is in great shape. They are out aerating the greens as I write this, so the conditions will be considerably different next weekend. The greens were really hard and not holding. If you hit even a high shot into the middle of the green, the ball would roll off the back of the green. Next week should be fun and I'm in the mix with a tie for 5th in a field of 16 golfers in my flight.
The boys stayed with me this weekend even though their Mom was in Tahoe. They feel very controlled over at their Dad's and wanted to be able to go out and see their friends on Saturday night. Daniel actually spent the night at one of his Christian friend's houses and David went over to a backyard party at one of his friend's. Steve needs to figure out to give the boys some leeway to make their own decisions and stop smothering them. What he really needs is a girlfriend.
I talked to Jennifer on Saturday night. It was Sunday morning in Korea and she and John were going over to the golf course at the Air Base to hit golf balls. She is really enjoying her relationship with John and has warned her Mom and I that this might be THE guy for her. According to her, "He is the nicest, sweetest, kindest, most hard working man I have ever met. And he can put up with me, that's a huge plus." Jennifer is expecting to be in Korea for another couple of months. Her Mom gets remarried in September and she will be home for the wedding. We had a nice long talk and it was great to hear how well she is doing. Apparently, she and John are the two top techs on site for Das Net and they get alot of recognition for the hard work that they do.
Things are really hopping here at work. I have three positions open that I'm interviewing for and one position that I have an offer pending for. Home office still has to tweak the offer, so I'm hoping it goes out today. We are doing well, yet I still see no sign that the company is recognizing the hard work that I've put in to build a solid team here in Sacramento. This will all come to ahead soon and I'll be in Bellevue, Washington this week to help in that process. My new broker is just back from a trip to Home Office and I hope to get her oriented toward writing some business this week.
Well, work awaits like a dog waiting for a treat and I have to accomodate that wish. I'll write more next week. I hope you are all well and living "La Vida En Cristo". Ciao.
Darla was up in Lake Tahoe this weekend with the women's retreat at church. She left Friday afternoon and returned home yesterday about 1:00 PM. They had a good time and even took a cruise on Lake Tahoe as part of the package. I took full advantage of her schedule with the first two days of a three day golf tournament.
As of Wednesday, I was fully prepared to cancel my golf game and spend the weekend curled up in a ball nursing a sore back. Harry was able to get me in to the Bowen clinic on Tuesday. I walked in hunched over and listing to the left and an hour later left feeling much better, walking straight, but with an ache in my back that wouldn't be ignored. Harry told me to get up and walk around about every half hour and not to sit or lie down for extended periods until I went to bed. I got home and promptly fell asleep on the couch after dinner (a hangover from the weekend in Vegas). I got back up about ten o'clock and could barely move. Wednesday morning I was no better and when I got stuck against the car and the wall trying to get into my car at six thirty, I decided to stay home. I had a back spasm and fell onto my knees between the wall and the car and it took me five minutes to get back up and out of the garage and I was covered in sweat when I finally did make it out of there. I crawled (literally) back into bed and called Harry to see if I could get back in. Harry got my message and decided to wait until Thursday to call me back as he knew there was nothing he could do for me. Thursday I felt much better, but still had some recurring back pain. Harry told me to meet him at the course and he'd give me a quick treatment there. I showed up with no intention of playing in my Thursday twilight league, but Harry told me that I needed to heat up my back to get his treatment to work, so I played. Naturally, I shot a 39 and played great. My back loosened up and I've been fine since. I see Harry today at 4:00 PM for a tuneup.
Golf was great this weekend and I continued my mastery of the number 84 with a 41+43=84 on Saturday. My tournament handicap is 11, so I shot a net 73. The leader in my flight shot a 75 as an 11 handicap for a net 64. I was nine shots down with one round in on a three day tournament. Yesterday, I shot 40+42=82, for a net 71 and a two-day net total of 144. The leader is at 133 with second at 136. I sit in a tie for fifth place with one day to go. It was nice to shoot other than an 84 and actually have it be lower. The weather was ideal and the course is in great shape. They are out aerating the greens as I write this, so the conditions will be considerably different next weekend. The greens were really hard and not holding. If you hit even a high shot into the middle of the green, the ball would roll off the back of the green. Next week should be fun and I'm in the mix with a tie for 5th in a field of 16 golfers in my flight.
The boys stayed with me this weekend even though their Mom was in Tahoe. They feel very controlled over at their Dad's and wanted to be able to go out and see their friends on Saturday night. Daniel actually spent the night at one of his Christian friend's houses and David went over to a backyard party at one of his friend's. Steve needs to figure out to give the boys some leeway to make their own decisions and stop smothering them. What he really needs is a girlfriend.
I talked to Jennifer on Saturday night. It was Sunday morning in Korea and she and John were going over to the golf course at the Air Base to hit golf balls. She is really enjoying her relationship with John and has warned her Mom and I that this might be THE guy for her. According to her, "He is the nicest, sweetest, kindest, most hard working man I have ever met. And he can put up with me, that's a huge plus." Jennifer is expecting to be in Korea for another couple of months. Her Mom gets remarried in September and she will be home for the wedding. We had a nice long talk and it was great to hear how well she is doing. Apparently, she and John are the two top techs on site for Das Net and they get alot of recognition for the hard work that they do.
Things are really hopping here at work. I have three positions open that I'm interviewing for and one position that I have an offer pending for. Home office still has to tweak the offer, so I'm hoping it goes out today. We are doing well, yet I still see no sign that the company is recognizing the hard work that I've put in to build a solid team here in Sacramento. This will all come to ahead soon and I'll be in Bellevue, Washington this week to help in that process. My new broker is just back from a trip to Home Office and I hope to get her oriented toward writing some business this week.
Well, work awaits like a dog waiting for a treat and I have to accomodate that wish. I'll write more next week. I hope you are all well and living "La Vida En Cristo". Ciao.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Las Vegas: 95 degrees and AWESOME
Back from a vacation that could not have been nicer. The weather was great, the golf was great, the gambling...well, maybe it could have been a little better. Darla and I rolled out of here Thursday night and spent the night in a little hole in the wall motel off the freeway in Fresno. Fresno is not my favorite city in the United States and this experience did little to improve my view of the armpit city. We checked in at one o'clock in the morning and half of the parking lot was gated closed because of it's proximity to the all night AM/PM next door where the bums hang out trying to score enough spare change for their next fix of Ripple. I checked in at the night window which looked to be six inch thick bullet proof glass to protect the night clerk from the EconoLodge robber. He checked me in and handed me the tv remote and my key. I was surprised I didn't get the two-inch long bar of 1/4-inch wide soap as well. We checked in and Darla complained about a smell in the air, but I was too tired to notice and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow (our pillow thankfully, as we travel with our own pillows). I awoke the next morning to Darla blow drying her hair in her underwear and tennis shoes. When I enquired about her mental state, she pointed at the worn carpet and just shook her head. What do you expect for $40?
We got into Vegas a little after three PM after a stop for breakfast in Bakersfield. I tried to weasle my way into the room as Dad and Shirley weren't in town yet, but to no avail as the Jockey Club apparently has snapped up all of the former security detail at the Pentagon. They wanted me to recite Dad's phone number and address and all even though I told them I was his son and invited to stay the week. I failed the test and turned our bags over to the bellman and walked dejectedly to the pool. At least they didn't throw us out on our ear. Dad and Shirley finally arrived just before 5:00 PM and we were able to get checked in. The Jockey has sold their parking lot to Bellagio and they are in the process of expanding around the Jockey. All parking is now done by valet, which is tremendously inconvenient especially when we wanted to put Dad and Shirley's golf clubs into our Explorer for our 8:00 AM Saturday golf game. I found out later that Dad and Shirley thought I was nuts for setting up a game so early, but as it turned out we were off the course and back at the pool shortly after 1:00PM which more than made up for the early start as the temperature rose to the mid-nineties and the desert winds started to kick up. I shot 41+42=83 to keep intact a string of 12 out of my last sixteen games at either 83 or 84. I've shot as low as 77 during the span and as high as 87, but it is a consistent run of golf. Dad and Shirley both had nice games and Shirley actually tired a bit toward the end of the 18 holes while Dad began hitting his driver very consistently and had several drives on the backside that were both long and straight. I had a blast playing with Dad and Shirley and even had Darla along as a caddy. She drove with me all day and kept up a banter with everyone and everything as is her wont. She also used my cell phone several times and I had to restrain her when people were trying to play golf.
We were able to make it over to the new Wynn casino and see the arboretum at Bellagio as well as have a great dinner at PF Chang's. It was a great weekend and short vacation and Dad and Shirley are always very accomodating and willing to go along with the ride no matter what. It's almost like they're retired or something. Darla and I left Sunday night and drove four hours up to Tonapah and stayed at the Tonapah Station Ramada Inn and Casino. It was a cute little casino and the room made the dump in Fresno look like, well.... a dump. We drove back Monday through Reno and were back in Roseville by 5:30 PM. We would have made it back sooner, but we stopped for a couple of hours at the Boomtown casino in Verdi and had lunch and got our last taste of the poker machines.
Work continues like an omnipresent shadow. We had our best month ever and brought in more earned income than this branch has ever produced. I will host the staff at a celebration lunch next week. I am in the process right now of finalizing an offer to an Accounting candidate. He needs to come in and finish some testing and then we will make the offer. I tried to screen for psychos and did everything except ask directly, "Are you a psycho?" We'll see how I did in a few months. I am also interviewing for a new Underwriting Assistant to replace one of the ladies who is out on maternity leave. I do appreciate the case for maternity leave and Family Leave, but also appreciate that businesses have to be able to continue to thrive while an employee is out making a life decision. If I hadn't been allowed to replace the position, it would have sat waiting for five months.
I came in this morning to a resignation letter from Cora. Cora is Mel's wife who I play golf with. She is leaving to go to work at a retailer. It is horrible timing, but as they say, it is what it is. I have two new employees in this week as I've hired a second assistant for our Modesto office and our new broker, Katherine, started yesterday. Staff turnover is the only consistent thing in this office lately.
I pulled something in my back last night as I put some snail killer and insect killer on the lawn and around the flowerbeds. I felt something when I squatted down to fill the tank sprayer with some weed killer. I'm trying to get in to see Harry at Bowen Works. He said that he was booked solid, but we are hoping (praying) for a cancellation. I can barely move today and I had to have my assistant make my lunch and bring it to me. I was going to go without and she came in and offered to get it for me. I feel like the old man that Tim Conway used to play on the Carol Burnett show. I'm hobbling around all hunched over. I need the magic of a Bowen session to straighten me out.
Well, work awaits and I need to get to it. I may be in Bellevue, WA next week meeting with the upper brass for Unigard Insurance. Something about not managing an office appeals to me right now. Ciao.
