Summer is coming

The heat is on in Sacramento. Strangely, we were supposed to head up to Lake Almanor this weekend and the weather up in the mountains was cold, cloudy and unpredictable. We were all packed and set to load up the jet ski and head to Almanor Saturday morning and Darla's Dad called and said that it was overcast and cold and that we'd best stay home. That is two weeks in a row that Almanor has been a dud. It was, however, sunny and hot in the valley with temperatures near 95 degrees and Folsom Lake was packed. The water level is so high that many of the good beach access is under water. We ended up jammed on a small slip of land next to the boat ramps that the jet skiers use to launch their craft.

The ski held up well over the winter and I changed out the battery to be safe. The only problem we had is that some water ended up in the hull and some of the electrical sat in water all winter. I thought I had completely drained the hull, but some water must have been left in the engine and slowly worked its way out and into the bilge area. We hooked up the new battery on Saturday morning and got the engine to fire up. Unfortunately we were not as lucky at the lake as the engine would NOT start. Normally we fire it up while it is still on the trailer and then start it again after we get it in the water. The reason is that it is harder to start in the water as the engine has to turn the water as well. We finally got it going after about ten minutes of frustration and it ran really rough for the first ten minutes or so, but slowly as the water was forced out of the hull and the electrical dried out, it was back to its old self.

There is a great deal of dead wood in the water right now as well as large mounds of it that the parks department has already dredged from the water. We had to be a little careful manuevering around the trees and limbs in the water. Most of it has been removed, but there are still some sections that look like a boat wreck because of the piles of driftwood in the water.

David somehow managed to lose our Annual Pass to Folsom Lake. It is still good until the end of July and costs about $175 for day use and boat access. He borrowed it on Memorial Day to take a trip to the lake with his life group from church and lost it somewhere between his Dad's house and ours. He said that he remembers setting it out on the floor at his Dad's. The counter is too jammed with stuff and he didn't want it to get lost. He paid our way into the park ($15) on Sunday and we are giving him this week to see if he can find it. Both of the boys keep a really messy room and perhaps they will learn that when you lose something in your piles of crap, it's time to clean up the mess. Perhaps not. If David doesn't find the pass it will cost him about $50 to have us buy a replacement earlier than planned. Lesson learned I hope. More to Darla to not trust the boys with something like a pass to the lake. They won't be taking the ski out themselves anytime soon.

I did not play any golf this weekend as I planned to be up in Almanor with the family. They will want to go back up in a couple of weeks and I will likely stay home as I have golf tournaments planned over the next couple of weeks. I shot a 41 on Thursday night and have golf again this week on Wednesday (marketing trip with two agents), Thursday (twilight league) and Saturday and Sunday in a tournament. I did manage to get through the weekend without golf without too much withdrawal.

We had the fruitless plum tree removed on the side of the house on Friday. The tree crew also trimmed up the valley scrub oak in the front of the house. It had never been trimmed and needed some major pruning. There is actually some light finding its way onto the front lawn again after having been cast in darkness for so long. I was really pleased with the job that they did, but even more so with the cleanup. They completely removed the tree down to the stump and removed all traces of the tree including leaves, branches, etc. I would use them again for sure.

I have two new employees starting today and I had another employee give notice on Friday. Margaret works in the Modesto satellite office and is leaving to work up in Seattle. She had told us that she wanted to move to Seattle and it was our goal to partner her with an experienced broker in the Seattle area, but we never found the right candidate. She tired of waiting and found another job. It is simply another hole to fill. I am finally fully staffed in Sacramento.

Well, this is short, but I was late getting in this morning. Some motorcyclist decided to plant himself on the roadway on my main access road to work and it took me an hour to get in today. I saw his bike when I passed and the handlebars were broken off. I assume he is in as bad of shape at the hospital. Motorcycles are a sure way to see Jesus sooner than later. I hope you all have a good week. Ciao.