Christmas is Coming

The picture was taken at the Burns and Wilcox Holiday Party perhaps by someone who really likes banisters and Christmas trees. We had a ball on Saturday night working our way through a case of water, a case of soda, a case of diet soda, 14 bottles of wine (including three 750 ML bottles), two cases of beer, three bottles of champagne, two bottle of apple cider, a 20 pound turkey, two hams, potatoes, stuffing, bread, four Marie Callender pies, M&Ms and plenty of laughs and good times to go around.

We had the party at Dinda's house in Carmichael (Dinda is Pete's Assistant Underwriter) and Dinda hired two Hispanic ladies to help out. I only mention ethnicity as Darla was rolling in laughter at the carving job that one of the ladies made on the turkey. She cut the dark sections into six inch slabs of meat with the bone and muscle still hanging on the meat. She then cut the white meat into six inch slabs of meat and put it on the table to be served. I grabbed the electric knife and carved the white meat slabs into slices of turkey that we are used to seeing here in America. Neither of us have ever seen someone butcher a turkey quite like this lady managed to do. It was hilarious, but the few guests who ate the dark meat were clearly puzzled by the presentation. Darla cooked the turkey and Cora cooked the hams. both of them made mashed potatoes and Cora also brought garlic bread and Darla made dressing. Because we handled the meal ourselves this year (last year I bought the food prepared by Boston Market), I was able to buy each of the employees a $20 gift card to the Elephant Bar restaurant and stay pretty close to my budget for the soiree of $35 per employee. As I said, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it is always nice to see my employees away from work and interacting with their families.

The pool hasn't had any new work done on it in the last week. We went through a period of rainy weather that slowed the progress and then the fence contractor finally agreed to come out and start the job. They showed up on Friday and demo'ed the old fence, opening up our yard to the neighbors to the side and to the rear. It sure opened up the size of the yard, but I have to admit, I do enjoy the privacy that a fence allows and I look forward to them finishing the job. The fence guys are two partners who are licensed, but work for others and do this on the side. They are doing 200 feet of linear fencing with three gates, including an auto gate on the side yard and 24' of retaining wall behind the raised waterfalls of the pool for $3,600. This price includes the tear down and haul off of the old fence. The price at $16 a linear foot for redwood (6" dog eared boards) is excellent. I had several fence contractors bid the job at $27.50 lf to $33.50 lf). Of course working with a team that also works elsewhere leaves me waiting for the job to be done. They were supposed to be out at early light on Saturday, but showed up at 2 PM and worked until 5:30 finishing in the dark. Again yesterday they showed up at 1 PM and worked until almost 6:30, finishing in the dark under construction lights. They are supposed to be there early today with the main contractor showing up after noon to handle the nailing of the boards. The other partner sets the posts and does the demo. They have finished one side of the yard and have yet to do the backside behind the pool and over to the side yard. All of the gates will be done last.

I paid Daniel $100 to remove the two eight foot high bushes on the side yard. He had to cut them down using a chain saw and then pull the roots. Darla's Dad, Earl, came down from Paradise to help Daniel and got more than he bargained for. The roots were so compacted in the ground and crisscrossed over one another that it took them about an hour to cut down the bushes and haul them to the dump and another four hours to pull the stumps. One of the stumps was estimated to weigh close to three hundred pounds with the dirt still attached to it. Earl was heard to say something to the extent of "Why couldn't Ken get a professional to do this?". Frankly I could have and if they had left the roots in place because it was too tough to remove, I would have had a tree service come out and grind up the roots. The real reason is that I'm trying to get Daniel up off his keester and earning some money. His father, in all of his earthly wisdom, doesn't want Daniel to have a job yet because he wants more time to spend with him. Does the word "Control Freak" mean anything to you? Unfortunately, Daniel gets off school at 2:30 and comes home and lays his 6'2" frame down on his bed and he lays there watching TV or playing on his computer for three hours until dinner and then gets up to eat and lays down after that exertion until it's time to go to bed. He is growing, perhaps not in terms of social interaction and in the art of being a productive member of society, but in the size of his pants. Daniel is a very social kid and he'd love having a job. Unfortunately, his father has never looked at the needs of his children. Enough about that.

I did manage a game of golf this weekend after two weeks of inactivity because of the rain. I shot 41+43=84 in a double bogey filled round of ineptitude. I finished with a net of 72, but was hitting the ball really crisply. My putting was horrible and my short game was on the verge of a complete meltdown. Other than that, it was a great day of golf.

Well, as occurs every other week, it is my day to approve payroll and I have to get that done first thing in the morning, so that paychecks can be tendered on Wednesday. I hope all are well. I will write again next Tuesday after Christmas. We will have Jennifer and John over for Christmas dinner (prime rib) as well as Darla's parents and sister. Be well and have joy in the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Ciao.