And, of course, I am at work while my bride sleeps the morning away. I know Jennifer has the day off and the boys are out of school (although David will be at work today because there is no school). The traffic was very light this morning. I slept in a little and even made a a stop at Home Depot on the way in to work. I still got here before 8:00 AM.
I spent part of the weekend working on cutting up the ten foot swinging gate that the fence guys built on the side of the house. I put in another set of hinges and moved the latch to the middle of the two gates. I cut the gate into two sections and rebuilt the frame of the gates into a box style. The gates are still a little weak in that there is nothing to anchor the gates where they come together. Once the driveway is poured I can install two metal pins that will seat into the ground to give the gates support. In the meantime, I stopped this morning and bought two 5 inch long half inch diameter bolts and nuts with washers and I will bolt the two gates to each other until the driveway is poured. I already drilled two 3/4 inch holes in the two gate boxes (where they come together) and have bailing wire holding the fence together. Right now, if you lean out on the gates they will open. Once the driveway is poured and the pins are placed in the concrete, the gate won't push open. It was alot of work, because I had to complete disassemble the fence boards, rebuild the gate supports and then reinstall the fence boards.
The neighbors all came over to look at the pool when I had the fence down and one of the neighbors has a boyfriend who is a contractor. He looked at the gate that I was building and kind of shook his head. Later in the day, they drove up after a late lunch and he said, "Are you still working on that gate?" I strongly considered giving him the one finger salute, but in the spirit of neighborly relations, I just ignored him.
Jennifer was in town this weekend and we had dinner together on Saturday night. Darla and I took her out to Black Angus and we had Prime Rib while Jennifer enjoyed King Crab legs. We then ended up back home and watched movies on DVD. Jennifer has the latest Ben Affleck movie, "Man about town" and we then started watching "Running with Scissors" and it was a horrifically bad film that made sleep seem a much better alternative to wasting time watching that yawner.
Sunday we were up and off to church. one of the guys that we sit with every Sunday, Ken Campbell, is a burn victim and he told his story on Sunday. Ken was involved in a car accident in 1983 where his girlfriend and her brother were killed and Ken was left with burns over 70% of his body. He was not expected to live. Ken was at the bottom of an offramp waiting for the light to turn green. A gasoline tanker truck pulled up on his right and stopped, but the diesel truck behind the tanker did not stop and plowed into the tanker igniting the 5000 gallons of gasoline. The blast blew out the windows in Ken's car and his girlfriend was 90% burned and Ken 70%. Ken was in his senior year at Northwestern Dental school and his life changed in an instant.
Ken was not supposed to live, but God had other plans for his life and he escaped amputation of his fingers and he worked with physical therapists to walk again and finally to run. (Ken was a marathoner in high school as well as a track star.) Ken was determined not only to walk, but to eventually compete in the Iron Man Marathon in Hawaii and he did so in 1987 at the age of 30 and was featured in both Sports Illustrated and on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Ken is a dentist in Loomis and was the Chairman of the Republican party in Placer County until last year when he stepped down. His story is amazing and one that I did not know until yesterday. When he finished his sermon he came down and gave Jennifer a hug. We were sitting in front of his family and he was obviously emotional.
I did play golf this weekend and shot a 42+40=82. It was one of those rounds that could have been much better, but I stunk up two holes with a double bogey and then a triple bogey with a ball that hit the green in regulation, but then we couldn't find when we got to the green. It was pretty hot coming in, but we should have been able to find it. I had to trudge back to the spot where I hit it and hit another shot (my fourth into the par 4 and then I took three to get in from there). I should have had a 78 or 79, but c'est la vie. I did have closest to the pin on my final hole and won $21 in skin money, so it was a good day. Boyd was in a different group and had an elevated heart rate and left after eight holes. I had left him an e-mail and he didn't respond to me. I called him this morning to make sure he was okay and he was on the golf course, so he's fine. He said he ran yesterday and it was probably more of an anxiety issue than a heart related problem.
I will close the office early today as most of our agents are off and the phone hasn't rang at all so far. Our office is currently in second place in the race for the $500 per employee first quarter contest. Our office was up 25%, but Livingston is up 60%. The second place office gets $300 per employee. We are having a solid February and feel good about our chances.
You have all seen the actual comments on claim forms from Insurance companies. Some of them are hilarious, but this is my all time favorite: "The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth." Sort of says it all.
Well, that is it for now. Dad: Darla and I will give you a call tonight to make sure everything is set for Vegas. Be well and walk in the footsteps of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Ciao.
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