GREAT Week Ahead

Somehow we survived what was supposed to be a HUGE storm over the weekend. We had rain and some wind, but the forecast was for a storm with winds of up to 60 MPH and about two inches of rain. It turned out that the Monster storm skirted past us and we received less than an inch of rain and the winds were about 25 MPH.

I had golf set up for both Friday afternoon and Saturday and figured that would be a wash, BUT we managed to carve a window between storms and I played both days. Friday morning was raining and kind of a cold, nagging chill in the air. I was supposed to meet my agent at the course at 11 AM for lunch and then golf at Noon. I called Mel and he decided to give it a try and met me at 11 AM. His other agent in the office, Jeff, had driven home to get another coat for the game, so Mel and I sat and ate turkey burgers for lunch at the grill of Lincoln Hills. I'm being good with my high cholesterol and have really cut back on red meat. In fact, the last red meat I've had was about two weeks ago. The turkey burgers aren't bad, they are just a little drier than red meat. The rain continued as we ate and commiserated on life in general. The rain slackened shortly after noon and we delayed our start until 12:15 PM. We had a little drizzle on the first hole, but it stopped after that and was an okay afternoon. The course was WET and the balls didn't go anywhere. I need to develop a "stinger" shot like Tiger hits for wet days. I hit the ball high and it tends to plug in wet weather. I managed a 41+45=86 on a wet, cold round of golf.

The BIG storm was due in Saturday at about 3 PM and we were able to sneak in our Saturday round of golf at Cherry Island. I started the round bogey-double bogey and then put up seven pars in a row to shoot 39 on the front side. I then double bogeyed number 10, but pulled my game back to go one over the rest of the way for another 39 and a total of 78, my best round this year. I won the skins and happily bought everyone a drink at the end of the round. I even beat Boyd 78 to 79, but Bob shot a nice 76.

The title is in reference to a trip this week back to Pebble Beach. One of my agents arranged for a $350 green fee at Pebble without a required stay at the lodge and I jumped on it. He called me the day that our CEO and my VP were in town and they both said to do it and expense the round. Who am I to argue? Anthony from the office will join us and we drive down Wednesday morning. We will play Pacific Grove Wednesday afternoon and Pebble on Thursday morning. The storm has passed, it is blue skies and the forecast is for continued nice weather this week. I look forward to another shot at Pebble this week without the wide eyed reverence that I had for the course last time we played. I'll be able hopefully to concentrate on my game and less on the incredible scenery that Pebble offers. I also look forward to playing Pacific Grove. I played nine holes there last Summer, but didn't get to play the back nine, which runs along the coast and the famous 17 mile drive. We will have dinner in Pacific Grove on Wednesday night. My agent is handling the hotel reservations, so I'm not sure where we are staying.

I referenced my CEO's visit. It went fairly well. The focus was on the Sacramento office and our need to increase both marketing efforts and premium growth. We had a topside growth of almost 13% in 2007, but the bottom line lagged. I have reduced staffing by one and one of my focuses this year will be to correctly shift expenses between my office and my satellite in Modesto. I have a tendency to sign off on a bill and have that billing fall against my office when it should correctly be billed to Modesto. I've also shifted some staff from Sacramento to Modesto as we are their back room. I've hired a new producer for Sacramento in personal lines and I am also looking at a new underwriter in Sacramento for Commercial Lines. My goal and focus is to reduce my expenses and increase the bottom line profitability in 2008.

Darla and I were able to watch Samantha on the Skype this weekend. She was happy, but having a bit of a "poopy" time. We spent a short time staring at the chair as Jennifer went and changed her diaper. Technology is awesome and it is a new way to stay in touch with how Jennifer and John and especially Samantha are doing.

Darla made it back from her trip to Sawgrass in Florida and is all geared up to increase her sales in Silpada. She continues to do really well in the company and is close to earning her trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Her goal is to win the upgrade trip and a private dinner with the founders of the company.

Well, that's it for this week. I will fill you in on the trip to Pebble Beach next week. Be happy and content, as Benjamin Franklin said, "Discontent can make a rich man poor, as contentment can make a poor man wealthy". Ciao.