Another Hot Spring Weekend!

Nice pictures of my granddaughter provided by Jennifer and John. They went out to an old gambling town outside of Vegas and Samantha really seemed to enjoy her day with Mom and Dad. She is just getting cuter and Darla and I need to plan a Vegas weekend soon.

The weather is heating up and we had two days in the 90's over this past weekend. Darla was up in Paradise at a street fair and I was home batching it. David and I made a steady diet of barbecued hot dogs over the weekend. Mine were barbecued Turkey franks. I'm sticking with the change in diet even if my blood work doesn't show much change. I feel better which counts for something. I have less problems with indigestion and heartburn and I'm sleeping better. Hopefully after my next appointment and getting some meds for the triglyceride problem, the blood work will settle down. I have switched to Zocor and continue to take the fish oil pills. We'll see how it all fleshes out.

I played in the Roseville City Amateur this weekend and definitely played like an amateur. The first day was at Diamond Oaks and the tournament started poorly in that I was placed in a fivesome. There are many good reasons that a regular golf group is comprised of four players. As it turned out, with the five players in our group we ended up with a good foursome. One of the guys was an absolute PIA (Pain In the A$$). He started the round by complaining that we were all standing too close to the tee box when he hit. We all dutifully backed off and let the Queen have her throne. He was back at it on the first green as he wanted everyone behind him and "preferably off the green" when he putted. Now with four players, that would be a rude request. With five, it was ridiculous. On the second green, he yelled at me to get out from behind him as he could see me. I moved and mumbled something about "fish eyes". He pulled me aside as we walked to the third green and said that he has "hockey eyes" and can see everything around him. I asked him if he was Canadian. When he said no, I said "thank God!" He had no clue that I was concerned for my heritage. I thought the only jerks in Canada were members of Parliament.

This piece of work ended up getting into it with one of the other players on a ruling. I was not close to them when it happened, but the short version is that the player lifted a ball in a hazard to identify his ball. The yokel yelled, "that's a one stroke penalty, you cannot lift a ball in a hazard". The player making the identification said he thought he could. The yokel was adamant. i heard them yelling at each other and when they approached me explained what happened. I told them that the rule changed in 2008 and you could now lift a ball from a hazard for purposes of identification and then replace it in the same position it was prior to being moved. The rule was amended and it is now a two stroke penalty to play the wrong ball out of a hazard. In the past you went ahead an played the ball and if it was the wrong ball you went back and searched for another ball to hit. The USGA realized the error of their ways and changed the rule. I told this to them and Mr. Yokel PIA, told me I was full of #$%&. I told him to kiss my rear and learn the rules of golf if he was going to play the game. It was a brutal five hours of golf with this idiot. The guy who he called a cheater told me he was going to punch him in the head and I told him that I was President of the Golf Club and asked him to wait and do it in the parking lot after the round and then sucker punch him in the throat for me. We all struggled with this BOZO in our group and no one shot better than a net 72. I shot 87 for a net 76 and was just happy to get out of there without losing it with this idiot. He stayed about forty feet from the rest of the group most of the time and we all had completely had it with him.

Sunday was Woodcreek and a new day. I woke up with a sour stomach and some stomach cramps. I probably had a touch of the flu, but soldiered on and showed up at the course for my tee time. Unbelievably, the Yokel approached me and said, "Could you believe those guys yesterday? What a bunch of jerks, eh?" He completely caught me off guard and I was wondering what alternate universe this yahoo lives in. I finally found my voice and let him know that the only jerk I saw on Saturday was him. He played right behind us on Sunday and started with a foursome that dwindled to a threesome after three holes. I can only imagine that he chased the fourth player off with his "high maintenance" attitude. He let me know Saturday that he'd been married three times and was having trouble finding the right girl. There are deaf and blind women in the world and he should seek one out. Men are so forgiving of each other's weaknesses, but all four of the guys that I played with were ready to have this guy drawn and quartered within half an hour of meeting him.

My game on Sunday was equally as bad as Saturday with the exception of the fact that I actually felt bad. I shot 48 on the front side and almost walked off after the front nine, but was talked into staying by Tony Masone, of the guys in my club., He was enjoying playing with me and the other two guys were from Reno and Santa Rosa. I hung in there and shot a 40 on the backside for 88. I did suffer some stomach cramps and ended up having to relieve myself in some trees on the course after 16. I then parred 17 and 18 for the 40.

I got home and relaxed outside by the pool cleaning out the filter and straining and brushing down the pool. I'm sporting a bit of a sunburn from two days in the sun this weekend, but it feels good.

I witnessed a near accident this morning on my drive to work. A Chevy Tahoe was in front of me and he had run a light behind us to stay with me as we drove . He changed lanes as we approached another light and it went yellow. I guess he expected the truck in front of him to keep going and when he didn't abruptly changed lanes to make the light, not realizing that the car in the left lane was also going to stop for the light. He ended up swerving to his left and coming to rest on the median of the road next to the left turn lane. Good God, buddy, it is just Monday.

My office will go paperless next Monday and I will be invaded by minions from Home Office. I will try to get the blog done over the weekend, but I'm playing in a two day individual tournament at Diamond Oaks. I have to play host to the trainers and will be out to dinner with them on Monday night.

I hope all is right in your world. Ciao.

Hanging in the Beautiful Environs of Fresno, California

Yep. Eat your heart out. Here I am 4 hours from civilization just chillin' in Fresno, California. I spent the day at our office here in town seeing how the paperless environment works and I'm ready for some downtime. Tomorrow is the underwriter's session and I need a good night's sleep tonight. As usual, I slept just okay last night and need to get caught up on sleep tonight. I'm staying at a new TownePlace Suites hotel in Fresno and it's nice. We went out to dinner at a Mexican Food restaurant tonight (imagine that in Fresno, CA?) and I had a Waborita. That should help with the sleep, eh?

I was contacted by my doctor last week and all of my hard work and sacrifice on diet and extra exercise and even wolfing down Fish Oil pills every morning went to waste as my cholesterol numbers are about the same and my triglycerides are still high. I switched to Zocor from Lovistatin and will meet with my doctor in a week to see about going on a new triglyceride reducing medication. I'm really bummed, but the doctor said that it has more to do with genetics than anything else, so now I'm pissed at Mom and Dad.

David spent last weekend in San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly. He and a team from Cosumnes River College competed in the Architectural competition at Cal Poly. His team had a really nice presentation of a water proof pod where the could live and sleep. Daniel helped them extensively from hauling in the materials to building the finished project. I don't think it was technically in the rules for him to help, but you can't keep those Lierly boys apart. I haven't talked to David since he got back as I left before he came home.

I played golf both Saturday and Sunday in preparation for the Roseville City Amateur next weekend. I had an NCGA two man qualifier on Sunday. Following my earlier good practice round followed by an egg laid in the tournament, I turned the tables this week and shot 43+44=87 on Saturday and paid out the skins to my partners. Sunday, I played good golf and finished with a 41+39=80. It was a tough day as my partner, Steve, showed up with a screaming hangover courtesy of a night and day of drinking and carousing at his niece's wedding in Lake Tahoe on Saturday. He showed up about twenty minutes before we teed off and had a drinkers sweat going and looked like Hell. He played just the same and hit balls out of bounds on both number one and two. I managed a par on number one, but slipped with a double-bogey on 2. Steve shot a 9 and left us with a net 7 on the par five. By all rights our day should have been over, but we "ham and egged" it to a 32 on the front nine, which should have been a 30. We kept it going on the back with my 39 and a 41 for Steve and a 31 for the team. Our 63 was good enough for a tie for second place with two other teams. We had to play it off and one of the teams had left the premises, so they were disqualified. We played number one over and Steve managed another muffed drive that he hit about sixty yards to the right. I smoothed a shot about 260 yards down the middle. One of the guys we were playing is about 24 and he hit a drive that kept climbing and climbing and stopped about sixty yards from the green some 305 yards from the tee. Luckily his touch is the touch of a 24 year old who golfs on weekends and he hit his second shot about 120 yards on a straight skull shot. His Dad had a six, he had a five, Steve had a five and I two putted for a par and the win. Steve and I will move on in the qualifier to Poppy Hills on August 21st. Nice.

Darla continues to do well with her jewelry business and is making a nice living with her business. She is taking a break from her foster care social work as she doesn't have any kids now. She will be up in Paradise at a city event both weekend days of next week, so I will be playing the city championship and batching it.

I'll close with a joke that I heard recently. There was a guy getting prepared to hit a shot on the first tee at his club. As he lined up the shot, a voice came over the loudspeaker, "Will the gentleman on the first tee please move back from the ladies tee to the men's tee." He looked up and could see every eye on him. He went back to lining up his shot and the loudspeaker again boomed, "Sir, you are on the LADIES tee, please move back to the men's tee." Finally the guy cupped his hands and yelled, "Will the asshole on the microphone shut up and let me play my second shot?" Ah, golf, you've got to love it. Be well and stay in the boundaries of our Lord and Savior. Ciao.

HOT Spring Weekend

A HOT weekend is over and done with and the cooler weather has arrived along with the new work week. After two days of 87 degrees Saturday and 92 degrees yesterday, a cold front has pushed on shore and with it some coastal winds to cool us down. Today should top out at 72 degrees, a full 20 degrees lower than yesterday. In fact the cooler weather is expected to stick around this week with temperatures near 70 degrees all week. A weak weather system is due in at the end of the week and a slight chance of showers for next weekend. At least that is what the weather prognosticators say at this point.

I spent part of this weekend re staining the deck and resealing the flagstone around the pool. Last year I stained the deck with a sandstone product and it turned out pretty beige. This year I used another sandstone colored product from a different company and as you can see the result is rust colored. The rust effect is actually preferable as there is alot of rust in the flagstone behind the pool and this color really accentuates that. I have to do some touch up on the deck today with another quart of the sandstone as the color is a little splotchy in spots. The stain is applied with a tank sprayer and is mixed with three parts water and the mix has to be constantly shaken in order to keep it mixed properly. I relaxed in the sun yesterday and have a bit of a sunburn to show for it.

I did make it to Solvang on Thursday and Friday with Pete and Anthony from the office. It was a six and a half hour event as we drove from Roseville to Solvang, stopping in Paso Robles for some lunch and arriving in Solvang about 3 PM. We stayed in a very nice hotel on Copenhagen Drive called the Wine Valley Inn. They have cottages in the courtyard that are rented as well as suite rooms and a fireplace suite that I stayed in. The picture above is of the courtyard and cottages which are covered in trees and foliage. Very nice. I took the picture with my camera phone. We met one of the companies at 4 PM on Thursday at their office and were then off to dinner at the Firestone-Walker Brewery in Buellton. The Firestone name is the former owner of the Firestone vineyard and the father of the Bachelor from television fame a few years ago. The brewery is excellent and I enjoyed a sampler of six different beers and all were very good. One of our underwriters bought each of us an 18 ounce beer stein with the Firestone-Walker name etched into the glass stein. Our trip was well worth the time, energy and money spent on the trip as we solidified our relationship with both markets that we met. Friday morning we met with the other company at 8:30 AM and then walked back up to a really nice breakfast restaurant, the Red Viking and had aebelskivers for a snack and then breakfast. Aebelskivers are Danish pancakes served with fruit jam and powdered sugar, sort of like a beignet in New Orleans. Delicious. I ended up buying Darla an aebelskiver kit with mix, an aebelskiver pan and the jam. The joy of making the little donuts was lost on Darla as it is time consuming and a bit awkward to make them. We were on the road by 10:30 and back to town by 4 PM. We made much better time on the return trip as we didn't stop for lunch.

We went out to the local Indian casino in Solvang and there were a passel of unhappy folks, all dressed up and standing in line for refunds as Julio Iglesias was sick and not able to perform at his scheduled concert. I found my poker machines, but the crowd around the nickle machines was three deep , so I played the quarter machines. Both Pete and Anthony quickly lost $100 and Pete came and found me just as I hit four twos for a $68 win. I followed that about five minutes later with four sixes for $34 and cashed out for a total of $118 on my $40 bet. I wasn't really popular with Anthony and Pete. Anthony kept saying how lucky I was before we even got to the casino and then I won $75. C'est la Vie.

I did play golf this weekend (of course). We had our masters tournament and I was on fire on the front nine. I started with a birdie on the first hole and then put up six pars in a row to go one under after seven holes. The wheels shook loose after that and I finished double bogey-bogey for a 38 on the front. I did manage to birdie number ten to go back to one over after ten holes, but fell down the stairs after that to a tune of 9 over for the last eight holes and a 38+44=82. It was a "could have been great" day that just wasn't to be. Bob also shot 82, finishing with an 8 on the last hole after hitting his second shot up against the fence and whiffing when he tried to hit it left handed. Boyd shot a stellar, 39+35=74, for a net 68. I left early to get to the staining project in my backyard, but I'm pretty sure I have some skin money coming to me. My 9.7 index gives me ten shots on the course, so I simply managed to shoot net par and likely out of the money on the tournament.

I did get to talk to both Jennifer and Dad last night. Jennifer put Samantha on the Skype and we watched her laughing and playing with Mom. John brought in a mirror to show us how Samantha is enthralled with herself. As soon as he put her up against the mirror, she was laughing and pointing at herself. She is holding her head up now and has a molar starting to come in on the right side. Jennifer has Samantha on a bottle now during the day and is preparing to go back to work. She has had several interviews and is trying to get back into the electrical wiring industry. She wants to join the local union and get a union job. John has been qualified for a house and they have three offers in on short sales right now. The one that they hope goes through is an 1800 square foot house with new cabinets, bathrooms and windows. The house is about 18 years old and has a pool and spa. The flooring needs to be replaced and some stucco needs to be repaired around the new windows, but it is wired in every room with an intercom system and has been renovated extensively. Jennifer said it has the feel of a new house with all of the changes the owners did before being foreclosed on. Their offer is well less than $200,000 and the home was on the market for $239,000. I'm excited for them.

I also talked to Dad and Shirley about 9:15 last night after watching Samantha on the Skype and visiting with Jennifer. Dad and Shirley shared some bad news about friends of theirs from Surrey, who they saw in Maui and had drinks with while they were there. The husband has been tending to his wife who has some health issues and he came down with some stomach pain while they were in Maui. He finally flew home and went into the hospital in BC and died the day that Dad and Shirley got home from Maui. It was a shock.

Life is short and Earl and Frances (Darla's folks) are off to a two month trip across the United States. They will visit Hoover dam, Lake Havisu, New Mexico, Branson (MO), Nashville, Washington (DC), St Louis, Niagara Falls, the Carolinas, Kentucky and parts in between over their vacation. Frances' Dad is 89 and didn't want them to go so far away, but life is short and they want to get this trip in while they are young enough to enjoy it. They came by last night and we barbecued chicken kabobs and had a nice visit.

Well, work awaits after two days out. I will be in Fresno next Sunday to Wednesday so the blog will be late. I hope you are well and right with God. Ciao.

A Nice Spring Weekend in the Books.

I will add some pictures from home as the firewall at work prevents me from uploading any files. This is the time of year that I look forward to. The heat of the day comes only from the sun. It is warm (72 degrees), but if the sun dips behind the clouds, the loss of warmth is immediate and profound. The mornings and evenings are cool and the days warm and relaxing. We played golf Saturday morning at Cherry Island and it was downright nippy in the morning as the sun was obscured by some low level clouds. I wore shorts with some wind pants over them and an Adidas golf shirt. Boyd was all bundled up with a sun hat and coat and couldn't understand how I could play in shirtsleeves. It quickly warmed up in spite of an incessant breeze and by the time we made the turn, I shed the wind pants and played in shorts on the back side. Bob made some crack about my legs being so white we could print OB on them and have me stand at the boundary of the course. He is going to Mexico with us this Summer and I'll get him then. I played poorly this weekend and eked out a 43+41=84 to tie for high man with Darren. Bob and Boyd both struggled (for them) and shot 81's. Bob was en fuego on the front side and shot 34 with three birdies, but it all blew up in his face with a 47 on the back side. Ouch. We play in a tournament next weekend, the Masters on Saturday and I look forward to getting back to some tournament golf. I have tournaments the next three weekends with a qualifier on April 20th where I'll team with Steve. We qualified for this tournament two years ago and struggled in the second round missing the cut to go to Spyglass by two shots. The weekend of the 26th and 27th is the Roseville City Amateur played on Woodcreek and Diamond Oaks and I'll be in the net division there. Bob is playing in the Senior Flight.

I will be in Fresno on Sunday April 20th - Wednesday April 23rd as they go live on their paperless conversion. My office goes live on May 5th and I get to witness the pain and suffering of the Fresno staff as they go live on April 21st. They could have sent me to Tampa Florida, but NO.

Pete, Anthony and I leave Thursday morning for Solvang. We have two construction markets that we do a lot of business with and want to go and visit their offices and work on our relationships. We will take Vela to dinner Thursday night and Benchmark to breakfast on Friday. We will drive down Thursday morning and get checked into our hotel rooms and then be over to the office by 4:00PM for a tour. We then have dinner at the tap room at Firestone vineyards. We will have breakfast at one of the Swedish bakeries in Solvang on Friday morning with Benchmark. It should be a fun visit. We are staying at the Wine Valley Inn and I have a nice Fireplace suite lined up. Pete and Anthony will stay in a two level suite with a loft bedroom and a kitchen. The rooms are $81 and $91 and are supposedly the nicest in Solvang. They have eight cottages on site that can be rented for $185 that are supposedly fantastic.

Darla and I added some groundcover to the raised flowerbeds above the pool this weekend. We both like the purple flowers and added a purple groundcover between the palm trees. I also added some black bark to the flowerbeds and changed the sprinkler system from drip to spray to accommodate the ground cover. It won't be long before we are back on the pool reading and relaxing in the Summer sun.

Darla and I joined our life group at church last Thursday and worked with the Gathering Inn hosting 39 homeless people for dinner and a night out of the elements. We served spaghetti, garlic bread, two salads, strawberries, coffee, milk, water, green beans and a host of desserts. Both Darla and I sat at one of the tables and visited with the folks. It was an interesting group. There were some younger folks who have struggled with drugs and alcohol, and some that just lost their jobs, homes and cars and are now on the street. One of the ladies used to attend Adventure when she lived in an apartment in Rocklin. These people are surprisingly clean, well groomed, most have cell phones and eyeglasses and are pretty well versed on current events. One of the guys found out that I was an insurance manager and wanted to talk about the mortgage crisis (how the two relate is beyond me). One of the younger, quieter guys kept asking me how much money I make. I wouldn't tell him of course, but why would he want to add that insult to his load in life? Perhaps if I told him, he'd have asked for my address and a copy of the keys to my house. Who knows? It was a rewarding experience. I shared that experience with Boyd who shared with me that he supports the Gathering Inn financially as his oldest son has used the facility. He is a homeless man with drug and alcohol issues and has supposedly licked them. He has trouble holding a job. Boyd pays his cell phone bill. Boyd specifically asked Bob and I to include him in our next life group volunteer project with the Gathering Inn.

We didn't get a chance to visit with Dad or Jennifer this weekend as the days were full and I was still working on some bare spots on the side yard with some seed and fertilizer at dusk on Sunday and we were both tired. Jennifer sent some pictures of Samantha which I will add to the blog and Dad sent some pictures of the rental car that he arranged in Hawaii. It was a dud and adds to the colorful collection of vacation stories for Dad and Shirley. They had a great trip in spite of the rental car fiasco and the weather and accommodations were first cabin. I hope to meet them in Vegas in the coming months so they can meet their newest great grandchild.

Next weekend I will tackle the job of restaining and resealing the deck and flagstone around and behind the pool. Saturday I will power wash the deck and stone and Sunday take on the job of restaining the stamped concrete with a sandstone colored stain and then resealing the flagstone. Take care. Ciao.