Windy Weekend

Downed fences, branches, tree limbs, leaves and a pool full of dirt, leaves, roof tiles, dust and assorted other debris is all that is left of the wind that blew in on Thursday and slowly diminished today. We had sustained winds of 15-25 MPH with gusts up to 50 MPH in certain areas. Our fence being new withstood the onslaught, but living across from a park with 100s of trees left me picking up a mess of leaves and branches yesterday and today. The pool is slowly being cleared up as the equipment makes its way around the sides and bottom of the pool. I spent about an hour skimming and cleaning the pool today and then trimmed the bushes around the pool and cleaned up the front yard. The place looks good, but the whole town has had a good blow this weekend. Darla and I went to church today and one of the metal sheds that the church uses to store various odds and ends had blown up off it's foundation and was lying twisted and broken next to its pad. The only good that came from this is that many of our neighbor's tacky Halloween trimmings of ghosts and goblins and stuffed scarecrows didn't survive the weather.

The economy is a real concern as the stock market continues it's slide into obscurity and home ownership is threatened even further by dropping house prices pushing many so far upside down in their homes that they can't see the bottom from below the surface where they now reside. Luckily Darla and I bought our home in 1999 so we are still sitting on equity in our home, but it has shrunk to minuscule proportions. Many are losing millions in the stock market and retirees are being sorely tested and the soon to retire see that date pushed further back from their original goals. I am a buyer in this market and have closed out the cash position in my IRA and 401 Ks with new purchases of blue chip, battered stocks this last week. There are some bargains in the stock market, unfortunately that includes many positions that I hold and have held for years. I got out of financial stocks about six months ago, but I'm testing the waters again with some financial index mutual funds. it is hard to call a bottom in this market, but with oil dropping and home prices beginning to bottom out, we are close.

So what do you do in troubled times? Well, go golfing, of course. I played Yocha-de-he in the Capay Valley at Cache Creek Indian Casino on Saturday. The wind was whipping and we all struggled on the 6907 yard course. I managed to keep calamity at bay and shot 47+42=89, which is high, but I beat two of the pros from our course, one who shot 90 and the other 92. Scott, our head pro managed his game beautifully in the wind and shot 76. Boyd (a 6 handicap) shot 85 and my 89 was tied for 4th low gross in the tournament. Scott placed me with Rick, Neil and Tim, who all shot well over 100. I would be very happy to go back on a less windy day and have a shot at the course. The set-up is gorgeous, with the first tee sitting on a hill with a view of the valley below and the fairway 120 feet below us. You get a good look at most of the course layout from the first tee and it is breathtaking. I struggled on the front nine as I was trying to steer the ball and play a low cut. I decided to play my normal set up on the back and just swing easy (The old credo "when it's breezy, swing easy" is true). If the wind was in my face or blowing left to right, I'd aim the ball on the left side and let my normal fade play a bit wider.

We had a ball and I even managed to win $60 on a dime machine playing poker when I hit four deuces before we teed off. I bought Boyd breakfast as he drove up from Roseville.

It is Daniel's 19th birthday today and Darla is feeling his absence a bit more keenly. She napped and when she woke up, she said, "Whew I was tired, labor makes me tired." I looked at her strangely, but remembered it was her son's birthday today. David got in a bike accident last week and dislocated his shoulder. He was riding back to his apartment and the chain slipped on his bike and he went over the handlebars and landed on his shoulder. He is sore and has to take the bus now because he can't ride until the separation heals. Daniel's girlfriend had her apartment broken into and she and all of her roommates lost their laptops. They were so freaked out, they moved from that apartment to another because they didn't feel safe.

Randy and Cake are in Vegas this week and I'm not sure if they got together with Jennifer yet. Hopefully they will be able to see little Samantha and perhaps have dinner with Jennifer.

I will play in the Pro-President tournament tomorrow with Scott our head pro. The NCPGA tournament is being held at Del Paso Country, the oldest and most prestigious of the local country clubs. It was shut down two years ago for 11 months and completely redesigned. I played it in it's old configuration and look forward to giving it a go in it's new design/ Scott's game is definitely on. I was waiting to hit my third shot on one of the par fives on Saturday and Scott's drive came rolling in behind us. He must have hit it 345 yards downwind.

Work continues at a frenetic pace. Our October is shaping up to be quite good and I held my meeting with the Modesto staff. I'll be a fixture in their office for awhile as we try to steady the bumps in the office and get back on track.

Well, that's it for this week. I hope all are well. Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians and to all the Americans, God bless in these trying political times. An actual quote from Barrack Hussein Obama: "This is the greatest country in the world. Vote for me and Joe Biden and help us change it." A quote from the great John Wayne: "Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid". Think about it. Ciao.