Rainy weekend, but plenty of clearing for golf

This is currently my favorite picture of Ms. Samantha and it adorns my wallpaper on my IPhone. She is the real deal and an absolutely doll.

Our weekend was spent dodging raindrops as a storm front moved through the area. We drove up to Paradise on Saturday night to visit with Darla's folks and on the drive up we hit a rainstorm that reminded me of a Summer rainstorm in Texas. The rain was coming down so hard it was bouncing off the truck and the roads were a sheet of water and we hydroplaned along waiting for the storm to slacken so we could get our bearings. The last time we were in a storm that intense was several years ago (1999) when we drove up to Canada and the skies opened up outside of Portland and cars were skidding into the median and trucks were throwing up walls of water when you passed them. Your windshield wipers are mostly ineffective against a storm like that and it finally slackened and we were able to work our way up the foothills to Darla's parents' house.

It was an interesting visit to the Westras as Fran made us roast turkey. I got the early tee time in my tournament in order to get up to Paradise by 5:00 PM and dinner was slated for 6:00 PM. When I put the mashed potatoes that we brought into the kitchen I couldn't smell the turkey, which had been cooking since 1:30. It was a 19 pound bird that should take about 4-4 1/2 hours to cook. It ended up almost 7:30 and we were all starved when Earl finally took the turkey out of the oven and pronounced it still raw inside. They scooped out the dressing, nuked it, sliced some white and dark meat and nuked that and we sat down to a meal that was all the better for the wait. It turns out that their oven is on the fritz. One of my buddies in the golf group is an electrician and he said that there are two separate power sources in an oven and likely one has burnt out. It lets the oven still work, but not at the temperature that it would be at if both power boxes were operational. It also takes extra electricity as the power continues to surge to the broken power source trying to get it to turn on. they will be out oven shopping this week. The turkey was still in the oven when we left at 10:30 last night.

It rained solidly over night and when I got up at 7:30 this morning a shower passed over and hit us hard, but the skies dried up and we were off a our appointed time this morning. I had hooked up with Steve, my poker buddy, to play in the qualifier this year. We've qualified twice for the regional 4 ball qualifier that plays at turkey Creek, but never in the two man that goes direct to Poppy Hills. We decided to give it a go and it was a great 18 holes for us, the problem is the tournament was 36 holes. We shot 63 on Saturday good for a tie for second place, Steve had his A game and shot 81 to my 82 and also had an exceptional eagle on the par five sixth hole, draining a 40 foot putt after knocking a 4 iron on from 200 yards. He had a stroke on that hole, so it was good for a double-eagle on our team score. As well as we and he played Saturday, Sunday was a travesty dressed as a golf game. Steve shot 92 to my 86 and we had seven net birdies to go with three net bogeys and one net double bogey. it was brutal and we limped home with a 70 and a two round total of 133. 125 and 127 qualified for the trip to Monterey and we moved form a tie for second to a tie for 17th in the 32 man field. Ouch.

On a good note, Idid manage to buy a new Callaway FTi-Q driver. I didn't enjoy my FT-i for long as I just heard too much buzz about the FTi-Q. I keep an eye on E-Bay and this one party had won a new FTi-Q at a member guest in December and it was only bid up to $230 with an hour to go in the auction. It hit $255 with 10 minutes left and I put in a maximum bid of $325 and bought the club for $289. The FTi-Q clubs list for $595 and routinely sell on E-Bay for $450, so I got a steal. I have the FT-i in an auction now with a "Buy It Now" price of $159. The auction ends on Thursday, so I'm anxious to see what I get for it. I bought it new on auction from a pro shop owner in Florida for $155. Darla says I'm hooked on "the crack" and I'd guess she is right. I am completely upgrading my golf equipment for bargain basement pricing. Those that know how frugal I am can probably understand why I like this so much.

Darla and I are looking forward to our trip to Vegas in March. We have arranged for a stay at the Station Casinos in Henderson, Nevada in a 395 square foot guest room for $250 for four nights. We got the airline tickets for half price through Southwest and our car rental ( a Buick Lucerne) from Alamo Car rental is $10 a day. Now that could warm a miser's heart.

Darla got her Explorer repaired from the car accident in December and she has a new rear bumper and left rear quarter panel. The car looks new and she is thrilled.

My boss will be in the office tomorrow to talk to the staff and go over some planning for 2009. We will bring in sandwiches and make a day of it. I had a Corporate VP from USLI in this week and he saw my office decor of golf balls and photos and by the time we got to the restaurant (he drove separately because of a 3:00 PM flight), he'd arranged for me to fly out to South Carolina in April for two days at a corporate retreat, two days of golf and two practice rounds at the Masters at Augusta. I still have to clear it with my boss, but what an opportunity. he is also trying to wrangle me an invite to their corporate golf outing in Florida with Warren Buffett, their owner via Berkshire Hathaway. Honestly, if I had my choice between the two, I'd go to Florida and rub elbows with the Oracle of Omaha.

Well, short and sweet, but I got home late this afternoon from golf and had to do some down time with Darla and decided to get he Blog done before bed. I would have broken out in hives if I left it until Monday. Hope you are all well. I'll add more after the Super Bowl next week. Go Cardinals. Ciao.

Atlantis in the Bahamas, Not Too Shabby

Back from the sun and fun. The trip was as much fun as we'd hoped and we were glad to be able to get there early and relax for a few days before all of the Silpada Barbies showed up. We stayed the first two days at the Cable Beach Resort Wyndham and just relaxed at the pool and took walks into the town for groceries and just spent time together. The weather was fantastic with highs in the 80's and lows in the upper sixties. It was 72 degrees at midnight, which is nirvana. It was nice to start the trip away from the Atlantis and to see some of Nassau before the influx of the Silpada gang hit. Darla and I had a great dinner Saturday night at the Steak and Seafood restaurant at the Wyndham and then went gambling at the Cable Beach casino on sight. We sat and listened to an excellent band in the nightclub above the casino and really enjoyed our time together. Darla and I managed to win $185 at the casino that night which made the trip that much more pleasant. The first picture in the list above is of the Cable Beach Resort taken at the pool.

Sunday we moved to the Atlantis Resort and were met by representatives from Silpada, who streamlined our check-in process. We checked into our room, which was nice, but faced the harbor instead of the ocean. We could see the cruise ships and the bridge from Paradise Island to Nassau. The resort is impressive, but (frankly) the $450 a night price tag is steep. Our time share in Nuevo Vallarta is a two bedroom suite and the resort is almost as nice. Atlantis has more aquarium features and includes several shark tanks, stingray ponds, a predator lagoon (the second picture above is of a hammerhead shark), a dolphin habitat that boasts 12 dolphin saved in Hurricane Katrina, and several fish tanks that you can access below the water level and watch the fish in their natural habitat. The Atlantis has aquarium features that are actually superior to that of the Monterey Aquarium. They are also well known for their water features that include several sheer drop slides, a mile long "lazy river" that splits off into current and rapids. Darla and I ended up on a river plunge that took us on our two person raft down a sheer drop through a dark tube and into a wall of water and rapids. It was great fun and the oceans of green and aquamarine are beautiful. The sand is white and wraps around the resort. The resort offers a "walk with the sharks" where you suit up in a metal helmet and wet suit and walk in the sharks' habitat. We passed. They also have a dolphin encounter where you can actually ride the dolphins in deep water or just swim with them in the shallower water. We skipped that and just went to the dolphin show one afternoon and watched them with their trainers. The Atlantis also has a casino that doesn't pay off. The casino was always quiet although crowded with people. There was no "buzz" in the casino, likely because everyone was losing money. We tried twice and finally licked our wounds and went back to our room.

We did venture out with the gang to a restaurant in Cable Beach called "The Poop Deck". I was concerned that it was a nickname for food poisoning, but the food was good, although expensive. I had a wonderful filet mignon and drank several Kalik beers, the local beer of the Bahamas. I figure that I had Red Stripe in Jamaica, so should indulge in Kalik in Nassau. Silpada put on two very nice events, the Welcome Reception on Sunday night on a beach at the Atlantis. The food was buffet style and okay, but nothing special. The drinks were great and we enjoyed a few Bahama Mamas and a Silpada Sling. We met the two founders of the company which is the 6th photo above and the famous arch between the Royal Towers is shown in the 5th photo. We stayed in the Royal Towers. Darla and I ate several breakfasts at Anthony's Grill in the Paradise Village shopping center and it was the most reasonable and best breakfast on the island. We also ate one night at Johnny Rockets, a 50's style diner in the Marina Village shopping Center.

The trip was very reasonable for us, as the airfare was paid for, the resort was paid for, our trips into Nassau were paid for and Silpada gave us $175 credit on our room that paid for most of our food while we were at the Atlantis. Next year the event will be held at the Mayan Riviera, which is an all inclusive resort. it is in Mexico and we will likely only go the length of the trip and not extend as we have a shorter flight.

Darla had a "Darla" experience during the trip. Leave it to my wife, a conservative social worker from California to meet Joe Bob from Arkansas. She met a couple in line at dinner on Wednesday night and invited them to have dinner with us at our table. The woman is a rep from Arkansas and her husband, we'll call him Joe Bob, was on a roll. He was telling a story about being a friend of Barry Switzer and being invited to Dallas to see a Cowboy home game back in the day that Jerry Jones hired his coaches based on his affiliation with them from his home state of (you guessed it) Arkansas. Joe Bob and his wife were put up in the Cowboys local hotel room where they stay the night before home games. He was invited down on the field before the game and then sat in the owner's box during the game. He was explaining to Darla that while he was on the field, the team photographer approached him and asked if he wanted his picture taken with Emmitt Smith, now the all time rushing leader in the NFL. Joe Bob told Darla that he declined as he, you know, doesn't like rubbing elbows with them black folk. I watched Darla's face turn red and she dug her nails into my thigh. I was waiting for her to let him have it, when his wife shushed him and said, "Now don't start that talk, Joe Bob." She looked at Darla and said, "Where we come from the blacks all stay on their side of town and we just don't mix." It was quite amazing to meet some backward hicks from 1950 at the Bahamas in the year 2009. Old Joe Bob and his wife have quite a shock coming to them on Tuesday when Barack Hussein Obama is sworn into the White House. Darla couldn't wait for them to leave our table which they did right after dinner. This man sat in a country with a 90% black population and shared his bigoted views with us. We were truly shocked. I heard some similar things when I lived in Texas and it was one of the things that I truly disliked about Texas. In my opinion, if you want to appear truly stupid, share bigoted opinions in a crowded venue.

Darla took Airborne before our flights this year. It is a concoction of vitamins and amino acids designed by a school teacher to combat airborne illnesses. I've read several articles pooh poohing the effectiveness of the product and decided to take my chances. We were seated next to Jose Flu-bug Virus on the plane from Miami to Dallas on Thursday and we were sure that Darla would catch the bug as she was seated right next to him as he coughed and wheezed his way across the southeast. Well, Friday night I came home from work with a sore throat and runny nose and have suffered with chills and a stuffy sinus cavity all weekend. Darla has been fine and continued to take her Airborne to keep from catching what I have. So far, she is fine.

My sunburn has subsided and I ended up with a slight peel around the apex of the two moons. I continued to coat myself with the gel refrescante and it is all gone now except for a slight bronze glow. I'm done with tanning booths as well.

We were told that the Atlantis is the new Monte Carlo and that we would likely see celebrities galore. I never saw one until we were in the airport on the way home and Chris Evert was getting a yogurt at one of the airport shops. The Atlantis will be teeming with celebs starting Thursday of this week when Michael Jordan hosts a celebrity golf tournament on the island's golf club.

I missed my golf game over the weekend and came back to a rusty game. I couldn't get loosened up in spite of some unseasonable warm weather in Sacramento. We hit 70 degrees yesterday and the sky is a solid blue with not a cloud to spoil the canvas. I started out with THREE straight double-bogeys and limped to a 44+43=87 at Diamond Oaks yesterday. I need to hit the driving range this week to work on my short game. My drives were long and straight, but I was a spastic around the greens. I play in the two man qualifier for Spyglass with Steve Matthews next weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

I almost skipped church today, but having missed last week and facing perhaps missing next week due to golf, I got up at 8:30 and rushed a shower. The sermon was on "Are Christians homophobic?" and it was great. The tone of the sermon was on tolerance and what tolerance means. It isn't about embracing something and accepting it, but about being tolerant of people with SSA (Same Sex Attraction). It was about being loving people and realizing that all people were made in God's Image. It was an enlightening way to view the issue. That there are people with SSA and they struggle with issues as we do. Rick specifically said that nowhere in the Bible does it say "Love the sinner and hate the sin". That is a 21st century saying. It is Love everyone and concern yourself with your own sin. We all sin. I came away from the sermon with a whole new outlook on how Christians should act. Well worth getting out of bed.

Well, that's enough for now. We now set our sights on our trip to Las Vegas in early March to see Jennifer and Samantha. I hope you are all well. Ciao.

A Tribute to Buddy, a good dog to the end

Yep, Buddy breathed his last on December 30th as I had to take him in to the vet to be put down. He was ready to go and it was the humane thing to do. He had been a miracle dog, having survived both distemper and parvo as a Pup. Those diseases caused him to have seizures his entire life and to have a deficiency of Vitamin D and an overwhelming need for water. Buddy drank probably up to 112 ounces of water a day. At the end, that combined with his confusion about the correct place to pee (the backyard, NOT the living room!) caused us to make the tough decision to put him down. He will live on in our hearts, but he did manage to live for almost 14 years after his bouts with parvo and distemper. I will always remember him for his enthusiasm and spark and, of course, for the fact that he cleaned up after himself in the backyard as he had quite a fondness for his own feces. Darla likes to call it recycling. To each his own. We've missed him since we put him down as we had a few bones left still from the prime rib and leftover pizza crust that he would always polish off for us. With our coming trip to the Bahamas, it was time for him to go on to doggie heaven.

We discussed our situation with Buddy on New Years Eve with our friends, Bob and Vicki, at dinner that night. They also have a golden retriever and said that when it is time for him to go, they will have to have a funeral. I suggested a "celebration of life" instead. I guess if you are going to do something goofy, take it to the next level.

In preparation for our trip next week, I decided to go to the local "California Sun" tanning parlor to work on a base tan. Darla has gone there for years as the tanning helps her with the absorption of Vitamin D into her skin which helps with her psoriasis. She warned me to go slow on the first session and not go over 5 minutes in the bed. I got there and was greeted by a young lady with way too much personality for a tanning salon. "Bubbly" would be an insult to her. She was chewing gum and had me fill out a questionnaire about how my skin reacts to the sun. I tan easily and burn rarely. She looked it over and said, you can easily go 8 minutes your first time. Just be sure to apply lots of indoor tanning lotion and wear the goggles. Now, I know I should have listened to my wife, who once burned herself severely in the tanning booth, but it just somehow seemed okay to go longer on the advice of a 19 year old with (no offense, Jennifer) a tattoo of the Tasmanian Devil on her right bicep. Idiot is the word. I do tan well, but have parts of my body that have never seen the sun and I went into the tanning bed "au naturel". Right now I have the reddest red ass you have ever seen. My butt literally creates it's own heat and I can literally feel the heat coming out of the back of my pants. I was lucky not to burn myself on "little Kenny" as the upper lights are not as close to your skin as the ones below you. I do have an almost perfect pair of red shorts where my swimsuit should cover. Right now I am wearing cotton sweats and a liberal layer of some sunburn medication we bought in Mexico called "Gel Refrescante - para despues del sol con Vitamin E y aloe". I have no idea what is in this blue concoction, but it is the only thing that has been able to soothe the burning fire that is now my nether region. Darla had a good laugh when she saw the red moons that now inhabit my backside. I smiled weakly and wiped on another layer of blue heaven.

I did get out today and play golf after my entire two foursomes abandoned me. It rained overnight and the forecast was for about a 70% chance of rain today. We all decided to bag the 8:41 and 8:48 tee times and sleep in. Darla decided to go to work (amazing that she didn't have today off and I did, I call it justice) and I decided to go ahead and go out to the course and catch on with some other players. The rain moved north and it was cold and windy, but dry. I didn't manage to hook up with anyone else as their were foursomes all over the course and no singles. I played two balls and caught up to a group of three guys on the second hole. They invited me to join them, but were hackers and I waved them on. I managed to put up a 38+39=77 and a 40+40=80 over the day and had six birdies in total. I finished my round in 3 1/2 hours by skipping hole number 5 (the number one handicap hole) to get around the "Threesome from Hell". I took a bogey on both cards for that hole and it was smooth sailing the rest of the day. I was upset that my handicap stayed at 8.3 for January as I thought it would go up, but in truth I am playing to my index and I can see it staying low. The Callaway FT-i driver is incredibly straight and keeps me in the fairway all day and the new Scotty Cameron putter gives me confidence over any putt. i will get a new set of either Taylormade R7 draw irons, Callaway X-22's or the brand new Victory Red TW Nike irons for my birthday in March. I will play golf tomorrow morning with the gang at Diamond Oaks. My Odyssey putter will close on EBay tonight and with three hours left has been bid up to $34.01. I paid $78 for my Scotty Cameron and it is in pristine condition. The Odyssey definitely has some face dings and doesn't include the original head cover which was lost in Mexico. I am selling it with the Bandon Dunes head cover I bought earlier this Fall. Whatever I get for it is a bonus as I don't need two putters.

It is good to put 2008 behind us at work. We were down about 12% in premium, but actually up about 8% in policy count and up about 4% in net earned income, which is what really matters. I had to lay off staff in 2008 (5 positions) and the staff that remains is working much harder. I continue to hear it from several underwriters that they could use more support staff and I point to the fact that I am sharing an assistant with another underwriter in the office, so if I can bite the bullet, so can they. Hopefully, the reports of pricing coming back up is true and we will see a return to a hardening price market in 2009. All of my underwriters will make more money, which will certainly improve my pocketbook as well.

Well, Darla is home and I will add more to this Sunday night. Rest in Peace, Buddy, you have been a faithful servant to the end. Ciao.