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.
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