The only thing I brought back from Detroit...is a COLD

Yep. There were a couple of Managers at the meeting with sniffles and I ended up next to one at one of our sessions and, sure enough, Friday night I felt the sore throat starting and have been basically miserable since. I flew back to Sacramento Saturday night and was suffering on the plane, especially with my sinuses and my ears. On both landings (Dallas and Sacramento), I cold not get my ears to pop and had severe pain in my eardrums. I know of little kids who have been screaming on landing and I think they had the same problem I had. It was so bad in Sacramento that I could barely hear Darla on the cell phone when I called her in the cell phone lot to let her know that I had landed.

We got home and I took a hot shower and went to bed. i hadn't slept well Friday night and it was 1:45 AM Eastern time and I was a zombie. Darla brought me some hot tea and honey and I drank about half of it before falling into a deep and restful sleep. I awoke at 7:00 AM and got up to gauge if I was well enough to play in the Past President's tournament. I had a runny nose and a sore throat and felt chills and decided that I needed to just rest and called Neil to let him know that I was WD in the tournament. Those who know me, know that I was truly sick if I missed golf. I relaxed on the couch today and drank hot tea and sucked on throat lozenges. Darla left at noon to meet her sister for lunch and for bridal gown shopping. She and Don will marry in January. I watched the end of the morning games and decided to go outside and clear the leaves off the lawn and then mow. Darla got home later and was mad at me, but it's tough to just sit, especially when there is work to do. I will try to get out to the driving range this week and try out my new FT iq before the trip to Nuevo Vallarta next week. It came in on Thursday. I have my FT-9 up for auction on EBay right now and it will close tomorrow. Someone will get a great deal on a Tour quality driver.

The meetings this trip were quite favorable to me and I got a lot of kudos from management for our results year to date. Young Anthony won two of the year end awards with Distinguished Underwriter of the year for booking over $650,000 in income for the year and he also won for New business underwriter of the year. Finally, our branch in Sacramento won the coveted Gold Award for Branch of the Year in Division 3. In spite of my growing cold, I was pleased to be up and down going to the stage to collect the awards for Sacramento. The meeting overall were very well done, from dinner at Cheli's (named for some Red Wing hockey player named Chelios) to the awards dinner and the meeting in between, it was a first class affair. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Dearborn and spent Thursday in Home Office with our companies and staff. They had me set up every 30 minutes with a different market and it was a great way to talk to our suppliers.

The company continues to have policy growth and, although the revenue is flat, we are poised for continued growth in years to come. My meeting with our CEO went well. I have some things to do to help grow the office, but management is very happy with the results. The ten month figures came out on Monday and my profit for the year has surpassed $500,000, which is fantastic.

I talked to Darryl briefly today and he wanted to know what to expect when he gets to Puerto Vallarta. Dad had told him that the airport is a zoo. It's true, there are 100's of time share people trying to entice you just outside of Customs, but if you walk through the second set of doors you will find cabbies lined up to take you to your hotel. I told him the fare to Nuevo Vallarta is $15, or was when we were there last and to make sure he agrees on a price before they leave the airport. Luckily, Darla and I will be picked up by the Grand Mayan when we fly in. Darryl and Cheryl could have been picked up as well, but they are spending an extra night with Dad and Shirley who are already in Nuevo Vallarta. The only drawback to our trip is that they are still doing construction on site and we are still at only nine holes of golf and the regular six restaurants is down to three. We will enjoy ourselves and I look forward to kicking this cold and getting down to some sun and fun in Mexico next week. Speaking of that, the blog is going on vacation. I may do a post before I leave, but only if I get to it. Darla and I will be packing and getting ready next weekend. We fly out at 6:15 AM on Sunday.

It is halftime of the Dallas Cowboy's Sunday Night Football game, so this will be short. Be advised however that I will be back with pictures and highlights from our trip to Mexico after next week. I look forward to seeing the troops tomorrow at work and sharing all of our good news. I hope you are all well. Ciao.