Another Good Weekend in NorCal

A little golf in God's Country (Napa, California) and some hard work by the boys and Darla on the stamped concrete patio this week and weekend.

I challenged the boys with a big project of stripping the stain from the concrete patio surrounding the pool. I made the mistake of applying a latex stain over a colored stain without removing the prior color and complicated that by applying a light color over a dark color. The result was one good season and now a flaking mess where the rust colored stain is bleeding through the sand stain and flaking off. It was a huge job and I agreed to pay them $400 to power wash the stain off, but they would only get the full $400 if they completely stripped the stain and cleaned up after themselves. My goal is to get the concrete back to the original state and then acid stain the cement to get a permanent terra cotta color. The problem is that the acid stain will not react if there is any sealant or stain in the cement at all. They did a good job and got about 95% of the stain up. I will treat the concrete with a methylene chloride based stripper and get the rest of the small stain marks out of the concrete. The boys did a good job, renting a power washer for four hours the first day and then working with my power washer and their Dad''s after that. They bought some plastic sheeting and wood stakes and protected the pool and the plants from the power washer and stripped stain. They also bought a few quarts of soy based stripper and used that on the tougher spots. It took them three full days to get the stain up and there were sections that were really hard to remove, especially on the newer concrete that was poured when the pool was built. You can see the result in the first picture above. In fact, there is a crack in the decking that had been repaired with a concrete filler several years ago and the power washer even stripped the filler out. I'll be refilling that today.

Darla is sleeping in today as apparently (What?) I kept her wake snoring last night. I put the snore guard in, but she was awake and it took her two hours to get back to sleep. I got up at 8:30 and told her to sleep an hour and it is after 10 AM and no sign of her yet.

I took the boys down to Napa and Eagle Vines golf course for an outing yesterday. Eight of us were on the road by 7:45 AM for our 9:45 AM tee times. I invited seven friends and all seven joined me on the outing, which (frankly) is why they are my friends. Boyd, Neil, Rick, Mel, Darren and the two Bobs (Pando and Hand) joined me in Napa and it was fabulous. The course is built in and around the vineyards of Napa County and there isn't a house and nary a car that interrupts your enjoyment of the golf course and the beauty of the environment. They have built a beautiful hillside on their signature hole (number six) , which is a 192 yard par three island hole. They put the flag out on the point at the far reaches of the green and dared us to go at the pin, some twenty feet from the water's edge. Only Bob in our group took the bait and he hit the pin on his tee shot and ended up nine feet from the flag. You can see the island hole behind Bob, Mel and Boyd who are posing in the picture above. Bob and Boyd shot 82, I shot 86 and the rest of the crew were in the 90's and we had one 100 (no names mentioned to protect the innocent). It took us the better part of an hour to get to the course and we are all anxious to go back as there are several quirky holes that we would play differently on our next adventure.

I was in Modesto this week and have to close the office down by April 30th. I still have desks, file cabinets, book cases and files in the office. Matt and I went into the office on Thursday to fill twelve 90 gallon shredder bins with files. We got most of the work done and they will pick up the bins this Thursday. I also had a trucking company come and pick up one of our copiers and they will deliver that to Rancho Cordova on Monday. I will bring Pete with me on Thursday and we will make a dump run with his truck with the extra paper and "non privacy" files of company rules, underwriting guides, etc that need to be disposed of. It will be nice to lose that bill every month for the lease of the Modesto office. I'm a little concerned about clearing out all of the furniture, but will offer it free to anyone who will haul it on Craigslist.

We get very few extra holidays at work, but one we do get is a half day on Good Friday and the guys in the office will once again make a run to the local Mather Golf Course Friday afternoon for our annual Good Friday golf outing. I found a rate of $17 with a cart at the course, with a tee time of noon.

Saturday I have a tee time at the former Rio La Paz golf course in Nicolaus, California. It is now called River Oaks. I remember playing that on Darryl's 50th birthday as I called on my way over to the course. I guess I'm playing too much golf when I start to use it as a marker for events in my life. Mel, Boyd and Matt will join me on that outing.

We have our Reno trip coming up next month and will play De'Andrea and Wolf Run (The UNR home course). Big John, our neighbor and friend from the club has set us up with two nights at Silver Legacy for $75 through his connections up there. John played football for the University of Nevada Reno and has many contacts up in Reno including the sales manager at Silver legacy. Darla and I have invited John and Camille to join us in Las Vegas in May when we go to see Samantha and celebrate Darla's birthday.

Well, I think Darla is finally stirring after her sleep in today, so I better get some breakfast going while she gets ready for the day. I hope you are all doing well. I have a prayer booklet on my desk and it reads today "Take time for your friends today. Do something together! Then rest in the confidence that your Father will grow and sustain your friendships." Yesterday was just that for me. Be well. Ciao.

The Boys are home from Cal Poly for Spring Break.

A couple of pictures of Miss Samantha sent to me by Jennifer via cell phone. One is of her playing with Mike's DJ setup in the apartment (They can't yell at her now for getting into his stuff if they are going to pose her using it). Actually, the set up is about four and a half feet off the ground and Sam can't get to it without help. The other is either of an over sized soccer ball or my undersized granddaughter (you figure it out). Double cick either of the pictures for a screen sized pic. Jennifer and Mike are both out of work electricians and both are looking outside of the union for work. Mike has had a couple of interviews and Jennifer interviewed with MGM Mirage on Friday. The position is a tech job working out of the Mandalay Bay casino. I talked to Jen Friday night before my poker game and she said the interview went well. They have several more interviews to conduct, so pray for Jen on this one. Jennifer, Samantha and Mike have been getting out to some of the local parks and hiking areas for exercise recently. Today, it was 80 degrees in Vegas.

We will be in Vegas for Darla's birthday, arriving May 12 and staying until the 18th. I thought about exchanging time with RCI, but the condo market is CHEAP in Vegas right now and I have arranged a week at a two bedroom condo in a gated community two blocks off the strip and across the street from The Palms and Rio for $555. It is a privately owned condo with it's own covered parking, a complete granite kitchen and two master suites. The $555 is less than the cost of maintenance at any of our three time shares. The facility has a workout room, two spas and three pools. We will invite one of our couple friends to join us as we couldn't work it out with any of our family. Darryl, if you want to go, let me know as I don't want another Mexico incident.

Darla and I have a neighbor across the street from us who was married when we moved in and her husband was a horse's ass. He treated her terribly and it was only a matter of time before they split. He was gone in the first year. Carol has moved on, dated for awhile and has a fiancee now. They announced their engagement two years ago and were to be married that Summer. Well, as these things go, life happened and the engagement was put on hold. Her fiancee moved into the house and all talk of nuptials has ended. I was out working in the yard last Sunday and Carol came over. I was raking up those little round spiny balls that the liquid amber trees produce in volume. I have to rake them up before I mow, because the mower will shoot them out the side and I could crack a windshield or put an eye out if someone was walking by on the sidewalk. Carol told me that she and her fiancee were at the nursery store and talking to one of the arborists and found a spray that can be applied to the tree when it is first blooming and it will kill the fruit production the next year. We walked over to her place and she called out to her fiance in the garage, "Honey, what is that stuff that kills the balls?" You know I couldn't leave that line teed up, so I said, "You mean a wedding ring?" Carol turned so quick and gave me a nasty look and her fiance just about peed himself laughing. They are bringing in a hoist truck next weekend to spray the trees in their yard and I hope I'm still in good enough graces to get in on that.

I told Darla the story and her reaction was: "Well, that doesn't make me look very good." I tried to explain the concept of a perfect line, but she wasn't buying it. I told the guys and they said there are some things you don't tell your wife. Really? I'm too stupid to actually filter my thoughts and comments. I think comedians are the same way and that's why so much of their routine is about their wives, girlfriend and family. REAL life is always funnier.

Work was a bit nerve wracking this week. My number one underwriter is a young man that worked as my assistant shortly after I joined the company and after I promoted him to underwriter, he has had a meteoric rise in the firm and is now in the top three in new business and one of the top producers in the whole organization. I walked into work Wednesday morning and went for my regular cup of coffee and Anthony yelled out that he needed a minute. I got my cup of decaf joe and joined him in his office. He prefaced his conversation with, "Ken, you know I love you, but I am going to be the source of a REALLY bad day for you today." I asked him if he was leaving me and he handed my an offer letter from one of my competitors that almost blew my mind. I asked him if he was resigning and he told me that he wanted me to have a chance to respond to the offer. He said, if we could work a deal he would commit to staying with me for five years. I immediately contacted my VP and the CEO of the company and we came up with a counter offer that was close to the offer, but with more potential upside. I sat down with Anthony, after telling him straight out that I was speaking as his boss and not his friend, and pointed out the pitfalls of making a move and especially at that salary level. I figured they would give him six months to excel and if it wasn't working, they would cut him loose. In the meantime, much of his business would move to them. If he stayed at a company where he was already a rock star at an increased income, it was a win-win. He accepted our offer and I started to breathe again. Nothing like a dose of reality to make you realize how tenuous success can be. His "REALLY" bad day for me turned into a great one for all of us. Anthony even ended up speaking to management who asked him how Ken was doing in the job as manager. He told them that if he worked for anyone else, they would have simply received his letter of resignation. He praised my management style and let them know that my support and mentoring had everything to do with his success and that he and the rest of the staff love working for me. I guess I even got some cred out of the whole thing. Not a bad day, all things considered.

Golf this week consisted of a mid week game at Woodcreek. Two lost balls and a lot of scrambling for a 41+40=81. I had a tournament on Saturday and woke up with a stiff back and struggled my way around the course to a 43+42=85. Boyd shot 77, but was so upset with a four putt on number 16 that he slapped his ball off the green and was DQ'd. Matt shot 38+42=80 and none of us were too happy at the end of the round.

I have a supplier coming in Tuesday and will take myself and four staff members out to golf at Empire ranch. We had one opening so I invited Don, my brother in law to join us. He lives almost on the golf course and has been asking to get out and play. I have also set up a golf outing next Saturday to Eagle Vines Golf Club in NAPA. Johnny Miller designed the course five years ago and I've been wanting to get out and try it. I enticed seven of my friends to join me and we'll play two foursomes and do a blind draw best ball afterward with full handicaps. I'll split the golfers into high and low handicaps and pair them by drawing one from each pile until we fill out four twosomes. It will be a $10 buy in and a pot of $80, $60 to the winners and $20 to the runners up. Here is the website: http://www.eaglevinesgolfclub.com/.

Well, short and sweet, but we had guests over today to visit with the boys (Darla's folks and sister and Don). So it got late and then I had to run out and wash the car. Darla and I made it to church today and it was a blessing. The boys will be home until next weekend. Hope you are all well. Ciao.

Springing Forward into Spring

The post title says much about the weekend and today. We did spring forward last night and today was 74 degrees and sunny, a day to work outside (or golf) and I did the former. We were exhausted and missed church with the earlier time and we are still catching up from our trip to Canada. We were well rested on the trip and I took a nap about everyday, but it was nonstop outings and conversation and it took something out of us. You can see in the pictures that we spent my birthday at Benihana's and by my posture in the picture that I'm still feeling the effects of the trundle bed (Just kidding, Dad!). I also included a picture of the photo frame and picture that Jennifer and Sam sent me for my birthday. I think the picture predates Samantha as my hair is a bit darker in the photo. Darla and I were trying to figure when it was taken and our guess is when Jennifer returned home from the Army. I also included some more pictures from our trip to Canada and Cam, Kathy and their boys.

Darla set us up Friday for a "couple massage" at Massage Heights in Rocklin. I have had massages and wondered if the "couple massage" basically just guarantees you a happy ending. What it is generally is a room with two massage beds in the room and you each get a massage from a different massage therapist. There isn't really any interaction between the couple as you are face down in a massage yoke for most of the 55 minute massage. I think the design may be for a woman who doesn't want a massage without her husband being present. It was enjoyable and relaxing and we had a little time to go home and get cleaned up before going to Benihana's. Dinner was great as always and we both had Hibachi Shrimp and Chicken and even brought some leftovers home for Saturday.

I played golf with Matt, Darren and Bob Hand on Saturday as the second weekend of a 54 hole championship was being played out by the club. My last two partners, Bob Pando and Steve Matthews were playing together and leading the tournament as of Saturday night. We teed off at 7:30 AM just in front of the tournament which began at 8 AM. I struggled and did something twice in the round that I haven't done in 20 years. I lifted my head on a fairway shot and completely topped the ball. The first time I did it was on number two and I exerted so much backspin by hitting the top of the ball that it went straight up in the air hit the ground and spun backwards about 15 yards. I was stunned. The damn thing is I did it again on number 18 and moved the ball about twenty yards. I shot 44+44=88 in windy, cold but dry conditions. Matt shot 77 (even with a triple bogey on the back nine) , Darren shot 95 and Bob 101. It is amazing how fast I can lose my game having simply missed one weekend of golf while in Canada. I will hit balls Tuesday night, I have a game Thursday with one of my vendors in Folsom and then will play in a tournament on Saturday hosted by our home course Diamond Oaks and sponsored by Adams Golf. Matt and Boyd will play with me. Bob Pando is taking the weekend off as he is actually or did actually play golf on his 30th wedding anniversary today. They had six o'clock reservations at Il Fornaio in Roseville after the round, so Bob is not a complete idiot. Darryl had called me while I was golfing and even guessed that was what I was doing when I didn't answer my cell phone.

Work continues to go well and we are ahead of pace over 2009 and that was our best year ever. Bonuses are paid this week, so everyone should be in a good mood. I even shared some of my good fortune with not only my assistant, but the typing unit as well. Those ladies have worked hard to stay ahead of our new business production which is up almost 40% over two years ago. We fell a little behind after the Cambridge acquisition, but have caught up with the help of an additional hire in the typing unit.

I did work in the yard today and I'm sporting a bit of a sunburn. I repaired a broken sprinkler pipe, mowed and edged the lawn, added some mulch and bark to the trees on the north side of the house and put down some additional grass seed to basically overseed a couple of areas that are thin. After that, I cleaned and strained the pool, cleaned out the filters on the pool sweep and the baskets on the filter inlet and finally came in to work on the blog. It has been a non stop day. Darla and I went out earlier and picked up some medication from Kaiser and I went to the Home Depot while she waited for that to be processed. We then went together over to the "Almost Perfect Used book store" in Roseville and picked up six new novels to read from novelists Steve Martini, John Grisham, John Lescroart, Stuart Woods and Perri O'Shaunessy. Dad and Shirley apparently save every book they've ever read as they have something like six bookcases in the house. We recycle our books and I was happy to see that we had $22 on the books (so to speak) at the bookstore and only had to pay $7 for the books. They cost $4 or $5 used and we get 25% of the cover price back when we sell the books back to them. The bookstore is close to Darla's work and she will occasionally drop off a couple of bags of books and they put the credit on our account and then we forget about it. it was a nice surprise today.

Darla is off to the gym for a workout and dinner is my responsibility tonight, so I'd best fire up the barbecue and get to it, eh? I hope you are all well and living in the Lord's Word daily. Ciao.

Back from the Great White North

We had a ball in Canada. Dad and Shirley are such great hosts, but their kids have ignored them so long, they now have a 5 bedroom house that only boasts one bed. We slept on a trundle bed and it does have two mattresses one on the frame and the other in a pop up trundle. I promised that we would be back every year and urged them to get a bed for one of their myriad rooms. The weather was awesome when we arrived, sunny and warm and I sat out in the garden with Dad soaking up the sun. We had heard the forecast for the rest of the week and knew that unsettled weather with rain and clouds were off the coast and headed for Vancouver. Saturday was by far the best day of the week and truly the weather was identical to that of Northern California this time of year. I call it golf weather. We took a drive after lunch into Fort Langley and enjoyed window shopping in the tourist town.

Saturday night Dad and Shirley treated us to one of their favorite restaurants (for good reason). It is a German inspired restaurant with Schnitzel and other typically German dishes. We all had the house specialty, prime rib, and enjoyed visiting and eating a delicious meal served at Elizabeth's and our hosts were the owners, Elizabeth and her husband (whose name I'd remember if it was part of the restaurant name).

Sunday dawned with rain and wind and you can see the pictures taken up at Simon Fraser University with the umbrellas and daisies. It was cold and we endured a short visit to the park and then a drive around the area and were home by mid afternoon to meet Wayne and Marilyn, who drove down from Kelowna to spend the afternoon and evening with us. Shirley fixed appetizers and a pork loin with potatoes and vegetables. Cam , Kathy and their boys joined us for dinner and we heard many hockey stories as two of the boys are big hockey stars. Their oldest, Chris, has been asked to try out for the provincial under 17 team that will compete this Summer and Fall in Canadian national competitions.

It was great seeing both Wayne and Cam and hearing how their lives are going. Cam is very settled in his life and enjoys his role as a hockey coach and GM. Wayne is just a happy go lucky guy with the perfect wife to fit his mold. They are such "up" people and make you wonder why you see hurdles in your lives where they see opportunities. It was great seeing them and hearing about their trip to Mexico this Winter and about their empty nest. They look forward to being grandparents and will both be great at the job.

Monday, we took a trip into Vancouver and toured the Olympic flame and the Olympic downtown venues. I was accosted by a beggar, who had a salesman's knack. I stopped to listen to him and my family scooted across the street ahead of me like I'd farted or something. I finally paid him $5 Canadian to shut up and move on. His story was about a broken down car and his family (including the requisite disabled child) waiting for him in West Vancouver and the need for a "twonie" for bus fare. I don't know what a damn "twonie" is and as chatty as this "I'm not a beggar guy" was, I didn't want a lecture on Canadian currency.

We enjoyed the sights of Vancouver, but it was COLD and we finally headed over to West Van for a late lunch of White Spot hamburgers. It was a treat and I even had a chocolate shake. The conversation was good and the venue was warm. From there we drove on back to Surrey and our afternoon cocktail. We were all stuffed from lunch and had a late dinner of leftover pork on rolls.

Tuesday was Dad's 73rd birthday and we all slept in a bit before gathering for breakfast. Dad opened his gift from us, which is a book on Hot Rod Garages. One of the members of the BC Hot Rod club is featured in the book and Dad seemed to enjoy the book and said that he would get it autographed by many of the guys in the book, who attend many of their car shows.

We drove out to White Rock on Tuesday and looked at a few of the homes and neighborhoods that dad and Shirley have been house hunting. The area is an absolute gem and reminds me of Aptos, California with the ocean below and a hill of homes above. The hill is at such a perfect incline that each home has an unfettered view of the ocean. The advantages of White Rock besides the perfect location is that it sits only five minutes from Hazelmere, Shirley's country club where they were married (ten years ago) and have a golf membership. We had fish and chips at a brand new Irish pub and hey were excellent. We saw the restaurant Johnny (can't) Fish where Dad and Shirley took David for dinner when he visited two years ago.

We headed back home, relaxed a bit, had (what else) cocktails and ten got ready for dinner. I bought dinner for everyone at Dad's choice, The Olive Garden, which I think was in Langley, but I could be wrong. We drove quite a distant to get to it, had a bit of a wait and then thoroughly enjoyed dinner together.

We missed Al and Shirley on this trip as they were in the Caribbean on a cruise out of Florida and won't be back for another week yet. Dad and Shirley were moving over to their place to watch the dog. Hopefully, dad truly does watch the dog this time and doesn't get bowled over by him again. To be safe, I'd suggest Depends.

The trip as a whole was a great deal of fun and we even had a deep and interesting conversation on Tuesday night about Don Miller and his death and the time leading up to Mom's passing. it was very enlightening and we see so many similarities in Dad and Shirley's stories. It's amazing, but not surprising, that they ended up together. We left on Wednesday promising to not be such strangers and told them we'd meet them at their new place in White Rock on our next trip. The flight to and from Sacramento was very easy (about 76 minutes in the air) and the 2 1/2 hour drive into Surrey was very easy. We rented a brand new Altima and quadrupled it's mileage from the 110 miles when we picked it up. It was only 2/3rd of a tank that we used on the trip and that included the drive into Langley and White Rock.

Well, Darla is waiting on me. The weather here was 72 degrees today with a high blue sky, but with a threat of rain tomorrow. The weekend looks ideal. Thank you, Dad and Shirley, for a wonderful trip and for the two golf shirts that I will put to good use. I will write more on Sunday night. Ciao.