Indian Summer

Saturday September 25th 8 PM

It seems that as soon as Autumn hits in Roseville, the next weekend will end up being close to 100 degrees. It works that way for some reason. It was HOT on the golf course today and I came home and spent an hour and a half floating on the pool reading a book, Harlan Cobens' Gone For Good.

Darla and I met last night for dinner at String's in Roseville. She went out with the girls for drinks at Chevy's and I ran by the Almost Perfect used bookstore to reload our library with some John Lescroat, John Grisham, Stuart Woods and another Harlan Coben. The restaurant had a great Chicken dish made with a pasta and a brushetta sauce that was excellent. I had the other half of my dish for dinner tonight.

Darla has been losing weight recently and I have been seeing less of her. She is at a real estate event tonight for Silpada after being at a car event today with her jewelry. It's nice to see her losing weight, but I'd like to see more of her at home and less of her at the same time, if you get my meaning. I'm proud of her, she's been working hard in spite of some flaky friends that leave her waiting when they are supposed to walk.

Sunday 5:30PM

Darla actually surprised me by walking in shortly after eight last night. She had told me her event would last until after 9 PM , but it wasn't a very lucrative event. It was a real estate group who were meeting at a bowling alley for a social night. Somehow, I think being a real estate agent helping most buyers with short sales and foreclosure properties isn't really very profitable at the moment. She got tired of watching them bowl and drink and ignore the vendors, so she packed up and headed home early.

Darla and I spent part o the evening last night watching the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD. This is the Larry David show and this season was the Seinfeld cast reunion and it was, as always, typically Larry and typically "Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty funny." (You have to know the show to get the reference. We were up early today and off to church, where we got signed up for a six week bible study that will be held at the church on Wednesday evenings. it is being taught by the chancellor of William Jessup University, a Christian University in Rocklin and Bryce Jessup is a church member. The theme of the bible study is The Christian Family. It should be fun.

The pictures above are from David and some of his friends blog entries. Darla searches them for pictures of David and then downloads them to the computer. Dad sent me some pictures of his 44 Merc that was used in a music video this week, but the format that he sends them in doesn't allow me to save the pictures to my computer, so I couldn't add those. The band is the Jackie Valentine band and the video being shot was for their new single, "Brand New Car". They are a Canadian band on the rise. We'll see if it makes it to MTV or VH-1. Why they wanted a classic 44 roadster for a song about a Brand new Car escapes me, but the imagery in the pictures dad sent with the fog machine on in the background and the cars with their headlights on was pretty cool.

I did make it out to golf Saturday and it was a weird round of golf. In the 18 holes, I started out six over after six holes and went one under, birdieing the three holes after that for a 41 on the front. On number seven I stiffed an eight iron within a foot of the cup and landing right next to Boyd's ball who was also stiff at the hole. I walked up and knocked in the wrong ball and turned my three into a four. I had to replace his ball and then knock mine in. On the back nine, both Boyd and I had a 9 on the par five with balls hit out of bounds from the fairway. Boyd three putted for his nine and I hit two short chips to further mess my hole up. On number 12 Boyd hit a shot out of thin sand that struck the lip, bounced back and hit him. I also had four lip outs and shot 42 on the back for 83. Boyd shot 36 and 43 for 79. WEIRD.

I've set up a trip back to Napa and the Eagle Vines golf course on Saturday. We will leave Roseville at 7:30 and tee off at 9:26 and 9:33 next weekend. Work continues at a nice pace and we are on track for about a $195,000 income month. Our lunch goal is $182,000 so I can start planning the next outing that someone will complain about. That's it for this week. Not a whole lot of news, but I do what I can. be well and plan a trip to church if you really want to recharge your spiritual batteries. Ciao.

Football Weather

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Someone needs to tell the Dallas Cowboys that it's football season, apparently they continue to be as laid back as their coach. As a Head Coach, Wade Phillips makes a good defensive coordinator. It's been frustrating to watch as Romo racks up yardage, but no scores. The weather here was cloudy with slight rain sprinkles most of the morning and then cleared off to sunshine and blue skies by late afternoon.

Darla and I went to church last night and were thrilled to be a part of the first Saturday night service at our church in three years. Many people have been asking to have the Saturday services re instituted and we tied this in with the grand opening of our new children's building that also officially opened yesterday with face painting, games, food and a carnival for the kids. Darla asked me after service if I wanted to hang around and celebrate with our fellow church members. The piercing screams of children enjoying the fun convinced me that dinner at Woody's grill would be better for me. I also had a Lynchburg lemonade with my meal that I don't think they were serving at church. I was up early for golf yesterday and it was great to be able to sleep in this morning.

Daniel has just left to start his new school year at Cal Poly. He left in his old Ford pickup truck loaded down with a refrigerator and a ping pong table. It looked like the Beverly Hillbilly's were invading Roseville. I'm sure his roommates will appreciate it, but not when he gets there at 10 o'clock tonight and wants them to help him unload. We will see Daniel and his girlfriend, Becky, in Vegas next month.

I took the staff out to lunch on Friday to celebrate our "budget buster" month of August and it seems that no matter where I set up to go or what food we eat someone is always complaining. I took the gang to the Old Spaghetti factory that is located in the old Nimbus Winery just up the road from our office. One of the ladies didn't sign up for lunch and when I asked her, she said, she doesn't like Italian food. I told her they have salads, sandwiches and even a hamburger on the menu. She said if we go to Chili's or Applebees, she'd go. I told her, "maybe next time". I'm getting a little put off by some of the "entitlement" attitude I'm getting from some folks in the office. I'm guessing they are Democrats.
I also met a couple of agents Friday afternoon for golf. We teed off at 2:30 and barely finished our round at 7:15. I think that is the last time I will plan a Friday outing. There are too many state workers off on furlough those days and they move on the golf course like they do on their jobs...S L O W!! We played Wildhawk in Elk Grove and I shot 40+42=82 and could really never get a rhythm going. We waited on nearly every hole. One of my agents that played is the father of one of the girls on Darla's Silpada team. He is an athlete and owns a Shelby Cobra that has a signed glove box by Carroll Shelby. He stayed with me most of the match and shot a 44+42=86 even though he rarely plays golf. Those kind of guys drive me nuts. He has a real athletic swing and plays racquetball five days a week. It was fun.

I had arranged for golf at 7:30 at Diamond Oaks on Saturday morning, but had a player drop out Friday morning. I called Bob on my way to Wildhawk to ask him to fill that spot, when another call came through. Darren was at the Emergency room and had cut himself with a box cutter when he was cutting the grip off one of his clubs. It was about a five inch gash and he required the paramedics to triage him at home and then transport him to the emergency where they used 14 stitches to close up the wound. Two things about this. 1.) Everyone knows to cut AWAY from your body and 2.) He's lucky he didn't have the club across his lap when he was working on it. Darren is always tinkering with clubs and is experimenting with "bronzing" Scotty Cameron putters. He takes the shaft off and removes the two weights from the putter head. He then acetone washes the head to take off the paint infill. He then flames the head in a Bunson burner until the metal turns a carmel brown. He lets it cool, replaces the paint infill, and replaces the weights in the head. His first one turned out so nice, that I'd like him to flame my Scotty Cameron as well. It is a unique look and hides a lot of the dings and imperfections in the head. I guess he will have to come off IR before he can help me.

Bob was able to find two other players, both single digit handicappers (they hang together like they are in a club or something) and we played Saturday morning. I was lucky enough to win all three bets for a $15 payout in spite of my 41+42=83. Bob struggled with a 45 on the front, but shot 36 on the back for an 81. The other guys were both in the mid seventies, but both paid me. We have our final Diamond tournament next weekend. The Diamond Events are put on by the golf course and have nothing to do with our golf club.

Darla took advantage of the first gloomy football weekend to start work on a scrap book from our Summer trip to Almanor and Earl and Frances' 50th wedding anniversary celebration. She sat quietly and worked on her project as I yelled at the television.

I heard a good, if slightly off color joke this past week: A little girl goes to the barber shop with her Dad. She stands next to the barber chair while her dad gets his hair cut, eating a snack cake. The barber says to her: "Sweetheart, you're going to get hair on your Twinkie." She smiles at the barber and says "Yes I know, and I'm gonna get boobs, too!"

Not a lot that's newsworthy this week, but it has been a lot of work and nothing much else. I hope all are in good spirits, had a great Summer and enjoy the Autumn that begins on Thursday. Ciao.

A New Week Awaits

It is another work week. I have a dentist appointment this morning at 8 AM to have a permanent crown installed. I've been living with the "bottle cap" temporary for three weeks and I'm ready to get the permanent installed.

The pictures above are from our Labor Day party last Monday. We had 95 degrees and sun, perfect for a pool party. We had invited 6 couples, but only three couples showed up as three of the others were ill. I told Neil, who didn't make it because Lilly was under the weather, that I've got to get some younger friends. One of my friends, Rick, left his sick wife at home and came over for the tri tip and fellowship. He was at the house for about thirty minutes before I noticed that his wife wasn't there. he told me that he'd tell Jan that I really missed her.

Our friends, Bob and Vicki, have decided to move back to San Jose. Bob owns a Farmer's agency in San Jose. They moved here five years ago hoping to expand his business and to take advantage of the lower house prices. They have a beautiful home in Rocklin, but the business never picked up locally and Vicki never adapted to the hotter climate. They will sell their home here and move back by next Summer. I'll miss them, but I certainly understand the dilemma of trying to run a business from an isolated location. bob gets back to San Jose about every other week and the commute is wearing on him. Bob said that he hopes Vicki is prepared for the type of home that they will be able to afford in San Jose. Their 2200 square foot new custom home with a pool here will turn into an 1800 square foot older tract home in San Jose.

Darla, Daniel and I took the jet ski out Saturday with Don and Alicia to Folsom Lake. We set up over on the Folsom side of the lake and Don took me down the inlet to Folsom Lake from the American River and all the way to Salmon Falls bridge. it is a beautiful trip up the inlet with tremendous custom homes dotting the hillsides on the El Dorado Hills side. I'd been taking the jet ski out to Folsom lake for years, but had never seen the El Dorado Hills portion of the inlet. It was quite a sight. I took Darla on the ski later in the afternoon and showed her the homes. We will take the ski out again on Saturday and run the rest of the gas out of it and get it ready for the Winter.

Daniel leaves for Cal Poly and his Senior year on Friday. He has spent the Summer working on his Dad's house. He never did get a job because Steve wanted he and David to work on projects around the house. I told Daniel that his priority for next Summer should be to get an internship with an Engineering firm. He will graduate after the Fall semester in 2011 with a prestigious degree, but his resume is sorely lacking right now, because he hasn't worked any internships or really worked for anyone other than his father and two part time jobs two Summers ago. I know as a hiring manager that I look at a new graduates' resume to see if they can keep a job and if they have ever worked consistently prior to graduation. Daniel has some work to do to get his resume ready for his job search after graduation.

I talked to Dad and Shirley last night, They just got back from Calgary, where they spent a week in a condo. The area I think was called CanMex or can something. They were able to spend time with Caroline and her family who live outside of Calgary. It is about a ten hour car ride from Surrey, so they were tired after a week away. They have booked their flights to Vegas in October, so will join us to meet young Samantha and spend some time with Daniel celebrating his 21st birthday. We look forward to it.

Golf this weekend was great and good. I played a practice round on Saturday for our club championship which started yesterday. I knew I would have to be sharp because I was paired in the first round with a guy who has been as low as a 6 handicap and has worked his handicap back up to an 11. Steve is always in the fairway and has a consistent game. Saturday, my game was on and I shot 40+40=80, playing with Neil, Mel and Darren who shot 93, 96 and 98 respectively. Sunday, I felt some nerves, but still managed to take the lead in our match on the second hole with a 6 foot par putt. I went 1 up in the match play event and little did I know that it was the only time all day I'd have a lead. Steve was consistent and took a 3 up lead after 8 holes as I struggled with a balky putter and some slightly errant drives. I did manage to par number 9 and cut the damage to 2 up. We jockeyed n the back and I worked it back to 1 down with the last hole in play. I was setting up to hit my third shot into the 469 yard par four hole when i saw one of the guys in my foursome drive his cart up to the green and jump out of the cart and stand at the back of the green. I gave him the two palms up "what the Hell" sign and he moved. Unfortunately it distracted me and I pulled my approach left and up against the boundary fence. I picked up and conceded the match. It was unfortunate, because I'd really rallied and I'd like to see how I'd fared on 18. Steve had a bogey.

Well, I have to run as the dentist awaits. Everyone have a good week and I'll check back next weekend. Ciao.

Labor Day

It is an interesting irony that here in Obama's 2010, we set aside a day to celebrate the American laborer, a group that has gotten increasingly smaller during the Obama administration. In fact, the only sector of the economy that is currently growing is federal government, where a large push is on to hire more IRS workers to oversee the doomed Obama Care health plan. This is an epic moment in American history. Will the Koolaid drinkers re-elect Obama in 2012, or will common sense finally infect the M-TV generation, those acutely affected by unemployment? Having the first black president and president born outside of the United States is historic, but small business needs to be embraced. You cannot spend your way out of a recession (Economics 101, almost as basic as Supply and Demand), and we need real, seasoned leadership to help us see our way out of this recession and back to a sustained economic recovery. Obama isn't the answer and, frankly, neither is Sarah Palin. It will be interesting to watch the Fall elections this year to see, if as expected, the Republicans take back the House or Senate. It has to happen as the balance of power needs to be put back on it's axis. It isn't healthy to have one party control government. The Obama Health Care plan is a result of that mistake and the voters will correct that gross miscalculation.
Enough of that. Darla and I are hosting 14 of our friends this afternoon to a Labor Day pool party. We have three tri-tip steaks marinating for the grill, and Darla just returned from a trip to the store with ice and drinks and snacks for the gang. Neil and Lilly will be here with margaritas and jello shots for the group. Most of our golf club friends will be here as well as Bob and Debbie. It will be fun and our friends know that if you come to a Lyon pool party, you will be in the water. We don't even answer the front door, but put a note on the door to come in and meet us in the back yard. We get started about 1 o'clock.
It has been a nice weekend. Darla and I went out to OSH Saturday and bought a few replacement plants for the garden. Our house is now 21 years old and much of the landscaping is original. The original owners liked bushes more than Darla and I do. We are more fans of flowers and flowering plants. We bought a carnation plant to dress up the deck in the back yard and a couple of Chinese flowering plants with blue and green leaves that flower in Spring. These are planted right near the front door and replace a large bush that was beginning to die. Pulling that 20 year old plant out was a job. Luckily, I have a sawz-all that was able to clear the plant out so that I could get to the root ball. I worked on that with a pick axe and spade before finally pulling it loose.

I played in our Labor Day golf tournament yesterday and I hadn't heard from Boyd all week. He had the kidney stone problem last weekend and couldn't play with us. I guess the stone continued to give him problems and he was in the hospital again on Monday. He was in agony most of the week and finally passed the stone last Friday. He is on the road to recovery and came out to the course during our round to say hi to the guys. I call him the human bb gun. Darryl won't find that funny.

I played well yesterday and was with three really good golfers, including Bob. They shot 71, 72 and 77. I had an 82, but totally pooped my pants on the 18th hole with a triple bogey. I should have shot 79 or 80. I hadn't had as much as a double bogey all day and even was on the 499 yard par five 6th hole in two and just missed my eagle putt for a tap in birdie. It could have been better, but I am holding out faith that I'm saving my best golf for next week's club championship. Funny, I was talking to one of the guys who has worked his handicap down from a 17 to a 13. He told me that when I played him in the Club Championship in 2005, it inspired him to better his game. I guess I beat him 10 and 8 and he was completely embarrassed him. I didn't remember the encounter, probably because I lost in the finals and that was what I took away from it. You never know who you might touch in life, eh?

We just talked to David on Skype this morning. He is living the dream in Rome and lifted his laptop up to show us the view out his window of the Zee River and the ruins beyond. I have included a picture of David at the Colosseum ruins and another of he and his classmates in Rome. He has a blog and invites any friends or family to follow him at http://didascalo.com/dlierly/. This is part of David's assignment as he traverses through the required curriculum in Rome, but he will add to the blog weekly and will be adding pictures as well. You can see the assignments that he has and some links to other sites about Italy. He is literally having the time of his life and sent us a note saying "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!". David is one young adult, who will make the most of this trip, see and do everything and completely immerse himself in the experience.

Well, short and sweet, but we have to get on to our day. Work is going well, we hit another $200,000 income month this month. I have four visitors in this week at work capped off by Harvey visiting the office on Friday. The week will fly by..and we get the start of NFL football on Thursday. Nice. have a good week. Ciao.