Cold and Sunny in Roseville

Yeah, it's not always 70 degrees in California. We had some snow make it's way down to the valley floor on Friday and I endured an Arctic blast on the golf course yesterday. It is the kind of weather with a bright blue sky that looks very beautiful from inside the comfort of a heated home, but the bone chilling frost and any breeze or wind will freeze you out. We had heavy rain and wind again last week and I had to empty my pool Friday night of water that had raised above the tile line and was creeping up the coping. I should have emptied it Friday morning before venturing off to work, but it was raining and windy and I didn't want to face the barrage of weather. I did have to shut the lids on both trash cans that were parked at the curb and waiting for the garbage service to empty them. The temperature is in the low fifties, but there is a cold in the air and the ground that is chilling. We have had overnight temperatures in the 20's every night for about five days with white frost on the rooftops and trees. We have several varieties of trees that are already budding for Spring after the 70's we had earlier in the month. Our fruitless cherry tree in the front yard is in full pink bloom.

Today is the last day of nourishment before my colonoscopy on Tuesday. Darla is fixing a pork roast for dinner. Tomorrow I will be on clear liquids only as I prep for the procedure. I'll have a delicious lunch of chicken broth and jello followed in the evening by a beef broth and 4 litres of lemon flavored Gavilyte that will see me cleaned out like a gutted fish. My understanding from other men over 50 is that the solution tastes vaguely like lemon flavored salt water and you have to drink 8 ounces of the stuff every fifteen minutes for 4 hours in between runs to the bathroom. I've had plenty of advice, from make sure you drink lots of 7 up to bite on a lemon or lime. I might lean toward the lemon as 4 litres of liquid is enough in a 4 hour sitting. That is equivalent to drinking down two large 2 litre soda bottles in a 4 hour time frame. I will get through it, though because one of my friends not only has issues with pre-cancerous polyps, but also chose not to drink the entire container because he felt ill and was sent back because his colon wasn't clear enough. I sure as heck don't want that. I am leaving the office early tomorrow to come home and prepare for the explosions to come in the bathroom. Oh, Happy Day!

Peter and I leave for Scottsdale on Sunday. We fly in at 8:15 after leaving here at 6 AM. We will get our rental car and then head over to the Legacy resort in Phoenix for a round of golf with Scottsdale Insurance. From there we will go in to Scottsdale and check into the corporate apartment that is being provided to us by Colony Insurance. We will have dinner at a steakhouse in Scottsdale with several executives from Scottsdale Insurance. Monday, we have breakfast with our underwriting team from Markel Insurance and then will spend the rest of the day with our hosts, Colony Insurance. My office is the largest producer on the west coast for Colony Insurance and we finished 2010 at just short of $4,000,000 in premiums written with a loss ratio of 21%. We will have lunch with the director of underwriting and then an early dinner with the VP and our underwriter before heading over to Scottsdale Stadium for the Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants night cactus league baseball game. I haven't been to Spring Training since 2004 and look forward to it.

Tuesday, we have breakfast with Seneca Insurance followed by a meeting with Burlington Insurance and then golf at the Orange Tree Resort in Scottsdale with our Burlington Underwriter and with the Vice President at Burns' Scottsdale office. Our flight home is 6:30. It is a jam packed schedule with no room for any thing else. it should be fun and it will be good to see all of our companies in one visit.

Our office may be moving in July. We have an "opt out" clause in our lease and the space is larger than we need. Because of the configuration of the space it looks near impossible to downsize. Alan is interested in buying a building and we will be looking in both Folsom and Roseville for office space both to buy and to rent. If we buy a building, it will have to be three stories and at least 25,000 square feet. We would be located on the top floor and Burns would have signage on three sides of the building. We could end up staying in our space, but the landlords would have to charge us for space based only on the square footage we need (7500) instead of what we now occupy (10,000). My staff, especially the underwriters, will have some big changes in store for them as the company has moved to an open floor space plan, meaning the only offices will be reserved for Managers. My space would be configured with three offices and the rest of the underwriters would move into "partner" cubicles along with their main assistants. As it is now, we have 8 offices in addition to my corner office and each underwriter has a window office with four walls and a door.

We did end up hiring one Management trainee for my office when I was in San Francisco on Tuesday. We also offered the position to one of my assistant underwriters and she shocked all of us by turning it down. Her reasoning is because she was getting married in July and wanted to be able to commit time and effort to her marriage in the first year and because she loves working for the Sacramento office and doesn't want to be held accountable to the Home Office. I think it is a mistake on her part, but it is quite a compliment to the atmosphere and team attitude we have in my office.

Darla and I received a letter from a claims administrator for the city of Folsom on Friday telling us that they intend to subrogate against us for the costs of the cleanup from the transmission fluid spill earlier in the month. As California cities become more and more financially strapped by the weight of undocumented aliens and uninsured transients, they are looking for citizens of means to pay for services that our taxes have always paid for. It is classic double dipping and I will have a word with the claims examiner on Monday and tell her to either 1. contact the transmission shop for payment of the cost of the spill or 2. Stuff It! Unbelievable. This is the type of garbage that Obama has wrought in this country with his plans to embrace the undocumented "citizens" as he likes to call them. Arizona has it right when they will deport any undocumented persons found inside their borders. And now Obama has joined with the country of Mexico in deciding to sue the state of Arizona. Arizona is only upholding laws that are federal laws on the books since 1954 and of which Obama has "decided" that such laws are unconstitutional. I'll tell you what is unconstitutional is a President that decides to interpret laws and not enforce laws that he is duly sworn to uphold. There is a reason that we have branches of government and Obama can't just decide to make or interpret law, it is not in the constitution for him to do so. This President is a joke and this country is in the worst shape it has ever been in in my lifetime. And Friday, Obama decided the Federal Defense of Marriage Act is now unconstitutional. When did we elect this guy King? I think I missed that election. God help us.

I played Cherry Island yesterday following the rain and frost of the past week. I shot 42+43=85 and felt like I survived the round as much as played it. It was cold and I took a cart to at least have a windshield in front of me. The carts were relegated to the cart paths which hurt me a few times when I arrived at my ball after a walk from the cart with the wrong club in my hand. I'm sure mis-clubbing cost me at least three strokes during the round. I will miss the next tournament at Diamond due to the Scottsdale trip, but the weather forecast for Scottsdale is 77 degrees and Sunny, so I'll take that.

Dad and Shirley were in San Francisco on Friday and perhaps even got to see the first snow flurries in SF in 35 years as the weather was COLD. Darla and I did not make plans to see them as it was a pretty tight schedule with them leaving Saturday morning early for the airport. We will call tonight.

Well, that is the news for now. I'll update the blog next Saturday with tales from my colonoscopy. Again, I leave for Scottsdale Sunday morning. I hope you are all well. Ciao.

Gotta Love California

As the rest of the country continues to struggle with crushing snowfall and cold temperatures, I have to endure another mild sunburn because I never think to put sunscreen on in February. We had a wet and Wintry week and the weather turned to sunshine and happiness just in time for the weekend. I was able to get out and play golf both days with Darla away in New Orleans. I was going to try and play nine holes late Saturday with Matt, but he was studying (He is taking his MBA at CSUS), so I went over to Woodcreek to hit balls. It was dead at the course and the pro, Rob, talked me into playing 18 by giving me a cart, golf and a cheeseburger lunch all for $20. I ended up playing with a guy named Carlos who was about a 10. He doesn't keep a handicap and I talked him into joining RGC. He will call me and I'll put him in my foursome and introduce him to the guys. I shot 41 + 41 =82 and wasted my better round on a practice round. Matt and I played in the qualifier today and I shot 44+40=84. I made a nice comeback on the final nine, but neither Matt nor I had any game and we shot a 37+33=70 as a best ball team (horrible, by the way). We did play side by side with the guys who won the tournament by shooting 29+33=62. We tied them on the back, but that doesn't mean much. The weather was ideal today as you can tell by the pictures. Not warm, it only hit 55 degrees, but a high sun in a bright blue sky.

Darla is in the air as I write this winging back to Sacramento after her conference in New Orleans wrapped up. She said she has some stories to tell me. These women get away without their husbands and lose all sense of decorum. Not a good thing in a town like New Orleans. I am very secure in my relationship with Darla. She is a great Christian women and knows boundaries like no one I've ever met. She taught me some boundaries as a single Dad when we were dating and continues to mold me into the man she wants. If she could just get me to give up golf, life would be good. i say that, but it's funny if I have a Saturday without golf she gets irritated because I'm "hanging around" the house getting in her way.

Tomorrow is President's day and it will be DEAD at work. All of Sacramento (a government city) is shut down and most of our agents are off tomorrow. I've got the staff wearing casual Friday clothes and we will probably shut down a little bit early. I stay until the workday is over, but let the staff take off if it is abnormally slow and it will be.

It looks like I will be heading an intervention with the two dueling cousins from poker. I got john to agree that he needs to put this behind him and he asked if I'd act as a mediator and set up a lunch with Steve and John. I told him I'd be happy to and will talk to Steve at poker on Friday night.

Next Tuesday (March 1st)is my colonoscopy. I'll take a half day off on Monday to prep for the procedure and have Dulcolax tablets to take and four liters of Gavilyte to drink. It will clean me out and prepare for the colonoscopy. The television program "Men of a Certain Age" had a hilarious episode on the guys taking a golf weekend to Palm Springs combined with a resort treatment and colonoscopies.

On March 6th, Pete and I will fly to Scottsdale on business. We are playing golf with the Western Regional Director of Underwriting from Scottsdale Insurance and then going out to dinner that night. Monday morning we have breakfast with another company, Markel, followed by a day of meetings at Colony Insurance and then an early dinner and the Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants Spring Training game at Scottsdale Stadium that evening. Tuesday morning we will be in the Scottsdale office of Burns and then over to the Burlington Insurance office mid morning followed by golf that afternoon. We will sneak in an early dinner with Seneca Insurance and then a 6:30 flight home. We will be moving the whole time we are there. We will play golf at the Legacy Resort on Sunday which is near the airport. Of course as I am wont to say to my assistant, it is all Sports Marketing.

We are having another strong month at work and have almost surpassed a strong 2010 with still over a week to go, so the results continue to be strong. I'm proud of the staff and we will likely earn a lunch for beating our budget this month. Things are definitely good at work.

Well Darla has landed and will be home soon. I still haven't showered since getting home from golf. I mowed the lawn after raking up all of the infernal spiny balls from the liquid amber trees on the North side of the house. I have to spray the pre-emergent this year to see if I can ward off those little devil balls this Spring and Fall. I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Ciao.

An Ill Wind Blows In

I was very concerned about the high winds that blew into our area on Tuesday, but my CEO was in town and I couldn't do anything about it. We didn't take down the gazebo this Winter, instead anchoring it down with cinder blocks. It turns out that we should have taken the canvas off as the winds lifted up the gazebo and tossed it around. I called Darla as the winds grew stronger during the day and asked her to check on the gazebo. She had a full day and couldn't get home either. I picked my boss up at the Net Jets runway over at the old Mather AFB at 6:30 and we were at the Hyatt by 7 Pm and to dinner by 7:45. I didn't get out of the restaurant until 10:30 and took Anthony back to his house and finally got home about 11:20. I asked Darla how the gazebo fared and she said, "fine." I went out back and took a look and called her out there. What about our gazebo upside down in the pool is "fine"? She said that it was dark when she looked out and everything looked okay. Uh, right. I dismantled the twisted metal and torn fabric from the structure on Saturday and have the metal on the side yard ready for a trip to the recyclers.

The visit with our CEO went rather well. He brought me a nice San Giovesse from Italy as a gift and had very positive reinforcement for the office and the staff. We had agency visits Tuesday night and again Wednesday morning. I saw the talk show host, Montel Williams at the Hyatt Tuesday night as I waited for Alan and Harvey to check in. Wednesday morning saw the Dallas Mavericks and their team bus at the hotel as they were gathering to head over to the practice facility at Arco Arena (nee Power Balance Pavilion). Alan had some solid suggestions with regard to increasing our penetration into the middle tier and top tier agents in Sacramento, but again, the theme was very positive and he thanked me and the staff profusely for our results in 2010. It was a nice visit.

The staff was jittery all day on Wednesday with Alan in the office and I think most were surprised at the very positive tone of our meetings. Alan likes to grill the staff on company history and our statistics, but I had them prepared for the visit and we had grilled on statistics and history for three weeks before the visit. Alan did take a shine to my two newest hires, Connie and Dana, and have both of them coming into San Francisco next week for an assesment for the company management training program. I lose some measure of control if they join the program, so I'm a little ambivalent on their involvement, but see the need for the company to increase our bench strength. Of course, my bench strength will suffer if they are both picked for the program. I already have Matt in my office as a graduate of the training program. I will be sitting in on the assesments next Tuesday in San Francisco and we will do some role playing, having the candidates attempt to sell us some insurance products and grading them on their sales presentation and creativity. It should be interesting. I will be sitting in with Harvey (my boss), the VP of Human Resources and the head of college recruiting for the company.

Darla did get her car back on Monday after the shop repaired the damage. As I surmised, one of the hoses came loose from the transmission and sprayed the hot transmission fluid all over the engine and road. According to the shop owner, it was a pressure clamp that should have failed immediately, but lasted four hours and 69 miles before it gave up the ghost. As far as the accident, we have been cleared of any wrongdoing and the motorcycle's insurance (which so happens to be our insurance as well) will subrogate against the shop for the damage to the motorcycle. The shop power washed the engine before repairing the damage, but it still has a bit of a burnt transmission fluid smell to it.

I set up another out of town golf trip this weekend and we headed up to Darkhorse outside of Auburn, near Lake of the Pines on Saturday. The course is a championship layout and I've struggled each time I've played there. The greens are sloped and lightning fast and there are hazards, tight fairways and trees galore. I shot 44+46=90. Bob shot 81, Matt had 83 and Boyd shot a solid 36+38=74, a round that included 5 birdies. Boyd, at 71, is a golfer that takes his game on the road and plays well at almost any venue. It must be nice. I play in an NCGA 4 ball qualifier with Matt on Sunday.

Darla leaves for leadership conference with Silpada on Wednesday. She'll be gone until Sunday and the convention is in New Orleans this year. Mardis Gras is close and it should be a fun trip for her. I fly out to Scottsdale on March 6th for three days of carrier meetings. I will play golf on Sunday and then see the San Francisco Giants reprise their World Series matchup on Monday night at Scottsdale Stadium against the Texas Rangers. Spring training starts this weekend.

We have had Springlike temperatures this week, topping out at 74 degrees on Saturday, but Winter will return this week with rain for the valley and snow in the Sierra. The AT&T Pebble Beach golf tournament had excellent weather this week and I'm sure left most of the country longing for the blue skies and warm temperatures of California.

So, I will be batching it next weekend and hopefully the rain will end by Saturday and I can get in two days of golf next weekend. It was sure fantastic on Saturday. I hit two drives of close to 300 yards on Saturday and felt like Darryl. On one hole I was 80 yards past my playing partners. It's not really my game, the long ball off the tee, but fun when you nut one. My drives have been excellent the last month, but I haven't scored because of my poor chipping and putting. I know what I'm doing on my chips and pitches,(rolling over my right foot when I bring the club back). I'm working on keeping my right foot on the ground and planted, but it is a work in progress right now. Frankly, I'd rather be working on that than struggling with the driver.

I'm doing the blog early this afternoon as Darla and I have a Valentine's date at McCormick and Schmick's steakhouse at 5:30 tonight. I hope you are all well. Our worship pastor quoted Psalm 18 today: "...He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in my day of disaster, but the LORD was my support, he brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me." Call upon our Saviour in your times of struggle and he will protect you. Happy Valentines day. Ciao.

Really, is it that hard to fix a transmission?

It was a fantastic weekend in Northern California with a high of 76 degrees yesterday and 75 degrees today. Great weather for golf and for a little yard work which I got done today. I was able to mow the lawn, edge, weed, put down some crabgrass preventer and fertilizer as well as clean the pool and for all of my trouble, I even got a little sunburn. To be honest, I also walked dead into one of the limbs of a tree on the side yard and almost knocked myself down to the ground. For that I got a nice smile shaped cut in my forehead and a bit of a ringing in my ears. What a dope!

As to the title of this epistle, we had Darla's truck in the shop all week and rented a car for Darla to use. She returned the rental truck on Friday and after juggling some money in our accounts to pay the $2600 tab, she picked it up and was on her way. We were meeting Darla's folks at 6 PM at Visconti's in Folsom to celebrate Frances' birthday. I was on my way to the restaurant Friday afternoon when Darla called and said she had a problem over at her sister's house with the truck and to detour over there. I turned into their side street and was confronted with both the Folsom Police and Fire vehicles directing me around a large spill in the roadway. Apparently one of the hoses on the transmission worked loose and sprayed hot transmission fluid all over the roadway. A Folsom police officer saw Darla's truck smoking and followed her to Alicia's. As they were discussing her truck, one of the neighbor's on a motorcycle hit the slick transmission fluid in the roadway and his bike slid out from under him. He landed hard on the roadway and one of the handlebars on the bike was broken and the tank and side of the vehicle scratched up. The firemen stayed on site cleaning up the haz mat spill and waited for the tow truck to come and take the truck away so they could get the rest of the spill beneath the truck. We ordered dinner delivered to Alicia and Don's house and the tow truck showed up just as the food arrived. The driver said that he needed to have one of us at the delivery site, so I gulped down my food and headed over to the transmission shop in Rocklin. Lucky for us, we needed to be there as the BOZO tow driver dropped the truck right in front of the dumpsters on the side of the business. He planned to leave it there, but I made him help me push it into a parking spot. He wasn't happy, but I don't care. The truck would have been towed this weekend if we left it there. The shop doesn't open until the morning and the owner will find out he not only has to redo our rebuilt transmission, but also has to turn in a claim to his general liability carrier for the motorcycle accident caused by his tech not tightening an O ring on to one end of a hose on the transmission.

We decided to have them do the work as AAMCO screwed up last Fall by changing the solenoid rather than checking the belt, which is what caused the "check engine" light to come on. Gene at the shop said it is one of two things when the light comes on, the solenoid or the belt. AAMCO chose wrong. Alicia had work on her Dodge there a few years ago and recommended them, but when I was talking to her after the wreck, she said, "The guys great, after my truck was fixed the light came on when I was leaving and he got me right back in, got me a rental and fixed the problem." Alicia was commenting on the good customer service, what I heard was that this shop has screwed up before by not getting a vehicle fixed right the first time. We will deal with him in the morning, but right now I need three things, a rental for Darla, the transmission fixed properly and a claim presented to his GL carrier for the motorcycle wreck of which the proximate cause was their shoddy workmanship.

The Super Bowl is over. Some will say what a great game, but I saw a sloppy performance by the Steelers and a lack of killer instinct by Green Bay. They should have rolled the Steelers after going up 21-3, but their own ineptitude and their players falling by the minute made the game closer. Miss Samantha won the first quarter of our neighborhood pool and won $25. We always put the kids names in and give them the money of they win. I think we've played for seven years and this is our first win. Good for Sammy.

I also wonder how Forty-Niner fans feel after watching a local product, Aaron Rodgers win the Super Bowl and also take home the MVP trophy. They chose first the year he came out and could have traded down to get him, but instead chose a Utah player to be their franchise quarterback, Alex Smith, who has been a colossal failure in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback for the Cal Bears and a local hero. David and Daniel say that the divergence of Rodgers and Smith is a byproduct of coaching, but I see a star quality in Aaron that is sorely lacking in Alex Smith. Smith was a good college QB who won the Heisman Trophy and is a serviceable backup quarterback in the NFL. Where would the Niners be if they had traded down and drafted both Aaron Rodgers and a wide receiver in the first round that year? We'll never know. Someone should have been fired in the Niners front office for that blunder.

I did play golf on Saturday in a shotgun at 8AM. It was a little cold when we teed off. My drives are straight and long, but I couldn't chip or putt all day on my way to an 88. Next week, we are on another road trip, this time up to Auburn and Darkhorse Golf Club. looking forward to it. Matt and I will play together in the next qualifier on February 19th, a two man best ball regional qualifier for the NCGA.

This will be a crazy week for me at work. Last week was companies in and dinners out. in fact, we saw Tyreke Evans and Donte Green of the Sacramento Kings at Benihanas on Wednesday night. They bopth had dates that were about 5 foot tall. Funny sight. This week will be a little more intense with our CEO visiting Tuesday night and Wednesday. I spent two days on the phone with both of his executive assistants last week setting up his itinerary. He flies in on Net Jets on Tuesday night and I will pick him up and drive him to the Hyatt in downtown where he will check in and then we are off to dinner at the Firehouse in Old Sacramento where we have dinner with one of my top retailers. I received his itinerary on Friday and it shows his arrival at 6:15 PM, a 25 minute drive to the hotel, a fifteen minute check-in at the hotel followed by a three (3?) minute drive to the restaurant. The next morning we have a breakfast meeting with one of our retailers, a thirty minute drive to the office, meetings scheduled with times during the day, an office lunch at 12:30 and departure at 4 PM. he and Harvey go on to SF, where they will meet a retailer for dinner. both of my retailers are excited and nervous about meeting a CEO of the largest wholesaler in the country.

I had the carpets cleaned Friday night, have been grilling the office on company trivia and will be doing walk throughs of the cubicles and offices on Tuesday morning. I will pick Anthony up Tuesday morning and he will go with me to the airport and dinner and, of course, Harvey will be in tow. It should be an interesting visit as it always is.

Well, this is a bit late due to the Super Bowl telecast, so this will be a bit short. I will have news on the transmission shop's response to all that has happened since Friday in the next visit. I hope you are all well. Darla and I made it back to church on Saturday night and it felt like coming home. Honestly, if you find a good local church, it makes your life so much better. Be well. Ciao.