Just a Quick Update

A couple of pictures texted to me this week from Jennifer. One of Sam in PJ's with what looks like sweet potato fries and one of her new bed. Jen finally moved her out of her crib bed and into a Princess bed complete with canopy. Sam loves it.

Jennifer was offered a position with ITT over in Afghanistan and stood to make about $150,000 for a one year stint. It would have been an easy decision to take the job if she was single and childless, but she turned it down and as Jennifer said, "I need Sam as much as she needs me, maybe more!" Samantha is definitely Jennifer's greatest accomplishment in life and they are as close as a Mom and Daughter can get. Jennifer misses her as soon as they are apart and weekends feel like an eternity to her. Hopefully, Jen will get back to making more money soon and be financially more stable than she is now. At least she is working.

I leave for Scottsdale at 4:30 tomorrow morning. We have the 6 AM flight (the same flight I took on 9/11) from Sacramento to Phoenix. We arrive in AZ at 8:49 as they are an hour ahead of us for the next week (Daylight savings starts a week from Sunday!). Pete and I will grab a rental car and head over to the Legacy Resort which is ten minutes from the airport and play a round of golf with Scottsdale Insurance. We will from there check into the corporate apartment in Scottsdale, shower, change and then meet our Scottsdale underwriter, Sandra and her boss for dinner at a Steakhouse (Don and Charlie's) close to the apartment. Monday morning we meet our underwriters and managers from Markel at a restaurant in Scottsdale for breakfast and then will spend the morning and early afternoon with Colony, our hosts. Monday night we have the Spring training game between the Giants and Texas Rangers with Colony. Tuesday morning we meet again at a restaurant close to the apartment for breakfast with Patty, my old Arizona Underwriter from Rep West days. She is now the underwriter with Seneca and we just wrote a $9,000,000 account last week together. From there, we are off to Burlington for some meetings followed by golf at Orange Tree Resort in Scottsdale and then the flight home Tuesday night. It will be a jam packed trip.

The colonoscopy went off without a hitch. I highly recommend the cocktail of Valium and Morphine used in the IV sedative. I was flying high after the surgery. The worst part was the prep and trying to drink 4 litres of the salty, lemon flavored lubricant that cleans you out like a bottle brush working a Coke bottle. I found that I was so bloated, that I needed to drink some soda to make myself burp. One of the worst feelings when you are gagging down so much liquid is the dehydration that is caused by it moving through you so fast. I have two brothers over 50 and you both need to get this done. I was free of polyps and other problems and don't have to have another until I'm 60. I'm 53 years old and that was my first sedated procedure that I have had. Amazing.

I came home after the procedure flying like a kite and slept for two hours on the bed. Darla finally woke me up and we headed out for a big lunch. I was famished. Pete told me that he drove straight to Denny's and had a Grand Slam. I was loopy and didn't feel hungry although my body was craving nourishment. Darla and I had lunch at Benihana's and my meal was free for my birthday month of March.

We are actually going back to Benihana's tonight with Bob and Vicki. They have sold their home in Roseville and will be moving back to San Jose within a month. I'll miss Bob, who is a great Christian friend of mine. The nice thing is I'll have a friend in San Jose and we can plan on meeting in the Bay Area and playing golf. He will also come up here and play in some tournaments still.

Work is going well. We hit our budget number in February and have a strong start already in March. I had received two tickets from Cal Trans for toll evasion from our trip last week to SF. I used the Car Pool lanes on both bridges, but now know that the toll was changed for Car Pools from Free to $2.50 on both the Bay Bridge and Carquinez bridge. The only way you get the reduced toll is through Fast Trak, an electronic reader you keep in your car and it deducts money from your account. I ended up signing up for the system and they waived my penalty on both violations, simply charging me the $2.50 for each crossing. It is another money grab by the state in the wake of Obama's overspending on welfare and non-citizens. The sad part is the Car Pool lanes are still there and there are no signs saying a toll is in effect. I'm sure families from other states buzz through the Car Pool lanes and end up getting a $27.50 fine in the mail and just pay it. I put $25 into the Fast Trak account and can use it when I got to SF. I still have $20 in the account, but it reloads when the balance gets down to $15. Damn you, Barrack Hussein!

It is Chris Lyon's 21st birthday today and I'm glad I'm in California and not Oklahoma. There will be a LOUD party tonight. I'm sure my Godson has had more alcohol in the last 5 years than I have in the last 10 and he's just now legal. He's definitely a Texas Boy.

It is Dad's birthday on Wednesday, Cheryl's on Friday and mine next Saturday. Happy Birthday to the March babies. Darla and I are heading to Saturday church, so I have to sign off and get dressed. I hope everyone is happy and healthy. I'll bring tales of my Arizona adventures next week. Ciao.