Temperatures in the mid nineties, but cool overnight and in the early morning. The overnight low in the upper fifties is great sleeping weather and I actually wore a jacket when I teed off at 6:25 on Saturday. This is often the "Dog days of Summer" and the beginning of "Hot August Nights", but we have been lucky this Summer with relatively mild weather. We had two heat waves that came and went. There is a possibility that we will move back to the 100's next weekend, but initially the heat was moving in mid week and that has been pushed back, so we'll see. Darla and I have been enjoying the warm days in our pool with cold drinks and water lounges.
I spent today thinning out the ground cover and plantings around the pool, cutting back the agapanthas and fertilizing and watering all of the plants. I also drained the spa into the pool and put fresh water into the spa and did the chemicals for both. The African daisies that are so beautiful in the Spring with their vibrant purple blooms, get heat stressed and weary in the Summer and need to be pruned back and thinned out. I removed some of the dead and dying plants and hopefully with the fertilizer and thinning, they will get a second life this Summer. Those plants will come back in the Fall and give us another burst of color before going dormant in the Winter.
I played golf on Thursday with our local US Reports representative. Us Reports is a Burns and Wilcox sister company, also owned by Kaufman Enterprises. Aaron took Peter and I out to Morgan Creek Country Club and we had one of Pete's agent's, Phil join us. Aaron played one year of college golf and shot a 77 using nothing but a five iron to tee off with. I can see why he only played one year with his driver issues, but it was impressive to see a 5over with irons off the tee. I struggled and shot 43+41=84, but had a great time. That course is so nice and well maintained. I then went home, did some work from the house and played in my twilight league and shot 39. Steve and I are in first place among the 18 teams in the league. It is close and we will have to continue to play well to stay where we are.
The Olympics are in full swing and I think I've spent a total of about thirty minutes watching the event. I think I've grown tired of the whole spectacle. I know Dad and Shirley loved the Vancouver Olympics and it was civic pride, but the whole overblown opening ceremonies where they try to showcase how savvy they can be in making the crowd turn into a big TV screen is embarrassing. I saw some scene of a bunch of kids in their pajamas singing with Mary Poppins-looking women flying in the sky and turned over to a tivo'd episode of 20-20 and was eminently more entertained. I guess it is fun for some people, but I don't need to see Eskimos singing or nannies dancing. What does any of that have to do with sporting excellence? If they want to showcase London, show bad teeth and an outdated monarchy system that has been usurped by Parliament. Also, what is with NBC tape delaying Michael Phelps first medal attempt on Saturday? Did they honestly think that anyone interested would not look at the internet or ESPN to see who won? Very strange decision making by the number three network. I will catch bits and pieces of this Olympics, but there is absolutely nothing compelling to me about the games this time around.
Darla and I had dinner with Neil and Lilly last night at Sabores restaurant in Roseville. They only have a beer and wine license and both Neil and Lilly love margaritas. Thgey were already seated when we got there and Neil was drinking a diet coke. Darla and I had a diet coke and iced tea respectively, but Lilly was only drinking water. The servers kept coming by and asking her if she wanted anything and I think it irritated her. Finally on about the third time they asked, she said, "yeah, I'd like a shot of tequila!" A few minutes later the waitress returned with a shot glass filled with Los Cabos tequila. When I asked how they had tequila, she answered that they make wine margaritas. Huh? I think she poured a shot of the bootleg tequila that the boss keeps in the cupboard. We had a good laugh over that. They leave Wednesday for Eugene and will be in Seattle on Thursday and Surrey on Friday. Dad and Shirley will have lunch ready for them and they will go out and see (I'm guessing here) Fort Langley and White Rock Friday afternoon. They also have a car show on Saturday and Neil has already been drafted to drive the '39 over the the park. He is REALLY excited about being not only at a car show, but part of the show itself. I'm sure he and Dad will have a ball together and dad will introduce him to all of his buddies in the BC Hot rod club. They will be there over the weekend and I think Neil plans an afternoon trip Sunday up to Whistler. I know that Dad and Shirley have tickets to Yanni on Sunday night.
Well, some good news on the job front for the boys in that Daniel has landed not one, but two jobs. He will be working with a civil engineer from Lafayette doing some piece work for her. This will be part time. Daniel also got a job at Kohl's department store and will be working in sales. Congratulations to him. David continues on the hunt.
I did also play golf on Saturday and we once again enjoyed Power Hour, the first hour of tee times in the morning that are $30 with a cart. I shot 40+43=83 on Saturday. We will play Power Hour again on Saturday and then I have a tournament at Diamond Oaks on Sunday. Darla had a retirement jewelry party on Saturday from 10-12 at the house, so I stayed a little late at the course and enjoyed a meal of pulled pork and cole slaw sandwich and a beer. I got back right before noon to a houseful of women frantically shopping over the racks of jewelry in our living room. Shawna, my assistant, was there as well and freaked out because she had come straight over from yoga and I saw her. Darla made her feel better by letting her know that I hadn't showered before golf that morning.Thanks, hon.
Boyd made it out for golf in spite of some problems at home where his ex daughter in law had committed suicide and left her kids behind. His son is single and it will be a hardship for him to do on his own. Boyd and his wife will end up having to pick up the pieces for him. His wife insisted he get out of the house and play golf on Saturday.
We have made our reservations for Vegas and I will miss the Club Championship this year. We fly out August 24th and will stay at the Circus Circus in Vegas for three nights. We got a Southwest vacation deal for the flights, room, resort credit of $50 and a rental car for $700. Sam will like us staying at the Circus Circus and we will take her down to see the circus acts. We can also take her over to the amusement park as well. we look forward to seeing them and really missed Samantha at Almanor this year.
Well, that is it for this week. I hope everyone is doing well. I was happy to see the blog top 10,000 hits this week. I have been doing this for thirteen years now and what is more amazing to me is that we have been without Mom and Gramp Lyon for that amount of time. Hard to believe. Be good. Ciao.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
I Survived another bachelor week
I did survive my five days of bachelorhood and got some things done around the house. I cleaned up the laundry room and made room for more hanging coats and clothes to be cleaned. I also cleaned the kitchen and both bathrooms, even sweeping and washing the floors. Darla will be happy that I went to the effort if for no other reason than I saw first hand the uselessness of our vacuum and ordered a new Hoover Wind tunnel vac that will arrive via Amazon on Tuesday. I also worked on the yard and was able to spray some lawn weed killer for a bit of clover that was creeping into the side yard.
I received my quarterly green fees on Thursday night for acting as the club handicapper and used them promptly on Friday to have the 300 detailed. I had a number of swirl marks and some light scratches on the hood and trunk space. I took it into the hand car wash by my office on Douglas and talked to the detail manager. He said that a regular hand wax wouldn't do the job and suggested a $300 hand sanding and wax treatment. I balked and we finagled down to $150 for the detailing and $75 for two rock chips to be repaired. The total of $225 was expensive, but I can get the $75 reimbursed by my car insurer. The result was incredible. They took out all of the swirl marks, removed the light scratches and did the complete Maguire detailing, including use of a clay bar and a hand buffed gloss finish. They also treated my dash, seats and header, cleaned my mags and put tire dressing on the tires. They topped it all off with an application of Rust-oleum clear coat polish applied with an electric buffer. The car absolutely shines and moist people wouldn't get it, but it is so nice to have the mirror finish back on my car. Do it yourself is great until you just need professional help.
I played golf early today, Power Hour is the first hour open and the cost is $30 with a cart. We played Diamond Oaks and I struggled a bit today shooting 43+41=84 and paying my friends $15 for our 3-3-3 bet. The most you can win is $15, but the most you can lose is $15. I did have a birdie on both sides, but also a double bogey on both as well. Next Saturday, Darla has a Silpada gig at the house and we have the Power Hour deal at Woodcreek at 6:28 AM. I hope to play the first 18 and then play a second 18 for $16 with cart. We'll see how crowded they are when we finish.
Darla and I spent the balance of the day on the pool. It was 102 degrees today, but we stayed cool on the 86 degree pool. There was a light breeze that felt hot in the sun, but was refreshing on the pool when you were wet. we both really appreciate the pool and use it religiously.
Jennifer did go into her doctor today and they confirmed that she did rupture her eardrum in the wakeboarding fall. The doctor expects it to heal itself, but did refer her to a specialist as well. She got Sam back on Wednesday and was on cloud 9. The ten days that John was in Colorado was the longest she has ever been apart from Samantha. I will call them tonight to see how they are doing.
I went to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday. We are new to the chamber and the City Manager was giving a speech on the state of the City and some of the new businesses moving in to the area. I ended up sitting at a table with the CEO of the Chamber, the Mayor of Roseville and the City Manager. They asked me to lead the pledge of allegiance and also allowed me a two minute commercial on Burns and Wilcox. It was good PR as I had three agents approach me afterword to get more information on BW. I made the comment during my talk that I was proud to live and work in a city in California that wasn't going bankrupt and got a round of applause for that. Ray Kerridge, the City Manager also mentioned in his remarks that BW as new to Roseville and stopped to say, "boy, Ken, this is turning into a commercial for your business." I did find out that Sammy Hagar is opening a new Sammy's Rockin' Island Bar and Grill in Roseville on September 15th and will open the restaurant with a free concert in the street on Saturday afternoon. Sammy lives and works in Marin and will make the trip up to Roseville along with may of his musician friends to put on a concert. Neil Thomas is a big Sammy Hagar fan and we will go to the opening with Neil and Lilly in September.
Speaking of my good friends, Neil and Lilly, they leave August 1st for Canada and will visit Dad and Shirley over the weekend and go to a car show. Dad and Shirley have tickets to a Yanni concert one night and Neil has decided that they will take the train up to Whistler that day. they are both really looking forward to the trip and I know that Dad and Shirley will enjoy their visit. Neil is such a car buff and Dad is plugged in to the BC Hot rod Club and Neil will be in Pig Heaven when he is at the show with Dad. Dad and Shirley are in Southern California this past week for a Disneyland trip with family. I know that Kathy and Cameron and their family are along on the trip because i saw a Facebook post from Kathy last weekend.
Darla did see Darryl and Cheryl and their new monstrosity of a home in the suburbs of Kansas City during her visit to the Silpada annual conference. She loved the home, but thought it was inordinately large. we love our 2100 square foot home. Large enough to stretch out and small enough to clean easily. It also is located in California, which is a plus for us. They had a good visit, did some shopping ( I heard Darryl spent 45 minutes in a Victoria's Secret store), and had lunch together back at the house. I don't know that I will see the house as I'm not sure how long they will be in Kansas. Our next trip is to Vegas at the end of August to see Jennifer and Samantha.
Well, that is the news that is fit to print. I think dinner is around the corner and I've worked up an appetite. I hope all are well and living a good life. Ciao.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Lake Almanor is Paradise, but actually is closer to Chester, CA
Jennifer almost didn't make the trip because she had a couple of checks that hadn't cleared her bank and couldn't rent a car for the trip. Her truck has a few mechanical issues and broke down recently on a trip to Los Angeles and she didn't trust it on that far of a drive. Her brothers and step-mom came to her rescue with a loan and she was able to get her little rental Hyundai Elantra and get on the road. I was golfing when all of this came down and they were able to help her out of her jam. She left for Roseville about noon Saturday where she spent the night at our house and was to meet up with Daniel Sunday for the trip to Almanor.
I played in our Firecracker event, shooting a 79 and taking second low net with a 68 before heading home, showering and getting on the road to Almanor with Darla. We drove up, stopping for dinner in Oroville and got to the resort about 7:30 PM. Jennifer was still on the road and I took a picture of the lake from the deck and texted it to her with "Hello, Almanor". Her response was, "Hello Fresno!" Nice.
David and I got the ski in the water Saturday morning and drove it over to our little beach below the cabin. Earl put his boat in and also moored it along the beach as they had a few dock spaces that were damaged in the wind the week before and space was at a premium. Almanor is calm and smooth as glass in the morning, but the wind comes up nearly every afternoon and the chop starts and by mid afternoon it is whitecaps and waves pounding the beach. The ski was taking a pounding and David swam out and put in the anchor from Earl's boat and we hooked the ski up every evening to the anchor, where we left a buoy tied to the clasp end of the rope. That problem was easily solved and I will get an anchor for the ski next year so we are set.
The ski ran well all week and I'm guessing we went through about 50 gallons of gas and two gallons of oil for the week. We tend to get the teenagers and young adults over from the gang and they want to use the ski. Funny, Jennifer got in about 1 PM Sunday and I was cooking sausages for lunch and they were almost ready. She took one look at the lake and changed into her swimsuit and was on the ski before you could turn around. I guess she didn't drive 13 hours to eat.
We did have one unfortunate incident on Jennifer's last day at the resort. She was out wake boarding and took a bad fall and we think injured her eardrum. She had a bad ringing in her ear and then some blood that came out. She googled the injury and ended up packing her ear with cotton balls and keeping water out of it. She is supposed to see her doctor tomorrow, but as of yesterday was feeling much better and had regained hearing in that ear. It was very painful for her and scared her as well. Hopefully she is okay.
The boys just came by and helped put the jet ski back in it's spot behind the shed and in the backyard behind the double gate and driveway on the side yard.
They are both ready to get serious about finding jobs and will be working and networking this week on jobs, internships and opportunities in their respective fields. Robert, who is married to Darla's cousin, Carol, was up at the reunion this year and his brother is the main engineer for the Modesto Irrigation District and is looking for an intern, preferably with a degree in civil engineering from Cal Poly. Daniel will follow up with him this week. Robert said that he has trouble getting any interested students to move to Modesto.
I did play golf at Bailey Creek again this year. Initially we had two foursomes and that whittled down to 5 players, but when it came time to play, only Robert and I made it to the course. I got us a 7:50 tee time on Thursday and they paired us with two very good golfers, one from Napa and the other from New Brunfield, Texas. One shot a 34 on the front side and 75 for the round, the other shot 76. I managed an 83 and Robert shot a 105. It was a lot of fun and the course was in excellent condition. Robert and I stayed afterward and had a drink and ate lunch at the bar.
Jason and his girlfriend, Lucy, came up and spent Tuesday night with us. David took them out for a boat ride with Earl's boat and it broke down. The starter was bad and Jennifer had to tow them back with the jet ski. Earl had the boat fixed by the time we left, but the waves were so bad on the shore during the week that they had worked his swim dock at the back of the boat loose and he has to fix that now. What do they say about boats? It is like digging a hole in the ground and throwing money into it.
I grew a beard during the vacation, actually starting it when we were in San Francisco and letting it grow up until we got back from Almanor. I shaved it off this afternoon and with it the mustache that I've had for the last 38 years. I should have shaved it off before Almanor, because now I've got a light line around my mouth and upper lip where the sun hasn't been able to tan the skin completely. Oops.
I did play golf again today with Darren, Boyd and Andy. We teed off at 6:50 AM. I shot 43+40=83. Sounds decent, but my index has dropped on 7/15 to 8.7, which gives me a 9 on Diamond Oaks. Now I have to shoot 81 just to shoot par on the course. It is my lowest index so far.
Darla leaves for Kansas City and her conference with Silpada on Wednesday morning. She plans to call Darryl and Cheryl and see if they can get together while she is there. We will give you guys a call tomorrow night to see if it works out for Darla to see you and maybe come by the house.
Well, that's it for this week. Pray for me as I will be batching it for the next week. Darla gets home on Sunday. I hope your week is wonderful. Be well. Ciao.
Sunday, July 01, 2012
San Francisco Dreaming
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Fun Times in the city over the weekend. Unfortunately, all didn't go off without a hitch as Steve's wife, Brenda, took a nasty fall out of a cable car on California Street Saturday afternoon and had to be transported to the hospital. Darla and I missed it as we went back to the hotel to rest up for dinner and the Alcatraz tour that night. They had been standing on the cable car and some seats came available and they all scrambled to get over to them and Brenda missed a step and fell backwards off of the trolley and caught herself with her right arm. She ended up dislocating her shouler. I guess it was quite a scene with the police and paramedics blocking off the street. Brenda kept trying to get up and Steve made her lay down and wait for the paramedics. He told her that as long as the police didn't start drawing a chalk outline around her when they got there, everything would be fine. That got her smiling, but she was pretty embarassed. That episode sort of took the glow off a pretty great weekend.
The weather was great, in the low seventies all weekend and the high 50's overnight. We did get some high, thin fog that swept over the city and the ballpark during the Giants game and some that blanketed Alcatraz on our night tour of The Rock. Our hotel, The Harbor Court, was a block off of the Embarcadero and across the street from the Ferry Building and another block down from the Embarcadero Shopping mall.
I played in our Thursday night twilight league golf league and then met Neil and Lilly back at our house for the drive into the Bay Area. Steve was horrible on Thursday night and shot a 55. I continued my recent spate of good play and shot a one over 37, but we got spanked by our opponents 12.5 to 7.5 and the 7.5 were all my points, believe me. Darla had a Silpada gig Thursday night and got home about 8:45 and we were off like a dirty shirt. We stayed in Richmond at an Extended Stay Inn which was close to the Hilltop Mall and clean and comfortable. We tried to add Thursday night to our itinerary at the Harbor Court, but they wanted $329 for an extra night. We only paid $115 a night through hotelscheap.com for Friday and Saturday night. We couldn't figure it out until we got there and experienced the first class ambience of the hotel. The rooms were relatively small, but had a soft top King size bed in the room and a nice sitting area and bathroom. The front lobby had a nice fireplace, a library and chairs and tables, couches, etc. for a nice gathering area and it had a great view of the bay and the Bay Bridge. The key to the hotel is it's location about a mile from AT&T Park and about three miles to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf.
We arrived Friday morning and Neil and I dropped off Lilly and Darla at the hotel with the luggage and picked up Rick and Steve and their golf clubs and we were off to the Presidio golf course for breakfast. The Presidio is an old Army base and the golf course was an officer's club. We had a grand breakfast in the wood paneled dining room and then went and hit balls and putted before our tee time. Steve saved his A game for the Presidio, shooting a 39 on the front to my 40. He struggled to a 47 on the back and I shot 43 for 83. Neil and Rick both shot in the 90's and we all had a grand time in great weather and with good friends. You can see the picture of Neil pointing to his ball about a foot and a half from the hole on the 4th hole. I had put my ball three feet from the hole and he trumped me.
Friday night we cabbed over to Mo Mo's across the street from AT&T Park and had a great dinner and drinks before heading over to the ballpark. The fog was coming in and I bought Darla and I a sherpa blanket in Giants colors and logo for $55. It was worth it as the fog was wet and cold. The Giants came into the game on a four game shutout win streak and promptly got spanked 5-1. Their lone run coming in the 9th inning well after we had packed up and headed home. We tried to get a cab back to the hotel, but they were all full, so we hoofed it, getting home in about twenty minutes
We did go out to breakfast on Saturday morning at a restaurant in the Ferry Building and then walked the shops, stopping to watch a young 13 year old trumpeter and dancer you can see in the pictures. He is a street performer and had just been chronicled in the SF paper that week. We wandered over to the Farmer's Market at Embarcadero Center and Darla and I begged off to head back to the room. I have finally put my bowel issues "behind me" so to speak, but was still feeling the effects of all of the enemas, suppositories, laxatives and other God awful remedies I had used since last week. I was a bit sore from the various treatments and don't want to get more graphic than that. It turns out the issue was caused by the mediction I had used for my ear infection.
Darla and I relaxed in the room and at one point we heard a scratching at the door, I then heard what sounded like a key tapping at the front door and jumped up in time to intercept a maid pushing her way into the room. I was not dressed (you do the math) and she got the Full Monty on me before I slammed the door in her face. She was very apologetic and I told her we were good to go. I joked later with Neil and Lilly that I saw her later downstairs and she called me "Tripod". Neil and Lilly also had the maid enter their room when they had the Do Not Disturb sign up and brought them fresh towels when they were out. They specifically didn't want the maid in the room and Neil went down and talked to the Manager. He also told them about our experience and the hotel sent each of us up some truffles ands a bottle of Merlot with a card apologizing for our inconvenience. I told Lilly our card had a PS on it that read, "Congratulations to Mrs. Lyon. Well Done!" and was signed by the maid.
I finally got a bread bowl and clam chowder from the Boudin cafe in Pier 39 on Saturday night and then we were off to Alcatraz. Brenda was a real trooper as she came along with her arm in a sling and feeling no pain on Vicodin and Percoset. I'm not sure that she remembers much of the tour, but she did get us preboarded on the boat and she was able to take a tram the thirteen stories up to the main prison buildings on Alcatraz rather than walk like the rest of us. I had been on the tour before years ago and they have really improved it with an audio tour of the cellblock, hospital, dining room, library, solitary confinement and the warden's house and officers quarters. They played alot of the history including the escape that was chronicled by Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. They showed the cells where the fake mannequins were put in the beds and the vents pulled out and widened for the escape into the vents and pipes in the opening behind the wall. They also put in a plexiglas over the wall showing where the escape took place. Much of that was re-done for the movie back in the seventies and left for posterity. They also chronicled the American Indian takeover of Alcatraz in 1969 and the history from that period. Unfortunately some of the buildings were destroyed during the uprising.
We were up early this morning, said our goodbyes to everyone and drove to Fairfield for breakfast at the Black Bear Diner. We got home about noon and rested on the pool and I napped during the golf tournament won by Tiger Woods today.
As I mentioned in the last blog, my handicap did drop on July 1st to 9.3 and it is as low as I can remember it being. I now get 10 strokes at Diamond Oaks and have to shoot 82 to hit my handicap.
Well, that is it for this week. We will have the gang over for swimming and a barbecue of either tri-tip or kabobs on Wednesday July 4th. Neil is bringing some jumbo prawns for the barbecue as well and we will do a potluck with about five couples. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Ciao.
