We have a pool party today with 4 couples coming over at 2 PM for a barbecue. Nice. Well, nice until we awoke at 4:20 this morning to a driving thunderstorm that brought half an inch of rain in less than an hour. It is currently overcast and drizzly with intermittent rain showers. It is supposed to move off and bring partly cloudy skies and a high of 88 degrees today, but we will see. If the weather stays iffy, we will move the party indoors and just play cards and visit. The shish kebobs are skewered and await my attention at the grill this afternoon. It is unfortunate as this is the first time this Summer that Darla has felt like hosting a party.
Darla has really blossomed since quitting her social work gig. Her Silpada business is really taking off. She has booked 18 parties since going full time with Silpada (she'll have 8 parties in September alone) and signed on three new reps to her team of 44. She has to start chipping in for the bills on September 15th and is well on her way. She says that God has blessed her business and confirmed that it was the right decision to quit Alta. I'm very happy for her, but still concerned for the future. We moved to my health plan on September 1st and I will miss the convenience of Kaiser. Both of us have to get hooked up with new doctors as we both have prescriptions that will need to be filled with the new plan. The costs for co pays and medicines is higher with my plan and I just hope we don't have any bumps in the road as we transition to the new medical plan.
Work continues to amaze me. We had a goal of $1,800,000 in premium in August and $295,000 in income. We hit that mark by the 20th and I challenged the staff to take us to the next level and told them that I would host lunch at Romano's Macaroni Grill if we could hit $2,000,000 in premium and $320,000 in income. Pete argued with me and I told him that we have to continue to push the envelope. We closed the month at $2,235,000 in premium and $241,000 in income and I will take the staff to lunch tomorrow. We are really hitting on all cylinders as we were up 35% over 2012. It is a lot of fun and my CEO will visit the office next month as part of a west coast swing. I'm sure the visit will not be all roses and cotton candy. The boss always looks at things from a corporate standpoint (we should write with more of the national retailers and write more professional lines and vacant buildings), but it will be hard to dampen the enthusiasm and momentum that we have in the Roseville office right now. it's a joy working with my staff. I have a new employee starting on Tuesday and we have finally run out of space. This will be my 27th employee and we are now negotiating with the landlord to blow out the wall behind my office and pick up another 1200 square feet of office space. One of my underwriters is transferring to our wholly owned insurance company, Atain, in November and the new employee, Katie, will be taking her place. Connie will stay domiciled in my office, but work for the insurance company as an underwriter. I also have one employee from Harvey's office in San Francisco located in my office, so have a total of 28 bodies in my office now.
I played in the Labor Day tournament yesterday and the clouds and humidity from this current storm rolled into the area. It was hot and muggy yesterday and the scores were pretty high. I struggled most of the day, but managed to hang on for a 41+42=83 and tie for third net in my flight. I also sunk a 40 foot putt for birdie on the number four handicap hole that won me $44 in skin money on the day, so it was overall a good day. Darla went to join Alicia and Don at Folsom Lake and David joined them for boating. Jennifer and McKenny were invited but had a prior commitment. I finished up my round, visited with the guys for awhile and then headed home to swim, shower and drive on to Don and Alicia's in Folsom. Don is a Kansas City guy and loves barbecue. He is now on a smoker kick where he smokes the meat with different woods (apple wood, almond, etc.). It imparts a smoky taste to the meat and it is an acquired taste. I'm not a big fan of it because it tastes like the meat fell off the grill and into the coals. He cooked a great chicken gumbo and I filled up on that and had a small amount of the meat and drowned it in barbecue sauce to cut the smoky flavor. I'm guessing that the smoker idea came from a lifelong cigarette smoker that just enjoys the taste of ash with his food. Darla tells me that I need to acquire the taste for smoked meats and I tell her she needs to acquire the taste for good wine. We have agreed to disagree.
Neil and Lilli and Darla and I are off to see Sammy Hagar on Thursday night at the Thunder Valley casino. Neil is a big Sammy fan and we look forward to it. I remember Darryl had a record album of Sammy Hagar's in the 70's: "The Smoker you Drink, The Player You Get". It should be fun. I called the first day that the tickets were available and got Section 1, Row A, Seat 8,9,10 and 11. Front row, baby!
Darla is working on cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming and wants to know when I will help. It is 11:20 AM and the gang will get here at 2 PM. I told her to keep her pants on.
I took the 300 in to Jiffy Lube the other day for an oil change and when I went to leave after work, had a low tire. My tires are brand new and I stopped at the gas station and filled it up and haven't had a problem since. The only thing I can think is that they fill the tires as part of their service and the valve stem got stuck and bled the air out of the tire. It was a little concerning. I have a low tire sensor as part of the computer in the 300 and it was winking at me when I got into the car.
I have my final fantasy football draft tomorrow night. It is for the company league and we will meet at the Sports Page bar at 5 PM tomorrow night to draft our team. This is my third and final team and a good opportunity for team building as most of the players are underwriters. I will buy appetizers for everyone and they can buy their own alcohol. It will be an expensive day tomorrow with lunch for 23 and then the draft party, but it is a good opportunity to bond together as a unit.
Well, Darla continues to give me dirty looks and I need to roll up my sleeves (hard to do when you're wearing a tank top) and help out as soon as possible to keep harmony in the homestead. Have a great week and I will be back at the keyboard right before the Dallas Cowboy's Sunday night opener next week. Are you ready for some football? Ciao.
No comments:
Post a Comment