6.1 Earthquake hits Napa...wine damaged

 

Not to make light of a tragic event for the Bay Area and Napa in particular, but much of the coverage has revolved around grocery stores, liquor stores and the wineries themselves that have lost much of their bottled inventory to the quake. I think three people have died and 87 were injured in the last report that I heard. Darla and I slept through it, but the swimming pools in our area were sloshing and splashing after the quake, much like the quake in 89 when I lost about three feet of water out of the pool in Elk Grove. Many locals woke up thinking that an animal or intruder was in their pool. Not us.  In fact, I wasn't even aware of it until I turned on the news when we got up. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as the Loma Prieta quake in 1989, but there were still gas and water lines that were burst and several roadways were buckled. Many homes and businesses in Vallejo and Napa had severe damage to the stucco and brickwork. They expect aftershocks for the next seven days which takes us into the wedding next Saturday. I think we are lucky that the quake hit at after 3 in the morning and most people were asleep in their beds when the quake happened. If they had been up and near some of the furniture that toppled or carports that collapsed, it might have been much worse.

 

Darla's Mom had to be admitted to the hospital on Friday and went through a series of tests for what is causing her anemia. She was weak and lightheaded and when the doctor checked her blood pressure he had her admitted to the hospital. They did an Endoscopy on Saturday and basically found nothing and a colonoscopy today with the same result. They had her on a drip and gave her several blood transfusions, but still haven't found the cause of her blood loss. Darla, Alicia and David went to visit her in Paradise today and they had a good visit. The nurse came in about 3:00 PM and gave her the good news that she was going home. She has some follow-ups with her doctor this week, but they have ruled out colitis and diverticulitis so far. Hopefully, it is something they can treat with medication. It is certainly a concern with the wedding in the offing.

 

Darla got home about 5 and we barbecued hamburgers and ate outside. The late Summer weather has been great, but I can feel the pool cooling down (it is still at 80 degrees, but that is the top six inches of the water). We expect some 100 degree days later this week when we will be happily ensconced at a Beach house in Aptos (Santa Cruz). Sam starts first grade tomorrow and will be going M-W and then they will leave Wednesday after school to join us at the beach house late Wednesday night. It is Jennifer's 34th birthday on Thursday and we will head to the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk that night and do the rides. Darla and I will be with Sam and take her to all of the kiddie rides while Jen and McKenny go on the roller coasters, etc. It should be a nice birthday for Jennifer. We will be in the beach house until Saturday when we move over to the hotel in Sunnyvale and meet up with Randy and Darryl.

 

Saturday is the bridal shower that Alicia, Darla, Jennifer and Sam will attend. Friday is also the bachelor party that David will attend. They are going to a Giant's game in the evening and a bay cruise in the afternoon. Saturday is also the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Sam is a flower girl in the wedding and Lucas, Alicia's son, is a ring bearer. The rehearsal dinner is at a popular Chinese restaurant in San Jose and, of course, we are hosting 80 of our closest friends and family to dinner.

 

Darla and I leave Wednesday morning for Aptos and will get moved into the house and do some grocery shopping and get set up for our three days at the beach. I really look forward to spending time with Sam and Jennifer and McKenny,  as well as David for a few days. We likely won't see Daniel until the rehearsal as he is busy, but Becky said they might come by on Thursday. If this marriage works out like most, we'll plan to see them on Thursday. The weather looks great as you can see. It'll be nice to get out of the HOT weather of the valley for a few days and enjoy some beach weather. The condo is right next door to the Seascape resort, one of the nicest golf facilities in the area and I will not play.

 

I got that out of my system this past week and actually played golf Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Wednesday was the NCGA qualifier. Steve and I went out the week before  and had a practice round at the course. It didn't do us a bit of good. I even went out with Darla on Tuesday night and hit balls at the lighted range at Woodcreek to get ready. I shot the equivalent of a 92, but picked up five times on the course because of wayward shots out of bounds. Steve shot a 103 and we had a 77 as a team. We were (in a word) Horrible. We played with a 1 handicapper and a 12 handicapper as partners. The 12 was outplaying the 1 and they shot a 66 to just qualify to go on to the finals in Pleasanton. Nice guys. It is frustrating to look forward to something and then lay an egg on the day of the tournament. I went out Wednesday night in league and shot a 42 and then had an 84 on Friday and a 85 on Saturday at Auburn Valley. I actually had a chance to go out today as one of my single friends texted me to see if I could play. With Darla gone, I could have, but had things to get done at the house, so took a rain check.

 

Darla and I celebrated our 18 years together on Saturday night with a nice romantic dinner at a restaurant called The Spot in Old town Roseville. The Spot is authentic Italian, so much so that the owner/chef doesn't like any substitutions or additions to his entrees. Darla and I had a nice appetizer of crushed garlic cooked in olive oil on focaccia bread. We could scoop out the hot garlic and spread it on the bread and then dip the bread in the hot oil. It was delicious. We also shared a Caesar salad and ordered their Margherita pizza and I wanted to add slices of thin prosciutto to the pizza. The waitress said she'd try, but didn't think he'd allow it. (What the Hell?). He must have been busy because he made the pizza and she added the prosciutto. We felt like we had to eat it fast unless he came out and banned us from the restaurant for life and fired the waitress. Wow.

 

Darla and I did get tickets to the Sammy Hagar concert in Old Town Roseville on September 13. Sammy's two sons are taking over the running of Sammy's Bar and Grill downtown that shuttered almost a year ago when the owner went missing and was found drowned off the coast of Gualala. He had money problems and his death was listed as a suicide The two son's will move to Roseville and run the restaurant and bar. The city loaned over $1,000,000 to the former owners to build the restaurant at the site of a Penney's store right downtown  that closed in the 70's. The city took back the property when the owner died and his heirs stopped making payments on the loan. We expect to see a lot of Sammy Hagar in town now that his boys have ownership of the restaurant. Sammy is performing the concert with the surviving members of Montrose and two tickets came to the concert with the purchase of a $75 gift card to the restaurant. The sold over 1700 gift cards in less than a day. Thanks, Dad.

 

Well, I will be away from the keyboard next weekend, but will catch up sometime during the week with pictures from our visit and the wedding. I added a pic of Sam that Jen texted to me a little while ago. Looks like John and her were at a car show. I hope you are all well and I will see Darryl, Cheryl, Randy and Cake next weekend. Ciao.

I Left my Heart in San Francisco

 

Fun Times in SF. Did I actually leave my heart in SF? Nope. Darla and I both said it is a nice getaway, but we couldn't stand the cold dreary Summer weather. It was nice during the day, but the fog would roll in about 2 AM and not burn off until noon. It was COLD in the morning as we set out for breakfast.

 

We left Roseville at 6:20 AM on Friday and I had told the guys that we would meet them at the hotel at 8:30. None of them said anything to me, but they all thought we'd be lucky to get there by 9 AM. Pete said the same thing. It is about 100 miles door to door to SF from Roseville and generally would take about 2.5 to 3 hours in normal rush hour traffic. Darla and I could not use the HOV lane because it is for three passengers or more in the Bay Area (two here). I have a Fast Trak machine that automatically bills my bridge tolls, so I can use the Fast Trak lanes and not have to stop to pay the toll. That saves a good twenty minutes at the bridge. Also, Fridays are light in the city as many jobs allow a 4 day week and many employees take three day weekends. We arrived at the hotel at 8:10 and they were all at breakfast. They forgot the fact that I told them that we would all eat together at the course. Boneheads! We finally found everyone and set off to Presidio, the golf course in the hills of San Francisco in a National Park. John was my sidekick and navigator and we had a wild ride through the city as he was late telling me turns from Howard to third street and then left on Geary. We were swerving in and out of traffic like a local. We got to the course and they all headed to the practice range. I headed to the restaurant and a nice plate of eggs and bacon.

 

Neil had his game with him on the front side and had a birdie en route to a nice 41. I struggled with my short game and shot 44. Steve shot 43 and John grumped his way to a 52. The back nine was all good news for me as I shot a 40 for 84. Neil cooled down with a 47, and Steve and John picked up on several holes on their way to a 51 and 49 respectively. I took my friends' money for the second straight game. John and I took a selfie at one point (see above) and I also took a picture of one of the par threes on the course.

 

Steve and I play in an NCGA qualifier at Elkhorn on Wednesday. We went out Tuesday for a  practice round  at the course. Jerry Tuel joined me. I haven't seen Jerry in a couple of years after a falling out we had over the sale of Darla's parents home in Linden. It is water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned and it was GREAT to see him and get caught up on things. Jerry and I rode together. I shot a 41+43=84 and took $15 from my friends. Jerry has two married kids now. Jared and Natalie are married and their other son, Matt, lives in Sacramento, has hair down to his mid back and a beard that puts David's former Duck Dynasty beard to shame. Natalie has two daughters and Jared has two sons. They still live in the same house that they bought next to the Spanos' compound in Stockton and have both slowed down a lot. They lost their second house in Lake Tahoe when Tami's real estate partner filed for bankruptcy a few years ago. They were partners in the home. We will get together again.

 

Friday night we had a nice wine and beer reception at the hotel (Anchor Steam for me and a white sangria for Darla). From there we caught a large SUV to Tomasso's in North Beach for dinner. We had a great margherita pizza with thin sliced prosciutto and saw Paul Rudd, the actor at the table next to us. Brenda thought it was him and he looked a little too small for me. I wasn't convinced and Googled "Paul Rudd/ San Francisco" and it came up that he was filming Ant Man, a feature film for Marvel Entertainment in North Beach. The owner of the restaurant confirmed that it was him after we told her we wouldn't bother him. We did leave him alone, but Brenda had to take a picture of him while pretending to take a picture of Darla and I. We had a great dinner and I highly recommend Tomasso's. It is a great restaurant, but unfortunately for them they are located straight across the street from Larry Flynt's Hustler Club. It just feels a little sleazy on the street.

 

After dinner, we walked about four blocks north to the theater district and watched the 8 o'clock performance of "Beach Blanket Babylon". The show has been on for 25 years in San Francisco and was hilarious. They spoofed everyone from Obama to Palin to Pelosi to Madonna and Elvis. It was a musical and very entertaining. We took a picture outside of the theater. We had some stranger take the shot for us. We were supposed to meet the owner of the SUV for a ride back to the hotel, but he was in Oakland when we called, so we grabbed two cabs and headed back for the hot cookies and milk provided by the Harbor court Hotel from 9 -10 PM.

 

Saturday Darla and I went rogue as we are wont to do and left the gang for a walk in the city ourselves and then breakfast. Neil and Lil and Steve and Brenda met downstairs at 8 AM, while we slept in and so did John and Camille. We walked the Ferry Building and looked at a couple of restaurants. The problem with the city is everything is organic and a la cart. I like my breakfast with eggs, toast and a breakfast meet with potatoes. No one had that. We walked over tot he Hyatt and were willing to drop $40 on a decent breakfast, when Ziggy's, a popular Bay Area burger joint caught my eye. They offered three egg omelets with potatoes and toast and I was sold. We just sat down to eat when John texted me. They were at the Walgreen's two doors down stocking up with snacks for the Giant's game that afternoon. They came over and joined us for breakfast and we had a ball talking and catching up.

 

We went back to the room and relaxed until 11, when we all met in the lobby and started off for the 1 o'clock game at AT&T park on the water in SF. Our hotel is on the Embarcadero across from the Ferry Building and about a mile and a half to the park. We walked over, stopping to look at the marina and the yachts parked there. One of the yachts had the unfortunate name ISIS on the back of it. I'd be down there painting it over right now. We toured the park a bit looking at the new additions and then headed in. The game was good, we started out behind 5-1 and came back to win 6-5. It was a great time and a lot of laughs. You can see our view from the seats behind home plate. We were in the third deck, but what a view of the Bay Bridge, Oakland and the Bay itself. It is amazing to me how the seagulls know that the game is close to ending as they begin swooping in. One of them set up shop in the rafters above us and pooped on Neil's head. He took a direct hit on his cap and then moved three seats over only to have the sea gull follow him and poop on the chair next to him. Brenda gave him a "wipe" to clean his hat and I told him he should offer it to the sea gull, he needed it more than Neil.

 

We took the thirty minute walk back to the hotel. As we were walking out of the hotel, a man with an older lady in a wheelchair walked past us and he didn't see the drop off on the curb and dumped her right out into the street. She was laying there rolling around when we left and one of the ambulances headed over to pick her up. Darla and I relaxed in the room and napped a bit, before meeting up with the gang for dinner. We walked three doors down to Perry's. They seated us inside, but next to a large open set of double doors. I was freezing and they finally closed the doors after serving the last of the guests on the sidewalk, who must have been Eskimos. I had the waitress get a picture of the gang at dinner which is the fifth picture above.

We got back to the hotel and Steve brought down a bottle of port and some chocolates for dessert and John and I sat and played chess. I was goofing around with the chess set and John challenged me. We were both rusty and I lost my queen early on and was playing defense most of the night. I conceded when I lost my last castle and was down to my King and one pawn. John still had a bishop and a knight and five pawns. It was fun.

This morning we were up and out of the hotel by nine. The problem was the garage didn't open until 9:15. We got over there early and had to wait until a lady came out at 9:20 to open the door. I was watching behind the gate when she got out of her car, took two steps and fell over a parking curb. I couldn't do anything to help her, so I just contemplated the existence of KARMA as she was late to open the doors. John and Camille stayed on in SF to have lunch together while, Neil and Lil and Steve and Brenda drove back to Roseville with a stop in Vacaville for breakfast at the Black Bear Diner. We got home a little after noon and spent a few hours on the pool, about an hour of which was spent sleeping for me.

It was a great trip and becoming an annual tradition for us. It's a bit expensive. The weekend cost us about $1000 with golf, gas, dinners, drinks, hotel, theater, baseball game and the garage cost, but it was worth it. A great time as always with very good friends.

Dad called us on Thursday night and shared his information about breaking his leg. Shirley seems quite concerned about not being able to help him, especially if he ends up in a cast. They have had to cancel their August trip and have a cruise coming up in November that is in jeopardy.

Well, that is it. Happy Birthday to my little brother, Randy. I look forward to seeing you and Darryl and your lovely wives in two weeks. I hope you are all hale and hearty. Ciao.
 

Sunday night is just allright by me

Sam and Jennifer went up to Red Rock State Park and did some hiking. Their goal was to find a waterfall and they did post a picture of a little swimming hole, but not a waterfall, so I don't know. I called a while ago, but kids these days have caller ID and if they don't want to talk to you, you're out of luck.

 

We had a good weekend, starting with a relaxing Friday evening watching movies to Saturday night out with friends, to a quiet day today watching the final round of the PGA Championship on TV. We did find time to sneak out on the pool and have a nap. I mowed the lawn today, trimmed plants, fertilized both the plants and the lawn and cleaned up the leaves in the front. We get inundated with leaves during the Winter months and I'm not ready for that process to begin yet. We had some wind this last week that took out some of the leaves from the Maples in the park across the street. They all get deposited in my yard and tangled up in the bushes and plants. I used the leaf vacuum today and made short work of the job.

 

I saw someone(an older woman with a backpack) across the street at Carol's house go in the front door and their house alarm went off a few seconds later. One of the other neighbors ran over to see what was going on, so I stayed out of it. Darla told me tonight that Carol's sister has moved in with her and she is about 70. I'm sure it was her and likely scared the pooh out of her.

 

Golf is a fickle game. Thursday night I played in our twilight league and shot a 39 on the front nine. I was dropping in putts from all over the place. Saturday was the Consolation Round at the club (what I call the Loser's Bracket). I felt good, hit balls before hand and was striking the ball well. I parred the first hole and then went on a blind man's journey around the course, finally hitting my second ball way to the right on the 9th hole. I told the guys if it was gone, I'd DQ myself. I got up to the green and sure enough, my ball was about six inches beyond the wrought iron fence and into the parking lot. I DQ'ed myself, took a 7 on the hole for a 50!! I almost walked off, but decided to play on and shot a 39 on the back for an 89. That is Schizophrenic golf.

 

I will be busy this week. I have a tentative golf date with an agent in Stockton on Tuesday. Jerry Tuel is joining me. I'm also having Steve join me as we will play Elkhorn Golf Club in Stockton for our NCGA Senior Best Ball Championship on August 2oth and we want to try the venue. I haven't seen Jerry in about 5 years. He was the Best Man in my wedding, but we had a falling out back when Darla's parent's sold their farm. His wife, Tami, is a real estate agent and was really adamant that she could sell the house. Darla's parents had an agent that specialized in Farm properties. She was a home seller and didn't understand the income potential of the orchards and wouldn't take No for an answer. She called back after we told her they weren't interested and please don't call us. She had a potential buyer and Darla told her off in no uncertain terms and told her that she was threatening the friendship. She called back one more time and that was it. I understand the concept of sales and being aggressive in your approach, but not with friends. Darla's parents were steamed and Darla and I felt violated.

 

I say tentative as I am actually on Jury Duty in Placer County this week. I called in and don't have to report Monday. I hope to skip it all together, but IF I get called in Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, I will go. Friday we are off to San Francisco and already have reservations at Presidio Golf Course, tickets to the play Friday night at Beach Blanket Babylon and tickets to the Giants game on Saturday. I'll let the court know that I have a scheduled event that I can't miss. Hopefully it doesn't come to that and I can get out of it all week.

 

The build out at my office came to a screeching halt on Tuesday over a change order that our real estate department put in. They wanted to upgrade some cabinetry, add a security wall to the demising wall between our suite and the one next door and some upgrades to the electrical. The change order came up to an additional $14,900 on a $65,000 bid. Our side called a halt and nothing was done between Wednesday and Friday. The dispute was settled on Thursday and construction was supposed to commence this weekend. I'll see what they got done tomorrow.

 

Saturday night we did get together with Neil and Lil, Steve and Brenda and John and Camille, the four couples that are going to SF on Friday. I wanted to go out to the new Brazilian Restaurant in Roseville, Fire and Flame. It is an all you can eat restaurant with waiters that bring skewers of meat to your table. You keep getting served until you turn over the RED card showing you are full. I found out the cost is $45 per person and we decided to go to the local Korean BBQ, which is $19.95 per person for bulgagi, pork, chicken, Kobe beef and spare rib meat. We met over at 7 and had a ball cooking our own meat at the table and enjoying (or at least trying) the side dishes of potatoes, cabbage, pickled squash, mushrooms, carrots and cucumbers. The frosted mugs of Sapporo were $2.95 and we had a fun ninety minutes laughing and enjoying our meal at side by side cooking units. We went to a frozen yogurt place afterward and sat out in the cooling breeze of a Summer night and enjoyed all talking together. It was fun.

 

Work is going well. I got my financials for July and we made a profit of $116,000 in July, so all is good. One of my companies sent us a S'mores kit with Hershey bars, marshmallows and graham crackers and I set up one of my 23 year olds to make s'mores for the office. It was fun and pretty gooey. I was in a meeting when she made them and came out and made my own. Apparently, you put the graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow in the microwave for 15 seconds. I put mine in for thirty seconds and the marshmallow blew up to double its' size. It was good, though. We still have to set up lunch for the gang this month to celebrate our July. The issue is with 26 employees, someone is on vacation every week in August.

 

Well, that is the news for this week. I hope you are all well. I look forward to seeing Randy and Darryl over Labor Day and Dad and Shirley in September. I realized that I booked our Vancouver trip on the heels of a trip to Bodega Bay for golf with Bob Pando and Neil. Darla and I will be overnight Thursday night in Bodega Bay, return Friday afternoon and leave for Vancouver Saturday. Now I know how Dad feels. Ciao.

Lazy Sunday

 

I was supposed to be playing golf today, but I ran into a 77 year old buzz saw in the Club Championship in the form of Andy Ortiz. Andy is a 12 handicap to my 13 and doesn't hit the ball far, but is always in the fairway and is a tremendous short game player. I had my B game on Saturday and shot 85, but Andy had his A game and shot 38 on the front side and 40 on the back for 78 and beat me 4 and 3.  It was SLOW on the course and took us 4 and a half hours to finish 15 holes. I am not the most patient of golfers and my best rounds have all been in less than four and a half hours for 18. We still had three holes to play and Andy had already won, so I left the course. It was 104 degrees and we were waiting on every tee box and in the fairway and it was driving me nuts. Neil won his match yesterday and today and will play for his flight championship on Saturday. I'll play in the Consolation Round (I call it the Loser's Bracket).

 

It has been HOT all week and it finally cooled down today with overcast skies and a high of 90 degrees. I watched the golf on TV and then fell asleep on the pool after 4 PM. The sun wasn't out (it was hazy), but the UV rays were still in evidence and I had on my sunscreen. I woke up and cut the dying blooms off the agapanthas. It is a sad time as it sort of represents the middle of Summer. The fact that a the Hall of fame NFL game is on as I write this is also a sure sign that time is marching on.

 

You could have fooled me on Thursday night as I played league and it was 106 degrees. We teed off at 4:20 PM and it was the absolute heat of the day. It was also the last day of the month and I was running late as I ran around the office working with each of the teams to get all of our last minute business in. We were close on our budget and I buy lunch if we meet or exceed out goals, so was doing everything I could do to encourage the troops. I left at 3:55 and barely made my tee time as we were on the tee when I pulled into the parking lot. I barely got my green fees  paid and I was hitting my first drive. I didn't have time to get water in my bottle and I could really feel the heat. In fact, it is the first time that I can remember ever really feeling in danger of heat stroke. I got light headed and woozy. I yelled at Neil to stop the cart gal and get me a water or tea and strangely he waved her on when she drove by him. There was water on the third tee box, but I already had heat stroke symptoms by the time I got water into my system. I felt nauseous and my head hurt. I played lousy and shot 47, but Neil and I won the match 13-7 and are now in fifth place out of 21 teams. I left the course right after we finished and poured myself in to the pool and cooled my body temperature down.

 

The pictures above are obviously of the build out going on in my office. I have 4900 square feet now and I'm picking up another 2800 square feet. The first picture is of my new office which is in the far corner of the combined office and has windows on two walls. The second shot is of the new office taken from the middle of the addition. The wall to the left will come down and open up the new suite to the old suite. The third picture is taken next to my new office and looking in to my old office, which will become a small conference room in the new configuration. The fourth picture is looking out from my new office and you can see a third entrance to my office, a new work room and the new private office for my Personal Lines Manager. Down that hall is the new 350 square foot conference room/break room. The last picture is of the new conference room.

 

We did hit our budget this month. Our goals were $2,380,000 in premium and $368,000 in income. We hit $2,500,000 in premium and $368,450 in income. It was close, but my team seems to know how to get right up to the number without blasting way through it. Just kidding. Even making our number with the reduction in underwriters is spectacular. I lose a main player and my bosses don't relax the budget. Three of my underwriters had tremendous months, which carried us to victory. We missed budget in March, April and May, but have hit budget in January, February and June and now July. Hopefully, we can keep it going this month as well.

 

My boss is in this Wednesday to do a few interviews and my management team is going to talk to him about a possible promotion in the office to a management position for one of my team. We'd like to see the promotion occur before the opening of the expansion, which is due on September 9th.

 

I got invited to a soft opening of a new restaurant in Roseville. The new owner was reaching out to other business owners and managers in Roseville and asked me to come out and try his new restaurant on Saturday night. He bought Darla and I dinner and we helped him prepare his staff for the Monday Grand Opening. The restaurant is Noodles, a quasi fast food restaurant located in the shopping center across the street from my office. Darla had Pad Thai with shredded pork and I had Linguine with steak. Neither of us cared for the Pad Thai and we actually sent it back for a Rosa Penne dish. They were very accommodating when we made the switch (of course). I thought the concept of Noodles was interesting, but they are trying to do Asian, Italian and American all together.

 

I talked to Darryl today and he and Cheryl are coming in on the Saturday before the wedding and will stay until Tuesday. I'm looking forward to seeing my brothers and we will all hang out together on Labor Day.

 

Well, I'm writing this and trying to watch a movie on TV at the same time. It is "Enough Said", James Gandolphini's last movie and it also stars Julia Louis Dreyfus. It seems pretty good. I hope you are all well. Ciao.