I mentioned the fruitless cherry tree last week and how it is in full bloom here in mid February. It is pretty well flanking our house and leaving white blossoms all over the lawn and sidewalks. We did get back to rain this past week and had three days of good storms. It rained right into Friday night and cleared for the weekend and our 36 hole NCGA qualifier. The above pictures were taken Saturday morning as I prepared to leave for golf. It was a transition day as the day started out overcast with low level clouds. It was breezy and downright cold. The sun finally came out about 2 PM and warmed us up. Today was the start of a stretch of days in the mid seventies and it was borderline hot today as I played in shorts and a golf shirt. It was a Chamber of Commerce day with no wind and a high sun in a cloudless blue sky. I was able to get the lawn mowed yesterday and the pool cleaned and the backyard vacuumed of leaves and other detritus. I also had a chance to vacuum the car out, wash and spot wax the car. I had a couple of scratches that were in the handles of the car that I was able to buff out and clean up.
Our bathroom remodel is coming along. We have a budget of $20,000 and one more estimate to come in and one more contractor to see on Tuesday. I m taking the day off work and playing golf in the morning and meeting contractors in the afternoon. I think Darla and I have a good feel for who we will use, but I want to do my due diligence before signing a contract. I'm also talking to a contractor on Tuesday afternoon that specializes in re-facing cabinets and getting a quote for the kitchen cabinets. The old honey oak cabinets that were all the rage in the 80's look yellow now. We will get a quote to have them refaced and painted antique white with new hardware. Darla is really leaning toward having two shower heads installed in the new shower and having the entry in the middle of the two. I'm concerned about pressure and how often we would use them at the same time, but she knows what she wants. (Hey, she married me, she has good taste!).
I played poker Friday night and won about $65. I couldn't win a hand early on, but it is always best to win late in a 4-5 hour game of cards. Carl hosted and we had seven players, which is perfect. My golf partner for the weekend, Steve, had a horrible night and lost about $120. He was crabby and mad that we had a tee time at 8:16 AM. He likes to sleep in and plays better after 9. What?
Saturday was the first round of our 36 hole qualifier and Steve was not on his game. He had five holes where he picked up and left me to play on my own. It was a two man best ball tournament. We ended up shooting 37+34=71 the first day, but that doesn't tell the story. I shot 86 and had a decent round, nothing spectacular. I received 13 strokes. Steve had 12 strokes and shot a blistering 101. It is not fun to play yourself out of the tournament on the first day.
We had an 8:23 tee time this morning and I got to the course about 7:45 and Steve was at the driving range hitting balls. When I joined him, he was talking to one of our members and telling him that he had to play a "little" better today. I corrected him as a little better would be breaking 100. I told him I needed an 84 out of him. We teed off on time and I hit a big drive down the middle and Steve....hit his drive out of bounds into the driving range. What??!! He settled down and shot an 88. I had an 85 that included a birdie on 16, where I was on the par five in two and just missed an eagle putt. We finished the day with a 65 for a two day total of 136. The winners had 129, so we needed a 64+65, which wasn't to be. Steve asked me if I was available or the Senior 4 ball in April and I was non committal. It may be time for a new team.
I have been interviewing at work. One of my underwriters lost her second assistant to a young lady. His girlfriend is a fitness instructor and is going to work at a gym in Colorado Springs and he is going with her. He was never really an insurance guy and a bit of an odd duck. He liked to play on the dance reality machines in bars and the bowling alley and liked stuffed animals and was a soft soul. I need a few tigers at work. I interviewed a couple of very bright women this last week, but both are socially awkward and one I think has a speech impediment that she has overcome and now pauses a painful amount of time before she responds to a question. She spent Summers in England and went for a semester to Scotland where she actually worked for the Scottish government. She has a background in insurance, but is young and only has a few years of experience. The other is a graduate with a degree in mathematics. She has worked for a couple of firms in accounting and finance and Pete wants to hire her for his team. She had another offer and the hands of time turn slowly when we are interviewing, so I'm guessing she probably took the other job.
I am done with the employee reviews this year and just have the compensation package that I sent in to be approved. Once that is complete, I will meet with each of the staff members and do salary reviews. Each of the underwriters now do performance reviews with their teams and I do only the production staff and the managers. It makes life much easier for me. I put in some fairly aggressive compensation plans for my staff, so we will see how it all pans out.
Darla and I went out to dinner Saturday night at McCormick and Schmick's steakhouse and ran into an old friend. Rob and his wife Cheryl were very close friends of ours once upon a time and we spent many weekends together when our kids were younger. They were a blended family like us and we had a lot in common. Darla and I pulled away from them when Cheryl kicked Rob's daughter, Katie, out of their house. She was 13 and rebellious, but we really liked her and the rules were different for Rob's kids from Cheryl's and it bothered us. They ended up moving away to Washington state and we kept track through Christmas cards. We had heard that Cheryl had pancreatic cancer and Rob let us know that Cheryl passed away in October. It is sad and he retires next year. I feel for him and it makes Darla and I cherish our marriage all the more. Cheryl's son, Nick, was there with his fiance' and came by and said hi to us as well. It was good catching up and seeing that the kids all turned out.
Well, that is it for another week. We are in town next week and then off to celebrate Dad's birthday in Vancouver the following week. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your weather. I see from both Darryl and Randy that some nice weather has hit both Kansas City and Texas. Surrey, I'm sure. has some nice days to go with the rain. Be good to each other. Ciao.
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