Memorial Day 2017

It is Memorial Day, a day that too many people confuse with both the start of Summer and Veteran's Day. Yes, "thank you for your service" is always appropriate, but this is a day set aside to honor the men and women that gave the ultimate sacrifice for the love of their country. Those brave men and women who died in the service of their country. Jennifer has a friend who died in a tower accident while training in either Georgia or South Carolina. It is today that we salute her sacrifice. To all the families who have lost loved ones in the service of America, we give thanks for your love of country.

I am working on Darla's laptop as mine has gone in for service. It had been acting  little wonky when I first booted it up, taking far too long to finally spring to life and boot. It finally ended up with the "Black Screen of Death" on Thursday. I spent hours on the internet trying to find the secret to bringing it back to life, even reloading the bios and trying to "twist" the laptop when it was turned on. The lights work and I can hear the fan running, but Windows won't load. I finally bit the bullet and took it in on Saturday to the local Techs To You franchise. They wanted $199 to come out to the house and fix it or $149 to take it into the shop. I only paid $450 for the laptop, so I was hard pressed to drop $200 getting it fixed. I should find out today when I can pick it up. I have to enter scores from the weekend tournament and do some handicapping for an event this coming weekend, so hopefully I can pick it up today or tomorrow.

You can see from the pictures above that we have had a full weekend. Darla had me join her for one of her events Saturday night in Lodi. It was a Summer festival at a winery with music by the 60's Summer of Love band. They were good and had a singer who did a killer Joe Cocker impression. The music was great, the wine was wonderful (as you can see) and Darla also made a few bucks. It was a nice night although a little breezy and several times her displays blew over in the wind. The winery sits on over 10 acres and has a nice grove for the concert venue. we drove through the field s to the back of the grove and got Darla set up. You can see her cheeky smile in the picture of her behind her booth. We got there at 4 PM and were packed up and on the road home by 9.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on a surprise for Darla's birthday. She has always wanted custom wheels for her Explorer and I surprised her with new wheels and tires for her birthday. I picked out 9 spoke rims in a brushed metal. Her original rims were brushed metal as well, so the change doesn't stand out too much, but I like the way the brushed metal looks with the white exterior. That has been a great car for her and it retains its good looks. We will pay that off this year and I am thinking about getting a new car next year. We'll see. The 300 has less than 100,000 miles on the odometer and still  looks good.

Thursday night was the IBA Sacramento "Night at the River Cats". The group all set in a section by 1st base. Pete and Vicki, Darla and I had our season tickets behind home plate. We went up into the Solon Club when we got there and visited with the group at a private cocktail hour and then also went over and said hi to a number of our agents at their seats.

I had gone to get some drinks and a foul ball flew right over the heads of the girls and Pete was able to retrieve it. I got a picture of the proud Grandpa as he snagged a ball for his granddaughter. It was a cool night with a breeze off the river that was pretty bone chilling. We left with the score 6-1 for the home team after the 5th inning. I was in shorts and although we had a blanket, it was cold.

It was a clear night and the state capitol was really beautiful. We drove past it and took a few pictures. The design of the state capitol building is very impressive.

The weather has heated up over the weekend, although it is high 80's and quite comfortable. I was in the pool Saturday and Sunday, cleaning the tile and relaxing with a book. Darla has me on strict orders to stay out of the sun, so I sat on my lounge under an umbrella and felt like an old man. We stopped after church on Sunday and picked up some plants and Darla worked getting the backyard ready for sun and fun.

Today is a kick back day as we have two days of work upcoming and then we are off to the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya for another of her incentive trips. This is an all inclusive with a bar in our room and all of the food and drink included. I had told her that I was running out of vacation and that I wouldn't go on this trip, but I have a ticket and we are on the plane at the ungodly hour of 5:30 AM on Thursday morning as we jet off to Mexico. We plant to go see the underground river in Playa Del Carmen while we are there and swim and raft. The river runs through caves and has sections that are pen to the sky and others that are tunnels. It is supposed to be pretty impressive, so we will see if we make it. It's hard to leave an all inclusive for any period of time.

I know that all of you know the story of me losing six people to this Scottish insurance company. It started with Anthony four years ago and he poached another five people away  from me two years ago. The office in Roseville was up to 9 people and they all worked under Anthony. He got a percentage of their income and has been living the high life. Anthony is off with his wife and two boys on a weeklong vacation to Disneyland. This past Monday, Matt walked into the San Francisco branch and quit. He took four of the other employees with him and is opening a new office for one of the larger wholesalers that doesn't have a Sacramento presence. Anthony will come back to an office that has had it's core cut out. I reached out to one of the underwriters that he has left and told her that if she wanted to abandon a sinking ship that I had a life preserver handy. Peter and I will meet with her next Wednesday and we will try to recruit her over to Burns. Karma is a bitch. The company was recently offering a buy in to their employees for ownership of the company. The fact is that the company was founded on venture capital and that bill has come due. Matt elected NOT to buy in, which was the handwriting on the wall.

Good to see that the whole family got together at Darryl's house yesterday in Texas for some good barbecue. Dad and Shirley are visiting and all of the grandkids and great grandkids were there. happy for all of them.

Our trip to Almanor comes up the end of June and I cleaned scrubbed the jet ski on Saturday. I have to get it in and have it Summerized and ready for the week at the lake. It has been two years since we have had it out, so look forward to the lake being full after the heavy rains this Winter.

Well, the sun is out, the water is 83 degrees and it is calling my name. Darla is going out to water plants and I will join her. Happy Memorial Day to the family. We love you guys. Ciao.

Underwriting Conference in Maine

 

 

 

Back from Maine and it is about 9:30 at night, which is 12:30 on the time zone that our body is used to. At least it will feel like we slept in tomorrow. We returned to a heat wave as the 100's are forecast over the next few days. The pool is at 79 degrees and just about ready to swim. Memorial Day is next weekend, so the timing is good.

 

The trip was incredible. Our accommodations for the first two days paid for by the Insurance group that I serve on the board of, was absolutely tremendous. The room at the Stage Neck Inn was large and the resort was awesome. It is the first two pictures above. We got into York Harbor about 9 PM on Darla's birthday and everything in town was closed. We wanted to go and get some clam chowder in town, but we were closed out. We ended up driving into the next town over and getting some bread and lunch meat and that was Darla's birthday dinner. I was able to make it up to her on Wednesday as we had a morning meeting and then had the afternoon free. We drove out to the Nubble Lighthouse and had lunch with Jeff and Linda Barnett at Fox's Restaurant which offered seafood and plenty of lobster. Darla and I had clam chowder and shared a grilled lobster and Havarti sandwich. We then went out and saw the lighthouse and drove into Kennebunk and strolled the town. We got back to the resort in time to change and head to drinks and dinner.

 

We had a fantastic steak and lobster tail meal and our friend, Linda, had a 2 lb Maine Lobster. You can see the picture of her preparing to do battle with the crustacean above. We had a great meal and a good time visiting with the group.

 

We were up mid morning on Thursday and had breakfast with the group before checking out of the hotel and going out to Ogunquit and Perkins Cove to take a 90 minute cruise of the York coastline from Perkins Cove up to the Nubble lighthouse in York Harbor. We took the tour with Jeff and Linda and then drove into Wells and did some shopping. Darla and I headed into Kennebunkport and checked into the Beach House Inn. The picture is the 11th down and the 12th shows the view from the resort. The room we had was not as nice as the Stage Neck Inn where we had the conference, but it was in a much better location overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and within minutes of Kennebunkport. Darla and I went exploring on Thursday, driving into Kennebunkport and seeing the Bush Estate on Walker Point (You can see the plaque above and a picture of the compound from the main road). Darla and I had dinner that night at a nice brew house overlooking the cove in Kennebunkport.

 

Friday, Darla and I had a nice breakfast at the Beach House Inn and then drove up to Portland and did some exploring of the lighthouses in the area. It was a warm day reaching almost 94 degrees, but both windy and overcast, which was odd. We were able to see 4 lighthouses in the morning and then had a great lunch at Dock's Seafood in South Portland. The restaurant was both a restaurant and a fish market with lobster tanks. I had been craving fish and chips and finally got a fresh and delicious meal of fried haddock and French fries with malt vinegar and an iced tea, Darla had fried shrimp and was happy as well.

 

We headed back to the Inn in the afternoon as we were supposed to meet Jeff and Linda for dinner. They also ended up in Portland and went on another boat trip to see the lighthouses we saw, but from the water. They were running late and took a rain check on dinner. Darla and I decided to head back to Wells and have dinner at the Maine Diner. It is a great little diner made even more famous by Guy Fieri and his show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives". I had a chicken salad roll (I was overdosing on seafood) and Darla ended up having clam chowder and a macaroni and cheese that I helped her eat.

 

We drove from there into Kennebunkport. Darla wanted to go to one of the shops that was closed when we were there Thursday night, but it was open Friday night. She was trying on clothes and I was outside taking a phone call when Jeff and Linda walked up behind me and grabbed my phone. Linda went in to see Darla and ended up buying the same top Darla had picked out. You can see a picture of them above in their matching outfits. We left them as they headed to dinner.

 

Saturday we checked out of the Beach House Inn and headed back to Boston. My plan was to go to the Freedom Trail, but the crowds in Boston were unbelievable. The roads were closed to traffic and I just about ran out of gas trying to navigate through the crowds. After being in the little beach towns in and around Maine, Boston was a bummer for me. We ended up gassing up and driving over to Winthrop, Massachusetts. Darla and I drove into town and couldn't get into the hotel until 2:30, so we went to lunch at the Boston Harbor and had seafood at Belle Island Seafood. I had a haddock sandwich and fries and Darla had clam chowder. We went over and got checked into the hotel. The hotel was on the water in Winthrop and overlooked the Boston skyline. You can see the pictures we took of sunset as well as pictures that Darla and I took relaxing on the lawn overlooking the harbor. The Crystal Cove Inn is the picture taken between the sunset shots.

 

Darla and I had dinner down the street from the hotel at a little Italian bistro called D'Parma's. It was an authentic Italian restaurant and I had gnocchi and a pasta fagioli soup. Darla had a Caprese Salad and lobster ravioli. We had thought about driving into Little Italy in Boston, but this was so much better with great service and a great little venue to boot.

 

Today was a long day of travel with a 6 hour flight from Boston to Los Angeles and then an hour jaunt from LA to Sacramento. We had Omar, our Uber driver take us and pick us up. As I said, we returned to heat and I spent about an hour cleaning the pool and spa and watering the plants around the pool. It was an awesome trip and one that we likely wouldn't have done save for the board position. That is it. I'll be back at this in a week's time. Ciao.

Mother's Day and David's 30th Birthday

 

Just winding down from a big Sunday. We had a nice Mother's Day and a semi surprise birthday for David today. The boys and Becky are still here and talking. Dan and Becky came and stayed last night with us. Darla invited David's Dad and some of his family over. David's Dad was not interested as his girlfriend had Mother's Day duty.Two of his cousins showed up and his Aunt and Uncle pulled up about 4:30 as Alicia and Don were leaving and quickly drove away, likely because they didn't see David's car parked out here. David and Miya met us at church today and drove together in Miya's car and then she left mid afternoon to visit with her family. Dan and Becky will drop him off at home on their way out of town.

 

It was a nice morning at church with Darla's parents and both boys, Becky and Miya there. Darla leaned over to me during service with a hitch in her voice and said, "I'm so happy that we are all together!" Jennifer was missing, but both her boys were there and that meant the world to her. We enjoyed service and Dan and Becky then went to coffee with David and Miya. We scooted home and then Joni showed up and then Earl and Frances. They were all there when David came over. Darla had the house decorated and ready for him. Our friends, Rand and Julie came over and then David's cousins, Patrick and Levi showed up. Alicia, Don and Luke rounded out the group.

 

I fixed a couple of tri tip roasts and Darla had two lasagnas, salads, fruit and bread. It was a beautiful day and we hit about 72 degrees which was perfect for eating outside. The pool is ready for the season in every way except temperature. It is at 72 degrees, but it will take a couple of 100 degree days to run the temp over 80 degrees.

 

I spent Saturday cleaning the patio furniture and then sealing the back splash and pool surround. There are a few plants, including the ground cover that really suffered this Winter and I need to replace it still. The backyard looks good and is ready for Summer.

 

Friday, we met David, Don and Alicia for dinner in Folsom at Mikuni's, a sushi restaurant. Neither Darla nor I are big on sushi, but enjoyed the freaky edamame, seared ahi, and a Bento box of sesame chicken and a plate of tempura shrimp. David ate all of the sushi rolls and monkey rolls and all of the other yuppy fare.

 

We also went to Luke's baseball game on Saturday night and he pitched one inning. The game was two hours and we were invited to Don and Alicia's for dinner with Dan and Becky and Darla's parents. We opted out as we had guests coming over Sunday and had to buy a few things and get ready for the event. We stopped at my office to print out a paper Darla needed for her Mexico trip. We went over to Party City and bought a few things and then went to dinner at Chubby's, a 50's diner place near the house.

 

I did host 60 agents at a sports themed event at the office on Tuesday. We had pizza, nachos, Cracker Jacks, wings, knots and fruit as well as a dessert bar. We did have a full bar as well and had a great time. I only took a couple of pictures this year. The agents loved the event and our VP, Michael, wants to know how we get other companies to fund this event for us. (It is networking.)

 

I will get the stitches out from my cancer surgery tomorrow, go to PT and then get ready for our trip to Maine on Tuesday. The weather looked miserable a week ago in Maine, but there is rain tomorrow and then several days of 70's and then an 85 on Thursday before cooling back to the 70's. We are staying at an Inn in York Harbor for the conference through Thursday morning and then moving to a Bed and Breakfast in Kennebunk, not far from the Bush estate. Darla and I plan a tour of the lighthouses in Maine. There are 69 lighthouses, most of which pre-date 1900. Some of the lighthouses are not accessible (on islands or just not open to the public). We will see about a dozen lighthouses as we make our trip up the coast. We may head into Canada and see Quebec and will definitely see the Massachusetts coast as well.

 

We look forward to our trip and I will be back at the keyboard for an abbreviated blog entry next Sunday night. The weather here is warming up and we are expected to be close to 100 degrees next weekend. I talked to Jennifer today and she was without Sam on Mother's Day. John has been traveling and been gone for three weeks. He was back this weekend for two days and then gone for two more weeks. Sam was coming over for dinner.

 

Well, that's it for this week. I hope you are all well. I still miss Mom, especially this time of year. Her loss in my life was HUGE. Happy Mother's Day to Shirley. I love you. Ciao.

Sealed the deck, got cancer cut out and Darla is leaving on a jet plane.

OK, folks, put your sun screen on. I had another bout of skin cancer with a basil cell carcinoma (the good cancer if there is such a thing). Trying hard to avoid melanoma. I always have a hat on and apply SPF 50 sun screen whenever I'm in the sun. The hard part is reapplying. The dermatologist says to reapply every hour if you are sweating. Given that the temps are 90-100 here in Northern California during the late Spring and Summer, there is a good chance that I'm sweating anytime I'm outside. I have the sun screen outside with me, but today I didn't reapply while I was outside. I just got busy.

 

I went in to the doctor on Monday to have the procedure and I expected a small incision, but the stitch is about an inch and a half. I had the procedure at 3:50 and my PT at 5:00 PM. Well, let's just say the procedure was scheduled for 3:50. I finally went under the knife at about 4:20 and didn't get out of there until almost 5:00 PM. Again I was expecting a relatively small incision as they had most of the cancer and the edges were mostly clear. This was not a MOHS surgery where they take a small sample and test it and then take more if needed, so the doctor had to do his best to get all of the cancer and it left a mark. I was late to PT and had to take it easy as I had fresh stitches. Even with that, the wound reopened and started to bleed again. It was heavily bandaged, but bandages on your chest are a crap shoot. I got home and wanted to test out the sealer on the patio. Last year we ended up with a mess as I hadn't allowed enough time between staining and sealing and the sealer tuned white. It is a known defect in the acrylic sealer that if it is applied onto wet concrete or wet stain, the sealant will turn a milky white. We struggled with that all last Summer. I just did the border to see how it would react, but it was a hot Spring day with the temperature topping out at 95 degrees. The bandage ended up coming off and falling off as my chest was slick with perspiration. I took a shower and made sure not to get the suture site wet. I had a heck of a time getting a bandage to hold. The site is too large for a regular bandage and I had to cut some sterile dressing and tape it on with sterile tape and it kept coming off. The bandage went with me to work on Tuesday and kept working loose. It was frustrating. I finally took it off Tuesday night and just have Aquafore on the sutures now and can wash the area. I'll have the stitches out next Monday, the day before we leave for Maine.

 

The sealant worked really well. Darla had suggested that I leave the sealer off this year as the stain looked so good, but take a look at the first picture of the patio above that shows the difference between the sealed and unsealed patio. The sealant is a wet look that seals in the stain and gives the whole patio the look of having just hosed it off. I really like the wet look and you can see the other two pictures of the finished product. I took it easy this year and did the sealant in a three day job on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. 

 

I was working on the patio Wednesday night and there were a group of guys working on a replacement fence for our two neighbors to the rear and side of us. I was listening to Bob Marley on my bluetooth speaker and one of the guys called to me. I thought he was going to complain that the  music was too loud, but he asked if I could turn it up. I was playing Bob Marley's greatest hits and then switched over to John Mellencamp. He called out again, hanging over the fence and asked if I had any more Bob Marley. I played the Exodus album and was a little non plussed that they high jacked my music. I told Darla that I looked over the fence and they were braiding each other's hair. Not true, but they were definitely in to Marley.

 

I had hoped to get to the backsplash and river rock surround on the pool, but will do that next Saturday. We have family over for Darla and David's birthday and Mother's Day next Sunday. I have Acetone to work on the calcium deposits on the back splash and tile and then will seal it with the acrylic sealer. I was going to do that today, but ended up using the last of the water proofer on the gate on the side yard and doing touch up on the patio sealer. I had sealer left and ended up sealing the brick that borders our front walk and the planter at the front of the house. I was exhausted when I finished that and I came in and watched the tape of the golf match.

 

I also went out today as I'm working on a surprise for Darla's birthday. We aren't big on gifts for each other as we get what we want when we want it, but I want to surprise her this year. We'll see if I can pull it off.

 

Darla has been really busy with her jewelry business. She had a party on Friday night and went to Luke's baseball game yesterday and is in Lodi today at a street fair with her Touchstone. She and Missy left this morning at 6 AM and should be home soon. She flies out tomorrow morning at 7 AM for Rhode Island and a Managers meeting with Touchstone. She gets back Thursday night. We have a business mixer that night at the stadium of the Giants AAA team the River Cats. We are tentatively planning on going, but we'll see how she feels when I pick her up that night.

 

She did win her incentive trip and we will be in Mexico in June at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya for five days. I wasn't planning on going as she had hoped one of her girls would qualify, but they didn't and she wants me along, so I'll take one for the team. The resort is all inclusive and has a Jacuzzi in the room as well as a stocked bar. We leave on June 1st and get back on the 5th. It'll be a quick turnaround, but will be fun. I am running out of vacations with all of her success.

 

Work is going well and we finished April with a $70,000 profit. If I can average that each month through the end of the year, we will be back to a $1,000,000 profit and I'll be back as one of the good guys at work. I had mentioned that we got our profit sharing checks applied to our financial statements in March. What I didn't mention is that one of the companies had a growth bonus as well that is paid directly to the employees. I get half of the bonus and the rest goes to the Underwriters, so I am all smiles right now. It is a nice little pot of money.

 

So, looking forward..I have the WIAA Conference in Maine next week, the Riviera Maya trip in June and Almanor in July. We have already been in Jamaica, the Dutch Caribbean on the cruise and Vegas in April. It is a busy time around here. I feel like my Dad.

 

Darla leaves early tomorrow and then I have one of my Corporate VPs coming in Tuesday for two days. I have a CE class in my office for the agents on Tuesday afternoon and then a Client Appreciation event that night. We have three companies helping us this year. Our restoration company CPR, who will host the bar, Kniesel's body shop that will host the dessert, and Safelite glass repair company that will host a nacho bar. We are doing Cracker Jacks, pizza, knots and sodas and water. It is a sports themed event and we encourage the agents to wear their favorite sports gear. I'll have my Giants jersey on.

 

Well, I will be back at this next Sunday with tales of the up coming week. I included a couple of pictures of my two favorite ladies not named Darla as well. I hope your week is good. Ciao.