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.
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