Off to Reno for the Willie Nelson Concert

 

Just a really quick update this week as Darla and I are off to Reno to see probably our last Willie Nelson concert. He is 85 years old and still going strong, but he is 85 years old and has subsisted on a daily regimen of pot and booze for about 30 years. I'd think that he will be retiring from touring soon. His latest albums have songs like: "Last Man Standing" and "He Won't Ever Be Gone" and "Still Not Dead" with heavy emphasis on the number of his friends and contemporaries that have passed on. "He Won't Ever be Dead" is a tribute to Merle Haggard, who was a very close find of Willie's. The lyrics to Last Man Standing, read "I don't want to be the last man standing..oh, wait a minute maybe I do." and is about the number of his friends in country music who have passed away. He is a realist and knows that his time left is short. He s an immense talent and really not a shell of the former artist. He plays without a set list and his band goes with his lead. He is playing with his sister and his son, Lukas, who sounds just like his Dad. His sister is a piano player and actually is a year older than Willie. It will be fun. We are staying at the Grand Sierra in Reno and the concert is in their concert hall.

 

Darla had to rush off this morning to get her jewelry set up in Lodi for the annual Italian Festival. It is one of her biggest events of the year and she has a couple of her team members running the show. She left at 7 to get things set up and she is SUPPOSED to be home at 1 so we can get on the road to Reno. The concert is at 8 PM tonight and I want to be there on time because I really like the opener, Allison Krause who is a musician, songwriter and vocalist. She plays the piano, violin and mandolin and is very talented. You might know her from her songs, "When you say nothing at all" and "Lucky One". One of my favorites of hers is "Down to the River to Pray".  We had hoped to get into Reno a bit early and hit the pool after a 2 hour drive up the mountain. You'd think we are getting out of the heat by heading up to Reno. We've had seven straight days now of over 100 degrees and this heat wave will finally break on Monday as that is our last day forecast of 100 degrees. We will cool down to 96-97-98 the rest of the week. Reno is also seeing a heat wave and setting records with temperatures over 100, Today is forecast at 102 and tomorrow 100. The heat is on in our neck of the woods.

 

Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows the Samson story of this week where Darla woke me up on Wednesday morning at 4 AM and said we had an intruder in the house. There were loud voices coming from the family room and I crept down the hall and quickly realized that the TV was on. We had shut it off the night before. I turned on the light and was looking for the remote to turn off the cable when the channel suddenly changed to ESPN and the sound shot up a few more decibels. I could not find the remote and returned to our room to see Samson on his bed chewing on the remote. That dog will put ANYTHING into his mouth and is the reason he had the THC poisoning in LA. If I don't watch him in the backyard he is up in the Palm garden above the pool trimming back the plants. The Sego palms are toxic to dogs so I have to be diligent to keep him out of those. He is also a water dog and wades into the pool when ever we let him out to pee. I've got into the habit of going out with him and guarding the steps to the pool. It is quicker than having to take the time to dry him off. The vet also told us to rinse him after he's been in the pool because the chemicals are not good for his skin. He is a handful.

 

The pictures? The top three are of the golf tournament we played in this weekend. There was a 24 man (12 team) playoff horse race and the picture is of the gang on the first tee waiting for the playoff to start. The last two pictures are of Samson meeting Koa for the first time. This is Michelle and Jeremy's new dog. Jordan is thrilled. They said that they went to the SPCA to get a cat and ended up with the Husky mix. He has bizarre greyish/blue eyes and looks a little like a wolf.

 

Paul and I won our flight in the 4 ball event at Woodcreek this weekend. We shot a 60, which was one shot off of the low round for the day. We actually tied another team in our flight for first. It was a unique tournament in that we played the round in the morning and then had lunch. After lunch they sent out the 12 low teams (four from each flight) to play in a horse race. The horse race is a 4 hole event where they eliminate 4 teams on the first hole, three teams after the second hole and 2 teams after the third hole. The final three teams play for first second and third, or Win, Place and Show. Paul and I played really well and made it into the final hole, but I sprayed our drive left and he had to hit a recovery into the fairway. I then yanked the third shot right almost into the driving range. Paul was able to hit a shot short of the bunker and we laid 4 right next to one of the other teams who was also lying 4. They hit first and knocked one into said bunker. I played a 40 yard chip shot to about 20 feet of the pin and Paul missed the putt. We ended up with a 7 on the par 5 and the other team had 8. The winners had a nice 5 and just watched us hashing around on the final hole. Paul saved us on number 2 when I hit a drive that went a little left and clipped a tree and left us about 150 yards to the green. The green is over water and Paul had to hit a shot that stayed low to get under some tree branches and then jump up over a tree, over the water and onto the green. He put it about thirty feet for birdie and we made the par. It was a fun day.

 

Work is going well and we should hit our budget numbers this month. My two newer underwriters are a little slow out of the gate, but Renee had a huge month and is keeping us in the game. She is about 40% over budget for the month. Pete is off on a two week Alaskan cruise and his team is keeping the ship afloat while he is gone. We continue to interview for a new team member for Pete and Harvey is being really picky about who we get. We sent him a couple of what we thought were excellent candidates and he turned them down because they scored too low on the numerical reasoning test. He turned one millennial down because she said she uses a calculator to figure a tip at a restaurant. Millenials use their smart phones for EVERYTHING.

 

That will do it for this week. Next weekend is the start of the Club Championship and I will play the first round on Sunday. I'm not overly confident. I shot 87 on Saturday with a 41+ 46 at Woodcreek. I had a good front nine and helped us to a 29, but a lot of fits and starts on the back. Interestingly the tournament was an 8:30 Shotgun and we started on number 12, so the front was the back and vice versa (sort of). I'll be back at the keyboard next Sunday night. Ciao.

Darla is in Colorado for Opulenza

I am The Bachelor for the weekend and will pick Darla up at 9:30 tonight. Why she got such a late return flight is beyond me. They actually tried to catch the 3:00 PM flight, but the cost difference was $120 per ticket.

 

The pictures. The first is Darla from Awards Night at conference last night. She got an award for Rookie Recruiter of the Year and Recruiter of the Year. She has been with the company about two months and already has over 20 reps on her team. I said it last time, if the company was smart, they would hire Darla as an employee and fly her around the company and teach the other reps how to recruit. Not everyone can recruit like she can. She met someone on the beach at Santa Monica last week from Fresno and signed her up. She will drive down to Fresno to help her put on her first party. You have to have the gift of talking to people and making them see your genuineness and not just a killer sales attitude. Nothing turns someone off more than a pushy sales person. The next three shots are of the continued work that Darla is doing in the backyard with plants. The middle of the three pictures is an area that I had planted grass, but our crazy dog prefers using the artificial turf. It's funny, because he LOVE LOVE LOVES the park across the street and rubs himself all over the grass like he's never seen grass before. He just didn't like my little patch of grass and it was a pain to keep up as I had to mow it with a weedwacker because the area was too awkward for the mower. The next shot is of Mr and Mrs Corbin, a shot that McKenny took at the beach in Venice on their first night there. The next two are from poker Friday night and the guys. Scott (the guy in the second picture with the hat) and I have been playing in a poker game since 1983 when I was in Fresno, CA. We worked together at the Hartford and started up a game. I moved back to Sacramento and Scott moved about a month later and we hooked up and started playing again in Sacramento. The game has been going non stop since then and Scott and I are the only original members. Players have come and gone across the years and the current iteration of players have been together for probably about ten years. The final picture is an oil painting on black denim of Willie Nelson that was in the home in Venice.

 

Darla took off Thursday afternoon for her Opulenza conference in Denver. Becky drove them to the airport in Darla's car and then Becky and Daniel returned the car Thursday night. Darla is working with one of the girls in my office. She is actually the daughter of my Operations Manager and is a high functioning autistic. She has worked for me for about six year and still will not make eye contact with me or engage me in conversation if I pass her in the hall. She works on insurance filings and is content to keep her head down and work and I have no problem with that. Darla has always like Alicia and needed help with her business in setting up and tearing down the displays and hired Alicia to help her. Alicia really likes Darla and decided to go to conference with her. Darla has a huge heart for people with disabilities and I think is enjoying working with Alicia. There are certainly some highs and lows in the actual flow of the work relationship, but Darla has a ton of patience and works through issues that Alicia has and there have been several. Darla also hired two young women from Egypt who are working with her in her jewelry business. She has also hired them to help her organize her office and clean the house. They worked on the house when we were in Venice Beach and did an incredible job. They came in twice this weekend and worked on Darla's office and the main guest room, cleaning up and sorting through stacks of Darla's jewelry and invoices. Both rooms are spotless now and I know Darla won't know what to do with that as she doesn't live a spotless life. I cleaned her car before we took the trip to So Cal and found over 20 items of makeup in the car. I cleaned up catalogues and all sort of things (floss sticks, gum wrappers, an old package of Ritz Crackers) from under the seats. She basically lives in her car during the week doing her jewelry business and her two social work jobs.  We'll see if it stays nice. If not, they are a call away. I think she plans to have them clean the house once  month.

 

I'm not sure if I reported that Daniel has secured a job with the City of Roseville in the Public Works Department as a civil engineer. The job is a really good get for him as Roseville is pretty cash rich because of a huge regional shopping mall and a large Auto Mall that pump taxes into the city coffers. He will get a chance to work on a lot of the Public Works projects like bridges and dams as well as infrastructure for the city. He has bought a home here in Roseville and now has a job here, so we will be able to see our grandkids by jumping in the car and driving over there once they start having children. I know Becky wants about 4 children. We'll see. I do wish that Jennifer and McKenny lived closer, but it is what it is.

 

Darla and I are finally starting our home project for the year. We have done the master bathroom, the kitchen cabinets and family room furniture over the past three years. This year we will change out the two sliders in the back of the house and all of the windows in the back as well. We had the front windows done about eight years ago. I have a guy from Anderson Windows coming out tomorrow night, but I just plan on getting a price estimate. There is a general contractor in our neighborhood that has worked with John and who I have played golf with who will do the job. I just want to get pricing. I want to put in the glass sliding doors that have built in blinds between the glass. They are made by Pella and Anderson doesn't even offer that. The only window that I will put in as a slider will be in the main guest room. The other windows will all be solid windows. The seal is better on them and we never open the sliding windows in the breakfast nook or our master bedroom as we open the sliding glass doors if we want fresh air. Those sliding windows are behind shutters and not used. We meet wit the guy tomorrow night and then I'll call Chad to do the work.

 

 I did play poker Friday night and had a so so game, losing big early and making a comeback late. I ended losing about $35, which wasn't bad. It was great to get together with the guys. We were supposed to get together last month and John's Dad passed away, so the game was cancelled. Next month we will be at John's new house for poker.

 

Saturday I ended up playing golf. I had planned to continue my hiatus, but looked at the calendar and realized that the Club Championship starts on August 5th and I have to get geared up for that. I was at our golf meeting Thursday night and Paul talked me into signing up for the Skins Game Saturday. I did, but they only had seven guys signed up and ended up cancelling it on Friday. I took one of the tee times and got Bryan, Rico and Paul to come out and play a $20 game. The pro was very apologetic about postponing the event and offered to buy us lunch. We did not argue. We teed off at 9:30 and were off the course by 2. I won $30 of the $80 pot and also had a free lunch, so it was a good day for me. I am also signed up to play in the Day on the Oaks event on Tuesday and will host one of my agents to that event Tuesday morning. Paul also talked me into playing in a two man best ball event next Saturday at Woodcreek and that combined with our Thursday night league, I'll end up playing 4 times in 8 days. So much for taking time off from golf. I shot a good/bad 45+41=86 on Saturday.

 

I continue to work on the pool and getting it looking pristine. The algae has been a chore, but I think I've finally beat that. The pool water is so clear and soft and the walls are finally algae free. I bought some 5-in-one tablets that I will use going forward that have chlorine, algaecide, descaler, clarifier and rust inhibitor all in one. Pete swears by them. I also ordered some more Hypo chloride for shocking the pool and two quarts of Pool Perfect which removes phosphates from the water. It's a lot of work having a backyard oasis, but oh so worth it.

 

Darla just texted me and her flight is taking off a little late. I will pick her up about 9:45 and then come home and go right to bed. Too bad we don't get an evening together, but...

 

That is it for this week. Samson is doing great and has no ill effects from his cannabis poisoning. It was a scary event and I'm just glad we have pet insurance. He was a little hungry after the first night and I guess it was the "munchies". I hope everyone is doing great and we will talk to you all soon. Ciao.

Venice Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at it after a fun, exhausting, traumatic and overall GREAT trip with the Corbins of Las Vegas.

I will get to the pictures to give them context. The first five pictures are from Sam's Camp and involve some of the activities that they were going through, including making donuts (I wish I'd been there that day). The next four are from our outing to the AAA River Cats game. They are the farm team for the SF Giants and actually were once located in Vancouver, BC. You can see the girls on camera in one of the shots and they actually made it on the Jumbotron. The next two are of Sam at pizza the night I took her to the movies. We went and saw Jurassic Park, the Lost World and at one point I was looking a little concerned when the dinosaur was devouring one of the poachers and Sam leaned over and asked if I was scared. I told her no and she said, "I'm right here, Papa." The picture of her hiding behind the pink cup was an ongoing issue where she wouldn't let me take pictures of her. The next shot was of Sam and Sam in the backseat on our drive down to Southern California. The next four were from our dinner at Killer Shrimp in Marina Del Rey. Killer Shrimp is located on the water in Marina Del Rey and boaters can tie up to the dock and come in and eat. The owner is a former studio musician who played with the Doors, Sopwith Camel, Jefferson Airplane and others. The furnishings include pictures of Marilyn Monroe, Percy Sledge, Jimmy Hendrix and others. We had fun and it was good food. The next seven pictures are from our Sunday visit to Santa Monica Beach and the Santa Monica Pier and Boardwalk. You can see how crowded it was when we left at about 2 PM. The picture of Sam and Jennifer was from a ride that they were on. The final six photos are from Sunday at the condo and when we were saying goodbye to Jennifer, McKenny and Sam.

 

The trip overall was good, but it ended on a sour note when Samson got sick. He was shaky and couldn't walk and looked to be seizing. Darla rushed him to the Emergency Animal hospital and they did tests and determined that he had THC poisoning. The only thing that we can determine is that there is a Buddha statue on the front porch and he is holding an ashtray and there were marijuana buds in the ashtray in the morning that were gone Sunday night. We can assume that Samson who eats everything, got into the buds and got himself sick. It was scary watching him stumble around and we had no idea what was wrong. Darla was really upset with the home owner, but I'm not sure where the cigarette came from. It was either not cleaned up by the cleaners or it showed up after we arrived. Jennifer and McKenny swear they had nothing to do with it. It was really concerning and the doctor said that this type of poisoning is on the rise as cannabis becomes legal across the country.

 

We did visit Santa Monica early on Sunday morning after getting a very late start on Saturday and getting stuck in traffic. We were back and forth in traffic for about an hour and finally gave up. We decided to hit the beach at 9 AM on Sunday and were among the first to arrive. We were at the beach until about 11 and then went up on the boardwalk and checked out the rides and games and saw Darla on the beach from the binoculars at the tip of the pier. We had a great day and you can see the pictures above of Sam playing in the surf and on the beach.

 

Samson had quite a trip as he got so excited when we first got there that he got his leash wrapped around a palm plant and snapped it at the stem. He jumped all over Jen and McKenny and when we put him in the courtyard to settle down, he slipped and fell in the koi pond and broke the water feature that aspirates the pond water. We were up late Friday night visiting and up late Saturday morning. We went to the Garden store to buy the replacement plant and the parts for the water feature. By then it was too late and we got stuck in traffic. We ended up having an early dinner at Killer Shrimp and then hanging out at Mother's Beach in Marina Del Rey.

 

We did take a drive into Venice Beach to see the canals, but it was so packed with people that we just ended up driving over them and seeing the homes along the canals. We had planned to walk the dogs along the canals. There are about five square blocks of canals left from Abbott Kinney's original design of about a mile square. Most of the canals were filled in for roads and infrastructure, but these original canals built in 1905 are still there as history.

 

The home that we ended up in is a three bedroom two bathroom home that must go for close to $2 million. It was remodeled into a duplex and the upper part of the home was added on and is a 1/2 address. The main building is 825 and the upstairs 3 bedroom is 825 1/2 and accessed in the rear alley. The home was very eclectic with paintings and art work throughout the home. The bedroom that Jennifer and McKenny stayed in was off the front door and was two steps down. They had a sitting area and a separate bed area. Our master bedroom was spacious and had both a Jacuzzi tub and a separate shower in the on suite. There was also a large walk in closet and French doors leading to the enclosed patio and barbecue area. The kitchen also had French doors that accessed the same area.

 

We really enjoyed our time with the kids and we had a lot of good talks and fun times. Sam was a joy visiting with us and we look forward to her return next year as well. She is growing into a wonderful young girl and is very sweet and fun. She did her chores all week and got paid an allowance.  

 Part of her allowance was paid for her to get up early every day without issue and she lived that all week. She even got up after the concert and was tired, but did not complain. It was quite a week for her with the concert, camp, the movie, playing with Jordan in the pool every day and the baseball game. The week was topped off with our visit to Venice Beach and the weather was mid seventies, which was heaven for the Corbins' who left 108 degrees in Vegas. We topped out at over 100 and we are in the third day of a five day plus 100 degree stretch here in Nor Cal.

 

I am on a three week hiatus from golf and will not play again until a week from this weekend. I just needed to get away from it and try to rediscover some of the joy that the game brings me. It has been a chore of late.

 

I will bring this to a close and grab a late dinner. Darla is at a jewelry meeting/dinner with her reps and I was working on the pool. We got home late yesterday as we decided to drive home overnight and left Venice Beach at 10 PM and got home about 4 AM. I got a haircut and bought a new vacuum for the pool and some algaecide. I applied it and vacuumed the pool and decided to clean out the filters again tonight after work as the algae gets trapped in them.

 

 I finally started this about 7:30 and it is almost nine now and I forgot to eat dinner or feed Samson, He is thankfully back to normal after a $323 vet bill. I'll be back at this over the weekend. Ciao.

The week of Samantha

 

So far, so fun. We picked Sam up Friday night and her plane was delayed due to bad weather in Dallas (imagine that). She was due in at 6:16 and arrived at 6:49 PM. We saw Diane and Ella and Ella's parents and then packed up Sam and headed back to Roseville. We asked her where she wanted to go to dinner and she said, "That burger place we went last time with the chalkboard." THAT place is Mooyah and it has overpriced hamburgers ($10) and we went there last time with a coupon and were not impressed. We ended up at In and Out burger and had hamburgers and shakes (Darla stayed with a diet coke). From there we went to Krispy Kreme, not because we were hungry for donuts, but because Sam had never seen the donut conveyor belt with automated donut frying and icing. I got a picture of her in front of the work area with the glass front. We came home and swam and then took Samson to the park for a walk.

 

Saturday we let Sam sleep in and Darla went to orientation for the leaders at Breakaway, the Summer camp at church that Sam will be attending. She is going with Jordan next door who is in the pictures with Sam above. She is committed to Monday and Friday, but we feel that once she gets to the camp and sees all of the fun and excitement that she'll be in all week. We'll see. Darla was home about 11:30 and she and Sam ended up meeting Diane as she forgot to give us a letter signed by Jennifer that gives us power of attorney for medical care for Sam while she is here. From there they went to Michaels and bought a bunch of Jungle themed plastic plants and tiki torches and other things to decorate her booth where the kids will check in every morning. They came home and we swam. Jordan came over for awhile but had a birthday party at the skating rink. We had barbecued steak and shakes for dinner. Daniel and Becky came over and spent time with Sam and I over at the park with Samson. Darla was home signing up a new rep. We played "monkey in the middle" with Samson and then he retrieved the ball as we threw it several times. We sat and watched some of Sam's shows on TV and had her headed to bed by 10 PM. Her bedtime for camp will be 9:30 and Jordan is spending the night tonight and then heading to camp with Darla and Sam in the morning.

 

We were up early this morning and off to church and then we were supposed to decorate her tent booth. The problem was they hadn't put signs on the tents by the time service was over. We talked to the head of Breakaway and he said they were going to set up the tents after the second service. We headed to breakfast at Black Bear diner, took Darla's SUV thru the car wash and then picked up some things for a late lunch. We headed back to church, but they still hadn't started setting up the tents. We needed to get home because Jordan's parents, Jeremy and Michelle and their son Gavin and his friend, Kenny, were coming over at about 2 for a 3:30 Linner. We had invited them for lunch, but Michelle works at the CVS and didn't get off until 2:30. We had wanted to have them for dinner, but Darla had a Jewelry event at 5 PM. I fixed hamburgers and hot dogs and Michelle brought her own chicken dogs as she doesn't eat red meat.

 

Darla is due back about 8 PM tonight and we will take Samson to the park for his exercise. I got a call at work Wednesday and the caller told me that I had won the raffle from the golf tournament on Friday. I wasn't sure what raffle and asked what the prize was. She said, "You won two tickets to the Harry Styles concert at Golden 1 Arena on Monday night".  Oh, I had no idea who Harry Styles was although the name sounded familiar. It turns out he was the lead singer of the Boy Band, One Direction. My next call was to Jennifer to find out if Sam knew him.  She does and really likes him, so Darla and Sam are going to the concert tomorrow night. They delivered the tickets on Friday and it turns out the tickets are in a luxury suite at Golden 1 and includes parking and priority entrance to the event. It should be fun and I will add pictures on the next blog, which will probably be Monday next week. As it is, I'm going to wait for some pictures from the camp tomorrow to finish this up. The girls are in the pool now and I will sign off until tomorrow when they are at the concert. 

 

 

 

Back at it on a Monday night. The SF Giant game is playing in the background. The lawn has been mowed, the dog had his run in the park, Darla and Sam are safely at the concert and the blog entry continues. I got off at 4 today to come home and watch Sam as Darla had a nail appointment at 4:30. I got home, Sam and Jordan were bundled up on the couch watching the Disney channel shows for tweens. Sam was really tired. Michelle came over and picked up Jordan and Darla left for the nail salon and I quizzed Sam about her day and camp and she was yawning  I finally gave up and she was fast asleep within minutes. Darla was gone for an hour and Sam slept the whole time. Darla and Sam went to David's house in Sacramento and picked him up and they met Miya at the restaurant. Sam got to see David's house and meet his roommates and I think David really loved it.

 

I worked on the pool and picked up toys and balls from the girls. There were a couple of drink glasses up in the flower bed above the pool and I still have some of the stubborn algae on the walls. I brushed that and added chlorine and ran the variable speed pump on high for an hour. I mowed the lawn, edged, put out all the trashes, gave Samson a run in the park, and finally came in to work on the computer.

 

Tomorrow I'm working a half day and then Sam and I have a Papa/Sam date to the movies. I figured she would want to see Incredibles or one of the other kid's movies that are out, but she surprised me and asked to go see Jurassic World. I got us tickets for the 3:40 show tomorrow and then we will go to dinner. Darla has a team meeting tomorrow and after her event tonight, Sam and I will get some special time together tomorrow.

 

Thursday I have tickets for the AAA RiverCats game and Sam and I will go with Jeremy and Jordan to the game. We'll get some dinner, look at the game from our seats behind home plate and then let the girls go play at the children's park with bounce houses, mazes, games, etc. I'm sure well be headed home before the 7th inning and get Sam to bed. Friday will be a big day as it is the last day of camp and we will be heading down to Southern California to meet Jennifer and McKenny for a weekend mini vacation in Venice Beach.

 

I will be back at the keyboard next Monday night to bring you tales of our visit to So Cal. The weather here was 100 today, 100 tomorrow and upper nineties the rest of the week. Here is the weather for Venice:

 

 

Darla added some pictures on Facebook from the concert and here they are:

 

 

Ciao for now.