What a weekend. The temperatures hit 86 degrees on Friday and I was on the golf course with good friends and a cold bottle of Corona. You can't beat that with a stick. I went and visited a new agent in Turlock on Friday morning and then went to Oakdale, a small retirement enclave east of Modesto, and played golf at Oakdale Country Club. The locals would argue with my description of Oakdale, they have a Hershey chocolate plant and a large PG&E plant. The thing is, the town is west of Sonora and a favorite retirement spot for Bay Area transplants, who sell their tract homes for $850,000 and buy a 4,500 square foot dream home for $750,000 in Oakdale. I shot 40+46=86 on Friday and won all of the money from Jerry and Trent, who struggled to 93 and 97 respectively. The back nine falloff had more to do with the sun and the brews than any thing else. I had a great time and we sat in the bar afterward and played dice for an hour. I left my 8-iron at Oakdale and had to use Daniel's Ben Hogan 8-iron over the weekend. I'll be in Modesto Thursday or Friday meeting with the service center employees and will take a side trip up to Oakdale to pick up my club.
Friday night, I met Darla and the boys at Earl and Frances' house in Linden. Earl needed some help on the farm pruning the trees and our two six footers fit the bill. He paid them $100 each for a day's labor. We ate pizza and relaxed. We left the boys and our Explorer at the house and headed back to Roseville.
I played in the 54 hole tournament Day 2 & 3 on Saturday and Sunday. Don Pangburn and I teamed up to shoot a net 58 in the scramble (14 under) on Saturday and 63 (9 under) in the scotch tournament on Sunday. We made up a lot of ground after our first round 66 and finished in the top third of the field and in the money. Daniel's 8-iron even got me second closest to the pin on Sunday at 9 feet, 7 inches. The temperatures stayed warm over the weekend and we had 84 degrees on Saturday and 80 degrees yesterday. There is a slight breeze today and it expected to top out at 78 degrees. Nice weather.
I didn't realize how much sun I'd had over the weekend until Saturday night when I slipped into the hot tub to soak away the muscle strains and pains of two days of golf. It was like slipping into a large vat of scalding hot oil as the pins and needles of my sunburn made themselves evident. I made sure to coat myself liberally with SPF 30 sunscreen on Sunday to aver further damage.
One of the drawbacks to the early Spring is an early bout with allergies. My allergies are to grass pollens and tree pollens and they are rampant. Friday I was suffering itchy, watery eyes and a dripping nose. I pounded Chlor-Trimetron and still the tap was running in my eyes and nose. Saturday, the drill started again with sneezing, watery eyes and the works. Don, my partner, gave me a couple of shots of his prescription allergy medication, a nose spray called Durnaze and it was magic. The draining stopped, the sneezing stopped, and I was fine. On the golf course in the middle of growing grass and a forest of blooming trees. Don has several bottles of the prescription and gave me one for my golf bag and I will take it to my doctor and demand that he write me a prescription for this golden remedy.
We had Cora and Mel over for dinner on Saturday night, barbecued tri-tip and all of the fixins. Mel and Cora are from the Phillipines and have very defined boundaries for their kids. It is basically old school discipline and the children are to be seen and not heard. Their kids have grown up in the United States and are rebelling. We had such a refreshing visit with them and had Daniel and David at the dinner table with us. Cora has been singing the praises of our boys ever since. She thinks they are so well behaved and grown up and wishes that she'd brought her kids on Saturday night. We told them to bring them, but again it is culturally not something that they are comfortable with. Suddenly, Cora wants to get the families together now. The boys absolutely loved Cora and Mel and found their stories of the Phillipines and the Marcos regime fascinating. One of Mel's best friends in the Phillipines is Marcos' oldest son.
My only regret of the weekend was in not getting to talk to Jennifer. She called to wish me a Happy Birthday, but of course, I was on the golf course. She left a nice message and seems to be doing well, although she is rather homesick. She has updated her blog and you can access it at the bottom of this page.
Darla and the boys are off to Mexico this weekend to build houses for the less fortunate. I, in turn, will fly off to Scottsdale, Arizona on Saturday for some sun, golf and a little business on the side. This epistle will be late as I will be away from my keyboard until Thursday. I will update you then on the ongoing saga of Life with the Lyons in Northern California. I hope you all are hale, hearty and in touch with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Ciao.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Monday, March 07, 2005
Shorts, Sunscreen and Smiles
It was a Spring Fever weekend with blue skies and warm temperatures bringing out the shorts, tank tops and shark meat white skin to the park across the street and to the golf course, tennis courts and bike trails of Sacramento. After all of the rain that we've seen (122% of normal to date), the sun and the warm temperatures were a welcome respite. It was 72 degrees on Saturday and 75 degrees yesterday and it should continue to warm up to the point that it will top 80 degrees by Thursday and Friday. I have golf planned on Friday, Saturday and Sunday next weekend. Normally I wouldn't get away with it, but it is my birthday weekend and I'll play that trump card for all it's worth.
It is also Dad's birthday on Wednesday. Happy birthday, Dad. I'm glad you had a second chance at happiness with Shirley and she has been a blessing not only to your life, but to ours as well. You don't need any presents as you have the ultimate one that you are sharing your life with, but Darla and I have sent a little something something your way. The gift is a reminder of my passion in life and will likely arrive late as I ordered them on the internet and we haven't had much luck with you and technology as I recall.
I haven't heard from Jennifer in several weeks, but again, I will play the birthday card and expect to hear from her one day this week. I am so proud of her accomplishments in the military and I know how tough it is for women in our military. There is a an article in today's paper entitled "Sexual Combat" and it talks about the real war that female soldiers fight against innuendos and the real threat of rape by one of your own people. Jennifer talked about it when she was home, how you have to make sure you are in a group at all times and be aware of the real threat of being preyed on by the male soldiers. It's a shame, but a reality that every female soldier has to face and the problem is much worse in Iraq, Kuwait and Aghanistan. I look forward to her coming home this year. The link to this article is: http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/projects/women_at_war/story/12523663p-13379149c.html
Darla's Grampa, Andy, and his wife have sold their home and moved into a retirement village in Ripon. Darla, Alicia and their parents have been working hard to get him moved, having garage sales and working to clean up the house after the move. Like many of the older generation, Andy and Liz had cabinets full of food, cleaning products, supplies and stuff. Many of the older generation live with extras that could be used to supply a bomb shelter. Darla brought home boxes of cleaning supplies, many of which are not even manufactured anymore. They were in the back of the cabinet with all of the newer supplies jammed in front. Daniel was finally able to discard his old twin bed which barely contained his 6'2" body for a new queen sized bed that was in Andy's guest room. Andy and Liz are now in an apartment and it will take some adjustment as Andy loved his garden and tinkering at his home. He is in his mid-eighties and has had health issues recently (as has Liz) and we all feel better that they are in a home with supervision, regular meals and some supervised activities. They will learn to truly enjoy it over time as Gramp Lyon did when they moved from their home to the condo. I think Gramp had some of the best years of his life at the condo complex.
I did play poker on Friday night and golf on Saturday. I lost about $40 at poker ( I was due to lose having won the last three or four games). We had a blast. Saturday I played in the first round of a three day tournament. The tournament is two man teams and we play best ball the first day, a scramble the second and a scotch (alternate shot) the last day. I'm playing with Don Pangburn and we managed a 66 on Saturday with neither of us playing our "A" games. The leaders are at 59, but the toughest part of the tournament is Sunday, so we are still well in the running.
As I mentioned, I will play golf Friday with my old friend, Trent Davis, at his country club in Oakdale (outside of Modesto). I'll go see an agent in Tracy on Friday morning and meet Trent for lunch in Oakdale and play golf in the afternoon. We are both tremendously competitive and for some reason I always agree to play him at his home course.
Darla and I went to the park across the street from our house yesterday. We took a blanket and books and some sodas. I no sooner got there than I fell asleep in the sun. I woke up to the sound of baseball players yelling at the diamond behind me. The coach was having the kids run the bases and he was yelling for them to "pump their arms" as they ran. Darla was nowhere to be found and I soon saw her in the distance being pulled along by Buddy, our Golden Retreiver. Darla had thought that Buddy would come over and lay down quietly on the blanket and be a perfect dog. In truth he was hyper, wouldn't sit down and she finally took him back home after he spilled a bowl of water on me as he jumped around uncontrollably.
Darla starts teaching a scrapbooking class tonight at the local community college extention center. She sells scrapbooking supplies, etc on the side and thought this would be a good way to increase her customer base. It is a three week class that will help her students organize their pictures into a scrapbook. I will be on my own at the 40 Days of Purpose life group for the next two weeks. We will take a one week break over Easter. Darla will be in Mexico with the kids and I will be in Arizona.
You should have listened to me and bought shares of USTT, the company that manufactures internet kiosks, cashless vending machines and VendingMiser energy efficient vending machine technology. I touted the stock at $.105 and it hit $.24 today. It's not too late, but I've more than doubled my money on 25000 shares. Penny stocks are risky, but can sure pan out. Of course if you bought Krispy Kreme at $12, it is now at $7.55. I have 1000 shares at an average cost of just over $7. Hey, it's the stock market. Like riding a roller coaster.
Well, I better get to work. I have the two ladies from Modesto starting today and will be training them this week. They are opening a new service center office in Modesto and they will report to me. Be well. Ciao.
It is also Dad's birthday on Wednesday. Happy birthday, Dad. I'm glad you had a second chance at happiness with Shirley and she has been a blessing not only to your life, but to ours as well. You don't need any presents as you have the ultimate one that you are sharing your life with, but Darla and I have sent a little something something your way. The gift is a reminder of my passion in life and will likely arrive late as I ordered them on the internet and we haven't had much luck with you and technology as I recall.
I haven't heard from Jennifer in several weeks, but again, I will play the birthday card and expect to hear from her one day this week. I am so proud of her accomplishments in the military and I know how tough it is for women in our military. There is a an article in today's paper entitled "Sexual Combat" and it talks about the real war that female soldiers fight against innuendos and the real threat of rape by one of your own people. Jennifer talked about it when she was home, how you have to make sure you are in a group at all times and be aware of the real threat of being preyed on by the male soldiers. It's a shame, but a reality that every female soldier has to face and the problem is much worse in Iraq, Kuwait and Aghanistan. I look forward to her coming home this year. The link to this article is: http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/projects/women_at_war/story/12523663p-13379149c.html
Darla's Grampa, Andy, and his wife have sold their home and moved into a retirement village in Ripon. Darla, Alicia and their parents have been working hard to get him moved, having garage sales and working to clean up the house after the move. Like many of the older generation, Andy and Liz had cabinets full of food, cleaning products, supplies and stuff. Many of the older generation live with extras that could be used to supply a bomb shelter. Darla brought home boxes of cleaning supplies, many of which are not even manufactured anymore. They were in the back of the cabinet with all of the newer supplies jammed in front. Daniel was finally able to discard his old twin bed which barely contained his 6'2" body for a new queen sized bed that was in Andy's guest room. Andy and Liz are now in an apartment and it will take some adjustment as Andy loved his garden and tinkering at his home. He is in his mid-eighties and has had health issues recently (as has Liz) and we all feel better that they are in a home with supervision, regular meals and some supervised activities. They will learn to truly enjoy it over time as Gramp Lyon did when they moved from their home to the condo. I think Gramp had some of the best years of his life at the condo complex.
I did play poker on Friday night and golf on Saturday. I lost about $40 at poker ( I was due to lose having won the last three or four games). We had a blast. Saturday I played in the first round of a three day tournament. The tournament is two man teams and we play best ball the first day, a scramble the second and a scotch (alternate shot) the last day. I'm playing with Don Pangburn and we managed a 66 on Saturday with neither of us playing our "A" games. The leaders are at 59, but the toughest part of the tournament is Sunday, so we are still well in the running.
As I mentioned, I will play golf Friday with my old friend, Trent Davis, at his country club in Oakdale (outside of Modesto). I'll go see an agent in Tracy on Friday morning and meet Trent for lunch in Oakdale and play golf in the afternoon. We are both tremendously competitive and for some reason I always agree to play him at his home course.
Darla and I went to the park across the street from our house yesterday. We took a blanket and books and some sodas. I no sooner got there than I fell asleep in the sun. I woke up to the sound of baseball players yelling at the diamond behind me. The coach was having the kids run the bases and he was yelling for them to "pump their arms" as they ran. Darla was nowhere to be found and I soon saw her in the distance being pulled along by Buddy, our Golden Retreiver. Darla had thought that Buddy would come over and lay down quietly on the blanket and be a perfect dog. In truth he was hyper, wouldn't sit down and she finally took him back home after he spilled a bowl of water on me as he jumped around uncontrollably.
Darla starts teaching a scrapbooking class tonight at the local community college extention center. She sells scrapbooking supplies, etc on the side and thought this would be a good way to increase her customer base. It is a three week class that will help her students organize their pictures into a scrapbook. I will be on my own at the 40 Days of Purpose life group for the next two weeks. We will take a one week break over Easter. Darla will be in Mexico with the kids and I will be in Arizona.
You should have listened to me and bought shares of USTT, the company that manufactures internet kiosks, cashless vending machines and VendingMiser energy efficient vending machine technology. I touted the stock at $.105 and it hit $.24 today. It's not too late, but I've more than doubled my money on 25000 shares. Penny stocks are risky, but can sure pan out. Of course if you bought Krispy Kreme at $12, it is now at $7.55. I have 1000 shares at an average cost of just over $7. Hey, it's the stock market. Like riding a roller coaster.
Well, I better get to work. I have the two ladies from Modesto starting today and will be training them this week. They are opening a new service center office in Modesto and they will report to me. Be well. Ciao.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Urban Renewal
It is Monday morning, the day after a good soaking rainstorm. The sun is out, the sky is blue, the grass is green and the trees are blooming. I have two fruitless cherry trees (a misnomer if there ever was one) that are in their pink and white glory right now. I drove into the office this morning albeit a bit late by my standards and the sun was already out and I had to use my sunglasses instead of my headlights. It is true that the dead of Winter is ready to give way to the hope and the beauty of Spring. I was just recently getting to work and leaving work in darkness and now I leave for work at sunrise and leave for home at sunset. Soon I will have sun on both ends of my day and I look forward to it. I have seen some awesome sunrises recently with the clouds on the horizon as well as some incredible sunsets with purples, reds and golds to light up the sky. Nice.
We had a great weekend with the boys. David's basketball team won their first round playoff game with an inspired effort. That win bought them the opportunity to play Natomas for a third time. They are the league champions and beat us twice in the regular season, although we had sizable leads in both games only to lose to a better coached and more athletic squad. This time was different, but we still lost. Natomas played solid basketball from the opening tip and lead almost the entire contest. They had a 7 point lead with just over five minutes left before Woodcreek went on a furious rally lead by a great defensive effort. We scored the next eight points to take a one point lead at 41-40 with under a minute left. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be and Natomas scored twice to win 44-41. Our center, Ike Okouye had a layup fall out that would have given us the lead. They stole an inbounds pass after they scored to go up 42-41 and hit both free throws. Our effort to tie with a three pointer at the end ended up short and the game ended and David's Senior season and high school career came to a sudden and abrupt end. There was a nice picture of David driving for a basket in the game in the local paper, but the online version doesn't include pictures. Here is the story: http://www.thepresstribune.com/articles/2005/02/26/sports/01third.txt
Darla and I took the boys to dinner at Buca Di Pepo on Saturday night. It is an Italian restaurant that serves family style. We enjoyed Chicken Marsala, Lasagna, and a medley of baked pasta dishes. We had a gift certificate that we won at the RGC Christmas party, so it was even better for me. Darla had a CPR class all day on Saturday and got home in time to go to dinner with us.
I, of course, played golf on Sunday. I won't say who I played with because of an incident that happened while we were playing. All of the guys that I played with are good friends and it was nice to get together again and play some golf. One of the guys had a stellar front nine and won most of the money....in fact he won skins on the first seven holes. Unfortunately, his day turned bad from there and he went on to have a horrendous round of golf. He shot 42 on the front and 52 on the back. He was pulling putts and on one hole he decelerated on a three- foot putt to win a skin and hit the ball about one foot. He was not happy and muttering to himself as he walked off the green. One of his best friends told him that he needed to stop "choking". The guy went off and started yelling at his buddy. I had to step between them. He said it was horrible to tell a guy that he was "choking" in the middle of the round and dropped a few expletives. Again, I told him to settle down, that we are all friends out for a fun round of golf. He asked me if I thought it was okay to tell someone they were choking in the middle. I'd about had it with him by then and told him that it was okay to say IF it was true and it was. He muddled his way throught the end of the round, three putting all three of the last holes. When it came time to settle up, he decided to go off on his friend again, literally screaming at him. It was embarassing to watch this guy melt down on the golf course. I stepped between them and put my arm around his back to move him away and he slapped at my hand. I got right in his face and told him to settle down. We've all had bad rounds and he needed to get over it. He didn't and I had to calm his friend down afterward. He was really upset over the way he was treated and needed to vent. We talked out in the parking lot for about ten minuts and left. I expect an apology from this guy this week. He was out of control and obviously has some anger control issues. His anger was misplaced at his friend, when he should have been upset with himself. I was fine, I birdied the last hole and won $16 in skin money from the group. I struggled on the front side with the wet conditions and shot 45, but pulled it together on the back and shot 41 for an 86. It's the third straight time I've shot 86 and I'm anxious to get that down closer to 80 in the near future.
I've had a sore muscle between my shoulder blades and running up to my neck for about a week. I first felt it last weekend when I played golf in the two day tournament. God forbid that my back problems return. It hasn't been too bad, but golf exacerbates the problem. I was so looking forward to the hot tub last night after golf, but the rains came in about 5:30 and by mid evening it was a torrent. Darla suggested that we go in the spa and take a golf umbrella and it took no arm twisting to get me out there. We no sooner got settled in the tub when a hard squall hit and we sat there under the Wilson umbrella trying to stay dry and keep our towels from getting soaked at the same time. I am blessed to have an adventuresome wife. We had a good laugh as the rain was pounding off the umbrella and we sat enjoying a good soak in the tub.
Work continues to be a source of stress, but also of some accomplishment. We close February today and we will again make a small profit this month. The home office is just closing a deal to bring two of the underwriters from Richter Robb over to Burns and Wilcox as a satellite office. I worked at Richter Robb for three months before jumping ship to Burns and Wilcox. Their office will be in Modesto and they will be a satellite office reporting to the Sacramento office. The two women that are coming over are the two main producers in the home office and handle over $19,000,000 in premium volume. I talked to Dad and he expects Richter Robb to counter, but I just talked to our Underwriting Vice President and he told me that the two women are primed to move. They have already picked out office space and will quit tomorrow. The kicker here is that the owner of Richter Robb has repeatedly lowballed these gals on both salary and income and they know what kind of money they can make here at BW.
I did talk to Dad and a big congratulations to him on taking 1st and 3rd place with his two cars at the Abbottsford Custom Car Show. He said he made a lot of rookie mistakes in setting up the cars and even in classifying the '39 in the modified category rather than in the stock division, but 1st and 3rd in a show that had over 300 cars, not bad. Like a hole in one in your first round of golf. He has been invited to bring his cars up to the Custom Car show in Spokane, Washington the end of March and will do so. The promoter of the show was in Abbottsford and wants Dad's cars for his show. Big props to the old man. Nice job, Dad. Shirley had helped decorate the cars putting a cooler of Cherry Cola and a bowl of plastic cherries in the trunk of the 39 for atmosphere. Funny, but Dad saw Noreen, our cousin and his niece at the show. She didn't know that Dad would be there and saw his name as the owner of the '39 and '46. They were able to catch up and she was with her husband, Brent and some friends, just out for a day at the car show. Small world.
I just checked Jennifer's blog and she passed the promotion board. You go, girl. We'll be soon calling her Sergeant Lyon. Iknow she's frustrated with her role as primary armorer, but it kept her out of Iraq. She volunteered to return to Iraq, but they turned her down as they need her on site to issue the weapons. Dad here is thrilled that they wouldn't let her return to the site of car bombings and insurgents trying to kill all Americans. Stay put there in Kuwait, Jen. In the sunshine and out of harms way. Congratulations, Jennifer. You are my hero.
Well, I've got to get on with my day. We close the books at noon today and I've got to see if I can get some more money booked before we close. I hope all is well with each of you. Give a thumbs up to the Lord. As they say, if you were born once, you'll die twice, but if you are born twice, you'll die but one time. Praise God. Ciao.
We had a great weekend with the boys. David's basketball team won their first round playoff game with an inspired effort. That win bought them the opportunity to play Natomas for a third time. They are the league champions and beat us twice in the regular season, although we had sizable leads in both games only to lose to a better coached and more athletic squad. This time was different, but we still lost. Natomas played solid basketball from the opening tip and lead almost the entire contest. They had a 7 point lead with just over five minutes left before Woodcreek went on a furious rally lead by a great defensive effort. We scored the next eight points to take a one point lead at 41-40 with under a minute left. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be and Natomas scored twice to win 44-41. Our center, Ike Okouye had a layup fall out that would have given us the lead. They stole an inbounds pass after they scored to go up 42-41 and hit both free throws. Our effort to tie with a three pointer at the end ended up short and the game ended and David's Senior season and high school career came to a sudden and abrupt end. There was a nice picture of David driving for a basket in the game in the local paper, but the online version doesn't include pictures. Here is the story: http://www.thepresstribune.com/articles/2005/02/26/sports/01third.txt
Darla and I took the boys to dinner at Buca Di Pepo on Saturday night. It is an Italian restaurant that serves family style. We enjoyed Chicken Marsala, Lasagna, and a medley of baked pasta dishes. We had a gift certificate that we won at the RGC Christmas party, so it was even better for me. Darla had a CPR class all day on Saturday and got home in time to go to dinner with us.
I, of course, played golf on Sunday. I won't say who I played with because of an incident that happened while we were playing. All of the guys that I played with are good friends and it was nice to get together again and play some golf. One of the guys had a stellar front nine and won most of the money....in fact he won skins on the first seven holes. Unfortunately, his day turned bad from there and he went on to have a horrendous round of golf. He shot 42 on the front and 52 on the back. He was pulling putts and on one hole he decelerated on a three- foot putt to win a skin and hit the ball about one foot. He was not happy and muttering to himself as he walked off the green. One of his best friends told him that he needed to stop "choking". The guy went off and started yelling at his buddy. I had to step between them. He said it was horrible to tell a guy that he was "choking" in the middle of the round and dropped a few expletives. Again, I told him to settle down, that we are all friends out for a fun round of golf. He asked me if I thought it was okay to tell someone they were choking in the middle. I'd about had it with him by then and told him that it was okay to say IF it was true and it was. He muddled his way throught the end of the round, three putting all three of the last holes. When it came time to settle up, he decided to go off on his friend again, literally screaming at him. It was embarassing to watch this guy melt down on the golf course. I stepped between them and put my arm around his back to move him away and he slapped at my hand. I got right in his face and told him to settle down. We've all had bad rounds and he needed to get over it. He didn't and I had to calm his friend down afterward. He was really upset over the way he was treated and needed to vent. We talked out in the parking lot for about ten minuts and left. I expect an apology from this guy this week. He was out of control and obviously has some anger control issues. His anger was misplaced at his friend, when he should have been upset with himself. I was fine, I birdied the last hole and won $16 in skin money from the group. I struggled on the front side with the wet conditions and shot 45, but pulled it together on the back and shot 41 for an 86. It's the third straight time I've shot 86 and I'm anxious to get that down closer to 80 in the near future.
I've had a sore muscle between my shoulder blades and running up to my neck for about a week. I first felt it last weekend when I played golf in the two day tournament. God forbid that my back problems return. It hasn't been too bad, but golf exacerbates the problem. I was so looking forward to the hot tub last night after golf, but the rains came in about 5:30 and by mid evening it was a torrent. Darla suggested that we go in the spa and take a golf umbrella and it took no arm twisting to get me out there. We no sooner got settled in the tub when a hard squall hit and we sat there under the Wilson umbrella trying to stay dry and keep our towels from getting soaked at the same time. I am blessed to have an adventuresome wife. We had a good laugh as the rain was pounding off the umbrella and we sat enjoying a good soak in the tub.
Work continues to be a source of stress, but also of some accomplishment. We close February today and we will again make a small profit this month. The home office is just closing a deal to bring two of the underwriters from Richter Robb over to Burns and Wilcox as a satellite office. I worked at Richter Robb for three months before jumping ship to Burns and Wilcox. Their office will be in Modesto and they will be a satellite office reporting to the Sacramento office. The two women that are coming over are the two main producers in the home office and handle over $19,000,000 in premium volume. I talked to Dad and he expects Richter Robb to counter, but I just talked to our Underwriting Vice President and he told me that the two women are primed to move. They have already picked out office space and will quit tomorrow. The kicker here is that the owner of Richter Robb has repeatedly lowballed these gals on both salary and income and they know what kind of money they can make here at BW.
I did talk to Dad and a big congratulations to him on taking 1st and 3rd place with his two cars at the Abbottsford Custom Car Show. He said he made a lot of rookie mistakes in setting up the cars and even in classifying the '39 in the modified category rather than in the stock division, but 1st and 3rd in a show that had over 300 cars, not bad. Like a hole in one in your first round of golf. He has been invited to bring his cars up to the Custom Car show in Spokane, Washington the end of March and will do so. The promoter of the show was in Abbottsford and wants Dad's cars for his show. Big props to the old man. Nice job, Dad. Shirley had helped decorate the cars putting a cooler of Cherry Cola and a bowl of plastic cherries in the trunk of the 39 for atmosphere. Funny, but Dad saw Noreen, our cousin and his niece at the show. She didn't know that Dad would be there and saw his name as the owner of the '39 and '46. They were able to catch up and she was with her husband, Brent and some friends, just out for a day at the car show. Small world.
I just checked Jennifer's blog and she passed the promotion board. You go, girl. We'll be soon calling her Sergeant Lyon. Iknow she's frustrated with her role as primary armorer, but it kept her out of Iraq. She volunteered to return to Iraq, but they turned her down as they need her on site to issue the weapons. Dad here is thrilled that they wouldn't let her return to the site of car bombings and insurgents trying to kill all Americans. Stay put there in Kuwait, Jen. In the sunshine and out of harms way. Congratulations, Jennifer. You are my hero.
Well, I've got to get on with my day. We close the books at noon today and I've got to see if I can get some more money booked before we close. I hope all is well with each of you. Give a thumbs up to the Lord. As they say, if you were born once, you'll die twice, but if you are born twice, you'll die but one time. Praise God. Ciao.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Signs of Spring Around the Corner
The sun is out today after another three day weekend of rain, wind, clouds, intermittent sunshine and even two tornadoes and a water spout hitting in Sacramento. I took yesterday off, President's Day here in the good old U. S. of A. Darla had the day off and we were given a floating holiday this year to use as we see fit. It seemed to fit for me. Darla had the day off. She basically gets every holiday and even some that they make up like Happy Monday and Mental Health Friday. I get seven days off a year and a couple of weeks of vacation.
I played golf in the two day qualifier for Spyglass. My partner, Boyd, went to the event last year when he and his partner, Dave Armijo, qualified. I came to find out two days before the event that an obscure rule made Boyd and I ineligible for the qualifier. He went last year and cannot go this year. The rule in fact is not even in the rule book, it was decided back in the late '90's when the same group went three years in a row. I was fine with it and we were still eligible to win money, so we played. Boyd felt bad and offered to back out and let me get another partner. It was wet, windy, muddy and not the best of conditions for golf. Boyd and I ham and egged it on Saturday and shot a 66 to trail the leaders by 6 strokes. I shot 42+42= 84 and Boyd shot 35+41=76. We were 6 under after nine holes and six under after eighteen. The story of our weekend was poor play on the back side. We did birdie number nine and won a $40 skin, but could have scored so much better. Sunday, we again shot 66 and this time we were five under after nine and managed only one under for the back nine. I shot 42+44=86 and Boyd shot 35+42=87. We were 11 under on the front side and only 1 under on the back for the weekend. I had a blast and really enjoy playing with Boyd, who is a solid 6 handicapper and an even tempered, decent man and a great golfer. My only problem with him is that he is a Morman and I don't think we'll be playing golf together in the afterlife.
I took Darla to dinner on Saturday night at Shanghai Fat's, the new upscale Chinese food restaurant at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln. This is the Indian Casino run by the Station Casino chain out of Las Vegas. The casino now boasts 14 restaurants (8 of them in the food court) and even has a Non Smoking room for those of us that can't stand the smoke. Dinner was excellent and we even managed to leave the casino about $60 ahead of what we walked in with thanks to a video poker machine that produced four aces with a three kicker for a $200 jackpot before we left. As soon as they build the hotel on site, we may even be able to get Dad and Shirley to come out to California for a visit.
Darla and I were supposed to go up to Reno Sunday night, but the weather did not cooperate and the passes were covered in snow and chains were required. Not my idea of fun to slog about in the snow, so we stayed home and I again treated Darla to lunch at Thunder Valley. We used a coupon and had burgers at Fatburger (Dad and Shirley, this is the same chain as the burger joint on the strip in Las Vegas). With the coupon and gambling, our lunch only cost us about $140. We had fun but couldn't catch a cold on the machines. Luckily we don't hit the Indian Casino much as I think their machines are wound just a hair tighter than they are in Vegas and Reno.
David's basketball team did win their last game last week and entered the playoffs as the number ten seed and second place in their division. A number ten seed travels and our first game is against Downey in Modesto on Wednesday. David is still hurting from smacking heads with a teamate in practice. He got the stitches out yesterday, but the wound opened back up. It is right on his left eyebrow and they put surgical tape over it to hold it closed.
David also will begin an internship at a Sacramento Engineering firm. His job will involve working on the CAD system (Computer Assisted Design) as well as doing all of the "go-fer" legwork for the architects and engineers at the firm. The firm specializes in design and engineering of industrial items, including gangplanks and gangways for cruise ships. It should be a fascinating job and he gets paid to do the job. David wants to be a CAD specialist for a design and engineering firm when he gets out of college and this apprenticeship will allow him to get some hands on experience. Leave it to David to make his first real job such a good one. He's not about to bag groceries or fries for a salary. The kid is something else. How about your little (6'4") brother, eh Jen?
Darla and I are in our third week of the 40 Days of Purpose at church. One of the couples in our study is moving to Austin and I may hook them up with Darryl. They are still looking for a house and won't move until the school year is over, but have been looking in the Georgetown area.
I haven't heard much from Jennifer lately. She sent Darla and I a beautiful arrangement of flowers and a teddy bear forValentine's day. Very cute and very appreciated. She is now the full time Armorer for her unit. She will take the Sergeant's test on March 1st, so say a prayer for her. It means more money and more honor in the military and the girl deserves it.
I lost out in the sweepstakes to hire Pete Morrison. He was interviewing with a competitor and they ended up paying him a signing bonus of $15,000. I was willing to trade a first round draft choice, but the cupboard was bare for signing money. Amazing, when you get into a competition how a family run business can compete so much better than a national company because of things like that. Our salary was better, but they have a good ESOP program and a comparable bonus program. I hated to lose him, but told him that I would have made the same choice he did. I can't blame him. They wanted him and were willing to pay to get him.
Well, there is a ton of work waiting for me and I better get at it. I hope all are well. Keep your eye on the Lord and your feet on His path and all will be bliss. Ciao.
I played golf in the two day qualifier for Spyglass. My partner, Boyd, went to the event last year when he and his partner, Dave Armijo, qualified. I came to find out two days before the event that an obscure rule made Boyd and I ineligible for the qualifier. He went last year and cannot go this year. The rule in fact is not even in the rule book, it was decided back in the late '90's when the same group went three years in a row. I was fine with it and we were still eligible to win money, so we played. Boyd felt bad and offered to back out and let me get another partner. It was wet, windy, muddy and not the best of conditions for golf. Boyd and I ham and egged it on Saturday and shot a 66 to trail the leaders by 6 strokes. I shot 42+42= 84 and Boyd shot 35+41=76. We were 6 under after nine holes and six under after eighteen. The story of our weekend was poor play on the back side. We did birdie number nine and won a $40 skin, but could have scored so much better. Sunday, we again shot 66 and this time we were five under after nine and managed only one under for the back nine. I shot 42+44=86 and Boyd shot 35+42=87. We were 11 under on the front side and only 1 under on the back for the weekend. I had a blast and really enjoy playing with Boyd, who is a solid 6 handicapper and an even tempered, decent man and a great golfer. My only problem with him is that he is a Morman and I don't think we'll be playing golf together in the afterlife.
I took Darla to dinner on Saturday night at Shanghai Fat's, the new upscale Chinese food restaurant at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln. This is the Indian Casino run by the Station Casino chain out of Las Vegas. The casino now boasts 14 restaurants (8 of them in the food court) and even has a Non Smoking room for those of us that can't stand the smoke. Dinner was excellent and we even managed to leave the casino about $60 ahead of what we walked in with thanks to a video poker machine that produced four aces with a three kicker for a $200 jackpot before we left. As soon as they build the hotel on site, we may even be able to get Dad and Shirley to come out to California for a visit.
Darla and I were supposed to go up to Reno Sunday night, but the weather did not cooperate and the passes were covered in snow and chains were required. Not my idea of fun to slog about in the snow, so we stayed home and I again treated Darla to lunch at Thunder Valley. We used a coupon and had burgers at Fatburger (Dad and Shirley, this is the same chain as the burger joint on the strip in Las Vegas). With the coupon and gambling, our lunch only cost us about $140. We had fun but couldn't catch a cold on the machines. Luckily we don't hit the Indian Casino much as I think their machines are wound just a hair tighter than they are in Vegas and Reno.
David's basketball team did win their last game last week and entered the playoffs as the number ten seed and second place in their division. A number ten seed travels and our first game is against Downey in Modesto on Wednesday. David is still hurting from smacking heads with a teamate in practice. He got the stitches out yesterday, but the wound opened back up. It is right on his left eyebrow and they put surgical tape over it to hold it closed.
David also will begin an internship at a Sacramento Engineering firm. His job will involve working on the CAD system (Computer Assisted Design) as well as doing all of the "go-fer" legwork for the architects and engineers at the firm. The firm specializes in design and engineering of industrial items, including gangplanks and gangways for cruise ships. It should be a fascinating job and he gets paid to do the job. David wants to be a CAD specialist for a design and engineering firm when he gets out of college and this apprenticeship will allow him to get some hands on experience. Leave it to David to make his first real job such a good one. He's not about to bag groceries or fries for a salary. The kid is something else. How about your little (6'4") brother, eh Jen?
Darla and I are in our third week of the 40 Days of Purpose at church. One of the couples in our study is moving to Austin and I may hook them up with Darryl. They are still looking for a house and won't move until the school year is over, but have been looking in the Georgetown area.
I haven't heard much from Jennifer lately. She sent Darla and I a beautiful arrangement of flowers and a teddy bear forValentine's day. Very cute and very appreciated. She is now the full time Armorer for her unit. She will take the Sergeant's test on March 1st, so say a prayer for her. It means more money and more honor in the military and the girl deserves it.
I lost out in the sweepstakes to hire Pete Morrison. He was interviewing with a competitor and they ended up paying him a signing bonus of $15,000. I was willing to trade a first round draft choice, but the cupboard was bare for signing money. Amazing, when you get into a competition how a family run business can compete so much better than a national company because of things like that. Our salary was better, but they have a good ESOP program and a comparable bonus program. I hated to lose him, but told him that I would have made the same choice he did. I can't blame him. They wanted him and were willing to pay to get him.
Well, there is a ton of work waiting for me and I better get at it. I hope all are well. Keep your eye on the Lord and your feet on His path and all will be bliss. Ciao.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Pebble Beach Memories
Wow. The trip to Carmel and my visit to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am was nothing short of AWESOME. We got to Carmel about noon on Saturday and checked into our hotel. The hotel was small and only had a King bed. We brought sleeping bags for the boys and all managed to squeeze into the room for one night. Tami and Jerry had a reservation at the Carmel River Inn, but were able to extend their stay at the time share they rented in Pacific Grove over the weekend. It wasn't initially available and they were on the waiting list and it opened up. We grabbed their room at the Carmel River Inn, but couldn't upgrade to two Queens or a two bedroom as they were booked what with the golf tournament in town.
We met Tami and went into Carmel for lunch. We ate at a little European cafe in the heart of Carmel and ate outside in the sun. Saturday was a beautiful day with no breeze and not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for golf and a perfect day to watch golf. Darla and Tami went shopping after lunch and the boys tagged along with them. I took a long walk down Ocean Street to the beach and down the beach to the golf course. I sat below hole number nine and ten and watched the golfers approach into the tenth hole. Little did I know, but Jerry and his brother, Bob, were set up at hole number nine watching the action. I was below them on the beach.
We met up with Tami and Jerry at their condo in Pacific Grove and had a drink with them and Bob. Bob is a prison guard and had to work Sunday so he made his goodbyes and headed back to Sonora. We walked over to a little Pizza place around the corner from their condo and had dinner. Last year's British Open winner, Todd Hamilton, was in the condo next to Jerry's, but he missed the cut and we assume he was packing up to leave. Dinner was great, but Darla had bought me some new Chaps jeans to wear and they were too tight. My clothes have been getting tighter of late and the jeans really bothered me. I'm back up over 200 pounds and need to lose some weight, so peanut butter on English muffins is off the menu for me and salads are in. I'd like to get back down around 190 pounds and I guess talking about it in my blog should give me the extra motivation I need to lose the poundage.
As we were enjoying dinner and laughing over things going on in our respective lives, a couple next to us asked if we were in town for the tournament. The owner of the pizza joint was just in and let everyone know that the busses to the course out of Pacific Grove would be limited on Sunday as they had some mechanical problems. Jerry had complained of long delays on Saturday (it took them an hour to get a bus out of there). We decided it would be better to leave out of Carmel and Jerry was to meet us at our hotel at 6:45. We got in to Carmel at a little after seven and there were three busses waiting . We grabbed coffee, boarded the smaller shuttle bus that turned out to be an employee shuttle. The driver took us right into the lodge at Pebble instead of to the equestrian center which is about a mile walk from the course where the public is dropped off. We jumped off right at the putting green and saw Mark O'Meara and Jim Furyk practicing. The first tee time was 7:40, so we were able to scout the course and find where we wanted to set up. I wanted to sit at a par three and we finally decided on number 12, which is the toughest par three on the course. We set up right at the gallery ropes and watched all of the competitors come through. The weather had turned for the worse and we endured a driving rain, wind and cold. Jerry had asked me if we should bring the umbrellas and I said no it wasn't supposed to rain until Monday. Oops.
A few observations..Bill Murray is a nut. A truly funny human being. He came to the green and started handing out mini Snicker bars, throwing them to the crowd like a peanut vendor. He missed his putt for par and then stood off to the side as his partner, Scott Simpson lined up a three footer for par. Just as he was about to hit the ball, Murray yelled, "Oh God, I hope he makes this!" Simpson backed off and went back through his routine. Then as he putt the ball, Murray threw a candy bar over his head to someone on the other side of the green. Simpson missed his putt and just shook his head. Chris Berman, the ESPN announcer is grossly overweight, I'd say pushing 280 pounds. He was sweating profusely in the 60 degree weather and dragging a bum leg behind him, probably no better off for having to cart around the side of beef that is his body. He was gracious, but is an inordinately poor golfer at an 18 handicap. I have no idea how his group made the cut. He swung at a ball in the bunker and completely whiffed it.
Most of the golfers were very gracious. Mickelson, who won the tournament, was extremely kind to the gallery and appreciative of the support he got. However, there were a few grumps in the crowd, including one who yelled at a father whose daughter of three was a little unruly. The father told the golfer to do something to himself that is a bit unnatural. There were a couple of golfers that you just hoped they'd miss their putt, they were so grouchy, but for the most part, the pros are just that and realize where their money comes from, the fans.
Friday night was David's game with number one, Natomas. We smoked them in the first half, taking a 30-19 lead and then went on one of those slow falls down the stairs where your head hits the wall, the steps, the landing and it all happens in slow motion. We ended up losing on a three pointer with time running out and it hurt. We are in the playoffs, but the team's confidence is not at an all time high. The goal is to win two games and get to Arco Arena for the tournament. I will have to miss the game on Wednesday as I have a meeting in San Francisco.
Well, that's a bit of a one dimensional view of our weekend and my week, but I have to get to work. Check out Jennifer's blog, she has added to it. Happy Valentine's Day. Ciao.
We met Tami and went into Carmel for lunch. We ate at a little European cafe in the heart of Carmel and ate outside in the sun. Saturday was a beautiful day with no breeze and not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for golf and a perfect day to watch golf. Darla and Tami went shopping after lunch and the boys tagged along with them. I took a long walk down Ocean Street to the beach and down the beach to the golf course. I sat below hole number nine and ten and watched the golfers approach into the tenth hole. Little did I know, but Jerry and his brother, Bob, were set up at hole number nine watching the action. I was below them on the beach.
We met up with Tami and Jerry at their condo in Pacific Grove and had a drink with them and Bob. Bob is a prison guard and had to work Sunday so he made his goodbyes and headed back to Sonora. We walked over to a little Pizza place around the corner from their condo and had dinner. Last year's British Open winner, Todd Hamilton, was in the condo next to Jerry's, but he missed the cut and we assume he was packing up to leave. Dinner was great, but Darla had bought me some new Chaps jeans to wear and they were too tight. My clothes have been getting tighter of late and the jeans really bothered me. I'm back up over 200 pounds and need to lose some weight, so peanut butter on English muffins is off the menu for me and salads are in. I'd like to get back down around 190 pounds and I guess talking about it in my blog should give me the extra motivation I need to lose the poundage.
As we were enjoying dinner and laughing over things going on in our respective lives, a couple next to us asked if we were in town for the tournament. The owner of the pizza joint was just in and let everyone know that the busses to the course out of Pacific Grove would be limited on Sunday as they had some mechanical problems. Jerry had complained of long delays on Saturday (it took them an hour to get a bus out of there). We decided it would be better to leave out of Carmel and Jerry was to meet us at our hotel at 6:45. We got in to Carmel at a little after seven and there were three busses waiting . We grabbed coffee, boarded the smaller shuttle bus that turned out to be an employee shuttle. The driver took us right into the lodge at Pebble instead of to the equestrian center which is about a mile walk from the course where the public is dropped off. We jumped off right at the putting green and saw Mark O'Meara and Jim Furyk practicing. The first tee time was 7:40, so we were able to scout the course and find where we wanted to set up. I wanted to sit at a par three and we finally decided on number 12, which is the toughest par three on the course. We set up right at the gallery ropes and watched all of the competitors come through. The weather had turned for the worse and we endured a driving rain, wind and cold. Jerry had asked me if we should bring the umbrellas and I said no it wasn't supposed to rain until Monday. Oops.
A few observations..Bill Murray is a nut. A truly funny human being. He came to the green and started handing out mini Snicker bars, throwing them to the crowd like a peanut vendor. He missed his putt for par and then stood off to the side as his partner, Scott Simpson lined up a three footer for par. Just as he was about to hit the ball, Murray yelled, "Oh God, I hope he makes this!" Simpson backed off and went back through his routine. Then as he putt the ball, Murray threw a candy bar over his head to someone on the other side of the green. Simpson missed his putt and just shook his head. Chris Berman, the ESPN announcer is grossly overweight, I'd say pushing 280 pounds. He was sweating profusely in the 60 degree weather and dragging a bum leg behind him, probably no better off for having to cart around the side of beef that is his body. He was gracious, but is an inordinately poor golfer at an 18 handicap. I have no idea how his group made the cut. He swung at a ball in the bunker and completely whiffed it.
Most of the golfers were very gracious. Mickelson, who won the tournament, was extremely kind to the gallery and appreciative of the support he got. However, there were a few grumps in the crowd, including one who yelled at a father whose daughter of three was a little unruly. The father told the golfer to do something to himself that is a bit unnatural. There were a couple of golfers that you just hoped they'd miss their putt, they were so grouchy, but for the most part, the pros are just that and realize where their money comes from, the fans.
Friday night was David's game with number one, Natomas. We smoked them in the first half, taking a 30-19 lead and then went on one of those slow falls down the stairs where your head hits the wall, the steps, the landing and it all happens in slow motion. We ended up losing on a three pointer with time running out and it hurt. We are in the playoffs, but the team's confidence is not at an all time high. The goal is to win two games and get to Arco Arena for the tournament. I will have to miss the game on Wednesday as I have a meeting in San Francisco.
Well, that's a bit of a one dimensional view of our weekend and my week, but I have to get to work. Check out Jennifer's blog, she has added to it. Happy Valentine's Day. Ciao.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Great Weekend...Rain Today
As it should be. It was WARM this weekend with temperatures approaching seventy degrees and shorts and polo shirts the uniform of choice. If we are going to get rain, there isn't much that can dampen your spirits further on a Monday, so what the hey. It is a light, but incessant rain today that is doing a job on my freshly washed car. The forecast was for drizzle today, but when you are standing in the warmth of a perfect Springlike day, it is hard to imagine what is out there right now. I was actually a bit surprised when I opened the front door at 6:25 this morning to see the wet streets and hear the swoosh of tires on wet pavement. Ah well.
The weekend was all sun and no clouds and really put the thought of Spring and unending sunshine in my head. I played in the Super Bowl tournament on Saturday and unfortunately it is generally our most crowded tournament of the year. We got locked in to a late tee time and it took five hours to finish our round. I struggled with the delays and shot 42+45=87 on the day. I don't do well in slow play situations and the geniuses in the club put two fivesomes in front of us. The board got an earful from me when I came in from my round. We cannot allow fivesomes. The new board has made a lot of mistakes in their first month on the job, including dropping over $500 of OUR money on jackets for the board members. Their excuse is that it allows the board to be more visible on the course and helps speed up play. Could have fooled me this weekend.
David played two basketball games this week and had two very different results. We went to Placer, a foothill team of large white boys and we beat them rather handily 66-54, but struggled back at home against our cross town rivals, Roseville, losing by eight points and never really being in the game. The coach played ten players which is too many. He should have a set lineup by now and bring in two or three players off the bench with spot substitutions. We were behind by four points when he took out four of our starters and the reserves managed to fall behind by 12 points and we were never able to make up the deficit. It was a big game as we were 1/2 game out of first place and losing to a big rival made it all the worse.
I am off to Monterey this weekend to watch the AT&T Pebble Beach classic. My good friend, Jerry Tuel, has tickets all week and saved me a ticket for the final round. I may bring Darla and the boys, but I don't know what the lodging situation is as Tami made the reservations and I'm taking it from them. To further complicate matters, David has a game on Friday night and it won't end until 9:00 and it is a three hour drive to Monterey. I may just drive down myself as most of the motels are small and don't have a 24 hour office. Kids sports are great, but they can definitely get in the way of life as well. Darla will not miss a game and I don't like to, but Friday night basketball games are a bit much. It tends to take the starch out of a weekend away.
We had some friends over yesterday to watch the Super Bowl. The right team won by the way as I can't stand Terell Owens and it was great to see him make a heroic comeback, play well, and end up a Super Bowl LOSER. This is a guy who when he played for the Forty Niners would complain and whine if he caught two passes for 12 yards in a game and they won, but not make a peep if he caught twelve passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns and they lost. He has NEVER been about the team and always about Terell. He is the worst of what is wrong with the NFL and I can't stand the guy and take a great deal of joy in his loss. Although, he was NOT upset as he had a good game. It really doesn't matter to him if they lose as long as he gets the ball.
I received a phone call right at kickoff and I almost didn't answer. I figured it couldn't be Jennifer as it was 2:45 in the morning her time. I picked up the phone and Jennifer said, "So, who are we pulling for?" The Army gave the soldiers today off so that they could watch the Super Bowl. Now that is something to salute. I particularly enjoyed the Anheuser Busch commercial that showed the people in the airport standing up and applauding the soldiers as they walked through the airport. I can only hope that it sparks some real appreciation in airports and other public places for our troops and the sacrifices that they make for all of us.
I had my assistant, Anthony and his girlfriend, Erin, join us at church on Sunday. We had Dave Dravecky, the former San Francisco Giant's pitcher speak to us and he gave a wonderful testimony of how God has worked in his life before and after cancer, during his comeback and ultimately after his arm was amputated. He really fired up the congregation and got us ready to do our Forty Days of Purpose study. We took Anthony and Erin out to breakfast afterward. We even saw David and Daniel with their Father at church. I thought the roof might fall in. We also saw them at breakfast, although the power went out and they didn't get to eat. We had already been served and enjoyed our meals, even in the low light of the restaurant when the power was out. It was a great day all in all yesterday. We also had a deep conversation about God and his influence in our lives with Greg and Carla last night. It was pretty awesome. Hearing from Jennifer was the strawberry on top of my ice cream sundae yesterday.
We are having server problems this morning at work and I have to tend to that. We can not get on our server and therefore our network this morning. I have our Regional VP in this morning and he will interview Pete Morrison and perhaps offer him a job today. I can only hope.
Take Care. Ciao.
The weekend was all sun and no clouds and really put the thought of Spring and unending sunshine in my head. I played in the Super Bowl tournament on Saturday and unfortunately it is generally our most crowded tournament of the year. We got locked in to a late tee time and it took five hours to finish our round. I struggled with the delays and shot 42+45=87 on the day. I don't do well in slow play situations and the geniuses in the club put two fivesomes in front of us. The board got an earful from me when I came in from my round. We cannot allow fivesomes. The new board has made a lot of mistakes in their first month on the job, including dropping over $500 of OUR money on jackets for the board members. Their excuse is that it allows the board to be more visible on the course and helps speed up play. Could have fooled me this weekend.
David played two basketball games this week and had two very different results. We went to Placer, a foothill team of large white boys and we beat them rather handily 66-54, but struggled back at home against our cross town rivals, Roseville, losing by eight points and never really being in the game. The coach played ten players which is too many. He should have a set lineup by now and bring in two or three players off the bench with spot substitutions. We were behind by four points when he took out four of our starters and the reserves managed to fall behind by 12 points and we were never able to make up the deficit. It was a big game as we were 1/2 game out of first place and losing to a big rival made it all the worse.
I am off to Monterey this weekend to watch the AT&T Pebble Beach classic. My good friend, Jerry Tuel, has tickets all week and saved me a ticket for the final round. I may bring Darla and the boys, but I don't know what the lodging situation is as Tami made the reservations and I'm taking it from them. To further complicate matters, David has a game on Friday night and it won't end until 9:00 and it is a three hour drive to Monterey. I may just drive down myself as most of the motels are small and don't have a 24 hour office. Kids sports are great, but they can definitely get in the way of life as well. Darla will not miss a game and I don't like to, but Friday night basketball games are a bit much. It tends to take the starch out of a weekend away.
We had some friends over yesterday to watch the Super Bowl. The right team won by the way as I can't stand Terell Owens and it was great to see him make a heroic comeback, play well, and end up a Super Bowl LOSER. This is a guy who when he played for the Forty Niners would complain and whine if he caught two passes for 12 yards in a game and they won, but not make a peep if he caught twelve passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns and they lost. He has NEVER been about the team and always about Terell. He is the worst of what is wrong with the NFL and I can't stand the guy and take a great deal of joy in his loss. Although, he was NOT upset as he had a good game. It really doesn't matter to him if they lose as long as he gets the ball.
I received a phone call right at kickoff and I almost didn't answer. I figured it couldn't be Jennifer as it was 2:45 in the morning her time. I picked up the phone and Jennifer said, "So, who are we pulling for?" The Army gave the soldiers today off so that they could watch the Super Bowl. Now that is something to salute. I particularly enjoyed the Anheuser Busch commercial that showed the people in the airport standing up and applauding the soldiers as they walked through the airport. I can only hope that it sparks some real appreciation in airports and other public places for our troops and the sacrifices that they make for all of us.
I had my assistant, Anthony and his girlfriend, Erin, join us at church on Sunday. We had Dave Dravecky, the former San Francisco Giant's pitcher speak to us and he gave a wonderful testimony of how God has worked in his life before and after cancer, during his comeback and ultimately after his arm was amputated. He really fired up the congregation and got us ready to do our Forty Days of Purpose study. We took Anthony and Erin out to breakfast afterward. We even saw David and Daniel with their Father at church. I thought the roof might fall in. We also saw them at breakfast, although the power went out and they didn't get to eat. We had already been served and enjoyed our meals, even in the low light of the restaurant when the power was out. It was a great day all in all yesterday. We also had a deep conversation about God and his influence in our lives with Greg and Carla last night. It was pretty awesome. Hearing from Jennifer was the strawberry on top of my ice cream sundae yesterday.
We are having server problems this morning at work and I have to tend to that. We can not get on our server and therefore our network this morning. I have our Regional VP in this morning and he will interview Pete Morrison and perhaps offer him a job today. I can only hope.
Take Care. Ciao.
Monday, January 31, 2005
The Sun returns to warm the hearts of those in Sacramento
It's true, the Sun is back in all it's glory and the fog has moved back to Siberia or wherever it came from and all is bliss in the land of Northern California. We had a marvelous weekend after enduring rain and fog most of all of last week. In fact the rain lasted right up until Friday night. I had a 9:09 tee time on Saturday morning and we were sweating the rain right up until the last minute.
There are a few clouds in the sky this morning and it is COLD, but the sky is blue and the grass is green and my car is washed and waxed and stands gleaming in the parking lot with shiny chrome wheels and dressed tires. It is depressing to drive a rain-streaked car and so nice to travel in a freshly washed and shiny car. My Dad ruined me with his obsessiveness about his cars.
Speaking of Dad..and Shirley, I called them last night in Hawaii and we visited for about a half hour. I told him that I knew he was trying to hide on vacation, but his mistake was in giving us his itinerary and phone numbers. I have Verizon cell phone service and Verizon is the largest phone company in Hawaii. My plan includes free long distance and free nights and weekends and includes both Hawaii and Alaska in my calling plan. It costs money to call Vancouver, but not Hawaii. Go figure. They are having a great vacation, but true to form ran into another housing crisis. The second hotel that they booked through Expedia was a complete dump and Shirley was very unhappy. So much so that they checked out after one night and moved to another resort. Dad didn't really get into specifics, but it couldn't have been as bad as the time they had a mouse infestation at the hotel in Hawaii and woke up to mouse droppings in their bed. They do manage to have quite a time on their Hawaii vacations. Dad said the weather has been great and they had several meals at Turtle Bay where the Senior Golf tournament was being held this weekend. Dad sounded relaxed.
I played golf this weekend with Boyd, Mel and one of Daniel's friends, Wes Sandroni. We had a foursome with Greg Wanee, but he called me Friday night to say he had to work. By the time I got back from David's basketball game it was too late to call anyone as a replacement. I had Dan call Wes to see if either he or his Dad wanted to join us. Wesley is about an 8 handicap and will be on the Woodcreek golf team this year. He is an accomplished golfer and has been playing the game for about five years. He used to be a neighbor on our court and I used to chase him off my lawn where he was hitting plastic balls from one yard to the other and taking big divots as he did. He always had a golf club in his hand and it has paid dividends. He handled himself well with the adults and shot a 41+41=82 in wet conditions on a course he hasn't played much. I showed up at 8:30 to pick him up Saturday morning and when his Dad answered the door I asked him if Wesley could come out and play. I shot 40+43=83 on the day, but hit the ball really well. I had an eagle putt on the 488 yard par five 15th, after hitting a driver off the deck from 235 yards that landed on the green on the fly and left me a forty foot eagle putt. I missed the putt, but made the birdie. Boyd shot 78 and Mel shot 90 and paid each of us $2 for his efforts. It was a good day and gives me confidence going into the Super Bowl tournament next Saturday.
David's team played Rocklin on Friday after having a bye early in the week. Rocklin is a great defensive team and they have something of a genetic Science experiment at center with a 6'8" albino black kid. He has red hair and white skin with black features. He is a second generation albino as his father is also an albino black man with red hair. Ike once again left the team in the lurch when he showed up for the game 45 minutes late (the team has to be there an hour early) and was benched for the first quarter. David has been moved to the starting lineup and the guy he replaced moved over to take the center spot. We scored the first basket and then went through a painful stretch where we turned the ball over and missed shots to the tune of a 14-2 deficit after the first quarter. Ike started the second quarter and we closed the gap, moving to within 4 points before having Rocklin go on a tear late in the second to take a 10 point halftime lead. They led by eight after three and by the same 8 with four minutes to play. Woodcreek finally turned up the defensive pressure and we scored the next ten points to take a two point lead with 23 seconds left. They worked the ball well and hit a banked three pointer with 14 seconds left. Our point guard got loose and hit a driving tear drop floater in the lane with 4 seconds left and our fans exploded. They had one chance left and tried a three pointer that bounced out, but was put back by the Science project for an apparent win. The officials waved off the basket as coming after the horn and ran off the court to the safety of the locker room as both sides cheered in the confusion. The scoreboard operator had put up the winning basket for Rocklin and their fans were celebrating, but we saw the officials wave off the basket and our team was jumping and high fiving each other. It was a great come from behind win and we are solidly in second now with a 5-2 conference record. This is the second time that we've beat Rocklin, who was a ranked team early in the season. We may finally get some play as a ranked team in Sacramento now. Awesome stuff.
Darla and I started our Life Group last week. Our church is going through Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Life", "40 Days of Purpose". We met with the group as an ice breaker to get to know the group and to socialize before we start. We'll meet again tonight to go over ground rules and set up our reading for the week and start the study next week. One of the couples in the group I know because the husband, Gary, is in my Men's group. I will take a leave of absence from the Men's group during the next seven weeks as I can't afford the time for two groups a week on top of the fifty hours I put in at work. The sermons will kick off on Sunday with Dave Dravecky speaking to the group on his calling after he lost his pitching arm to cancer in 1989.
Work is good and getting better. We will finish at least $100,000 over budget this month and I may add a new underwriter sooner rather than later. I received a call on Monday last from Pete Morrison, the underwriter that I hired to replace me at Republic Western when I was promoted to Underwriting Manager. Pete had left the insurance industry and was working as a mortgage banker the last two years. He made a lot of money, but got severely burned out on the 70 hour weeks he was putting in. He called me to ask about a competitor that he was slated to interview with. I said, "Whoa, if you're available, I may be able to create a position for you here". I called the Regional VP and he told me to interview him and then he'll arrange to come out this week and interview him as well. Pete is willing to take less salary than he's been getting because of the bonus plan. Pete was a new business machine for me at RWIC and I need that kind of production to get this office rolling.
Well, folks, be kind to one another. Remember I live in Sacramento and "Sacramento" is a Spanish word for the "body of Christ". I'd rather live no where else but in the body of Christ. Ciao.
There are a few clouds in the sky this morning and it is COLD, but the sky is blue and the grass is green and my car is washed and waxed and stands gleaming in the parking lot with shiny chrome wheels and dressed tires. It is depressing to drive a rain-streaked car and so nice to travel in a freshly washed and shiny car. My Dad ruined me with his obsessiveness about his cars.
Speaking of Dad..and Shirley, I called them last night in Hawaii and we visited for about a half hour. I told him that I knew he was trying to hide on vacation, but his mistake was in giving us his itinerary and phone numbers. I have Verizon cell phone service and Verizon is the largest phone company in Hawaii. My plan includes free long distance and free nights and weekends and includes both Hawaii and Alaska in my calling plan. It costs money to call Vancouver, but not Hawaii. Go figure. They are having a great vacation, but true to form ran into another housing crisis. The second hotel that they booked through Expedia was a complete dump and Shirley was very unhappy. So much so that they checked out after one night and moved to another resort. Dad didn't really get into specifics, but it couldn't have been as bad as the time they had a mouse infestation at the hotel in Hawaii and woke up to mouse droppings in their bed. They do manage to have quite a time on their Hawaii vacations. Dad said the weather has been great and they had several meals at Turtle Bay where the Senior Golf tournament was being held this weekend. Dad sounded relaxed.
I played golf this weekend with Boyd, Mel and one of Daniel's friends, Wes Sandroni. We had a foursome with Greg Wanee, but he called me Friday night to say he had to work. By the time I got back from David's basketball game it was too late to call anyone as a replacement. I had Dan call Wes to see if either he or his Dad wanted to join us. Wesley is about an 8 handicap and will be on the Woodcreek golf team this year. He is an accomplished golfer and has been playing the game for about five years. He used to be a neighbor on our court and I used to chase him off my lawn where he was hitting plastic balls from one yard to the other and taking big divots as he did. He always had a golf club in his hand and it has paid dividends. He handled himself well with the adults and shot a 41+41=82 in wet conditions on a course he hasn't played much. I showed up at 8:30 to pick him up Saturday morning and when his Dad answered the door I asked him if Wesley could come out and play. I shot 40+43=83 on the day, but hit the ball really well. I had an eagle putt on the 488 yard par five 15th, after hitting a driver off the deck from 235 yards that landed on the green on the fly and left me a forty foot eagle putt. I missed the putt, but made the birdie. Boyd shot 78 and Mel shot 90 and paid each of us $2 for his efforts. It was a good day and gives me confidence going into the Super Bowl tournament next Saturday.
David's team played Rocklin on Friday after having a bye early in the week. Rocklin is a great defensive team and they have something of a genetic Science experiment at center with a 6'8" albino black kid. He has red hair and white skin with black features. He is a second generation albino as his father is also an albino black man with red hair. Ike once again left the team in the lurch when he showed up for the game 45 minutes late (the team has to be there an hour early) and was benched for the first quarter. David has been moved to the starting lineup and the guy he replaced moved over to take the center spot. We scored the first basket and then went through a painful stretch where we turned the ball over and missed shots to the tune of a 14-2 deficit after the first quarter. Ike started the second quarter and we closed the gap, moving to within 4 points before having Rocklin go on a tear late in the second to take a 10 point halftime lead. They led by eight after three and by the same 8 with four minutes to play. Woodcreek finally turned up the defensive pressure and we scored the next ten points to take a two point lead with 23 seconds left. They worked the ball well and hit a banked three pointer with 14 seconds left. Our point guard got loose and hit a driving tear drop floater in the lane with 4 seconds left and our fans exploded. They had one chance left and tried a three pointer that bounced out, but was put back by the Science project for an apparent win. The officials waved off the basket as coming after the horn and ran off the court to the safety of the locker room as both sides cheered in the confusion. The scoreboard operator had put up the winning basket for Rocklin and their fans were celebrating, but we saw the officials wave off the basket and our team was jumping and high fiving each other. It was a great come from behind win and we are solidly in second now with a 5-2 conference record. This is the second time that we've beat Rocklin, who was a ranked team early in the season. We may finally get some play as a ranked team in Sacramento now. Awesome stuff.
Darla and I started our Life Group last week. Our church is going through Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Life", "40 Days of Purpose". We met with the group as an ice breaker to get to know the group and to socialize before we start. We'll meet again tonight to go over ground rules and set up our reading for the week and start the study next week. One of the couples in the group I know because the husband, Gary, is in my Men's group. I will take a leave of absence from the Men's group during the next seven weeks as I can't afford the time for two groups a week on top of the fifty hours I put in at work. The sermons will kick off on Sunday with Dave Dravecky speaking to the group on his calling after he lost his pitching arm to cancer in 1989.
Work is good and getting better. We will finish at least $100,000 over budget this month and I may add a new underwriter sooner rather than later. I received a call on Monday last from Pete Morrison, the underwriter that I hired to replace me at Republic Western when I was promoted to Underwriting Manager. Pete had left the insurance industry and was working as a mortgage banker the last two years. He made a lot of money, but got severely burned out on the 70 hour weeks he was putting in. He called me to ask about a competitor that he was slated to interview with. I said, "Whoa, if you're available, I may be able to create a position for you here". I called the Regional VP and he told me to interview him and then he'll arrange to come out this week and interview him as well. Pete is willing to take less salary than he's been getting because of the bonus plan. Pete was a new business machine for me at RWIC and I need that kind of production to get this office rolling.
Well, folks, be kind to one another. Remember I live in Sacramento and "Sacramento" is a Spanish word for the "body of Christ". I'd rather live no where else but in the body of Christ. Ciao.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Just Another Foggy Monday
I suppose the heavy fog is pennance for the sunshine that we enjoyed yesterday. It is a heavy ground fog that coats your car with a layer of water as you cut through the dense, wet and cold mist. The trees are dripping water and the ground and lawns are thick with moisture. We had a lighter fog yesterday morning and the sun finally burned off the fog about 1:30 in the afternoon after trying for an hour and being a large, bright halo in the sky behind the fog.
This was the poker and golf weekend and I had a blast. Darla unfortunately had her plans cancelled by Joni in Marin. Darla doesn't know what's up with Joni, but is tired of worrying about it. You can't force friendship and unfortunately I don't think Joni ever got over our marriage. They had a "Lavene and Shirley" friendship where they did everything and anything together and were inseperable. Joni actually had moved to the Bay Area prior to Darla and I beginning to date. Marriage can and does change friendships. Joni is still one of Darla's best friends, but from my perspective, the reciprocal is in question.
Ah well. Poker was a success at my house. We had six players and I managed to take $58 from my friends and finance a nice dinner out with my wife on Saturday night. One of the players, Steve, is a friend of mine from the golf club and he has played in three games at my house and let me know that he's lost a sum total of $220 in those games. He has decided to host the next game on March 4th to try to change his luck. To make matters worse, he had to get up at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning to commute to a job in the Bay Area. Steve is an electrician and the jobs are often few and far between this time of year. So he got fleeced Friday night, got no sleep and had to commute two hours to work. At least he got double time for working on the weekend. I also invited Greg Meacham, who we had over on New Year's with his family. Greg lost some money, but had a great time and will be back.
Golf was a little frustrating this weekend. I showed up Saturday and was told that the tournament director had made a mistake and the tournament was set for Sunday instead of Saturday. Most of the guys got games together, but I had things that I wanted to get done at the house, so headed home. I called Darla and invited her to lunch and then stopped at the store to pick up some fertilizer for the lawn. Darla and I got a package together for Jennifer (we had some mail and she wanted some more shampoo and conditioner) and went to mail that and then stopped at a little Roseville restaurant for lunch. Darla seemed a little cranky and when I asked her about it, she said, "Well this was supposed to be my day and you were supposed to be playing golf." Oops. I didn't even stop to think about that and thought it would be fun to go to lunch. I kind of made myself scarce when I got home, basically by curling up on the couch and getting a two-hour nap in. I then went out and did some chores, working on the spa and spreading the fertilizer on the lawn. Jerry Tuel called while we were sleeping (Darla took a nap on the bed) and when Darla said that we were both napping, Jerry thought he was interrupting something and we were using code. I set him straight there.
We did have dinner with a couple of friends from the golf club and their wives on Saturday night. We ate at Brother Olivers, an old fashioned steak house in Carmichael. Gary and Greg are both wine guys and brought their own bottles of wine and we paid corkage. It was a nice evening and we are planning a trip up to Amador to do some wine tasting in the near future.
We finally got in the golf tournament on Sunday and as I said, we actually saw some sun. We have a new tournament director this year and he made quite an impression on his first away tournament. Not only did he make a mistake on the day of the tournament, but he also had us tee off from the blue tees. Our home course is 6200 yards from the blue tees. We played at Mather Golf Course and the yardage from their blue tees is 6800. They have five par fours that measure over 435 yards from the blue tees, including a 460 yard hole that runs straight uphill. A good drive in the foggy, wet conditions was about 235 yards (no roll, heavy wet air). I managed to have a great round in spite of the tough conditions and shot 41-39=80 and won my flight with a net of 68. The low round of the tournament was 74 and I was third with an 80 out of 32 players. The average score was 91 and the guys were not happy at the end of the day. I won 68 dollars and bought myself some new black Nike golf shoes, a hat and a golf glove with my winnings. It was a great weekend from stem to stern.
David's basketball team struggled without their center on Tuesday and they lost 63-54 to Natomas. We actually had a three point lead at half time, but imploded in the third quarter being outscored 14-3. They came out with a half court press, doubling the ball when it crossed half court and we had turnover after turnover. It was a brutal game to watch. We did manage to whip Del Oro on Thursday night with Ike coming back to lead the team with 18 points and 18 rebounds. David scored eight points and was a force down the stretch hitting key free throws and playing some great defense. They have a bye on Wednesday and play again on Friday night. We are in second place in the league with a 4-2 record, behind Natomas and look forward to playing them with our full complement of players at home in the next couple of weeks.
David had a scout from William and Mary college in Oregon talk to him last week at school. They'd like him to play football for them, but aren't offering a scholarship. At this point, David is concentrating on academics and is only interested in an Architectural program, which W&M doesn't offer.
Well, that is the news for this week. I hope you all stay well and live lives that are a light in God's kingdom. Do something nice for someone today, it'll throw them for a loop. Ciao.
This was the poker and golf weekend and I had a blast. Darla unfortunately had her plans cancelled by Joni in Marin. Darla doesn't know what's up with Joni, but is tired of worrying about it. You can't force friendship and unfortunately I don't think Joni ever got over our marriage. They had a "Lavene and Shirley" friendship where they did everything and anything together and were inseperable. Joni actually had moved to the Bay Area prior to Darla and I beginning to date. Marriage can and does change friendships. Joni is still one of Darla's best friends, but from my perspective, the reciprocal is in question.
Ah well. Poker was a success at my house. We had six players and I managed to take $58 from my friends and finance a nice dinner out with my wife on Saturday night. One of the players, Steve, is a friend of mine from the golf club and he has played in three games at my house and let me know that he's lost a sum total of $220 in those games. He has decided to host the next game on March 4th to try to change his luck. To make matters worse, he had to get up at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning to commute to a job in the Bay Area. Steve is an electrician and the jobs are often few and far between this time of year. So he got fleeced Friday night, got no sleep and had to commute two hours to work. At least he got double time for working on the weekend. I also invited Greg Meacham, who we had over on New Year's with his family. Greg lost some money, but had a great time and will be back.
Golf was a little frustrating this weekend. I showed up Saturday and was told that the tournament director had made a mistake and the tournament was set for Sunday instead of Saturday. Most of the guys got games together, but I had things that I wanted to get done at the house, so headed home. I called Darla and invited her to lunch and then stopped at the store to pick up some fertilizer for the lawn. Darla and I got a package together for Jennifer (we had some mail and she wanted some more shampoo and conditioner) and went to mail that and then stopped at a little Roseville restaurant for lunch. Darla seemed a little cranky and when I asked her about it, she said, "Well this was supposed to be my day and you were supposed to be playing golf." Oops. I didn't even stop to think about that and thought it would be fun to go to lunch. I kind of made myself scarce when I got home, basically by curling up on the couch and getting a two-hour nap in. I then went out and did some chores, working on the spa and spreading the fertilizer on the lawn. Jerry Tuel called while we were sleeping (Darla took a nap on the bed) and when Darla said that we were both napping, Jerry thought he was interrupting something and we were using code. I set him straight there.
We did have dinner with a couple of friends from the golf club and their wives on Saturday night. We ate at Brother Olivers, an old fashioned steak house in Carmichael. Gary and Greg are both wine guys and brought their own bottles of wine and we paid corkage. It was a nice evening and we are planning a trip up to Amador to do some wine tasting in the near future.
We finally got in the golf tournament on Sunday and as I said, we actually saw some sun. We have a new tournament director this year and he made quite an impression on his first away tournament. Not only did he make a mistake on the day of the tournament, but he also had us tee off from the blue tees. Our home course is 6200 yards from the blue tees. We played at Mather Golf Course and the yardage from their blue tees is 6800. They have five par fours that measure over 435 yards from the blue tees, including a 460 yard hole that runs straight uphill. A good drive in the foggy, wet conditions was about 235 yards (no roll, heavy wet air). I managed to have a great round in spite of the tough conditions and shot 41-39=80 and won my flight with a net of 68. The low round of the tournament was 74 and I was third with an 80 out of 32 players. The average score was 91 and the guys were not happy at the end of the day. I won 68 dollars and bought myself some new black Nike golf shoes, a hat and a golf glove with my winnings. It was a great weekend from stem to stern.
David's basketball team struggled without their center on Tuesday and they lost 63-54 to Natomas. We actually had a three point lead at half time, but imploded in the third quarter being outscored 14-3. They came out with a half court press, doubling the ball when it crossed half court and we had turnover after turnover. It was a brutal game to watch. We did manage to whip Del Oro on Thursday night with Ike coming back to lead the team with 18 points and 18 rebounds. David scored eight points and was a force down the stretch hitting key free throws and playing some great defense. They have a bye on Wednesday and play again on Friday night. We are in second place in the league with a 4-2 record, behind Natomas and look forward to playing them with our full complement of players at home in the next couple of weeks.
David had a scout from William and Mary college in Oregon talk to him last week at school. They'd like him to play football for them, but aren't offering a scholarship. At this point, David is concentrating on academics and is only interested in an Architectural program, which W&M doesn't offer.
Well, that is the news for this week. I hope you all stay well and live lives that are a light in God's kingdom. Do something nice for someone today, it'll throw them for a loop. Ciao.
Monday, January 17, 2005
The Rains Came...and Went. MLK Day
The rains have come and gone and what once seemed like a storm of Biblical proportions now seems a faint memory. The fog has come to replace the rain and it has left the land sodden and weary. We finally got a day of sunshine yesterday and it warmed back up into the low sixties and the park across the street was ripe with families, soccer players, baseball players and kids running and yelling and being outdoors. I was able to mow the lawn, wash the car and clean up the back yard and side yard of leaves and papers and things blown about in the latest series of storms. We are supposed to have sun and fog all week.
Saturday was a bit different in that the sun never did win the battle over the fog and it was socked in all day. I finally ventured out to the golf course for the first time this year and it was a cold, wet and early experience. I had trouble finding partners to play with me and it ended up just Mel and I at 7:24 in the morning. The sun was up by the time we teed off, but you would have had trouble proving it as it was overcast with a chill and wetness to the air. We teed off on the back nine as the front was still a bit overwet from the storms. I struggled in the cold and the wet and managed just a 45 in the conditions. I was able to pull the round together on the backside and shot a 42 for 87. Mel struggled to an 89 and we sought the shelter of the indoors. I called Darla and invited her to lunch. I went home first to change out of my wet and dirty clothes and we had a nice lunch together while the boys were in Linden helping out Darla's Dad with some chores out at the farm. Darla's Dad, Earl, has graciously financed the boys' trip to Mexico this Easter by having them help him out at the farm and paying them $100 a day for their labor. He needed the help out at the farm, but more than that he knows the value of this trip to the boy's development as Christian men and citizens of this country and I applaud him for his love of the boys and his stewardship of their development. He is a wonderful role model to the boys of a Christian man in the way that he lives his life and in the way that he loves the Lord.
It is Martin Luther King, Jr Day here in the United States. The state and feds have the day off, the banks, the Post Office, but schlubs like me are at work. The roads were nearly empty this morning when I drove in at 6:30. Martin Luther King is still a vivid symbol of philisophical change and the fight for equality in the US. As was mentioned in church yesterday, King said in his famous speech, "I have a dream that one day my four children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream." That dream has not been realized in this world and may never be, but there is a place that it is a stunning reality and that is at the foot of the cross. Jesus does not see color or circumstances, he sees character, evidenced by the way he treated the prostitute, the beggar and the criminals as he was dying on the cross. Praise God, eh?
David's basketball team is beginning to jell and Ike has started to play like he is one of the premier players in the Sacramento area. We won two league games last week and now stand at 3-1 in league and 10-7-1 overall. We are tied for first in the league and play the other team tied for first, Natomas, tomorrow night. Unfortunately, we will have to play that game without the services of Ike. Ike has had to put up with a lot of trash talk and the chant of "overated" every time he misses a shot or a dunk. It has been eating at him, but for the most part he has responded with his play on the court. Thursday night, his anger boiled over after the Woodland game. The fans had been taunting him all night, yelling some racial comments and other assorted badgering. He missed a shot late in the game and the fans went wild yelling all manner of things at him and chanting the dreaded "Overated" when he ran up and down the floor. Frankly, Ike should have let it go as he scored 28 points and had 23 rebounds, but as he walked off the floor after dunking the ball off of a perfect alley-oop from David to win the game 64-63, he ran at the group of fans and began yelling at them and cursing them. Our Principal ran on the court and pushed him back toward our bench and actually pushed him into the opposing coach, who stuck his hand in Ike's face and yelled at him to get into the locker room as fans began pouring onto the court and it was getting ugly. Ike slapped the coach's hand and told him to "get out of my face". For that, Ike earned a one game suspension, right at the wrong time. David will start the next game at Power Forward and unfortunately, Natomas features the other 6'8" center in our league and now we will feel like so many other teams do when they play us. We have no one to match up with their center. Actually, we do, but he'll be sitting on the bench in street clothes. We had one other player suspended for the game who came off the bench and began yelling at the fans in Ike's defense. He is a key reserve, but won't hurt us as much as the absence of Ike. Ike has already verbally accepted a scholarship to Wyoming and I think it hurts his decision making. If he was still trying to impress the scouts, he would have his head in the game more. Oh, well, we'll see how we do this week.
Saturday night, Darla and I had dinner with Mel and Cora at their house in Carmichael. Mel was a wine importer in Paris for several years and Cora has run a catering operation. They are tremendous hosts and always cook five course meals when we join them for dinner. Saturday's dinner was no exception as we dined on fish soup, green salad, cooked tomatoes, lamb, gorgonzola cheeses, fruit, brushetta and a dessert of hot chocolate sauce over a chocolate tort cake filled with more chocolate sauce. Darla is on Weight Watchers and has lost a great deal of weight, but used up her flex points on that dinner for the next month. We ate with Mark and Pamela from the club and some friends of Mel and Cora, Ed and Mary. It was a nice evening.
Darla and I have signed up for a Life Group at church. We will begin the study, "40 Days of Purpose" in February and have it run up to Easter. The entire church is going through the study and we will kick off the study with a presentation by Dave Dravecky, a wonderful Christian witness and a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, who lost his left pitching arm to cancer during his prime years as a pitcher. Our Life Group will be Monday nights and is in our neighborhood. I look forward to the study as I've heard many friends talk about the conviction that they felt during the study.
I haven't heard from Jennifer in awhile. Did you get our package, Jen? She is getting ready to start a new mission on a communications building in Kuwait. I received some pictures from Jennifer and will post one on the site that I am using as my background on my computer. Can a soldier look cute? Check out the picture and you tell me.
I play in my first golf tournament of the year next Saturday and also play in my first poker game of the year the Friday night before. Boy, do I plan these things or what? Darla will be going to the Bay area to visit her friend, Joni, and it will just be poker, golf and male bonding next weekend. Pray for me. Take care. Ciao.
Saturday was a bit different in that the sun never did win the battle over the fog and it was socked in all day. I finally ventured out to the golf course for the first time this year and it was a cold, wet and early experience. I had trouble finding partners to play with me and it ended up just Mel and I at 7:24 in the morning. The sun was up by the time we teed off, but you would have had trouble proving it as it was overcast with a chill and wetness to the air. We teed off on the back nine as the front was still a bit overwet from the storms. I struggled in the cold and the wet and managed just a 45 in the conditions. I was able to pull the round together on the backside and shot a 42 for 87. Mel struggled to an 89 and we sought the shelter of the indoors. I called Darla and invited her to lunch. I went home first to change out of my wet and dirty clothes and we had a nice lunch together while the boys were in Linden helping out Darla's Dad with some chores out at the farm. Darla's Dad, Earl, has graciously financed the boys' trip to Mexico this Easter by having them help him out at the farm and paying them $100 a day for their labor. He needed the help out at the farm, but more than that he knows the value of this trip to the boy's development as Christian men and citizens of this country and I applaud him for his love of the boys and his stewardship of their development. He is a wonderful role model to the boys of a Christian man in the way that he lives his life and in the way that he loves the Lord.
It is Martin Luther King, Jr Day here in the United States. The state and feds have the day off, the banks, the Post Office, but schlubs like me are at work. The roads were nearly empty this morning when I drove in at 6:30. Martin Luther King is still a vivid symbol of philisophical change and the fight for equality in the US. As was mentioned in church yesterday, King said in his famous speech, "I have a dream that one day my four children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream." That dream has not been realized in this world and may never be, but there is a place that it is a stunning reality and that is at the foot of the cross. Jesus does not see color or circumstances, he sees character, evidenced by the way he treated the prostitute, the beggar and the criminals as he was dying on the cross. Praise God, eh?
David's basketball team is beginning to jell and Ike has started to play like he is one of the premier players in the Sacramento area. We won two league games last week and now stand at 3-1 in league and 10-7-1 overall. We are tied for first in the league and play the other team tied for first, Natomas, tomorrow night. Unfortunately, we will have to play that game without the services of Ike. Ike has had to put up with a lot of trash talk and the chant of "overated" every time he misses a shot or a dunk. It has been eating at him, but for the most part he has responded with his play on the court. Thursday night, his anger boiled over after the Woodland game. The fans had been taunting him all night, yelling some racial comments and other assorted badgering. He missed a shot late in the game and the fans went wild yelling all manner of things at him and chanting the dreaded "Overated" when he ran up and down the floor. Frankly, Ike should have let it go as he scored 28 points and had 23 rebounds, but as he walked off the floor after dunking the ball off of a perfect alley-oop from David to win the game 64-63, he ran at the group of fans and began yelling at them and cursing them. Our Principal ran on the court and pushed him back toward our bench and actually pushed him into the opposing coach, who stuck his hand in Ike's face and yelled at him to get into the locker room as fans began pouring onto the court and it was getting ugly. Ike slapped the coach's hand and told him to "get out of my face". For that, Ike earned a one game suspension, right at the wrong time. David will start the next game at Power Forward and unfortunately, Natomas features the other 6'8" center in our league and now we will feel like so many other teams do when they play us. We have no one to match up with their center. Actually, we do, but he'll be sitting on the bench in street clothes. We had one other player suspended for the game who came off the bench and began yelling at the fans in Ike's defense. He is a key reserve, but won't hurt us as much as the absence of Ike. Ike has already verbally accepted a scholarship to Wyoming and I think it hurts his decision making. If he was still trying to impress the scouts, he would have his head in the game more. Oh, well, we'll see how we do this week.
Saturday night, Darla and I had dinner with Mel and Cora at their house in Carmichael. Mel was a wine importer in Paris for several years and Cora has run a catering operation. They are tremendous hosts and always cook five course meals when we join them for dinner. Saturday's dinner was no exception as we dined on fish soup, green salad, cooked tomatoes, lamb, gorgonzola cheeses, fruit, brushetta and a dessert of hot chocolate sauce over a chocolate tort cake filled with more chocolate sauce. Darla is on Weight Watchers and has lost a great deal of weight, but used up her flex points on that dinner for the next month. We ate with Mark and Pamela from the club and some friends of Mel and Cora, Ed and Mary. It was a nice evening.
Darla and I have signed up for a Life Group at church. We will begin the study, "40 Days of Purpose" in February and have it run up to Easter. The entire church is going through the study and we will kick off the study with a presentation by Dave Dravecky, a wonderful Christian witness and a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, who lost his left pitching arm to cancer during his prime years as a pitcher. Our Life Group will be Monday nights and is in our neighborhood. I look forward to the study as I've heard many friends talk about the conviction that they felt during the study.
I haven't heard from Jennifer in awhile. Did you get our package, Jen? She is getting ready to start a new mission on a communications building in Kuwait. I received some pictures from Jennifer and will post one on the site that I am using as my background on my computer. Can a soldier look cute? Check out the picture and you tell me.
I play in my first golf tournament of the year next Saturday and also play in my first poker game of the year the Friday night before. Boy, do I plan these things or what? Darla will be going to the Bay area to visit her friend, Joni, and it will just be poker, golf and male bonding next weekend. Pray for me. Take care. Ciao.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Rain Rain Go Away
After 11 straight days of rain, I am pretending that the rain is going away. We are between rainstorms now and I washed my car yesterday. I was so tired of my rain spotted, dirty and downtrodden looking Mustang that I got out a bucket and some car wash and scrubbed the car clean yesterday. I detailed the wheels and dressed the tires. Darla and I went to the movie (Meet the Fockers) yesterday afternoon and the car shined. It was nice and, in fact, it hasn't raned since, but the clouds outside are slate gray and building and it is just a matter of time before the skies open up and the rains come to depress me and all of those around me once again. BTW, Meet the Fockers is a tour de force for both Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman. Funny stuff. Darla thought some of the gags were a bit over the top, but I laughed my way through that movie and it was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
We were able to officially pack away Christmas for another year this weekend. I snuck out Saturday morning and took down the Christmas lights from the house and then helped Darla on Sunday dismantle the Christmas tree and assorted ornaments and other Christmas decorations and pack them in boxes and settle them back up in the attic to await another season this year. We once again have some room to stretch in our family room and things don't seem as cramped nor as festive as they did when the fibre optic angel waggled her wings at us or the golfing Santa waved his driver at us. The boys return from a week at their Dad's tonight and adding two teenagers over six foot to the mix will help fill that void.
David is well into his last season of Varsity basketball at Woodcreek. They have a good team this year led by their All League 6'8" center, Ike. David is close to 6'4" and they have three players all at or closer to David's height. The problem seems to be the lack of plays. We have a new coach and he doesn't draw up plays. He wants the boys to move and send the ball around the perimeter and look for open shots. Often, two players are running in the same area and trip over each other. When it works, it is a thing of beauty, but when it doesn't it is ugly. The team is 8-8 overall and 1-1 in league play. I don't see them improving over a 50% team unless they get more disciplined on offense. In their last game, they had a five point lead with 90 seconds left in the game and promptly turned the ball over on offense in their next six possessions and lost the game by a point, wasting a 27 point effort by Ike. The coach told the guys they were playing not to lose rather than to win, but the coach needs to find a mirror if he wants to see the problem. Hopefully they learn from that experience and improve. We should be 2-0 in league and you can't afford lapses like that if you want to win in their league. Three of the teams in their league are all ranked in the top 15 schools in Sacramento. Shades of the football season. It is Deja Vu all over again.
David has played particularly well coming off the bench. He should be a starter, but again, David's team attitude has hurt him. When he asked the coach why he wasn't starting, he was told that a couple of the guys don't have the "personality" to be reserves, that they need to start because of their egos. Gee, coach, good reason to start a kid. You know life will beat down that ego eventually, why not give them that life lesson in high school? David is averaging about 18 minutes and six points. He plays tenacious defense and forces a few turnovers each game. He has one dunk to his credit this year, although in the last game he had a steal and a breakaway and had planned on dunking, but got too far under the basket and had to lay it up instead.
Daniel is taking a break from basketball and is instead playing on Darla's volleyball team on Tuesday nights. Daniel is the serving whiz and helped them shut out their last opponent three games to nil.
Darryl called me this weekend to report that he shot an 80 on his home course this weekend. I was happy for him, but would love to have some of his 70 degree weather here. We can play golf year round in Sacramento, but it is quite cold this time of year. I have a tournament on January 22nd at Mather Golf Course and hope that this storm rains itself out by then. I bought a new hybrid "rescue" style club to take the place of my three iron. When I ordered my Wilson "Deep Red" irons, I ordered them with a 4 thru 9 iron and did not order the 3 iron with the intent of getting a hybrid. I bought a Cobra hybrid that matches my 440 driver and look forward to getting back on the course. I haven't had a chance to get out and play yet this year, but did play on December 31st. At least when I do play, it is winter rules and I can bump the ball. Also, all of the other guys in the club are in the same boat in terms of not playing through the rain.
I talked to Dad and Shirley on Saturday night and they are preparing to leave Wednesday for a three week vacation in Hawaii. They are staying on Oahu for the entire trip and will get to relax and enjoy the 80 degree weather and recharge their batteries. Shirley is trying to talk Dad in to bringing the golf clubs and playing. One of the resorts that they are staying at has a golf course and they might play nine holes in the late afternoons a couple of times. I envy them this trip, although they are leaving snow on the ground and temperatures in the thirties. At least here, we still get into the fifties and sixties during the day.
I also talked to Randy this weekend and he's been enjoying having Jenny home for the Christmas break from school. She just got back from Idaho where she spent the better part of a week skiing and enjoying her vacation. Randy continues to criss cross the country in pursuit of his job and will be in Los Angeles later this week after visiting Wisconsin and Georgia last week.
Finally, I had a nice visit with Jennifer last week. She called and just wanted to talk, which was nice. She misses home and doesn't realy have any close friends in Kuwait. She is forcing herself to get out more and spend time with people as well as getting in to running and exercising more. Jennifer aced the Physical Training test and no longer has to get up with her unit to do PT at 5:00 am. She sleeps in until 7:00 am and then gets breakfast at the mess hall before starting work. Perhaps, that alienates her from her unit, but as Jenn says, they just need to ace their tests as well. The unit will start a new mission in the next week where they will be putting in some new communications infrastructure at the base in Kuwait. The mission is expected to last three months and Jennifer is looking forward to getting busy with putting her training to work again. Check out her blog at the link at the bottom of this page.
Well, that is all the news that is fit to disseminate for now. Take care of each other and God Bless the US of A. Ciao.
We were able to officially pack away Christmas for another year this weekend. I snuck out Saturday morning and took down the Christmas lights from the house and then helped Darla on Sunday dismantle the Christmas tree and assorted ornaments and other Christmas decorations and pack them in boxes and settle them back up in the attic to await another season this year. We once again have some room to stretch in our family room and things don't seem as cramped nor as festive as they did when the fibre optic angel waggled her wings at us or the golfing Santa waved his driver at us. The boys return from a week at their Dad's tonight and adding two teenagers over six foot to the mix will help fill that void.
David is well into his last season of Varsity basketball at Woodcreek. They have a good team this year led by their All League 6'8" center, Ike. David is close to 6'4" and they have three players all at or closer to David's height. The problem seems to be the lack of plays. We have a new coach and he doesn't draw up plays. He wants the boys to move and send the ball around the perimeter and look for open shots. Often, two players are running in the same area and trip over each other. When it works, it is a thing of beauty, but when it doesn't it is ugly. The team is 8-8 overall and 1-1 in league play. I don't see them improving over a 50% team unless they get more disciplined on offense. In their last game, they had a five point lead with 90 seconds left in the game and promptly turned the ball over on offense in their next six possessions and lost the game by a point, wasting a 27 point effort by Ike. The coach told the guys they were playing not to lose rather than to win, but the coach needs to find a mirror if he wants to see the problem. Hopefully they learn from that experience and improve. We should be 2-0 in league and you can't afford lapses like that if you want to win in their league. Three of the teams in their league are all ranked in the top 15 schools in Sacramento. Shades of the football season. It is Deja Vu all over again.
David has played particularly well coming off the bench. He should be a starter, but again, David's team attitude has hurt him. When he asked the coach why he wasn't starting, he was told that a couple of the guys don't have the "personality" to be reserves, that they need to start because of their egos. Gee, coach, good reason to start a kid. You know life will beat down that ego eventually, why not give them that life lesson in high school? David is averaging about 18 minutes and six points. He plays tenacious defense and forces a few turnovers each game. He has one dunk to his credit this year, although in the last game he had a steal and a breakaway and had planned on dunking, but got too far under the basket and had to lay it up instead.
Daniel is taking a break from basketball and is instead playing on Darla's volleyball team on Tuesday nights. Daniel is the serving whiz and helped them shut out their last opponent three games to nil.
Darryl called me this weekend to report that he shot an 80 on his home course this weekend. I was happy for him, but would love to have some of his 70 degree weather here. We can play golf year round in Sacramento, but it is quite cold this time of year. I have a tournament on January 22nd at Mather Golf Course and hope that this storm rains itself out by then. I bought a new hybrid "rescue" style club to take the place of my three iron. When I ordered my Wilson "Deep Red" irons, I ordered them with a 4 thru 9 iron and did not order the 3 iron with the intent of getting a hybrid. I bought a Cobra hybrid that matches my 440 driver and look forward to getting back on the course. I haven't had a chance to get out and play yet this year, but did play on December 31st. At least when I do play, it is winter rules and I can bump the ball. Also, all of the other guys in the club are in the same boat in terms of not playing through the rain.
I talked to Dad and Shirley on Saturday night and they are preparing to leave Wednesday for a three week vacation in Hawaii. They are staying on Oahu for the entire trip and will get to relax and enjoy the 80 degree weather and recharge their batteries. Shirley is trying to talk Dad in to bringing the golf clubs and playing. One of the resorts that they are staying at has a golf course and they might play nine holes in the late afternoons a couple of times. I envy them this trip, although they are leaving snow on the ground and temperatures in the thirties. At least here, we still get into the fifties and sixties during the day.
I also talked to Randy this weekend and he's been enjoying having Jenny home for the Christmas break from school. She just got back from Idaho where she spent the better part of a week skiing and enjoying her vacation. Randy continues to criss cross the country in pursuit of his job and will be in Los Angeles later this week after visiting Wisconsin and Georgia last week.
Finally, I had a nice visit with Jennifer last week. She called and just wanted to talk, which was nice. She misses home and doesn't realy have any close friends in Kuwait. She is forcing herself to get out more and spend time with people as well as getting in to running and exercising more. Jennifer aced the Physical Training test and no longer has to get up with her unit to do PT at 5:00 am. She sleeps in until 7:00 am and then gets breakfast at the mess hall before starting work. Perhaps, that alienates her from her unit, but as Jenn says, they just need to ace their tests as well. The unit will start a new mission in the next week where they will be putting in some new communications infrastructure at the base in Kuwait. The mission is expected to last three months and Jennifer is looking forward to getting busy with putting her training to work again. Check out her blog at the link at the bottom of this page.
Well, that is all the news that is fit to disseminate for now. Take care of each other and God Bless the US of A. Ciao.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Monday, January 03, 2005
Happy New Year 2005
2005. The rains have come to the valley and we can't seem to get a break. It has been raining off and on now for almost nine straight days and we are beginning to wonder if we fell asleep and woke up in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is an incessant rain that has waterlogged the land and is causing runoff into local streams and canals and is beginning to cause some localized flooding. The boys were off school last week and Daniel had to haul out the ladder and unclog one of the downspouts on our guttering system on the house. I installed drain covers several years ago, but the fine debris that rains down from our white birch trees in the backyard finds its way through the slats covering the gutters and will dam up the downspout. The rest of the house seems fine, but the back yard was a problem. I don't know what got into him to have him fix it, but it's a good thing. Normally, he would internalize the information on the problem and tell me as soon as I walked into the house after a ten-hour workday. Perhaps the boys are growing up.
Our New Year celebration was quiet and very relaxing. In fact, I was in bed by 11 PM on New year's Eve. I didn't hit the spa before bed due to the rain, but I was tired and needed to get some rest. Darla stayed up with the boys and watched one of the television stations and rang in the New Year. It was pouring rain and there was a large crowd in Old Sacramento that stood wet and forlorn and watched fireworks lit in the wet and stormy sky. I guess they got a real downpour right before midnight, but the fireworks are lit by electricity and the show went on in spite of the rain and mire.
We had friends over on New Years and we played pool, Scrabble, cards and talked the day away. We had the football games on in the background, but it was simply white noise as we stayed busy with billiards and then poker in the late afternoon and into the evening. The couple we had over have boys that are in the 10th and 12th grades, the same age as David and Daniel, so it was a nice day for the group.
The article on my stock pick came out yesterday. I'm including a link at the end of this paragraph. I was at the photo studio for about 45 minutes and the photographer took at least 60-70 shots. The editors chose a shot of my head that is such an extreme closeup that it is almost a joke. Darla was a bit surprised when I showed her the shot, she kept saying, "Oh my God" over and over. Now, she just laughs every time she looks at it. Leave it to Daniel to sum it up when he said, "You look like a fat guy who picked Krispy Kreme just to get some free donuts." Nice. I had several friends call yesterday as the article was on the front page of the business section and included the color picture that you see. Here's the link: http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/11917384p-12804278c.html#more_images
I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do have goals for the year. One is to trust God more and to put him in charge of my finances. Another is to lose a few pounds and to control my nightime snacking. Darla and I are big on a scoop of ice cream in the evening and that needs to stop. Finally, I always have golf goals and they are as follows: 1. To win my flight in the club championship. 2. To reduce my handicap to single digits. 3. To qualify for the Spyglass tournament in Carmel. and 4. To qualify for a spot on the Rose Cup team in 2005.
Jerry Tuel called me last week and then again last night. Tami, his wife, gifted him with tickets to the AT&T Pebble Beach golf classic in February. Jerry promised his brother that he could go with him, but he is a prison guard and has to work on Sunday, February 13th. Jerry said that I could go to the practice rounds Monday-Wednesday or watch the final on Sunday. Well, I'm a golfer. I don't care about the celebrities and only want to see the pros play, and what an opportunity to see the final round of the tournament. I'm in for the Sunday round and really look forward to it. It will be fun to hang out with Jerry Saturday night as well. It looks like the wives will be home and the Tomcats will be on the prowl. Of course, excitement for Jerry and I is a glass of beer and a dart board, but then we are both Christian men who love our wives.
Jennifer has added to her blog a few times recently and a link to her blog is found at the bottom of this page. She is suffering a bit right now with news that her best friend, Jason Ramos's twin brother committed suicide back in November. I had just met him on Jen's last visit home. Unfortunately, he had a very contentious relationship with his girlfriend and the mother of his child. They were having problems and he was overwhelmed. Jason was very tight with his brother. When Jen and Jason were dating, he kept an out of date cell phone for the single reason that his brother had bought it for him. Jason was heart broken over the loss of his brother and he kept it from Jen for almost a month figuring that she had enough on her plate in Kuwait. It is hard to understand, but it underscores that if you put your happiness in things of this world instead of in the Lord, you will never find true happiness and contentment. Please pray for Jason as he struggles with his brother's choice. They were both coaches for their high school wrestling team and Jason has a huge hole in his heart now.
On a happier note, it is 2005 and Jennifer will be home and out of the Army this year. As much as I have supported our decisions in going to war in Iraq, it is time to turn the country over to local control and to begin our planned exodus from that country. The elections need to go forward and the insurgents caught or killed. We need to turn our attention to Al Queda and Bin Laden and nuetralize that threat. In spite of the clear majority that President Bush carried in the election in this country, the war has caused a polarization of citizens in this country and we need to bridge the gap somehow. I'll be thrilled to see Jennifer bid adieu to the Army and begin her life back home as a civilian.
That is all the news that's fit to print. Be well, be healthy, enjoy your families and put your hope in the Lord, who sustains all of us. Ciao.
Our New Year celebration was quiet and very relaxing. In fact, I was in bed by 11 PM on New year's Eve. I didn't hit the spa before bed due to the rain, but I was tired and needed to get some rest. Darla stayed up with the boys and watched one of the television stations and rang in the New Year. It was pouring rain and there was a large crowd in Old Sacramento that stood wet and forlorn and watched fireworks lit in the wet and stormy sky. I guess they got a real downpour right before midnight, but the fireworks are lit by electricity and the show went on in spite of the rain and mire.
We had friends over on New Years and we played pool, Scrabble, cards and talked the day away. We had the football games on in the background, but it was simply white noise as we stayed busy with billiards and then poker in the late afternoon and into the evening. The couple we had over have boys that are in the 10th and 12th grades, the same age as David and Daniel, so it was a nice day for the group.
The article on my stock pick came out yesterday. I'm including a link at the end of this paragraph. I was at the photo studio for about 45 minutes and the photographer took at least 60-70 shots. The editors chose a shot of my head that is such an extreme closeup that it is almost a joke. Darla was a bit surprised when I showed her the shot, she kept saying, "Oh my God" over and over. Now, she just laughs every time she looks at it. Leave it to Daniel to sum it up when he said, "You look like a fat guy who picked Krispy Kreme just to get some free donuts." Nice. I had several friends call yesterday as the article was on the front page of the business section and included the color picture that you see. Here's the link: http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/11917384p-12804278c.html#more_images
I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do have goals for the year. One is to trust God more and to put him in charge of my finances. Another is to lose a few pounds and to control my nightime snacking. Darla and I are big on a scoop of ice cream in the evening and that needs to stop. Finally, I always have golf goals and they are as follows: 1. To win my flight in the club championship. 2. To reduce my handicap to single digits. 3. To qualify for the Spyglass tournament in Carmel. and 4. To qualify for a spot on the Rose Cup team in 2005.
Jerry Tuel called me last week and then again last night. Tami, his wife, gifted him with tickets to the AT&T Pebble Beach golf classic in February. Jerry promised his brother that he could go with him, but he is a prison guard and has to work on Sunday, February 13th. Jerry said that I could go to the practice rounds Monday-Wednesday or watch the final on Sunday. Well, I'm a golfer. I don't care about the celebrities and only want to see the pros play, and what an opportunity to see the final round of the tournament. I'm in for the Sunday round and really look forward to it. It will be fun to hang out with Jerry Saturday night as well. It looks like the wives will be home and the Tomcats will be on the prowl. Of course, excitement for Jerry and I is a glass of beer and a dart board, but then we are both Christian men who love our wives.
Jennifer has added to her blog a few times recently and a link to her blog is found at the bottom of this page. She is suffering a bit right now with news that her best friend, Jason Ramos's twin brother committed suicide back in November. I had just met him on Jen's last visit home. Unfortunately, he had a very contentious relationship with his girlfriend and the mother of his child. They were having problems and he was overwhelmed. Jason was very tight with his brother. When Jen and Jason were dating, he kept an out of date cell phone for the single reason that his brother had bought it for him. Jason was heart broken over the loss of his brother and he kept it from Jen for almost a month figuring that she had enough on her plate in Kuwait. It is hard to understand, but it underscores that if you put your happiness in things of this world instead of in the Lord, you will never find true happiness and contentment. Please pray for Jason as he struggles with his brother's choice. They were both coaches for their high school wrestling team and Jason has a huge hole in his heart now.
On a happier note, it is 2005 and Jennifer will be home and out of the Army this year. As much as I have supported our decisions in going to war in Iraq, it is time to turn the country over to local control and to begin our planned exodus from that country. The elections need to go forward and the insurgents caught or killed. We need to turn our attention to Al Queda and Bin Laden and nuetralize that threat. In spite of the clear majority that President Bush carried in the election in this country, the war has caused a polarization of citizens in this country and we need to bridge the gap somehow. I'll be thrilled to see Jennifer bid adieu to the Army and begin her life back home as a civilian.
That is all the news that's fit to print. Be well, be healthy, enjoy your families and put your hope in the Lord, who sustains all of us. Ciao.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Post Christmas Ramblings
The Monday after Christmas. The roads were empty and the traveling was quite easy as hundreds and thousands of workers take the post Christmas week as a final week of vacation. Darla is living that dream this week as I toil away at work. The roads were a little slick due to an incessant rain that held off over the weekend, but greeted me as I left the garage at 6:30 this morning. I hope all of you had a wonderful family time over the Christmas holiday and were able to concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas. Darla and I enjoyed the Christmas Eve service at church as each of the pastors and their families were on stage at church and read through the Christmas story in the New Testament. There were Christmas hymns and some tremendous contemporary songs that made you realize what Joseph and Mary were going through as Jesus was to be born and the scorn that they had to endure simply for being chosen by God to deliver his Saviour to a needy world.
We talked to Jennifer on Christmas Day. She actually had to work on Christmas, but was able to enjoy a Christmas repast with her unit on the night of December 24th with a gift exchange and some good food. It was great hearing from her, but she is sure missing home right now.
Darla, Alicia and I were able to make the trek up to Reno on Thursday night for the party. It was COLD in Reno with overnight lows in the twenties and highs only reaching the upper thirties. (For those of you in Canada, that is in the Fahrenheit scale and just barely creeping above freezing.) The party was at some friends' house in Sparks. I don't know the people well as they are friends from Lake Almanor and I only manage a day or two up at the lake every Summer. The house was literally packed with people when we arrived and Darla and Alicia got stuck in the coat room talking to people as I stole away to the garage and a spot by the tv for the Wyoming-UCLA game. I found a cold bottle of Samuel Adams and a vacant chair and visited with the host Bob's father, who lives in El Dorado, a small town up near Placerville in California. We never really had a chance to visit with our hosts as the party was too large and we made plans to have breakfast with them the next morning.
We stayed at the Atlantis Casino, which is our favorite casino. They offered us a free tower room and Alicia was able to get a tower room for $39. It helps to be members of their frequent player club and we receive offers from them about every other month. The nice thing for us is that the Atlantis is located away from the grunge of downtown Reno out near the Peppermill west of town. We met up with Bob and his parents the next morning at the Silver Club in Sparks and had a great breakfast. I won $30.00 on a nickle machine with four threes as we waited and it paid for our breakfast. Bob's father, Frank, and his wife, Joni, invited Darla and I up to their home in El Dorado in the New Year and we will probably take them up on it. El Dorado is an old gold mining town and is rich in the history of California.
This was a bit of an odd Christmas for me as Darla took control of the gift buying, even to the point of buying her own gifts. She told me that given my new responsibilities at work that she'd take that burden from me and she had our Christmas shopping done by December 1st. I had the joy of not only being surprised at opening my own gifts, but also by finding out what I'd bought Darla. I was quite generous this year and bought her a new set of Pampered Chef cookware, several outfits and a new robe. Cheryl bought me a golf shirt as well as a personalized golf hat from their country club, Berrywood. It has my name on the back. Darla received a makeup case and a coat from Darryl. We are still involved in the gift exchange with family and we had Darryl and Cake this year. Darla bought Darryl a new sweatsuit and I bought Cake some handmade Jewelry from the Darla Lyon line. The boys came over about 11:30 on Christmas morning and we opened gifts before hosting a dinner for Darla's Mom and Dad, brother and his family and her sister, Alicia. We had a nice family day and relaxed and talked after a huge meal of turkey and all the trimmings.
We have no great plans for New Years and will relax at home on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Our tradition is to have a few families over and have a game day on New Year's day.
My staff surprised me on the 23rd by calling me into the conference room and serenading me with "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and giving me a gift certificate to my favorite Lobsterhouse in the Sacramento area. The song and gift were very special, but the words that they wrote in the card that accompanied it were priceless. The staff is happy and looks forward to coming to work and you can't put a price on that. I have a great group working with me and for me and 2005 will be one for the books.
I was contacted last week by the business editor of the Sacramento Bee, Jack Sirard. I entered a stock contest last year and finished sixth in the contest. I had chosen a stock called Waste Industries USA. If you ever have to pick a stock for an annual contest, pick a well managed waste hauler or funeral service or utility, all things that are fairly recession proof. Anyhow, Jack called to see if I wanted to enter a pick for next year's contest. I told him I'd give it some thought and send him an e-mail. This year I picked KKD, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. It is currently trading at $11.75, down from a high of $40 a share last year. The Atkins craze of 2004 is to blame and I see the stock rebounding nicely in 2005, perhaps even doubling in price. Jack called back and said he wants me to come into the Bee's photo studio tomorrow for a photo session as part of his story on January 2nd. They will have plenty of Krispy Kremes on hand and I'll be there. It should be a fun experience. I'll fill you in more next week.
As this year slowly closes this week, it was really a good year for the Lyons here in California. I had some great success professionally and Darla is continuing to excel at her job and to make life better for so many of her clients that can't do for themselves. The boys have both shined not only academically, but in sports as well. Jennifer is literally reinventing herself as a person and as a citizen and she has my utmost respect for her sacrifice for this country. I couldn't be prouder of her and I look forward to watching her progress in life as she finishes her military career and carves a life for herself in the private sector. Her prospects are very bright for her future. David is looking also to his future as he works toward his college plans and decides what he will do with his future. It is an exciting time. 2005 will bring our family trip to Hawaii and we look forward to spending time with the boys in Kauai. 2005 will also bring Jennifer home and in 2006 Darla and I have promised Jen a vacation in Puerto Vallarta at our condo and we have that to look forward to. And all of that is by the grace of our Lord and Savious, Jesus Christ. Amen?
I wish each of you an interesting and exciting New Year with all of the blessings that our Lord has in store for each of you. Take care, be good to each other and I hope to see all of you in the New Year. Ciao.
We talked to Jennifer on Christmas Day. She actually had to work on Christmas, but was able to enjoy a Christmas repast with her unit on the night of December 24th with a gift exchange and some good food. It was great hearing from her, but she is sure missing home right now.
Darla, Alicia and I were able to make the trek up to Reno on Thursday night for the party. It was COLD in Reno with overnight lows in the twenties and highs only reaching the upper thirties. (For those of you in Canada, that is in the Fahrenheit scale and just barely creeping above freezing.) The party was at some friends' house in Sparks. I don't know the people well as they are friends from Lake Almanor and I only manage a day or two up at the lake every Summer. The house was literally packed with people when we arrived and Darla and Alicia got stuck in the coat room talking to people as I stole away to the garage and a spot by the tv for the Wyoming-UCLA game. I found a cold bottle of Samuel Adams and a vacant chair and visited with the host Bob's father, who lives in El Dorado, a small town up near Placerville in California. We never really had a chance to visit with our hosts as the party was too large and we made plans to have breakfast with them the next morning.
We stayed at the Atlantis Casino, which is our favorite casino. They offered us a free tower room and Alicia was able to get a tower room for $39. It helps to be members of their frequent player club and we receive offers from them about every other month. The nice thing for us is that the Atlantis is located away from the grunge of downtown Reno out near the Peppermill west of town. We met up with Bob and his parents the next morning at the Silver Club in Sparks and had a great breakfast. I won $30.00 on a nickle machine with four threes as we waited and it paid for our breakfast. Bob's father, Frank, and his wife, Joni, invited Darla and I up to their home in El Dorado in the New Year and we will probably take them up on it. El Dorado is an old gold mining town and is rich in the history of California.
This was a bit of an odd Christmas for me as Darla took control of the gift buying, even to the point of buying her own gifts. She told me that given my new responsibilities at work that she'd take that burden from me and she had our Christmas shopping done by December 1st. I had the joy of not only being surprised at opening my own gifts, but also by finding out what I'd bought Darla. I was quite generous this year and bought her a new set of Pampered Chef cookware, several outfits and a new robe. Cheryl bought me a golf shirt as well as a personalized golf hat from their country club, Berrywood. It has my name on the back. Darla received a makeup case and a coat from Darryl. We are still involved in the gift exchange with family and we had Darryl and Cake this year. Darla bought Darryl a new sweatsuit and I bought Cake some handmade Jewelry from the Darla Lyon line. The boys came over about 11:30 on Christmas morning and we opened gifts before hosting a dinner for Darla's Mom and Dad, brother and his family and her sister, Alicia. We had a nice family day and relaxed and talked after a huge meal of turkey and all the trimmings.
We have no great plans for New Years and will relax at home on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Our tradition is to have a few families over and have a game day on New Year's day.
My staff surprised me on the 23rd by calling me into the conference room and serenading me with "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and giving me a gift certificate to my favorite Lobsterhouse in the Sacramento area. The song and gift were very special, but the words that they wrote in the card that accompanied it were priceless. The staff is happy and looks forward to coming to work and you can't put a price on that. I have a great group working with me and for me and 2005 will be one for the books.
I was contacted last week by the business editor of the Sacramento Bee, Jack Sirard. I entered a stock contest last year and finished sixth in the contest. I had chosen a stock called Waste Industries USA. If you ever have to pick a stock for an annual contest, pick a well managed waste hauler or funeral service or utility, all things that are fairly recession proof. Anyhow, Jack called to see if I wanted to enter a pick for next year's contest. I told him I'd give it some thought and send him an e-mail. This year I picked KKD, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. It is currently trading at $11.75, down from a high of $40 a share last year. The Atkins craze of 2004 is to blame and I see the stock rebounding nicely in 2005, perhaps even doubling in price. Jack called back and said he wants me to come into the Bee's photo studio tomorrow for a photo session as part of his story on January 2nd. They will have plenty of Krispy Kremes on hand and I'll be there. It should be a fun experience. I'll fill you in more next week.
As this year slowly closes this week, it was really a good year for the Lyons here in California. I had some great success professionally and Darla is continuing to excel at her job and to make life better for so many of her clients that can't do for themselves. The boys have both shined not only academically, but in sports as well. Jennifer is literally reinventing herself as a person and as a citizen and she has my utmost respect for her sacrifice for this country. I couldn't be prouder of her and I look forward to watching her progress in life as she finishes her military career and carves a life for herself in the private sector. Her prospects are very bright for her future. David is looking also to his future as he works toward his college plans and decides what he will do with his future. It is an exciting time. 2005 will bring our family trip to Hawaii and we look forward to spending time with the boys in Kauai. 2005 will also bring Jennifer home and in 2006 Darla and I have promised Jen a vacation in Puerto Vallarta at our condo and we have that to look forward to. And all of that is by the grace of our Lord and Savious, Jesus Christ. Amen?
I wish each of you an interesting and exciting New Year with all of the blessings that our Lord has in store for each of you. Take care, be good to each other and I hope to see all of you in the New Year. Ciao.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Christmas Meanderings
Back at it on Christmas week. It will be a short week with Friday off and Darla and I may end up driving up to Reno on Thursday night for a holiday party. It depends on the snow conditions over the pass in Truckee. So far it has been clear, but storms do blow in rather quickly this time of year.
I awoke to a white morning, although there was no snow in evidence. The white of which I speak is FOG. It was a heavy blanket of fog that took hold on Saturday night during our staff Christmas party and stuck stubbornly with us through Sunday and into today. It tried to clear up yesterday afternoon as the sun peeked out for about forty minutes, but quickly gave way to the wet and cold presence that often mars our days this time of year. It is supposed to clear up this week and we should see the sun win the battle later in the week.
The staff Christmas party was Saturday night and we had a ball. The company footed most of the bill for the food and drinks and I bought each of the staff members a gift. I bought Cross pens for everyone and business card holders for the assistants. I had the assistants order business cards when I promoted them to renewal Underwriters and only one of them had seen fit to display the cards at their desk, so I bought each of them a nice cherrywood card holder to display the cards at their desks. I appreciate the support that the staff has shown me in my transition to the manager of the office. We had a great time, singing Karaoke to Christmas songs and playing billiards. We had a gift exchange and plenty of laughs and good times. We ate turkey and ham and Cora fixed an awesome cod and shrimp soup and a medley of fresh vegetables as well as garlic bread and corn bread muffins. It was a feast by any definition. I bought seven bottles of wine, three cases of beer, two cases of water and two cases of soda. Everything lasted except the wine. We ended up opening two bottles of Dinda's wine to fill the gap. All of the staff were able to attend except for Kathy, Gail's assistant and Gwen, our third commercial underwriter. She is not the most social of beings and has yet to attend any of our social events away from work. To each his own, I say.
I was able to finish the enclosure around the air conditioner yesterday. The contractor ended up cutting out two of the posts surrounding the unit in order to fit the new slab in to the space. The problem is that the slab was so close to the edge of the "box" that I couldn't get enough room to tear out the old base for the 4x4's much less dig holes for the new ones. I ended up tying into the two remaing posts with horizontal 4x4s and attaching the upright 4x4s to the horizontal ones with sheet metal anchors. It was a little wobbly until I was able to hammer everything together and add the latticework around the base. I gave it a new coat of the Flood UV Protectant stain and need to add another coat next weekend. I had pulled out the vines that the prior contractor had used to surround the air conditioner as our contractor said that the unit needed air space. I think the unit looks even nicer with just the lattice work around it. This project turned out better than the wallboard job in the laundry room.
Darla and I have been invited to dinner tonight at our friends' house and then they have tickets to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Arco Arena tonight. It is a holiday concert, but includes a light show as the orchestra plays and I've heard some great feedback on the concert. Our friends happen to be our heating and air contractor and his wife. It should be fun tonight. I have several lunches this week with our agents and it starts today with lunch at Benihanas. If I don't gain weight this holiday, it will be a Christmas miracle.
I talked to Jennifer yesterday. It was six am her time and she was preparing to leave for a day at the firing range. As Armorer she has to be present during the certification in case any of the weapons jam or need to be checked. She is actually the assistant Armorer, which she said is better. The Armorer has to check out weapons and be present in the weapons area at all times whereas Jennifer gets to roam the facility and freelance her way through the day. Darla also talked to Jenn and she is also having to be recertified on the M-16, so she was doing target practice as well. Jennifer has updated her blog and she is absolutley thrilled to be back in Kuwait as you'll see by her latest entry, which I think she entitled "Back in Kuwait and hating it" or something like that. Jen will spend Christmas at a party being thrown for her unit. I think she's already looking forward to the holidays next year when she'll be home free. Her unit is currently in lockdown where no one can leave Kuwait until they get back to a "mission" ready unit. Apparently they are short of bodies in the unit. Hopefully, they will not be in lockdown when she is ready to leave next year.
I want to wish each of my family members and friends a truly inspired and faith filled Christmas celebration this year. The greatest gift that any of us will ever receive came from God when he sent Heaven to earth in the form of his son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to live and die for our sins. If we have accepted that gift we have nothing to ever want for again. Praise God, eh? Take care of each other. Ciao.
I awoke to a white morning, although there was no snow in evidence. The white of which I speak is FOG. It was a heavy blanket of fog that took hold on Saturday night during our staff Christmas party and stuck stubbornly with us through Sunday and into today. It tried to clear up yesterday afternoon as the sun peeked out for about forty minutes, but quickly gave way to the wet and cold presence that often mars our days this time of year. It is supposed to clear up this week and we should see the sun win the battle later in the week.
The staff Christmas party was Saturday night and we had a ball. The company footed most of the bill for the food and drinks and I bought each of the staff members a gift. I bought Cross pens for everyone and business card holders for the assistants. I had the assistants order business cards when I promoted them to renewal Underwriters and only one of them had seen fit to display the cards at their desk, so I bought each of them a nice cherrywood card holder to display the cards at their desks. I appreciate the support that the staff has shown me in my transition to the manager of the office. We had a great time, singing Karaoke to Christmas songs and playing billiards. We had a gift exchange and plenty of laughs and good times. We ate turkey and ham and Cora fixed an awesome cod and shrimp soup and a medley of fresh vegetables as well as garlic bread and corn bread muffins. It was a feast by any definition. I bought seven bottles of wine, three cases of beer, two cases of water and two cases of soda. Everything lasted except the wine. We ended up opening two bottles of Dinda's wine to fill the gap. All of the staff were able to attend except for Kathy, Gail's assistant and Gwen, our third commercial underwriter. She is not the most social of beings and has yet to attend any of our social events away from work. To each his own, I say.
I was able to finish the enclosure around the air conditioner yesterday. The contractor ended up cutting out two of the posts surrounding the unit in order to fit the new slab in to the space. The problem is that the slab was so close to the edge of the "box" that I couldn't get enough room to tear out the old base for the 4x4's much less dig holes for the new ones. I ended up tying into the two remaing posts with horizontal 4x4s and attaching the upright 4x4s to the horizontal ones with sheet metal anchors. It was a little wobbly until I was able to hammer everything together and add the latticework around the base. I gave it a new coat of the Flood UV Protectant stain and need to add another coat next weekend. I had pulled out the vines that the prior contractor had used to surround the air conditioner as our contractor said that the unit needed air space. I think the unit looks even nicer with just the lattice work around it. This project turned out better than the wallboard job in the laundry room.
Darla and I have been invited to dinner tonight at our friends' house and then they have tickets to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Arco Arena tonight. It is a holiday concert, but includes a light show as the orchestra plays and I've heard some great feedback on the concert. Our friends happen to be our heating and air contractor and his wife. It should be fun tonight. I have several lunches this week with our agents and it starts today with lunch at Benihanas. If I don't gain weight this holiday, it will be a Christmas miracle.
I talked to Jennifer yesterday. It was six am her time and she was preparing to leave for a day at the firing range. As Armorer she has to be present during the certification in case any of the weapons jam or need to be checked. She is actually the assistant Armorer, which she said is better. The Armorer has to check out weapons and be present in the weapons area at all times whereas Jennifer gets to roam the facility and freelance her way through the day. Darla also talked to Jenn and she is also having to be recertified on the M-16, so she was doing target practice as well. Jennifer has updated her blog and she is absolutley thrilled to be back in Kuwait as you'll see by her latest entry, which I think she entitled "Back in Kuwait and hating it" or something like that. Jen will spend Christmas at a party being thrown for her unit. I think she's already looking forward to the holidays next year when she'll be home free. Her unit is currently in lockdown where no one can leave Kuwait until they get back to a "mission" ready unit. Apparently they are short of bodies in the unit. Hopefully, they will not be in lockdown when she is ready to leave next year.
I want to wish each of my family members and friends a truly inspired and faith filled Christmas celebration this year. The greatest gift that any of us will ever receive came from God when he sent Heaven to earth in the form of his son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to live and die for our sins. If we have accepted that gift we have nothing to ever want for again. Praise God, eh? Take care of each other. Ciao.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Jennifer back in Kuwait from Germany
Just a quick note to let you all know that Jennifer has arrived back in Kuwait from Germany. Not a surprise, but she had a great time. She flew from Kuwait five hours into Ramstein AFB and then took the Autobahn to a little Army base called Vilsek. She was able to hook up with a group of soldiers and see the German countryside. Her new favorite beer is Guinness and her favorite German food was Donners, a bun filled with shaved pork they serve in the pubs. The temperatures were - 3 degrees Celsius and she did come home with a cold and sniffled through our phone conversation. She received our package and a package from Dad and Shirley that she was THRILLED with, especially the pictures of your cars and Vegas and Darryl's house. She's homesick, but determined. She said her commander is jealous of her trip and has put her on work detail tomorrow on her day off, wrapping presents.
She also had a meeting with the new Command Major Sargeant of the Army Preston, who was visiting from Washington and she was impressed with his speech. There were only thirty soldiers picked to sit in on his speech and she was one of them. It was GREAT to hear from her and she sounds hale and hearty , in spite of her cold. The weather in Kuwait has settled and it is now running in the high sixties.
She also had a meeting with the new Command Major Sargeant of the Army Preston, who was visiting from Washington and she was impressed with his speech. There were only thirty soldiers picked to sit in on his speech and she was one of them. It was GREAT to hear from her and she sounds hale and hearty , in spite of her cold. The weather in Kuwait has settled and it is now running in the high sixties.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Another weekend is in the books and the march of time moves on inexorably. Darla and I went to a murder mystery dinner on Saturday night with her gang from work. It was an interesting diversion, but not really good for socializing as the group was spread out amongst three tables. We got to visit with the one other couple from the group at our table (we were at the kid's table from Holiday dinners) and kibbitz with a few of those behind us, but overall it was entertaining, but not at all condusive to visiting with anyone. The dinner started at 8:30 and was over at about 11:15 pm, whereat everyone decided to call it a night and head home. Nice.
We didn't even get a chance to socialize at the bar before dinner as David had the consolation game at a basketball tournament which ended at 8:00 PM and we hightailed it from Folsom to Old Sacramento and I tested the limits of the Mustang as we sped to the gig. David's team finished third out of the ten teams in the tournament, losing to the eventual champion. David had a rough go, getting an elbow to the face in the Friday night game that split his lip. We missed the game as Darla had a home show that she was doing that night and I was just exhausted. When the week ends, my ten to twelve hour days catch up to me and I'm ready for a soft spot on the couch. I actually wish that was true as I painted the laundry room after repairing the hole in the ceiling. The laundry room looks nice freshly painted, but there are some sanding issues with my repair that I may have Earl help me with when he comes by. There is a reason that I am not in the carpentry trade and if you're curious as to what those are, come by and I'll show you the ceiling in my laundry room.
David came by on Friday night and wanted to know if he should go and get stitches in his lip. The puncture actually is in his lip and it was swollen like he'd had a bad cologen injection. There is a half inch wide hole in his lip where his tooth punctured the surface. Saturday night he was again hit in the face by an elbow, this time by Ike, his teamate and he started bleeding again. I had to yell at the ref to get him out of the game as he had blood running down his mouth and onto his chin. He came out of the game for about five minutes and went right back in as soon as the bleeding stopped. We both assumed that the cut had reopened, but David told us yesterday that he now has two gashes in his lip. Again, the lip is swollen and distorted and I told him to ice it and stay away from salt.
The boys came by yesterday on their way to Sunday school to pick up David's basketball schedule. His youth minister wants to come and watch a couple of games. Darla had picked up Krispy Kremes and David didn't want one because he couldn't brush his teeth afterward. There are, after all, girls at his church class. The boys came by about one o'clock in the afternoon sniffing around for the Krispy Kremes and I gave them the box. There were no leftovers this morning, so I just finished my morning ritual of a cup of coffee and an English Muffin. This helps me keep in touch with my heritage. Yes, my Grandfather was from England, but the heritage is a bit of peanut butter and a pudgy waistline.
I played golf this weekend and as I wrote to my brother, who bragged about the Austin, Texas weather at 80 degrees and his 27 holes of golf in shorts, I wore my big boy long pants in deference to the 59 degree weather here in Sacramento. This was the Eclectic Final, the last tournament of the year. The Eclectic is a year long tournament whereby each golfer has his best scores from each hole on the course kept during the year on all medal tournaments. The final is a tournament in itself, but also the last qualifying tournament for the Eclectic. I ended up shooting a gross of 30-33= 63-12(handicap) = 51. I have yet to see the final results, but I think I finished first in my flight with the net of 51. One player in the flight had a 60 with a net of 50, but he will win the low gross and I'll get the low net. It is actually somewhat amazing that I'm even in the running after missing most of the early Summer tournaments with a bad back. I shot 41-45=86 for the tournament and finished out of the running. I had a good start and just fell apart on the back. I ended up tying Mel with 86, by finishing double-bogey, double-bogey, bogey and giving up a solid lead and the $10 stroke bet. I didn't lose money, but I had it in the bag, if I'd just held on at the end. Oh well, that's golf.
I will host the office Christmas party on Saturday night. We are actually having the event at my Executive Assistant's house in Carmichael. She has quite a party house and it is closer to everyone, so we decided to hold it there. I will buy two turkeys, a ham and all the fixins as well as pies, beer, wine, soft drinks and water. I will also have M&Ms and peanuts to munch on and we will do a gift exchange. I am buying each staff member a gift and will also present those at the dinner. It should be a fun night, but I've got a lot of pre-planning to do this week to be ready for the big dinner on Saturday. I also have several lunches this week with my best agents that Anthony and I will be hosting. On top of that, Harvey, our Vice President will be in tomorrow to go over results and planning with me. There isn't really time to take a breath, but isn't that the holiday season in a nutshell?
I haven't heard from Jennifer since she left for Germany and I think she has phone issues. I think she is at an airbase and doesn't have as easy access to the phones as she does at Camp Doha. She should be heading home next week and I should hear from her. I'm sure she is having a blast in Germany. I do look forward to talking to her before Christmas and getting caught up. Remember our brave soldiers this Christmas season that are away from friends and family. Say a prayer for them and give thanks that they are willing to put their comfort aside for the sake of all of us. Even if you live in the the land of the cowards up in Canada.
I saw the Primetime episode interviewing the AWOL soldiers in Canada who chose not to go to Iraq and fight for our country. I don't have a problem with the fact that they chose to not honor their oath to defend our country and skipped to Canada. I DO, however, have a problem if they ever want to come back to this country. I think they are in a perfect place up in the land of the world's ostriches. Folks, you are home. Please stay there. You aren't draft dodgers, you are soldiers with a wide yellow streak down your backs. You are criminals and a disgrace not only to the uniform, but to this country. My advice to them is learn to speak French and stay the hell out of the U. S. o f A. Are my politics coming through loud and clear? Can you hear me now? Good.
As I step off of my soap box, I wish you a great week and much love and good family times this Christmas season. Until next week...Ciao.
We didn't even get a chance to socialize at the bar before dinner as David had the consolation game at a basketball tournament which ended at 8:00 PM and we hightailed it from Folsom to Old Sacramento and I tested the limits of the Mustang as we sped to the gig. David's team finished third out of the ten teams in the tournament, losing to the eventual champion. David had a rough go, getting an elbow to the face in the Friday night game that split his lip. We missed the game as Darla had a home show that she was doing that night and I was just exhausted. When the week ends, my ten to twelve hour days catch up to me and I'm ready for a soft spot on the couch. I actually wish that was true as I painted the laundry room after repairing the hole in the ceiling. The laundry room looks nice freshly painted, but there are some sanding issues with my repair that I may have Earl help me with when he comes by. There is a reason that I am not in the carpentry trade and if you're curious as to what those are, come by and I'll show you the ceiling in my laundry room.
David came by on Friday night and wanted to know if he should go and get stitches in his lip. The puncture actually is in his lip and it was swollen like he'd had a bad cologen injection. There is a half inch wide hole in his lip where his tooth punctured the surface. Saturday night he was again hit in the face by an elbow, this time by Ike, his teamate and he started bleeding again. I had to yell at the ref to get him out of the game as he had blood running down his mouth and onto his chin. He came out of the game for about five minutes and went right back in as soon as the bleeding stopped. We both assumed that the cut had reopened, but David told us yesterday that he now has two gashes in his lip. Again, the lip is swollen and distorted and I told him to ice it and stay away from salt.
The boys came by yesterday on their way to Sunday school to pick up David's basketball schedule. His youth minister wants to come and watch a couple of games. Darla had picked up Krispy Kremes and David didn't want one because he couldn't brush his teeth afterward. There are, after all, girls at his church class. The boys came by about one o'clock in the afternoon sniffing around for the Krispy Kremes and I gave them the box. There were no leftovers this morning, so I just finished my morning ritual of a cup of coffee and an English Muffin. This helps me keep in touch with my heritage. Yes, my Grandfather was from England, but the heritage is a bit of peanut butter and a pudgy waistline.
I played golf this weekend and as I wrote to my brother, who bragged about the Austin, Texas weather at 80 degrees and his 27 holes of golf in shorts, I wore my big boy long pants in deference to the 59 degree weather here in Sacramento. This was the Eclectic Final, the last tournament of the year. The Eclectic is a year long tournament whereby each golfer has his best scores from each hole on the course kept during the year on all medal tournaments. The final is a tournament in itself, but also the last qualifying tournament for the Eclectic. I ended up shooting a gross of 30-33= 63-12(handicap) = 51. I have yet to see the final results, but I think I finished first in my flight with the net of 51. One player in the flight had a 60 with a net of 50, but he will win the low gross and I'll get the low net. It is actually somewhat amazing that I'm even in the running after missing most of the early Summer tournaments with a bad back. I shot 41-45=86 for the tournament and finished out of the running. I had a good start and just fell apart on the back. I ended up tying Mel with 86, by finishing double-bogey, double-bogey, bogey and giving up a solid lead and the $10 stroke bet. I didn't lose money, but I had it in the bag, if I'd just held on at the end. Oh well, that's golf.
I will host the office Christmas party on Saturday night. We are actually having the event at my Executive Assistant's house in Carmichael. She has quite a party house and it is closer to everyone, so we decided to hold it there. I will buy two turkeys, a ham and all the fixins as well as pies, beer, wine, soft drinks and water. I will also have M&Ms and peanuts to munch on and we will do a gift exchange. I am buying each staff member a gift and will also present those at the dinner. It should be a fun night, but I've got a lot of pre-planning to do this week to be ready for the big dinner on Saturday. I also have several lunches this week with my best agents that Anthony and I will be hosting. On top of that, Harvey, our Vice President will be in tomorrow to go over results and planning with me. There isn't really time to take a breath, but isn't that the holiday season in a nutshell?
I haven't heard from Jennifer since she left for Germany and I think she has phone issues. I think she is at an airbase and doesn't have as easy access to the phones as she does at Camp Doha. She should be heading home next week and I should hear from her. I'm sure she is having a blast in Germany. I do look forward to talking to her before Christmas and getting caught up. Remember our brave soldiers this Christmas season that are away from friends and family. Say a prayer for them and give thanks that they are willing to put their comfort aside for the sake of all of us. Even if you live in the the land of the cowards up in Canada.
I saw the Primetime episode interviewing the AWOL soldiers in Canada who chose not to go to Iraq and fight for our country. I don't have a problem with the fact that they chose to not honor their oath to defend our country and skipped to Canada. I DO, however, have a problem if they ever want to come back to this country. I think they are in a perfect place up in the land of the world's ostriches. Folks, you are home. Please stay there. You aren't draft dodgers, you are soldiers with a wide yellow streak down your backs. You are criminals and a disgrace not only to the uniform, but to this country. My advice to them is learn to speak French and stay the hell out of the U. S. o f A. Are my politics coming through loud and clear? Can you hear me now? Good.
As I step off of my soap box, I wish you a great week and much love and good family times this Christmas season. Until next week...Ciao.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Heat, glorious heat. The heater is in and working and even David's room is warm and toasty. Funny how you take things like personal comfort for granted until you go through a period without your home heating system. Even with our fireplace and space heater, it was downright cold in the house. I don't know how the homeless cope in areas like Boston and Green Bay and I give thanks for the homeless shelters throughout the country who take in the homeless and give them a warm bed and a hot meal during the Winter months. Our church participates in a program called The Gathering Inn where the area churches take in the homeless and house them for a few nights and try to give them not only shelter, but also hope for the future. You'd think there weren't many homeless in Roseville, but it is a railroad city and the homeless still ride the rails in the empty boxcars and stop in Roseville.
My heating and air contractor had to cut a hole in my laundry room to fit the new heater up into the attic. I have attic stairs in the garage, but the new heater wouldn't fit..it was too wide for the opening. They cut an extra four inches in the former opening for the attic access that was in the utility room. I went out to Lowes this week and bought a 4'x8' length of wall board to patch the small 3' x 26" opening that needed to be repaired. I closed off the old opening and put a floor over the joists so that no one would take a fall through that opening back into the laundry room from above. I had never done any wallboard and could have used Dad's help in the project, but I muddled through it. My father-in-law, Earl, was a big help in walking me through the process. The thing that seemed to take the most time was cutting out the old wall board along the center of the joists above so that I could tack the replacement board in place. I used a wall board knife and hacked away at the old wallboard and made a Godawful mess on the floor and on the coats hanging in the utility room and all over myself as well. It looked like I was tearing down the room rather than just repairing a small piece of wallboard. I was lucky to catch Earl after I finished preparing the repair with joint mud. I had planned to let the mud dry and then put the wall board tape on. Earl set me straight that the tape was to be applied at the same time as the mud. It is dry now and I will wet sand the finish, add one more coat of mud and then wet sand it again and then texture the final product prior to painting the ceiling next weekend. I don't know how it will turn out, but it will undoubtably let less cold air into the house than the prior configuration. I added some insulation in the attic and, as I said, it is nice and warm in the house now. Unfortunately, I now have a small blood blister on the point of my right index finger that is a bit painful today.
I also had DirecTV come out last Friday and install TiVo in the house. It is the state of the art way to watch television and it seemed that our VCRs were forever having problems recording programs. We went to David's basketball game on Friday night and I Tivo'd the Kings game. We got home just after halftime and I turned on the recorded portion of the show and watched the whole game in about an hour and twenty minutes. Somehow you watch the program from the beginning and it contines to record the game through to completion and you just continue to watch it. Nice.
David is playing Power Forward on his Varsity basketball team and he has been voted a captain on the team by his teammates. He started the last game, but got into early foul trouble and watched most of the game from the bench. We have a chance to do some damage in the section this year as we have a 6'8" senior center who is dominant. He had a slam dunk in the last game that brought the house down. It will be a fun year.
I played golf on Saturday and then we had the Roseville Golf Club Christmas party that night. My golf game was not in high gear as I shot 43-47=90 out at Woodcreek Golf Course. It was in the 40's when we teed off and I hate to play golf in a coat. It was COLD. I played with Mel, Harry Wharff and Mark Konrad. Mark is the guy who always wants to bet me. Well, he made a nice haul this weekend, winning our $5 stroke play match and taking another $3 from each of the golfers on our group bet. He also won $13 in skin money. Mel shot 93, Harry shot 77 and Mark shot 86.
The dinner and party that night were great and I am now officially off the board of the Roseville Golf Club. We had a really fun night with dancing and some adult beverages and a lot of fellowship. Darla and I finally left at 11:30 and took Mark and Pam home with us. Mark had arranged for a limo to take them to the party and asked if we'd drive them home. Strangely, the limo was there waiting for them at the end of the party. The driver had no other fares and was available if they wanted a ride home. The problem was he'd sat in the parking lot watching tv and listening to music and his battery was dead. I had to give him a jump and then Mark and Pamela blew him off anyway. As Mark said, "I didn't ASK him to come and pick us up. I only arranged for travel TO the event."
I haven't heard from Jennifer since she got to Germany, but she did call and talk to her Mom and let her know she made it to Germany and was having a ball. She will be there until December 18th, when she will return to Kuwait. I hope to hear from her soon and I'll fill you in on her comings and goings when I do. I notice she hasn't added to her blog since she left.
By the way, I notice that the blog will surpass 1000 visits this week and although it is the same 3 or 4 readers and some who come in under a search engine, it is still gratifying to see that there are some folks who care to keep up with the Lyons here in California. For that, I am humbled. As I've said before, the blog allows me to purge some creativity from my soul and although I don't have the interactive juice of a pen pal as I did with my Gramp Lyon, who passed away in 1999, I still enjoy the blog and the chance to share my life with you. Take care and know that Christ IS in Christ-mas.
My heating and air contractor had to cut a hole in my laundry room to fit the new heater up into the attic. I have attic stairs in the garage, but the new heater wouldn't fit..it was too wide for the opening. They cut an extra four inches in the former opening for the attic access that was in the utility room. I went out to Lowes this week and bought a 4'x8' length of wall board to patch the small 3' x 26" opening that needed to be repaired. I closed off the old opening and put a floor over the joists so that no one would take a fall through that opening back into the laundry room from above. I had never done any wallboard and could have used Dad's help in the project, but I muddled through it. My father-in-law, Earl, was a big help in walking me through the process. The thing that seemed to take the most time was cutting out the old wall board along the center of the joists above so that I could tack the replacement board in place. I used a wall board knife and hacked away at the old wallboard and made a Godawful mess on the floor and on the coats hanging in the utility room and all over myself as well. It looked like I was tearing down the room rather than just repairing a small piece of wallboard. I was lucky to catch Earl after I finished preparing the repair with joint mud. I had planned to let the mud dry and then put the wall board tape on. Earl set me straight that the tape was to be applied at the same time as the mud. It is dry now and I will wet sand the finish, add one more coat of mud and then wet sand it again and then texture the final product prior to painting the ceiling next weekend. I don't know how it will turn out, but it will undoubtably let less cold air into the house than the prior configuration. I added some insulation in the attic and, as I said, it is nice and warm in the house now. Unfortunately, I now have a small blood blister on the point of my right index finger that is a bit painful today.
I also had DirecTV come out last Friday and install TiVo in the house. It is the state of the art way to watch television and it seemed that our VCRs were forever having problems recording programs. We went to David's basketball game on Friday night and I Tivo'd the Kings game. We got home just after halftime and I turned on the recorded portion of the show and watched the whole game in about an hour and twenty minutes. Somehow you watch the program from the beginning and it contines to record the game through to completion and you just continue to watch it. Nice.
David is playing Power Forward on his Varsity basketball team and he has been voted a captain on the team by his teammates. He started the last game, but got into early foul trouble and watched most of the game from the bench. We have a chance to do some damage in the section this year as we have a 6'8" senior center who is dominant. He had a slam dunk in the last game that brought the house down. It will be a fun year.
I played golf on Saturday and then we had the Roseville Golf Club Christmas party that night. My golf game was not in high gear as I shot 43-47=90 out at Woodcreek Golf Course. It was in the 40's when we teed off and I hate to play golf in a coat. It was COLD. I played with Mel, Harry Wharff and Mark Konrad. Mark is the guy who always wants to bet me. Well, he made a nice haul this weekend, winning our $5 stroke play match and taking another $3 from each of the golfers on our group bet. He also won $13 in skin money. Mel shot 93, Harry shot 77 and Mark shot 86.
The dinner and party that night were great and I am now officially off the board of the Roseville Golf Club. We had a really fun night with dancing and some adult beverages and a lot of fellowship. Darla and I finally left at 11:30 and took Mark and Pam home with us. Mark had arranged for a limo to take them to the party and asked if we'd drive them home. Strangely, the limo was there waiting for them at the end of the party. The driver had no other fares and was available if they wanted a ride home. The problem was he'd sat in the parking lot watching tv and listening to music and his battery was dead. I had to give him a jump and then Mark and Pamela blew him off anyway. As Mark said, "I didn't ASK him to come and pick us up. I only arranged for travel TO the event."
I haven't heard from Jennifer since she got to Germany, but she did call and talk to her Mom and let her know she made it to Germany and was having a ball. She will be there until December 18th, when she will return to Kuwait. I hope to hear from her soon and I'll fill you in on her comings and goings when I do. I notice she hasn't added to her blog since she left.
By the way, I notice that the blog will surpass 1000 visits this week and although it is the same 3 or 4 readers and some who come in under a search engine, it is still gratifying to see that there are some folks who care to keep up with the Lyons here in California. For that, I am humbled. As I've said before, the blog allows me to purge some creativity from my soul and although I don't have the interactive juice of a pen pal as I did with my Gramp Lyon, who passed away in 1999, I still enjoy the blog and the chance to share my life with you. Take care and know that Christ IS in Christ-mas.
