4th of July begets the 5th of July

Happy Tuesday. You have to revel in three day weekends, especially when the vacation hangover is still in place and I'm fighting to get my work focus back. We just closed June and although I had a down month (vacations will eat into your production), the branch made money and I receved a congratulatory call from the Underwriting VP on Friday. The Modesto office is ramping up and Gail had a solid month here in Sacramento.

I was listening to a national radio show yesterday on the way back from Folsom Lake and heard a sports announcer say that the Toronto Blue Jays did not have a game on July 4th and that was because Canadians do not have a 4th of July. Somehow, I thought we were all on the same calendar, but apparently not. Do Canadians have a July 32nd for skipping July 4th? Interesting bit of trivia or simply an act of a bufoon?

Darla and I had a nice long weekend. The boys are still on the east coast with their Dad, I believe somewhere in Washington, DC and Darla and I had to make do with just each other. We started the weekend by going out to Folsom Lake Friday night and enjoying a picnic on the beach. I let the staff go at 3 PM as it was DEAD and most of the companies and agents closed down at noon. I stayed until 4:30 and then met Darla at a parking lot close to the beach entrance. We parked my Mustang, bought some sandwiches and Darla brought drinks from home. We sat in the 100 degree heat, reading books and looking out over the lake and contemplating the free three days ahead. It was a nice start to a good holiday weekend.

I played golf in the Firecracker tournament on Saturday. We played a modified Stableford scoring system with positive points for Pars, birdies and eagles and negative points for double bogey or higher. I shot a 41+45=86 and scored 19 points. I was in the first group off and left right away as Darla and I were off to spend the night in Paradise at Darla's parent's new home. I'm guessing that my 19 points will place me in the middle of the pack. I hadn't played golf in three weeks and was rusty. My short game suffered the most, although my putter was hot. I rolled in three putts of over fifty feet, all of them for par and all on the front side. I easily could have shot 90 if not for a smoking putter.

Darla's parents new home is nothing short of spectacular. It sits in a former Apple orchard in Paradise and is part of a group of custom homes all with at least one acre of land. Their home is a single story home with the garage below the main floor and loads of storage. There are two rooms below the main living area, both used as storage. One is perfect for a root cellar and the other houses the air conditioner unit, the water heater and all of the controls for the sprinklers. They also have a water softener. The back yard is immense and has room for the fifth wheel and a separate two car garage at the rear of the property that is being used as a shop. The garage has water and is plumbed for a toilet. If they finish the construction and add the toilet, Earl could live out there. That building looks fairly new and I'd guess is only a couple of years old.

We went up to help them paint the house and joined Alicia and Darla's brother, Steve, a the house on Saturday night. Earl kept telling me he had a "special" job for me. I'm not much for painting and couldn't really sink my teeth into spending a beautiful July 4th weekend inside painting walls. Earl read me like a book and turned me loose on the nine sprinkler zones over the acre of property. Most of the sprinkler system is drip line and the former owner had used her hoe to dig up weeds and destroyed a good portion of the sprinkler lines in the process. I spent most of the day repairing the broken lines between trips to the hardware store. The rest of the gang were inside painting up a storm and I was completely in my element out in the fresh air digging in the dirt. I ended up changing out two of the sprinkler control valves and moving several of the sprinkler heads to get better coverage. The main lawn has oscillating sprinkler heads and Earl and I moved a couple of the heads to get better coverage. He still has work to do on the sprinkler system, but when we left most of the ground was covered by sprinklers and they could leave the home without fear of dying plants.

Their home is three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths with room for four cars under cover. The home has a formal dining room, a living room and a family room, a hot stove fireplace, a garbage disposal and an inside atrium off of the living room. The home is beautiful and surrounded by a lanai off the living room and master bedroom that looks down on the property. They have a dry creekbed that runs along the side of the property that will have water during the winter months. The property is large and will keep Earl busy during his retirement I'm sure.

Darla and I stayed over Saturday night on an air mattress and sleeping bags and drove home Sunday night after working all day. The home includes a jacuzzi in the master bathroom that Darla and I put through it's paces before bed. Earl and Frances are staying in the fifth wheel for right now. They are redecorating, adding paint, carpet, window coverings and some furniture prior to their move in August. The current carpet is a peach colored monstrosity and they are replacing ALL of it. The home itself is painted an almost peachlike color on the wood sided exterior and they plan on painting the exterior a more natural wood stain.

Darla and I spent the day yesterday relaxing at Folsom Lake on the beach. We bought a State parks pass for this year at $120. It is $7 per entry and the pass is good at all state parks. The lake up near Darla's parent's new home is a state park and we will get in there without paying additional entry as well. The pass is hung from the rear view mirror and David and Destanie can use the pass as well in his car. We had a very rainy winter and Folsom Lake is as full as it has been in ten years. The lake is at 94% capacity and there is very little beach left. Last year we had to drive down onto the old beach and another 300 yards down to the water. We sat yesterday under the shade of an umbrella and on our blanket reading and soaking up some sun between trips to the water to cool off. We watched the park police write up our closest neighbors on the beach for alcohol consumption. They had two gallon jugs of strawberry margaritas and the guy claimed he didn't know they had liquor in them. Usually the police just give a verbal warning and make them pour out the alcohol, but this guy bought himself a ticket for lying to the officer. We had a silent giggle over that. The group next door left shortly after their hootch was poured on the beach. Some people cannot enjoy themselves without drinking and the lake is one place that restricts alcohol. It is truly a family friendly destination as the rowdys stay away in droves. Nice.

Well, I have some pictures to add to the blog from our trip and will do that now. I hope all are well and looking to the Lord for direction in your lives. Remember, God does allow U-turns. Ciao.

Back to the Grind..Oy Vey!

There is no getting around it. Vacation is over and the reality of bills and college and responsibility trump the sweet memories of ukeleles, mango fruit juice and the sound of pounding surf.

Some random thoughts regarding our vacation. Darla forgot to renew her license in the days leading up to David's graduation and our vacation and was pulled out of line at the security checkpoint in SF and subjected to intense screening by the TSA. Her carryons were hand searched and she was frisked before being allowed to move to our gate. The line in San Francisco was long and she actually moved through screening faster than we did. The odd thing is, she somehow had a pocket knife in one of the zippered compartments of her purse that was missed in the intense screening. Makes you feel really safe on domestic flights in the US, eh? We attended a small church in Hanalei last Sunday. The church is pastored by a former bad boy who turned his life over to Christ. He's a bit of a beach bum with longer hair, but a true perspective on the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ. The church had about 13 attenders and we brought the total up to 17 on Father's Day. They even gifted me with a bag of Reeses peanut butter cups when we left. It was good music and a real laid back, beach feeling which added to our vacation and was a blessing to us. I had to drive everywhere on the island as I wasn't about to pay the surcharge for an 18 year old driver and Darla was sans a valid driver's license. Darla did not face the added security on the flight out of Lihue in Kauai as they simply looked at her expired license and waived her through. Things are certainly more laid back on the islands. I'll put the Hawaii trip away in my box of memories. I will add a few pictures to the blog when I finally get around to it.

I am going into some serious withdrawal pangs from golf. I haven't played since June 11th and will finally tee it up again on Saturday in our Firecracker tournament prior to the 4th of July. We had to go to Sonora on Saturday to wish Darla's sister-in-law, Kristin, and her niece, Shae, a fond farewell as they are moving to the big island of Hawaii in Hilo to look for work. Darla's brother, Steve, will retire from his bread job in September and join his family in Hawaii. Why? Who knows, a middle age crisis or a true calling to live in Hawaii. I don't know. We will be able to visit them on our next trip to Hawaii, when we can take a week in our condo and then a week at their place on the big island. Kristin just graduated from college and will look for work in the social services field in Hawaii. I was invited to play golf by Mark Konrad on Saturday, but his tee time was 9 am and I had to leave about 1:30 for Sonora. I grudgingly passed on the opportunity.

Darla's parents, Earl and Frances, have sold the family farm in Linden and will move to a new home on one acre in Paradise, California (outside Chico) in August. They take possesion of the new home this coming weekend and will be up painting the house. We are excited for them as this will force Earl to finally retire. He retired from his construction job a few years ago, but the orchard continued to demand alot of his time and energy. This is a huge step in his life and Earl is going kicking and screaming. I think he knows in his heart that this is the right move, but a farmer is a farmer and most never really retire. The land is in their blood and it's one reason that they bought a home with some acreage. I can't see Earl happy in the middle of suburbia. Currently, his closest neighbor is about 5 acres away from his home and he likes it that way. Darla and I may venture up to the new homestead this weekend as they will be working on the home. We'll pack up some grilling meat of some kind on July 4th and head up to see them. Their new home is close to Lake Oroville and on the way up to Lake Almanor. Earl and Frances had thought about buying a home in Almanor, but when they realized that the region gets some serious snowfall in the winter decided to take a second look and settled on Paradise. The town has a reputation as a retirement area. I do have an agent in the area and will stop in and see them once they are moved in.

Both Darla and the boys have had a hard time with the move and will miss the farm. The boys have spent a great deal of time there the past year helping Earl with some construction and on the farm itself. Darla lived there during her high school years and Daniel lived there when he came home from the hospital as Darla and her ex were separated at the time. We hope to make it up to the farm for a barbecue and swim party before they move.

Work was actually pretty well handled between Anthony on the new business side and Connie on the renewals and endorsements. I have about 28 applications on my desk, which really isn't bad. The problem is that I have some reports to do from a management perspective which interrupts my ability to handle the load. Both Pete and Audra have started with us (our new underwriter and AR person). I will take Audra to lunch today to welcome her. She handles my set-ups of new business and I have to spend a little time getting her on the same page as me. Dinda taught her how to handle the desk and made my set ups a secondary priority. I have to impress upon her that income pays her salary and anything we can do to streamline the revenue flow, the better it is for her.

Gail will be taking off most of July between vacation and some elective surgery. I need to get Peter up to speed, but also need to get him into a licensing class and off to Scottsdale to meet our number one company and the underwriters there. Emery Jensen was our boss at Republic Western and runs the Western region for Scottsdale, so will take good care of Pete.

I haven't heard from Jennifer in awhile. She called to wish me a Happy Father's Day, but her message got cut off. "Jenn, call your Dad!" I want to talk to you about your trip home and just get caught up on what's going on in your life.

The boys are off to Philadelphia, Washington and New York. David called last night and said he was just finishing a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. His luggage didn't make it on the plane and they were still waiting for that to show up. It sounds like they are having a good time with their Dad, which is good.

It was great to be back in church yesterday. The new executive pastor gave the message and he talked about Fear being the "darkroom where negatives are developed". I liked that and found it so appropriate to life in general. I hope that you are all well and looking to the light of the Lord, who casts out the darkness and the darkrooms in each of our lives. Be well. Ciao.

We are Back!!!

I'm adding to this on Thursday night as I know my Friday back to work will be Hell on wheels. Darla checked in today and had 42 messages. I had called in on Tuesday to get an address and to check in and my assistant wouldn't talk to me. She has been stressed and said she would wait until Friday to talk to me. Hopefully, she isn't quitting. In truth, I think she just didn't want to rain on my vacation and figured that anything that was on the burner could wait two days.

We had a great time and I'm a little sad that it's over, but we took some good memories from the trip and I know the boys had a blast. We stayed in San Francisco on Saturday night before our Sunday flight and my good friend, Mel Tobias, who owns the inspection company that I use at work, took the family out to dinner at the Elephant Bar in Millbrae. We ate to our heart's content and Mel and his wife, Trish, sent us off on our vacation in style. I called to get his address as we wanted to send a post card from the family to thank them for their generosity.

We were able to do many activities on our trip and they included, in no particular order, snorkeling, surfing, driving trip to Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of Hawaii), a 4 hour ATV trip through a 22,000 acre private ranch )that was the setting for Jurassic Park, Mighty Joe Young, King Kong, 8 days-7 nights, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many other Hollywood films), body surfing, boogie boarding, suntanning, a luau and polynesian show, spending time at the swimming pools, shopping, eating, sleeping and more. It was a jam packed ten days and worth the cost of our trip. The ATV trip was the highlight for me. David got pulled over by the owner of the ATV tour and told that he was hot dogging. He was fishtailing a little on the practice trail. We all laughed at him as he was IN TROUBLE. David and I rode four wheelers, nice Kawasaki newer bikes. Daniel and Darla rode a Hippo, which is a four wheel, two passenger ATV. It had a little more horsepower than the ATVs and they had to ride at the end of the line. David and I rode directly behind the women as the tour operator put all of the gals at the front followed by the men. Dave and I would slow down and pretend that we were repositioning our helmets and face rags (it was dusty on the trail) and then we'd go full out down the hills and over the rocks. David got his bike up to 44 miles an hour on the straightaway and I pegged out at 39. My bike had a governor on it. At one point Dave and I were both going full throttle and the group had come to a stop around a bend. We both had to lock up our brakes to stop in time. The trip was excellent and they took us to the top of a hill overlooking another private ranch and private beach. In truth there are no private beaches in Hawaii, but this beach is only accessible by water as the land around it is all private. The boats have to dock thirty yards from shore and the surf is rough, so the only beach users are the family that owns the ranch. The beach was the scene of King Kamehameha's sole attack on Kauai. Kauai is the only island that Kamehameha never conquered, as his troops were overcome with disentary and overwhelmed by Kauai's forces on the beach. Kauai was eventually included under Kamehameha's rule, but only through diplomacy. Kamehameha controlled the shipping lanes and goods were not making it to Kauai and the ruler decided to switch rather than fight and was made the governor of Kauai by the King.

Darla and I did attend two time share presentations in order to reduce the cost of the ATV tour and the Luau. We do intend to buy another week on Kauai as we want two weeks every other year, but with David in school and Daniel getting close, that will have to wait. I feel very good about our condo in Princeville. It is the oldest and has the largest square footage of all of the condos. The two bedroom that we upgraded to from our one bedroom is huge and has two master bedrooms and a gigantic living area. All of the other condos in Princeville are multi-family units with six-plexes being the norm. The two bedrooms at the Makai Club are stand alone units. One of the nice features is that we have windows on all sides of the unit so that the trade winds can blow throuh and cool off the unit. Our condo was right next to the pool and was a handicap unit. The bathroom in our bedroom was huge and made so that a wheelchair could turn easily in the room. I'm glad that we had a week in the two bedroom unit, because the one bedroom that we moved to in Lihue was much smaller. The boys had to share a fold out sleeper and their clothes and towels were everywhere. I got an impression of what it would be like to live at their Dad's house and it wasn't pleasant. The second resort was part of the Radisson and had five pools including a sand bottom pool, three tennis courts, two restaurants, three bars and two jacuzzis. They had a hula group and band playing the first night that we checked in and I sat in the hot tub and watched the show. It was great.

We did give the boys surf lessons and they both did well. They were both upset that the surf was so small on Hanalei Beach where they took the lessons, but they were soon to find out how good it was there. They were both up and surfing within fifteen minutes. We rented a board later in the week along with a carrier for the top of the SUV. I rented a Jeep Laredo for the ten days and it was plenty big for our two six footers. We took them out to Shipwreck's Beach and they got to watch the local surfer champions take on some huge waves and they really enjoyed it. The next day we went to a beach on the west side of the island with six-foot waves and neither of them could even row the board out to the waves as they kept getting pushed back.

We took them to Duke's beach next to the Marriott and they were both able to ride some four-foot swells. David got his feet cut up on some coral and was fighting scabs for the rest of the trip. Duke's is a beach made famous by Hawaii's first Olympic champion and he runs a bar and restaurant there now. We ate dinner at Duke's one night. Darla and the boys enjoyed body surfing at Dukes as the waves are big and really pound you. I read my book and took in all of the surroundings.

I did enjoy snorkeling and we bought two sets of snorkel gear that we brought home with us. Kauai has some of Hawaii's best snorkel beaches, including Anini Beach, Tunnels Beach and Ke'e Beach. My favorite was Ke'e at the end of the raod north of Hanalei. The beach itself is beautiful white sand and the snorkeling is great with huge reefs and coral and an abundance of sea life. Darla and David were surprised by a seven foot sea turtle that happened by while they were snorkeling. Daniel and I were able to run out and get a close up view of the huge beast. It was definitely a sight to see.

Finally, we did enjoy a luau on Monday night with all you can eat barbecue, featuring a pig cooked in an Emu pit for fifteen hours. We dutifully tried Poi and decided that it would be handy if you ever needed to glue something in a hurry. It was flaverless, but the consistency of Elmer's glue and a dull shade of purple. Yuck. I had a few mai tais and a Hawaiian beer as the drinks were included. David and Daniel enjoyed the dancing with girls in grass skirts and coconut bikinis. It was a great show and again we truly enjoyed ourselves.

Darla and I saw more of the island on this trip than we did in 2003 and we stayed busy. The boys were worn out by Tuesday and sat in the room and watched tv Tuesday afternoon while Darla and I went to the pool. We used up three tanks of gas in ten days, so we were definitely moving.

You'll notice that GOLF was not on the agenda. I had hoped to play in one of the 9 hole tournaments, but we were busy and the focus this trip was more on the boys and doing things as a family. It was tough. Our condo in Princeville is adjacent to 45 holes of championship golf and I had to swallow hard not to play. What a grownup I am, eh?

The boys have returned home to their Dad's and will leave Saturday for a two week trip to Washington, DC, New York City and Philadelphia. Not my idea of a vacation, but to each his own.

I will write more later and I'll get a couple of pictures from the trip on the blog. It's good to be back, but I'm sure mountains of work await me tomorrow. I like the idea of going back to work on a Friday to get the lay of the land. I hope you all are well. I'm excited that Jennifer will be home next month and plan to take a day off and maybe Darla and I will take her back up to Reno to spend the night. Ciao.

Next week we will be in Paradise!!

I'm referring to Hawaii and not the new home of Darla's parents. The hits keep on coming at work. I'm trying to hire a new underwriter and the CEO of the company has been brought in and is nickle and diming my candidate. We could lose this deal and I'd be back at square one. Hopefully, we can pull this together this week and get him hired. Now, my accounting person has given me her resignation and I'm trying to hire someone there as well. The CFO of the company has called me and told me that he wants final say on any candidate. Nothing like full autonomy to get the job done.

The weather has finally turned to Summer and the constant rain of the last two months is past. It was weird weather in that we would get the rain and wind and then it would be 90 degrees for two days and then another storm would roll in. Our blood was thinning and thickening and finally matasticizing into a gel-like state.

I am back to work after taking the last half of last week at an Insurance event in Eureka (Humboldt County). Darla was able to join me and it made the trip so much nicer. To begin with, the drive is 5 1/2 hours. We drove up through Redding and then took Highway 299 through the mountains and over to the coast. It is a nice drive, but pretty windy through the mountain pass. The drive was much nicer with my Mustang last year than with the Explorer this year. Darla was getting a little testy on the latter part of the drive as the curves were turning her stomach and she thought I was driving a little fast. Maybe I was. We had a cocktail reception on Wednesday evening at the Ingomar house in Eureka. The Ingomar was a private residence built by one of the lumber barons at the turn of the century (1900, not 2000). It is now a private club owned by about 350 of the movers and shakers of Eureka. The home is a palatial three-story, 5000 square foot home with magnificent views of the bay and a small turret on the fourth floor of the home (the attic) where Mrs. ingomar set up a telescope and would watch for her husband to return from the sea as he made trips to sell his lumber.

Thursday was the golf tournament. Darla spent the day shopping in Eureka and Arcata, two towns lost in the sixties. Darla said that she saw more dreadlocks and hippies in those towns than she's seen in years. The golf tournament is played at Baywood, a private course in the foothills outside of Eureka. I was able to play my own ball and struggled to a 44+44=88. The problem wasn't the conditions or the course, but the alcohol and partying. Each hole was set up with a different theme. They had the Mardi Gras hole with Jagermeister and jello shots, the Manhattan hole, the Margarita hole, the wine and cheese hole, and the barbecued oyster hole which featured Coronitas, the little eight ounce Coronas. There were five groups backed up on the hole and they were dancing and listening to Jimmy Buffett. Groups were waving others through and it was a nightmare. The rythmn of golf was not present. Darla met me for dinner and they had a nice prime rib and chicken picata. We enjoyed the festivities and I left with a new golf jacket, won in the raffle.

We stayed over Thursday night and I drove home after a late breakfast. We drove back up Highway 101 and I took a detour to drive throught the Valley of the Giants in the Redwood National Park. I wanted to drive through the famous "drive-thru tree". We took in the beauty of the forest and drove through dense trees and tunnels of foliage, but no drive-thru tree. We finally drove into a little town and saw the sign "Drive-thru tree 200 feet". We drove right past the little town and saw no tree. I turned around and saw the gift shop and novelty store and saw an admission entrance for the "drive-thru tree". It was $1.50 per person to walk or drive thru the tree. There was no one at the admission booth, so we drove on and there sat a tree about 12 foot in diameter in which the owner had carved a 7'x7' crude tunnel through the tree. I was about to drive thru when Darla stopped me. The carving was sideways and rough at best and she was afraid we'd get stuck. I backed up and drove out. There was an older woman standing near the admission booth with her hands on her hips staring me down as I drove out of the little "rip off" den and got back on the highway. Darla and I were howling with laughter. That tree was a sad state of affairs and we wonder how many SUVs have been wedged into that tree over the years. We drove on and saw the turn off to the actual drive-thru tree about eight miles later, but drove past having had enough fun for one day.

We drove back through Highway 20 and past Clear Lake on our way home. It was a nice drive punctuated by the soft snores of Darla as I drove on and she slept on.

We came back late Friday afternoon and had a graduation party for David scheduled for Saturday night. I answered my e-mail to find an invitation to play golf on Saturday morning. I so wanted to rid myself of the Eureka golf experience and Darla was gracious enough to allow me to play. We teed off at nine and I was back home by 2:00 PM. I played with Boyd and Mel and shot a stellar 37+40=77, much better and more to my standards. It was nice to wash myself clean of the drunken party that stood in for a golf tournament earlier in the week.

David's party went well. We had about thirty people, including Destanie's parents. Her Dad is Justin and a longer haired musician type with a soul patch and bleach blonde hair. A great Christian man on fire for the Lord. He thinks David is great and told us stories of David asking him to date Destanie. Earl and Justin hit it off as both worked as Construction Foremen and had similar experiences with the trades. Steve's wife, Kirsten, mistook Justin for one of David's friends, thrilling him to no end. David made a nice haul with his graduation gifts which were over $1,500 at the last count. Daniel wanted to have a party to celebrate graduating from the tenth grade after watching David's party. I told him "Fat chance."

Well, work awaits. The blog will be on vacation along with us for the next two weeks. I hope you are all well, happy and one with the Lord. Be kind to each other. Sorry that Dad and Shirley, Jennifer, and Earl and Frances couldn't join us in Kauai, but we will have plenty of good times in your stead. Ciao.

Memorial Day

The sun is out and warming the landscape. It should be mid-eighties today and we have a picnic planned with our life group from church. The nice thing is that the picnic starts at 4:00 PM and even better, it is at the park across the street from our house.

I'd like to offer a prayer of thanks to the men and women of the military, the ones who bravely serve us now and the ones who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for this country. There was a story in the paper of a 22 year-old soldier who served in Fallujah and threw his helmet over a live grenade at a checkpoint and then covered the helmet with his body. He was a platoon leader and saved his squad from injury, but died when an eraser sized piece of shrapnel pierced his skull. He was home at Christmas and told his parents that he was going to extend his four years of service until his unit finished it's tour in Fallujah. His mom asked him if he wanted his dress blues at his funeral and he said, "Yes". The amazing thing is that his little brother, who is 17 wants to be A Marine as well.

Darla and I enjoyed the San Francisco Giants game on Saturday at SBC Park in San Francisco. Our inspection company invited Anthony and I and our significant others to the game. We met for lunch at Amici's across from the ballpark and then walked across the street and watched the game. It was about 68 degrees in SF and the Giants lost. We hiked back to our car to find our front right tire flat. Our host had left and Anthony and Erin were leaving for Santa Maria. We sent them on their way and called AAA. AAA was not helpful in that they directed us to the services booth at Lot A. The Giants run a tow truck service and they unlock cars and change tires and tow if necessary. We hiked all the way back to lot A to find that the tow truck had not shown for this game. We called AAA back and they argued with us, before Darla finally let them have it. They finally sent a truck and he changed our tire. The tire had a large bolt in the tread. We got home about 7:00PM. It was a long day.

Today, we took the tire in to Firestone. I was afraid that they wouldn't repair the tire due to the fact that we have 49,000 miles on the tires and, true to form, they called to say that the tread was too thin to repair. So, now we sit waiting for the $550 worth of tires to be installed and balanced and a front-end alignment to be done. Hey, it's only money.

Work has turned into a chore with not only Gwen, one of the Commercial Underwriters having quit, but Dinda, my Accounts Receivable person having given her two weeks notice. Dinda has had health issues and now has a tumor in her stomach about the size of a softball. She will work until June 15th and then fly to the Phillipines for surgery. Dinda is the sister of Cora, Mel's wife, and an Underwriting Assistant in the office. I'll miss Dinda and wish her a speedy recovery. It was like piling on this past week after Gwen gave her notice. Dinda felt so bad, but I told her I was numb and I was only worried about her. Not true, I'm worried about replacing her, but it will all work out in the wash.

On the positive side, I did meet with Peter Morrison and I think we will nail him down this week. Pete worked for me at Republic Western. It is a frustrating experience, in that I will be paying Peter more than I make, but my bonus situation is much more lucrative. It's just frustrating in that I have to beg, plead and cajole to get anything for myself and it seems they bend over backward for others. Pete will be a great addition to the office. Gwen was the least engaged Underwriter I had. Her territory is beginning to take off and Pete should be able to keep the momentum going as he is a new business machine. He knows the agents so well in the territory and is very well liked.

David's graduation went pretty good on Friday night. Destanie even joined us and watched the boredom as 460 seniors were graduated. I know it is a rite of passage for the kids, but the ceremony lasted two hours in the blazing sun and we had to listen to the valedictorians quote Hercules, Cinderella and even Alladin. I thought I'd fallen asleep and awakened at an 8th grade graduation. Both of the female speakers quoted Cinderella and Hercules. What's up with that?

David and Destanie then went out with some friends bowling. I got to know Destanie a bit better over the interminable two hours of the ceremony. She is a very responsible young lady from a close Christian family. She will graduate next year and then enter a one-year missions program, where she will train for four months in Hawaii and then travel overseas for eight months on a missions trip.

I will update this blog but one more time before we head off to Hawaii. The trip cannot come fast enough especially with the problems at work. I just want to get away and relax on a beach and forget about the problems of dealing with employees. People just tend to care about themselves and my only joy in the Gwen situation is that I know the guy she is going to work for and he overpays his people because he is a tyrant. He is a rager and tends to blow up in the office about once a month. He is the nicest guy other than that problem, but he usually loses an employee every time he has one of his fits. He ends up screaming at an employee and then apologizing and trying to buy them off with extra vacation or a gift. Good luck, Gwen. Will I miss her? Well, I didn't try to match her salary or keep her if that's any indication.

Take care and be well. Ciao.

David and Destanie Prom 2005

Graduations and Proms

I am exhausted as I sit and write on a Monday morning. The trials of work are such that I'd like to get on that plane and fly to Hawaii right now and just stay there. I was out last week in Philadelphia after Tuesday and I had five of the eleven staff members either sick or out during the time that I was gone. I'm not happy with that and then I open my e-mail to find not only a note from one of the underwriters to say that she will be off a month in July for a hysterectomy, but an e-mail from another resigning as of June 3rd. Hey, welcome back.

The trip to Philly was much too short and much too rushed. On top of everything, I got hit with a horrible case of food poisoning (And I'm not suggesting that there is a tremendous case of food poisoning out there). I flew out at six am on Wednesday and stopped in Phoenix for an hour. I then boarded another plane to Philadelphia and arrived at 5:55 PM. Our Phoenix Branch Manager was on the same flight and we were met by one of the Marketing Managers at USLI, the company hosting our meetings. The problem was that the manager called us on the cell phone and told us he'd be driving a green pickup. It turns out it was a green Suburban. The fellow is Irish and he considers any SUV or truck a pickup truck. We finally met up with him after about forty-five minutes of waiting. He took us directly to dinner at a country club in Villanova. The dinner was nice and we finally got to the hotel at about nine-thirty. We had a full day of meetings on Thursday and then gathered for dinner at the CEO of USLI Tom Nierny's estate again in Villanova, near the University. His house is a five-level mansion with eight bedrooms and over 12,500 square feet. Dinner was stuffed shrimp, stuffed chicken and stuffed filet minon. It was the latter animal that caused my heartache. The only thing I drank that night was a glass of Amstel Light, a glass of Pinot Noir with dinner and a Bailey's coffee after dinner.

I woke up with a horrible stomachache at about twelve-thirty and went ten rounds with the devil over the next three or four hours. It was brutal and dehydrating (if you get my drift) and there was even some good that came out of it. I lost eight pounds in the ordeal (imagine the exorcist). The worst part was that I had a six-hour flight the next day. I took the morning round of meetings off as I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I got up about eight-thirty and showered and drank half a bottle of water. Big mistake. (Think out-of-control fire hose). I finally roused myself at eleven after going back to bed and called over to the meetings for a ride. I sat in on the afternoon sessions, sore and tired and completely uncontent.

The flight home was brutal as I sweated and tossed and turned on the five-hour flight from Philly to Phoenix. I arrived and had a few odd stares as I walked off the plane. I walked in to the men's room and saw my hair worked into a spike from leaning against the window and trying to sleep. The sweat and tears caused my hair to spike up like Martin Short's. I combed myself back into simply a weary traveler and was able to slowly coax a half sandwich down and it stayed put. I drank some Sprite and walked to the next plane. I arrived back in Sac at 11:50 PM and waited for my luggage. One piece showed up rather quickly, but my main case did not show. I called Darla to warn her that I'd pulled the bonehead traveler move of packing my car keys in my suitcase and could she drive down with the other set of keys? I waited in line at the baggage counter of America West for twenty-five minutes and finally put in my claim. My bag was found at the carousel in Phoenix and would be on the next plane out in the morning.

Darla showed up none too pleased with her oafish husband and I got home about 1:30, which was 4:30 Philly time. Nice trip, eh?

David had a fun filled weekend with his prom and several dates with Destanie. I sent some pictures to family and will post a picture on my blog today. They had a great time and danced the night away. David took our Explorer and brought another couple from his Church youth group with them. They ended the night at Josh's house in the spa...under adult supervision. Destanie brought sparkling cider and snacks for the trip and a change of clothes for the dance. Her long gown didn't allow her to dance, so she changed into a short skirt and was able to have some fun at the dance. She is a lovely Christian girl and I'm very happy for David. Darla asked if she was his girlfriend and David said, "If that happens, there will be an announcement." (Typical David) He spent Friday night at a youth event with her, Saturday at the Prom and Sunday they went to see the new Star Wars movie. An announcement seems imminent to me.

No golf this weekend, but that's a good thing as I was convalescing. I won't play in the tournament next weeknd either, but have one of my suppliers with tickets to the
Giant's game on Saturday May 28th at SBC Park in SF. We will have lunch in SF and then go over to the game. Darla is going, along with Anthony and his girlfreind and the supplier and his girlfriend. It should be fun.

The weather has heated up here (90 degrees) and I have a bit of a sunburn. I need to get a base tan before we head to Kauia. Well, that's it, folks. Not much news, but I've got a small ton of work awaiting me and now I need another underwriter. Will the joy ever stop? Keep your eyes on the Lord and your heart will follow. Ciao.

Everybody's Having a Birthday

It is mid-May and what that means in our world, is that it is birthday time. Today is Darla's birthday and the birthday of her five-year younger twin, Alicia. Tomorrow is David's eighteenth birthday. For Daniel and I, we just try to stay out of the way this week. I am taking the gang, including Alicia, to dinner at Buca Di Beppo tonight in Roseville. Daniel and I are the only ones not having a birthday, so I guess we are picking up the bill.

The weekend just passed was one of intense heat (88 degrees) on Saturday, followed by a drizzly, humid rainfest yesterday. I got rained on in the last day of the three day tournament, but managed a spirited 83. The effort was for naught, as I had laid a huge egg on Saturday with a 92. I had gone from a gross 80 to a net 80 in one week. I was coming off a week of illness. I suffered from chills and fever during the middle part of the week and almost missed a day of work. I probably should have stayed home, but the work doesn't do itself. I was feeling fine by Saturday, but the lethargy hit during the round and I slogged around in the heat to a 45+47=92 which effectively ended my bid for a win in the tournament. I was pleased with my comeback in poor conditions yesterday and shot 42+41=83. The theme of a three day tournament is consistency and I didn't manage that at all. C'est la Vie.

I have been working with my dentist on a crown for one of my rear molars for over a month now. He has twice ordered my crown from the lab. The first attempt had a pinhole in it, which wasn't discovered until the crown was in my mouth and the adhesive was bleeding through to the top of the crown. The dentist wiped it off twice and finally pulled the crown and looked at it under the light and found the hole. On the second try, I didn't even make it to the dentist's office. They called to tell me the crown was in and I jokingly told the dentist to check the crown under an intense light before I came in. They called later to say the doctor wasn't happy with the casting and was sending it back again. I'm getting a little anxious as I wait. I'll be in Philly on Wednesday-Friday at a Manager's meeting with one of our carriers and I'm wearing a bottle cap on my back tooth. The doctor is off this week as his daughter is graduating college down in SoCal. I'll have to wait until next week and hope the temporary stays put.

Today is breezy and the clouds have departed for the moment. We have a chance of rain and isolated thundershowers this afternoon so the weather is not over yet. We have had a very rainy Spring thus far and I fear that we will jump from Winter to Summer once the weather changes. Saturday was a taste of the heat and it was a little too much too soon. I'd like about a month of 72-77 degrees for awhile. Fat chance.

Darla is off today and will scrap book and paint her nails and sleep and do anything that fits her mind. She is a believer in taking your birthday off, because no one else gives a rip that it's your birthday, so you might as well indulge yourself. Good and accurate attitude.

Darla got me again on Saturday. I came off the course tired and sweaty and frustrated and came home to the news that she had a racquetball court setup for 6:15 PM. I sunk into the spa for a few minutes to let my joints relax and then sat in a lounge chair and dried off in the sun. I then did some chores..clearing out the gutters in preparation for the next round of rain. I also trimmed the hedge beside the shed as it was growing above the level of the shed again and looking scraggly. I also trimmed some bushes in the back yard. By then I was completely miserable because of the heat and my own weariness and we went to the gym. I managed to squeak out the first game 15-11 and was toast. Darla beat me 15-8 in the second game and I had no juice left for a third game and we left tied 1 game a piece. Darla loves to set up those racquetball games after I golf. She knows that I won't dare say no to playing. The exercise is great, but I hadn't eaten since breakfast and was very low on energy.

Work is progressing nicely. Management has finally come back and offered me some additional compensation for all of my extra work in the office. It's about time. I'm off to Philadelphia this week and then will take Darla with me to Eureka the end of this month. I'll be there for a golf tournament and we will stay at the Red Lion hotel in Eureka. It's a long drive from here and it will be nice to have Darla's company on the trip. Hopefully the weather is good. The Pacific Northwest can be a bit tricky weatherwise, especially on the coast of far Northern California in late May. We'll be able to enjoy some good meals together and have some quality time away.

We leave for Hawaii in 26 days; three weeks from this coming weekend. I am really looking forward to the vacation. I will not bring my golf clubs this trip, but told Darla that I will probably still play once or twice. The Makai club where we have our condo is part of the Princeville golf club and there is an 18 hole Makai Club course that backs up to our condo. The club has a nine-hole tournament weekly and I think I'll sign up to play in one of the tournaments while we are there.

I only have one golf tournament left before we leave. I've decided NOT to play in the Memorial tournament and will spend some time with Darla. We may go out of town or just to the beach if the weather is good. I will, however, play in the Net Amateur tournament on June 11th. I've already arranged with the handicapper to play in the 1st group of that tournament. We leave for San Francisco that afternoon, where we will stay overnight prior to our Sunday morning flight from SF to Kauai. The hotel will put us up for the night, transport us to the airport and hold our car for up to two weeks, all for $129.99. Not bad. The airport charges $30 a day to garage your car alone. Darla and I stayed at the same hotel on our honeymoon, when we flew to Mexico. We will take the boys to a Chinese food restaurant that we like down the road from the hotel.

I was able to make it to church yesterday before my golf tourament, which was a blessing. It was the Global day of prayer yesterday and perhaps God smiled on me as I regained my abilities after imploding on Saturday. Jackson Sonyonga, the African missionary, said that we are lazy in America. He said that we all get together as churches and have a National Day of Prayer. He said it is like ganging up on the devil, collectively punching him and then running away to hide for another year. We need more prayer in this country and you will never stand so tall as when you kneel to pray. Is God calling you to pray more? Think about it? Ciao.

Mother's Day is every day

The weekend has been recorded in history and a new week becons me. We had rain yesterday. In fact, it rained from Saturday night until early this morning, but today has dawned refreshed and new with a high blue sky and hardly a cloud in the sky to mar the landscape. This storm brought some wind along with the rain and there are branches and leaves down on the lawns and in the parking lot. The park across the street from our house, with its abundance of trees, left the street in front of our home littered with leaves and branches as well. This storm is destined to pass into the merest of memories after another supposed round of rain today as the forecast is for temperatures in the eighties by the end of the week. I have a busy week and chose the six-inch mug for my coffee this morning which is about a mug and a half. I have four mugs that are mine in the cupboard in the kitchen and often Mondays require the large mug.

I had a tremendous weekend bookended by poker on Saturday night and the celebration of Darla on Sunday night. The boys and I cooked a dinner of chicken and ribs last night and we each prayed a prayer of Thanks to God for the influence of Darla in our lives. We ended the meal by Darla reading the first chapter of Genesis. It was a great time of family togetherness followed by the boys cleaning the kitchen which was heaven to Darla as she lay on the couch and relaxed after dinner.

I made enough money (about $45) at poker to fund golf and lunch on Saturday. We had ten players at this game and had to split off to two tables. Anthony joined me along with his brother and Mel came along as well. Greg Wanee, a friend from the golf club, joined me as I picked him up and we drove over to the game together. Greg just got back from ten days in Kauai and I was picking his brain over activities that he and Carla did while they were on the island. Greg stayed on the Lihue side of the island, the "sun" side as it is known. Our condo is on the Princeville side of the island or the "rainy" side. The Princeville side is also the lush, garden side of the island and it is ripe with vegetation and small rivers and tributaries. The mountain on Kauai is the rainiest spot on Earth and it rains constantly at the top of the mountain. Like many of the islands in Hawaii, Princeville receives almost daily rain, usually in the morning and it clears off by late morning. The mountains above Princeville are so thick with vegetation and waterfalls (there are over 1000 waterfalls on the island) that it creates it's own weather systems and rain is omnipresent at the higher elevations. Greg and Carla will get together with Darla and I for dinner in the coming weeks to look at their pictures and talk restaurants and activities on the island.

Golf was great on Saturday. I played with Mel and Boyd Robertson. Boyd always has a good effect on my game and again, he settled me into a groove and I shot 38 on the front side with two birdies in the first five holes. I struggled a bit on the back and had a double-bogey 5 on the par three 12th after skulling my drive into the hazard and having to take a drop. I parred the next hole and then had four straight bogeys before finishing with a par on the tough 18th hole. I shot 42 on the back for an 80, my best tournament score of the year and a net of 67. The tournament is a three-day individual stroke play championship and it feels good to be out of the gate with a good opening round score. Where was this last weekend in the Amateur championship? I lipped out three putts on the backside that could have dropped my score to a 77. There is room for improvement, as always.

Darla and I had to dodge the rain puddles yesterday to get to church. The youth were putting on the service and it's frankly never my favorite day at church when the kids get up on stage and put their fingers in their mouth and stand there not singing. The Moms and grandparents loved it and the youth pastor had a strong message about coming to God with a childlike faith. Saturday night we had the showing of the DVD from the Mexico trip. The boys were highlighted in many of the clips and David stole the show in a game called "The Russian Elephant" where the kids would lean down and form a human table and they would then stack as many kids on the backs of the lower group as the could and then run across a finish line. David made a running start and landed on the backs of about seven other kids and was at the third level. He landed like a rider on an elephant and waved his arms like he was the Red Baron. The height that he got on takeoff was what was amazing. I got to see Destinae (it's pronounced Destiny, but spelled differently to fool you), although David didn't think to introduce her to me. I also saw her father, who is about 35 and looks like one of the actors on Summerland. He has longer hair and it is bleached blonde and he plays lead guitar in the youth band. I don't think we'll be hanging out. Destinae's family is very involved in the church and her father was the lead contractor on the Mexico trip.

Jennifer called yesterday.!! Yes, my daughter called to wish her step-mother a happy Mother's day. I hadn't talked to her in at least two months and we had a nice, long visit. Jennifer has decided to skip coming home in July and cut her tour in Kuwait short by 44 days. She will be home for good in late September. Jennifer is still contemplating what to do with her life, she's not sure if she's going back to school or getting a job or both. She's not even sure that she'll be living in California. One of her girlfriends is housesitting a home in Las Vegas that is owned by the former piano player for Frank Sinatra. It is a small castle and Sara has invited Jennifer to come and live with her and her daughter there. I know that Jenn will at least go and visit Sara when she gets home. She will need to blow off some steam before settling into her work life. The nice thing is that she'll be paid by the Army through November. I suggested to Darla that Jennifer could work as a recruiter with the Army and go to school at night. She still has designs on being a teacher. As I've said before, the world is Jennifer's oyster. I think she should go up and visit Dad and Shirley in Canada when she gets home. Relax. Recharge and make some decisions on the course of her life. It's an exciting time for her.

Well, the gang is all here and I need to set a good example for the troops by hoeing into the work on my desk. I have to leave early today to get the final setting of a crown in my mouth at the dentist. I've been living with this bottle cap for about three weeks and I'm ready for the final product. Be well. Learn to approach God with a childlike faith and childlike need for security and comfort. He is the ultimate source of Love, strength and security. Ciao.

Reality Stinks

Another weekend has come and gone and we are another week closer to our trip to Hawaii. The weather was awesome over the weekend, not overly warm, but I embrace Spring and 72-75 degrees is wonderful this time of year. It was closer to 77 degrees yesterday and it got a little warm as I sat out in a reclining chair on the back patio with a glass of iced tea and a book and relaxed in the afternoon.

I did play in the Roseville City Amateur this past weekend and the truth of the matter is that reality bites. Both golf courses were set up with the tees at the far tips and the pins in the toughest positions on the greens. Not on one or two holes, mind you, but on the entire course. The best golfers from the region (myself NOT included) were all there and some came from the Bay Area and Reno to play in the tournament. I shot 45+40=85 on Saturday at Diamond Oaks and came in with a net 73, good for third place in my flight. I was happy to be able to turn around my front side and felt confident going in to Sunday. Well, in spite of a tremendous day, I struggled out of the gate and shot 47+44 for 91 at Woodcreek. The group that I was playing with shot 98, 94, 91 and 89 and the 89 was a 4 handicapper. The course was just brutal. I took fifth in my flight and finished out of the money, but had a great time and would do it again. One of the guys in my group hit a wicked slice on one hole into the hazard. We all went down and were helping him look for his ball and I came across a group of rattlesnakes out sunning themselves on an outcropping of rocks. I walked rather quickly out of the hazard. The guy said, "Hey, I still have three minutes to search." I wished him good luck and walked to my ball. The day started poorly when I skulled a shot out of the hazard on number one and over the green, over the sand trap and into someone's back yard. I had to settle for a triple bogey 8. Ah, well, I play in a three day tournament starting next weekend and the normal set up of the course will feel easy after this weekend.

I played early both days and was able to get home in the early afternoon and spend some time with Darla. Saturday we had lunch downtown and then went over to an art studio that is run for some of her clients. They were having an art sale and we bought a bird house and some trivet style tiles that we will use as coasters. Some of the artwork is a little crude, but some show real talent. I mounted the birdhouse on a pole and set it in the garden in front of the house. We then went over to the park in downtown Roseville with some drinks, chairs, a blanket and our books to read and enjoy the nice Spring day.

Sunday I missed church which is the hardest part for me of a two day weekend tournament. Our church is so large now that the pastor was able to limit the services to two Sunday morning services. We still have about 4400 members, but the church holds over 3000. We used to have a Saturday night service and a Sunday night service, so choices were abundant back then. Darla arranged for a racquetball court at 4:30 and I limped over to the gym after two days of walking the golf course. The racquetball is great exercise and Darla is very competitive at just about any sport. I think my cardiovascular condition is probably better now than any time since I used to play regular Saturday games of basketball when I lived in Fresno back in the mid-eighties.

I did break down and buy a new golf cart. I haven't used a pull cart in 20 years and the new carts are so nice and I get so tired carrying my clubs that I decided to invest. I got a Sun Mountain Speed cart, which is a three-wheeled push cart and a marvel. The tires are pnuematic tube tires and the cart resembles a baby stroller used by runners. I have always preferred to walk the course. As Darla says, golf isn't much exercise to begin with and if I take a riding cart, it's next to no exercise. Walking the course also gives me a chance to relax and think about my next shot and line it up before I reach the ball.

We talked to Dad and Shirley last night. They are doing great and just finished another car show in Abbottsford. They didn't win anything in this show, but learned a valuable lesson about the car show circuit. Like any closely knit group, car show people are very cliquish and this show was judged by the contestants, not by judges. The big car clubs stuffed the ballot boxes and their members won the prizes. Dad and Shirley said it was a good experience, but they will make sure they stick with shows judged by a panel of impartial judges. Dad said the prize for the top Chrysler went to a guy who showed a 2005 Chrysler PT cruiser. Big whoop, you can find three of them at any Wal Mart parking lot. Dad and Shirley do plan to join Darla and I and Jennifer in Puerto Vallarta next year. It should be a fun trip. We may try to bring the boys, but costs may compel us to make it an adult trip.

Work continues to go very well and we just concluded another month that brought in a Net income of over $108,000, which will work out to about $38,000 in profit to the branch. Things are going well and we have a group of agents that are looking to us as their number one choice for surplus lines business. The employees are engaged and we are hitting our stride.

I haven't heard from Jennifer for awhile. Jen...call your Dad. I think they are getting ready to move their base of operations soon if they haven't done so already. Jen will be home for a few weeks in July and we look forward to seeing her. November will be here before long and she will bid adieu to the Army and start to live her new life back here in the U S of A.

David and Destiny have been seeing a lot of each other as they get ready for the Senior Ball later this month. David went to the movies with her this weekend and took her to a dance recital on Saturday night. Destiny seems like a nice young lady and comes from a good home. David and Destiny will double date to the prom with another friend from their church youth group. He is now dating a girl from the group as well, so it is a natural for them. David is doing really well and both David and Daniel are very involved in the youth group at church. They will both be going on another trip to Los Angeles in July. This trip is more fun than work as they'll spend a day at the beach and two days at Disneyland. The cost of the trip is $500 and they are both working at Earl's farm to earn the money for the trip.

Well, that is all the news that's fit to print. Have a great week. Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mom's out there and a big thumbs up to my Mom who blessed my life so much in her all too brief time here on Earth. Ciao.

Ruminations and Lamentations

The weekend has come and gone and we are on to a new week. Darla spent the weekend at a women's retreat with the church and left her men behind to fend for themselves. We ordered pizza on Friday night and then I decided to cook on Saturday night and made a couple of frozen pizzas for dinner. You could say it was a GUY weekend.

They told a story at church this weekend that I was not aware of. If my grandfather on my Dad's side was still alive, he would have known it. They told it in the context of Faith and Hope. Eddie Richenbacher was the ace of World War I. He had more kills than most pilots and won many medals for his bravery and his markmanship. Eddie volunteered to fly special missions in WWII specifically for the Pentagon and it was on one of these missions in 1942 when his plane lost all radio control and Richenbacher became totally lost in the Pacific. He finally ran out of fuel and had to ditch his plane in the ocean. His crew of 8 climbed into an 8 foot raft and spent the next eight days hoping and waiting for rescue. On the eighth day, the crew, near starvation prayed together and prepared to die. A seagull landed on Eddie's head and slowly he reached up and grabbed the legs of the bird. They were able to fashion the intestines into fishing line and were able to catch fish and survived for another 15 days when they were finally rescued. After Eddie retired and moved to Florida, he would go to the ocean every Friday and feed shrimp to the seagulls, his way of thanking the seagull for saving his life. He did this faithfully until he died in 1979. Do you think that God intervened in Eddie's life? I do.

I've been invited to a special marketing meeting in Philadelphia in mid May. It is being hosted by USLI, one of Warren Buffet's insurance companies. We will be in Philly from May 18th-20th. I look forward to the trip and lament that I will not be able to do any sightseeing while I'm there. Most of the Branch Managers will be there from Burns and Wilcox and several of the Vice Presidents will also be in attendance. Our President and CEO will be there and I hope to have an opportunity to talk to him about the future of this office.

I played golf twice this past week, once on Thursday and then in a tournament on Saturday. Thursday was a beautiful day in the 80's and I shot 38+40=78, my best round of the year. I played against three agents and won $28.50 out of a pool of $31 in skin money. Did I feel bad? Uh...no. I didn't think it was going to be a good round, especially after the first hole. It is a 300 yard par 4, but you can attempt to cut the corner of the driving range and the green is about 265 yards from the tee. I took the corner and landed on the green about thirty feet from an eagle. I proceeded to three putt the green for a par. I then played in a 2 man best ball tournament on Saturday at Diamond Oaks in a driving rain. Most of the players really struggled with wet grips and wet conditions, but I managed a 40+43=83, which given the conditions, I'm even more proud of. My partner struggled and we finished tied for fourth with a 65. I play in the Roseville City Championship this coming weekend and look forward to it. My game is finally starting to round into shape and my index of 11.5 is at it's highest since July of last year. In other words, I'm playing better than my handicap right now and have a chance to do some damage.

David is still struggling with his decision on college. He was accepted by Cal Poly Pomona as a Construction Management student. David wants to take an Architectural degree and be a Computer Assisted design engineer. He is toying with going to Sierra College in Rocklin for two years and then seeing if he can transfer to Cal Poly SLO, his first and only choice for college. He did not get in, but Darla has a friend who knows a Dean at Cal Poly SLO and they are trying to work out something. (The old "it's not what you know, but who you know"). Hopefully they can work it out. David is so focused. IF he goes to Sierra, he can continue to work at the engineering firm where he interns and they will hold a position for him. I'll keep you informed.

The office continues to do very well and we are following up our biggest month in a year with another solid month. I may be buying the staff lunch again in May, which would be GREAT. Our turnaround is turning heads in Home Office. The President is not convinced that I am the right candidate for the job as Branch Manager, which is frustrating for me, but all that I can do is continue to run the office, make money and have a staff that is engaged in their jobs and growing our book of business. I think perhaps I have some of the stink of my predecessor on me as I weas hired by him. The bottom line is what matters and they won't make a change while things are doing well. The only fly in the ointment is that I will not continue to be an "acting" Branch Manager indefinitely. They will have to fish or cut bait soon. I've given them until the Branch Manager meeting in October to make up their minds.

My old underwriter at Republic Western, Pete Morrison, continues to call me. He turned down my job offer and went to work for a competitor. I think eventually he will end up working for me over here. I've heard through the grapevine that he is struggling over at Crouse. Their corporate culture is one of large accounts and moving paper, whereas our culture is defined by developing relationships with agents and is more of a marketing oriented workflow. We, frankly, fit Pete's strengths much better. We have the pen with four carriers, which allows us to respond on the smaller accounts quickly and efficiently. At Crouse, they are 100% brokerage and have to send everything out for quote. There, they are at the whim of a company underwriter. Here, about 60% of our business is contract business where we are the underwriter. The only thing holding us back is ourselves.

Speaking of that, I need to get on with my day. I hope you are all engaged in the sport of life and follwing the true King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Ciao.

Blue Skies...smiling at me

Good morning, Vietnam. It is another tremendous Northern California morning with a high blue sky and shadows that give evidence of the light breeze that is blowing as the trees sway and shake in the early morning air. The day invites me outside to play golf. Alas, work awaits me and the siren song of paychecks and responsibility trumps the call of nature. I seem to be in a somewhat whimsical mood this morning.

It was a great weekend filled with golf, yardwork, dinner out with my bride and a visit yesterday to the town of Auburn, where Darla and I wasted away a few hours while three bug bombs were busy wasting some moths in our house that have proven to be quite a project to rid ourselves of.

I played golf with my assistant (soon to be former assistant), Anthony, Anthony's brother and Mel at our course in Roseville. The city had just aerated the greens on Monday and they are still recovering. We struggled around the course, hoping to get a good bounce out of the sand filled holes on the green as we bumped our putts along toward the hole. Anthony doesn't play much golf and asked that we play the white tees rather than the blue and I managed a 41+42=83 on the day in spite of the bumpy greens. Anthony shot 47 on the front, but came on fire on the back side and shot 43 which is a great round for someone who doesn't play much. He even trundled in a putt from about 40 feet on a par three for a birdie. He was pretty thrilled. His brother shot 86 and Mel shot 87, recovering from a tough 47 on the front side with a 40 on the back. I've decided to sign up for the Roseville City Amateur which will be held April 30 and May 1st. I figure that I play so much golf, I might as well give the City Championship a try. I'll play in the handicap division and give it my best. It should be fun.

Jennifer called on Saturday while I was on the course and talked to Darla for about a half hour. It was two in the morning in Kuwait and Jenn was up and felt like checking in on the home front. Jenn, if you want to call me, do it M-F at night and call me at the office. Of course, I'll be out Wednesday afternoon this week getting a crown on one of my molars and out Thursday afternoon marketing... on the golf course. Jennifer is doing great. She can't wait to come home in July and is anxious to hang up her combat boots and join us here in the civilian world. Darla and I are taking Jenn to Puerto Vallarta in 2006 and I'm inviting Dad and Shirley to join us. We will likely go in March of 2006 and we will stay at the Sheraton Buganvillas resort. You can either trade your time share for rooms there or the resort will put you up in the hotel side of the resort at $59 a night as guest of a condo owner. Put it on your radar. Anyone else that wants to join us, let me know as we can get you the $59 rate as well. The resort is on the beach, has two pools, five restaurants and two night clubs. Nice. I'll give you the exact dates as the time draws a little closer.

Darla and I went out to Bella Italia on Friday night. Bella is slowly becoming one of our favorite restaurants, although it is a restaurant located in a storefront close to our health club. The ambience actually isn't bad, but it is a little tight in the restaurant. The food more than makes up for the inconvenience. I had a lasagna and Darla had their award winning gnocchi. We then went over and worked out on a full stomach, which I don't recommend.

I played golf on Saturday afternoon in the sun and was exhausted after the round. Darla, however, was antsy waiting for me at home and had set up a reservation for a racquetball court and I limped over to the health club and played three games with Darla. I just about fell asleep in the shower after that. We watched movies that night and it was nice to relax at home. We saw Hotel Rwanda with Don Cheadle which is a pretty intense film.

Sunday we ventured to church and heard that the special collection for the orphans in Uganda had exceeded $200,000. The power of our large congregation is mind numbing. We have it so good in the US and stories like the one that Jackson Sonyonga told and the movie Hotel Rwanda showed makes us realize just how great it is here in the Western world.

We studied the 1st chapter of the book of Ruth on Sunday and the story of Naomi is so close to that of my Dad, it is strange. Naomi lost her husband and then her two sons and began to question God. Not that I know Dad questioned God, but I can imagine when he lost his wife and parents all in the course of a year. The love that Ruth showed to Naomi was her saving grace. When we are hurting God will put special people in our lives to help us through. Shirley is Dad's Ruth.

Darla and I did set off three bug bombs in the house after church and we had to skeedaddle for four hours. We had breakfast in Auburn and then strolled the shops in the old town of Auburn. We bought six books at a small book store and I bought a new wallet, which was 50% off. Darla said my wallet was a joke and she wasn't convinced that the new wallet was the answer. It is soft leather and very nice, but is a Jack Daniels brand wallet and she wasn't sure that sent the right message. For me, I just need something to hold my license and my credit cards and a picture of my wife. Darla tried on some wild clothes, which I convinced her not to buy. She then bought some supplies at the bead store and we headed back to the park across the street from our house for some reading and a bit of sleep.

Work awaits. I have four people out this week, two attending a training class and two in home office at a personal lines seminar. I've already had two others call in and tell me they are not feeling well. Both plan to be in later this morning, but it is obviously a Monday morning. Take care. Look around you for your Ruth. She is there, you just have to look. Ciao.

A Powerful Weekend

Wow. This weekend was really one for the books. We had a visit by a Christian Evangelist from Uganda that was life changing. This man showed us how the power of Jesus Christ has transformed his country from one of famine, blight and poverty. From a country ravaged by an epidemic of AIDS, it has been transformed into a country on the brink of political, cultural, economic, and health-related revival. Uganda was torn apart by the rule of Idi Amin, a tyrant equal to Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden in his disregard for human life and his quest for ultimate power. The country was left torn and broken, with an incidence of AIDS that reached 33% and an economic crisis so bad that the country was almost bankrupt. The country was also left with an epidemic of witchcraft and demon worship that threatened the moral fiber of the country. It was through the power of prayer and hope that comes with the emergence of Jesus Christ in a community that saved the country. Jackson Sonyonga is a powerful speaker that is a world crusader for the power of prayer. His country holds monthly prayer meetings in large stadiums throughout the country where millions of Christians come together and pray from 6 PM to 6 AM and ask for Jesus Christ to intervene in their lives. Through that power of prayer, Uganda is the only country in the world that has seen a decrease in the incidence of AIDS to the point that it is now less than 5% in the country and dropping.

Uganda is still very poor, but many of the demon worshippers and even the witch doctors have seen the power of our Saviour at work and have come to Christ. It is an amazing story and he is preaching the power of prayer and how we need to become a church who is committed to prayer. How we need to have a set time in our homes to pray as a family and not just as a blessing over our meal or a token prayer before we go to sleep at night. We went to church yesterday and were blown away by Jackson and returned Sunday night at six PM to the largest turnout in our churches' history. The 3000 seat church was filled to capacity and every classroom was filled with video monitors. There were people standing in the aisles and double parked in the parking lot. It was an awesome sight to behold. Our life group will meet at church tonight and sit together to watch and listen to Jackson speak further on how to turn our country around through the power of prayer.

It is amazing to see the work that God is doing in our church as we had a special offering last week to help bridge the gap in Ajai Lal's church in India to help build orphanages. He was $40,000 short of his needs and we raised $62,000 in two services to humble Ajai and his family. Jackson is also building some orphanages to house the orphans of AIDS who number over 1.8 million in Uganda. The orphanages will each be manned by a Christian family and will house up to 36 children who have lost both of their parents to AIDS. I'm anxious to see how much money our church donates to Sonyonga. He will be here tonight and tomorrow still to finish his series on prayer.

I played poker on Friday night with the guys and won about $40. I sat and listened to a story of how 6 Roseville teenagers, several of whom played youth football with David, have been charged with the rape of a 15 year old girl in Folsom. The girl was so badly injured that she required 23 stitches. This follows the revelation that nine Woodcreek students have been implicated in a theft ring at the local Best Buy electronics retailer. One of the students worked there and allowed his friends to go through his register and he would not charge them for their electronics purchases. They would come through his line with an MP3 player or a car stereo along with a CD and some gum. He would charge them for the gum and the CD and give them the large item without charging them. Most of the students implicated are Seniors and Juniors and most played on the varsity football team and are friends of David. Our community is morally bankrupt and it is being filtered down to our kids. It was good to see David and Daniel at church praying for the ills that affect our society.

Both David and Daniel were baptized this past week at the home of one of the youth directors at church. They chose Earl to baptize them and there we were on a cool and cloudy Wednesday night gathered in the backyard of a home overlooking the 2nd tee of my golf course, Diamond Oaks, and eight students were baptized and made a stand for Christ. With all that is going on around them, it is so encouraging to see the boys choose a path that is so different from their peers.

The boys are locked into the youth group now, so much so that David has invited one of the girls in the group, Destiny, to his Senior Ball next month. Destiny is a blonde gal who stand almost six foot and is a leader in the youth group. They became friends in Mexico and David has eyes for this young lady. She is a committed Christian, but also a beautiful girl. I'm happy for the choice the boys are making and doubly happy that they resisted the group that stole from the local store. It is so easy for these kids to justify it in their minds. I'm just glad that they got caught and glad that the main offenders are all over 18 and get to be tried as adults. Reality will smack them in the head. Mom and Dad can't save them from this.

I played golf twice this week and I struggled on Thursday at Northridge Country Club. My driving is what sets my game apart. I'm usually long and straight, but I picked up a slice on Thursday. I managed to shoot 43+44=87, but was beside myself after the round. I went to the driving range early on Saturday and realized that I was standing too close to the ball. I stepped back about a foor and was again drilling the ball down the middle. it didn't help me score on Saturday in the wind and wet. I shot 44+44=88, but was glad to figure out my problem on the tee box and look forward to getting back down in the low 80's and upper 70's as the weather improves.

Well, work awaits. Jennifer has updated her blog. She is still a little studette soldier and continues to set personal bests in her Physical Training. She is homesick and looks forward to coming home in the next couple of months. Jen, did you get our package? E-mail me. Be good, hit your knees and pray for our country and for your loved ones. We need the power of Jesus Christ in our lives. He will sustain us and help us to prosper in a world gone bad. Ciao.

A New Beginning

The day has dawned with a bright blue sky and a freshness to the air that is electric. It is the day after a cleansing rain and there is something mystical about the shadows that the trees cast across the dew strewn lawns. The streets are all dry, but the parking lot still has traces of rain water in the parking spaces. There is a lone white bird that is walking along the curb looking for worms in the morning light.

My commute this morning was disrupted by an overturned big rig that spilled fuel onto the roadway on the major thoroughfare that I use to cross town from Roseville to Rancho Cordova. Luckily, I sensed that there was a problem and cut over to a side street before getting caught in traffic. I was able to slip around the logjam and get into the office close to my regular arrival time of 7:10 a.m. Cora, our typist, has been promoted to an Underwriter Assistant position and she was not here this morning when I arrived. She worked an alternate schedule of 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, but will be assisting the two ladies in Modesto and I assumed was changing her schedule to at least 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, but she rolled in at 7:30 and had forgot to set her clocks ahead. I asked her to check with the gals in Modesto to see what schedule they want her to work as she is their conduit to the Sacramento office. We have our new typist....or more correctly, our Technical Services Rep I beginning this morning. Her hire is a bit of a coup for me as she is graduating from Sacramento State University next month with a degree in Insurance. I was skeptical of hiring her at such an entry level position, but she wants to learn the insurance job from square one. My goal would be to quickly move her up the food change with the ultimate goal of making her an Underwriter within 4 years. I could see her in an Assistant Underwriter position by year end as we continue to grow. I was able to pay her about 15% more than the position called for because of her degree.

The Sacramento office had our best month since I joined in 2003 and we beat our budget by 30% in March. I took the staff out on Thursday and we celebrated the results at a big lunch at Chevys. I have a great staff and Anthony, my former assistant, is already writing new business in his first month. He was so proud to point out that he was ahead of me as of Friday. Bear in mind it was April 1st and he is still my de facto assistant. He had booked his premiums while my renewals sat waiting his touch. I truly want him to experience early success as it will motivate him for the tough months and weeks ahead.

We had a missionary from India visit us yesterday. He is a third generation Christian born in India. Bear in mind that India is a country of 1.6 Billion people and less than 2% of the population is Christian. He had some very interesting facts to share, the most alarming is that the Islamic religion is growing ten times faster than the Christian faith and at it's current growth rate will be the world's largest religion by the year 2015. He also told us that the name Osama Bin Laden is known by almost 90% of the world's population, but only 70% of the world's population has ever heard the name Jesus Christ. It is appalling and although his call was for additional funding for the world's misiionaries, his points were hammered home in his message. We need to be World Christians insrtead of American Christians.

We had a nice relaxing weekend. I was supposed to play golf, but my friend, Mel is from the Phillipines. He called Wednesday and invited me to play golf on Saturday. I said, "Sure, what time?" He said, "Well, I don't have a time, why don't you set something up?" I said, "No. If you want to play, set up a time and let me know when." Mel is a great guy, but comes from a very privileged existence in the Phillipines and I have to try to retrain him in how we do things here in the US of A. He called me late Friday and asked if I'd set up a time. I told him, "No. You were supposed to make us a time." He said he'd look into it and let me know. He called me Saturday at noon and said he couldn't find anything and we'd play next weekend. No kidding. Perhaps he'll learn. Perhaps not. We play on Thursday at a Country Club in town with his boss and then again on Saturday in our Masters tournament. We will have dinner at Mel and Cora's on Saturday night and the boys are invited. They are becoming Americanized.

Darla and I firmed up our Airline travel to Hawaii last week before the latest increases due to fuel prices. We fly out of San Francisco on Sunday June 12th and have a direct flight to Lihue in Kauia. We will stay in San Francisco at the Best Western in Milbrae. They will keep our car for the ten days we are gone and the cost with the room is just $125. We will also stay over on Wednesday the 22nd when we return as we get into SF at 9:00 PM. The cost for that night's stay is only $79. It is exciting as it feels real now. We leave in about nine weeks and it will be a great vacation. I'm just a little sad that neither Darla's folks nor Dad and Shirley could join us. We'll have to plan a trip perhaps late Summer up to Vancouver.

Darla called me on Friday and told me that she had a special mandatory meeting that she HAD to attend at work during our vacation and wouldn't be able to go with us. I didn't fall for her little April Fool's joke, but only because I had just called a meeting to announce that the girls in Modesto had quit. Cora was telling everyone that and they didn't believe her until she cajoled me into calling a special meeting to announce that they had decided not to run the Service office. I made a big deal about how rude it was of them and how telling me on April 1st was the kicker. Everyone laughed and Cora got the biggest kick out of the ruse.

The boys have decided to be baptized this week at their High School life group. The were both christened as infants, but the Bible says that we must announce our decision as Christians and be baptized in the faith. They have decided that they want Darla's Dad, Earl, to baptize them and will call him tonight to see if he will do it. I'm sure Earl will be touched and perhaps humbled that the boys look to him as their example of a Christian man. The boys have really ramped up their involvement in the church and I'm proud of them.

Well, work is a constant and I need to get at it. I hope your week is full of family, friends, laughter and you look to the Lord for your decisions in life. Ciao.

Happy Easter

I normally add to the blog on Mondays, but I have a dentist appointment for a routine cleaning at 8:00 am and won't get into the office until nine, so I will get to this now. Happy Easter, by the way. We've been to church and opted out of dinner with the family in Linden to let Darla rest after her ordeal in Mexico last week. She is fast asleep on the couch as I work in the office.

Darla and the boys made it home about ten last night. They had stopped with the group in Elk Grove at a coin wash and cleaned out the car inside and out. They return the rentals tomorrow and had to clean them (I've never cleaned a rental before, maybe they get a discount or something). They had rain most of the week and actually left Tijuana a day early as a big storm was coming in. The rain was so bad at times that they had to be up every half hour to knock the rain off the tent to keep it from collapsing. Strangely, it rained at night, but they were able to work every day on the houses without any rain. David and Daniel both had a great time and came back committed to getting more involved with the youth at church. They made some great friends and have some tremendous memories. They built a 22'x 11' two room house and the group built six of them in a week. Darla said that the youngest daughter of the single mother who would take possession of the house was there when they raised the walls. The little girl started clapping and saying, "Mi casa, mi casa!" when they tied the walls into the roof. The homes are very basic with flat roofs, no plumbing or electricity. But they have windows and flooring and provide some relief from the elements. The family that will occupy the home have been living in their mother's candy store which is smaller than the home.

We had a guest speaker at church this morning, Ruthie Bolton, the Olympic Gold medalist and Professional Women's basketball player for the Sacramento Monarchs. Ruthie was the sixteenth of twenty children in her family and her father referred to all of them as "son" or "daughter" because he couldn't remember all of their names. She is a PK, or Preacher's Kid and her father has passed on now. Her story was one of overcoming obstacles as she is only 5'9" and was not recruited out of high school. She won two women's championships and played on two gold medal winning olympic teams and has been a WNBA All Star three times.

The Pastor talked about the power of Christianity and told a story of how a missionary family was working deep in the heart of Africa in a small tribe, when a plague hit and several of the tribesmen's children became sick and died. The missionary had not made much headway in sharing his faith with the tribe and decided that he would pray for Jesus to spare his kids and told the chief and elders of the tribe to watch how Jesus would spare his kids. He figured this would make an impact on the tribe. Unfortunately, God works in his own timing and soon the missionaries' children each became ill and finally died. Not only did the missionary suffer the pain of losing his children, but his job was now irreparably damaged by the claim that he'd made. He was in emotional pain and embarrassed professionally. As he packed up his belongings in preparation to leave the tribe and return home, there was a knock on his door. He answered it to see the chief at the door and the main tribe elders behind him. The chief asked if the missionary would tell him about this man Jesus. The missionary was shocked and asked the chief why after years of trying to share his faith, that the chief would want to hear about it now after Jesus did not save his children from the plague. The chief said that the tribesman's children died and they buried them knowing that they would never see them again. They then watched as the missionaries' children got sick and died and how the missionary buried his children with the hope that he would see them again in Heaven. It was the hope that the missionary showed that made the tribesmen want to know about Jesus. It is what sets us apart from other religions. Hope. And that hope comes from the promise that Jesus made to us when he was crucified and died on the cross..for our lives and for our sins. It is an amazing gift.

Jennifer called me last night to wish me a Happy Easter. It was Easter morning in Kuwait. I hadn't talked to her since Super Bowl Sunday and it was great getting caught up with her. It turns out that the Army, in its unending wisdom, has raised the promotion points and Jennifer will not be promoted until May now. She and Ryan have called it quits. It was just too hard to carry on a relationship from Georgia and Kuwait. Jennifer was hoping to go to church yesterday and is doing great. She has a buddy in Kuwait who is really pushing her to get in the best shape of her life and she is getting really buff, with big arms and legs, but she still weighs just 106 pounds. She may be tiny, but she's no pushover. It was really a delight to talk to her. She wants to start college when she gets home and is determined to be a teacher. She hates to throw all of her fibre optics training away, but she feels lead to be a teacher. I think it's great to have your life ahead of you at 24 and make of it what you want. More power to her.

Work is excellerating as I've now hired a new Underwriting Assistant. Anthony (my assistant) has taken the empty window office next to Gwen and we are ready to hire a new typist as our typist is being promoted to be the Underwriting Assistant for the Modesto service office. Gail is doing the screeneing interviews and I will meet the screened candidates this week and make an offer. The new Underwriting Assistant comes from Progressive Insurance in the building next door to ours. I had to pay her a little more money than we budgeted, but she seems to be a real sparkplug. She will be able to hold her own with the other assistants in the office, who are all strong headed women. Natasha will work for Gwen and I will have Gwen's assistant Connie assist me. I don't have time to wet nurse a new assistant with my production responsibilities as well as my management responsibilities. Connie is the most knowledgable assistant in the office and I will help train her to take over an underwriting desk in the future.

I did play golf this weekend. I had an extended weekend with Good Friday off and played golf at the Hiddenbrooke Resort in Vallejo on Friday. I shot an 84 and had a solid day of golf. My host is not much of a golfer, in fact he only kept score on the three holes that he shot par or better, so he beat me 13 to 84. I think I hit the ball a little better than him overall.

Mark Konrad invited me to play golf yesterday at 6:36 a.m. I was in a funk all morning and shot one of my worst rounds in recent memory, shooting 48+44= 92 and paying Mark $12. I won $1 from our third player, but it was a bust for me. I was cold in the morning and had to play with a coat on and I hate that. Friday was 75 degrees and sunny. Saturday was a bit breezy and cool. I was quick to post the round when we finished as that 92 may knock out a round in the seventies.

It is a pleasure to have my wife home and the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is so true. I hope you cherish those around you that you love. Until next week, stay strong in the Lord and He will sustain you. Ciao.

Back from the Land of the Sun

I'm back and this will be but a quick update to the blog as we are off tomorrow for Good Friday. We get next to no holidays and this Jewish company takes off Good Friday? The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Darla and the boys are still in wet and rainy Tijuana. I've got a feeling it's been a bit miserable living in tents and working all day in wet and muddy conditions. They will be exhausted when they get home. I almost feel guilty about my trip to Phoenix and the 78 degree warm and wonderful weather. I said Almost. What I can't understand is how Dad and Shirley gave up the luxury of the warm and sunny confines of Phoenix and Sun City. I know the family is in Vancouver, but the weather is so ideal in Phoenix this time of year.

I was able to catch a Spring Training game between San Francisco (my team) and Oakland at Phoenix Municipal Stadium (Spring Training home of the A's). I was further pleased to see that both teams had their ace pitchers starting. Jason Schmidt for the Giants and Barry Zito for the A's. The only conclusion from the game is that Zito is closer to ready to start the season than Schmidt. Jason gave up three home runs and the Giants went down to defeat 17-6. It was sunny and hot and I relaxed out on the grass in left field. Well, not "in" left field, but close to it. I left in the fourth inning and returned to the hotel to get in some pool time. I brought a book, but it turned out to be no more than a prop as I was quickly asleep and slept away a good portion of the afternoon on Sunday. The sun felt good and the weather was absolutely ideal. I stayed at the Scottsdale Resort and Convention center.

The convention was put on by Scottsdale Insurance and is a first class affair. They hire singers, comedians, magicians and performers to keep us entertained. This years' theme was "Catch a Rising star" and they had celebrity lookalikes throughout the crowd. I saw Red Skelton, Tootsie, Jim Carey, Joan Rivers, Joan Collins, Marilyn Monroe and Darth Vader. It was fun and very well done. The juggling act played on a theme of juggling people and they actually took three people and suspended them from harnesses and wires and juggled them like you would balls and eventually had them moving in sync and juggled balls between them. It was great. They also had a full blown casino with slots, roulette, blackjack, craps and poker. It was, as usual, a really fun event. Burns and Wilcox was able to get all of our people together on Monday afternoon for a special meeting and we went over negotiation skills. I had to pass on an invitation to play golf at Twisted Stick golf course to meet with the Burns and Wilcox folks, but then they do pay my salary.

I am in the process of hiring two new people for the office and getting Modesto set up. The problem is that I'm having trouble keeping up with my production responsibilities as well. I've shared some of my frustrations with Management and we've agreed on a date of October for the company to either move me up to Branch Manager or move in another direction. It is a formality as far as I'm concerned as I've earned the job, but I couldn't continue to work as the acting BM without additional compensation. The Branch Manager gets paid a bonus based on the branch results whereas I now get paid on my own results and production. Doing the Manager duties is hurting my production and I'm getting a little frustrated. They know where I stand and the office is running so much better now than it was under Bill's leadership. The only negative feedback I got from the Branch Development Director is that people in my office seem too happy and I need to grow a tougher exterior. I took the input as what it is, but I'm proud that the staff is engaged in their work and happy to be here. That was not the case under Bill Sousa. The atmosphere has changed and I can be tough when it is called for, but I prefer to treat my people as professionals and let them do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

The Modesto office just got keys to their facility on Monday and will get furniture and phones tomorrow. Their computers will get there today and they will have the IT wiring done by Wednesday of next week. They are anxious to get working, but we are still getting them up and running.

I have two interviews this afternoon for the Assistant Underwriter position and I finally turned the hiring of the typist position over to Gail in the office and she is taking the ball on that project.

I haven't heard from Jennifer for awhile, but I know that she is getting ready to physically move with her unit from one base to another in Kuwait. Her new base will be closer to the pool, so she is happy with the arrangement. She is getting ready for her promotion ceremony and has been working out like a little fiend. Jen.... call me. Pretend my name is Ryan.

I did play golf in Phoenix, but it was a scramble and I was the only golfer in the group. I was hitting the ball well, but the weight of carrying three non-golfers was too much. We shot a 75 and the winners had 60. They, of course, were a stacked team with two players that played college golf. Nice for them. I had a good time.

Well, that was short and sweet and I was interrupted about ten times with employees either saying hello or wanting to go over accounts that need my attention. I need to get on with my day. Be well and embrace the gift that is celebrated this weekend. The gift of eternal life in our Lord and Savious, Jesus Christ. Ciao.

Unhappy with Myself

I had a friend pass away on my birthday this weekend. Sid was the ripe old age of 92 and I'm ashamed to admit that my friendship had lagged with him over the last few years. Sid was suffering from the onset of Alzheimers and it was difficult to visit with him in his last few years. I would have to repeat stories 3 or 4 times. We would set up to have breakfast together and he'd have already eaten when I got there. That sort of thing. I still enjoyed seeing Sid, but the visits were fewer and far between as the years lingered. Sid had a knowledge of our Lord, but I'm not sure of his walk and for that I should be ashamed. He was a great friend and mentor for me in my insurance career and he outlived his beloved wife, Jeanne, by seven years (almost to the day). I last saw Sid in January and I hate to admit, but I looked for his name everyday in the obituaries. That's where I found him this morning. I'll miss him and hope that he is in the embrace of our Saviour.