Something Keeps Bringing us Back to Las Vegas

..and it's not the $10.99 Prime Rib or the Gambling. It is a little blonde girl named Samantha. This was a great trip because we were able to share it with Daniel and Becky as well as Dad and Shirley. The only real drawback was the condo, which was an apartment in a rundown apartment complex off the strip and behind a closed Outback Steakhouse. You could see the Rio and the Palms casinos as well as the Gold Coast Casino, but the grounds were rundown and the tenants were section VIII housing at least. I hadn't seen so many Obama supporters in one place since my last trip to the Capitol in Sacramento. The room itself was fine with new granite counters, clean rooms, decent beds and a washer and dryer. The kitchen was large and we had plenty of room to make several meals (mostly breakfasts) in the room.

Samantha loved the apartment and Daniel made it special for her by building a fort out of our bed in the master bedroom. Daniel and Becky and Samantha must have played in there for over an hour. Sam was loving the attention and I think Daniel was enjoying his time with Samantha as well. She has the cutest laugh and she was in there jumping on the bed and making a ruckus with Daniel along for the game. Samantha also learned how to pull out the middle drawer of our chest of drawers and climb up into the entertainment section of the furniture, close the door and play hide and seek. You can see Sam peeking out of her fort and also a shot of her pounding Daniel with the pillow while Becky laughs at them.

We got into Vegas late, as our flight was delayed. We picked up our rental car at 11:30 and then went out to the local Food 4 Less to do grocery shopping. We realized that the car stunk like cigarette smoke and later realized it had New Jersey plates, A coincidence? I think not. When we got into the store, none other than George Wallace, the New Mr. Vegas (after Danny Gans passed away) was in there after his 10 PM show at the Flamingo shopping. We loaded up and got to the "condo" at about 12:55 PM. We couldn't find the right building as there are 13 buildings on site and the guard at the gate directed us to the wrong place. I walked all over the place and left Darla standing outside a locked car as I finally found building E on the other side of the complex from where the clearly over taxed guard thought it was. Those guards stand in the guard shack and wave everyone into the facility, waving at you as if you are his long lost relative or something. Crazy. Darla said there was a suspicious looking guy on the phone within ear shot of her and she was uncomfortable until I got back and we drove to the correct building. He was a little crackhead and I think she could have taken him.

Jennifer drove over the next morning and brought Samantha for swimming. The complexes' pool is probably the nicest accoutrement to the grounds, although as Darla pointed out, it was probably built in the 80's. The pool was not heated, so Samantha hung out in the hot tub, which also was not heated, but was warm as it was heating in the 92 degree heat. Michael came out and joined us and we took Daniel and Becky and Jen, Sam and Mike to dinner. It was Daniel's birthday dinner and he was set on dim sum. We went over to one of the nicer Chinese places in Vegas and the parking lot was empty. It turns out that they had a kitchen fire in the afternoon and were closed. Jennifer suggested Chinatown, a small village of Asian shops close to the Rio. We ended up having a very nice dinner at a Korean Barbecue, where they cooked the food right at the table on a propane grill. The food was good and Samantha was a trooper trying all of the different dishes and really enjoying herself. Darla asked Jennifer if it was possible that Samantha was conceived when John and Jennifer went to Thailand. Friday night we took Becky and Daniel out to the Orleans casino and Daniel got his first taste of gambling. He did ridiculously well, even winning a $140 jackpot on a penny machine (of all things). He walked out of the casino up about $180. Darla and I had given him $200 for the trip to pay for gas and some of his gambling. He did so well on Friday night that he bought half price tickets on Saturday to the Circus Soleil at the Tropicana. Darla and I ended up down about $90.

Saturday we slept in and met Jennifer at her house about 12:30. They had friends flying in from California and one driving in. It was Mike's birthday and he had a gig that night from 10 PM to 5 AM. Mike fixed us a pot roast for lunch and then shish-ke-bob for dinner. The food was excellent and we enjoyed playing with Sam. Darla and I took her out to a park and let Mike and Jen have some alone time to get ready for guests. Daniel and Becky hooked up with us for dinner at Jennifer's and then they took off for their show and we brought Samantha home to stay at our ghetto apartment. When we left, all of the company was there and they were all getting ready for their night out and getting their costumes on. In the hustle, we forgot Sam's bag and Jen called when we got back to the apartment. I decided not to run back to her place, but went to Wal-Mart and picked up some clothes for Sam on Sunday and some overnight diapers for her. She is potty training and doing a great job, but has problems still overnight, although her diaper was dry Sunday morning.

Daniel and Becky met Dad and Shirley after their show (Dad flew in Saturday night) and did some gambling with them at Bill's on the strip.

Sunday we were up and met Dad and Shirley at the Black Bear Diner on Tropicana. It is a "kid friendly" restaurant with great food and even better prices. This is the first time that Dad and Shirley have had a chance to meet Samantha and she definitely bowled them over. We had a great breakfast and then met up with Jennifer at noon. John wanted to see Samantha and we agreed to drop her off at Jen's and then return at 5 PM for dinner. Darla and I had bought rib-eyes for everyone and we were barbecuing at her place. Daniel went with us to Jen's on Sunday morning and then was supposed to leave to go back to LA and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo after dropping Becky in Pasadena. They decided to go get a late lunch (dim sum) at Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast and then were going to come back and get packed up to go. They left at 2 PM and we never saw them after that. The gambling bug must have taken hold as we called several times and finally left for Dad's. He had invited us over at 4:30 for drinks and we finally got there at 5 PM. We ended up at Jennifer's about 6 PM. Daniel and Becky got on the road about 5:30 and he got to Cal Poly after 2 AM. Jennifer talked Dad into designing a pumpkin for Sam and you can see the picture of him drawing it. The finished product was nice and it will remind Sam of our trip. We went out with Dad and Shirley afterward to the Palace Station casino and then the Rio. Shirley did well and was winning at a penny machine. Darla and I left down about $160 in total for the trip.

Monday we went to Jennifer's and took the kids to a park where we barbecued hot dogs and relaxed. I offered to take them to dinner at Maggiano's on the strip, an Italian chain restaurant owned by the same restaurant company that owns Chili's and the Macaroni Grill. I had won a $50 gift card at one of the tournaments for a second closest to the pin. We stopped for drinks at Dad and Shirley's beforehand and got to see them one last time. We thought we might see Jesse, who was rumored to be in Vegas, but he was off with his company people and didn't show up. Dad decided to wait for Jesse and maybe have a late dinner with him and didn't join us. It was their loss as the food was spectacular, the venue outstanding (the view on the strip is of the Wynn and Encore casinos). The food was incredibly priced with pasta dishes priced $10-$15. Samantha had a ball coloring and playing at the table and we enjoyed our last night with them. As we said goodbye I got emotional (shades of Pop crying as we left Vancouver each trip). I had enjoyed our time with the kids so much. Samantha is learning to string words together ("C'mon, Papa, let's go swimming!") and Jennifer is truly at a good point in her life. She is interviewing for a tech position with the Cosmopolitan Casino, the newest on the strip and located right in front of the Jockey Club and next door to Belagio. I am praying that she gets the job as she needs to get back to work. Being unemployed is grating on her, but it has been a blessing for Samantha, who is such a Mommy's girl now.

We met up with Dad and Shirley back at the Gold Coast casino and played for an hour. It turns out that Jesse was busy all night and they never did hook up with him Monday night. They couldn't catch a cold and left after burning through $60. Darla and I were over $200 down and the night was drawing to a close, when I hit 4 Aces dealt to me with a Jack. The payout was 800 coins. I discarded the Jack and was dealt a two for a 4000 coin payout (4 Aces with a 2-3-4). I cashed the winning ticket and left with two crisp hundred dollar bills in my pocket. Sometimes its good to win late.

Well, Darla is waiting for me and I have to watch a bit of TV before bed. Darla and I had a great time. Thank you to Daniel, Becky, Dad, Shirley, Jennifer, Michael and, especially, Miss Samantha for such a great vacation. I hope you are all well. Ciao.

Great Fall Weather in Northern California

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It was another tremendous weekend in Northern California. High, very thin clouds and temperatures in the mid eighties with a hint of a breeze in the air. The guys snuck off on Saturday to Fairfield and Rancho Solano Golf course. It is a beautiful course perched in the foothills of Solano County. There are some very nice homes built throughout the course and there were joggers and people walking dogs and babies through the public streets that intersect the course. Pamas, Boyd, Neil and I met at the Park-n-Ride n Roseville and all piled in my Chrysler 300 for the ride to Fairfield (about 45 minutes west on Interstate 80). Pamas is a member of the Roseville Golf Club as we are all and he took second place in the Club Championship losing 1-down to the winner this year after 18 holes. Pamas is the type of guy that drives me nuts. He took up golf about 7 years ago and became hooked, playing upwards of six times a week and often 36-54 holes a day. He is a 3 handicap, weighs about a buck fifty and hits his drives about 285 yards. He is also a heck of a nice guy. He moved to the states from India about 25 years ago and was a translator for the court system. He speaks six languages, including Hindi, Arabic, several Muslim country tongues as well as English and French. He was discovered as a translator by the FBI in a court case and recruited to join them and he has worked for the FBI for 25 years. He works in intelligence translating interrupted transmissions from the Taliban and others and also works with those sympathetic to the US mission in the Muslim world. Great guy and if we were going to take a road trip, it's always nice have a G man along for the ride. The course was in great shape and Pamas brought his camera along and got the pictures shown above. Neil was very impressed with the layout and is looking into having an away tournament at Rancho Solano next year. I shot one of my better recent rounds and really had my driver working on Saturday. I shot 40+39=79, Pamas shot 78, Neil had 92 and Boyd was aching and not feeling well all day. He shot 85. Boyd had been to the doctor during the week and had a flu shot. He not only had a really sore arm where they gave him the shot, but had flu symptoms as well. Boyd is doing incredibly well for his age, but we all forget sometimes that he is 70 years old.

Darla and I went to church again on Saturday night and slept in this morning. We went out to dinner in Lincoln at Buonarroti's restaurant after church and enjoyed Gnocchi and chicken dishes as well as a beer battered zucchini for an appetizer. It was nice to get away and get caught up on each other's lives.

We leave Thursday night for Vegas and our fourth trip to see Samantha this year. We are staying in a two bedroom condo just off the strip and across the street from the Rio and the Palms casinos. Darla and I will babysit Samantha on Saturday night as Jennifer and Michael hit the town to celebrate his birthday. He has a deejay gig and then they are going to a costume party with friends. They have some out of town guests staying with them on Saturday night. Darla talked to Daniel tonight and he will not be arriving in Vegas until about midnight on Thursday as he has a test tat won't be finished until about 5 PM at Cal poly, He then has to drive to Los Angeles and rendezvous with Becky and then drive the four hours to Vegas. Daniel turns 21 on Tuesday.

Dad and Shirley get into Vegas on Saturday night about 9 PM and we are hoping to have Daniel and Becky hook up with them. Daniel wants to spend some time with them and visit a little before they have to leave Sunday. We will definitely do a breakfast on Sunday. I don't know how fast Jennifer and Mike will be moving after a night on the town Saturday, so we may make it late morning. Darla and I plan to bring plenty of videos and things to keep Samantha entertained on Saturday night. We really look forward to the trip and to our time with her Saturday night.

Work continues to go great. We just finished another month where we cleared over $70,000 in profit for the branch. I have promoted Pete in my office to an Underwriting Manager position and he will be helping me out, especially when I'm not in the office. He will also sit in on selected reviews and help with budgeting and forecasting. He will take on the role of liaison with a number of our companies and help monitor sales and new products with those carriers. It's great to see the branch grow and need some additional management. Pete has worked hard, been undyingly loyal to me (he used to work with me at Republic Western and took my position as Field Underwriter in the Sacramento territory when I was promoted to Manager).

I have the Insurance Day on the day that I get back to Sacramento from Las Vegas. I'll have time to get back from the airport, get changed and run down to the Sacramento Convention Center for the luncheon and then will work the booth in the afternoon. Pete and the rest of the staff will have to set up our booth, stock it and work it Tuesday morning. I then have a dinner with a premium Finance Manager from our home office that evening at McCormick and Schmick's steakhouse. At least now I can turn things over to Pete and know that I can hold him fully accountable for getting things done.

Well, that's it for another week. The blog will be late next week as we will be gone, but will return with pictures of Jennifer, Sam, Dad and Shirley, Daniel and Becky, Mike, Darla and I. I'll write more then. Ciao.

Yep..it's Autumn

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Today was perhaps the first real indication of Fall. The temperatures yesterday were still in the mid nineties and it was HOT when we went to church at 5 o'clock. Today started out overcast and it was raining up in the mountains of Lake Tahoe. The clouds burned off mid-morning and it was 75 degrees with a light wind. We spent part of the day at Darla's sister's house watching football along with Don and their son, Lucas. Don had cooked some pork butt overnight and served it on rolls with a sauce made from Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce. It was tasty.

I went yesterday with five others to Eagle Vines in Napa, California for our second go at that course. I bought a golf discount card from one of the ladies in the office whose daughter was selling them as a fundraiser for their sports programs. When we got to Napa, the guys went in the shop and were told the rate was $85, they said that I had a discount card. The counter guy said, "I'll wait for him, but we don't offer weekend discounts." I gave him the card and he took it to some unseen guy in the office and they gave us a 25% discount on the golf ($63.75). The card cost me $39 and has discounts at a dozen local and bay area courses. I've used it four times so far and with all of the guys I've brought, our savings so far is a little over $354. Not a bad deal. The course was in great shape and I shot 84. Boyd struggled and shot 86, Bob had his normal 78 and the other guys quote, unquote "Had Fun." Next week, I have a tee time at Rancho Solano Golf Course in Fairfield and we will rack up another $65 in savings. The rack rate is $65 and I get 25% off. The weather Saturday in Napa was similar to today's in Roseville, although colder in the morning as their overcast is fog and is the primary reason that it is such a good wine grape growing area. The course is in and among the vines of merlot, chardonnay, zinfandel and other wine grapes. This is the season of harvest and crush and the smell of the grapes is intoxicating.

I played poker Friday night and the elusive John Uno showed up at his house and actually hosted the gathering. He fixed chili, which affected some of the guys in the way that you might expect, hence the picture of John Parola above. The picture of Samantha was sent by Jen. Sam has sensitive eyes and is the only two year old I know that consistently wears sunglasses when she is outside. These are polarized swim goggles she is wearing and mugging for the camera. The top picture was taken of Earl and Frances, Darla's parents to show that we perhaps need to start shopping for a group home for them. Actually, they have been away to Utah and ran across this attraction in their travels and had their picture taken. I think it may have been more convincing without the "Cowboy Bear" on the bike next to them.

We have made plans to meet Daniel and Becky in Vegas while we are there (we leave a week from Thursday). Dan and Becky will arrive on Thursday night and stay until Sunday. Daniel will drive from Cal Poly to Los Angeles and they will drive Becky's car to Vegas. We have a two bedroom condo rented across the street from the Rio and the Palms casinos. The only bummer is that Dad and Shirley don't get in until Saturday night, so will not get to see much of Daniel. His 21st birthday is October 12th and this will be his first trip to Vegas where he can actually walk into the casinos and look around. He's been in the casinos and walked to a restaurant with us or stayed at the arcade while we gambled. This time he'll find out what it's like to lose money. Perhaps he'll be like Jennifer who hit a $75 jackpot on her first legal trip to Tahoe on her 21st birthday. Daniel and Becky will have to leave by about noon on Sunday to get back to their respective colleges for Monday classes. I think we'll plan to go out to a Sunday brunch with everyone or meet over at the Black Bear Diner in Vegas. We will be in Vegas until Tuesday morning. I have to fly back and head right over to an Insurance convention in Sacramento. We'll take a couple of agents out to dinner that night and will host that dinner along with the head of our Home Office Premium Finance Company, who is coming out to Sacramento for the convention.

I played in an insurance golf tournament on Thursday and mentioned to my assistant Cora, that I'd be out Thursday doing some "Sports Marketing" She asked me if she could get together with a couple of the ladies in our agencies and do a "Spa Marketing" day. I told her to get back to work. It was a scramble tournament with thirty teams competing. We took third place with a 60 and both Matt and I won closest to the pin prizes. I ended up with gift cards to Home Depot and Chili's Restaurant. I used the Home Depot card to buy some solar garden lights for the front of the house. The house is so dark at night now that we painted it the chocolate brown color. The lights brighten up the planter and walkway at the front of the house and they are solar operated.

Darla is hard at work finishing the scrapbook for her parents. The front room is an assembly line of pictures and pages and multi colored construction paper. She is having a Silpada team party here tomorrow night and wants to be able to clean everything up and not have to pull it out again and start over.

Well, this is short, but we got back late from the Hochanadel's house and I want to join my wife in the family room for the last of the evening. I hope you are all well. Tell someone you love them this week. If it's a stranger in a men's room, you'll really surprise them. Ciao.

Indian Summer

Saturday September 25th 8 PM

It seems that as soon as Autumn hits in Roseville, the next weekend will end up being close to 100 degrees. It works that way for some reason. It was HOT on the golf course today and I came home and spent an hour and a half floating on the pool reading a book, Harlan Cobens' Gone For Good.

Darla and I met last night for dinner at String's in Roseville. She went out with the girls for drinks at Chevy's and I ran by the Almost Perfect used bookstore to reload our library with some John Lescroat, John Grisham, Stuart Woods and another Harlan Coben. The restaurant had a great Chicken dish made with a pasta and a brushetta sauce that was excellent. I had the other half of my dish for dinner tonight.

Darla has been losing weight recently and I have been seeing less of her. She is at a real estate event tonight for Silpada after being at a car event today with her jewelry. It's nice to see her losing weight, but I'd like to see more of her at home and less of her at the same time, if you get my meaning. I'm proud of her, she's been working hard in spite of some flaky friends that leave her waiting when they are supposed to walk.

Sunday 5:30PM

Darla actually surprised me by walking in shortly after eight last night. She had told me her event would last until after 9 PM , but it wasn't a very lucrative event. It was a real estate group who were meeting at a bowling alley for a social night. Somehow, I think being a real estate agent helping most buyers with short sales and foreclosure properties isn't really very profitable at the moment. She got tired of watching them bowl and drink and ignore the vendors, so she packed up and headed home early.

Darla and I spent part o the evening last night watching the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD. This is the Larry David show and this season was the Seinfeld cast reunion and it was, as always, typically Larry and typically "Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty funny." (You have to know the show to get the reference. We were up early today and off to church, where we got signed up for a six week bible study that will be held at the church on Wednesday evenings. it is being taught by the chancellor of William Jessup University, a Christian University in Rocklin and Bryce Jessup is a church member. The theme of the bible study is The Christian Family. It should be fun.

The pictures above are from David and some of his friends blog entries. Darla searches them for pictures of David and then downloads them to the computer. Dad sent me some pictures of his 44 Merc that was used in a music video this week, but the format that he sends them in doesn't allow me to save the pictures to my computer, so I couldn't add those. The band is the Jackie Valentine band and the video being shot was for their new single, "Brand New Car". They are a Canadian band on the rise. We'll see if it makes it to MTV or VH-1. Why they wanted a classic 44 roadster for a song about a Brand new Car escapes me, but the imagery in the pictures dad sent with the fog machine on in the background and the cars with their headlights on was pretty cool.

I did make it out to golf Saturday and it was a weird round of golf. In the 18 holes, I started out six over after six holes and went one under, birdieing the three holes after that for a 41 on the front. On number seven I stiffed an eight iron within a foot of the cup and landing right next to Boyd's ball who was also stiff at the hole. I walked up and knocked in the wrong ball and turned my three into a four. I had to replace his ball and then knock mine in. On the back nine, both Boyd and I had a 9 on the par five with balls hit out of bounds from the fairway. Boyd three putted for his nine and I hit two short chips to further mess my hole up. On number 12 Boyd hit a shot out of thin sand that struck the lip, bounced back and hit him. I also had four lip outs and shot 42 on the back for 83. Boyd shot 36 and 43 for 79. WEIRD.

I've set up a trip back to Napa and the Eagle Vines golf course on Saturday. We will leave Roseville at 7:30 and tee off at 9:26 and 9:33 next weekend. Work continues at a nice pace and we are on track for about a $195,000 income month. Our lunch goal is $182,000 so I can start planning the next outing that someone will complain about. That's it for this week. Not a whole lot of news, but I do what I can. be well and plan a trip to church if you really want to recharge your spiritual batteries. Ciao.

Football Weather

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Someone needs to tell the Dallas Cowboys that it's football season, apparently they continue to be as laid back as their coach. As a Head Coach, Wade Phillips makes a good defensive coordinator. It's been frustrating to watch as Romo racks up yardage, but no scores. The weather here was cloudy with slight rain sprinkles most of the morning and then cleared off to sunshine and blue skies by late afternoon.

Darla and I went to church last night and were thrilled to be a part of the first Saturday night service at our church in three years. Many people have been asking to have the Saturday services re instituted and we tied this in with the grand opening of our new children's building that also officially opened yesterday with face painting, games, food and a carnival for the kids. Darla asked me after service if I wanted to hang around and celebrate with our fellow church members. The piercing screams of children enjoying the fun convinced me that dinner at Woody's grill would be better for me. I also had a Lynchburg lemonade with my meal that I don't think they were serving at church. I was up early for golf yesterday and it was great to be able to sleep in this morning.

Daniel has just left to start his new school year at Cal Poly. He left in his old Ford pickup truck loaded down with a refrigerator and a ping pong table. It looked like the Beverly Hillbilly's were invading Roseville. I'm sure his roommates will appreciate it, but not when he gets there at 10 o'clock tonight and wants them to help him unload. We will see Daniel and his girlfriend, Becky, in Vegas next month.

I took the staff out to lunch on Friday to celebrate our "budget buster" month of August and it seems that no matter where I set up to go or what food we eat someone is always complaining. I took the gang to the Old Spaghetti factory that is located in the old Nimbus Winery just up the road from our office. One of the ladies didn't sign up for lunch and when I asked her, she said, she doesn't like Italian food. I told her they have salads, sandwiches and even a hamburger on the menu. She said if we go to Chili's or Applebees, she'd go. I told her, "maybe next time". I'm getting a little put off by some of the "entitlement" attitude I'm getting from some folks in the office. I'm guessing they are Democrats.
I also met a couple of agents Friday afternoon for golf. We teed off at 2:30 and barely finished our round at 7:15. I think that is the last time I will plan a Friday outing. There are too many state workers off on furlough those days and they move on the golf course like they do on their jobs...S L O W!! We played Wildhawk in Elk Grove and I shot 40+42=82 and could really never get a rhythm going. We waited on nearly every hole. One of my agents that played is the father of one of the girls on Darla's Silpada team. He is an athlete and owns a Shelby Cobra that has a signed glove box by Carroll Shelby. He stayed with me most of the match and shot a 44+42=86 even though he rarely plays golf. Those kind of guys drive me nuts. He has a real athletic swing and plays racquetball five days a week. It was fun.

I had arranged for golf at 7:30 at Diamond Oaks on Saturday morning, but had a player drop out Friday morning. I called Bob on my way to Wildhawk to ask him to fill that spot, when another call came through. Darren was at the Emergency room and had cut himself with a box cutter when he was cutting the grip off one of his clubs. It was about a five inch gash and he required the paramedics to triage him at home and then transport him to the emergency where they used 14 stitches to close up the wound. Two things about this. 1.) Everyone knows to cut AWAY from your body and 2.) He's lucky he didn't have the club across his lap when he was working on it. Darren is always tinkering with clubs and is experimenting with "bronzing" Scotty Cameron putters. He takes the shaft off and removes the two weights from the putter head. He then acetone washes the head to take off the paint infill. He then flames the head in a Bunson burner until the metal turns a carmel brown. He lets it cool, replaces the paint infill, and replaces the weights in the head. His first one turned out so nice, that I'd like him to flame my Scotty Cameron as well. It is a unique look and hides a lot of the dings and imperfections in the head. I guess he will have to come off IR before he can help me.

Bob was able to find two other players, both single digit handicappers (they hang together like they are in a club or something) and we played Saturday morning. I was lucky enough to win all three bets for a $15 payout in spite of my 41+42=83. Bob struggled with a 45 on the front, but shot 36 on the back for an 81. The other guys were both in the mid seventies, but both paid me. We have our final Diamond tournament next weekend. The Diamond Events are put on by the golf course and have nothing to do with our golf club.

Darla took advantage of the first gloomy football weekend to start work on a scrap book from our Summer trip to Almanor and Earl and Frances' 50th wedding anniversary celebration. She sat quietly and worked on her project as I yelled at the television.

I heard a good, if slightly off color joke this past week: A little girl goes to the barber shop with her Dad. She stands next to the barber chair while her dad gets his hair cut, eating a snack cake. The barber says to her: "Sweetheart, you're going to get hair on your Twinkie." She smiles at the barber and says "Yes I know, and I'm gonna get boobs, too!"

Not a lot that's newsworthy this week, but it has been a lot of work and nothing much else. I hope all are in good spirits, had a great Summer and enjoy the Autumn that begins on Thursday. Ciao.

A New Week Awaits

It is another work week. I have a dentist appointment this morning at 8 AM to have a permanent crown installed. I've been living with the "bottle cap" temporary for three weeks and I'm ready to get the permanent installed.

The pictures above are from our Labor Day party last Monday. We had 95 degrees and sun, perfect for a pool party. We had invited 6 couples, but only three couples showed up as three of the others were ill. I told Neil, who didn't make it because Lilly was under the weather, that I've got to get some younger friends. One of my friends, Rick, left his sick wife at home and came over for the tri tip and fellowship. He was at the house for about thirty minutes before I noticed that his wife wasn't there. he told me that he'd tell Jan that I really missed her.

Our friends, Bob and Vicki, have decided to move back to San Jose. Bob owns a Farmer's agency in San Jose. They moved here five years ago hoping to expand his business and to take advantage of the lower house prices. They have a beautiful home in Rocklin, but the business never picked up locally and Vicki never adapted to the hotter climate. They will sell their home here and move back by next Summer. I'll miss them, but I certainly understand the dilemma of trying to run a business from an isolated location. bob gets back to San Jose about every other week and the commute is wearing on him. Bob said that he hopes Vicki is prepared for the type of home that they will be able to afford in San Jose. Their 2200 square foot new custom home with a pool here will turn into an 1800 square foot older tract home in San Jose.

Darla, Daniel and I took the jet ski out Saturday with Don and Alicia to Folsom Lake. We set up over on the Folsom side of the lake and Don took me down the inlet to Folsom Lake from the American River and all the way to Salmon Falls bridge. it is a beautiful trip up the inlet with tremendous custom homes dotting the hillsides on the El Dorado Hills side. I'd been taking the jet ski out to Folsom lake for years, but had never seen the El Dorado Hills portion of the inlet. It was quite a sight. I took Darla on the ski later in the afternoon and showed her the homes. We will take the ski out again on Saturday and run the rest of the gas out of it and get it ready for the Winter.

Daniel leaves for Cal Poly and his Senior year on Friday. He has spent the Summer working on his Dad's house. He never did get a job because Steve wanted he and David to work on projects around the house. I told Daniel that his priority for next Summer should be to get an internship with an Engineering firm. He will graduate after the Fall semester in 2011 with a prestigious degree, but his resume is sorely lacking right now, because he hasn't worked any internships or really worked for anyone other than his father and two part time jobs two Summers ago. I know as a hiring manager that I look at a new graduates' resume to see if they can keep a job and if they have ever worked consistently prior to graduation. Daniel has some work to do to get his resume ready for his job search after graduation.

I talked to Dad and Shirley last night, They just got back from Calgary, where they spent a week in a condo. The area I think was called CanMex or can something. They were able to spend time with Caroline and her family who live outside of Calgary. It is about a ten hour car ride from Surrey, so they were tired after a week away. They have booked their flights to Vegas in October, so will join us to meet young Samantha and spend some time with Daniel celebrating his 21st birthday. We look forward to it.

Golf this weekend was great and good. I played a practice round on Saturday for our club championship which started yesterday. I knew I would have to be sharp because I was paired in the first round with a guy who has been as low as a 6 handicap and has worked his handicap back up to an 11. Steve is always in the fairway and has a consistent game. Saturday, my game was on and I shot 40+40=80, playing with Neil, Mel and Darren who shot 93, 96 and 98 respectively. Sunday, I felt some nerves, but still managed to take the lead in our match on the second hole with a 6 foot par putt. I went 1 up in the match play event and little did I know that it was the only time all day I'd have a lead. Steve was consistent and took a 3 up lead after 8 holes as I struggled with a balky putter and some slightly errant drives. I did manage to par number 9 and cut the damage to 2 up. We jockeyed n the back and I worked it back to 1 down with the last hole in play. I was setting up to hit my third shot into the 469 yard par four hole when i saw one of the guys in my foursome drive his cart up to the green and jump out of the cart and stand at the back of the green. I gave him the two palms up "what the Hell" sign and he moved. Unfortunately it distracted me and I pulled my approach left and up against the boundary fence. I picked up and conceded the match. It was unfortunate, because I'd really rallied and I'd like to see how I'd fared on 18. Steve had a bogey.

Well, I have to run as the dentist awaits. Everyone have a good week and I'll check back next weekend. Ciao.

Labor Day

It is an interesting irony that here in Obama's 2010, we set aside a day to celebrate the American laborer, a group that has gotten increasingly smaller during the Obama administration. In fact, the only sector of the economy that is currently growing is federal government, where a large push is on to hire more IRS workers to oversee the doomed Obama Care health plan. This is an epic moment in American history. Will the Koolaid drinkers re-elect Obama in 2012, or will common sense finally infect the M-TV generation, those acutely affected by unemployment? Having the first black president and president born outside of the United States is historic, but small business needs to be embraced. You cannot spend your way out of a recession (Economics 101, almost as basic as Supply and Demand), and we need real, seasoned leadership to help us see our way out of this recession and back to a sustained economic recovery. Obama isn't the answer and, frankly, neither is Sarah Palin. It will be interesting to watch the Fall elections this year to see, if as expected, the Republicans take back the House or Senate. It has to happen as the balance of power needs to be put back on it's axis. It isn't healthy to have one party control government. The Obama Health Care plan is a result of that mistake and the voters will correct that gross miscalculation.
Enough of that. Darla and I are hosting 14 of our friends this afternoon to a Labor Day pool party. We have three tri-tip steaks marinating for the grill, and Darla just returned from a trip to the store with ice and drinks and snacks for the gang. Neil and Lilly will be here with margaritas and jello shots for the group. Most of our golf club friends will be here as well as Bob and Debbie. It will be fun and our friends know that if you come to a Lyon pool party, you will be in the water. We don't even answer the front door, but put a note on the door to come in and meet us in the back yard. We get started about 1 o'clock.
It has been a nice weekend. Darla and I went out to OSH Saturday and bought a few replacement plants for the garden. Our house is now 21 years old and much of the landscaping is original. The original owners liked bushes more than Darla and I do. We are more fans of flowers and flowering plants. We bought a carnation plant to dress up the deck in the back yard and a couple of Chinese flowering plants with blue and green leaves that flower in Spring. These are planted right near the front door and replace a large bush that was beginning to die. Pulling that 20 year old plant out was a job. Luckily, I have a sawz-all that was able to clear the plant out so that I could get to the root ball. I worked on that with a pick axe and spade before finally pulling it loose.

I played in our Labor Day golf tournament yesterday and I hadn't heard from Boyd all week. He had the kidney stone problem last weekend and couldn't play with us. I guess the stone continued to give him problems and he was in the hospital again on Monday. He was in agony most of the week and finally passed the stone last Friday. He is on the road to recovery and came out to the course during our round to say hi to the guys. I call him the human bb gun. Darryl won't find that funny.

I played well yesterday and was with three really good golfers, including Bob. They shot 71, 72 and 77. I had an 82, but totally pooped my pants on the 18th hole with a triple bogey. I should have shot 79 or 80. I hadn't had as much as a double bogey all day and even was on the 499 yard par five 6th hole in two and just missed my eagle putt for a tap in birdie. It could have been better, but I am holding out faith that I'm saving my best golf for next week's club championship. Funny, I was talking to one of the guys who has worked his handicap down from a 17 to a 13. He told me that when I played him in the Club Championship in 2005, it inspired him to better his game. I guess I beat him 10 and 8 and he was completely embarrassed him. I didn't remember the encounter, probably because I lost in the finals and that was what I took away from it. You never know who you might touch in life, eh?

We just talked to David on Skype this morning. He is living the dream in Rome and lifted his laptop up to show us the view out his window of the Zee River and the ruins beyond. I have included a picture of David at the Colosseum ruins and another of he and his classmates in Rome. He has a blog and invites any friends or family to follow him at http://didascalo.com/dlierly/. This is part of David's assignment as he traverses through the required curriculum in Rome, but he will add to the blog weekly and will be adding pictures as well. You can see the assignments that he has and some links to other sites about Italy. He is literally having the time of his life and sent us a note saying "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!". David is one young adult, who will make the most of this trip, see and do everything and completely immerse himself in the experience.

Well, short and sweet, but we have to get on to our day. Work is going well, we hit another $200,000 income month this month. I have four visitors in this week at work capped off by Harvey visiting the office on Friday. The week will fly by..and we get the start of NFL football on Thursday. Nice. have a good week. Ciao.

Jennifer is THIRTY, Good Lord, How Old Am I?

Well, at least Darryl is older than me and his daughter turns 31 this year. I guess in some ways it shows that you survived to get your child through the teen years and through the 20's..oh, Hell, I'm just OLD. At least I've got a young, good looking wife (But, even she is a grandma). Now, I'm all depressed.

Jennifer was out on the town in Vegas last night with dinner at an Italian restaurant and then relaxing at a club afterward. Sounds like fun, but she was with her Mother, who was in Vegas to help her celebrate her thirtieth.

Darla and I went on a river cruise last night to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary (Aug 23rd). I had won cruise tickets from the Marine Underwriters at Chartis Insurance at one of their Product fairs that they did in Rancho Cordova. The tickets were only good for one year (which actually is illegal in California when in the form of a gift certificate), but the tickets were only supposedly good until April and we wanted to go when the weather was a little nicer. We had a low pressure system over California this weekend with temperatures just in the upper 70's, so we signed up for a cruise. The dinner was actually excellent and the boat, The Empress, out of San Francisco was great. It actually is the same ship that we went on when the Colony Underwriters came out and hosted a dinner cruise in Old Sacramento.

When I called to sign up for the Saturday night cruise, we found out that the gift certificate , which listed two dinner cruises, was actually for $250. The cost of the dinner cruise is only $69.95 plus port taxes, so we had about $110 in shipboard credit. I asked if they had any packages and we were able to get the "sweetheart" package which guaranteed a window seat and came with a box of truffles and a nice bottle of Chandon champagne. We also upgraded one of the dinners and one of the desserts. Darla is not a drinker and didn't care for the champagne, and actually liked the free welcome aboard champagne, which was Brut champagne with a shot of grenadine. She drank both of those, while I proceeded to get plowed drinking the whole bottle of Chandon.

When we drove into Old Sacramento and were waiting to get into the parking garage, Darla nudged me and pointed out a cross dresser, a huge guy dressed like a woman. Hey, it's California. When we got to the boat and were ready to board, they stopped us to have pictures taken. There was a large group of people, including the cross dresser getting their picture taken. It became obvious that most of the crowd in the group were also cross dressers, but some were older couples. It was exceedingly odd and took both of us back to Nuevo Vallarta and our cruise with the lesbians. What is it about boats and short trips that brings out the other element? Of course it turns out that we were seated right next to the group. There were a total of 24 of them, many with their parents and other "straight" friends. We found out after the cruise that it was a meeting of the River City Genes, a support group for cross dressers. Actually it was the "Jims", but I didn't want anyone "googling" the name and getting my blog. It's amazing how often that happens with words like Silpada and Nike, I get hits all the time on my blog. There were some Godawful ugly large cross dressers in the group and one transgender ( I guess) who was a guy with a huge boob job and he/she was putting them out there. There's something about a curvaceous set of breasts with hair on them that's a bit of a turnoff (J/K!)

We were entertained by the group, but enjoyed our night nonetheless. We made friends with a couple next to us and had a few laughs. At one point the dj was asking for song requests and I went up and asked for Aerosmith's "Dude looks like a Lady", but the dj said he hadn't had enough to drink to do that. The evening was very mild and we enjoyed the trip up and down the Sacramento River. It was about 2 1/2 hours and the food, as I said, was great. I had a bacon wrapped filet mignon with mashed potatoes and Darla had a rosemary chicken dish with macaroni and cheese. We split both meals and enjoyed the repast. They also had an avocado soup and a green salad beforehand. Dessert was an apple tart for Darla and a chocolate decadence cake for me. We will go again sometime and maybe take friends. It was a great time. Darla said during the dinner that this was one night she didn't like being so tall because most of the c/ds were over six foot tall. She looked beautiful though as you can tell by the pictures.

I made it out golfing on Saturday, the morning that the cold front moved in. We had an 8:30 tee time and I got a message from Boyd that he was "passing a kidney stone" and wouldn't be there. Bob told Matt (who is 26) that he must be playing with old guys when one of them backs out because of kidney stones. It was windy and cool at the course and luckily, I had a wind shell from Poppy Hills in my bag and was able to put that on and survive the cool start to the day. Matt didn't have a coat and Bob offered him a set of sleeves from his bag. These are just sleeves made by Nike (here comes the Google hit) that you pull on up to your shoulders and are made for golfers who don't like to be restricted by coats or long sleeve shirts in cool weather. Bob claimed he bought them at three in the morning when watching QVC. Matt passed on the sleeves.

Bob mentioned that I had my "winter" swing going and I shot 40+42=82 on Woodcreek, the tougher of the two Roseville courses. It was nice to be back out on the golf course after the trip to Canada. Bob struggled a little with an 85 and Matt, smooth as ever, shot 75.

Another sign of aging, I had my fifth crown put on one of my teeth on Monday. Actually, I got the "bottle cap" temporary put on and get the permanent in two weeks. I don't remember the residual pain from the crowns like I had this time. I felt like I was punched in the mouth my jaw was aching so much after the Novocaine wore off. I mentioned it to Cora, my assistant, and she said "I know how it is". I said, "have you had many crowns?" She was totally confused and didn't know that I had been to the dentist. Now what could she possibly have meant when she said I Know how it is, when I said I felt like I'd been punched in the mouth? My personal lines underwriter and I had a good laugh trying to figure out what she was talking about.

Darla and I were up late today and missed church. We punished ourselves by cleaning the house. I was sandbagged Friday night by my poker group. We had poker lined up at Jon's house and he was not home when the guys started arriving. They called me and I offered to host here if John didn't show up. John is a poker addict and I figured he'd just run to the store. Well, he didn't show up and either had an emergency or flaked on the poker night, just forgetting it wad that Friday. I rushed around straightening up the house and the office took the brunt of things tossed quickly into the room to clean up. Darla and I both work and sometimes things pile up during the week. I ended up hosting four guys for poker on like no notice.

When the guys showed up , we were outside talking about what happened to John and just shooting the breeze when a small Chevy came screeching around the corner with some young kid at the wheel and two girls along for the ride. We shook our heads and went in to play. Later, we heard another screech of tires and an engine revving and then a large "BANG!" We jumped up to see what had happened and one of the neighbor's kids, a guy David's age and size had slammed on the front hood of the car when it went racing past him. By the time we got outside the car had stopped and tow of the girls were running up towards us. The guy in the car took off. The neighbor told them that he had called the cops and they were driving like maniacs. One girl yelled that it was a borrowed car and now it was all dented. The other girl (both twenty-somethings) began cussing and yelling. Big John, one of my poker buddies, told her to calm down and she whirled on him and dropped several F bombs. He was livid, calling her a little "blank" and asking her to hit him in the face that he could use the money. She was totally amped on something and her friend pulled her away. Later, when things calmed down, I told John he was lucky she didn't haul off and break his nose. He said, "Hey, I would have owned her house". I pointed out that she was a passenger in a "borrowed" car. She doesn't have a house or a pot to piss in. Just a show with the card game, I guess.

Well, my pork chops are just about done on the grill, so I better run. Hope you are all well. Ciao.

Happy 30th Birthday, Miss Jennifer. Weddings, Barbecues and 80 degree temperatures in August!

Another weekend is slowly winding down. It is a weekend that the golf group was in Carmel at our annual trip and I agreed to stay home and go to a wedding with Darla. Those are major husband points and don't think that I won't cash those in at some point. Darla's former roomate and best friend, Joni, was married on Saturday. I was a little surprised that Darla wasn't in the wedding, but Darla and Joni have grown apart in recent years, mostly because Darla was married and Joni wasn't. Joni was Darla's maid of honor in our wedding. I suppose it shouldn't be that big of a surprise as my best man, Jerry Tuel, and I barely speak now as our lives have just gone in different directions. We see each other maybe once a year. Her groom's father is a member of the Model A club in Sacramento and they had three of the model A's at the reception and took James and Joni on a tour of Folsom after the send off and reception. Darla and I walked out and talked to the owner of one of the cars during the reception and we had a couple of pictures taken in one of the Model A's.

It was a spectacular weekend with Saturday's high temperature on August 21st just reaching 83 degrees. This has been one of the mildest Summers on record. Today was 88 degrees, BUT there is a high pressure system spinning toward us from Utah and tomorrow will hit 100 degrees with Tuesday and Wednesday at or above 102. The long range forecast is for a cool down with next Saturdays temperature back down in the mid eighties

We had the wedding on Saturday morning in Roseville and then a twenty minute drive to Folsom for the reception. From there, Darla and I ran by my office to change clothes and head over to the Burns and Wilcox Summer picnic. We were providing the main course and arrived about 4:15 after another quick stop at the grocery store for supplies. We played sand volleyball at the picnic and then had a repast of sirloin burgers and barbecued chicken with salads, chips, beer, soft drinks, zucchini bread, and fresh sourdough. We didn't have much dessert as the person signed up for dessert failed to show. We had a good time and although I stressed my back a little playing volleyball, it was great exercise and a lot of fun. Of course, Darla and my team won 7 out of 8 games played. Winning is always fun.

I have one of the senior brokers and a product manager in town tomorrow and tomorrow night and I was asked to join them for dinner in Sacramento. I know what my big boss and my father would say as far as being there for the visitors, but it is Darla and my anniversary tomorrow night and I already had a date to take Darla to dinner. I called and talked to the Brokerage VP and told her that in my first marriage I would have gone to the dinner and celebrated another night, but in this marriage my commitment is to my wife and that I would have my number one underwriter fill in for me and take them out to dinner. She asked how long we'd been married (14 years) and then asked me to come to San Francisco and teach her husband about setting priorities. I think I probably made more of an impresson on the two ladies coming to town because of my decision to have dinner with my bride rather that go out on the town with them. I know all about the sacrifices that a manager has to make for his job, but I also know what is most important in my life and I choose to honor that.

I did play golf today and teed off at 11:01 AM after church. I now remember why I don't like to play golf later in the day on a weekend. There was every father and son and boyfriend and girlfriend on the course taking five and a half hours to play 18 holes. We followed a work tournament that played a scramble format and had people on the course that had no business having a golf club in their hands. I saw one group almost drive their power cart onto a green and leave it parked steps from the green. Of course the driver was a big tub of lard that should have been walking and certainly could have used the exercise walking from the cart path to the hole. You just shake your head at things like that. I usually really struggle in a "hit and wait" golf game, but managed a 39 on the front and a 43 on the back for 82. Boyd shot a stellar 73 and Bob Hand had a 99. We enjoyed the fellowship together, but I look forward to my 7:38 AM tee time this coming Saturday.

I hadn't completely expanded on our trip to Vancouver and back. We had to meet Randy at the border as he left his Blackberry at the house when he left for the airport and Jenny and Justin's flight to Dallas. We met them and drove up to Tukwilla casino outside Seattle and played some video poker. The machines were tight and Randy pointed out how loud the machines were, making it sound like a lot of action, but no one was winning. We left them at the casino and drove on to Seattle. Our flight was 6:15 PM and we wanted to tour Seattle. Their flight was 3:30 and I can't imagine that the drive to the airport was fun as they were cutting it close. There was a slowdown in Seatlle with the traffic moving at a crawl. Darla and I got lost trying to find the fish market in Seattle and finally settled for a nice Italian restaurant close to the UW campus. We lucked into a great menu and wonderful food. We were able to visit and talk with each other, going over the weekend and the week ahead and then take a leisurely drive to the airport, where I watched the first half of the New York Giants preseason NFL game and Darla read. We were home by shortly after nine and able to wind down before bedtime. It was a great trip.

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We did get discounted tickets for Las Vegas, managing to find $149 flights and we will be in Vegas Thursday October 14th until Tuesday October 19th. We are hoping that Dad and Shirley can join us. They have time at their condo, but it is a cost consideration as they are off to Mexico in November. At any rate, we will get to spend some time with Miss Samantha, Jennifer and Michael. By the way, Jennifer turns 30 next Saturday. I guess I am officially OLD at that point.

I hope you are all doing splendidly and enjoying the dog days of Summer. Happy Birthday, Jennifer. I love YOU! Ciao.

We'll start with Canada Pictures and Randy at 50!

And one of David on his last day stateside. This will be short as it is 9:00 on Wednesday night and Darla is due home any minute. We had a gas in Canada, lots of laughs, too much food and booze and lots of good, fun family time. Thank you, Al and Sherry, for the use of your home and the hospitality. It was much appreciated. Thank you, Dad and Shirley, for being base central and for all of the great food and drink while we were north of the border. Darla said a prayer while we were having dinner in Seattle and it was basically praising God for such a great family. We are truly blessed. Jenny and her boyfriend, Justin, were a highlight of the trip. Jenny is so down to earth and basically calls it as she sees it. She kept Darla and I in stitches. Justin was the butt of a few jokes, but took it all in stride. Great people.

We have heard from David and he is in Germany today and off to Switzerland tomorrow. He's had some difficulty with language and getting around, but has some amazing pictures and experiences. His traveling companion, Mya, only lasted a few days with him and bolted for a trip to the Alps with some of their friends in Germany. David wanted to stay in Germany and see more sights and is hooking up with the group tomorrow. He will get together with my former employee, Toni-Anne, in Zug, a suburb of Zurich probably Friday. We have sent some paperwork and a Schwab debit card to home care of Toni-Anne, so he will pick that up from her. he will continue travels in Switzerland over the weekend and then be in France next week. he arrives in Italy the weekend of the 28th and school starts on Monday the 30th. I will post some of his pictures when we receive them.

Dad and Shirley have a great house for entertaining, but only have two beds in the five bedroom house. It's an odd set-up, but they have theme rooms, a music room, golf room, etc. We stayed with Al and Sherry, just a stone's throw from their house. The home behind them has been torn down to make room for three more houses and right now you can see Al and Sherry's house from their backyard. Al's boys come through the lot and hop the fence.

You can see the picture of all of us taken up at Grouse Mountain on Saturday. We asked one of the climbers that had just finished the Grouse Grind and he was a pretty boy with flat abs, but a little lite in the loafers. It looks like he thought the tree was part of our family as he lined up the picture. Grouse was fun with the tram ride up and down and the bird show and lumberjack show on top of the mountain. We rode down and found a White Spot over in West Vancouver and had a late lunch.

Sunday we took a trip in to Granville Island and the farmers market. It was hot and absolutely packed. The people were like ants on syrup crawling all over each other in the market. There were Asian people with cameras poised at the fruit, taking close up pictures of bunches of grapes and heads of lettuce. I wouldn't want to get stuck watching slides of their trip to Canada. Randy treated us to a late lunch at Bridges restaurant on the waterfront that afternoon. I almost ran over a little kid when I was exiting my parking spot. Some woman let her kid go loose and he walked in back of my car from the driver's side. A car had stopped for my spot and I started backing up and the woman smacked my car and screamed at me. The spot I had was so tight I had to crawl out of the car from the passenger's side when we parked. I couldn't see the kid and was looking back over my left shoulder as I backed into the street. Luckily I didn't hit him, but the whole place was a mass of humanity. Not my cup of tea (not that I really like tea to begin with).

I will add more to this on the weekend. I've been working hard to get caught up at work. Darla and I had dinner at one of my agent's homes in Lincoln last night, so tonight is my first down night. Ciao.