Another week of waiting for the State of California to give me a test date. I deal with the waiting in different ways. I spend a fair amount of time on the phone networking with agents and preparing them for when I finally get off the ground and I'm ready to start writing business for them. I've also been playing a fair amount of golf and I've been doing some odd jobs around the house, trimming plants and working on the pond, etc.

Darla and I went out yesterday and bought some aquatic plants for the pond. The intense heat in Northern California makes the battle against algea almost unwinnable and the heat forces the fish to find shelter at the bottom of the pond. I decided to battle both problems with the use of some floating and some aquatic plants. We bought two $20 hardy lilies that sit in pots at the bottom of the pond. The leaves will grow up and sit on the surface of the water and provide shade for the fish and keep the sun off of the water. These lilies are bright pink and yellow. We also bought 5 floating hyacinth that are a flowering plant with long roots that the fish love to push around the surface of the pond. We also bought six celery and aeration plants that provide needed aerification to the water. We then bought a large Canna plant that looks like a bottlebrush plant with large purple blossoms. All of these plants sit just below the surface of the water and grow out to provide shade and shelter to the fish. The surface of our pond is 6' x 9' in dimension and these plants should grow out to cover about 75% of the surface of the water. The nursery where we bought the plants is out in the country and only open Friday thru Sunday. They specialize in aquatic plants and have acres of ponds with plants and massive koi in the ponds. I'll keep them handy for the future, but the difference in the pond is already pretty dramatic and the fish seems to be thrilled with the new additions.

I played golf last week and over the weekend and also have a game tomorrow with Jerry, my best friend and best man in my wedding. Jerry and I don't get to see each other as much as I'd like. We are both married and busy with family and careers, but it was golf that developed our friendship and it is golf that sustains it. I shot an 85 last week at Woodcreek, the championship course here in Roseville, I made a nice comeback on the back side after shooting 46 on the front. I then played Diamond Oaks and shot 43-40=83 to take all bets on Saturday.

I heard a good golf story from the speaker at church on Sunday. Our pastor is on vacation and we had our former youth pastor who is planting a new church in Sacramento speak. Back when Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House, the Scots were attempting to introduce the game of golf to America and a Scottsman enticed U.S. Grant out to the opening of a golf course in the U.S. The press followed the twosome to the first teeing ground. The Scottsman poured out a pile of sand from a small bag that he carried in his golf bag and set the ball on it. He took his driver and lined up and took a mighty swing, hitting the ground, but missing the ball. Grant watched with great interest as the Scottsman took aim again and swung mightily whiffing above the ball. He tried six more times, missing the ball each time. Grant put his hand on the Scottsman's shoulder and said, "This new game appears to employ a great deal of exercise, but I fail to see the point of the ball."

I went out to a meeting with my new employer on Friday. They meet once a month for breakfast at seven a.m. in Manteca and then retire to the office for meetings on production and any developments with the companies. I was up at five a.m. and on the road by five-thirty for the ninety minute drive to Manteca. Fridays are casual days in the office and I wore a brand new golf shirt. I sat thru breakfast and then joined them back in the office to go over the production reports. About forty five minutes into the meeting, my boss, Nancy, said, "Ken, that's a very nice shirt, but what is that on the front of it?" I looked down to see the 2 1/2" x 6" tag that says X-Large down the side about five times. Smooth, eh? I blamed the faux paus on Darla, who I claimed sets my clothes out for me each night before I go to bed. They all had a good laugh, one of them even telling me to tell Darla that the X-Large sticker was on the front of my pants.

Richter Robb is growing so fast that they've had to arrange for new quarters to accomodate their growth. Nancy had arranged for everyone to go over to the new office at eleven thirty that day. I had a phone interview with the California Employment Development Department at 1 p.m. and had to leave. Nancy was busy and I told her office manager that I had to go. Nancy called me on Saturday to make sure that everything was alright. She was concerned that I hadn't stayed behind to see the offices wth the gang. Her overriding concern was that I was not a team player. I assured her that I was and that the conflict was unavoidable. She was fine after our discussion, but it says something about her commitment to a team atmosphere in the office. Darla thought it was a bit much, but I see it as a good sign and I'm glad that she aired her concerns rather than let them fester.

Darla and I are off to Lake Almanor with the boys on the weekend. I'm not thrilled about sleeping in a tent for three days with the tenous condition of my back, but I'll survive. Darla and the boys really enjoy boating and water sports. I'll work on a few books and relax in the sun for three days. The weather has finally peaked after reaching triple digits for three straight days, yesterday was 95 and today is supposed to be 88. It will return to warmer days next weekend, just in time for us to head to Lake Almanor in the mountains.

Monday, Monday. I have completed my insurance classes, I've signed my contract with Nancy at Richter-Robb and now I sit in a waiting game for my test date for the property and casualty license. Just what I want to do, wait for the state to decide my immediate future. The schooling was Insurance 1A and pretty repetitious at best and boring at worst. The hardest part of the class was sitting and listening to the instructor give inaccurate or flat incorrect information. Being an academic and not an insurance person, the instructor can only teach based on the curriculum that is provided to him by the state of California. I was taking it way too serious early on, but after a discussion with the instructor (who I have had in the past when I got a Life license while working at Dean Witter), I realized that his intention is simply to teach us how to pass the test and not teach us either insurance theory or insurance procedure. I sat with two people who have been in insurance for twenty-plus years as I have and we got to the point of simply shaking our heads at each other when he brought up something patently incorrect. It was a test, especially in the afternoons when the temperatures were up and we had just finished the buffet at the local pizza parlor. Overall, it was a positive experience and I'm one step closer to the test and ultimately to starting my new job.

I will technically be the new Branch Manager of the Roseville branch of Richter Robb Insurance. Of course, I'll have no employees and will be working for Nancy, but really working for myself as a commissioned broker of surplus lines business. Nancy has set me up with a computer (a Dell Dimension 4550, a DSL line, a Fax/Printer/Scanner) and phone lines. I will be contacting the 150 agents that I worked with at Republic Western and signing them up to write surplus lines insurance. I will specialize in hard to place habitational business, but write all lines of surplus lines business. The manager at Burns and Wilcox, who offered me the salaried position in Sacramento, but who also made the mistake of being a little too forthcoming about some of the problems in his office, took it hard that I chose to work with Richter Robb. He was professional about it, but let me know that he felt like I strung him along when I knew I'd take the Richter Robb position all along. The truth is that I had to think long and hard about my options and decided to take a flying leap and see if I can fly. If you hear a loud THUD in the coming months, that would be me putting my wings away and being fitted with a body cast.

I had an interesting weekend. Darla and the boys went up to Lake Almanor in Northeastern California where Darla's folks have their motor home parked for the Summer. Earl has his boat up there and they are commuting back and forth, usually staying up there for two or three weeks at a stretch and then coming back home for a few days and then repeating the process. Oh to be retired. Earl and Frances have become good friends with the operators of the trailer park/resort and Earl has helped him refloat the marina, break in a brand new ski boat and with repairs and odd jobs around the facility. In fact, the owners have to go into town this week to register their new ski boat so that they can rent it out and Earl and Frances will work the office while they are gone. This is the resort where we stayed last Summer and will be back to in August. I will likely only get to enjoy the weekend there as I'll be up to my elbows in getting my new business off the ground, but it is a very nice resort up at the Lake. Darla and the boys had a great time water-skiiing, wake-boarding. knee-boarding and just relaxing up at the Lake. Daniel drove up with his grandparents after his graduation on Wednesday night and Darla, David and Alicia followed on early Saturday morning. I stayed behind because of ....GOLF. I played in a Net Amateur qualifier on Sunday and scraped my way around the course for a 43-43=86. Pretty bland golf in a tournament, but my back was acting up and stiffened on me during the round. I was glad to walk off the eighteenth green with a final tap-in par after a missed birdie putt.

I spent Saturday setting up my new computer, transferring Word and Excel files and pictures from my old computer, as well as setting up all of my favorite websites and configuring the new computer to my desires. I still have to set up a screensaver and change my e-mail address with many of my online service providers. Right now, I'm getting next to no e-mail on my new addresses as the spammers are not yet aware of the address. I don't know what I'll do to remove that unwanted hair or how I'll ever find a provider of inkjet ink without the spammers. I guess I'll survive.

I drove over to the new Indian Casino that just opened in Lincoln, the next town down the road from Roseville. The Auburn Indians that own the land contracted with the Station Casino group out of Las Vegas to build and manage the casino for them and this is a first-cabin operation. Dad is familiar with the Station Casino group and this facility is HUGE. It has nine restaurants and a giant gaming facility with slots, table games and a showroom. I could swear I was in Vegas when I drove up to the facility. The Nevada casinos in Reno and Tahoe are concerned about the competition from this facility and based on the swelling crowds at the casino, they have a right to be worried. I had dinner at the Fatburger inside the casino, but couldn't get within several bodies of a slot machine. I drove up to see the facility (it's about twelve miles from our house) and that's what I did. It was wall-to-wall people on Saturday night and it took me almost twenty minutes in line just to order a Fatburger. I look forward to them finishing the showroom and beginning some entertainment on the weekends. They have a huge All-You-Can-Eat buffet that Darla and I will take advantage of for Sunday brunch occassionally. This is by far the nicest Indian Casino that I've ever seen. Leave it to a Vegas casino operator to bring some class to the genre.

I talked to Jennifer on the weekend and she will be coming home for a week over her 23rd birthday in August. Her Mom offered to bring her home for the three day July 4th holiday, but Jennifer decided that travelling two of the three days didn't sound like much fun and decided to come home over her birthday and take a week off. She gets a month off every year from the Army. She told me she is thinking about driving over to Myrtle Beach for the 4th of July holiday. Darla and I will drive up to Lake Almanor and spend the weekend with her folks on the 4th.

Well, that is all the news that's fit to print, so until next time, keep God alive in your life.

I don't know what it is about me..perpetual youth or perhaps perpetual immaturity, but I find certain things funny that others would find tremendously unpleasant. I suppose those people would be called grownups.

Anyhow, I had to go out at the lunch break from insurance school today and buy Daniel a graduation present. He is graduating from the eighth grade and I suppose in some strange way we celebrate that, the matriculation from middle-school to high-school. I will sit in 100 degree heat on pavement and suffer through the class president trying to sound grownup as he or she discusses the role of the eighth grader in making the world a better place (as long as they are home in time for Mom to make dinner). I digress. I went over to Fry's Electronics, a local electronics superstore and picked out a new 13" color television for Dan. As I was browsing through the huge display of Japanese technology at its best and brightest, a wave of need passed through my very soul and I made my way to the Men's room. I busied myself in inner contemplation while reading the back door of the stall. Finally having cleansed my soul (so to speak) and being past ready to leave the area, I stood to leave. As I leaned over to flush the john, my sunglasses slipped from their perch on the front of my shirt and tumbled down into the soup! I stood suddenly transfixed at the site of my shades floating in the mix. I was torn between my two idiosyncracies, cleanliness and cheapness. Should I wade into the mess to get the shades or move on and buy a new pair of glasses?Being the miser that I am I finally dove in fished them out, walked them about three feet from my body over to the sink and washed them under some scalding hot water. I bought the tv and quickly went on to the rest of my day. I don't know why, perhaps because this sort of thing only happens to me, but I found it blog worthy.

Back to the Blog after a week of alternating between vacation and training for my insurance license. I started the training on Thursday of last week and then Darla and I drove back up to Lake Tahoe on Friday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. The condo was great and we mostly ate and played at the Lakeside Casino. Tahoe has gotten really snooty in the last couple of years with Harrahs and Harvey's now under common ownership and the addition of several brand new and expensive condos now sitting next to Harrah's on the strip, the big casinos have forced the small gambler out. $10 minimum tables and 25 cent slots as the lowest denomination are now common. The $1 and $5 slot machines are the fastest growing machines in Tahoe. The Lakeside has excellent food with $2.99 breakfast specials, $4.99 lunch specials and the best prime rib in Tahoe at $7.99. We ate most of our meals there, although we ate one breakfast in the restaurant at the condo. I had a barbecued pork sandwich on Sunday lunch that was some of the best barbecue I'd had in a while. We ate and gambled (we both like nickle video poker) and spent some time in the sun and just generally enjoyed ourselves. It was a great getaway and in spite of technically being still unemployed, I enjoyed the weekend. I hit another royal flush on Saturday night (spades), but I only had five nickles in. A 25 cent bet to win $200 is still pretty nice.

Commuting to this class, which is a whopping 19 miles from my home, has made me realize how incredibly spoiled I am. I've been working out of my house for the better part of eight years and I've really grown to appreciate the serenity and the lack of pressure that I had in my life. Now commuting the half-hour in rush hour traffic, I know what I've been missing. The time that I'm negotiating traffic at 7:30 used to be spent with a cup of coffee in the back yard feeding the fish. I find myself tiring early in the afternoon as the instructor drones on about insuring clauses and conditions, etc. Several times I've had to resort to the technique of using my hand to shield my eyes as I sit back in class and close my eyes. I feel like I'm back in high school. We get a ten-minute break once an hour and I need it. Just this small amount of commuting has convinced me to forego the safe salary at Burns and Wilcox and give Richter Robb 100% of my commitment and work on growing my business here in my home. The 100% commission aspect has still got me a little spooked, but it will be a giant motivator going forward.

I talked to Dad over the weekend and wished him a Happy Father's Day. I also talked to Jennifer and she in turn wished me good tidings. I heard that My Uncle Ed passed away on Saturday night. He has been ill with prostate cancer and was given only a few months to live last year. He died with his family around him and I simply ask you to send a prayer to his family, his wife Martha and his two children, Steve and Jane, my cousins. I trust that the Lord will hold them in his arms during this time of sadness and mourning. Ed was a man's man with a barrel chest and a heart of gold. He was very much like his father, Jack (Pop) who passed away so many years ago. Both of them had a solid exterior and a soft inner core. I can't think of a better combination for a man. My cousin Wayne is very similar in makeup to Ed and Pop and to some extent, so is my brother Randy. All of them would give you pause if there was trouble to be had just looking at them, but any of them would give you the shirt off their backs and a strong shoulder to lean on when times are tough. Solid men who I'm proud to be related to.

The temperatures in Roseville have returned to the upper nineties and near 100 as I slog about moving sprinklers and working on a couple of brown spots that have popped up in the lawn in the last week. Why is it that when you take a vacation, things like that happen? I'd replaced some of the sod in the back yard and I'm having to pour water on the replaced sod in order to keep it alive and to help it nit to the grass that is already there.

I've developed a horrendous bachache that was exacerbated by my golfing last weekend. I've had some tweaking in my back before and
it has always corrected itself over time. This has been with me for two weeks now and I can barely bend over to put on my socks. I agonized through my golf game last week and I've got a game Thursday night as well as the Net Amateur championship for the city of Roseville this weekend. I will try to get into a chiropractor one day next week and see if they can make an adjustment, but it won't help me much in my next two games.

Well, that is the news for now. Darla is at Daniel's ballgame right now. It's about 100 degrees and I couldn't get up the moxey to join her in the heat to watch kids play baseball. It's just too hot. Be good all and I'll add to this again soon.

A good way to lose anyone who might stop by and read my musings on a semi-regular basis would be to fail to update this diatribe and I have managed to do that (or not do it, depending in what context you are reading this). Whatever. I am stepping up to update the life and times of an unemployed insurance manager. Being unemployed is a test of one's inner strength and faith. Thankfully I have a Life Application Bible which allows me to look up Bible verses based on topic (hopelessness, faith, weaknesses, need, anger, etc.) It has literally been a Godsend as I traverse my way through the journey of life.

Darla and I have been on an extended vacation, returning from our condo in Tahoe yesterday afternoon so that I could go on a second interview with Burns and Wilcox. Burns and Wilcox is a large national MGA (Managing General Agency) which handles surplus lines products. I had interviewed with them at the very beginning of my job search, but the timing was bad and the branch manager, Bill Souza, said that he'd keep me in mind for the future. Well, one of his underwriters gave her notice and left him last week and the timing had improved. Bill has offered me a job making about a $1000 a month less than I was making with an opportunity for an annual bonus in the $15,000 range. It is a tempting offer, but I would have to commute in to Sacramento and his office is in a bit of disarray. Bill was hired to clean up the problems in that office and I would be one of his first attempts to bring in some fresh talent. I've asked him for some concessions and he is mulling those over and will get back to me next week.

In the meantime, I have reached agreement with Nancy Dean at Richter Robb to open a Roseville office of Richter Robb (out of my house). I will be on 100% commission with Nancy, but she has agreed to a three-month guaranteed income after which I would convert to 100% commission. It will take me a couple of months to get my agents signed up and a flow of business established. I have agents ready to go as soon as my licensing is in place. Nancy is buying me a computer system and paying for my phones, DSL, business cards and marketing expenses. My commission with her is 35%, where Burns and Wilcox pays their underwriters who elect to go on full commission only 25%. I think the agreement with Nancy is in my best interest, but it is a little unnerving to go on 100% commission.

I have had contact with three other potential employers since I agreed to take a position with Nancy. I still consider myself unemployed because I won't actually begin my job until the licensing process is complete and I've taken the one-week pre-certification class and passed the property and casualty licensing exam AND I have the license in hand. Once I've taken the class and signed up for the test, I can begin contacting my agents and getting them signed up, but I can't solicit business or quote any business until I have the license in my hot little hand. I start the class tomorrow. I suppose that you can see that my loyalty is not 100% to Nancy as I'm willing to entertain discussions and negotiation with other prospective employers, but frankly if I were to fail the exam (which I won't), Nancy's commitment to me would be non-existent. Until I am actually on her payroll, I consider myself a free agent and will go to the highest bidder.

I had a great time in Carmel. We decided to arrive on Saturday and save ourselves the cost of a motel room on Friday night (it was because of that unemployment thing). Well, it saved us some $$, but it cost me a golf tournament. I drove three and a half hours and arrived at the Rancho Canada course in Carmel tired and uptight. It took me six holes to settle down and begin to get into a rythym. I was ten over in those six holes and ended up shooting a 94 and THAT was the easier of the two courses. I settled down on Sunday and shot an 84 at Poppy Hills. I won't do the drive three hours and play golf thing again. Live and learn.

Darla and I had a wonderful time in Carmel and stayed at the Carmel Bay View Inn on Junipero Street, a block up from Ocean Avenue and the Carmel Plaza. We went out to dinner with Bjorn and Tove Andersen, friends from the Roseville Golf Club. Bjorn and Tove are both in their early sixties and are immigrants from Norway. We had a blast visiting with them and hearing stories from their lives. Bjorn is retired from United Airlines. He got out and sold his stock before the airline went into bankruptcy. They lived in the Marin County area of San Francisco and moved to Rocklin last year. They bought a gorgeous home in the foothills above the Whitney Oaks golf course and we spent this past Super Bowl at a party at their home. We ate and drank Saturday evening away and then walked off our meal on the streets of Carmel. Darla and I were up early on Sunday and took a long walk down to the ocean and back.

Sunday night we drove five hours from Carmel to Lake Tahoe. The condo that we have is one bedroom with a living room and a HUGE jacuzzi tub in the center of the suite. Darla and I took a well deserved soak on early Monday morning when we arrived in Tahoe. Monday we ate a late breakfast at the Lakeside Inn and ended up spending a good portion of the afternoon at the casino. We had a large prime rib dinner Monday night ($7.99) and then played slots until about ten thirty. We stopped on an 800 coin win on 4 fours and went out for a late dessert of a chocolate brownie with ice cream and fudge. We drove back on Tuesday afternoon after again stopping for a late breakfast, this time at the Biltmore Casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada (3 eggs, meat, toast and hashbrowns for $1.99).

Darla and I will head back up to Tahoe this weekend to finish out our stay at the condo and spend some time relaxing. I will finish this later as the DSL installer is here now. Later.

The DSL is now installed, I've taken the Explorer in for a much needed oil change (5-20 oil for those who care), and picked up a roll of sod for the backyard. I used to stress about that little patch of lawn that the dog kills on a regular basis. I've since found out that Home Depot sells rolls of sod for $2.88 each and I can keep it alive by replacing the sections that he kills through urination.

Our weather has settled into the low eighties and upper seventies, cool for this time of year, but ideal for living in. I will step outside and replace some of that burned sod now. Be good to each other. Ciao.

It has been awhile since I stopped and wrote in the blog. I've been inordinately busy with the winding down of my job with RWIC, job hunting, interviewing and dealing with the car problems. I haven't had much chance to stop and write. I am in the final week of my current employment and trying hard to make a decision on my future. I have an excellent opportunity with a surplus lines broker called Richter Robb. There are several concerns for me with this job. The first is that I have to get licensed and that will take about six weeks. The second is that after a three month period I will go on 100% commission. The opportunity to make a really good income is there and I have the experience, the contacts and the wherewithall to excel at this position. The overiding concern is the marketplace. When the insurance market is tight, surplus lines companies make hay, but when the stock market is riding high and the insurance market softens, surplus lines companies tend to contract. The insurance market is HARD right now and surplus lines companies are blossoming. I have signed up for a precertification class beginning on June 12th that will run through June 20th and I will take the Property and Casualty license exam after that. I'll start my three months on a guaranteed income and begin to grow my business. I will concentrate on Apartment business and fill in with their other lines of business. I will meet with Nancy Dean, the owner of the agency later this week to finalize my employment. The good news is that Nancy will set me up with phones, computer, faxes, etc in my home and I will work as an outside producer with an assistant in the Manteca office assigned to me. Wish me luck.

The UCA position has been nothing short of a major disappointment with Lin canceling two meetings and putting me off until this week. It is Wednesday and I have yet to hear from her and I have had to move on. The job that she was dangling was perfect for me as I'd be on salary with a company car and work out of my home servicing the Sacramento agents and doing marketing for the Gilroy branch. The problem that I ran into is that Lin is in her sixties and looking to slow down to about thirty-hours a week and she is interviewing for administrative help in the La Mirada home office. My situation was relegated to the back burner as she worked on her agenda. This possibility could be rekindled, but the ball is in her court and grovelling is not in my makeup. I hope that something breaks here soon or I may always wonder, "What If?"

The Maxima was totalled by the insurance company and we were given $4,385 for the 1992 Maxima with 162,000 miles on it. Frankly, the settlement was generous and Darla and I were able to replace the Maxima with a newer car with less miles on it. We bought a 1994 Mustang with a 3.8 litre V6, power everything, new tires and 120,000 miles on the odometer. David is thrilled as it will be his car when he gets his license in September. I had new custom wheels installed on it yesterday for his 16th birthday present. He chose seven spoke American Racing alloy wheels and it looks sharp. I dropped the car off at the shop yesterday morning and walked the four miles home in the growing heat of a 95-degree day. It gave me time to examine my lot in life and think through some things. I had a nice lather worked up by the time I got home at eleven a.m. See, I do take after my Dad and do goofy things. Darla was willing to pick me up, but I wanted to make the hike. I also had them do a four wheel alignment and had the transmission fluid flushed, changed, a new filter added and a new gasket installed. I had them change the oil while they were at it and rotate the tires. The car has some body damage, a few dings and dents, but it is in wonderful mechanical shape and the paint is excellent. It is a teal green and David will have one of the nicer rides at his school next year. It is expected that he will be the starting quarterback on his varsity team this year and as the BMOC, he needs a good ride.

I talked to Jennifer over the weekend and thanked her for her service to this country as acknowledgement of Memorial Day. She and her roomate, Priscilla, went to the Six Flags over Georgia in Atlanta and had a great time. They were given a four-day weekend by the government and enjoyed it to the fullest. Jennifer continues to excel in the Army and is itchy to get on to an assignment overseas.

Dad and Shirley are packing up their home in Arizona as I write this. Darryl and Cheryl have joined them to help pack the U-Haul truck. Dad will be bringing his personal effects to Canada and waving a fond farewell to his life in the United States. I talked to Shirley and it is a bittersweet moment in their lives as they loved the tranquility and winter warmth of Phoenix, but having two homes also has its disadvantages and selling the Sun City home will free them up to do more travelling now and cut some unneeded expenses. They had a beautiful home in Sun City and they will miss it for sure. They sold much of their furniture with the house and are only bringing back some minor furniture, the 1939 Ford on a trailer behind the U-Haul and most of Dad's effects (pictures, garage items, books, odds and ends). The things collected in 66 years of a life well lived.

Those of you who know that Darla and I purchased a time share in Puerto Vallarta also know how incredibly unhappy we have been with RCI, the exchange service that we bought into with our purchase. They have been next to useless as we deposited our 2001 week over a year and a half ago and have been waiting for a suitable exchange. I finally got a call last week from RCI and they have a week for us in Lake Tahoe at the Seasons Resort near Heavenly Valley beginning June 8th. Hey, good timing, I get canned and suddenly they have vacation time for us. They also wanted me to deposit my 2004 week and renew my membership. I said No to both offers and we will take our vacations in Puerto Vallarta from now on. We will spend part of the June 8th week in Tahoe, but will have to return to Roseville as my insurance course begins on June 12th. We will go back up to Tahoe on Friday night the 13th and stay the weekend.

Darla and I are trying to decide what to do about our upcoming trip to Carmel for the two-day golf outing. I've already paid for the golf, but it seems foolish to add food and a hotel bill with me out of work. Right now, we will probably drop the Saturday golf and just drive in for the day on Sunday where I will play Poppy Hills and then drive from there up to Tahoe to check into the resort. Sounds like a busy time for an unemployed hack, eh?

Well, continue to pray for me as I sort out my future. I still feel that God has a plan for me in all of this and that I will end up standing when the dust settles and will feel the hand of God on me as I set a new course for my life and the future of my family. God bless.

Funny how your perspective changes based on circumstances. I still sit unemployed, with a car that is being totalled as we speak by the insurance company. The retail value of the 1992 Maxima is about $5000 and the insurance company is willing to close me out for about $4200 based on wholesale value of the car and sales taxes. I've asked that they put me in contact with a buyer who can replace the vehicle at a wholesale cost to me. They are working on that now, but I'm not about to accept the wholesale value of the car if I have to replace it at a retail cost to me. These insurance adjusters aren't used to dealing with someone who is insurance savvy. We'll see what comes of this.

The car problem on top of the employment difficulty has shaped my outlook and it has been down. I keep a Bible at my desk and read the Psalms and Proverbs to keep me up. Put your faith in the Lord and He will provide. Lin was supposed to meet with me last Tuesday. She was coming thru Sac on a vacation and we were to meet for lunch. She had her assistant, Bobbie, call me that morning and cancel. Lin was dressed in shorts and sandals and felt that it was inappropriate attire for a business meeting and that first impressions go both ways. I can see that, but was disappointed. My time frame as someone who is about to be unemployed is significantly different from hers. Anyhow, Bobbie said that Lin would call me on Monday and see if I was still interested in the job and, if so, they would arrange to have me flown down to the Los Angeles area and I could meet both Lin and her management team.

Well, Monday came and went and my brain began to form all sorts of scenarios. I called Lin Monday afternoon and was put off by Bobbie. I assumed that Lin would be up to her eyeballs in alligators after a week of vacation and I was right. I never did get a return call and my spirits plummeted. The Bible suddenly found its way to my desk on Tuesday as I searched job sites and made phone calls. I was tempted to call Lin again and say if she changed her mind just let me know so that I could move on. Darla counseled me to just sit tight and wait. The ball was in her court. I'm not a good "waiter". I don't frequent trendy restaurants and won't go to first run movies, because I can't stand lines. I don't even enjoy professional sports very often because of the crowds getting in and out of the venues. Sitting and waiting is not my thing.

Well, as usual, Darla was right. Bobbie called me yesterday afternoon and said that Lin is very busy, but still very interested in talking to me. Her whole team will be available next Thursday and I am flying down to Ontario airport where they have a car reserved in my name and I will spend the day at their home office. Hopefully, we can come to some sort of arrangement and I can transition from this job to theirs with little disruption in income or loss of brain cells. I'll let all of you know.

David is understandably chagrined at the loss of the Maxima and we will take his input on a replacement vehicle as he is buying it from us for $1000. We had just put in a new stereo and speakers and the car is all power with a 300 ZX engine. I'm sure we'll find an adequate replacement to suit him and move on. David is doing really well and was just named offensive captain of his Varsity football team. He will compete for the starting quarterback position this Summer and Fall, but I'd say this development is nothing but good news for him. He has gained almost 20 pounds since last year and is on a protein diet to gain weight. He takes a protein supplement called Mus-L Blast body building formula and is busy with Spring football practice and enrolled in SST, a strength training system run by several former NFL players locally. He also goes to a Skillz 'n Drillz camp twice a month on Sundays and works out with the other area high school football athletes. He is in the quarterback camp and his skills are really developing. I'm looking forward to the Fall and David's emergence on the varsity football team. Darla is an assistant to the team Mom and David's Dad is involved with fund raising for the team.

Daniel is in baseball and his team has only one loss all year. He is looking forward to the playoffs that start in three weeks. Daniel has struggled a bit with school this year and he is working on improving his grade point average as he begins Freshman football in the Fall, as well.

That's it for now, I'll let you know how the interview pans out. As always, PRAY for me.

"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9, 9-10.

Today has dawned bright and sunny and all is right with the world. Well, I still don't have a job and to compound my life further I got into an accident last week and smashed the front end of the Maxima. Aside from those minor concerns, all is bliss in my life.

The job hunt is bearing some fruit. I have an interview tomorrow with Lin Lan of UCA and I hate to pack all of my eggs into one basket, but IF we can find some common ground and work out a deal for me to work the Sacramento territory for her, the transition from eight years at RWIC to UCA would be almost seamless. I would continue to work out of my house, would simply substitute UCA's equipment for that of RWIC and would change phone lines. I would transfer my PO Box into the UCA name, transfer my 401K to my IRA and be up and running in less than a week.

I had initially talked to Lin on Monday, April 21st and we had left it that she would meet with me on or about May 5th. I waited for her to call me back to confirm and as the days passed, began to rethink our conversation to see if perhaps I read more into it than was really there. She seemed particularly interested in me and needed help in Sac, but was I reading more into it because of my position as a soon to be unemployed insurance manager? I prayed about it and decided to wait, rather than call her and seem too anxious. Finally, Lin called me last Friday. Her words were basically that she would be in Sacramento on Tuesday (tomorrow) and she wants to meet with me to see what I need, what she wants and if we can come to a consensus. Praise GOD.

Now, about that fender bender. Wednesday, I finally took the Maxima in to have the rear window repaired. I have power windows in the car and this is the third regulator that has gone out. The car has 169,000 miles on it and is beginning to run down in many areas. The passenger side rear window fell about four months ago and I wedged it shut with a piece of wood shim. It recently began to slip again. The motor is fine, but the regulator is what holds the window in place and it finally broke. Darla has been driving the car and we will soon be replacing it as David has agreed to buy it from us. The blue book on the car is $5,000 and we are selling it to him for $1,000. I did the same thing with Jennifer when she bought my Acura Integra for $500 when it was worth $2500. I believe that kids will be more invested in a vehicle if they are ACTUALLY invested in the car. Well...after picking up the car that afternoon, I drove into downtown Roseville to get my mail and while looking at the marquee of the theater to see what play was in production, the SUV in front of me slammed on it's brakes to miss an errant bike rider and I bought the rear end of her vehicle. She had an oversized tow bar and ball on the rear and, in braking, my car slid right under her rear end and I did $2500 worth of damage. I also twisted her tow hitch out of place and my license plate and plate frame ended up wrapped around her hitch.

She stopped near the post office and we took a look at the damage. She looked at my damage and said "Ouch!". She looked at her damage and said, "Look, my car is a piece of crap and I don't have insurance. I'm outta here." With that she jumped into her truck and sped off. Luckily, I'd removed my license plate from her hitch before she bolted. I wrote down her license number before I got out of the car. I drove to the police station and reported the accident, gave them her license number, which was from Nebraska, and drove home. The force of the collision caused damage to my air conditioner condenser and knocked my radiator off of its support. The front end is badly damaged, but, surprisingly, the car still runs. I'll take it in this Wednesday to get the repairs done. I was concerned that the insurance company might total the car because of it's age and damage. David would have been devastated as he is looking forward to getting his new car. The Maxima has a lot of mileage on it, but it has a premium sound system, power windows, power seats, a power sunroof, and has been babied by me since I bought it, with oil changes and new tires, new struts, new battery, all new belts and hoses, etc. David knows he's getting a deal. The adjuster was amazed at how well the frame held up in the accident and said that 9 out of 10 cars would have had major engine damage in an accident like this and the only damage was to a $106 air conditioning compressor and to the radiator support. At least Darla and I know that David will be driving a safe car.

It rained most of the weekend and Darla and I relaxed at home. We went to a Cinco De Mayo party on Saturday afternoon and were glad to get home afterward. We picked up several movies and sat and watched those over the course of the weekend. I played NO GOLF, but did play in the first night of my twilight league last Thursday. I shot a 39, my partner shot 37 and we won the match on the ninth hole with a seven foot par putt. I'm really enjoying golf right now and my game is coming around nicely.

I am looking out over the koi pond and see a bright blue sky and a warm day awaiting me. I'll enjoy this Spring weather even more if Lin and I can work out a deal tomorrow. I'll let you know. I had an interview last week with the insurance wholesaler and after two hours the manager told me that if it was six months later, he'd jump over the desk to hire me. Hopefully, God's timing is in sync with Lin tomorrow. We'll see.

Just another Manic Monday. Now that the clock is ticking on my employment, every moment seems to carry extra weight. I mentioned in my last blog that God was attempting to get my attention and, for the record, I just want to acknowledge that I'm listening, Lord.

Last Monday was one of the most awesome days that I've had in many years both professionally and personally. My goal that day was to call ALL of my agents and let them know personally that the company had decided to pull the plug on our program and that we would be bleeding off their business over the next year or so. Given that, my employment as a marketing voice for the company was no longer needed and ergo, effective June 1st, that I would be toast. My secondary goal in making those calls was to network with my customers and see what the market would hold for finding a job. Well, my first goal was not met and only because my secondary goal was such a huge success. I had several of my agents that made calls on my behalf, send e-mails, even one that had a Vice President call me to inquire about my interest in his company. I realized what a tremendous group of professionals I work with and how firm the relationships that I've established really are.

My only concern with the amount of success that I had was in giving God his due. My success in networking and talking to people about job possibilities was all choreographed by God and not at all about me. Those of you who know me, probably know that one of my biggest sins is ego and self worth. One of the hardest things for me in my walk with Christ is moving over to the passenger seat and letting God take the wheel. He has had to break me a couple of times and, like a little kid who keeps burning his hand on the oven door, I'm finally beginning to get it.

My best call and the one that I am holding out hope for, was a cold call that I made to one of my competitors. UCA General is a Managing General Agency that has the pen for a company called Sirius, which is located in New York and has an A+ XV rating with Best's. It is one of the most financially sound insurance companies that you have never heard of. Their CEO is Lin Lan, a Chinese lady that runs her empire with an iron will and a strong hand. I had met Lin about four years ago at a golf tournament. One of my coworkers at Republic Western had left to join UCA and she wanted to introduce me to Lin. I met up with them after the round in the bar and Sharon introduced us. I was the Underwriting Manager of the company at the time and Lin had heard about me. She told me I was paying the agents too much. She invited me to join them for dinner, but I was entertaining some local agents and had to get back. As I was leaving Lin called after me and said, "Ken, if you ever want to go to work for a good company, call me." I smiled and began to walk away when my smartass streak got the best of me and I called back to her, "Lin, do you have an in at the Fireman's Fund or something?" She looked at me strangely and then broke into a smile and said, "Oh, you a funny man."

I didn't remind Lin of our first meeting in my call, but told her that I was calling her as a courtesy and let her know about Republic Western's decision to exit the commercial lines business. We chatted for awhile and she finally asked me the question I was waiting for which was what I planned to do in the future. I told her I was looking and had several leads. She asked if I'd ever consider working for her. I said yes, but that she had a good man in Bill Tolbert. She shocked me by letting me know that Bill had retired the year before and that she had NO ONE in the Sacramento area. She further had a drastic need for marketing help with the Gilroy office and how I felt about marketing. I told her that I had NO problem with marketing, in fact I'd cold called her. She will be in Sacramento next Tuesday and we will meet to discuss the potential of me hiring on to rebuild the Sacramento territory for her and being her designated Marketing Manager for the Gilroy branch. The position would not pay me what I'm making now, but would come with a car and I would continue to work out of the house. I'm very hopeful and anxious to speak with Lin. I just need to remember that God is in control, not me. Pray for me, please.

I have two other interviews set up this week, one with a wholesaler of surplus lines insurance products. They are located in Sacramento and have an excellent reputation. The other is with another wholesaler, who is located in Turlock and would want me to work out of my house.

I did play golf on Saturday at Cherry Island golf course and shot a 42-40=82 and took the skin money and overall bets. I played with Mark Konrad, who shot 86 and Bjorn, who shot 93. Mark and his family then joined us at our house for pizza and the King's game.

I wanted to share a joke that was in the sermon at church this week. An atheist and a Christian were talking and the atheist complained to the Christian, that Christians get national holidays in Easter and Christmas and how unfair that was. The Christian looked at the atheist and suggested that he celebrate April 1st.

That's it for now. Keep me in your daily prayers and God Bless each of you.

Ken

Why is it that when life seems so replete with joy and contentment, that reality has to rear its head and bite you in the face? I sat through a teleconference on Friday with my staff and my boss and we were, ironically on Good Friday, hung on sacrificial crosses and sacrificed to the God of profits and corporate greed. The management of my company has been caught with their hands in the cookie jar and they may face bankruptcy. In the meantime, they are closing underperforming divisions, which includes my program. I had said recently to my Dad that things were going almost too well. Well, not anymore.

My boss did give me six weeks of continued employment and then a paltry severance which includes some company stock that will be about worthless by the time I get it. The CEO and his family have apparently been playing fast and loose with some company assets and a large refinancing package is in jeopardy because of it. Job One for me now is to find a new job. There is a job fair tomorrow and I am spending countless hours on the phone networking with my local agents letting them know what is going on and seeing what might be available out there. I felt for Darryl when CF closed down and thought that I empathized with him. Now I truly do.

It's a damn shame as we were really turning the underwriting around and were starting to pull in some significant profits as a company. I'm not consumed with bitterness or anger and my energies are all going into finding a new job and getting into some serious networking with my agents and insurance contacts. I already have a number of leads and I'll spend tomorrow at an all day Career Expo. I have to get back into interviewing shape, remembering that I'm on the other side of the desk now, being interviewed rather than doing the interviewing. I'll keep you all posted on how I'm doing. As for now, I have to get at it.

Do me a huge favor and PRAY for me. God is getting my attention again and I know that all will work out for the best, because God is in Control of my life and God will provide. Thanks.

April 14, 2003 would have been my Mom's 66th birthday. She passed away in August of 1999 and to this day, hardly a day goes by in my life when I don't think of Mom or miss Mom or both. She was a very special lady with a heart of gold and a way about her that both put you at ease and put a smile on your face. In honor of Mom's birthday, I'd like to offer the eulogy that I presented at her funeral on August 16, 1999 as a testimony:

"My name is Ken Lyon and on behalf of the Lyon family, my Dad, Art, my brothers, Darryl and Randy, their wives, and my wife and myself, thank you for taking time out of your lives to help honor the life of my Mom today.

I stood in front of a group similar to this last December and helped my father eulogize his Mom, my grandmother. She was 87 years old and there was something right about celebrating the life of someone who lived a long and prosperous life. Today is much harder for me. I wasn't prepared to say goodbye to my Mom. This is a memorial service for a wonderful lady who was taken from us MUCH TOO SOON! It isn't fair!

That is my rant today, but, that said, Mom was a Christian and she did have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, so it's not all doom and gloom. She is in a better place in heaven and I envy her that. The gloom is simply that as a son and as a man, I wasn't done with her before Jesus called her home. I live in California and the last time that I saw my Mom was when my daughter, Jennifer, my wife, Darla, and I drove out to Texas 4 weeks ago. I wanted to wait, I wanted to see her up in Canada or in Las Vegas, but it wasn't to be. My brother, Randy, called me and said, 'Ken, she's dying, get out here right now!' The cancer that invaded her body took hold of her and it was like falling down a flight of stairs, there was no stopping it.That was a tough trip for me. I knew that I was coming to Texas to say a final farewell to the woman who gave me life, who raised me, who became my model of womanhood. She taught me how to be a parent and modelled for me what it was to be a wife. On that day that I dreaded, when I leaned over her and kissed her for the last time, I told her that I loved her, that I knew that she was trying to get well, but that if she saw Jesus before I did, to put in a good word for me because, God knows, I need it.

During my entire childhood and young adulthood, Mom was a stay-at-home Mom. She was there to clean my wounds and heal me with a hug and a freshly baked cookie. When you have a stay-at-home Mom, she becomes your best friend and the most reliable thing in your life. Mom married YOUNG. I know that because I have an eighteen year old daughter and that is the age that Mom got married. Jennifer is young! Having a mother who is only 20 years older than you is pretty cool. She had the energy to keep up with her three sons and the youth to enjoy life. I remember when I first took up the game of golf and I have had a thirty-year love for the game. I was 12 years old when I first took golf lessons. One day my Mom decided to come out to the course and play with me. We played over at a golf course off Royal Lane in Dallas...I don't remember the name of the course. Mom was 32 years old and she showed up wearing short white shorts and red top. She was looking GOOD. I remember that it was the first time that I had seen my Mom through someone else's eyes. She got a load of attention out at the course and I remember feeling an odd mixture of embarassment, anger at the guys leering at her, but also a justifiable amount of pride. She was some lady!

All of you knew Mom and if you were ever going to a party and it was crowded and you wanted to find her, all you had to do was follow the laughter. When Dad talked about his Mom in December, he talked about her quiet dignity. With my Mom, it was LOUD, in-your-face, life-of-the-party FUN. She didn't melt into a crowd, she drew a crowd. She was the light of this family. She was surrounded by four fairly introverted, moody men and she was our glimpse into how the other half lived. She will be missed.

Mom was the type of person who never had acquaintances in her life. She did initially, but by the time she had met someone once or twice, she was their friend, whether it was the checker at the grocery store or a clerk at her favorite fast food restaurant. She would laugh and kid with them and they would remember her, but more than that, she would remember them and make them feel special. She was one of those rare people who make life better because she was a part of your life.

I envied my brothers for living so close to Mom. If you were ever in the dumps and needed a change in attitude, all it took was a visit with Mom and you'd leave with a smile on your face and a bounce in your step. Your problems were still there, the only thing that changed was your perspective. She will be missed.

I asked Dad for any input on my eulogy, if there was anything that he wanted me to share about Mom and he did mention one thing. You recall at the beginning of my remarks that I said, 'She was taken too young and it just isn't fair?' Well, that was my complaint, not hers. During Mom's entire ordeal and battle with cancer, she never once complained or said, 'Why me?' Her only concern was for her family. She was concerned that she was ill and that Dad had to clean the house, do the laundry, make meals, make the bed, do the dishes and tend to her. She was concerned that she was pulling Darryl and Randy from their families and that I had to make an emergency trip from California to see her. She didn't cry for herself, she cried for us. This is an example of the selfless beauty that she was. Rest well, Mom. I love you and I am going to miss you."

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Others leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same.

I'm finally back to update this blog. It has been a busy week as Darla and I were in Vegas this past weekend and at the Home Opener for the SF Giants at scenic Pac Bell Park on Monday. I was at work yesterday, but my boss has this silly rule about actually working during the work week, so I acquiesced and spent yesterday getting caught up after being gone the prior two-and-a-half work days.

The trip to Vegas was relaxing in spite of limited sleep and an abundance of over-stimulation for the three-and-a-half days that we spent in Sin City. The weather was oddly cool and we spent no time at the pool. The trip started out in a nerve-wracking fashion as Dad and Shirley were nowhere to be found when our plane touched down. I had checked in with Dad in the morning and they were packing the car and planned to get on the road within a half-hour. The plan was that they would check-in to both condos and have our keys ready when they picked us up at the airport at 5:45 pm. We were right on time and went to pick up our luggage at the baggage claim. Dad was not in evidence and I assumed he was with the car and planned to pick us up at the curb. We waited and waited at the pick up area and no Dad. I tried calling his room and not only had he not checked in at the Polo Towers, but the doofus at the desk couldn't find his reservation. It was odd, simply because Dad prides himself on being prompt and on time. I was worried, but found our reservation intact at the Jockey Club. We waited an hour in case they had the time wrong and finally and reluctantly headed to the que lining up for cabs. We cabbed over to the Jockey and got checked in. Darla was finally able to rouse someone with a modicum of intelligence at Polo Towers and they located Dad's reservation. He had NOT checked in and there was no message. We left a message with our cell phone number and that we were going to dinner.

I tried not to worry, but scenarios were running through my head. Why hadn't he left a message at our hotel and if something happened, why hadn't he paged us at the airport? We walked over to New York, New York and had dinner and finally at 8:30 Dad called on the cell. They had just arrived in Vegas and checked-in. Dad had fallen deathly ill on the trip and ended up in the hospital on IV and they had run numerous tests, including a cat scan. He had been bent over in pain and after five hours in the hospital, the pain had subsided and they released him. The doctor surmised that he might have had a pinched bowel or intestine and the pinched area had unblocked itself. He was tired and had been ill several times over the course of the day and wanted to just rest up. We told him, we'd meet up with him in the morning and to get some sleep. It turns out that they HAD tried to page us at both Sacramento and Vegas and we hadn't heard the pages.

Friday, Dad was his old self with no lingering effects from his ordeal. We went out to get some groceries and then lunch on the strip. We also went over and saw the Antique Car Show at the Imperial Palace. I had tickets for the Catch a Rising Star comedy club at ten that night and we headed back to our rooms about four-thirty to rest and planned to meet for hors de ouevres and cocktails at Dad's condo at six. We then went to Smith and Wollensky's steak house for dinner. S&W is famous for their dry cured steaks and chops. The restaurant had several bachelor parties and other large parties and it was crowded and LOUD. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, but all questioned whether we would go back. The acoustics were terrible and it was rather pricey, with steaks running about $40 and everything a la carte. The bill for the four of us was close to $200 and Darla and I (dieting) had shared a New York steak and didn't have wine or cocktails.

We went to the comedy club at Excalibur and laughed till our sides hurt. The show was hilarious with two headliners and a musical comedian to warm up the crowd that was very polished and entertaining. We then wandered to the boardwalk and gambled until three a.m.

Dad talked us into sitting through a partial time share presentation at Polo on Saturday and we got tickets to a variety show at the Venetian that night. The show was at six p.m. and was tremendously entertaining with jugglers, magicians, Chinese acrobats, a comedy singer, singers and a daredevil act that worked on ropes above the crowd. We were in the balcony and happy to not have the duo flying over our heads. We went from the show to a wonderful dinner at the Venetian's Grand Lux cafe. The restaurant is run by the Cheesecake Factory chain and it was excellent. We went from there over to Madam Tussaud's wax museum and enjoyed seeing all of the stars and sports celebrities images in wax. It is always amazing and each replica costs about $70,000. There were well over 100 including John Wayne, Mel Gibson, JFK and Princess Diana. There was also a Vegas wing with Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr, Liberace and the like. It was a great time with Dad and Shirley.

We flew home on Sunday oddly relaxed and tired. We had been on the go for three days and still had the Giants game on Monday. Both Darla and I fell asleep on the couch at home Sunday night by eight thirty. We were exhausted.

San Francisco was great on Monday. Their ace, Jason Schmidt, was on the mound and the temperatures were in the high sixties. Both Darla and I got a little sunburned as we sat for four hours in the blazing sun and watched our team go to 7-0 on the year by hitting five home runs and beating San Diego 7-4. We saw NO war protestors as I had seen none the week before when I had to see agents in SF. The weather was rainy and the war protestors are adamantly opposed to the war as long as the weather is good. If it's raining, somehow their ardor for protesting wains. It's hard to take a group seriously when they stay indoors if the weather turns nasty. Thank God our soldiers will fight in any conditions.

I am thrilled to be home and back to my hot tub. I have really become a spa addict and miss the hot soak on trips away from home. Darla and I are in the spa nightly year round and it really helps loosen my sore muscles and aids in sleep.

Darla and I continue on our diets and in spite of the temptation in Vegas, we have both lost seven pounds to date and I'm down 11 from my high of 204 pounds in December. My goal is 175 pounds, but to get back in the 180's would be great. Darla is on the Atkins diet where she can eat any protein, but has to avoid carbohydrates and can't eat breads, pasta, fruit, caffeine, sugars, milk, starches, etc. She can eat meat, eggs, nuts, cheese, poultry, etc. She eats a big breakfast with eggs and bacon. My diet is Slim Fast, where I eat a shake for lunch. My shake includes fruit (peaches, strawberries, bananas, pineapple or raspberries) and frozen yogurt. It is not on the diet, but I have to be able to gag down the shake for lunch. I've cut out sweets and eat fruit in its place. So far the conflicting diets are working for both of us. I like the Atkins Diet, but I have high cholesterol and all of the bacon and eggs can't be good for me, so I'll stick with Slim Fast.

I hope all is well with all of you. I enjoyed the video images today of the statue of Hussein being pulled down in Baghdad square and then the Iraqis dragging the head of the statue through town. Perhaps this war will be over sooner than later.

The last day of March is upon us and April draws nigh. I am off to the San Francisco Bay Area to once again tangle with the brainless War protestors in pursuit of simply doing my job. I have a meeting near Union Square tomorrow and one in the financial district and I don't look forward to the disruptive force of morons with nothing better to do than make nuisances of themselves. I support their right to have differing views, but hold dear to my rights to keep these idiots out of my face. Go up to Canada and join the rest of the cowards who don't support the war and speak fluent French.

I made reference in an earlier epistle to the war protestors perhaps getting their just desserts if they attempt to disrupt the opening of baseball at Pac Bell Park. Well, as luck would have it, I will be there to witness the spectacle as I have two tickets to Opening Day. The Giant's website had a drawing and I won the chance to spend my hard earned dinero on some ducats to the game. I didn't think twice as I laid out the $22 each for view reserved tickets at Pac Bell park. There is nothing like the hope and enthuisiasm that infects an opening day crowd. I look forward to one of the rights of Spring next Monday.

When I return from my trip to San Francisco, San Jose, and Salinas, I will have but a day to contemplate my lot in life before Darla and I board a plane at 4:30 Thursday afternoon bound for Las Vegas and a weekend of fun and sun with Dad and Shirley. I've been travelling so much and out of town that it will be good for my bride and I to get reacquainted away from the stresses and mundanity of home life. I reserved tickets for the four of us Friday night at the Catch a Rising Star comedy club inside the Excalibur. It should be four great days of decompression and reinvigoration. Darla and I will bring books to lounge by the pool with. I am working on the fifth "Left Behind" book by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins that chronicle their view of what will happen during and after the rapture of Christ's church and the stories are based on the book of Revelations in the Bible.

Our church is working on a new worship center and the pastor took us on a field trip into the half completed structure yesterday. He was making a plea for money to complete the structure as they are running short of funds due to the economy. Many families have not been able to meet their earlier pledges and there are, of course, cost overruns. The only thing I could think as we walked across boards and around scaffolding was what the insurance underwriters would think of such a sojourn. Darla also mentioned that her Dad, who spent most of his career as a construction supervisor, would have had a small cow as well.The pastor talked about making the best of a bad situation and related the story of Stacey King, who as a rookie with the Chicago Bulls, had a horrific game scoring only one point while Michael Jordan had one of his best games as a pro, scoring 69 points. After the game, a reporter asked him if he felt bad about his showing and Stacey replied, "I will always remember this game as the one where Jordan and I combined to score 70 points." Circumstances are all in your perspective.

I played poker on Friday night with the guys and finally had a decent night, bringing home an extra $80 when all was said and done. Funny how the game seems so much better after you have a good night. I will be hosting the next get together likely in May.

The weather this weekend was nothing short of awesome as we had temperatures in the eighties both days. I was able to get to some long needed trimming and shaping of hedges and plants as well as draining of the koi pond and fresh water being added. I siphoned the pond by placing a hose in the pond and using gravity pull to drain the water. As the hose sat draining, my neighbor who was outside asked if she could have a drink from the hose. I said, "Sure, but it's pond water." She was not amused. I had to get on top of the shed that Dad and I built to trim the hedge along the back fence. The hedge is now six foot tall and about four foot deep. I couldn't reach the back side of the hedge from a ladder in front. The hedge grows right next to the fence and along the perimeter of the shed.

Finally, on a very serious note, I'd like to ask you to pray for my niece, Jenny, Randy's daughter. She lost a friend last week to an automobile accident. It is difficult at age 17 or 18 to have to face mortality. Pray for the young men and women who lost their classmate and friend, pray for her family and pray for her parents who are grieving the loss of their daughter. Her name was Allison. Thank you.

It is a spectacular Spring Monday with a high blue sky, sunshine and temperatures into the low seventies. Nice. The umbrella tree above the koi pond has begun to flower and the geraniums are bright red and pink above the pond. Buddy, our Golden Retriever, is sunning himself on the stamped concrete deck with a smile plastered on his face. All is bliss in his world. I'd like to join him out there, but my boss has these high expectations that I work during the week. Oh well.

I talked to Jennifer last night. As the war plays out on television, I can't help but worry with a daughter in the Army. Her understanding is that her unit will not be going to Iraq. She is in a signal battalion and her specialty is communications and fibre optics. The only scenario where she could end up in Iraq that we can see is once the war is over and the peacekeepers are in place, they could have a need for additional communications infrastructure and she could be called in. That is a long shot, but a father can't help but worry. She is packed and ready to go overseas, but so far she remains safely ensconced in the cocoon that is Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. She and her roomate were playing Army Monopoly when I called on Sunday night. It is a US Army version of the board game Monopoly. She is doing great and as I said, is ready for her next set of orders.

I played golf this weekend and it is getting to that point in my golf year when my lovely bride begins to get a little tired of all of the golf and being left behind on weekends. We've even had a number of conversations regarding just how much golf I'll be playing on our Fall trip to Hawaii. The condo that we are sharing is owned by my golfing buddy, Dave, and one of his motives in inviting us was to play golf and have someone for his wife, Marilyn, to visit with. Darla has let it be known that she does not plan to be a golf widow in Hawaii. We are deep into negotiations on how many games I'll play while I'm there. She is set on 2, I'm lobbying for 4 and Dave would like 6. I think we'll likely settle on 3, but 2 would not be a surprise.

My golf this weekend was much better than last week. The weather was windy and it sprinkled rain on Sunday morning. This was the back two days of a three-day medal tournament at my club. I limped through the first round last Sunday with an 89, improved five shots to 84 on Saturday and improved another five shots on Sunday to a 79. The 79 could have and should have been a 75 or 76, but I stumbled with two double-bogeys and a triple-bogey. I made four birdies, three in a four hole stretch on the back nine. It is early in the year, but I feel my game coming around. I finished out of the money, but won $35 for low gross in my flight on Sunday with the 79. I have no tournament golf until April 19, but will have another three-day tournament in May and the two-day Monterey/Carmel trip in June. Darla is along on that trip, so I should be okay there. I will play in a Master's tournament on the Sunday morning of Masters. We tee off at seven a.m. and then go to the host's house to watch the final day of the Masters on television. I will miss the next Away tournament as Darla and I'll be in Las Vegas with Dad and Shirley. See, I do sacrifice golf for my wife!

Darla and I called Jim Dodds on Saturday to see if we could take him to dinner and pick up the long awaited coffee table. Well, it has been sent back to the sander to have some hinges re-sanded. Apparently the table is built with several compartments where the table can be expanded and the glides were sticking. I'm sure this table will weigh over two hundred pounds when we finally get it and it will have a built-in wet bar and entertainment center. We need to pick it up soon, before Jim goes nuts working on it. I've never met the gentleman, but I'm getting an initial impression of eccentricity.

I was in the San Francisco Bay Area last week, visiting agents and doing the marketing thing. I was there when the war broke and saw first hand some of the war protestors lining the streets and locking arms in steel cylinders to block traffic. They picked the financial district for maximum impact and made a complete mess of the city and have led to an additional $900,000 a day in overtime and lost revenue for the city. They picked a benign group to interrupt in the business men and women of the city. IF they try this during the opening game of the San Francisco Giants, there will likely be some real violence. Baseball fans do not want to be messed with, especially when they are going to a ballgame to blot out the War for a few hours.

David's varsity basketball team got beat in the state finals by Mater Dei of Santa Ana. Mater Dei is a private school that travels all over the country playing games and their team is led by DJ Strawberry, Darryl Strawberry's son. They had won 19 games in a row and their last loss had come to the Lebron James-led St. Vincent-St Mary's team from Ohio. Mater Dei was ranked fourth in the nation by USA Today. We, of course, were unranked. We had a magical season and beat some great teams along the way and I'm sure the boys will remember this for their lifetimes. As I said after the game, we played well right up until we played a team with a payroll. The Mater Dei team is sponsored by Nike and won their fifth California state championship in the last nine years. Our guys were out-sized and out-played, but our senior point guard led all scorers with 19 points. The final was 88-69, but we were within four points late in the third quarter. Their size and ability finally did us in. Mater Dei has three seniors who will be going on to Division 1 colleges on full ride scholarships. We have none. Darla and I are going with David to the Basketball banquet tonight for all of the Woodcreek basketball teams. Something tells me the night will belong to the varsity players.

Well, folks, pray for George Bush and our leaders. Give them peace and strength for this battle and may it end quickly. God Bless.

I don't usually update my blog in the middle of the week, but circumstances compel me to comment on something that has disturbed me deeply. I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. I've lived in the United States since I was nine years old and I am a naturalized US citizen. Thank God for that. The Canadian government is an embarassment to my heritage. Their "head in the sand" politics with regards to the war in Iraq has me absolutely seething. The booing of the American anthem at hockey games in Canada is overwhelmingly inappropriate and shows the ignorance of the typical Canadian hockey fan. The fact that their sport of choice is hockey says quite a bit about them to begin with.

There are anti-war protests in the United States and it is the right of Americans to express their views. Our men and women in Iraq are fighting for this right to continue. However, if this type of display was made in Iraq, the demonstrators would be rounded up and murdered by Saddam Hussein. Anti- government sentiments are punishable by death in Iraq.

Canada's war efforts in general have been pathetic at best and embarassing in relative terms. If terrorists were to hit any major city in Canada, the first call made by their prime minister would be to Washington asking for help and then to Britain to do likewise. For this government to condemn the United States is laughable. Canada is allying itself beside France and as Jay Leno said, "Why would we expect the French to help us in Iraq, when they didn't help us defend France in World War II". Canada is the home to many diverse government parties including The Communist party, The Marijuana party and The Gay Alliance party. That is all well and good and shows diversity in their government, but if it leads to fractional leadership and ineptitude as it has, Canada is fast becoming nothing more than a joke in the international community. I hope Chretian can pull some strings and clean up his mess in Canada soon or perhaps George W. will not take his call when terrorism strikes in the heartland of Canada.

That's my two cents and it is two cents, not 1.3 cents as it would be in Canada.

It's Monday, so it must be time to update this diatribe on Life with the Lyon's. This weekend revolved around two themes, Rain and Golf, and never the twain shall meet. We finally got some much needed rain and it was a true Pacific storm and all that entails. We had wind, rain and snow in the high country and some major squalls that, along with hail and some thunder and lightning, even saw a funnel cloud spotted in the Sacramento area. I wasn't sure if I went to bed and woke up in Vancouver, British Columbia or Dallas, Texas.

The heaviest precipitation came to us overnight on Friday, with about an inch-and-a-half of rain soaking the valley floor. It was so heavy and incessant that it caused the creeks and ponds on Diamond Oaks Golf Course to overflow their banks and flood the course. I called over early Saturday morning to see if the tournament was on and was told that Steve Hitchcock, our tournament director, had decided to cancel the Saturday round. This is a three-day medal event and Steve had already locked in Sunday, March 22nd as a rain makeup date. Frankly, it was clearing up and looked like we'd get little or no additional rain on Saturday, but the course was drenched and only 14 holes were open. It was the right call, but I was determined to play that day.

Darla was taking David to the DMV to get his driving permit. EGAD...I could miss that. I drove over to the course and saw several of the guys milling about, putting or hitting balls. I grabbed a bucket of balls, and as I hit them tried to implore several more nutcases to join me on the course. I finally got Dave and Gary to agree to play and we lit out on the back nine. We played 10-17 and decided to play 11-17 again. We played two balls in on 18 and then played 11 again. We finished in three hours and eighteen minutes and I shot a 43-39=82. Little did I know that I would wish at the end of the weekend that that score was part of the tournament and not just practice. I was shocked at the level of water on the course. We have had about 600 new homes built around the course in the last three years and many of them sit above the course and drain down onto the course. The drainage is horrible. We had a torrent of water sluicing through the 15th fairway and out through twelve and thirteen. It drained well over Saturday and we were able to play on Sunday.

Sunday was not as agreeable in the weather department. It was overcast and nasty looking, but the tournament was ON. I had a terrible round and had sodden and soaked grips and clubs by the end of the day. The rain started on our sixth hole and rained incessantly from then on. I shot 44-45=89 and walked off the course disgusted with myself and my game. I had several holes when the wet grips almost caused the club to fly out of my hands. I was able to hang onto the club, but not my game and look forward to improving over next weekend, which so far appears to forecast as sunny and warm.

I got off the course on Saturday early and we went with Darla's sister, Alicia, and David and Daniel to Arco Arena to watch David's varsity basketball team at Woodcreek vie for the Nor-Cal Championship in Division II. It was fun to sit in the Sacramento Kings arena and watch our high school boys playing on the same floor as the Kings. They played a see-saw game with a team from Santa Clara and finally went on a nine-point run in the third quarter that helped them to a 65-56 win. They will play at Arco next Friday night for the state title against a team from Los Angeles. We will, of course, be there for the game.

After the game, which ended about six-thirty and included presentations of the winner's plaque and medals for both teams, I treated everyone to dinner at Hamburger Mary's. Mary's is a mid-town Sacramento restaurant that is eclectic because of it's age, it's decor and its clientele. Mary's is located on J Street across from the Memorial Auditorium and directly across the street from The Beat, a downtown music store that caters to the punk scene. I had to talk to the boys before we went in, because Mary's is known to attract the downtown crowd, which includes the gay population. I told the boys to not stare and to just enjoy the meal. Our luck would have it that one of those rather eccentric couples sat right behind us. It at first appeared to be two older women, but quickly became apparent that one of the old ladies was an old man in drag. He was a dead ringer for Mrs. Doubtfire with his large glasses, long skirt, old lady clog shoes and a bright top with tassles and fringe. He was also toting a handbag of gargantuan proportions and had on a necklace, rings and full makeup and painted nails. It was all I could do to keep David and Daniel from going into hysterics. David and Daniel have grown up in conservative Roseville and have had little contact with how the other half lives. They got an eyeful on Saturday night.

I had mentioned Darla's lawyer friend, Jim Dodds, who is building us a coffee table. We had hoped to meet up with him on our way back from Carmel, but he had his phone hooked up to a Fax machine all day on Saturday and we weren't able to hook up (literally) and the wait continues. Jim is in the middle of a big court case and he was hoping for a big settlement and had his phone turned to FAX. Jim talked to Darla on Sunday and said that he was sorry that we couldn't reach him as he's going nuts with the table there and keeps tinkering with it and adding touches. I just hope we can lift it into the truck when we finally do get over there.

I'm off to the San Francisco Bay area this week on work. I'll be in San Jose Tuesday night and Wednesday and Burlingame on Wednesday night and Thursday. I'll return home on Thursday night. I hope you all are well. Buckle in as it looks like Saddam might have his comeuppance sooner rather than later. God be merciful with his soul.

The sun is streaming through the backyard as I look out on a late Winter day. The sky is blue and shorts have finally found there way back into my wardrobe.

Darla and I spent three days in Carmel and Monterey last weekend and had ideal weather. The temperature was in the low seventies with a light breeze and blue skies. We sat out by the pool each afternoon and finally began to add some color to these atrophied white bodies. We both realize that we need to diet rather convincingly in order to be able to stand the sight of one another in shorts. Spring is just around the corner and we can't wait. Neither of us brought shorts to the coast as we thought it would be cooler, so we each had to go out and buy some. This is where the rubber meets the road on defining Darla and I. She went shopping in Carmel on Thursday afternoon as I visited one of the agents in the city of Carmel. She was able to find a nice pair of jean shorts for $38 at Talbots. I waited until Friday after meetings with my Monterey agents and went over to Wal Mart and bought a pair of shorts, some mints, a bottle of water, a muscle shirt, and a CD of Third Day (a Christian band) and spent $28.50. Those who know me well will smile.

Darla and I stayed at a different motel from ones we've stayed in before. It is The Carmel Bay View Inn, a Best Western that has a misnomer for a name save for the occupants of the fourth and fifth floors. We were on the second floor. The hotel is extremely nice with remodelled rooms, a fireplace in each room and tiled bathrooms with large fluffy towels and a nice breakfast in the morning. It is located on Junipero and Seventh street, catty corner from the city park and across the street from Piatti's Italian Restaurant. We were very impressed and will return. Our only flaw for the stay was a large neighbor who snored so loudly we could hear him through the wall and the flue of the fireplace. I woke up about two a.m. and woke Darla so she could hear the droning coming through the wall. We had a good giggle in the middle of the night. It sounded like the guy was up sanding the walls in his room with a power sander.

Darla and I had the early bird dinner on Friday night at Clint Eastwood's restaurant, The Hog's Breath Inn, and the prime rib was made especially delicious at $8 off the regular price. We then took a long walk around Carmel, shopping at one discount clothing store and almost being locked in. We were upstairs at about 6:50 p.m. and the store closes at 7 p.m. We overheard them closing the front door, which is a large wooden door on rails that locks in place. Darla yelled that "we are up here!" to no avail as the door slammed shut. We sprinted downstairs and the place was empty, although the lights were still on. We disengaged the deadbolt on the door and rolled it open and escaped. Again, we found ourselves laughing at the absurdity of our predicament. We don't know what happened to the clerks.

We slept in on Saturday morning and went to The Little Swiss Cafe, a favorite of ours, for breakfast. We both had the plate-sized pancakes and I drank coffee while Darla worked on a cup of hot chocolate. We then decided to take a walk on the beach as the weather was just so ideal. We usually walk south on the beach, but I wanted to get a beach eye view of Pebble Beach. We walked along the beach side of the course and were able to find three golf balls, two of them Pro V1's. It looked like a tremendous day to be playing Pebble and I have to admit that it is one of my dreams to play a round at Pebble Beach in the next few years. I have many like-minded friends and we will simply have to suck it up and drop the $800 that it will cost for lodging and golf in the next couple of years.

We returned home Saturday night tired and relaxed at the same time. The trip was great and helps renew our spirit as a couple. We were able to dovetail this trip with my work and we do that quite often as my home office is Phoenix and I handle The Bay Area, Reno/Tahoe and The Monterey Peninsula. Convincing Darla to take a few days off and join me in paradise isn't a tough sell.

I played golf on Sunday and tipped my cap to my father on the first tee. It was Dad's 66th birthday and I celebrated it on the links. I shot 84 and ended up paying one of my friends, who is a 19-handicapper and he also shot an 84. He is 62 years old and has a wonderful relaxed swing. He just bought a new Cobra driver and he cleaned up in the betting department. I had set up the match as a practice round for the start of next week's three-day medal tournament at the club. I'll be at the city council meeting tonight in Roseville. Parks and Rec has proposed an increase of 25% in the fees at our course and I will be there to tell the council that they are out of their minds. None of the golfers would complain about a 10% increase, but we have many golfers that are retired and on fixed incomes as well as blue collar golfers, who have seen their incomes eroded over the last few years as the economy has suffered. A 25% fee increase is a slap in the face to the hard working citizens of this town. With the economy suffering from stagnation and unemployment woes, the city council will get an earfull tonight.

Darla took a call from one of the local supermarkets on Sunday. They told her that they are closing their doors on Tuesday and that she needed to get in and pick up her film. She didn't recall having any film in for processing, but said that she'd be over to pick it up. It is a roll of film from 1999 that we took in after Christmas when the store was Albertson's. It is now a Ralph's and they are closing as they built a new superstore not far from this outlet. It was odd to see pictures of the boys at 11 and 9 and Jennifer at 18. In fact Jennifer was with a boyfriend that neither of us could recall ever having been at our new house. I know that they were broken up by the time we moved in here. Funny stuff.

Well, that is my installment for this week. My rant today involves the psycho's that are rallying against a war in Iraq and against our President. Why is it that they say that we have NOT found evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq on one hand, and on the other they say that fighting a war with Iraq would put our servicemen and women in jeopardy of death by exposure to chemical weapons? Just Shut Up! Somehow I think that Collin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld know just a little bit more about the situation than these boobs. Now you know my politics. God be with all of us.

As I sit at my desk looking over the backyard and koi pond and all of the plantings that make my work space such a joy to me, I see a very ordered and well trimmed world. I put the boys to work on Saturday hauling and disposing of trimmings and cuttings. I bought a lopper this weekend that allows me to shape and trim the various trees and bushes on my property. I had the fun job of cutting and hacking away at the trees and they had the banal job of gathering the trimmings and cutting them down further and stuffing them in the trash can. The result is a much more neat and ordered set of trees. They were all growing over and into one another and now each tree has its own unique space and the additional light should allow the trees to flourish and fill in even better than before. I accidentally cut the electrical cord to the pump and waterfall in the process of trimming the plantings and had to rewire the electrical afterward. I took the boys out to ice cream at the Cold Stone Creamery last night as a thank you for their help.

Darla is in bed convalescing from a bad cold. She had a sore throat over the weekend that has turned into a wheezing cough and decided to take the day off. Working at home is tough as she enticed me to sleep in a bit this morning and I finally pried myself out of bed and into the shower about a half hour later than usual. I told her she's a bad influence on me. Hopefully, she'll be feeling better after a good rest today.

I played poker on Friday night. The night started out a bit strangely, as John Uno and I arrived at Scott Kolleen's house at the allotted hour of seven p.m. to begin the festivities. John and I were met by Tom Heavey and the three of us were taken aback by the "For Sale" sign on Scott's property. We rang the bell and there was no sign of life at the darkened home. In fact, it appeared that the house was empty. We were all a bit confused as the welcome mat was supposed to be awaiting us and Scott had confirmed the game earlier in the week. About that time, Bill Belcamino came driving by and saw us all standing on the porch looking forlorn and forgotten and called Scott. He answered and said that no one was at his house. He walked outside and I could hear him talking to Bill on the phone, but from a distance. I walked around the garage and saw him standing on the porch of the house next door. I'd trusted John to pick me up and drive me to Scott's house and he'd picked me up and driven me to Scott's next door neighbor. We all had a good laugh before settling in to a night of cards and comraderie. I lost about thirty bucks that night, but came away richer for the friendship and male bonding. Actually, no I lost $30.

I had a slight injury last week and it speaks to my encampment here in the midst of middle age. I'd toasted an English muffin one morning last week to enjoy with my morning cup of joe and the paper. It was rather tasty with a bit of peanut butter and I decided to toast another. I split the English muffin with my knife and I suppose in retrospect that I left a small dollop of peanut butter on the edge of the muffin in the process. The toaster popped up the muffin and I picked it up to carry it to the countertop for the addition of the peanut butter when my right palm began to burn severely. The hot peanut butter on the edge of the muffin scorched my hand and left what would eventually become a blister. Age is a wicked stepmother when you can get injured eating and wake up with a stiff neck after sleeping. At my age it is a hazard to eat and/or sleep. And that is my rant for this week.

Darla and I are off to Monterey on Thursday and Friday. I have to go and visit my agents and Darla decided to come along and enjoy the scenery. It will make my trip a bit more palatable with her along, but depending upon her shopping in Carmel, it could be a bit pricey. We are staying at a hotel on Junipero street in the heart of the business district in Carmel, so she should be fine while I'm off slaving with the agents. We will stay over Thursday and Friday and return to Sacramento on Saturday night. We plan to stop in Stockton on the trip back and pick up a new coffee table to complement our new sofa in the family room. Darla has a friend in Stockton who is a lawyer, but moonlights as a furniture manufacturer and he made us a new wood coffee table. He is attempting to market these through fine furniture stores and I have reserved judgement on the item until I see it. He's been working on this thing since the end of October. I'm anxious to see how it turned out.

My rental home in Galt suffered a wind damage loss in December and I've just found out from my contractor that I have some roof damage. I've conferred with Earl Westra, my father-in-law, on what to expect in the way of an estimate. He spent his whole career in the building industry in Stockton and I called to ask him for a recommendation on a roofer. He gave me pause when he said that of all of the tradesmen in the building industry, he has the least confidence in roofers. He told me that the materials should cost no more than $200, but the installation may cost upwards of $1000 when all is said and done. I'm still waiting for an estimate from the roofer who was supposed to be out at the rental last week.

Well, that is my installment for this week. I played no golf this weekend, but will make up for lost time with a game this Sunday and a three day tournament starting the following weekend that will run Saturday-Sunday-Saturday. It is an individual stroke play tournament, meaning that I can rely on myself alone for scoring and not a partner. Thank the good Lord for that. Be well.

Back at it on a Monday afternoon. This is a busy time of year for me as I am in the midst of meetings with all of my agents in Northern California and having them sign an Agency Action Plan for 2003 with specific goals and a premium goal for the year. It is also a time that I eat way too much as I'm out to lunch at least three times a week spending my expense money on my best customers. I am off to the unimaginable excitement of Fresno on Wednesday and to further tempt my excitement meter, Bakerfield on Thursday. I will attempt to come down off my high before I write again. Unfortunately in the coming weeks, I'll have to suffer through trips to Monterey, South Lake Tahoe and San Francisco, but I will have the enduring memory of the smell of oil refining on a balmy Winter's night in Bakersfield to salve my emotional wounds.

The weekend just passed left some nice memories as Darla and I went to the final basketball game for David this year. We were playing for the title against Rocklin, a team with smaller players, but fundamentally well coached and sound defenders and adequate offensive power to complement the defense. We fell behind early with a rash of turnovers and were on the wrong side of a 10-2 score in the first five minutes. We worked our way back with good defense and some timely three-pointers to lead at halftime 29-26. It was the second half that saw the tide turn as Rocklin played sound defense and took advantage a scoring miscue to take a 41-39 lead. In truth the score was 41-39 for us, so the four-point mistake by the official scorer took the wind out of our guy's sails. The crowd was hooting and hollering when the scorer added one of our baskets to Rocklin, depriving us of two points and adding it to Rocklin, a four point swing. We ended up starting the 4th period down by two, rather than up by two. We lost the game 57-52, so you could say it didn't make a difference, but the fans and the players were so mad, it took them out of their game. Luckily, this is just JV and we can look forward to Varsity and more accomplished scorers and officials next year. The official scorer was a 16 year-old Rocklin student. Duh.

Darla and I ate out on Saturday night enjoying steak and prime rib at a restaurant in Carmichael. The establishment is Brother Oliver's and is famous for their prime grade beef, their $18.95 complete lobster dinner and their soup and salad bar. We gorged ourselves and then stopped at a store and bought Daniel some new bedding. He has had the same comforter on his bed since he was a baby and Darla had sewn a new cover over the 101 Dalmation's print. We decided that his room needs a makeover. I painted the laundry room on Saturday afternoon before our jaunt out for dinner and shopping. Darla said that I did it so that I wouldn't feel guilty about playing golf on Sunday. The truth is that I never feel guilty about playing golf...unless I'm helped along in that regard.

I am currently the handicapper for our golf club and keep all of the handicap information and tournament handicaps for the club. The current vice-president, Harry Wharff, will move up to president next year and has asked me to be his Vice-President. I will then follow up the food chain to President and run the club in 2005. I've agreed to run alongside Harry and learn as I go. I will get free green fees at the club and a token salary. I'm paid $300 a year as the handicapper. It is all a life lesson as far as I'm concerned.

Darla and I are going to Vegas with Dad and Shirley in April and have booked our flights already. Darla will fly on a free ticket that I have and I will fly on my Rewards card working toward another free flight. We have been to Vegas with Dad and Mom in the past and this will be our first visit with Dad and Shirley. We will have a great time, but I'll miss Mom in Sin City. She was always so much fun. She could drink a few $1 margaritas, that's for sure.

Finally, I was relaxing yesterday afternoon after my golf outing and a walk of the dog with Darla. I was reading McNally's Chance, a novel based on Lawrence Sander's character, Archy McNally, but written by Vincent Lardo, a writer hand-picked by Lawrence Sanders to carry the ball on the McNally capers following his death. Lardo and Sander's had co-wrote the last of the McNally novels that Sander's had a hand in. Be that as it may, I was reading the book, relaxing on our new sofa with my bride when we heard a sonic boom that sounded as if the house had been hit by a car. I ran out to see what had happened and several of the neighbors were also gathering outside to see what had happened. It turns out that a neighbor had managed to catch some gas fumes on fire as he worked in his garage. The gas water heater had clicked on and exploded the fumes. He was able to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but had burns on his hands. The fire department responded very quickly and made us all feel just a little safer. They got to the house almost as fast as the neighbors did.

Oh....my golf game. I'm quick to write when I play well and I've been on a roll, so I was due to drop a stink bomb, especially after my last blog dumping on my once and former partner. We played at Mather Field Golf Course, a former Air Force golf course. The military is known for their pristine golf courses, starting with the Presidio course in San Francisco and including the Sun and Sand course on the island of Coronado in San Diego (which I've played). Unfortunately, my game started with the sign of the devil....6....6....6! That was a par 4, a par 5 and a par 3. On the par 3, I hit the ball just right of the green into the bunker and took three to get out. I never have problems in sand, so it was a shock to say the least. I finally blasted onto the green with my fourth shot and had a two-foot putt for double-bogey, which I missed. Ouch!! I shot 49 on the front, a side that included two separate signs of the devil and a par 5 to finish the front at less than 50. I never shot more than a six, but I had a lot of them. I pulled it together on the back side and shot a more recognizable 40 for an 89. I didn't win any money to put it mildly. As I said, I was due. That is my confession for the week. Be well and treat each other with love and respect. God is in heaven and all is okay in my world.