I didn't get to my normal Monday posting of the random ravings of a modern lunatic (or my blog entry as it is more commonly known). I had a meeting at the unGodly hour of 7 a.m. yesterday in Manteca, CA, a 70 minute drive if you push the speed limit and at that hour you can. The Mustang cruised at 70 miles an hour and I showed up right at 7 a.m. after leaving the house at 5:50 a.m. As this job continues to confound me, the meetings and the drive to arrive at them have become more of a hassle. I displayed my unhappiness in the meeting and was supported by the other underwriters. The problem that I'm having is that my agency plant is made up of habitational agents and our companies do NOT have competitive rates in this class of business. I've been floundering as I attempt to keep my agents happy and interested, but I'm losing the battle. I've been branching out to other agents and picking up some contractor's agents and I'm just staying alive, but I'm not thriving. It's frustrating.

I'm continuing to build my business while looking over my shoulder and talking to other potential employers. Darla and I leave for Hawaii in four weeks and I'd like to get this settled so that I can relax on the beach and not carry the burden of my employment woes with me. I have interviewed with Keenan and Associates, a broker who handles insurance for school districts in California. They are the 4th largest broker in the country and are hiring a new Account Executive to replace the current AE, who is being promoted to Vice President in the Northern California office. I had a very good interview with the Assistant VP last week and hope to meet with the Vice President in the next week or two. I have a lunch meeting with Burns and Wilcox this Thursday. The Vice President for the west coast region is in town and I will meet with him and the local branch manager to discuss joining their firm. They are also a Surplus Lines broker, but have a national footprint and a corporate structure, which is unlike the family-owned firm that I'm working for now. I underestimated the power of a franchise when I joined Richter-Robb. Burns and Wilcox is owned by The Kauffman Group and is the second largest surplus lines broker in the United States. THAT is a BIG footprint. It will all work out and I'm leaving it in the hands of the Lord, who has never failed to provide for me, even in my bleakest moments.

The boy's football program took on Folsom High School last week. Daniel's game was on Thursday night and his team took a 22-0 lead, only to lose the game 36-34 in the last minute of the game on a furious comeback by Folsom. It was a tough game to watch, certainly because our boys let one slip away, but even more so because they had the visitor's bleachers closed and we had to sit on the Folsom side of the stadium and listen to the screams and yellls as they made their way back to win the game. The fans were stomping on the metal stands and causing a virtual headache to become a literal one. Daniel played well on both sides of the ball, but was pretty down after the game.

The Varsity played on Friday night and we expected this to be a tough game. Folsom has one of the top rated quarterbacks in the area and is a Division I school. Woodcreek has three junior quarterbacks (including David) that are still learning the ropes and the game plan is to hope that they can hand off the ball and not make mistakes that will cost us the game. Our guys played a whale of a game and David was one of the standouts. Unfortunately, he plays free safety and when your free safety leads the team in tackles, it's NOT a good night for your team. David also had an interception that he ran back 25 yards to the Folsom 8-yard line. Unfortunately the strong safety grabbed one of Folsom's players by the jersey and threw him to the ground, earning a flag. The penalty was after the interception, but it cost us field position. I was afraid that David was going to make it into the end zone as I saw the penalty on the return. We lost the game 21-6, but had plenty of opportunities. Our quarterback only completed one pass for minus three yards and was intercepted twice. Worse than that, our starting tailback fumbled the ball away four times. The defense played great. We intercepted their all league quarterback three times and sacked him four times. He had three touchdown passes, but one of them came with thirty-four seconds left in the game, when he should have taken a knee. I think we embarassed him in the game. Our quarterback earned a spot on the bench and our backup will start in the next game. David earned the "hammer" award, a tee shirt that the coaches present to the player who best lays the wood to the opposition. David had a play in the third quarter where their qb threw an out pattern to the tight end and David read the play beautifully and arrived with a full head of steam just as the pass arrived and blew up the tight end, knocking him one way and the ball the other. The tight end got up, grabbed the ball and threw it at David, drawing a penalty. The Folsom bench exploded after the penalty and drew another fifteen-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. So the result of the play was no gain followed by thirty yards in penalties. David was down after the game, but he is living up to the coaches' opinion that he will be an all-league safety in his junior year. It was by far the best game I've ever seen him play on defense. He has a real nose for the ball and plays with an intensity that is contagious.

Enough crowing about my sons, eh? David did pass his driver's test and is now enjoying the freedom that having wheels gives a young man. I talked to Dad over the weekend and he said that David is living one of the favorite times of his life right now, whether he knows it or not. He is a football player, he has a new car and the freedom that that represents and he is living the American dream.

We did get moved into our new church building this weekend and it was incredible. The church is absolutely beautiful. The church body has gifted the pastor with a two-week, paid vacation to wherever he want to go. He'll probably take his family to Orlando. He deserves this gift as he has worked so hard to build this church, from 100 members meeting at the elementary school to a church of 5000 attenders now meeting in a 3000 seat facility. We are so blessed with what the Lord has provided to us. David and Daniel are again involved in the high school program, attending their own church service during the eleven o'clock hour. We are so thankful for the Godly influence in the boy's lives. The high school group is now meeting in our old worship center, now that we've moved into the new building. God is faithful and we are blessed.

Stay focused on the ways of the Lord and NOT the ways of this world and you will feel real contentment in your own life. Ciao.

Monday and thoughts turn back to work and responsibility and paying the bills, etc. I much prefer living in the realm of my inner child...playing golf and puttering in the yard and washing cars and walking the dog. I'll make a good retired person.

The weekend has come and gone. I tripped on my sword in the Club Championship and got speared by a competitor who played mistake-free golf. I shot an 84, which is right at my handicap, but he shot a 77 which is three shots better than his handicap and he beat me 4+3. I started out well, but should have seen the handwriting on the wall. I rolled in a thirty-five foot putt for birdie on number 1 and he rolled in a twenty-foot putt right on top of me to tie the hole. It was a close match until the back nine when he went par-birdie-par to take a 4-up lead and it was a matter of time after that. The killer blow was a sixty-yard chip that he rolled in for birdie on number 11. I enjoyed myself and walked away with my head held high. When someone beats you with a great round, all you can do is tip your cap and then let all the air out of his tires in the parking lot, while he drinks beer and gloats in the bar after the round. J/K. Up next is the Rose Cup in October.

Darla and I went out to see the Trailer Park Troubadors last night with four other couples from her work. We met at the Hard Rock Cafe at the Downtown Plaza where we ate dinner and then walked over to the Crest Theater. The Crest is one of those turn of the century movie theaters with loge seating and gilded accents on the walls and ceilings. It was a great venue for a concert and our ticket price was going to the Sacramento Housing Authority, a group promoting affordable housing for low income families. We had a ball and the band played from 7:30 until 10:30. We're both a little tired today, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves last night.

As the time ticked away for me to hand the keys to the Mustang over to David, I was getting more and more melancholy. In fact, I think I started to slip into a midlife crisis. I've really enjoyed tooling around in the Mustang. The lines are great and the 3.8 litre V6 is a peppy little motor that scoots. I finally took a look in the mirror last week and saw an adult looking back at me and decided that I'd go out and get myself a newer Mustang as a replacement for the 1994 which David is stealing from me. Darla and I found a 2002 Tropic Green (it is a dark green metallic, like a Hunter Green) Mustang Coupe. It has a rear spoiler and a tan interior and we got a good buy on it. I bought an extended warranty which will cover us from the 24,000 miles that it has n it now until 6 years or 100,000 miles with no deductible. I consider an extended warranty to be lemon insurance as most modern cars should easily hit 100,000 miles without serious problems. We are both thrilled with the new car and Darla said that If I had to have a midlife crisis, she would much prefer it to be a green Mustang rather than a blonde.

The boys football games have come and gone and they couldn't have been more different in their outcomes. Daniel's team dominated the game over Bear River and David's team got a can of whoopass opened on them. They lost the game 29-6, but it wasn't that close. Their starting quarterback fumbled three times, was intercepted twice and we dropped a pass in the endzone when the score was 6-0 that would have tied the game and given us some momentum. The next play after the dropped pass, the qb was sacked and fumbled the ball away. It was a brutal game against a Division I team who was playing their first home game. We travel to Folsom this week and play in their new $4.5 million stadium. This is Jennifer's alma mater and they got shut out last week in their home opener. They are also a Division I school (Woodcreek is Division II) and they are spoiling to open that same can on us this Friday. It will be interesting to see how the team responds. Daniel's team gave up an opening drive to the hosts that resulted in a touchdown. The extra point was missed, we ran the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown and didn't look back in a 35-6 victory. Daniel played particularly well, blocking on the offensive line and had one play on defense where he stormed through and smeared the quarterback for a huge loss of yardage. Daniel has really matured as a football player and can be dominant in a game due to his physical size. The coaches say Daniel's only problem is motivation and they are working hard to keep him fired up during games.

Well, that's it for this week. We move into our new worship center at church this weekend and I am once again ushering. The new facility seats 3000 and we are going from 11 services a weekend to three. The wear and tear on the pastor and his staff have been overwhelming the last few months and we all look forward to the new facility. We are going from a need of twenty ushers for each service to 96 and we are being stretched. Darla will be filling in where needed as we are short help at the moment. It is an exciting time, but also a stressful one. Pray for us as we reach out to a community in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. God bless all of you.

Monday and the cool weather returns. It is again supposed to be about 85 degrees today and although the Canadian readers may think that is a heatwave, I'm stating this in fahrenheit and 80 degrees is not a heatwave folks. I remember my grandparents used to put a bowl of ice in front of a fan in the living room when Vancouver would hit 88 degrees. We'd laugh coming from Texas and the muggy, hot and humid conditions. Heat and temperature are all relative to the climate that you are used to. Dad has lived in Texas and Arizona in real heat and I have to laugh when I talk to him now and he tells me about the drought conditions in Canada and how hot its been. I look in the paper every day and see Vancouver topping out at a whopping 77 degrees and wonder if he is being taken in by the locals who haven't seen rain in three weeks and think that they are in heavy drought conditions. He told me that his grass is stressed because the city is experiencing water rationing due to the drought conditions. In fact, I just went and took a look at the weather section of the paper and see that Vancouver is due for 62 degrees today and showers and 53 degrees tomorrow and rain. I'd say that 5-day drought they were experiencing is over. Just an observation.

The weekend has come and gone. The boy's football teams dominated their opposition. Daniel's team won 27-0 in a real one-sided affair. David's team then went out (after the Junior Varsity won their game 32-0) and the Varsity backed up the junior squads with a 36-12 victory. Woodcreek's football program is the only undefeated program in their league and they all look good. We have speed at the skill positions and each of the defenses is obviously stellar. It could be a real fun year. They play one of the league's powerhouses this week on the road and we will get a sense of where this program is after that game. Stay tuned.

Darla and I went to a fundraiser for the football program on Saturday night. They had the affair at the Placer County fairgrounds in the shadow of the Saturday night races at the racetrack. Darla and I both had to grin at some of the mothers of the football players dressing up in slinky outfits and watching them strut their stuff. Nothing like a 40 year-old woman attempting to be 18 again. It makes me appreciate the adult woman that I married that much more. It was amusing up to the point that they started the music and the dancing and then it just got sad. The dinner was good: barbecued tri tip and chicken and we enjoyed the company of the folks that we sat with, but I could do without a repeat of this on a regular basis.

The Club Championship started on Sunday. I got dropped down into the first flight due to a couple of cancellations, so I had to play a 9-handicapper in the first round. I get twelve strokes based on my 11.1 index. It was a close match, but I was able to beat my opponent 2-up on the 18th hole. I had taken a 3-up lead with four holes to play, but lost the 15th and 16th holes before shooting a par to tie 17, putting me dormie for the match and then winning on number 18 with another par. We both shot 82 for the round. I have been fortunate in all of the club championships to win my opening round, but have always stumbled and lost in the second round. I will play a 7-handicapper next Saturday and take 5 strokes from him in the match. This guy can really bomb the ball off the tee, routinely outdriving me by 50-75 yards, but he can also be erratic, spraying his drives left and right. I'll let you know next week how I fare. If I win on Saturday, I'll play for the flight championship on Sunday.

David took his final driving school road lesson yesterday and takes his driving test on Saturday. Darla and I will see our insurance bill increase from $1,440 annually to $3,421 annually. The increase is accentuated by the fact that we will add another car to the policy, but more impacted by the fact that we are adding a 16 year-old male to the policy. Pray for us. Daniel is two years away from his license and I may not survive that event.

Well, that is news from the home front. The job continues to confound me, but that's another story for another time. Ciao.

This is a special blog addition. I just got an E-mail from Jennifer announcing that she has been promoted to the rank of Specialist. She has worked hard to achieve this promotion. Send her congratulations at lyon80@msn.com.

Back to the blog. I won't complain about weather as it is partly cloudy today with a nice cool breeze and the temperature is expected to top out at a mind numbing 82 degrees today. The weather could stay like this for about three months and I'd be thrilled. Did someone say "Golfing Weather"?

I did not play any golf this last week and actually enjoyed the respite. I will be back at it full bore this weekend as our club's Championship starts on Sunday. I'll hit the range today and probably every day until Sunday. Our club plays our club championship in a match play format and our club champion will be the winner of the scratch flight. I'm not even attempting to qualify for that flight because you have to shoot even par to even have a chance. My biggest concern about entering the qualifying tournament is that I'd make it into the scratch flight and then shoot a 90 in the match. I'd rather play in the 11-13 flight and try to win my flight. It will be fun and I really enjoy match play. It allows you to have a blowup hole without destroying your chance to win. A bad hole is just one lost hole, not a disaster.

Jennifer has returned to the land of Army and we thoroughly enjoyed her stay. Darla and I both have seen a tremendous change in her maturity, her demeanor and especially in her care and concern for her family. She truly misses home and lets each of us know individually how much she cares about us. She spent alot of time with her friends, but went out of her way to spend special time with her family, including the trip to Lake Almanor and a barbecue with her Mom and Bill and our family. I probably had lunch wth her five times during her visit and she even got up early and went to church with me while Darla and the boys were up at Lake Almanor. One big change that I've noticed both this trip and the last is how responsible Jennifer is. She calls and lets us know where she is and what she's doing and she is early to everything. She showed up to church at 7:30 for the 8:00 service. She was chagrined to find that our coffee service has been suspended until we move into the new building due to construction. On the day that she flew home she was to meet Darla and I at the restaurant at eight-thirty for breakfast. The phone rang at eight-fifteen and I laughed as I ran for the phone and said to Darla, "Well, Jennifer is running late". It was Jennifer on the line and she was waiting for us at the restaurant. The military has done amazing things for Jennifer in terms of responsibility. It is a pleasure to see these changes in her. And she is happy. That may be the ultimate reward.

I took David's Mustang in yesterday morning to have the paint shop buff out the finish. They did a great job. We have also had the problem of not having a horn in the car. The alarm had gone off in the middle of the night when the prior owners had it and they had disconnected the horn. After we bought it, the owner mentioned that as a "by-the-way". David is anxious to get his license in two weeks and he couldn't take the Mustang to the Drive Test because the horn didn't work. I finally took it to an auto electrician yesterday and he said, "just hook it back up". I said, "but the alarm has a short in it". He said, "No, the key fob didn't turn the alarm off because the batteries were low". I said, "how do you know that?" He said, "trust me, it happens all the time." He showed me where to reattach the horn and sure enough the horn works fine and the alarm is operating as it was designed. He didn't even charge me. Funny. Now David can take the drive test in his own car.

Darla and I will have to go out next week and get a replacement car for me. I was looking at the Ford Escape SUV, but I may end up with a Mustang. I have really enjoyed driving the Mustang and I may just have my mid-life experience now and get a newer Mustang GT. We'll see.

Work continues in fits and starts. I've been in contact with the manager at Burns and Wilcox and he would still like me to move over there and go to work for him (on salary plus bonus). He said he'd contact me in a few weeks and see if we can work something out. I still think this job could work out in the long run, but perhaps not before I go broke or have an aneurism sweating out the commission income every month. One of the problems is that our markets are just not competitive for apartment business and that is 80% of what I do. I'll keep you informed on what develops here.

Well. kiddies, that's it for this week. Remember as we are all dying to get ahead in life, that Jesus died so that we can live in peace, with the knowledge that heaven awaits us when our life on earth comes to a close.

Sometimes a week is just a week. Last week at this time I was talking about a slight heat wave and the temperature was supposed to hover at 100 degrees. Well it did, and today is supposed to top out at 103 degrees. What a difference a week makes.

The Labor Day holiday has come and gone and we had a great time. We went up to Lake Almanor on Saturday and had a nice time enjoying the relatively cooler 89 degrees up at the lake. Jennifer and the boys went wake-boarding and knee boarding. Jennifer invited her ex-boyfriend, Jason, and he even wakeboarded in spite of a cast on his right arm from an ATV accident four weeks ago in which he broke his wrist in three places and had to have screws inserted into the bones to let them heal. He wrapped a garbage bag over the cast and had a go on the wake board. I'm not much of a boater and simply watched the proceedings from the comfort of a lounge chair and within arms length of a beverage and my book. Jennifer seemed to particularly enjoy herself and had a good time with David, who has become quite the wake board expert over the course of the summer. He is really getting some air on his jumps and has enjoyed himself immensely this summer. His Dad bought him a $200 wake board for his birthday in May and he's got good use out of it so far this Summer.

Jennifer celebrated her 23rd birthday on Thursday and the family joined Diane and Bill at their home in Folsom on Wednesday night to fete our daughter. Darla finally shared her surprise to Jennifer on her birthday. Darla has been keeping a scrapbook of Jennifer's Army experiences and included in the book are pictures and diplomas from basic training, AIT, and her tower school training. There are pictures from a visit we had with her in San Antonio and included in that was a trip we took to Darryl's home in Houston. Also included is a trip that Jennifer took from her base in Arizona to Dad and Shirley's home in Sun City West. Jennifer was really surprised. Darla was able to find a scrapbook that has the Army seal on it, is green and has the word ARMY on the front of it. Darla has made an Army theme of the book decorating the pages with US Flags and tanks, camouflage, etc. It is really nice and now that Jennifer knows about it, she can send Darla pictures and copies of her orders, etc to continue to add to the book. Jennifer will leave the book with Darla.

Well, I have used this blog to document my golf experiences and it seems that I've had nothing but tremendous success. Well, often reality hits hard. We had our Labor Day tournament on Sunday and I should have known something was out of whack when I lost my ball on the first hole on a drive that was right down the middle. We couldn't find the ball and after five minutes I had to skulk back to the first tee and hit another shot. I double-bogeyed the hole. I then shot two straight birdies and hung on during the front nine for a stellar 38, two over par. I should have headed to the parking lot and gone home then. I started the back nine by drilling a drive dead left into a tree and having the ball ricochet back behind me and by the number eighteen green. I flailed around the perimeter of the tenth hole and finally knocked the ball on in four and then rolled in a thirty foot putt for bogey. I had the shanks on the back side and flailed around the course, going 6 over on the two par threes and finishing with a 49 for a total of 87. This is by far the worst round of the year for me. I've scored worst but I have never gone from great golf to horrible golf from the front nine to the back nine before. The only saving grace on the day was that I won $39 in skin money because of the good front side and I picked up three strokes on my Eclectic score. Our Eclectic tournament runs the entire year and consists of our best scores on every hole on the course in selected tournaments. We have ten "eclectic eligible"events and we take the score for the entire year and subtract from that our index for November of 2003. So far, I have a gross score of 67, which would equate to a net score of 55 with my current index of 11.1. If you're confused, we have guys in the club that play in this year long tournment and they can't figure it out either.

Jennifer has really enjoyed her leave at home. She has been busy juggling her time with three ex-boyfriends, Kevin, Jason and David. I have to hand it to each of them for maintaining their friendships after the romance died. It was never something that I was very good at. Perhaps, as Seinfeld said, it was because I wasn't a good "breaker-upper". I think part of the secret with Jennifer is that two of the guys are still carrying a torch for her and she plays that for all it's worth. All three of the guys are quality people and would give their shirt off their back to help Jennifer. She is lucky to have them in her life.

Jenn is supposedly off on a road trip to San Francisco today. She was supposed to be up early and heading into the city to do some shopping and sight seeing. Darla offered to take the day off and go with her, but Jennifer wanted to go alone. That is one significant difference in Jennifer. She has more self-confidence and has developed something of a loner streak in her. In that, she has become more like her father. I still crave my time of solitude and it's one reason that I enjoy doing the lawn and shrubs. It's my time to decompress and think through things in my life.

Jennifer will get on that big bird and be winging back to Atlanta and her base in Augusta Georgia on Thursday. It's been a good visit. We've enjoyed our time with Jennifer, the boys enjoyer her time and I know that Jennifer really enjoyed getting away from the mundane Army life for 12 days.

Work continues to improve in dribs and brabs. I still worry like the basic control freak that I am, but basically I am slowly growing a base of business and learning the ropes as I go. I almost hit my draw last month and would have except that I closed a big deal right after the cutoff. The upside is that I'm sitting on over a grand in commssions and it's only the second of the month.

The boys start football for real this week as full pad scrimmages against opponents begin on Thursday and Daniel will play in a scrimmage on Saturday. The games begin in two weeks and every Thursday and Friday are reserved for football from then on. David is starting at Safety on defense and is their third quarterback and Daniel will start on both the offensive and defensive lines.

That's it. Be well and keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the Lord and he will direct your path. Ciao.

It is one of those days that you know will be a scorcher. I just walked out to check the koi pond and there is a smell of heat in the air. We are supposed to hit 100 degrees today, although there is some sub-tropical moisture being pumped up from southern California that will cool us down quickly and bring a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow. Not exactly what Jennifer had in mind for her return to California, but you get what you get.

Jennifer arrived yesterday. Typical of my only daughter, she told her mother and I that her plane would arrive at 11:45 in the morning. I had arranged the flight and it seemed to me that she was due in earlier, so I jumped on the web yesterday morning after church and sure enough, her plane was scheduled to arrive at 10:35 and was actually about twenty minutes ahead of schedule. We were meeting her at the airport and then going over to the Chevy's restaurant on the river for brunch as a group. I quickly called Bill and let him know of the snafu. He said that Diane was still at the gym and they would have to meet us at the restaurant. Darla and I were on time and met Jen as she descended the escalator from the terminal. Darla wanted me to hold the end of a banner welcoming her home, but I'm not in to those type of public displays. Darla took pictures and insisted on setting the banner at the table at Chevy's. Jennifer is thrilled to be home and away from Army life for awhile.

We talked about her pending promotion and she feels that she WILL be promoted to the Specialist rank by November. She upset some of the brass by complaining about KP duty and yardwork. The military has regard for only ONE opinion and that is theirs. Jennifer felt that she didn't join the Army to do KP and cut the grass on base. The brass felt that she is to do anything that they tell her to do. Jennifer is learning about life in the military and will get her promotion in due time. With all of the specialized training that she has had and the expense that the Army has gone to in training her, it would be a sham not to promote her to the Specialist rank. I'm proud of her...and we have someone to wash the dishes and mow the lawn while she is home. Just kidding, Jen.

Jennifer is driving the Mustang while she is here and she was thrilled when she saw it. David was nice enough to agree to let her borrow his car while she is in town. David will finally get his license next month, four months after his 16th birthday. He is so involved in sports it took him four months after he was 15 1/2 to get his permit and the law requires new drivers to drive under permit status for six months prior to getting their license. Darla will be relieved when he finally does get his license as she has to drive him to school and pick him up from football practice every day that we have the boys. Once David has his license he will be free to come and go at his own whim.

Darla ran into Daniel's football coach at the gas station the other night and heard some excellent feedback on Daniel and his abilities at the sport. Daniel has always been something of a quick blossomer. He grew so fast, that it took him a long time for his coordination and his brain to catch up to his physical size. The coach will start Dan on both the offensive and defensive lines. He is one of the best linemen on the team and the coach, who has coached Daniel before, is thrilled with Dan's progression as a football player. I suppose you can't teach someone to be 6'1 and 200 pounds at age 13. You are or you aren't. It is kudos to Daniel and we were thrilled to get the feedback. Following in the footsteps of David, the jock, won't be easy, but Daniel is so far holding his own.

Work continues at a crawl. I talked to Nancy about it and she said that it is a typical problem, where business flows drag at the end of August as the worker bees in an insurance agency are also Moms and they are getting their kids ready for back to school and take time off this time of year. I've never experienced a slow down like this before in my career and I'm a bit concerned. I'm ramping up the marketing side of my business right now and working the phones.

Darryl has moved in to his new home outside of Austin, Texas and sent us pictures of his new deck and patio. He mentioned a wedding next weekend, which is news to us. I assume that my niece is getting married next week. I sent him a note chastising him for not keeping us in the loop. I think he needs a blog.

Darla and I celebrated seven years of wedded bliss this weekend. We've been married for twelve years, but seven happily. Just kidding, we married in 1996 and no itch as of yet. I wrote in her card that the only itch I feel is an itch to be even closer to her. That bought me some points, but writing about it here probably just cost me. Darla has been a true blessing in my life and I thank God for such a wonderful and Godly woman in my life. (I might have pulled out of it, I'm not sure.)

Finally, Saturday was also the qualifying tournament for the Rose Cup annual Ryder Cup-style tournament against three other golf clubs here in Roseville. Our qualifying field consisted of 56 determined golfers striving for 11 spots in the field. I started out strong shooting par-bogey-par-bogey-birdie in my first 5 holes to go one over, but stumbled down the stretch and finished the front nine with a double-bogey, double-bogey finish for 42. I then started the back side with par, double-bogey to go eight over after 11 holes. I was stinking up the joint, but pulled my game together with par-birdie-birdie over the next three holes and a solid finish to shoot 38 on the back side and finish with an 80, net 68 to qualify. This is the fourth year out of five that I will be in the Rose Cup (I missed the cut last year) and it is a tournament that I truly enjoy. The tournament will be held on October 10th and 11th at Woodcreek Golf Course and Sun City Roseville.

That's it for this week. The pastor told us the story yesterday of a young man who was proposing marriage to his sweetheart. He took her out on a secluded lake at midnight and held her hand. He said, "Honey, I may not have a yacht, like Steve Williams, all that I have is a small sailboat. And I may not have a Porsche, like Steve Williams, but I do have a Volkswagen and it is in good shape. And, finally, I may not have a mansion like Steve Williams, but my apartment is nice and we have plenty of room. I adore you and I love you. Will you marry me?" His girlfriend looked up at him and said, "Honey, I love you too, but who is this Steve Williams and where can I meet him?"

Here it is Monday again. Jennifer will be home by the time I write again. She is REALLY looking forward to getting away from Army life for a few weeks. I think she enjoys her job, but she is ready to do a little down time at home where she can lay by the pool or just visit with friends and family.

Darla hosted a shower for her brother Steve's fiancee, Kirstin, at Darla's Mom's house yesterday. I guess it was family only and there were aunts and cousins and Kirstin's Mom and Shea, Steve's daughter. Apparently the festivities went very well and Kirstin was very appreciative of the shower. Darla went downstairs to the cellar late in the afternoon and tripped on a step and took a header down the stairs!! She has a scraped nose and some sore bones as she tumbled all the way down. Apparently no one heard her fall and she crawled back up the stairs and everyone was shocked when she came back up bleeding and sputtering. We talked about the age thing in the last blog. (Well, at least she didn't break her hip.) She looks a little worse for wear, but she is a trooper and is back at work today.

I spent the day at the golf course and enjoyed myself. I've somehow managed to come up with a nasty case of tennis elbow in my left arm. Apparently, this is the only place in your body where a muscle attaches directly to the bone and does not utilize a tendon. Somehow, I've managed to pull the muscle fibres loose from the bone and it is inordinately painful. Basically a dull ache that reminds you of the malady everytime you use your arm. I have a tennis elbow strap that I use to clamp down the muscle and keep the muscle from moving away from the bone, so that it can heal. If I don't do this and I continue to pull the fibres loose as they attempt to repair themselves, I will end up with scar tissue and eventually need surgery. All of that to say that the act of golfing is contrary to allowing the muscle to heal. I was in some pain during the round, but managed to pull my round together on the backside and shot a 44-39=83. My arm didn't bother me as much on the back nine, due in part to the arm sufficiently warming and partly due to the 20 ounce Bud Light that my playing partner bought me. I played with Harry Wharrf, our Vice President at the golf club, Steve Parino, my twilight golf partner and Bjorn Andersen, my friend from Rocklin. Harry shot a 33-39=72, Steve shot a 42-40 82 and Bjorn managed a 47-42=89. We had a great time and it was a practice round for the Rose Cup qualifying tournament next Saturday.

I'm struggling a little bit at work. I've hit a slow patch and I need to ramp up my marketing efforts with new agents and contact some of the agents that have yet to send me business. I'm also frustrated with some of the referral underwriters that I have to work with. In my prior life, I was able to depend solely on myself for getting the business completed and now I have to depend on others. I've had two different underwriters promise me a quote by a certain date and then let me down. That is the most difficult thing for me. I've always been one who lived up to promises implicitly and I'm seeing how the other half operates and I'm not enjoying it.

Both of the boys started back to school last week and are hard into football practice. David has all but been pushed out of the competition for quarterback and is putting all of his energies into starting at free safety as a junior for the varsity. There will only be five juniors starting out of 22 positions and I told David he should be proud. His coaches feel that David could be an all conference safety because of his size and feel for the ball. David continues to harbor thoughts of being the starting quarterback and it appears that only injury or poor performance by the other two will allow for that possibility. It's too bad, but the fact that he will be a two year starter for his varsity football team is a good thing. Daniel will play lineman for his freshman team. he had hoped to play a skill position, but his size, 6'1" and 200 pounds, has the coaches mouth's watering. It will be interesting to see how Daniel does this year in the shadow of his brother on the varsity team. Daniel's sheer size has earned him a starting spot on the team.

I had my fantasy football draft this weekend and chose fourth. I dutifully picked Michael Vick for my first round choice and watched in the afternoon as he broke his right leg in a preseason game. I hate pre-season football. At least I have Drew Bledsoe of Buffalo as my backup and Brad Johnson of the Super Bowl champions as my third quarterback.

Well, I'll let you all know how our visit with Jennifer is going by next week. I think we'll plan to take a day up at Lake Almanor and let David teach Jennifer how to wake board. We'll also manage a day at the State Fair which is going on. Jennifer's birthday is the 28th and it was brother Randy's birthday yesterday. Jennifer will turn 23 and she is 20 years older than Randy, although I won't reveal HIS age. Nyuck nyuck.

It is another week and another round of work for those of us who are not retired, yet enslaved to comfort and the novelty of a roof over our heads and food in the refrigerator.

Darla and the boys made it back on Saturday night and it was good to see them. They had a good time up at the lake and enjoyed spending time with their cousins. Darla was able to get up on the wake board and even do some cutting and small jumps. She did take a nasty spill and bought the front end of the wake board. She came up sputtering water and was in some pain. Her neck is still sore. Darla is in her thirties for another year and then she'll realize after her next birthday that she's not a kid anymore. Someone needs to explain that to her heart, though.

I took the opportunity on Friday night to join my mates from the golf club up at Graeagle, a golfing enclave and resort area in Plumas county, about fifty miles north of Truckee on Highway 89. I stayed at a four bedrrom condo with three other couples and had a loft bedroom to myself. We ate barbecued tri tip and chicken for dinner, and then drank some adult beverages and played cards out on the back patio until about midnight. I awoke at seven on Saturday and smelled the fresh aroma of coffee that one of the guys had made when he got up at six-thirty. I rummaged through my room, looking for my duffel bag which had my shorts and golf shirt for the day. I couldn't find it and got up, grabbed a mug of very strong coffee, and headed out to the Mustang. My bag was not there and in fact was sitting disconsolately on my bed back in Roseville alone and forgotten. I'd grabbed my shave kit and my cooler of drinks and my sleeping bag, but forgot my clothes. I'd driven up to the condo in a t-shirt and a pair of Nike swim trunks. Oh boy.

I had breakfast with the gang (eggs, fresh fruit and homemade biscuits and gravy) and then left about eight-thirty for the course. I was going to buy some shorts and a golf shirt for the day. I found a nice shirt in the pro shop for $39, but all of their shorts were $65 or more and I couldn't expel my tight gene long enough to part with that kind of money for a pair of bloody shorts. I ended up buying the shirt and playing golf in my swim trunks. They are black and green and look like shorts and I thought I'd got away with it until one of my cohorts asked me if I planned to swim in one of the water hazards.

I had one of those rounds of golf for the ages, shooting 38-39=77 on a tight golf course that saw my 77, a 79, an 86 and everyone else shot 90 or worse. My drives were splitting the fairways, many of which were narrow with ob on both sides. I played with a 6 handicapper, who shot a ten on a par 5 by hooking his first two drives ob. I ended up winning low gross for the tournament, a first for me and taking the closest to the pin for a total of $60. I also won $40 in the skins competition and walked away with $100. The payout was cash for the skins and a gift certificate in the pro shop for the rest. I paid a third place winner twelve dollars for his $19 certificate and bought a new pair of $90 Etonic golf shoes. They look like white sneakers, but are golf shoes. I had a great time, shooting three birdies, two double-bogeys and a slew of pars for the 77. it was magical and I still give huge props to my chiropractor for my improved golf swing.

Work continues to improve. I'm up to thirty three agents and I wrote my first over $50,000 account this week. It didn't come easily, though. I closed the account on Thursday with a price quote from one of my companies. The underwriter verbally approved the account and said that he'd follow with a written quote. I called my agent and gave him the price and he called back and said to bind the risk. It got late in the day and I called my boss and said that I had a binder, but that the underwriter had not Faxed me with a written price. She said to send him a note and tell him that I was binding based on our phone conversation. I was on cloud nine (the commission on that account is over $2,000 net to me). I talked to Darla on Thursday night from Almanor and told her the good news.

Friday morning I went from my best day at work to my darkest day. I was at my desk by seven-thirty excited to start a new day and what waited for me was a small grenade. Sitting in my fax was a note from the underwriter telling me that he had not approved the risk and that he needed to get reinsurance..I was not bound. My heart sunk to my knees. I called him and asked him what the deal was. He'd approved the risk verbally the day before. He said, that he'd given my a price indication, but not a firm price. I asked him when he could get me an answer. He said by noon. Just before lunch I got a fax from him saying that he could not get reinsurance at a favorable rate and that he was opting off the risk. I'd never heard of anything like this in my twenty-five years in the business. I panicked and talked to my boss. She said to immediately notify the agent and send the risk to two other carriers. I was sunk..I knew that I could not replace the risk at the price quoted and we would likely be on the hook for some compensation to the agent when he was able to replace the risk. I talked to an underwriting manager at one of our companies and he showed some lukewarm interest. I talked up the risk and sent him my proposed pricing and all of my backup for the rate determination. God was faithful as always and the company accepted my proposal and bound the risk Friday night at my price. I got off the roller coaster a little sick to my stomach, but thrilled with the finish. This is the first of many adventures that I'll have as I negotiate and blaze a trail through the unmarked path of surplus lines.

Well, that's all I have time for today. I was able to talk to both of my brothers this weekend as well as talk to Dad and commiserate with him on my work story on Friday night. I have to share a story that our pastor told us on Sunday. An office worker at a church in Dallas answered the phone and the caller said, "Let me speak to the head hog at the trough." The proper lady receptionist asked who he wanted to speak with. The caller said, "You know, the head man, the big cheese, your pastor, the head hog at the trough." The lady was non-plussed and said that if the caller wanted to speak to the senior pastor that he needed to show some respect and ask in a proper manner. The caller said, "No bother, ma'am, I just wanted to donate a million dollars to the church." The secretary quickly responded, "Hold on, I think I see the big fat pig headed to his office right now." Ciao.

It is lunchtime on Monday. It is inordinately quiet around the house as Darla and the boys are up at Lake Almanor enjoying some boating and swimming and wake boarding. We drove up to the lake early on Saturday in a mild drizzle of rain that became a steady downpour. We left early in order to get up to the lake early and spend some time with Darla's brother, Steve, who was at the lake last week and couldn't get the same week off as the rest of the family. We stopped in Oroville and decided to eat breakfast instead of donuts as the rain was incessant and we knew that Almanor would be a soggy situation as well. I let David drive once we got to the top of the Feather River Canyon. The drive is a winding, climbing drive along the river bed and I didn't want him to have to learn curves with a steep drop-off to the river on the right side of the road. The Feather River canyon is a beautiful drive through the trees as we climb from the valley up to 4000 feet.

The rain was just as in evidence in Almanor and we spent the afternoon visiting with family in Earl and Frances' motor home. The boys and their cousins did venture out to the lake and went swimming during the downpour, but the adults sought shelter from the rain as experience would teach you to do.

We got into our cabin just before three and the roof had leaked the night before as they got a good gully washer up at the resort. One of the bed's was drenched with water and we had to dry the mattress with use of a space heater. I told the boys that there was no leak, that the prior tenants had a young child with a bladder problem. They laughed, but looked at me funny.

Sunday. we went to the local church which has become the Westra's home-away-from-home church. The pastor was doing a series on "Get a Grip", the parallels between golf and our relationship with God. I sat up straight and listened as the local golf pro gave some tips on timing and tempo. It was a clever analogy about timing in the golf swing and God's timing and tempo in our lives and I enjoyed it. Sunday was a day with a peekaboo sun and some showers and the rain was a bit of a nuisance. I was able to finish LA Dead, the fourth book in the Stone Barrington murder mystery series by Stuart Woods. I had a very nice visit with the Westra clan, but was in the Mustang by 4:15 and back to the salt mine. Darla fully expects me to continue to bring in money while she is up enjoying her vacation. I don't mind. I have a lot of telephone followups that I need to accomplish and I can get that done this week.

I took the Mustang in to the body shop this morning to have the paint work done. I'm having additional work done that will bring my investment in the repair and paint to about $600. David is paying for half of the repairs as he wanted to have some additional dents taken out. The car's blue book value is $5500 and after all is said and done we'll have less than $5,000 invested in the car. David will pay me $1,000 for the car in addition to his half of the repair bill and buy the car in September. I will then take another leap of faith and buy a replacement vehicle for myself. Salesmen on commission say the best motivator that they have is taking on a new financial commitment. I'll be living that theory in about a month.

Jennifer will be home in three weeks and she is getting excited about the prospect. She called for me the other night and I was out with Jerry Tuel at the new Indian Casino down the road. She talked to Darla for about 45 minutes about everything she hoped to do when she gets home. She is up for promotion in about two months and is nervous about it. I guess she shared her opinion about the lawn mowing duties that she has been given in addition to her regular job and her superior didn't take that well. You aren't entitled to an opinion in the Army.

Well, folks, be well. Keep your eyes on the Lord and He will direct your path.

It is Tuesday afternoon after five o'clock. Funny, but I don't have time to update my blog during the workday anymore. Now that I'm a commission freak, every minute counts.

Well, I'm easy. I went to Manteca this morning for a meeting with the underwriters. It starts at seven a.m. at Chubby's in Manteca and I had to crawl out of my bed at five a.m. to shower and get on the road. I saw a wonderful sunrise over the Sierra's at 5:52 a.m. with pinks and golds and purple in the soft clouds over the mountains. The meeting went well and I was able to tour the new office that Richter Robb is moving into next month. On my way home, I stopped at the In-n-Out Burger in Roseville and as I was sitting in line, a guy yelled at me from the parking lot. I thought I had a flat tire or something as he was pointing at the car. I said, "Whazzup?" He asked if I had considered having the dent in the front left fender repaired. I said I had, but it was my son's car. He said he'd pull it out for $180. I told him I'd had an offer for $80 and he said he'd do it for $75. I hadn't had an offer for $80 and it likely would have been $150 to have Dent Magic pull it out. I said sure. He hooked up his dent puller and popped the dent out. It left a very small crease where the 2-foot dent was before.

He followed me to the bank where I was going to pull out $80 to pay him. He looked the car over when I parked and said that he'd fix ALL of the dents for $380. (I don't frankly know what his deal was with the number 80, but whatever.) I said that there was no way he could pull out the dents, they were deep and grooved. He said that he would pop them out as far as he could and then bondo the car and leave it ready for paint. I told him $200 was as high as I'd go and he agreed. I pulled the cash out of the bank and he followed me home. I finally ate my burger as he slaved in the 106 degree heat with his bondo and dent puller and sander/polisher (which he hooked up to the battery on the car to operate). He did a stellar job and the $1100 job at a body shop was done for $200. Now I need to get it painted and his uncle will spot paint it at his body shop for $150. All of this is off the books (cash on delivery) of course, but I'm thrilled with the look. The prior owner knocked $1500 off the price of the car because of the dents and we'll have it looking as good as new for $350. David was supposed to pay for the repairs, but like I said, I'm a soft touch.

Our trip to Reno was a hoot. The Richter Robb group is eclectic at best with many of the people down home country folk and some even farther out than that. They told jokes and we watched three movies on the trip. The office manager, Lucille, played emcee and took the microphone around the bus and interviewed everyone. They brought sandwiches and sodas, water and lots of beer. We stayed at the Fitzgerald, which is a real blue collar casino in Reno. It has an Irish theme, but definitely caters to a drinking and smoking crowd. Richter Robb has a cadre of smokers and I was so glad to get out of Reno, where smoking is a right and back to California where it is properly considered a vice at best and a filthy habit at worst.

We stopped for a food/smoke break both on the way up and back in Auburn and on the way home Darla and I dallied too long at McDonalds picking out our flavor of McFlurry and Lucille decided to have the bus driver pull the bus away as we were walking back. I told them it was funny as heck. Oh, to be the new guy. This was the first and last trip that I'll ever take to Reno that starts with me driving ninety-minutes in the wrong direction to get on a bus and then drive ninety-minutes past my house and then another two hours to Reno. That was painful.

I think Darla had a good time. There was a street fair going on and she was able to find some beads or rocks or something for her current hobby, which is jewelry-making. She has a whole kit and has some forty sets of earrings and necklaces made and she sells them to friends and coworkers. She is even taking orders from her friends for custom-made pieces. She is on E-Bay and sells to whomever is interested. The ladies at Richter Robb told Darla that she has to come back and show her wares in the office. Everyone was too broke after Reno to buy anything, but all of them were interested.

I played two games of golf last week (both nine-holes after work) and my new and improved back is in prime shape. I shot 39 on Wednesday and took $9 from Jerry Tuel and then followed that up with a 38 on Thursday night in my twilight league. My partner, Steve and I, are in first place. We only have one loss, three ties and eight victories so far. We are a good team. Steve is a three and I'm a five in nine-hole play and we complement each other well. He shot a 36 last Thursday and we smoked the competition. That's the only kind of smoking that I can get excited about.

We are off to Lake Almanor this weekend. Darla and the boys will be there all week and I'll go up just for the weekend as I need to make some money. We are still set for our trip to Hawaii in November and I need to plan toward that. I enjoy Almanor, the peace and solitude, but I get a little bored after more than a few days. It is a small area on a mountain lake up near Chester, California. The weather is usually nice and the lake is cold. it's not great for swimming, but the boys enjoy boarding and skiing. I'll hold out for the sun and sand in Hawaii in a five star vacation resort. Now that's living. I'll drive up separately on Saturday and come back home late Sunday. Darla and the boys will be home the following weekend late on Saturday.

Well, that it for this epistle. Remember...." If you want to get a belly laugh out of God, just tell him your plans." James Patterson in Four Blind Mice.

Another weekend is in the books and I'm tired. Our weather has been brutal lately and it culminated in a 107 degree day as I slogged around the golf course at Ancil Hoffman yesterday. I shot 43-43=86 and took $31.50 from my playing partners. Thank the Good Lord that I had a cart, because the heat and leftover humidity that is in the air from the hurricane that bounced through Texas was debilitating. I finished out of the money in the tournament, but was happy to unburden my friends of some money. I won the overall bet, as well as thirteen skins. I collected six of the skins on a par three where I hit the ball short and then chipped to about six inches for the par. My opponents all skulled second shots and let me walk away with the loot.

It was 104 degrees on Friday night and we packed up a barbecue, some inflatable rafts and a full ice chest and headed over to Folsom Lake. We met Robb and Cheryl at the lake and brought their son, Nick, who was over at our house and had gone to see Bruce Almighty with the boys. Nick was leaving early Saturday for his Grampa's wedding up in Sonora and leave it to Daniel to put his mark on the situation. The boys were throwing the football in the water and Daniel nailed Nick in his right eye with the ball. It swelled up and was starting to turn from red to purple by the time we said our goodbyes at about eight o'clock. We have an annual pass to Folsom Lake and enjoy going over and getting wet in the lake during the summer. We brought some brautwurst and cooked up some brauts for dinner. We also spent part of the weekend at Alicia's house swimming. The weather has been over 100 degrees for six days and it is expected to last until at least the weekend.

Darla and I are off on a bus trip up to Reno on Friday with Nancy Dean and the gang from Richter-Robb, my new employer. Neither of us really wanted to go on the trip, but being the new guy on board this will be a chance to get to know everyone in a social setting. Nancy has about three of these trips a year, to San Francisco or Carmel or Half Moon Bay and it is a chance for the troops to get away together and relax. A friend of mine, Mel Tobias, who was instrumental in getting me this job, is coming along with his wife. I've known Mel for years and he handles all of the inspection work for Richter Robb as he did for Republic Western. We will stay at the Fitzgerald Casino in downtown Reno and Mel is buying everyone lunch on Saturday. We are on our own for the weekend as far as food and entertainment and Darla and I will likely find our way over to the Atlantis Casino for dinner on Saturday night. I'll let the casino buy us dinner as we are members of their Player's Club.

Jennifer will be home for about ten days in late August. She is coming home for her twenty-third birthday and she hopes to catch up with friends and family during that time. She plans to go water-skiing with Darla and I up at Lake Almanor and she wants to go to the California State Fair while she is here. She is looking forward to getting back to California for a few days and out of the Army environment.

Darla and I took the boys out to dinner last night at Black Angus. David ordered and ate a one pound prime rib. David is 6'4" tall now, although he is stretching to weigh 155 pounds. Some day he'll look back on the days when he was trying to put weight on instead of take it off. I remember when Darryl could eat for days and never gain any weight. The last time I saw him (in Houston), he was working on a little boiler around his waist. Funny, how the Lord always reserves some humility for the skinny people.

David is looking for a Summer job. He has an interview today at Brookfield's , a family style restaurant in Roseville and he has an interview with Pete's Pizza on Wednesday. Pete's is a family style Italian restaurant and the owners are Christians. He needs to start making some money as he wants to work on his Mustang, repairing some of the dents in the body. He will get his driver's license in mid-September and is looking forward to the freedom that represents for him.

I have finally begun treatments with a chiropractor. I am getting adjustments three days a week and my back feels much better. The Dr. took x-rays and found out that I have a congenital defect at the base of my spine. The bones cracked while I was in utero and they fused back together, but do not operate to give me the shock absorber effect that the spine is intended to provide. The pain in my back was right at the base of the spine and I've been attempting to cushion the pain for so long that one of my legs is actually riding higher than the other. The doctor is working on bringing those bones back into alignment and repairing a compression in the disk above the defect. He is a BIG man and uses his three hundred pounds to manipulate my spine. It is a harrowing experience, but I am feeling better. (Like a battered wife who gets flowers.)

Well, that's enough rambling for this week. I've written my first insurance policy and quoted several $20,000 plus accounts, so the job is coming together. Be well and remember that Christ came to Earth as a servant leader. My question is, have you been served? And, better yet in view of Christ's example, who have you served lately?

Hey and hello from a gainfully employed person to all of you. I passed the insurance exam last week with flying colors, actually completing the 150-question exam in 45 minutes. I thought that I should go back and double check my answers, but I felt strongly that I'd sailed through the finish line without a leak in the boat or a tear in the mainsail. I turned it in after fifty minutes and looked at the woman next to me as I got up...she was on question number 39. The computerized test allowed for a flagging mechanism whereby you could "flag" a question that you answered, but were unsure of. I only used the feature twice and after re-reading the questions and answers felt strongly in the choice. I don't know what my score is (you only find out if you fail) but I feel that I was into the ninety-percentile. The practice exams at the training center were dead on the actual questions and after spending four days last week reviewing with the practice tests, I was more than ready for the exam. I'm HUGELY relieved to have jumped through that hoop and now I'm off to conquer the world.

I went into the home office in Manteca this morning and worked out some financial details with Nancy, trained with one of the raters specifically on the type of accounts that I will write, and went over my list of potential agents with Nancy and Lorraine (the main underwriter in Manteca). There is some minor overlap, but I'm concentrating on habitational business and they both felt that I should contact ALL of my former agents and let them know that I have opened a new branch in Roseville. The only fly in the ointment is that my business cards are not ready. I should have those by the end of the week. I'm waiting to send out a marketing brochure to each of the agencies until the business cards are in hand. I AM however sending out FAXed announcements of the opening of the new Roseville Branch office now.

David is returning from football camp this afternoon. He and his teammates have been at Sacramento State University since last Thursday working with the Sacramento State coaches and other high school head coaches on fundamentals. They had several scrimmages and went out to see movies, had barbecues, went swimming, etc. David is being jacked around by his coaches this year. He WAS the starter at quarterback last year and has the most experience on the squad. The problem is that David is a very good athlete and is the standout starter at free safety for the defense. The defensive backs coach told David that they don't even have a backup for him at this point. Well, the defensive coaches approached the head coach and lobbied for David to be the starter on defense due to dire need. The head coach has a policy that his starting qb will not play both ways due to injury concerns. David loves playing defense, but has been geared-up about his chances at quarterback. They had a long meeting last week and I told David to let his coaches know that he doesn't appreciate being discriminated against because of his athletic ability. The other two quarterbacks are pure passers and CANNOT play another position. The head coach admitted to the defensive coaches that there was not a leading candidate at qb among the three as yet and they took that as a chance to dash David's dreams at qb. After the meetings it was decided that David would prepare to be the starting free safety, but that he would continue to get reps at qb to see if he could win the job outright. The head coach even said that if that happens, David would be allowed to play both ways. That meeting was Tuesday night of last week and David did NOT get to play any reps at qb on Wednesday night during the backs and receivers scrimmage against Cordova High School. David was upset, but feels that it is a compliment that he has a position at free safety and is highly regarded as a Junior on the Varsity level. I'm afraid that he is getting lip service and the head coach is willing to sacrifice David at qb for the good of the defense. We'll see. I'm anxious to see if he got ANY reps at qb over the weekend.

I played golf yesterday in a 3-club tournament. The tournament is not an official event in that we cannot post our scores, but the concept is to pick three clubs only and take on the course. I took my Callaway Steelhead Driver, my Tommy Armour 845 Silver Scot 6-iron and my Taylor Made Nubbins putter and shot a 43-42=85 to win low gross in my flight. There were a lot of high scores as guys tried to manage with a driver, a middle iron and a sand wedge and putt with either the driver or the sand wedge. I knew that so many of my strokes are on the green that I needed a putter. I actually shot only 1 stroke over my handicap and won $65.

Darla and I went out on Saturday night to a 20-30 club of Roseville event, the Summer Bash. The event brings together singles, water venues (pools, spas, slip-n-slides), food and drink and combines it with a couple of party bands in an outdoor event at the Placer County Fairgrounds. We had a great time and saw the Parrotheads ( a Jimmy Buffett tribute band..which simply means that they dress like Jimmy Buffett and do all of his music, which simply amounts to a total rip-off of the guy) and the Trailer Park Troubadors, as fun a band as I have ever seen. They sing songs like "It Aint Home Until You Take the Wheels Off", "Living in Aluminum", "Spit Cup", " Mud Wrasslin' at Pinky's", and "Wreck of the Bookmobile". Darla and I laughed so hard our cheeks hurt. We had Cheeseburgers (in Paradise) and sat out under the stars and had a great time. We invited Alicia, but she had an attitude about the 20-30 club, so we let it go. The funny thing is that the only people that went into any of the pools or the slip-n-slide were the dorks. The guys with a huge sunburn on their fast receding hairline and the girls with a one-piece swimsuit of bright florals over the pair of plaid shorts. Those are the lifetime singles. The drinking was a little heavy and Darla was bothered by some of the partygoers drunkeness and "dirty dancing", but overall we had a good time and would go to the event again next year..although this is the last year that either of us will be a 20 or a 30. Darla hits the big Four-Oh next year.

Well, that's it for this edition of Life with the Lyon's. Thanks to all who prayed for me during my unemployment. You got me back to work and I hold each of you responsible for that. (And I mean that in a GOOD WAY.) God bless.

It is Monday night. The Giants game is on in the background..it is just beginning to get dark and Darla is off on a mission to repair the zipper on the tent and all is okay in my world.

We had a great weekend in Lake Almanor. The weather was ideal..in the eighties every day with no wind and a high blue sky. I was able to finish two books (my current author of choice is Stuart Woods) and I am well into a third that the resort owners lent me, A Steve Martini novel, The Jury, which so far seems about the defendant and lawyers and victim, but NOT about the jury. Darla, the boys, Alicia and Darla's Mom and Dad were all able to pile onto Earl's boat on Friday night and watch the fireworks over the lake. It was a unique venue, although we were about halfway across the lake and the fireworks were being done from the shore, so they weren't above us from any stretch of the imagination. The fireworks were to start about nine-thirty and we puttered across the lake and found a nice spot to sit and wait for the show by about nine-fifteen. Unfortunately, the show didn't start until just before ten, so we drifted for forty minutes waiting for the fun to begin. It was a novel spot to watch fireworks and I've seen many fireworks shows in my forty-six years and this was near the top of the list.

My back survived three nights of sleeping on an air mattress and I even handled the dirt and unkemptness of the whole camping experience. I completely credit Prozac for getting me through the experience. My favorite tent is a Sheraton. The boys and Darla had a ball and David and Daniel both excelled at wakeboarding. They used to ski, slalom ski, then knee board and now they are wakeboarders. David even has a $200 wake board that his Dad bought him.

I did finally get the date for my test. I take the test on Thursday at 1 pm. I know the material front and backwards, but I'm still going into the training center every day to prepare. One of my biggest sins is EGO and I WILL be prepared for this test. I'm taking each of the seven exams on the computer and making sure that I get a 100% on each of the tests and find the answers that I miss in the book and understand the correct answers. I'll be there each morning this week including Thursday in preparation for the exam. This is the start of my future and I'm not about to mess it up. I'll start my new job on Monday. Pray for me, people. I need it.

I mentioned that Darla was off to buy a zipper for our tent. We both forgot that we had broken the zipper on our last tent camping experience last year at the church camp-out in September. We had to spend the three days with beach towels and clothespins holding the tent closed. It was cold at night being a mountain lake in Plumas county and we slept in our sleeping bags covered with a quilt and a blanket and still felt the cold. Darla is off to buy a seven-foot zipper. I never did venture into the lake. The water is freezing and the only good thing about that water is that ice cubes using that water would freeze in half the time. Darla talked me into swimming and I got both legs on the ladder of the dock into the water and decided to back out when I lost feeling in my legs. Some things are better experienced from the comfort of a lounge chair with a cold drink and a good book close at hand.

Again, PRAY for me this week. Be kind to each other..until next week.

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.