Sacramento State University is back in session and traffic is a bear!

This was an advertisement in today's Sacramento Bee for a company that instead of giving you a home equity loan takes a percentage of the future value of your home. I thought the concept was lousy, but the content was funny. How about you, Jen?


It took me forty minutes to get in this morning where it would normally take about 25 minutes on a Monday. Summer was great. I enjoyed the relaxed traffic and the slower pace, alas school is back in session. David headed back to school this morning and Daniel leaves for Cal Poly a week from Saturday. Daniel needs to get back to school. Inactivity doesn't suit him as sleeping and television are two of his favorite passions in life and those two activities are hard to praise as a parent. When I've been gone to work all day and come home and there is a package on the front porch, the empty trash can is on the street still and his lunch plates are in the sink because the dishwasher was done and is full of clean dishes, I just want to smack him upside the head. He is ready to head to college and I am ready to see him go.

I played in a golf tournament last week in the George Lucas area of San Rafael, near his Skywalker studio. The course is called San Geronimo and is a little enclave surrounded by horse ranches and family compounds. We played a shamble tournament in a cheese companies' charity event. One of my insurance agents' insures the cheese company and begged me to come out and play. We took third in the tournament and won $60 a man. The food and wine at this tournament were out of this world. They had food stations set up with oysters on the half shell, a fajita bar, a wine and cheese bar, a Chinese station and a barbecued lamb shanks station. The food was excellent and the wine and alcohol were flowing freely. I had a designated driver so enjoyed the Crown Royal that was pouring at the bar.

I also played this weekend in the qualifier for the Rose Cup. This qualifying tournament has become one of the most competitive tournaments of the year. I shot 39+40 = 79 on the day and was convinced that my net 69 was good enough to qualify. As it turns out there was a 63 which was a 75 shot by a 12 handicap, a 68 and four 69s. There are only four qualifying spots in my flight so after an hour delay waiting for the other groups to come in, the four 69s were back on the first tee for a playoff. I hit the long drive on the hole, but inexplicably duffed my 95 yard 52 degree wedge shot to the green. I played a second wedge to about fourteen feet. None of the other players hit the green on their second shots as the pressure was mounting. Steve chipped on to the green and hit the flag stopping 8 inches from the hole for par. Paul made his 16 foot putt for par and Bill missed his 15 foot par putt. I stood over my twisting left to right breaking putt and willed it into the cup. Bill was eliminated and we headed to number two. I hit a drive past the tree on the right side of the fairway, but came to rest in high grass. Steve hit his under the same tree and Paul went left under a tree on the left side of the fairway. Both Paul and Steve hit great shots up to the par five and were about 60 yards to the green. I should have hit a six iron back into the fairway, but instead took a hybrid 4 and duffed it to the right and into the tree line. I had to pitch out and put it on the green about eight feet for par. Steve AGAIN hit the flag on his chip and stopped about ten inches from the cup for birdie. Paul chipped to within sixteen feet and made the birdie putt. I missed the qualifying by a playoff. It feels bad, but I played my butt off. I even made the putt on the green after it was over. I am the first alternate and I told both guys (literally) to break a leg leading up to the tournament. Usually you can look back and find one hole where a putt should have gone in, but I look back over my 79 and see putts rolling in from fifteen feet and even one from 35 feet on the back side and know that I played as well as I could expect. It wasn't good enough, but I am the first alternate and if one of the four in my flight can't make it on October 5th and 6th, I will be there.

Darla and I had a relaxing day yesterday on the pool, just floating and sleeping and taking it easy. We walked to the video store last night to exchange some films and on the way back, Darla said "Let's jaywalk" as there was no traffic. We waited for the one car on the road to pass and started across only to both notice that the only car on the road was a Roseville Police officer. We both started across and just as quickly stopped as we saw the black and white patrol car at the same time. Here we are salt of the earth law abiding citizens and we almost jaywalk in front of a cop. We had a good laugh as we walked to the crosswalk and crossed the street legally.

I talked to Darryl and Cheryl last night about hotel reservations while we are in Austin. Cheryl has arranged for the Lyon family to stay with them and enjoy some family time before the wedding. I think Darla and I will stay, but get a hotel near the airport for Sunday night as we fly out early on Monday. Jennifer has a later flight and she can stay at the hotel until later. She will fly to Sacramento from Austin. She is coming home for a shower in her honor. I told her she should just stay in Sacramento as she has family here and John doesn't have any claim on her..it's not like they are married or anything. She wasn't completely amused at my prodding.

I have a golf tournament in Salinas on Thursday September 13th for the Monterey Bay Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers. Darla will join me and have two jewelry parties that same weekend. The only problem I have is that the club championship is going on that weekend and if I win my first match, I'll have to play on Saturday. We may have separate cars and I'll be up early to drive back on Saturday to make my tee time. My golf goals every year are to win my flight in the club championship, to qualify for the Rose Cup team and to get my index into single digits. So far, I am one for two.

It is Jennifer's 27th birthday tomorrow. Happy birthday, Jennifer. I hope you are all doing well and keeping God in the forefront of your lives. Ciao.

I saw kids going to school today..Is Summer Over Already?

We are back to work after an extended weekend. I took a mental health day on Friday and went with Darla to Monterey for a jewelry show. We drove down on Thursday night after my twilight league golf arriving in Hollister about 11:30 PM. Monterey had the Concours D' Elegance car show going on and the rooms were over $200 a night. We stayed in Hollister at the Best Western for $100. Friday we drove in to Salinas and had breakfast at the Black Bear Diner which is quickly becoming one of my favorite breakfast spots. The food is plentiful and the surroundings are great. From there we drove in to Monterey and walked around Cannery Row looking at the over-priced fare and having Darla actually buy an over-priced blouse. I'm good for about two minutes in those clothes shop. I'll look at the T-shirts with the sayings like "Am I actually intellectually superior or do I just have stupid friends?" Pretty funny, but not for $19.99. I wandered out of the shop where Darla was shopping and found a shop with country flags and car decals, etc. I was looking for a Canada grill plaque...not to buy it mind you, just to find it. Darla finished her purchase and then couldn't find me and I was in deep with her for about twenty minutes. Yes, I am an insensitive bastard. There I said it.

We went from there into Carmel and stopped at a gourmet deli and bought some Chicken Salad sandwiches to take to the beach. We drove down to the beach at the end of Foam street and relaxed. I fell asleep and Darla woke me to point out two European women who chose to change on the beach rather than use the rest rooms. I thanked her for waking me to see the show.

I dropped Darla at her hostesses house at 4:15 and drove over to Laguna Seca Golf Ranch to see if I could play some twilight golf. They wanted $53 for twilight with a cart. I asked the starter how much for a bucket of balls. There was almost no one on the course and he offered me a $15 NCGA discount and I jumped at it. I teed off at 4:55 PM and managed to get in 18 holes and shot 39+44=83. I struggled on the back as we were hurrying to finish the round. I put two balls in the water on the back and still managed a 44, so not too bad.

I played again on Saturday and actually ended up with a fivesome as one of the guys who called to say he couldn't make it, changed his mind the next day after I'd already filled his spot. We had two tee times and two extra guys, so I set up a third time for a twosome and played with my VP candidate, Rick Rusk. The guys in my original foursome/fivesome played two groups in front of me. I shot 42+39=81 and feel solid about my game right now. I will play in the Rose Cup qualifier on Saturday and hope to qualify for a spot to try to reclaim the Rose Cup for Diamond Oaks.


Darla woke up with a bruise above her left eye and a red dot in the white of her eye Sunday morning. She accused me of abuse, but I don't remember anything. You'd think if I rolled over and smacked her in the middle of the night, she would have woken up. Strange, eh?

Darla and I hosted a BBQ for our life group on Sunday and it was a good time. You can see from the pictures that we had good food, some singing and a nice prayer time. The group is praying for Jennifer and John as they prepare to have my granddaughter. Jennifer's mom, Diane, was in Las Vegas this weekend visiting Jen and John. The barbecue was fun and we even swam a little and got caught up with everyone after the Summer off. The Life Group is breaking in two as the Pandos and Darla and I will take on a new life group effective September 10th.


The boys returned last night from their trip to Illinois, Tennessee, Missouri, etc. I hope they had a good time, but its not my idea of a vacation as there is no ocean and not a lot of golf courses on the agenda. They visited the Grand Old Opry, Graceland, Branson and Chicago on the trip.

I am planning a golf trip in November to Torrey Pines in Oceanside. Boyd, Bob, Mel and I will play the famous North course home to the 2008 US Open. We will fly out Thursday night, play Torrey and then spend the weekend in San Diego before returning to Roseville on Sunday.

I talked to Randy this weekend on the occasion of his 47th birthday. Chris is getting ready for his senior year of High School and attended 9 football camps this Summer in preparation for his senior season. His team, Colleyville, opens the season against the Division 2 state champions, one of only 2 teams to defeat them last year. So revenge is definitely on the agenda.

Dad and Shirley are off on their European cruise and will be gone for 23 days. They return home for a week and then head to Texas for five weeks with Darryl and Cheryl. We will see them briefly as we will be there for Jesse's wedding.

That is the news that is fit to blog, so until next week..Ciao.

FANTASTIC SUMMER!!

This has been literally one of the best Summers I can remember in Sacramento. We have hit 100 degrees maybe twice this year. I know that bragging on that fact and the reality that the State Fair starts on Friday will likely bring on a spate of HOT weather, but this has been one for the books. The California State fair traditionally brings on a run of hot weather as the tourists wander the mostly blacktopped fairgrounds in flip flops and sandals indulging in ice cream and fried foods as the temperatures rise and the heat stifles one and all. The forecast for the rest of this week is 94 degrees today, dropping into the eighties for the rest of this week and back into the low nineties for Saturday and Sunday. The fair opens on Friday, so we can expect those temperatures to rise over the next couple of weeks.

I have one of the stunt motorcycle shows at the fair insured again this year. The guy does flips and jumps rows of cars and lets go of the bike in mid air. I insured him last year as well and he dropped the bike when he was doing a no hands wheelie and it hit the fence and slightly injured one of the fair goers who was leaning against the fence. The State fair police are supposed to make sure that the crowds do not stand near the fence, but it is what it is. We closed the claim with a $1500 payout last year. Darla and I may venture out to the fair with the boys next weekend if the weather stays mild.

I was in San Francisco yesterday and couldn't get to updating the blog as we had to leave first thing in the morning and I had to have a couple of items handled by the staff., so here I am today. You can see by the pictures that Darla and I had a good weekend. We went up to Saddle Creek golf course in Copperopolis. It is a tremendous facility with a wonderful practice area and driving range, a beautiful clubhouse and grounds, but one dilly of a golf course. My friend, Boyd, who is a 4 handicap golfer and is used to shooting mid seventies and in June shot his age (67) at a valley golf course, struggled mightily and shot a 39+44=83 on the course. He had the best round of the group as I struggled to a 43+44=87 on the lightning fast greens and it went to 94 from there and on up to 138 for an 18 handicapper. Brutal golf, but just plain fun to be on such a well manicured and exciting golf course. Boyd and Charlie took the $50 first prize with a net 65 on the blind draw best ball and Freida and I took the $30 second prize with a 67.

The ladies went shopping and Darla lead the cavalcade with the purchase of two new belts and tops and a purse. We all met back in Plymouth at the Shenandoah Inn about 6:15 PM and the guys quickly showered and we were over to the Mexican Food restaurant next door buy about 6:45 PM for dinner. There were sixteen of us and we thoroughly enjoyed the food and margaritas as we celebrated Gary's 53rd birthday in style. We walked back to the hotel and all gathered in the pool area for strawberry shortcake. It was alot of fun.

We slept in a bit on Sunday and all met at the Dead Fly Cafe at 9:30 for breakfast before a run of wine tasting. The breakfast was fantastic and most of us left a good deal of it on the plate as they were large and delicious breakfasts. Mel and Cora met us at the restaurant and joined us for the wine tasting. Darla and I are not much for wine tasting. I enjoy a good Merlot with a steak dinner or a good Pinot Noir with chicken or seafood, but I can't tell a good wine from a $2 bottle of chuck. The group that we went with has three wine connoisseurs lead by Mel Padeirnos who used to work for the French government and was charged with importing wines for the commisaries all over France. They can taste the charcoals and oak and hint of berries and grasses. It is all a bit pretentious for me and Darla and I were on our way home after visiting four of the wineries. The group continued on and hit a total of ten wineries on the day. We were happily floating on our pool by about 2:30 PM on Sunday.

I play golf this afternoon at a country club in Roseville with one of my agents who also happens to attend Adventure Christian Church with me. We have been trying to get together for awhile and today is the day. It is a gloriously sunny day today and should be a great afternoon. Darla and I will meet with Bob and Vicki Pando tonight to plan our life group for this Winter. We are splitting off from our regular group and starting a new life group. Darla and I will host a barbecue on Sunday for all of the members of the life group. We will start up again next month and meet three Mondays a month. The members need to decide which life group they will attend.

I played golf with an inspection firm on Wednesday last week at a course in Davis, California (WildHorse) that I had never played. I had a really good front nine followed by a pedestrain back nine and shot 39+43=82. The course was unique in that they had a burrowing owl habitat scattered throughout the course. These burrowing owls are about a foot tall and are the cutest damn things you've ever seen. I was hittng out of the habitat (you can play it, just can't drive a cart into it) and two of the little guys were poking their heads out of the ground watching me. I had to step back and laugh, they were so funny.

Dad was in for a colonoscopy yesterday. He and Shirley leave for their European cruise on Saturday and he wants to make sure he is okay. The doctor wanted to do some precautionary lab work and we should know this week if there is anything to worry about. Pray with me that all is okay and they can get on with their trip.

Well, I need to get on to work as I haven't been in the saddle much this week. Be well, stay grounded in the Lord , and be thankful for the blessings in your life. Ciao.

Pei Wei

Darla turned me on to a new restaurant this weekend. It is a "Fast Casual" version of PF Chang's China Bistro and is owned by PF Chang's. The name is Pei Wei. They serve Lettuce Wraps, soups, salads as well as the entrees of Sweet and Sour Pork, Kung Pao chicken, Lemon Shrimp, etc. I see they have restaurants in Austin (4) and Dallas (28) as well as Houston (8). Darryl, perhaps you should order their Party Platters and just have the rehearsal dinner at your house. I was amazed at how good it was and we got out of there for $24. Now, go get you some, ya'll. Ciao.

Overcast and Dreary Monday

This is strange weather for Northern California. We went from 104 degrees on Saturday to 78 degrees yesterday, a drop of 26 degrees which is unprecedented in our area. Today is overcast, but there is not a chance for rain. We are lucky if we get a half inch of rain during the Summer months. I notice that Austin, TX for instance has had almost six inches of rain since July 1st. That is pretty much our rainy season in Northern California.



Speaking of Austin, Darla and I booked our flights for Jesse's wedding in September last week. I found some $198 round trip flights on US Airways and went ahead and booked the flight. We fly in Friday night September 28th and return on Monday October 1st. The wedding is Sunday for some reason and we decided to stay over until Monday so as not to be rushed. I look forward to seeing the family. This will be the family reunion that Dad's 70th was supposed to be.



My golf index (handicap) dropped to 9.6 this month and now I have to try to live up to being a single digit golfer. I played four straight days this week and shot 41 on Thursday in my twilight league, 80 on Friday at Cherry Island in Elverta, 83 on Saturday at Diamond Oaks and 86 yesterday at The Reserve at Spanos park in Stockton. I played golf with Jerry Tuel yesterday and Jerry and I both realized that we hadn't seen each other in two years. The last time we got together was in March of 2005 and that was the day that Jerry got into his DUI accident, where he went off the road and rolled his car into a barbed wire fence. It was great to get caught up and we played with his two brothers, Houston and Bob. Jerry struggled with his game and shot 93 while his brothers were both in the 100's. It was a windy day with gusts upwards of 35 MPH. There were a few holes that were downright miserable and it was an exercise in patience and fortitude to get through the round. I actually shot one stroke better on the back nine when the weather turned on us as I lived the old adage "when it's breezy, swing easy." It works and often keeps spin off the ball and keeps your ball lower in the wind. Tami and Jerry now own a vacation home up in Lake Tahoe and ten acres on a lake in Durant, Oklahoma. It is a master planned community with a 350 acre man made lake and sub dividable lots. Tami and Jerry bought ten one acre parcels for development. Their plan is to develop their own retirement home on the lake and sell off the other lots as the community takes shape. Jerry is 61 now and Tami turns 50 in October. Their daughter, Natalie, turns 21 in two weeks.



I have set up our golf weekend next week and have eight players for Saddle Creek in Copperopolis for Saturday. We will stay up in Plymouth, California at the Shenandoah Inn and then go wine tasting with the gang on Sunday. We actually have two couples that couldn't make the golf coming up Saturday night just for dinner and the wine tasting on Sunday. The women, of course, will go to lunch on Saturday and shop. They will check into the hotel and we will meet them afterward to shower and get ready for dinner. I have 4 relatively low index players and four high handicappers playing and I will set up a blind draw, two man best ball tournament with full handicaps. Each player will throw in $10 and the first place team will win $50 and the second place team $30. We won't know who our partner is until after the round and I draw the names. Each player will keep a net score for each hole and then we will determine the team score after the names are drawn. I will put four low and four high names in two hats and match the players up in that manner. It should be fun. I look forward to playing Saddle Creek, which is a championship venue in Northern California and rated number 8 in public access courses in California. It must be good, because those courses would include Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, Poppy Hills, Harding Park, and Torrey Pines.

Darla had a "retirement party" on Saturday. This is the retired jewelry from Silpada designs that she clears out of her inventory every year and sells to her hostesses for 50% off of retail price. Darla then takes the proceeds and buys the new designs at 50% to restock her sample table. Unfortunately, the city of Roseville decided to host a major youth soccer tournament at the park across the street from our house the same day. Darla ended up putting chairs in front of our house to save parking spots for her guests. To say that Darla was irritated would be an understatement. One of our neighbors was also having a garage sale that complicated matters. It must have been a lame garage sale, because I left for golf at 7:30 and they hadn't even set up for it when I left. Darla did very well on her sales and will be able to completely restock her sample table.

We talked to Jennifer last night and her pregnancy continues to go well. She will have an Ultrasound on August 14th and be able to see the baby and how she is progressing. She is growing and can no longer fit in her clothes. She can feel the baby kicking and is really beginning to show. She is about halfway through her pregnancy and all is smooth sailing so far.

The office is doing very well. I was able to renew our largest account, a custom home builder that will bring in about $400,000 in premium this year. It was a struggle and I sincerely don't know how the big brokers handle these large accounts. I was completely in suspense for about two weeks waiting to hear if we retained the account. We had a competitor that actually came in about $30,000 in premium below us, but their form is more restrictive and we were able to be a little more creative on tiered rates and it saved us the account. It was an August 1st renewal so our month is in good shape. I took the retailer out for a celebration lunch last week and we drank mojitos and enjoyed some fine Italian food. I actually plan to take them to dinner with Darla later this month to Ruth Chris steak house as a thank you.

Well, work awaits and the sound of laughter floats out from the staff as they prepare for a Monday. I will take the staff out to lunch on Thursday to celebrate our largest month ever. We wrote $1,450,000 in premium in July with over $200,000 in net retained to our branch. We finished July up 26% from 2006 and a good leg up on the sales contest. Be well and stay grounded in the Lord, our Savior. Ciao.

Darla is Back from Convention..Thank God, the Laundry Needs to be Done

Darla got home about 11:00 last night and after she gathered her luggage, it was almost midnight by the time we got back home. I slept in a little bit this morning and got in to the office a little after 8 AM. She had stayed a little later in order to tour Silpada's factory where the jewelry is made and she ended up spending about three hours in the airport in Kansas City waiting for her flight to Denver. It was a long day for her.

Her trip went well, but her recruit, who joined her on Thursday was a bit pretentious. Most of the conventioneers were at the Westin Hotel. Darla had got bumped to the Raddison, which was away from the Westin, but closer to the Convention Center. Darla is a camper and is happy with any accommodations. The Raddison was older, but clean and acceptable. Her recruit showed up late Thursday night and took one look at the Raddison and was appalled. They had dinner at the Westin and the girl excused herself from the table, went to the Westin front desk and booked a room. She came back to the table and told Darla what she had done. Darla was sick. She had reservations at the Raddison for $131 a night with her roommate paying half the fare. They went back to the Raddison and tried to check out, but the front desk told them they needed a 24 hour notice (makes sense to me). The gal told the front desk that their hotel was a dump. Darla was mortified. Finally, she talked to the desk clerk herself and explained that her roomate had made reservations at the Westin and left Darla up the creek. They were nice enough to cancel the reservation and let her off the hook. They had to up and move at 11:00 PM and come to find out that the Westin had the convention rate of $131 as well, but it was overbooked on that rate and the girls had to pay $259 a night. Darla was spitting mad by then. She actually had several power problems and the hotel never changed their sheets and didn't get them a new light bulb for the lamp by the bed. When they checked out Darla raised a beef and they comped them one night. It still ended up costing her about $80 more than the other room would have cost. She has vowed not to travel with her recruit again.

The event was a good time for Darla. She was one of the companies' top individual sales consultant. The top sales consultants sold between $85,000-$100,000 in sales and were recognized in front of the group of 4500 women. There are over 20,000 Silpada Sales reps across the country and Darla did over $72,000 in sales in her first year and this is her third job.

I got along fine without my wife, but I decided I like being married and don't like having to change the cat litter and fix all of my own meals which I ate alone. Marriage is good (and that was not a message for Jennifer and John). I played three games of golf. I thoroughly enjoyed Harding Park in San Francisco, although it was cold and I wore shorts like a doofus. It never got over 64 degrees and there was a constant ground fog that was wet and cold. Our team shot 62 which was good for third place and they paid the top two teams. I also played on Saturday at Diamond and shot 41+40=81 which was highlighted by a chip in for eagle on number 11. I'm still getting used to my new Taylor Made R7 driver. Sunday was the three club and I played alternately good and bad. I shot 42 on the front side and 43 on the back for 85, net 74. I played with a driver, eight iron and putter. The turnout for this tournament was below par for the second straight year and we will have to decide if it stays on the calendar for 2008. We may replace it with another medal tournament as many of the guys don't like to play in a tournament where you can't post a score.

I found out that the Burns and Wilcox Managers meeting is the same weekend as the club's annual Monterey trip. Major Bummer. At least we had the Graeagle trip on August 11-12. Well, interest was limited and that trip got cancelled. I don't believe in getting mad and set up a weekend golf and wine outing up to SaddleCreek Golf resort in Copperopolis. The guys will golf and the ladies will shop and have lunch and then we will all meet for dinner. Four couple are staying up at the Shenandoah Inn in Plymouth, CA Saturday night and we will do some wine tasting on Sunday. SaddleCreek is rated 9th in California for Public Access golf courses and included in that list is Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill and Torrey Pines. Good company, eh? I have never played it and look forward to giving it a whirl. So far I have six confirmed and have two tee times at Saddle Creek.

I got home from golf yesterday afternoon and took a swim. I was laying on the raft, half asleep and felt a bug crawling on my stomach. I picked it up between my first two fingers and my thumb and the yellowjacket stung me on my middle finger. I haven't been stung in awhile. That hurt like a son of a gun for about five minutes.

The office continues to do really well and we are actually over budget for this month. We made close to $200,000 for the first six months and are on target for about a half million in net income for 2007. As the manager, I'm thrilled.

Well, this was late, but I wanted to get it out. Jennifer is at the doctor today for an ultrasound and I'll talk to her tonight to see how it went. I hope all are well. Ciao.

Back from Vacation and raring to go!

We had a great time at Lake Almanor and the weather was just great. It never got over 90 degrees and we even had one day midweek with a light drizzle and some overcast. The rain kept us from too much sun exposure and made sure that we brushed up on our card playing and we were able to read inside. Darla and I went into Chester and bought some more books at a thrift store (brand new paperbacks for 25 cents..my inner cheapskate was immensely happy) and made it over to the local sporting goods store and stopped at the library to get caught up on our internet mail and some of my fantasy game updates. We also went into town that night and I bought everyone dinner at a local Mexican food joint. Earl always hosts a pizza night as this vacation coincides with their anniversary (48 years and going strong!). I felt that Darla and I could buy dinner for the group as well to make up for the use of gas in Earl's boat.

It was a tremendous week and my first full week at Almanor. Now that we are away from the resort that was 80 years old and had the sinks falling off the walls and the dirt and dust that was omnipresent, I will be a fixture every year. The new resort is about 25 years old and has things like telephones, televisions, interior heat and a living room. I'm in for the long haul. I was also able to get out and golf with Bob Lombard, our friends from Reno. We play at Bailey Creek, a championship course that is one of the nicest golf courses in the area. I shot 83, with a 40 on the front side and feel really solid about my game. I have a new Oddysey White Hot putter and a new Taylor Made R7 460 Draw driver and really see a single digit handicap in my immediate future.

David and Daniel both made it up to Almanor, although David only stayed until Tuesday and Daniel left at noon on Friday. David had a special project he was working on at the Engineering firm he works for and had to have it completed by last Friday. Daniel was supposed to go on a river rafting trip with his Dad, but that got cancelled. They ended up going to Santa Cruz over the weekend and got back last night. The jet ski had absolutely no problems and started right up and did great on the water. David got in a bunch of wake skating (the newest craze). It is like wake boarding, but wake skating does not have fixed boots on the board and is more like riding a really short surfboard while being pulled behind a boat. The board has a rough surface and you ride it barefooted. I have a picture of him catching some air above.

I read five novels over my vacation, two from John Lescroart (Hunt Club and Nothing But The Truth), one from Sandra Brown (Witness), one from Stuart Woods (Reckless Abandon) and one by Harlen Coben (No Second Chance), all great novels and great novelists. I highly recommend them. I spend alot of my vacation reading and relaxing, often reading until my eyes feel a bit heavy and then giving in to a nap. Not a bad way to spend a warm Summer day.

Two of the cabins at the resort (they are all individually owned) are in bankruptcy and Earl is looking into maybe buying one as an investment. The cabins are each about 850 -1000 square feet and are two bedrooms and one or two bathrooms with a living room. The rent is $1000 a week and includes maid service and general landscaping. There is an on site management service that checks people in and out and handles repairs and maintenance. There are some payments in arrears on both of the cabins and he is looking into it and doing some due diligence. They had looked at moving up to Lake Almanor when he retired, but decided on Paradise instead.

I came back to 169 e-mails and 10 voice mails even though I was specific in my messages about being on vacation. I poured through those this morning and worked my way back above water. We switched over to a new operating system while I was gone (Citrix) and I need to learn the nuances of this system. The big advantage is that I can access my desktop from home and can run management reports offsite. My assistant handled things flawlessly and my numbers look really good this month. In fact our office won a quarterly sales contest and each full time employee will receive a $300 bonus. The troops are pretty jazzed as we just missed winning it in the first quarter and they are all ready for more. From my standpoint, we are getting positive kudos from home office as the branch is up 25% this year and our net retained income is up almost 22%. Nice.

I had my say regarding the upcoming birth of a grandchild and want everyone to know that I am warming to this idea and starting to get excited. I'm not upset about being a grandfather..I'm just upset about having to start sleeping with a grandmother. Jennifer and I talked this weekend and things are going great. She sees the doctor next week and will hopefully have a due date at that time. She thinks it will be in February, but we'll see. She is doing well, has had her bout of morning sickness, but is getting better. She is eating well and trying to stay in the best shape possible. She said she doesn't look pregnant yet, just a little FAT.

I did play in a tournament yesterday and shot 40+41=81 and took second low net. I'm wearing a new green golf shirt with a Timber Creek logo on the sleeve today. My golf keeps me in new equipment and in a new wardrobe. Darla heads off to a national convention with Silpada Jewelry this week (she flies out on Wednesday). I will play golf Wednesday at Harding Park in SF, Thursday in my twilight league, Saturday at Diamond Oaks and Sunday at Diamond Oaks in our three club event. I will use a driver, eight iron and putter. Darla will be back from Kansas City on Sunday night.

I have to get to work, so will leave this until next time. Be well and follow the Lord in all that you do. Ciao.

Jennifer and John, sitting in a tree..

Everyone knows that I'm a conservative SOB, and, hey, when the shoe fits...I wish the news that I had was that Jennifer and John are getting married, but...in truth, Jennifer is pregnant. It is a planned pregnancy and both Jennifer and John are thrilled. (And here I was worried about tattoos!) My concerns are health insurance and the future of both Jennifer and the baby. Both Jennifer and I and John and I had long conversations yesterday and where I stand is not a gray area. I'd like to see the commitment to marriage from both of them and a good home established for my Grandchild. John said all the right things to me, that they definitely see themselves in a married, committed relationship in the near future and that the pregnancy has turned up the timetable on their relationship. I sincerely hope that there is a marriage before a birth, but I can't live their lives for them or force my morals on to them. I can and I have given them my advice and my counsel and always my love. They have some big decisions to make and my prayer is that the Lord can guide them and hold them in His loving arms as they move forward in their lives. Pray for them as they make some tough decisions. And, hey, pray for me as well. I need the peace that comes from understanding.

That nursery rhyme goes: "First comes Love, then comes a Baby, then"...wait a minute. Ciao.

The Heat has finally ebbed..God, it was HOT!

No pictures this week, but I'll make up for that next entry when we return from our vacation to Lake Almanor. The blog and this blog writer will be on vacation next week. We leave Saturday for Almanor and will be gone until the following Saturday. The resort that we have visited for years (Lake Almanor Resort) has closed down and we are staying at a relatively new resort with boat docks, a ramp and new two bedroom cabins. I look forward to the week of rest. I will, of course, take my clubs up with me and I hope to get in two games of golf while I'm there.

This weekend was poker, golf and pool time. Friday night we played poker at Tom's house in Carmichael. Tom is 56 years old and pretty set in his ways. He and Steve Matthews have never seen eye to eye. Steve is an aggressive bettor and a serious card player. Most of us are pretty laid back and if a card accidentally gets dealt up instead of down, we give the receiver of the card the option to keep it or burn it. Steve believes that it is a mis-deal and we should start over. He's right, but none of us are professional card players, so we let it go. Steve and Tom are often at odds and like a couple of bulls, butt heads quite often. Tom had a brutal night of cards, getting cleaned out. At midnight, we always call the game and have one last round of dealing. As midnight hit at Tom's, he said, "that's it, let's wrap it up!" We started to deal the last round of cards and the first guy dealt his round and then the next person began to deal. Tom said, "Wait! We're done, right? Let's wrap it up . You guys need to leave." We all looked at him and shrugged him off and kept playing. Tom stood up and said, "Look, I'm the host and this game is over after this hand." He looked right at Steve and said, "Do you have a problem with that?" Steve stood up, folded his cards and started to clean up his quarters and get his things together. The rest of us played out the hand in silence and cleaned up ready to leave. I was walking out the door and set my cooler down on a table at his front door and walked back in to thank Tom for hosting. One of the other guys brushed by me and knocked my Tupperware box of about $100 in quarters loose from my hands. As I reached to stop it from falling on Tom's new hardwood floor, I bumped my 20 quart cooler off the table and it hit the floor with a loud BANG and spilled the empties, three bottles of beer, a plastic bottle of water, one coke and about three quarts of water and ice onto Tom's floor. I felt horrible and went about picking up the cooler, beers, empties and ice, while Tom ran for a towel and some paper towels. We mopped up the mess along with several clumps of dog hair that had gathered along the front of the house under the front picture window. Unbeknownst to me, Steve and his cousin, John, were on the front lawn rolling in laughter and hysterics. When I finally got the mess mopped up and said my "I'm sorrys and Goodbyes", John and Steve had already retreated to the truck and were waiting for me there. They were my ride home. They were in hysterics in the car, both crying in laughter. We had a good laugh over Tom's bad mood and my accident on his new hardwood floor.

Saturday, I played golf. You'll remember that I tweaked my back last Sunday at Folsom lake on the jet ski. I got a Bowen treatment on Monday, but my hips are out of alignment and I'm still pretty tender. We had a 9:09 tee time and I got to the course about 8:40 ready to stretch and warm up. As I'm walking from the car I hear the starter announce the "Lyon Four" on deck. I walked in to the pro shop and Robert said, "Hey, Ken, I had two cancellations in front of you so we moved you up. I hope that's okay." I didn't even get to swing a club. We got up on the first tee and set our bets and I hit second. As I took the club back I had a back spasm that caused me to take a step back and away from the ball. Unfortunately, I'm not Tiger Woods and couldn't stop my swing. I hit the ball dead left about twenty yards to the left of the first tee. There are no mulligans in golf and I headed into the trees and figured this would be a brutal day of golf. I was stiff and sore, but slowly worked the kinks out and after an opening double bogey, shot 39 on the front and 42 on the back for an 81.

I was sore after the round, but had to help one of the ladies in our life group move. We met at her house at 2 PM and had to move her from Rocklin to Fair Oaks. The truck didn't arrive until almost three and I had dinner plans with friends at 6:30 PM. One of the guys pulled up at 2:30 and hit a sewer grate as he did a U turn in front of the house and popped his tire. We helped him put his spare on, loaded his truck and got the UHaul loaded. We were at her new place by 4:15 and got the items unloaded and several other items in the truck to go to storage. At that point I had to go home to get ready for dinner. I slipped into the pool in the 100 degree heat and felt myself simmer. Dinner was nice and we enjoyed the company.

Yesterday was a relaxing day in the pool. I got the lawn mowed and some plants trimmed and then spent the day relaxing on the pool with a cold drink and a good book. The weather had cooled down to the upper nineties ( I think we just hit 100 degrees yesterday). It was HOT this week and, in fact, hotter than forecast. I played in my twilight league on Thursday night and it was 111 degrees. We all took carts and, like cattle, played from tree to tree trying to stay in the shade. Bob and I actually won our match for a change, but it was brutally HOT! The pool temperature peaked at 92 degrees on that day and has since settled back at 88 degrees. Several friends told me I was nuts not to put in solar heating, but so far, the pool is plenty warm and we were swimming in April this year and will likely swim into October.

I went Friday to see Boyd in the hospital. He never had got out after being admitted on June 26th with his colon swelling. They kept him in because of pain and because he was running a high fever. He was in good spirits when I saw him on Friday and got out on Saturday. In all, he was in 14 days and hadn't eaten any solid foods in two weeks. In spite of that, with all of the tubes and saline and protein being pumped in to him, he had gained 11 pounds of water weight. Thank God, he is doing better and is back home now.

I talked to Jennifer this morning. She is going into work today and will be leaving her job. The weather there is in the mid 110's and she has been pulling PVC and wires in attics for three weeks. Her body cannot take the heat and she is ready to look elsewhere for work. She has other news that I will report later in the week.

Well, work awaits. The gang has all arrived and I need to get on to my day. I will have more to say in a few days. Be well. Ciao.

Here Comes the Sun!

The maiden voyage of the jet ski was Sunday. We met Rob and Cheryl McHone at Folsom Lake and I also had Anthony from my work and his wife, Erin, join us. Anthony is a total techie and he was able to search and destroy the virus on my computer within about an hour. Rob and Cheryl brought their daughter, Jackie and a friend, Sydney. It was packed at the lake and the water was rough, too rough for any wakeboarding or skiing, but perfect for the jet ski. I have a little hitch in my gitalong today as I took one of the waves pretty hard and felt a twinge in my back. I'm hoping this is minor as I am upright and walking like a normal homo sapien, I just have some twinges of pain if I bend down or have to reach for anything. I'm supposed to play in a golf tournament on July 4th so I'm hoping that my back holds up this week. I have a precautionary appointment with Jane Saro, my Bowen Practitioner, at 4PM today.

We had a really good time at the beach and except for a hard start to the jet ski (Anthony figured out that our choke needs to be manually held up when we are starting the ski as it has a tendency to spring back down if we don't hold it). The ski was cranking over but not starting. David finally jumped up on the ski to start it and Anthony held up the choke and it fired right up. We had no problems with it once we put it on the water. Rob and Cheryl had trouble finding us on the beach, though as they traversed the rather large confines of Folsom lake looking for us. We always set up camp in a cove just around the corner from the main beach at Folsom. It is away from the heavy boat traffic and large enough that we can do turns and jumps in the middle of the cove without worrying about traffic. They finally found us after about forty minutes of cell phone directions. Daniel had a ball with both Jackie and Sydney and the three of them ended up going to the Folsom Rodeo last night. Sydney was fairly enamored with David (she just graduated high school this Spring), but David thought she was a nice girl (kiss of death there). Her father is the President of an influential Architecture firm in Sacramento and David likely should try to meet him as that is his interest in life...architecture.

Anthony and Erin enjoyed the outing and really enjoyed the ski. Anthony, Rob and I took a tour of the lake on Rob's new 17' BayLiner and we otherwise relaxed. Rob is pretty intense and got into a conversation with Anthony and Alicia on the pros and cons of socialized medicine. I would have joined in, but I felt a need to shut my eyes for a few minutes and contemplate nothing on a nice 95 degree day in Sacramento. The temperatures are heading up into the Vegas stratosphere this week with 103 forecast for July 4th and 104 and 105 to round out the week. The heat is on in Sacramento. It will be interesting to see how warm the pool gets. We are at 86 degrees now which is comfortable.

Jennifer's friend, Sara Webber, stopped by the house on Sunday as we were getting ready to leave for the beach. Her daughter, Sierra, had a birthday party across the street in the park and Sara came by to say hi. It was great seeing her.

I played golf in Ione this weekend at a tournament at Castle Oaks Golf Club. Boyd was supposed to play with me, but he had a reaction to some bacteria in his system that made it's way to his colon and the colon became inflamed and he had some internal bleeding. Kaiser actually had him in ICU as they pumped antibiotics into his system and treated the swelling. He went into the hospital on Saturday night and didn't get out until Thursday. We are supposed to play in a tournament on Wednesday together and I'll call him today to see how he is doing.

The Castle Oaks tournament was interesting. I took third place with an 83, but the interesting part was how I scored. I started the tournament double bogey, triple bogey and finished the front nine with 42, including a birdie on the 535 yard number one handicap hole. On the back nine, after working so hard to pull my game together, I started bogey-triple bogey and again pulled my game together for a 41 on the back and 12 over 83, net 71. There were some high scores in the tournament with one of our five handicappers shooting a 93. He wasn't much fun to be around after the game. I won $20 in skins and $35 in the tournament and ended up with a nice Antigua logo shirt with Castle Oaks Golf Club on the left sleeve. I was proud of the 83 when I clearly didn't have my A game. I had two double bogeys, two triple bogeys and two birdies during my round. I was all over the map.

Darla worked her hiney off over the last month and qualified for the trip to Lahaina in January. (Hiney for Lahaina?) We will fly into Maui for five days of fun and sun, all paid for by Silpada Designs Jewelry. Darla is a rising star in the company and all food, flight and lodging is paid for by the company. She will get a tax statement with the cost of the trip on it as compensation, but it will still be a fun getaway for us. I will likely play one day of golf while we are there. I'm proud of her. Life sort of stood still for us during that month and she was busy with several parties every week, but it paid off and we are Hawaii bound!! You go, girl!

We have the storage of the jet ski down to a science already as David and Daniel unhooked the ski after I backed it into the side driveway. By the time I parked the Explorer, they already had the ski into the side yard and were setting it into the blocks. I cover it with a tarp to keep the sun off of the ski cover. I'm sure we will have the ski out less this Summer as the boys are busy and with the pool right there, motivation to load up the ski, drop $100 on gas and head to the lake is less pressing when I can just grab a raft, a cold drink and a good book and relax.

Anthony and Erin stayed over for dinner last night and we had barbecued steak and chicken on the patio next to the pool. Anthony and I swam after the ski was put away and he set the computer up for another scan as he was working on the virus. Anthony is such a computer geek that he took a half day of vacation on Friday and stood in line to get one of the new I-Phones. He has it and it is pretty cool. I have a cell phone that I use for phone calls. Novel idea, eh?

DirecTV is coming out this morning to install a new 5 LNB dish and a new HD Tivo recorder. I will now have full HD channels on local TV as well as the HD package that I have (TNT, ESPN, HD movies, HD sports, Discovery and special events). I'm looking forward to watching my local channels in high def.

One of the ladies in the office brought in some Sloughhouse corn this morning and I got six ears of corn for our barbecue on Wednesday. We are having Alicia and Bob and Debbie Hand over for swimming and relaxing. It should be a nice day and if I play golf in the 8 am shotgun tournament, I will be fried and ready for the pool when I get home. Remember, 103 degrees on Wednesday. Well, that is the news to the moment. Stay cool this July 4th. Ciao

Late Again, Saheeb

Back to the salt mines after a day working with the nation's youth at the Insurance Brokers of Sacramento youth golf tournament yesterday. I was a Marshall and the going was much easier this time around. I made a few rulings, helped a couple of the girls determine where to drop a ball that was hit into a hazard and settled a dispute in a group where one player kept hitting ahead of another because the other was so slow. I hit him with the "Ready Golf" slogan and reminded the two boys that they were not playing match play. The tournament was held at the newly redesigned Del Paso Country Club, a country club that shut its doors for two years as they redesigned the course, taking it down to bare ground and redoing all of the fairways and greens. It is beautiful, but confusing as the course designer decided not to use tee markers to help give the course a natural look and feel. The problem is that as several holes come together it is nearly impossible to determine which is the next hole. We had one group of fifteen year-olds that played number 13, 14, then played number 8 and we found them looking for hole 16. We informed them that they had played out of order and ferried them over to hole 15 where the group behind them was just getting ready to tee off. We had to insert them back into their position which didn't sit well with either the other players or their parents. They then played the course around to number 7 and then skipped to number 9. It was a shotgun start and there were golfers walking all over the course looking for their starting holes. What a mess.

We finished the tournament about 1:45 with lunch and the awards presented. We then drove out to Rancho Murietta and played the south course. I shot 87, but was tired.

I did play last week at Woodcreek and shot 84 and had one of my better rounds in the second Diamond tournament this weekend, a modified Stableford event with points for par, birdies, eagles and double eagles, zero points for a bogey and negative points for double bogey or higher. I shot 79 and managed 30 points, which gave me low net in my flight and third place in the Stableford scoring. I'll play Castle Oaks this weekend in Ione and we hope to take the jet ski out on Sunday.

The saga continues with my front desk position as my new employee shut down her computer at ten o'clock yesterday morning and walked off the job. She did not talk to anyone or explain herself. We called the service and they couldn't find her and promised to have a replacement on the job this morning. What is going on with young people these days?

Darla and I had a relaxing weekend with time in the pool and just a lot of down time. The Placer County Fair was going on this weekend and we considered going to it, but it seemed a better time to just relax on the pool with a cold drink and a good book. We are getting good at being lazy lately.

Jennifer continues to work in Las Vegas, but is not yet convinced that this job is the job for her. The hot work of pulling wires and cable in attics reaching 140 degrees in Vegas seems perhaps more than she bargained for. She is willing to ride it out and see if more of her work can be in comfortable air conditioned buildings in the future. She was in Anaheim last week at a home electronics expo, but said that it was mostly boring and monotonous. I guess when you have had business trips to Baghdad and Kuwait on your resume, Anaheim is a bit low key.

Darla and I have a week's vacation coming up next month to Lake Almanor. The resort that we have stayed at (remember the cabin where the sink fell off the wall?) has closed and we will stay at a relatively new resort with boat slips and a position close to the marina with the gas station and restaurants right on the water. We will, of course, take our jet ski up to the lake and spend a week relaxing and taking it easy. We had planned on going to Hawaii this year for Daniel's senior trip, but with the cost of the pool and Cal Poly that plan was pushed out of the picture. Darla is still working on winning a trip to Maui in February of 2008 with Silpada. She is close and has parties through Thursday night in an attempt to meet the target.

Our DirecTV went out this weekend followed very quickly by a nasty worm that got embedded into the start up program of our computer.The virus gives a false warning about a virus attack on our computer and directs us to buy their spyware product. The worm is nasty as I can remove it, but it comes back as soon as I reboot my computer because the link is in the startup registry and as soon as it reboots the virus recreates itself in the hard drive.

The picture above is for Jennifer's benefit as I bought a new lounge chair and clock/thermometer for the back yard with the gift card that she bought me for Father's day. Thank you, Jennifer, now we know what time it is when the temperature reaches 100 degrees in Sacramento. At least I can lie down when that happens.

In truth, it has been a mild Spring and a cool start to the Summer as we have reached the century mark only once in the Sacramento area and our weather this week is supposed to cool into the upper eighties later this week and over the weekend. It could stay like this all Summer as far as I'm concerned. The pool is at 86 degrees and is very comfortable. I jumped in and cooled off when I got home from golf last night. What a great way to relax and cool off.

Well, this is short. I'm sorry I was late with the update this week, but I had the junior golf yesterday and I couldn't get to a computer. I was at the course at 7 AM yesterday and didn't get home last night until 8 o'clock. I hope you are all doing exceedingly well. Ciao.

Father's Day is Done and Gone

Father's day has come and gone and unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to either my Dad or my daughter on Father's Day. Jennifer and I were missing each other all weekend and playing a monster game of phone tag. Dad and Shirley were out when I called last night. Jennifer sent me a gift card for Lowe's and a book on golf inspired by a man who is dying. God arranges for 18 holes with world luminaries and if he wins, he lives. If he doesn't, he dies. Doesn't sound like my God, but it should be an interesting read with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Leonardo Da Vinci playing golf. I will hit Lowes in the next week and see about getting some things for the backyard. I'd like to get a clock and a large thermometer to mount on the house.

This weekend I tended to take it easy as it was fairly warm and I wanted to just relax in the pool and take it easy after Darla was gone last week. We considered taking the jet ski out, but it seemed like a lot of work and Daniel had to work on Saturday. I got a sunburn for my efforts as I fell asleep on a raft floating on the pool and my swim suit hiked up and exposed some virgin white flesh to the rays of the sun. My upper thighs are the color of a taillight right now. It was nice to relax with Darla and just take it easy. We barbecued chicken Saturday night and ate on the patio next to the pool. Darla cut up some fresh fruit including watermelon and we enjoyed our backyard oasis. We have enjoyed the pool so much, we wish we had done it eight years ago when we moved into the house.

As you can see from the pictures, Buddy got his annual summer cut and we were able to get the jet ski moved into the driveway on the side of the house. We had hoped to leave Buddy's hair a little longer, but his hair gets matted along his skin and it is easier for the groomer to cut him short. They did leave a little more hair, but he went from a red dog to a white one overnight.

It is payday today and I have to get the minions paid, so this won't be long. I did terminate the front desk position. The young lady missed three of the first six days and then when I sat down to talk to her about it, she said, "This probably isn't the best time to ask, but I need Wednesday and Friday off." I gave her a permanent time off as I told her it just wasn't working out. She will land another job as she interviews very well. She apparently just doesn't like to work. I have a replacement in working for me now from an agency. The cost is higher, but if it doesn't work out, I just ask them to send me a replacement.

I have had some interesting employees over the years including a girl with food allergies who used a portable fan because she had such bad gas. She also had to sit on a hard surface seat because the soft surfaces caused her to flatulate. She was a very nice girl, but was too high maintenance. She would also fart in meetings and then leave the room, leaving the rest of us gasping. Food allergies, eh? She was with a temp firm and I was able to get out of that one without too much stink.

The pastor continues his series on love and told the story this weekend of the first Husband store in New York City. The store has six stories and the rule is that you can purchase a husband on any of the floors, but once you have moved up from a floor, you cannot go back down except to exit the store. A woman entered the store and on the first floor there was sign that read: "Husbands for sale. On this floor each man has a job." The woman got on the elevator and went to the second floor. On that floor the sign read: "Husbands for sale. On this floor each man has a job and loves children." The woman got on the elevator and went to the third floor. On that floor the sign read: "Husbands for sale. Each man has a job, loves children and is drop dead gorgeous." The woman was excited, but got on the elevator to see what was on the fourth floor. On that floor, the sign read: "Husbands for sale. Each man has a job, loves children, is drop dead gorgeous and is a hopeless romantic." The woman was thrilled and ran for the elevator. On the fifth floor the sign read: "Husbands for sale. Each man has a job, loves children, is drop dead gorgeous, is a hopeless romantic, cooks and does housework." The woman was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get to the sixth floor, where the sign read: "Welcome to the sixth floor. You are the 6,475,325th visitor. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely to prove that women are impossible to please."

I did play golf this past week. I played Woodcreek on Wednesday and shot 41+40=81. I also played with Boyd, Bob and Mel on Saturday and shot 42+42=84 at Diamond Oaks. I will play in the second Diamond tournament on Saturday. The tournament is a Stableford scoring event with points for birdies, eagles and double eagles. Zero points for par and negative points for bogey or worse. It will be fun and I play with Bob Pando, Boyd and Mel Padeirnos.

Well, that's it. I have to get on to payroll. Have a great week and keep your white upper thighs out of the sun. Ciao.

Day Off from Work, But Life Is Still One Busy Son Of A ...

I apologize to my three faithful readers, but I was helping out as a rules official at our golf club's annual junior golf tournament. This was our 40th annual tournament and it was named for David Oxley, Jr. who died in 1967 at the age of 15 on a camping trip up to the Mokelumne River. David was a cart barn kid who, at age 15 was a scratch golfer and likely headed to the pro tour. He died while walking along the river when he slipped and was pinned below two rocks on an outcropping at the river's edge. His father was a founding member of the Roseville Golf Club and the tragedy so affected the members of the club that they founded an annual junior golf tournament that is now the third longest running junior golf event in California. The golf as usual was high calibre with the two low scores of 70 in a playoff for low gross. I had to leave at four o'clock for a dentist appointment so I didn't see the results of the playoff. The two playoff participants were a 16 year old boy and a 17 year old boy. They played from the blue tees and shot two under par. The other exciting score was 35 for nine holes from an eleven year old boy. Cameron Champ has been playing golf since he was 18 months old and turns 12 next week and will finally be able to play 18 holes on the junior golf circuit. He played in the State Fair championship last year as an 11 year old and shot 77-79 from the blue tees at Alister McKenzie Golf course in Sacramento. He also played in the Roseville City Amateur and shot 78. Remember the name. The kid is the son of a black father and white mother and has incredible talent (sound vaguely familiar?). He is also (so far) just a great and genuine kid. He came up to me after playing and shook my hand and thanked me for helping out at the tournament.

The day was not without it's problems, mostly caused by parents. On one of the par threes a young man of 9 years of age hit his ball into the water hazard. He quickly re teed his ball and hit another in the water. The other two guys teed off and he then re teed his ball and hit another into the water. He said he wanted to quit, but one of his playing partners told him he could drop up by the water. His Dad approached me and started berating me for not telling him that he could drop up by the water hazard. I told him that the rules are clear. My role is to interpret rules and to make sure that the kids are playing by the rules of golf, NOT to give advice. The kid finally asked me if he could drop the ball up at the water and I then gave him his options..re-teeing the ball, dropping two club lengths from the water hazard, picking a spot on the line from where the ball last crossed the water hazard and the pin and as far back as desired (no nearer the hole), or a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole. The father kept on me and I told him if he didn't zip it, his kid would be disqualified. He then backed off, but I heard him refer to someone as an A**hole. I'm sure he wasn't referring to me. I also had several parents challenge me when I told them to stay off of fairways and near the green. They are a gallery and cannot give advice or help their child in any way. Most of the problems occurred around greens when the parents wanted to stand at the green and watch their child putt. One father said, "I have a real problem with the way you interpret the rules." I told him that their was no interpretation, the rules state that spectators must stay off of fairways and 25 yards from the contestants. I explained to him that 25 yards equals 75 feet, not 25 feet. He asked me for my name and I asked him for his. He quickly backed down. Golf parents are like any sporting parent. Most are great, some are jackasses. The funny part is that most of the really good golfers have parents that know and respect the rules and they wouldn't endanger their child's chance at the tournament by breaking the rules or questioning a tournament official.

Neil, who is the RGC President this year, couldn't believe that I scheduled both a Summer tune-up of my jet ski and a dentist appointment on the day of the golf tournament. I told him that I'm a working man and have to take advantage of my days off. We had plenty of help, almost too many volunteers, and the day turned out great. It was about 90 degrees, but the tournament started at 9:00 AM and it was still 80 degrees at noon. I will be running the tournament next year and won't have jet ski maintenance and dentist appointments on that day.

The dentist appointment was to have a crown installed and a filling replaced. The tooth cracked under the filling and he had to chisel it out and refill it. That was not pleasant as he used the high speed drill to carve out the old filling and I was climbing the walls. He had to numb both bottom sides of my mouth and my whole bottom jaw, tongue and chin were numb with Novocaine. When I was finished, the dental hygienist told me to rinse, but to leave the bib on until I was finished. I shrugged and rinsed and saw the water run out of my frozen mouth and down the front of the bib. I came home and laid down on the bed and slept for two hours. I got up, took two Excedrin, hand watered several sections of the lawn and some plantings of ground cover where I took cuttings and replanted it this weekend. I then moved into the study and the writing of this epistle.

It is quiet around here as Darla is in Hooterville, Idaho for a family reunion camping extravaganza. She flew out with Alicia at two yesterday and they flew from Sacramento to Boise and then boarded a puddle jumper from Boise to Lewiston, ID. From there they were forty-five minutes by car up to a campground devoid of power and facilities. I guess people from Idaho call that living. I have another name for it.

She took my cell phone and called me today to let me know they made it to their destination. I had tried calling her and the phone bounces right to voice mail. I think the reception is spotty. She couldn't talk long because she was perched in the top of a tree to get good reception.

I had a fence repair company come out last week and fix the automobile gate on the side of the house. He took one look at the job and tore it down to the posts and rebuilt it. One of the posts had warped and pulled the gate out of alignment. He rebuilt the gates with the proper support and I'm ready to put the jet ski away in the backyard. In fact, I pulled it up to the gate and backed it into the side yard. Unfortunately, I couldn't swing the ski by hand into the spot as the driveway is too slanted, so backed it into the garage to await some help from Darla or the boys. I suppose if I'd worked at it, I could have got it, but Neil was waiting for me and I didn't want to get run over or pinned by my own jet ski. I'm including a picture of the side driveway so you can see what I was facing. This is before the gates were rebuilt, so you can see the bow in the gate.

The Pastor is continuing his series on Love and he continued on the theme of gender for household items. He mentioned that a Glad freezer bag is male, because a man wants to lock things away and keep secrets, but you can see right through him. A vacuum cleaner is female, because it keeps everything around it neat and tidy, but it's a mess inside. The groans were audible by all of us as well.

I did get out and play golf this weekend and shot 42+40=82 at Diamond Oaks. I will play Woodcreek on Wednesday afternoon, Diamond on Thursday in my twilight league, the putting championship Friday night and Diamond Oaks on Saturday. Darla gets home on Thursday and has a party that night for Silpada. She is still hoping to qualify for the trip to Maui in January.

My new front desk clerk that showed up for her first day seven weeks pregnant has missed three of her first six days and I think I'll be firing her tomorrow. Her child was sick with diarrhea today. For some reason, my staff always wants to be specific when calling in sick..."I've been up all night puking, or I have a really bad rash and have to go the doctor", or some other much too personal set of circumstances. I looked back at the blog and can't believe that I didn't mention my new employee. I had interviewed for two solid weeks and hired a 23 year-old single girl who is engaged to be married. She seemed very responsible. She showed up her first day and told me she is seven weeks pregnant, has two other children and that she'd be late on Friday because she has a pre-natal appointment. I was devastated as I certainly couldn't renege on the job offer. Well, her attendance is enough to write her ticket out of there. She even said to me that she understands if I have to replace her. I will let the professionals in our Human Resources department get me out of this one.

Jennifer is gainfully employed in Las Vegas, now working for a Home Audio specialty company that builds and installs in-home theater systems, security alarms, security cameras and even in-home movie theaters. The average home that they work on is $10 to $15 million and their portion is often $500,000 to $1,000,000. She interviewed with the President of the firm in an $18 million mansion that is next door to Celine Dion's house in Vegas. She is thrilled to be working again and will be flying to Los Angeles to attend a convention of home electronics companies in a few weeks. Check out her blog at the link above and on the right.

Well, that is news to the minute. Stay well and keep turning the important decisions in your life over to God. Ciao.