74 degrees with high thin clouds

In other words Perfect Spring Weather. That little Summer front that passed through with high pressure over the area moved out about Wednesday of last week and after a day of light rain during both the morning and afternoon commute, we have happily settled into Spring. I could really go for April to be in the seventies, May in the eighties and June hit the nineties and then it could just stay there for the Summer. I was in Modesto on Tuesday and got home about 4:30 and Darla and I had our first "in pool" day of the year. It was 92 degrees and the pool water was 80 degrees. I splashed about for a bit and then got out the rafts and Darla and I lounged on the pool for about an hour. It was nice and foreshadowed some fun days on the pool in the near future. I had to start the pool for the Summer about three weeks ago and now have chemicals in the pool. That was the weekend that I cleaned the pool filter and cleaned out the pool sweep as well.

I spent part of yesterday and today on the pool deck. The lighter color over the darker from last year is a tough sell because if any of the stain flakes off, the rust color shows through pretty clearly. I took a wire brush and scrubbed several spots where the stain had flaked and re stained it yesterday and then followed up with another round of the Behr "wet look" sealant today. The lighter color really shows the dirt and needs to be sprayed down more often than the darker color. I also put another coat of the sealant on the river rock on the back of the pool and will turn the waterfalls back on this week. I had them turned off during the Winter as the hard water builds up in the caulking around the rocks pretty bad and nobody is out enjoying the pool when it is 40 degrees and raining.

Anthony, my top underwriter and formerly my assistant, just got back from a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona and Anthony was recognized there in a Burns and Wilcox only meeting as the number three producer in the company for new business in 2009. My office continues to hit our goals for production and profit every month and we are having a really good 2009. It is nice to be on the radar of the company for good reasons for a change. We are having a VERY GOOD April and hope to keep the momentum going.

I went out and played golf with Matt, the insurance intern from my office, Boyd and Phamas at Alister MacKenzie golf course in Sacramento on Saturday. MacKenzie is the course where the State Fair championship is contended every year and the Sacramento Amateur. I shot terrible on the front nine after starting double bogey-double bogey, but pulled it together on the back nine and took some money from my friends with a 45+39=84. The greens at MacKenzie are SLOW and I was leaving putts fifteen feet short. I three putted the first two holes. They had a Golf Expo going on and I wandered through the booths and tried a few putters and talked to some vendors afterward. I didn't buy anything as my whole set is relatively new, but would have bought some golf shorts if they had any of the sale shorts in my size (36). They didn't.

Darla has been a fiend this weekend with her Silpada. She had a home party on Friday night. She spent yesterday in Paradise at a street faire with one of her new recruits. This morning she was up early at a baby boutique at the Placer County fairgrounds and this afternoon is in Cameron Park at another house party for Silpada. She was up early on Saturday and out the door by 6:00 AM. Unbeknownst to me she had slipped in the garage when she was getting down a folding chair from the top of one of the built in cabinets. There are four chairs stacked up there, stored for the winter. Apparently, she used a small ice chest to stand on and it slipped out from under her when she was reaching for the chair and she fell and turned her foot. She called me at 7:00 AM to tell me the story. I was oblivious as I was still sleeping in. The last time she slipped was at Sherry and Al's house in Canada and I was in trouble that time. We heard the crash from downstairs and when I asked her if she was okay, she said, "I'm fine." Somehow that was code for "come up here and help me" and I missed the signal. This time I think I scooted by because I was asleep. Her foot is black and blue between the middle two toes and a little swollen. She iced it and took some Ibuprofen and she has soldiered on all weekend. She has twenty some girls working for her now and is constantly shuttling jewelry between one rep or another and it is all her jewelry. I don't know how she keeps up with it all.

I will be booking our rooms in Nuevo Vallarta this week for the Lyon family trip to Mexico in November. Jack Nicklaus and his design people are working on the final stages of the back nine at the Grand Mayan and it is slated to open in September. The Grand Mayan is offering golf at half price this year to all owners and their guests, so it will only cost us $25 a round to play on a course with a rack rate of $160 (the normal owner cost is $50). I look forward to the trip and to spending time with my brothers, my Dad and their wives. It will be a great family week.

I talked to Jennifer this week and she is doing great. She has adjusted her schedule and is taking Sam into day care at 5 AM now. There was talk of them moving to a different day care that is 24 hours a day as theirs just changed to a limited schedule, but that won't happen until it is in John's best interest. I don't know how she puts up with the situation, but she has decided the less contact with John the healthier it is for her. I truly hope that time heals some wounds for John as he ended up being a real shrew. Some of things he has said and done to Jennifer, I hope no man ever says or does to Samantha. On a bright note, Samantha is doing great. Her teeth are coming in one at a time as they are wont to do in toddlers and he she is a happy and healthy 17 month old.

That's it for now. I have the first weekend of a 54 hole individual championship next weekend. It is a chance for us to play a 54 hole stroke play event and see how we can do against the rest of the club. It is not our club championship, which is match play, but probably the number two tournament for bragging rights in the club. We play Saturday and Sunday next week and then the following Saturday before Mother's Day. I hope you are all well and the weather is Spring-like in your area and that you are all healthy and happy and following in the footsteps of our Saviour. Ciao.

The HEAT is On!!

It happens every April and it shocks us every time. We had 91 degrees Saturday and 93 degrees today and the pool water is up to 72 degrees. It is supposed to be warm all week and we will probably be swimming by next weekend. I played golf both yesterday and today and feel like I was rode hard and put away wet. I ventured into the steps of the pool, but 72 degrees is still a bit cool for me. 77 degrees is just about right and our pool has a dark bottom and is a play pool with a depth of 3.5' x 5.0' x 3.5', so it warms up quick. i have two friends with older 9' deep white bottom pools and their water is about 60 degrees. I'm already running chemicals in mine.

We met the Mexico gang for dinner on Saturday night at a new restaurant in Roseville, Cloud Nine. It is an upscale bar and restaurant (with a martini menu) and because the main restaurant was rented out to a 25 year high school reunion, we had to sit in the bar for dinner. We had an excellent margarita and brought our own wine for dinner. Darla had a double crusted chicken and I had the Kobe steak and it was very good. The dessert was even better with a strawberry cheesecake that was the best cheesecake I have ever tasted. The gang was happy to be back together and we had a lot of laughs before finally calling it a night about 9:30 as the bar was really happening by then and we had to yell to hear ourselves. The bar was pretty well taken over by twenty-somethings at that point and the old farts were the 25 year reunion folks at 43, so we decided to beat a hasty retreat. The Mexico gang is the group that went to Mexico with us last year and stayed in our condo.

I've included pictures from our group dinner and from Darla's trip to Hawaii with her brother and sister-in-law.

Friday night was poker at John's house in Roseville. He lives four blocks over from our house and fixed barbecued chicken and hamburgers for us. We played four handed as John worked the barbecue. he started screaming at his dog and we all jumped up to see what happened. His fifteen year old retriever had an albino ferret in his mouth and was tossing it up in the air and catching it. The neighbor popped his head over the fence and asked if we'd seen his ferret. john got it away from his dog and the only thing that saved the ferret's life was the fact that the retriever had been a bird dog and has a "soft mouth" from retrieving downed birds during hunting season. I won about $50.

Saturday I had golf at Woodcreek Golf Course and shot a 41+43=84 in the heat and a 5 1/2 hour round of golf. Today I was able to go to church and then meet the guys for our 10:58 tee time. We teed off at 11:11 and it was a four hour and forty minute round of golf. I shot 40+39= 79 today and my partner, Steve, shot a 91 for a combined best ball score of 67. He was heavy today and struggled tee to green. Boyd also struggled with Bob as his partner, although Bob shot 75. Their combined score was 70. Well, I'm going to leave this until tomorrow. I'll be in my Modesto office tomorrow and likely home early, so I'll continue with this then. Ciao

Monday April 20th

The pool is at 75 degrees and almost habitable. I was thinking about the heat and how it always seems so oppressive when it hits in April. I remembered last week looking at the weather in Denver and seeing 74 degrees on Monday, 58 on Tuesday and 34 with snow flurries on Wednesday. Now, that is a shock to the system. It was a straight shot from tank tops and sandals to parkas and galoshes in 48 hours. I'm surprised any plants survive this time of year. It was 93 degrees today and I have to have the building maintenance crew out to check the a/c in my office. This happens every year. My office has a bank of windows on the west side of the building and the temperature in my office this afternoon was probably 85 degrees at 4:30 PM. I called the landlord and specifically asked to have their guy come out tomorrow about 4 PM. He'll show up at 10:30 AM and it will be comfortable and he'll say "what's the big deal?" If I can catch him, I'll tell him to come back in late afternoon (right before I throttle him). The windows are actually too hot to touch with your palm late in the afternoon.

My boss, Harvey, will be in the office tomorrow and we will tour four of the office complexes we are looking at. My favorite is about a half mile from our current space and the anchor tenant is Zurich Insurance. We would be on the first floor of this class A office space and the lobby is done in marble and smoked glass. It is really first cabin.

I had an e-mail from the CEO's executive secretary and he will be out to see the Sacramento office in June now. I will actually just be returning from a conference in Scottsdale on Tuesday June 16th and he will be in the office on June 18th.

Darla and I just returned from a walk and it is about 8:45 and I need to get to the couch and spend some couple time with my wife. I'll add more this Sunday. Be well. Ciao.

RESURRECTION SUNDAY!!

Yes. It arrives along with Spring. We had 77 degrees today after a week last week of rain and storms that helped bring our rainfall totals up to 14.75 inches. We are gaining on our 18 inch total. Happy Easter to everyone.

Darla and I just returned from a trip up to Paradise and a Saturday night stay with Darla's Mom and Dad. Earl has a 2006 Chrysler 300 like mine with smaller wheels and tires. He has put chrome door edging on his and installed a new front grill and we spent part of the day today installing the door guard on my ride. Jennifer called in the middle of the job and I told her Earl was busy "Pimping my Ride!" Jennifer spent the day with friends and cooked a turkey with all of the trimmings for the holiday. She is taking Samantha to the park tomorrow to hunt for Easter eggs and then going home and coloring hard boiled eggs. Our traditions are passed down from generation to generation. Her house will smell like vinegar tomorrow afternoon. Take lots of pictures, Jennifer.

Darla and I went to Friday night Good Friday service at our church and were shocked by the service. The worship leader came out, did not acknowledge the congregation or the other singers with him. They then sang four or five songs and we were directed to the screens at the front of the worship center where a movie in Bulgarian with subtitles was shown. It was about a man who took his son to his job as a bridge tender and he lifted the railroad bridge over the water so boats could pass. The bridge was up and the train was early and he had to decide to either save his son who was on the bridge or the trainload full of passengers. He chose to lower the bridge and his son was killed as the passengers went on about their life as if nothing had happened. It had a drugged out woman, a soldier and a pair of lovers on the train. It made no sense. The reference to God and to Jesus was obvious, but the movie was a convoluted mess and you ended up mad at the bridge tender for not taking care of his son as he should have. The screens then directed us to Communion and then we all left wondering how we had completely lost that hour of our lives.

Our office closed early on Friday and I had set up with the guys in the office to play golf. I have an insurance intern working for me that had played college golf with the Sacramento State Hornets golf team and he kept telling me he wanted o get me out on the course. It rained Friday morning and cleared up for our golf game. I started birdie-birdie-sandy par and Matt was dumbstruck. He ended up shooting 81 to my 37+40=77. I had told Anthony, my former assistant and now number one underwriter in my office, to bring his old Tommy Armour Silver Scot irons he had bought from me four years ago and I'd exchange them for my Wilson Deep Red fat shaft irons that I recently upgraded to the Taylor Made R-7 irons. I wanted to keep a set in case any of my family comes out and wants to golf. I gave Anthony 10 clubs (the 3-9 iron, pitching wedge, 52 degree wedge and a sand wedge all with brand new Winn grips). He gave me in return a 4 iron, 5 iron, 6 iron, a Mizuno 8 iron, and a pitching wedge. When I asked where the rest of the set was, he said, "oh, I lost those on different courses." This guy is having a child in four months and I'm concerned if he takes his newborn to the park what he'll come home with. As a golfer, I gave him heck for losing his clubs. On top of that the ones he gave me were crusted with mud and a mess. He said he'd make the trade even and gave me a 9.5 degree Cobra driver that I gave to him two years ago! So if any of you come to California, I've got a set of clubs for you.

The trouble with my 77 on Friday was that I had a tournament Saturday morning at Diamond Oaks. Darla stopped me on my way to the course and said, "Honey, you can't compare whatever you shoot today to what you shot yesterday. Just go out and do your best and have fun." She knew we had a ninety minute drive up to Paradise that evening and wanted to hedge her bets against a cranky Ken. I played with two two-time club champions in Boyd and our current club champion, Jay. Jay shot 36+36=72, Steve shot 37+38=75, I shot 39+38=77 and Boyd shot 39+42=81. My round included a closest to the pin on the 185 yard fifteenth hole and only one birdie on a snaking 25 foot putt on the number 5 hole. I was thrilled to put up back to back 77s and did it with one birdie, six bogeys and 11 pars. It was a good day. It is getting late on a Sunday evening and I am going to visit with my wife and will finish this up tomorrow night. Ciao.

Monday 7 PM

You can see I added some pictures, The first picture is of the Chrysler with the door trim that Earl and I added. It is pretty subtle, but maybe Dad will appreciate it. I went online today and ordered a new grill insert for the car. Earl has the vertical chrome and I got a diamond chrome pattern grill from JC Whitney. Hopefully I like it as much as I like his. The girls (Darla and Alicia) had to get pictures as they both showed up at Earl's house for Easter with the same Cabi blouse on. You'll notice also that Darla has been losing weight. It is a slow road with her diabetes, but she's lost about 12 pounds so far and feels healthier and looks great. The other picture is of Daniel, Becky and Becky's roommate, Jenny. Daniel is the one in the middle. Darla took them out to Chinese food while they were briefly in town for the Easter holiday.

I just found out late this afternoon that our President and CEO will NOT be here tomorrow due to weather in Detroit and Chicago. There was a fog bank that covered both cities. He is now leaving tomorrow morning and will fly directly to Los Angeles. Anthony and my Modesto underwriter, Lorraine, will see Alan at the underwriting conference in Scottsdale later this week.

I have another golf tournament this weekend, but this time on Sunday. It is a qualifier and Steve and I qualified last year so we are playing together as we can't qualify. We are, however, playing for money. I will spend part of Saturday touching up the deck. I have to add another coat of paint and then two coats of sealer. I thought the sealer in the paint would work, but parts flaked off when I hosed down the deck last week, so off I go again with the sealer. Does it ever really end? No. That's it for this week. Be well. Ciao.

Warm Spring Weekend

You can see Darla and I bought ourselves a little work this weekend. The pressed concrete was flaking and in dire need of a face lift. I found some Sand colored stain on closeout at Ace hardware for $11.00 a gallon. Mind you the stain that I had used in the past was $69 a gallon and took two gallons to cover the surface. This product is manufactured by Thompson's Water Seal and has the water sealer built into it. I used a gallon of the Quikrete cement solvent which when mixed with a gallon of water and used with a stiff brush completely cleans up all stains, grease, dirt and loose stain. I had to trim back the ground cover that was growing onto the walkway over the long winter and Darla and I set to work. She taped off the house and shed and I tried to use a tank sprayer to apply the product. it was much too thick and clogged up the sprayer although the directions said to apply with a garden type sprayer. I switched to a brush and it took twice as long to apply. In the past it took about ninety minutes to apply the stain and another half hour to put down a second coat. The problem I had with the tank application is that the stain would pool in the crevices of the stamped concrete and dry with a spongy feel to it. The brush method took three and a half hours to apply and another hour and a half for the second coat, but the adhesion to the concrete seems so much better and especially in the cracks and indentations of the stamping process. We now have a white sand beach outside of our pool. I like the look and Darla said it will grow on her. When I pressed her, she said, "Well, when we make changes to the house I like to be involved in the decision." Wow, at least she was honest. I bought the stain when she was on her "working vacation" in Hawaii. it was a perfect weekend to work as the temperature yesterday was 72 degrees and today topped out at 76 degrees.

Darryl mentioned that he loves Denver because it feels like 80 degrees when it is 60 degrees. i love Northern California because it feels 76 degrees when it is 76 degrees, which is often in early Spring. I see Denver had a high of 33 degrees with an overnight low of 22 and snow flurries. how warm does it feel when it's 30 degrees and snowing? I'm sporting a bit of a sunburn today after two days of golf and work on the deck.

I did play golf yesterday and it was one of those surreal rounds of golf. I shot 41+41=82 at Cherry Island, one of the local championship muni courses in the area. I played with Boyd, Darren and Mel. We play a 6-6-6 game where you have a different partner every six holes and I picked my partner by throwing a tee=. Mel shot 51+41=92 and I had him as my partner on the first six holes. He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and we lost the first four holes right out of the gate and I was down $5. We also play team "junk". 50 cents for birdies, greenies, sandies and polies (a putt equal to or longer than the flag pole for par or better is worth an extra dot. My second partner was Darren , who shot a smooth 34 for the six holes that we were partners. We were actually tied with Mel and Boyd going into the sixth hole and he and I had a stroke against Mel's stroke and Boyd was playing straight up. I had a par, Mel parred it to tie me, Boyd had a 4 and I needed Darren to have a 5 to tie Boyd. he had a double bogey six. finally, I had Boyd on the last six holes and he shot one over and I shot two over for the six holes and we lost to Darren and Mel who both decided to play golf. in all, I lost $15 on the team game and another $12 on junk. $27 lost and I shot 1 under par with my handicap. Mel shot 92, Darren 78 and Boyd 86 and I paid $27! It's just not right. I stayed and enjoyed the pitcher of beer the guys bought and an order of garlic fries before driving home to start work on the deck.

I talked to Jennifer Friday on the drive home and she is doing well. She was laughing and playing with Samantha. She sent us a text picture of Samantha with her hair up in small spikes on Saturday morning. You can view the message until Saturday at www.viewmymessage.com/en/legacy/login.jsp. The Msg Id is h0zsgpc1c and the password is kegs94knit. Very cute. Things seem to be settling down a little bit with Jennifer and John and then it all blows up again. They have to change day cares because their day care is going to a shorter schedule of 5 AM to 7 PM. They were 24 hours. The new day care will be at the MGM Grand on the strip. Jennifer was able to have a civil conversation with John on Friday regarding the day care and she was happy that they could talk about Samantha without any animosity between them. And then CPS showed up at Jennifer's house on Saturday. John is really losing it and desperately needs some grief counseling.

I really am enjoying Spring. I just stopped to put the chicken on the barbecue and it is still light at 7 PM and about 71 degrees out still. Darla and I took a walk about 5:30 out to the local shopping center where she put in some checks into the bank for her jewelry business and then we walked back through the park across the street and watched a soccer game going on as we walked. Good stuff.

I have my company President and CEO coming out in a week from Tuesday. We will view a few new buildings as we will be moving and then meet with the staff. My branch is doing very well this year and we are ahead of budget through three months on the bottom line. We are short of budget on the top line, but it just shows that we have tightened our belts and are doing a good job. The office made a $55,000 profit in March. There are a lot of branch managers in the company who wouldn't welcome a visit from the CEO, but I look forward to seeing him.

Well, that's it. Easter week is upon us. I have a Masters golf tournament next Saturday at the club and ten we will be in paradise with Darla's folks on Easter. I hope you are all well and looking forward to the celebration of the biggest gift you will ever receive: Christ's death on the cross to absolve you of your sins. Ciao.

New Wheels and another bachelor weekend

Darla is in Hawaii...working, she says. She flew in on Friday and had a Silpada party for her sister-in-law, Kirsten, last night. Kirsten is signing up to be a rep for Darla in Hawaii and already has one girlfriend who will sign up under her. Darla, Steve and Kirsten are at a Journey concert tonight. I couldn't figure out how the concert played into the whole working vacation, but they are out enjoying themselves. I talked to Darla this afternoon and they were at the beach. She flies home on the red eye Tuesday night and will be back in Sacramento at about 8:00 AM Wednesday after a stop in San Francisco.

As you can see, I did buy myself a new car. It is actually a 2007 Chrysler 300 Limited with 20,00 miles on it. It is barely broken in and came to the dealer by way of a bank repo. The car is absolutely mint condition with a Boston Acoustics premium sound system paired with a Nuvi Navigation system and a hands free phone system. The stereo has MP3 capability, so I can use my I-Phone's library of music. The car is midnight blue metallic with a light gray leather interior (it is so light, I'd call it tan). I decided to get a new car based on the amount of travel that I'm doing and the fact that I can't take a group out to lunch in the Mustang. The Chrysler is 4 doors and seats 5 (it has front bucket seats). The trunk is roomy but narrow behind the back seat. I can fit four sets of golf clubs in the trunk, but you have to remove the woods to get two of the clubs to sit in the far portion of the trunk. I could fit a grand total of one set in my Mustang. The impetus for the new car is a pending visit by our CEO, Alan. He has asked for me to pick him up Tuesday morning at his hotel and go to breakfast and then to the office. The company pays me a car allowance and I decided it was time to put the money to work and to buy a big boy car. The Mustang was my mid-life crisis and I'm over it now. It was definitely cheaper than a blue eyed blonde. I traded the Mustang in on the Chrysler. The Chrysler has 22 inch chrome wheels with low profile tires and a deep rim. The car is also completely decked out in window tinting, with a darker tint on the three rear windows and a lighter tint on the front and front side windows. The dealer that sold it to me accidentally cut the tint on the passenger side window when he was removing the specs and price sheet with a razor blade and he will have that repaired. The car only came with one set of keys, so I have to go to the dealer and buy a new key fob.

I spent only two days looking at cars and drove an Acura TL, a Dodge Charger and two Chrysler 300s. I looked at a 2008 Chrysler 300, but it was the low grade package with stock wheels and cloth seats. It was nice, but it didn't really grab me. Darla and I rented a 300 in Las Vegas and liked the ride and feel of the car. When Darla and I stopped at the dealer in downtown Roseville to look at the 300 Limited, we were both completely sold on the car immediately. The Navigation system, leather interior, heated front bucket seats, moon roof, the custom wheels and the 3.5L High Output Engine sold us. It is a six cylinder and gets 28 MPG on the highway, but has the turbocharger for extra power and speed. It sold new for $32,000 and I paid well under $20,000 for the car. I will miss the Mustang, the sound and the power of it, but the Chrysler drives like a dream and the feeling is pure luxury. As a manager of an insurance office, I needed to grow up and get a luxury car, and now I have it. Even on my beer budget. Hey, I've got two kids at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Do the math.

I set up a golf road trip on Saturday up to the new John Daly designed golf course in Corning, Sevillano links. I got a foursome and a dinner certificate in the steakhouse for $50. The boys met at the shopping enter by my house Saturday morning at 7:00 AM and we drove the hour and forty minutes up to the course via Interstate 5. The course is beautifully designed and maintained and has a wonderful practice facility with several putting greens, a chipping green and a large bunker with a green to practice sand shots. The driving range is expansive and the grass on the range is nicer than the fairway at Diamond. I shot pretty well, managing a 40+43=83 on the day. Boyd shot 78, Bob had an 86 and Neil shot 100. The course had tough native grasses and it was hard to find your ball if you got off the fairway and rough and into the native grass. I was actually even par after six holes, but struggled down the stretch and had an up and down back nine. It was a great day and we topped it off with dinner in the lounge (the steakhouse didn't open until 5 PM and we didn't want to wait. We were off the course by 3 PM). I had a great shaved prime rib dip sandwich and we all shared a dessert before piling in the car for the ride home. I took my turn at the wheel and we were home by 6 PM. The golf course is located on an Indian Reservation and there is the requisite casino. We weren't even temped by the tables and machines and left without spending any time in the casino.

The dealer told me a story about when he worked at one of the large dealerships in town. he was the sales manager and took in a car on trade. An older gentleman bought a Cadillac for cash and traded in his Lincoln Town car. THREE days later he called and said he needed to get something out of the car. It had already been detailed and wasn't back on the lot yet. He asked him what was in the car and the old man said he needed to get into the trunk. Again, the dealer asked him what he was missing. It turns out he had stashed a briefcase with $140,000 in cash in the well under the trunk where the spare is kept. It was his life's savings.

Tom, the dealer, jumped in his car and drove down to the detail shop and found the car. The trunk and well were empty. He asked if anyone had called in sick. They had and it happened to be the guy who'd worked on the Lincoln. Tom got in his car and drove to the worker's home. His wife answered the door and he asked to speak to Manuel. Manuel walked up with the briefcase, his hands shaking. He hadn't even told his wife about the money and was sick with remorse as a good Catholic should be. He kept his job and was docked pay for that day.

That reminds me of the story of the armored car in Killeen, Texas that left a bank and two sacks fell off the back of the truck. The guards had forgot to lock the money in the back. An illegal alien Mexican saw the bags fall out and grabbed them and took off after the truck waving. The truck sped off. He flagged down a car and had them follow the truck and returned the money. The owner of the Armored Car service was so impressed by his honesty that he supported the man with the INS and helped him get his citizenship. He also gave him a job working with his company. It sounds like he had some real boneheads working for him.

I went to church this morning expecting to see the boys, but they didn't show. They headed back to Cal Poly this afternoon after their Spring break. I spent part of the day cleaning the pool equipment, taking the pressure washer to the filters. I also used a solvent and cleaner on the pool stone and the deck in preparation for re staining the deck and putting a new coat of sealant on the stone. It was windy and nasty today after an 80 degree day yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow will return to calmer weather.

I hope you are all well. Jennifer's hearing went well this week and their custody is essentially unchanged. John is still pushing the issue. He has abandonment issues because his Mom up and left the family when he was in junior high school. They have reconciled and she is being a bit of a prig to Jennifer. Jennifer hasn't left her child, she just left John. Everyone needs to take a breath and look at what is in Samantha's best interest. Luckily the judge is doing just that. Ciao.

Spring has Sprung...A Leak!

It was a warm, Spring-like week with temperatures in the low 80's. The weekend, of course, devolved into storms pushing thru the area and some drizzle during my golf game today. And it was just Thursday that I was enjoying an afternoon of golf in 82 degree temperatures. There should be a natural law that it doesn't rain on weekends in early Spring. I am scheduled to play tomorrow and the forecast is for continued unsettled weather and rain in the area. We'll see how it all pans out tomorrow. Darla is at a Silpada party tonight and I decided to get an early start on the Blog.

Dad sent us a note telling us of some cancer that was found on his ear. He has to have surgery to have the cancerous growth removed and the top of the ear reconstructed. He said that his doctor told him that anyone who lives in a sunny climate will get some form of skin cancer by the time they hit their 70's. And I'd guess that the probability is even higher for those that lay hours on end in the sun tanning themselves to a George Hamilton bronze. I'm not calling the kettle black as I spend my Summers on the golf course and in the pool, but those activities are probably more reflective of the possibilities than just living in a sunny climate.

Jennifer has her court hearing in John's fight for custody on Tuesday of next week, so give a prayer that the judge tells John to go stuff a sock in it and learn to deal with his abandonment issues. I have to say I was stunned that Jennifer left John, but I was even more stunned to see John's erratic behavior and his thirst for revenge. Grow up and learn to co-parent your child.

I was in Yuba City with my personal lines underwriter and my Modesto underwriter on Thursday and we wrapped up our meetings by 2:30 and I decided to sneak out and play golf on a balmy late Winter day. The Air Force base outside of Marysville, Beale, has what was a military only course that has just been renovated and opened to the public. I called over and had them leave my name at the Main Gate and drove over to take advantage of their $17 golf and cart special. When i pulled up to the gate, the officer on duty asked for a copy of my ID, car registration and insurance card. I handed all of them over and she looked at them, called over another officer who looked at them and then asked me to pull over and come into the office. I watched the line of cars behind me quickly thin out and dissipate as the drivers showed their ID and were admitted to the base. When I got to the office, the soldier showed me my insurance card and asked me why I was carrying a card proving insurance on a 2002 Explorer when I drive a 2002 Mustang. The cards got mixed up and I explained that, but was not admitted on base as i couldn't prove insurance on the vehicle. Barrack Hussein Lyon, yep that's me.

I drove to Diamond Oaks, teed off at 3:10 for $11.70 and shot a 40+41=81. It was hot, comfortable and a perfect day for golf. Today was another story as the winds kicked up and there was moisture in the air that turned into a pretty good shower on the back nine. I played really well, shooting a 39 on the front nine and then going 2 over par thru 8 holes on the back. Unfortunately, I had to play number 18 and hacked my way to a sloppy hole, a three-putt and a triple bogey 7 that landed me a back nine 41 and 80 on the day. I shot a net 69, that was one out of the lead and (even worse) I tied someone for second and my back nine was worse than theirs, so I took 3rd. My gaffe on 18 dropped m from $125 in winnings down to $60. Hopefully I play as well tomorrow minus the triple bogey. I'm beginning to dial in my irons and was hitting long straight drives today.

I'm in the middle of reading Harvey Pennick's Little Red Book, which is not a list of Communist sympathizers, but a work of 44 years where Harvey, a famous teaching pro at the San Antonio Country Club and a mentor to Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite, kept his observations on the game of golf and his teaching nuggets. His most famous lesson is The Magic Move that teaches golfers to drop their right elbow into their body as they are pivoting their torso to the left and through the hitting zone. It is a simple movement, but one of the most game enhancing moves you can make. The key is to bring your right elbow back into your side on the downswing. It will keep you from swaying, swinging on an outside plane, or "pushing" the ball to the right.

Work is going well. We will have another office visit in three weeks from our CEO and president. he is traveling to Scottsdale and will visit three of the California offices on his trip. It gives me a good excuse to do some housekeeping around the office and clean up some of the work cubicles of my staff. We all tend to let things collect that we don't need and this is a good reminder to keep a tidy and neat workspace.

The Boys are back in town this weekend as they enjoy a Spring Break from Cal poly. David is in town now and I saw him this afternoon when I got back from the course and Daniel is due in town tomorrow. they will be here all this week and I think we will go out to Benihanas one night to celebrate my birthday.

Last night was poker and I hosted the event. Darla made a big pot of taco soup and we served it in bowls over tortilla chips and covered with grated cheese. We had hot french bread with it as well. Oh yeah, I also fleeced my buddies for about $85.

I will fill in more on this tomorrow night, but wanted to get a head start tonight. I'll meet Boyd about 9:15 tomorrow morning and we play golf at Wildhorse in Davis, CA. next week i made reservations at Sevillano links in Corning. it is a John Daly designed golf course and is getting a lot of buzz in the golfing community, not for it's design, but for the fact that it is set up to play all 18 holes as par fives. We will NOT play it in that configuration, but will play it as a normal par 72 course.

Sunday Night

It should have rained today. The day dawned cloudy, cold and windy, but the promised rain was falling apart and only scattered cells were in the area, Boyd called me and we agreed to play, but knew it would be a chore. I hacked my way in windy conditions to a 6-6-6 start that left me wondering if God was telling me I should be in church. I had a 9 on a par five, several double and triple bogeys as well as only four bogeys, which would have been a good thing, but I only managed six pars and no birdies. All mixed in and my score was 49+42=91. Boyd shot 80 and the other two tens in my group shot 94 and 100 respectively. The wind was howling and it was COLD. We finished in 5 hours and ten minutes and were only too happy to load the car and get out of Dodge. The one interesting thing about the course (and it is located in environmentally freakster Davis, CA) is the habitats set up throughout the course for the burrowing owls. The tree huggers have built little nesting habitats replete with drainage pipe to get down to the nests and little carports to keep the owls out of the sun. The owls are as cute as a puppy, but the owl lovers must be just as funny when they come out to play house with the owls.

Darla leaves for Hawaii and her brother's home on Friday and I will again be a bachelor for the weekend. She is doing a Silpada party for her sister-in-law, Kirsten. Kirsten is considering taking on a role as a Silpada rep on the big island for Darla. I will write more then. Ciao.

Back to the Mundane

It is hard coming off such a fun and relaxing vacation. I had salary reviews this last week which may or may not be tougher on my employees than it is on me. I did manage to get out on my birthday and play golf with some friends and I received many calls from family and friends on my birthday which was nice. Jennifer sent me some personalized golf club markers, which attach to the hole in the end of the grip and have my name and phone number on them, not that I really expect if someone picked up my Scotty Cameron putter that it would be returned to me, but I might get one of my numbered irons back if I left them laying about on the golf course. She had said she'd ordered me something and it wouldn't be here for a few weeks, but arrived as if by divine intervention on my birthday.

It is overcast and cold today (60 degrees for those of you in Colorado and Denver) and threatening rain. One of those days that you know will not rain, but the clouds are dark, but high in the sky. It is supposed to stay unsettled today and tomorrow and be in the mid seventies by mid week. Our rain is slowly catching up and the recent storms have brought us up to 79% of normal (13.05" vs 16.5" normal).

We went to church this morning and I was for some reason exhausted and felt my self drifting during the sermon. The sermon was on Haggai and being the kind of Christian that says Yes to God. I was saying yes to a nap and we came home, had some pancakes, watched a Tivo episode of Gray's Anatomy and fell fast asleep. I slept from 12:15 until almost 3:00 PM on the couch. Darla had worked her way back to the bed and slept just as long. She is off to the gym now for a workout and I sat and watched the WCC CA Championship from Doral on tape. I was going to go out and do some trimming of the plants around the pool, but stole in here to work on the blog.

My golf group is in the middle of a 54 hole team event that started last weekend while we were in Vegas. I set up a round with Mel, Darren and Bob Hand at Woodcreek for Saturday. Mel is a 13, Darren an 18 and Bob a 22. I get 11 now and shot 43+39=82 and ended up owing $1 at the end of the round. Mel shot 92, Darren 93 and Bob 101. Somehow I beat the field by ten strokes, but owed money, I won $5 in the team play, but lost $6 in the skin matches. Go figure. I'm at the point in my golf where it takes me awhile to warm up. The weather was cool and blustery and I played in shorts and a jacket. I shot 44+39=83 at Woodcreek on Thursday with Bob and Boyd on a 75 degree perfect Spring day, but they had us teeing off on the back nine to start because of their mowing schedule, so you could say I shot 78 and 87 combined for the last two rounds. The 82 and 83 will be safer for my handicap because of the way they figure the index based on your best ten differentials out of your last twenty rounds. I went over to Diamond after the round on Saturday to see the guys at the tournament and also to sign up for the tournament next Saturday which is a Nike event put on by the club pro. I walked in and was harassed for not playing. They just finished the two man scramble portion of the event and I let everyone know that I played GOLF and entered a score at the end of my round. They are finishing up today with the alternate shot format.

Work is going well. I've mentioned before that my former assistant, Anthony, is doing very well at work and is head and shoulders my best underwriter. He is great at relationships and his risk analysis is superb (he learned from the best!). I was sitting in his office on Friday waiting for him to return from one of his infernal smoke breaks and he walked in. I was sitting at his desk and he sat down at one of the chairs across from the desk and we discussed the issue I needed to go over with him when his phone rang. I answered it, "Anthony's desk, this is Ken Lyon, can I help you?" The caller was John from an agency in Roseville and a guy I know well. He said he had to discuss something with Anthony, but to also tell him that he owed him $5.00 for their bet. I asked what bet and John said, "Anthony bet me $5.00 that you'd be working for HIM within 6 months." I handed Anthony the phone and John was laughing his head off. I'm going to miss Anthony.

Jennifer and Dina took the Harley and drove to the Los Angeles area this weekend. Jen was going to work overtime, but decided she needed to get away with all the hassles from John. I talked to her Friday and she had a bit of a sunburn from the beach. It is about a four hour ride from Vegas to LA.

Next week will be a perfect Guys weekend. I have a poker game here Friday night and play in golf tournaments both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday is an away tournament at Wildhorse in Davis, CA. Darla has parties at the house Thursday night and then a Silpada party on Saturday night. She leaves the following Friday for Hawaii where she is signing her sister-in-law up as a Silpada rep and helping her with her first party. It would have been nice to go, but my ticket can't be written off. Her brother lives in Kona.

We went out to dinner with our friends, Bob and Vicki on Saturday night to Il Forniao. I brought a nice bottle of 2007 Santa Christina San Giovese (actually a mix of 10% Merlot and 90% San Giovese) and it was excellent. They celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary and we celebrated my birthday. It was a fun night out and here are the pictures.

I hope all are well. I will check in with you again next week. Be good and keep Christ alive in your lives. Ciao.

Vegas was a Samantha-Fest

You can see that we had alot of fun in Las Vegas with young Samantha Swan. I need to thank John and Jennifer for allowing us so much time to bond with Sam, she was an absolute delight during our visit. With Jennifer working early hours, we were able to pick Samantha up Thursday night when we flew into Vegas and she spent the night with us at the Sunset Station hotel. She was sleeping when we picked her up, but she got a second wind when we got to the hotel room and she was checking out every drawer, cupboard, closet and water closet in the joint. We were finally able to get her to settle down and to sleep by about 9:30 and she slept through the night until about 7 AM the next morning. If Jennifer had brought her over Friday morning, Sam would have had to get up at 4:00 AM and then go back to sleep after her bottle. We got Samantha up after she took a nap at about 10:30 and bundled her up and off to the Black Bear Diner, her first restaurant that we visited when she was first born in December of 2007. She made a fine mess of crackers and water and had a grand old time. From there, we went to the zoo in Vegas. This zoo is a non-profit affair and it looks it. Several of the main animals have died in the last few years and not been replaced, but they had a small petting zoo and lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Samantha was fascinated with all of the animals and enjoyed a small group of Canadian River otters that had a nice pen with a glass front over the water and the otters would jump into the pool swim across the front of the glass by Sam and then hop out and run into the adjoining cage. Sam was running back and forth to try to catch the otter and clapping and laughing. We also saw a huge male peacock with it's feathers out in all of his glory as he pranced in front of several female peacocks. It is a small zoo and you get close to the animals. We fed the goats and watched the monkeys and were done about ninety minutes after we arrived. Sam was tired and slept on the ride home.

Friday night we met Jennifer and her roommate, Dina, at their house and then took them out to dinner at Claim Jumpers. Samantha was a hit with the wait staff as she enjoyed french fries and ranch dressing along with cut fruit and water. We had a good visit with Jennifer and got caught up on her life and Dina's and left them about 8:30 as Grandma and Papa were tired.

We were up Saturday morning and off to Jennifer's by about 10:00 AM , after an IHop breakfast. Samantha was sleeping and we visited for awhile until she awoke and then took off with Jennifer and Sam for the Bass Pro outlet store. Darla and I had visited it on our last visit to Vegas and it has a huge aquarium in the middle of it as well as many stuffed bears, deer and even a huge giraffe. Samantha was in heaven and the pictures above are of Jen, Sam and I at the Bass outlet, Darla and Sam at the petting zoo, Sam with a stuffed deer that was the same size as her and she dragged it all over the store, Samantha styling in a camo cowboy hat, and Darla and Sam chilling before bed one night. We had a ball and Samantha had a great bit of fun with her family. She sees John's Mom just about every other week, so it was special for her to hang out with the Lyon's for a change. Saturday night we were able to meet Jennifer's friends as they had nine friends come over for a barbecue. I enjoyed Jennifer's friends, but was so proud of Jennifer as she took time to tend to Samantha's needs throughout the group gathering as she put her in her high chair and fed her, got her a bath and down to bed while we all enjoyed the company. Jen is a very good and attentive Mom. Darla and I took off after Sam went to bed and made a sizable donation at the casino that night and didn't get to bed until after three o'clock with the time change.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny Vegas day and we stayed at Jennifer's and just relaxed in the sun. I got a bit of a burn as I didn't put on any sunscreen and the desert sun is so much stronger than the valley sun. Samantha was kept in sunscreen and in the shade as we relaxed together. The kids bought us pizza that night and we sat and relaxed watching movies and enjoying Sam being at home with her toys and cats. Darla and I were able to give her a bath that night and she got all of us wet playing and laughing in the tub. We packed up about 8:00 and took Sam with us back to the hotel for our final night in Vegas. Samantha again slept until we got to the hotel and was raring to go with her second wind when we got back to the room. She ate her Graduate's yogurt snacks while Darla had sunflower seeds and I had peanuts.

Monday we had planned to go to the park and let Samantha ride the swings and merry-go-round, but Vegas decided to give us a wind inferno with gusts up to 45 miles an hour, so we had a Denny's breakfast and then went back to Jennifer's to spend the day. John agreed to let us watch her Monday as that is his day and we arranged to meet him at the outlet mall at 3:30 PM. Jennifer gets off at 2:15 PM and asked us to meet her for an early dinner, so she could spend some time with Samantha. John met us at the restaurant and took Samantha. The kids are still not communicating as they should and it's hard to watch from the outside. John is still really betrayed and hurt and pretty caustic to Jennifer. Jen has never handled strife well and doesn't stand for John putting her down and the stress level in the room was palpable. It was good seeing John and I hope they can get to the point where they can co-parent Samantha as that is in the best interest of my granddaughter.

Work was waiting when I got home and I have 9 reviews and salary discussions to hold by Friday. On top of that, I'm taking Thursday afternoon off to play golf. It is Cheryl's birthday today, Dad's yesterday and Chris' last Thursday. It must be March. Hope you are all well and Happy.

Everything is a Repeating Gong

The rain continues after a slight break this week and my back continues to cause me problems. The rain did finally abate on Thursday afternoon just in time for our trip with the IBA Sacramento group to Silverado Country Club and Resort. Darla and I left here about 8:00 AM on Friday and decided to stop along the way and have breakfast. Our tee time was 11:38 and Darla had a spa appointment at noon. We stopped in Vacaville and drove into Old Town Vacaville, an area that doesn't get much tourist travel as the town is bisected by Interstate 80 and most travelers frequent the restaurants along the freeway corridor. Darla and I didn't want to eat at IHOP or Denny's, but were craving a little cafe style restaurant for breakfast. We found Hannah's Cafe in Vacaville and got more than we bargained for. The food was great and the clientele mostly older and local. The exception was an old drunk Choctaw Indian that was getting into it with a couple of the older men in the restaurant. We couldn't hear the details of their disagreement, but the big guy kept yelling, "I'm Choktaw and this is MY country!" The guy reminded me of the Indian from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest and, frankly, his mental health condition probably made him a candidate for just such an institution. We just about bumped into him as we were coming into the restaurant and he said to Darla, "Hello, Ma'am! Goodbye, Ma'am and nice to know ya." We overheard one of the waitresses call the cops, but no one ever showed up and he finally left after challenging all of the old Republicans to take him on. We finished up the "breakfast with a show" and enjoyed the pancakes and poached eggs. We walked out of the restaurant and turned toward our truck and there was the Choctaw with a bunch of his out of work, drunk buddies between us and the car. We walked past him and he started up with the "I'm Choctaw and this is my country!" theme again as all of his toothless cronies laughed and egged him on. We ignored him and made a beeline for the truck.



The resort was beautiful, older but in one of the pristine areas of Napa, California and wonderfully renovated in the last year. The grounds are immaculate and the golf, tennis and spa facilities are all first rate. We got there about 11:00 AM and our room was not ready yet. We saw one other couple from the group and Wayne's wife was not doing a spa day, but shopping in Napa. Darla came over to the golf facility and sat reading while I hit balls. They called from the hotel to let us know our condo was ready and Darla took off to get the key and move our stuff in before her spa appointment. My back had the benefit of a week off of golf and was feeling tight, but ready for the golf. The day was beautiful with a high sun, a few puffy clouds and temperatures near 70 degrees. I struggled with my back all day and shot 43+44=87 on the tougher South course where both the PGA and Champions tours have played. I played with Tabb, one of my agents and he shot 82 with a finish of birdie-birdie. Tabb can hit the ball a mile and was routinely hitting 280 yard drives. I was spraying the ball as I wasn't making a good hip turn because of the tightness in my back.



I met Darla after golf and she showed me the room. It was a nice 350 square foot suite with a living room, kitchen and large bedroom and bathroom. My back was screaming and we got on our swimsuits and headed over to the pool area for a jacuzzi. We sat relaxing in the swirling hot water for about forty minutes and then headed back to the room for a quick nap. My back had loosened up, but was still tender.



I had a meeting with the board at 6:15 PM and then we met the wives at 7:00 PM for dinner at the Grill Room Restaurant. The food was delicious and the service even better. We had a Bellisara San Giovese with dinner that was out of this world, appetizers, dinner of flat iron steak for me and coconut shrimp for Darla, followed by dessert for everyone. We finally got out of the restaurant after 10:00 PM.



Saturday we left the resort at 8:30 PM vowing to return as the service and resort were truly top notch. The resort offers midweek spa and golf packages for $160 per person, which is excellent. Darla had a party with her Silpada business and I had an 11:00 AM tee time with the guys. I probably should have bowed out due to my back, but I realized after missing last weekend that the golf for me is a social outlet as well as a golf opportunity. It was good to see the guys and my back actually held up very well as I managed a 39+40=79 for my first sub 80 round this year. In fact my index jumped from 8.7 to 10.0 in March and I only have three scores left in the 70's out of my lowest last twenty rounds. Yesterday's 79 will add to that. Honestly, my index is too low and influenced by most of my rounds being played at Diamond Oaks, which I know so well. I've been struggling with new equipment and some swing changes and it was nice to see the hard work turn into a good score yesterday. My back held up better primarily because I walked the course and my back stayed warm as i was constantly moving. Being in a cart like I was at Napa doesn't allow my back to stretch and stay warm as I'm playing.

I got an e-mail the other day that made me smile and I knew I wanted to add it to the blog. Here it is: Got to admire the man for being honest.

Florida's got it right. Bravo for Sheriff Judd !!!

POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA SHERIFF GRADY JUDD
Some 'dirtbag' in Polk County Florida who got pulled over in a routine traffic stop and ended up 'executing' the deputy who stopped him. The deputy was shot eight times, including once behind his right ear at close range. Another deputy was wounded and a police dog killed. A state wide manhunt ensued. The low-life was found hiding in a wooded area with his gun. SWAT team officers fired and hit the guy 68 times. Now here's the kicker: Naturally, the media asked why they shot him 68 times.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, told the Orlando Sentinel: 'That's all the bullets we had !!' Justice Served. Bullets are much cheaper than 40 years of meals, cable and civil rights.

I also got an e-mail full of puns and I wanted to add a couple that I particularly enjoyed:

A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, “You stay here; I'll go on a head.”
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, “No change yet.”
The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In democracy, it's your vote that counts. In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects!
The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
and finally, The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

Darla and I will be in Las Vegas next week, so the blog will be a few days late and then will arrive with many pictures of the lovely Samantha Paige. I'm looking forward to spending some time with her and seeing Jennifer. I feel bad for Samantha and for Jennifer, it is a hard road that Jennifer has chosen for them, but I know with God's help it will all work out for the best. Darla has a nice roast going for dinner and I'm looking forward to enjoying that as the rain continues to pound down outside from a tropical front that is expected to be with us most of the week. Vegas has been close to 80 degrees and I'm looking forward to the sun and some relaxation next week. I hope you are all well. Ciao.

Still More Rain

It is still raining in Northern California. We had about a two day break at the end of last week and then a strong storm that has been gaining strength in the Pacific pushed onshore late last night and we are getting doused again. I got a chance to drain the pool again and had the water line at the bottom of the tile, but after last night's storm the waterline is back at the halfway mark on the tile. We are supposed to get rain through Wednesday and then tapering off toward next weekend. Our average rainfall is 19.85 inches and we have about 8 inches to date from July of last year. We had a wet year last year after two straight drought years and had hoped to keep the water works going this year. The average to date is almost 13 inches so we are behind and they are threatening water rationing this Summer. It is hard to imagine when the rain is pounding down, but we had a very dry January, which is our wettest month.

Darla just returned from San Diego and another Silpada junket. I missed her as she left Thursday and the dishes just don't do themselves, you know. I had planned to play golf this weekend, but my back has stayed tight and I decided to be an adult about things (and keep Jane, my physical therapist form spanking me)and cancelled my Sunday tournament and got Bob to take my spot at Diamond yesterday morning. It was a tough decision as the weather was nice yesterday, about 69 degrees with slowly increasing clouds during the day that lead to the current storm. I made up for my lack of golf by driving out to Thunder Valley Casino for breakfast and some nickle poker. I played for about three hours never really moving up or down from the $50 that I brought, but finally left a little after noon with $30 left after breakfast. I got home and spent three hours working on the lawn picking up the leavings from the last storm, downed branches and leaves, papers and debris left in and amongst the plants in the front of the house. I also cleaned out the pool, brushed it down and added some algeacide to counteract the effect of all of the leaves and brush that had blown into the pool in the last storm. I also used my leaf vac to clean up the backyard and took the garden rake to the side yard and de-thatched some of the grass there. The overseeding and fertilizer have taken hold and the grass is green and lush and I have to mow every week. My neighbors look at me like I'm nuts, but it is in my DNA. Blame Dad.

I took part of the weekend to add some music to my Iphone. I now have about 2000 songs on my phone and have a docking station at work that I use to listen to music in the afternoons when the phones slow down. I added an eclectic mix of music, with songs by Ray Charles, Aerosmith, Neil Diamond, Cher, Frank Sinatra and Van Morrison. I have music now that matches any mood I may be in.

I am taking Darla to dinner tonight at a new restaurant in Roseville, Cloud Nine. One of the local radio stations has a "half price hook-up" every Monday and last week it was buy two $25 gift cards to Cloud Nine for $25. I bought four of them for $50. I also took advantage of a half price deal at the new John Daly designed course at the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning were I got two rounds of golf and a $50 gift certificate in their steak house for $50, essentially I'll get the golf for free and it runs $65 per person on weekends.

I have to be in the San Francisco branch on Wednesday as our leader, Alan Kaufman, will be in town for a seminar and then he is heading to San Diego for a mid year NAPSLO (National Association of Surplus Lines Organizations) meeting Thursday- Saturday. I've been invited along with my top two underwriters, Anthony and Lorraine (from Modesto). They will be holding a professional lines seminar and I'm bringing Gail along as well. There will be about 26 people crowded into their conference room in SF. Friday, Darla and I will attend a meeting at the Silverado resort in Napa with the IBA association that I am on the board of. We will play golf Friday afternoon followed by a 45 minute board meeting and a nice dinner that night. Darla will have a spa day at the resort while I'm golfing along with a number of the other wives and female board members. It will be nice to getaway, especially after being apart this weekend.

I heard a nice "senior" joke recently:

Three old guys are out walking. First one says, 'Windy, isn't it?' Second one says, 'No, it's Thursday!' Third one says, 'So am I. Let's go get a beer.'

My favorite senior joke is:

An older couple in their 80's are both suffering the onset of dementia, but seem to be getting along great. One night the husband says, "you know what would be a nice treat tonight, scrambled eggs and bacon." The wife jumps up and heads to the kitchen. He can hear pots and pans banging and after about fifteen minutes the wife comes out carrying a big tray with two bowls of rocky road ice cream, covered with whipped cream with a cherry on top. The wife sets the tray down and the old man grabs his bowl, slowly shaking his head. "Honey, you did it again. Your memory is really starting to fade. I asked for Tin Roof Sundae with chocolate sauce!"

Our trip to Vegas will be here in two weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing Samantha and Jennifer and seeing their new house. Jennifer continues to squabble with John and hopefully they will settle their differences sooner than later. I may lose Darla one night on the trip as she met a group of flight attendants from Henderson, NV that fell in love with her jewelry and Darla has tentatively scheduled a party for the weekend of our trip.

I was also able to make reservations for Josh and Laura's wedding in Dallas over Memorial Day. I put a tickler on Travelocity for flights to Dallas from Sacramento. They were all running about $350 at the time, but I managed to get two flights to Dallas and back for $214 a ticket through Travelocity and booked it. They e-mailed me. We arrive on Friday May 22 and fly back on Sunday May 24th. We wanted to fly back on Monday, but the flight jumped to $322 for the extra night. This way, we'll be forced to come home and relax by the pool on Memorial Day (don't cry for us). We'll manage. Randy has graciously agreed to put us up in Dallas and cart us to the wedding and back. I looked at the wedding website which is http://www.joshandlauralyon.com/ which Josh put together and has all of the details. My only complaint is that the wedding is at the Stonebriar Country Club in Frisco and I haven't heard any talk about golf. This is a bad memory of Dad's wedding and Shirley's 70th birthday, each of which was held on a golf course that I have yet to play. Whazzup with that?

Well, folks, that is it. I slept in and missed church this morning, so my bad. Hope you are all doing well. Ciao.