Smoke Grime and Expensive Batteries

Pretty Good weekend, busy but good. My friend Chris had his 27th birthday on Wednesday last week and so his sister made her usual attempt to throw a surprise party for him which as usual, I blew. They have decided that as Chris put it, "If we want to surprise Chris we are going to have to surprise Robert as well, so we'll just tell Shannon next time."

Anyway, we all went down to San Onofre for a little swimming and camping. There is nothing like sitting around a camp fire with some good friends getting smoke grime all over your clothes and hair and cooking up some smores. We decided not to bring an air mattress or any kind of pad to go under our sleeping bags, and that was a BIG mistake. It was definitely a miserable night of sleep and I accidentally crushed Shannon's elbow into the ground when I rolled over in the middle of the night.

We also helped Shannon's grandparents move some more over the weekend. Most of the stuff they had me doing was general handyman stuff. Installing sliding drawers in the kitchen, installing ceiling fans, etc. The new ceiling fan in the master bedroom as a remote to turn it on and off, and of course it didn't come with a battery. That little thing took a 12v specialized battery that I could only find at Radio Shack and cost $5 per battery. That is just ridiculous. It could just as easily run on a AA but some jerk somewhere decided he wanted a larger profit margin.

This week Shannon will be up at her parents for most of the week helping the grandparents get settled, while I will be traveling to Bullhead City, AZ to interview a SME (Subject Matter Expert) on construction to permanent financing. This particular lady is really close friends with Mr. McAllister, the 83 year old founder who just retired (or was forced) from his position as chairman of the board. I kind of suspect our SME will not be far behind him, so I need to get out there and get all the information I can out of her.

Also, my counterpart on the Retail Banking side has just announced his resignation. He is moving on to Pacific Life insurance, which will probably prove a much more stable company for him. It is yet to be determined how the department will restructure, but it is possible this could prove beneficial for me. There is a POSSIBILITY that I will acquire some additional responsibility and broaden my experience. While I don't think this is terribly likely, it is an intriguing possibility.