Recap of 2008

Well.... the end of 2008 draws near and I am compelled to reflect upon my achievements and shortcomings of the past 12 months.

2007 was a fantastic year for PGS.  2008?  Well, it pretty much sucked.  We finished the year with some money left in the bank accounts and most of our team still intact, so you can't say it was a failure.  Other than that?  Let's just say we are looking forward to a much better '09.

On a personal level?  Even that was a bit negative on the financial side.  Seems like everything I invested in during the year went bad.  I had a couple of gems, like betting on crude oil prices falling (made good money on that one), but most were like my bets on grains (lost a lot of really good money on that one) and just left my accounts drained.  I did have a busy year on the personal level and I would have to call the year a success on the personal growth and experience front.

Let's recap:

• January - Purchased a really cool (read - expensive) new piece of survey equipment elevating us to a level of technology that very few small business ever achieve!  The 3-d, High Definition, Laser Scanner is probably the coolest piece of equipment to come along in surveying since GPS.
• February - Sent 2 of my employees to sunny California for advanced training in the Laser Scanning technology.  It was actually sunny for them!
• March - I took 9 days with my best friend to explore the desert southwest by motorcycle.  I went to enjoy the camaraderie of a friend and absorb some warmth and sunshine while enjoying life on 2-wheels.  The camaraderie worked out just fine but I definitely got cheated in the warmth and sunshine part of the trip.  We froze our butts off.
• April - Kokua! Where I got cheated of the warmth and sunshine in SoCal I definitely made up for it in Honolulu.  I also got to enjoy the likes of Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson in concert at one of the coolest venues possible.  And all for a good cause! (As if I needed an excuse!)
• May (early) - A failed attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon but a valiant attempt none the less.
• May (late)- A trip to Infineon Raceway for Superbike racing with the greatest group of friends possible.  These crude, rude, insensitive, redneck.... (you get the picture) bunch of guys are probably the most sincere bunch of people you will ever meet.  We got to experience partying at a level that few college students ever achieve.  Complete with scantily clad (sometimes unclad) girls, unrecognizable alcoholic concoctions, a swimming pool, an unbelievable estate in the hills overlooking SanFran, sleeping on floors, and not-sleeping.  Wow!  This ultra-married OLD man was a little overwhelmed by it all (scared!).
• June - A crash and a wedding in Mexico!  The crash was somewhat tied to the wedding.  My son decided that he wanted a motorcycle trip in lieu of a bachelor party.  I gave him the added excitement of watching his pops do a high speed, low side, in a sharp corner in heavy rain.  "Limit of Traction".  A broken back and leg was the final cost of that little "hey, watch this" incident.  My son was married to our absolutely beautiful daughter-in-law in Puerto Vallarta later in that same month.  Spending a long week in the sunny warmth of Mexico with the 2 families in a single villa was priceless!  I now see why our new daughter is so special.... her whole family is!!!!
• July - Recovery and healing from my accident and the joys of Mexico!  We get building permits for Casa Edmonds!  We begin construction on the home we began the permitting process on 3 years ago.  Unbelievable!  Oh, and another trip to California.  This time to bring back the replacement GS and enjoy Moto GP at Laguna Seca.
• August - More recovery and some good work from the Bureau of Reclamation and Olympic Pipeline.
• September (early)- A fantastic trip covering Washington and Oregon with my wife, son and his wife, Mike and Melissa, on motorcycle.  What a wonderful chance to spend time with the people I love dearly.
• September (late) - A solo trip covering 5 states in 5 days on a new motorcycle!  Wow!  Some absolutely beautiful country under absolutely beautiful conditions.  There is something about traveling alone on a motorcycle that very few understand.  My time!
• October - A missed marathon but running actually begins in earnest!  Construction continues on the Casa el Edmonds and a home begins to take shape.
• November - Wow!  Another anniversary, another year with my very best friend!  My wife is everything that makes me what I am.  My soul mate!  Another trip to Infineon, this time with my son and some really crazy motorcycle friends to attack the track on a personal level.  Very fast - very fun!
• December - The year draws to an end.  Very little work and lots of really bad weather.  

All of this bad news at the end of the year pales in comparison to the positive aspects of the amazing people that make up my life and my team at PGS.  We enter the New Year with more positive contracts and more of a backlog of work than we started this past year.  The home in Edmonds is really beginning to look like a home and we are a little overwhelmed with the sheer elegance of the home we will soon be living in.  It's a long ways from the migrant worker camps I lived in as a kid.  Life looks good!

I love my family!  I love my friends!  I love living!

Cheers to all!!!

Casa Update and Request for Opinions

Casa Update:

We are nearly dried in.

The doors and windows have been ordered, colors for the metal siding and roofing have been chosen.  We went through the house with the electrician to review lighting and outlet requirements.  We have selected all of our plumbing fixtures - what a nightmare that was!  Wood flooring has been chosen, still working on tile and carpet.  We also need to finalize a selection for kitchen cabinets, we had the appliances chosen long ago.... did you know you can spend $10K on a simple fridge?  It doesn't even have fancy controls on the outside of the door!  Completely floored me!

Of course, everything we picked out has caused us to be over budget in almost every category.  I keep blaming the builder for not allowing for quality materials but in actuality, maybe I should be blaming the builder for not allowing for my wife's good taste?  We did do OK on our wood flooring selection and, after brow beating the builder, it looks like my garage door selection is going to just fit in the budget.

The house is going to be beautiful though!

I really don't think our neighbor to the north (Snohomish County Parks) is going to be much of a problem.

Request for Opinions (I know, none of my friends have opinions!)

The garage doors is what I am soliciting opinions for.  Narrowed down to one of these 2 doors:

I think the tempered glass would look really cool but I wonder if the paneled door wouldn't be a more practical door?  What say ye?

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Was GS Now RT

Damn.... I sure hope I didn't make a mistake.

I went from this:

To this:

Looking at the RT I already feel older..... it's a pretty bike but doesn't have the youthful energy of the GS.

Let me explain the rationale; My wife and I have found that she really enjoys accompanying me on long, multi-day, road trips on the motorcycle.  While the big GS is a beautiful bike for solo touring and not bad for 2-up travel, there is no way it can compare to the RT for eating big miles in real comfort for driver and passenger.  I mean, the RT actually has real cruise control and heated seats!  I also recently picked up the KTM 990 Adventure which gave me a huge overlap in capabilities with the big GS.

So, I guess if I need to get my 'youthful energy' feelings I'll just have to jump on this bike:

Or maybe this:

I think I'll still be able to get into trouble and not act my age.... just sayin'

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron