fourth of July.....

Yes, it has been extremely quiet this week, and I have been working all week, so there is my excuse for not posting. :-)

The start of July is a busier time for me because it is a "payroll tax" month. Meaning, that besides normal work for my clients, I must produce for them their quarterly payroll tax returns. Also, I work on all my business clients this month, as compared to about 80% of them on a "normal" month.

I am 95% caught up on the new client I have mentioned, finally getting much of the needed paperwork to get them set up. Also as their books were last prepared in March, I have to make sure the first three months look good to me, and then work on the second three months. Time consuming, but this is going pretty smoothly, so it will be worth it.

The town of Rancho Bernardo, where we live (But it does not get "named" on our mail. It is basically an "area" of San Diego. Guess like a suburb), is having a small parade and gathering down the main street. Our church's Auto Club will be participating, so Morgan and Cassie will be in the parade. The festivities are walking distance from the house, so we will stick around and see what is going on.

Tomorrow morning, we are going to head up the mountains to the town of Julian for breakfast. This will give Morgan another chance to drive the car, and I can take the motorcycle up for the ride.

Then tomorrow night, we will be at church around 3:30 or so, as Vic Murphy will be bring his BMX show to the church, then will be the guest speaker for the weekend services. I find it interesting how CRB has a different guest speaker for the sermons during the eight weeks of summer. I was a little hesitant if this was just "filler", but so far the first two men have been excellent. I can't wait to hear the next six tell their stories.

On Tuesday, the Hurricanes traded Erik Cole to the Edmonton Oilers for Joni Pitkanen. I actually like the trade, as it gives us another puck moving defensemen, along with Joe Corvo, who we traded for last year during the season. They will make our defense better, our offense better because of their skills, and it makes the team younger, especially of defense.

Then we resigned Anton Babchuk (who played on the Stanley Cup team, but played in Russia the past 2 years), to give us even more strength on the back line, and is also just getting into his prime years.

I am sure there are quite a few upset about the trade, but Cole was in the last year of his contract, and the way the Hurricanes pay players, there is no way they would have resigned him as compared to what he would have been offered by other teams. Better to get something for him, and we did, and then were able to sign Pitkanen to a three year deal, to make it even a little better.

My only problem with the Hurricanes this week, was when I listened to the General Manager, Jim Rutherford, and his interview on a local sports talk station talk about negotiations with Chad LaRose. LaRose is a popular, nose to ice kind of guy you want on your team. Always working, and always working hard. Well it seems LaRose has given the team a figure for a new contract that Rutherford admits is "fair", and is most likely market value for Chad's services. Problem is the Hurricanes "slot" their players into salary spots. So, while your request make me market value around the league, it may not fit the "Canes Value", because of where they "slot" you. Losing LaRose would be a mistake, and I hope they get this straightened out.

Otherwise, a good week for the Hurricanes. If all others come back from injuries suffered last season, this could be an exciting team. It better be, because the Tampa Bay Lightning sure have been busy getting better.

- Great US Swimmers competing for Olympic spots.
- I can't wait for Rock Band 2!!!
- Josh Holloway movie news for my wife

Until the next time.....