Review Movie Theaters instead of Movies

On Friday night I went to see the movie "Keanu" at the theater in Lodi. I get to see the movies for free because the production companies want to make sure the trailers that are supposed to be shown are shown before the movies. I am requested to go to movies the first day out and then report to the company what trailers were shown before the movie. I go to a movie almost every week, at least 3 times a month. I go to the theater in Lodi often and each time I go there I am amazed at how kind the management is. I have met 3 managers there and they have always been professional. Sometimes they make a mistake or two, but that isn't why I admire them.

 If you go to the movie theater in Lodi you will buy your ticket at the window outside and then when you come in and you go to the ticket taker chances are that person will have a handicap. When I usually go in there is a man, about 35, that has Down's Syndrome. He always has a kind word to say to everyone. He is always smiling and makes you feel good about being at the theater. Sometimes it is another man with Down's Syndrome who is about 25. This week there was a woman, about 30, with Down's Syndrome. I am impressed with the theater management that they have found a perfect job for adults with a handicap.

I feel good when I go to that movie theater and I have gone there when I don't really want to go to a movie, but I want to support the theater. Everyone wants a job that they can feel good about and this is what the theater jobs do for these employees. The employees are contributing to the company and are doing an important job. In fact, they do a better job at it then many people because they have such a positive attitude that is contagious to the patrons of the theater and I'm sure also to the other employees. I wish more employers would look at ways to do the same for other handicapped adults and find things that they can do as well, and maybe even better than others. I hope this management gets the accolades that they rightly deserve.

I love my job!

I drive a lot for my work. I don't mind and I feel my work is important and I do it fairly well. I work for the California Army National Guard recruiters helping them work with high schools. The area I cover is HUGE. I cover 3/4ths of California which is bigger than all of New England and some countries. I support 7 teams and over 50 recruiters. There are 2 other people in the state that do the same job as I do, those two cover the 1/4 of the state that I don't. I really enjoy my job. Because I support so many teams and so many recruiters no one really knows what I'm doing or where I'm at. They just figure I am supporting someone else. This week I will support 5 different teams. Today I only drove one hour each way and worked in the school for 6 hours. Tomorrow I will drive 5 hours round trip and work in the school for an hour. Wednesday I will go to 2 different schools, the first one is 3 hours away.

After working there for one hour I will drive another one and a half hours and work in a second school for an hour. Thursday I will drive back to the same area, 3 hours away, and work there for an hour then drive 5 hours to stay the night in San Jose and visit with my sister. The next morning I will go to 3 school districts before working at a school in that area for an hour then drive home, hopefully before the rush hour traffic that will turn a 1.5 hour drive into a 4 hour drive. A total of 900 miles this week. I don't mind the driving. I see a lot of cool parts of California.

The recruiters like going to the larger schools so I go to the smaller schools, often by myself. I don't mind that because I feel I do a much better job than the recruiters because I do this every day and the recruiter does it two or three times a year. I like knowing the smaller schools get a better program than the larger ones. What do I do, you might ask. I do a Career Exploration Program utilizing an aptitude test, interest inventory, and work values. After having the students analyze themselves I show them how to find jobs that fit their individual needs.

I work with them until they know how to use the website then explain they can use that website anytime they can get on line for the next year and a half. I give them a tool they can use by themselves to try to figure out what they want to do rather than have their parents tell them what they want to do. They can look up how much the job pays, by zip code and where they can get training and even how many jobs are open. I like my job and feel it benefits society, it makes me feel useful and fulfilled. I travel in many places and see many things. I have the best job in the world!!

Stockton Ports

(Remember that the pictures in my blog usually don't represent what I'm writing about, I just like to share pictures I have recently taken.)

Today I went to a baseball game. The Stockton Ports were playing the Inland Empire 66ers. Triple A baseball is fun because the tickets are not expensive and the fans are more of a close family of supporters. The Stockton ballpark is nice and fan friendly. The seats are close to the field and you get the feeling you are part of the game.

Coming to the game the parking lot said $10 and around the corner was a sign for $5. We figured we had to walk a little but for half price that was ok. We went to the $5 parking and it was just on the other side of the stadium. Next to the stadium. It was strange that it was half price, but not any further. The day was beautiful and the game was fun. It was more like a college level game then professional and lots of mistakes and bad pitching. The home team lost and I felt like I was in Mudville. It was good entertainment for less than $30 on a Sunday afternoon. I look forward to the next time we go!

Living in Stockton

I moved to Stockton in September of 2015 from Sunnyvale. I moved from a large metropolitan area to a small big city. I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area where I could get anything I was looking for easily to the Central Valley where I have to go out of the area to buy things that I want rather than settle on what is available. When I was looking for nice clothes for work I had to go to San Francisco because everything near here is either for teenagers or working in the outdoors. When I was looking for electronics I found there was only one electronics store in this city of 300,00 people with a good college in town that graduates very good engineers. When I was looking for entertainment there were bowling alleys, baseball games, movie theaters, and minor league baseball and hockey games. Lots of places within an hour drive and even decent places to eat close by. To summarize this area is inconvenient when I want to buy things but not so bad if I want to do things.

I moved from a 650 sq ft mobile home to a 1800 sq ft house. I used to pay rent for the space I had my mobile home on in addition to having to buy the mobile home and not I pay a mortgage less than the rent I used to pay for the space. I have a garage for my car and enough space to put everything away in my house. I am more comfortable in this living space and it feels good to come home. My neighborhood is safe and the people are friendly and everyone keeps to themselves. I am finally settled in. I had a family gathering at Thanksgiving, something I would never do in my other place because 5 people wouldn't fit in the place. Life is good and I can feel good about myself these days. Another good thing about living in Stockton is it is very convenient for my work. When I lived in the SF Bay Area it was a 2 - 5 hour drive to get anywhere that I needed to go to for work. Now most places are 30 minutes - 2 hours. I can get to most schools and back in the same day so I don't have to stay overnight.

It has always been important to be able to move to get a better job. Many Americans don't want to move to get a better job any more, they want to find the perfect job where they live or have the government support them. I lived in the SF Bay Area because that is where my ex-wife decided to live and I wanted to live near my kids. I work for a company that has people that do my job all across the country and we all got paid the same. The employee in Oklahoma got paid the same as I did in one of the most expensive areas in the country. I enjoyed my job and and thought it was important to live near my children so I found a way to live with the low salary. I supplemented my income and found a way to live simply. When my youngest went away to college I realized I could give myself a raise by moving to a less expensive area. I made the right decision and look forward to the future, rather than regret the decisions I have made. We all have different chapters of our lives and I have started a new one.

There are lots of changes I have made and I will talk more about those changes in the next few blogs that I write. I am excited to share the new things in my life. I also want to write about some things that have really upset me lately. I will talk a little about politics because I have things I want to say, not because I want to change anyone's decisions. I think most people have made up their mind on who they want as the next president and what I say won't change anyone's mind only make them upset when I state my opinion. I don't care if they state their opinion and I don't think mine is better than their opinion. So, I will start my opinion and if they don't like it then they shouldn't read what I have to say. I'm happy to be back!!

The last time I write this blog ...

... from this home. This week has been lots of last

My last run in Sunnyvale

of something. Today was the last Sunday I wake up in Sunnyvale. I cooked my last meal in Sunnyvale. I will sleep my last night in Sunnyvale tonight. All week I have been saying this stuff. Am I happy when I say this stuff or am I sad about it? Will I miss doing these things in Sunnyvale, or will I be happy I don't have to do them any more? I don't know the answer to those questions and I may never know.

I will never run by these condos after they are built

I moved here after my divorce. I lived in my office for 10 months after I left my house and I moved into a mobile home because it was something I could afford. Buying this place was cheaper than renting an apartment that I could have my 3 daughters live with me. I moved here when Sarah was in Kindergarten, Jayne was in 5th grade and Lindsey was in Middle School. My kids grew up while I lived here. I always wanted to apologize to them that I lived here. I wasn't happy that I lived in such a small place that my oldest daughter didn't want to visit me.

The last time I will be running down this street

I had lunch with my daughter yesterday and did apologize. This is the only place she can remember I lived all her life. She laughed at me and said she grew up fine. She said neither she nor her sisters ever thought about where I lived as they grew up. I guess I should be happy that this allowed me to live close to them as they grew up and was always there when they needed me. This is the reasoning I always told myself, but the truth is I don't really believe that. I wanted to provide my children more.

Last time to run past this hydrant

 They will never know, nor do I want them to think about it, the things I have done for them. I hope they know I love them, but that isn't even important to me. I now have a house I'm proud about and will build firsts in. I will have Thanksgiving at my house for my family for the first time this year. I will run around that neighborhood for the first time. I will have enough rooms for my kids to have their own room, and bathroom, when they come to visit for the first time. I will wake up for a first time in that house. I will cook my first meal in that house for the first time in that house.

The last time I will round this corner on my way home from my run

Lots of firsts will happen next week and for the next year. I can't have firsts without lasts so I embrace the lasts. This is the last sentence I will write in this blog from this home!

Perils of moving ...

Philfril LOGO

I mentioned that I'm moving, but I have been too busy to write more about it. When I decided to see about moving I knew I had to sell my present mobile home before I could buy a house. When I heard I could sell my home for 30% more than I bought it, rather than 30% less I decided to put my home on the market and look for a house in an area with affordable housing. I put my home in Sunnyvale on the market on the same day I put an offer on a house in Stockton. The offer was not enough so I offered a little more and the home got an offer 3 days later for the same amount over my asking price!

Bobblehead I got for running in SF

 The home was to close in 21 days and the house was to close in 30 days. One of the contingencies of getting my loan was selling my home, so it was all working out. I don't want to move myself. I have lived here for 14 years and wasn't looking forward to boxing up everything I own, loading a truck, and unloading it in my new house and unpacking everything. I don't know what to do with my stuff for 8 days, from the time I move out to the day I move in. I decided to let someone else move me and not worry about all the hassles of moving myself! Then the "problems" start showing. The mobile home park sent the buyer the city ordinance stating their rights if the park is sold, in accordance with law. The buyer didn't understand why this was sent and they said they didn't want to purchase the home if the park was being sold. My real estate agent didn't understand their concern and wanted a meeting with the park owner to clarify what was going on and the park owner didn't understand what the problem was. That got cleared up. Then the inspection was done of the home and many problems were found, which is why I wanted to sell the home "as is". I have a limit of the amount I will pay to fix the home, which is still more than they went over the asking price. The inspection went over that amount and the buyer was thinking of pulling out of the sale.

Running down the streets of San Francisco

They got over that problem, then said I don't have to fix anything and just give them the amount I said I would pay, even though I have already started doing some of the repairs. This means I don't have to move out of the house as early as I had planned, so I contacted the movers to move 2 days later. Then the house I'm buying will be available 4 days before I thought. But, then my sister reminded me that was a holiday so things changed again. Another call to the movers. Then I decided I would just keep things as they were, and move out and in when I had planned so we solidified the plans.

Running with 10,000 of my closest friends.

Then the buyer notified us they had used the wrong name, they are Chinese and put their last name first and first name last. UGH! more changes to the paperwork, but no stress for me. So now I'm all ready for when I move out and when I move in. I went out and purchased washer and dryer and refrigerator. I now know when they can deliver that. I have measured and shopped for artificial grass to be put on the cement slab on the side of my house to give me a "yard".

The only time I smile is when I'm taking "selfies".

In 2 days the movers come, the next day the cleaners come. I will stay at my sister's for a week then sign the papers for my new house and sleep there on the floor for one night and the next day have my stuff delivered. Then the real work starts trying to figure out where to put everything. I'm moving from 650 sq ft to 1700 sq ft so it won't be hard to find space. My linen shelf will turn into a linen closet! My 6'X6' shed will turn into a 2 car garage and laundry room.This should be another great adventure in my life!!

Finish on the field at ATT Park, home of the SF Giants!

Movie Review: Straight Outta Compton

From my seat at ATT Park

I hate rap music. I have always hated rap music. I hate the lyrics and will change the radio station if they ever play rap. I'm an old white guy that hates rap, nothing unusual about that. I loved the movie about how rap started, maybe something unusual and ironic about that. This movie is a must see for everyone! I don't know how accurate this movie is, but it opened my eyes to understand the music more. After seeing the movie I still hate rap, but I understand it better. I like what they said in the movie that the music reflects their environment.

overlooking SF from ATT Park

This movie made me feel what it was/ is like growing up in a poor neighborhood. This neighborhood happened to be a black neighborhood in LA. The movie let me see how the police behaved, from the occupants point of view instead of from the police point of view. The language is really bad because that is how it was in the neighborhood. I never listened to the lyrics, but during the movie I started to understand what it was all about. Again, I don't know how accurate this was, but I have a new respect for these artists and lyricists.

Add caption

This was one of those movies that had me thinking about it after I left. The movie was fun and interesting and brought out many during emotions during the movie. I was not bored during the movie and didn't want to leave to do my job of why I was there. After the movie, for the next week, I thought about that movie and that time in history and in my life. I started to understand how my own experiences prevent me from seeing other things in the proper perspective. I suggest everyone see this movie, especially white people over 40!

Movie review: Fantastic Four

I sat through this movie on Friday, my regular tour of duty. I had someone with me or I would have gotten up and walked out. I hate having to read through a whole review before they tell me if I should go or not, so let me just tell you ... don't go. I don't understand why every movie from a comic book feels like they have to rewrite the original book. We all know that the Fantastic Four have powers, one stretches, one goes invisible, one turns to fire, and one is the Thing.

This movie starts out when the guys are in elementary school and tells us how they became friends and smart. I don't care, show me some action. Don't we go to these movies to see the action, or do we go to find out the background so the next movie that comes out can have action? Well, I'll give you a hint, there will be no next movie by these people. I would not waste my money, it is nice seeing movies for free. This movie was boring in the beginning, in the middle it got really boring, and the end I applauded because I didn't have to be more bored.

During the movie I had to leave for 15 minutes to go to another showing to get the information I needed. When I came back I guess a lot had happened, but I didn't feel like I missed anything. I think when I was gone there was a little action, but I didn't care. I was very glad when the movie was over. One review I read compared the invisible girl to a taxi cab, carrying the two that couldn't fly around. The best part of the movie was the Thing's makeup. It looked great and he was able to move around ok. The worse part of the movie was between when it started and when it finished. I guess it isn't the worse movie I have ever seen, but I would rather have watched reruns of friends than this movie. I still have other movies I want to see from beginning to end. I want to see Mission Impossible, Southpaw, and maybe The Gift. I don't want to even see the trailers for this movie. Please don't see it, or if you do leave a comment and let me know if you liked it.

Phil's Frills

How many of us have wanted to start our own company, but never really knew how? Or we wanted to start a company, but didn't really know what kind of company? I have a friend in China that wanted to start a company, she could do it by herself, but asked me to be her partner. I am doing the business part and she is doing the selling and buying and sales part. In other words, I am keeping it legal and she is doing all the work. There is another person involved, a man dealing directly with the factories and shipping and keeping it legal on that end. The concept is finding styles women of any size can wear.

The woman I'm working with is petite and she wants to find clothes larger women can wear that will enhance their style. I think it is funny that she is choosing the clothing and she will never wear it. She wants me to find models to wear the clothes so we can control all aspects of sales. She is sending me 30 pounds of clothes to find someone to model while we take photos. We want to end up wholesaling these garments to stores or distributors and deal in large quantities rather than one or two items a day. We are looking at how to start approaching businesses about Christmas shopping. If you had direct access to a factory what would you order? She has been working for the past 2 weeks to get items on Amazon. She has found it takes a few hours just to put one item on Amazon, I thought it would be easy.

She has to put on many different shots of each item. If you go to Amazon and search for philfril you will see all the items we have on Amazon, it will increase slowly over the next few weeks. We have been trying to figure out the best way to do a website, www.philfril.com , and it has changed a few times in the past week. She has one idea and I have another so we will keep working on it. I keep trying to find someone to help me do the website since I have many friends in this area that do websites. I haven't been successful in getting anyone to help me yet. I have also just started a Facebook page for Philfril Mercantile and invited many of my friends. I don't mean to bother people, but the sales manager of the company is always on my back to do things and inform my friends about the company. She is constantly talking to me about how to improve the company. I try to tell her to slow down and it isn't so important and she tells me if we are in business we are in business. We have made a sale and we need to follow that with another sale soon.

The concept of the company is the smallest size we carry is XL and the largest we carry are XXXXL. We have a direct link to the factory and can fill orders immediately and ship it right from China directly to the customer. If someone sees something they want in our website or another they can ask us and we can try to find the exact same thing directly from the factory and put a Philfril tag on it and send to them. Then we will start contacting distributors and independent stores and wholesale to them. We are starting to source accessories. We have already added clutch purses and scarves. We have a great source for lingerie and would like to sell that. We can just put the companies catalog on line, Lingerie , and the customer can tell us what they want. This is all in the infant stage, but my partner is not sitting still and will make this successful if it kills her. She told me yesterday, Scott you will be rich within 4 years. Feels good that she says it that way and not that she will be rich. She needs me to keep her centered and I need her to keep me excited about this. It works well!!

May I speak to Captain Phillips please?

Front Door

On Wednesday I got a call from a man that asked if he could speak to Captain Phillips. I haven't been called that for over 25 years. Luckily I knew what the call was about. The day before I had asked to be pre-qualified for a loan to buy a house. I have been living in a mobile home for 14 years. I thought I would look around at houses to see what might be available. When I got pre-qualified they told me they had about a program the bank has to introduce me to a real estate agent that they have screened.

Side View

Since my bank deals with many military families they do them as service since military families move around much. After the call he sent me 2 properties to look at. Since I had planned to be in that area any way I thought I would look at one that I thought was interesting. I didn't really know what I was looking for. I wanted 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom, that wasn't too big since it is only me. I also wanted some grass to feel like it was a family. This home was HUGE, 3 bedrooms and 3 baths.

Great Room

This home is in one of the most dangerous cities in Northern California. It has gone bankrupt so city services may not be so good. It is also has one of the worst school districts in Northern California. Location, Location, Location! I went to look at houses last Sunday and saw one that was small with a cute yard and for very cheap. But, it was very old and little dark, it was also in a bad part of town. I also saw 4 other houses in a good part of town that all had something wrong. They were in a good neighborhood, but there was a lot of noise and many kids.

Gated Entrance

 The house I looked at on Wednesday was not in the best part of town, but it wasn't in a bad part of town. To add to that it is the only gated community I have seen in the area. Inside the gate is a park so you know it is only used by the community. There is also a pool for the larger area that is available. 5 miles in South is a bad part of town. Across the street North is farmland and then a very nice, cute town that I have always wanted to live in. So, the address says Stockton, but the neighborhood is really Lodi. The school district is Lodi. There is a gate and fence around our neighborhood to keep it safe.

Big landing above the stairs

This house is big, 3 times the size of my present home. When I was walking around it made me want to walk around, rather than my house that makes me feel like sitting down and not wanting to be in the house. My present small home is kind of embarressing to live in. I don't like people coming to visit. The big house I saw I couldn't wait to pick up the phone and invite people to come visit me! I wanted a yard, but when I had a small patch of grass I didn't water or mow it often and let it go. I ended up putting gravel over that area.

Side yard, always shady.

So, if I had grass I wouldn't put in the work to keep it nice. I am also not home very much during the school year so I would neglect the yard any way. There is a beautiful park 2 blocks away if I wanted to sit out on the grass. So, even though I had only looked at houses for less than a week I put a bid on it, 3 times what my mobile home was worth and they countered for me to add $7000 and I did and they accepted my offer. Now that I bought a new house I need to sell my mobile home. I have been talking to a mobile home realtor for the past 6 months telling him I wanted to put it on the market.

Park near my new house.

At the same time I called my bank to get pre-qualified I had that realtor come over and put my home on the market. When he came he told me the price of my home went up $5000 in the last month. I put it on the market and in the past 3 days I have had 4 - 6 people come to look at it each day. The realtor tells me my home is the cheapest on in the area and the space rental fee is the cheapest. He expects to get an offer for the amount we want within 2 weeks. This is all going so fast it is unbelievable. My whole attitude towards life is changing. I am seeing my future as I control it rather than having no control!