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!!