April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hey guys, it has been awhile since I have posted something.  Going way back since 2012.  Well I tell you what, a lot has changed since 2012 and most of you are saying, "uh duh Damian, it has been 2 years, you think?!"
Well I am here to sum up in a short period.  Still living in the good 'ol city of Jacksonville but not working at Lenz Field anymore.  Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois is my new venture and things are look great.  If anyone is looking into the health care/technology field, head over to there website or you find postings for jobs on various job search sites.  Moved out of the in laws and got a place with my wife, Alicia.  Alicia also got a new job at Illinois College and loves it.
I have to say life is on a great track and loving every minute of it. Before I depart I want to give a shot out to podcast that I have been listening to for over 2 years now.  JB Glossinger, the founder of MorningCoach.com has been a great inspiration to me.  His mindful techniques and positive attitude has greatly affected how I process positive flow.  If you want to know more about MorningCoach and  more about JB here is the link http://www.morningcoach.com/blog/  and

http://www.morningcoach.com/

Now that I am back, I can't wait to blog and inspire everyone.  With great positive power people can achieve greatness, but it dwells from within.  You are your own worst enemy.  Live life to the fullest.

Well that's it for now friends, looking forward to my next post tomorrow. 

Remembering the Good Times

2005 ALL-SOUTH COAST CONFERENCE

BASEBALL TEAMS

SCC MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Chris Lopez, East LA, So. DH, .453 BAVG, 9 HR, 37 RBI, .895 SLUG. PCT.
SCC MOST VALUABLE PITCHER
Hector Molina, East LA, So. RH, 7-1, 2.64 ERA, 61.1 INN
SCC COACH OF THE YEAR
James Hines, East LA
(East LA College Conference Champions)
Note—Statistics are based on 24-Game Conference schedule

ALL-SCC BASEBALL FIRST TEAM
Starting Pitchers
Damian Gatti (Mt. San Antonio, Fr. RH), 5-2, 1.82 ERA, 49.1 INN, 41 K, 2 CG
Steve Conradi (Long Beach, Fr. RH), 5-2, 1.62 ERA, 61 INN, 3 CG
Benjamin Horner (East LA, So. RH), 6-1, 4.46 ERA, 38.1 INN
Kyle Pond (LA Harbor, Fr. RH), 5-0, 4.60 ERA, 58.2 INN
Relief Pitcher
Richard Navarette (East LA, So. RH), 1-2, 1.91 ERA, 3 SV, 33 INN, 37 K
Utility
Tommy Peale (Long Beach, Fr. IF-P), .367, 1 HR, 24 RBI; 5-2, 2.36 ERA, 48 K, 49.2 INN
Catcher
Brad Schwarzenbach (Cerritos, Fr.), .300, 1 HR, 22 RBI
First Baseman
Daniel Jones (Mt. San Antonio, So.), .441, 1 HR, 4 3B, 28 RBI
Infielders
Edgar Sedano (East LA, So. SS), .405, 6 HR, 40 Runs, 21 BB, 19 RBI
Jaime Ballesteros (Compton, Fr. 3B), .426, 5 HR, 16 2B, 24 RBI
Matt Venegas (Mt. San Antonio, Fr. SS), .361, 18 RBI
Greg Johnston (Mt. San Antonio, Fr. 2B), .326, 5 3B, 16 RBI
Outfielders
Robbie Carter (Mt. San Antonio, So.), .393, 10 2B, 20 BB, 16 RBI
Bryan Kepner (Cerritos, So.), .317, 4 3B, 1 HR, 19 RBI
Tino Gomez (El Camino, So.), .412, 3 HR, 15 RBI
Fernando Franco (East LA, So.), .402, 13 SAC, 13 RBI
Designated Hitter
Billy Hernandez (El Camino, So.), .321, 12 2B, 4 HR, 21 RBI
ALL-SCC BASEBALL SECOND TEAM
Starting Pitchers
Steve Luyben (Cerritos, Fr. RH), 3-5, 3.66 ERA, 64 INN, 9 Starts, 44 K
Travis Ward (Mt. San Antonio, Fr. LH), 5-1, 2.98 ERA, 54.1 INN
Edward Acevedo (East LA, So. RH), 1-1, 4.50 ERA, 26 INN, 23 K
Jeff McKinley (El Camino, Fr. RH), 5-1, 2.44 ERA, 51.2 INN
Sean O’Leary (Mt. San Antonio, So. RH), 5-1, 54.2 INN, 2 CG
Relief Pitcher
Scott Simmons (Long Beach, So. RH), 1-1, 0.95 ERA, 3 SV
Utility
Phil Van Doren (Cerritos, Fr. OF-P), .359, 12 RBI, 1 K in 80 PA; 5-3, 2.96 ERA, 51.2 INN
Catcher
Derek Leveque (East LA, So.), .333, 2 HR, 16 RBI
First Baseman
Kurt Crowell (East LA, So.), .329, 1 HR, 18 RBI
Infielders
Carlos Gonzalez (LA Harbor, So. 2B-3B), .386, 1 HR, 21 RBI
Michael Diaz (East LA, So.), .364, 1 HR, 22 RBI
Ryan Averkieff (Long Beach, Fr.), .327, 9 2B, 20 RBI
Jorge Franco (LA Harbor, So. SS), .356, 16 SB, 13 RBI
Dane Braunecker (El Camino, Fr.), .329, 10 RBI
Outfielders
Matt Mendrun (Mt. San Antonio, Fr.), .337, 10 2B, 1 HR, 27 RBI
Eugene Edwards (Long Beach, So.), .388, 4 3B, 11 SB, 1 HR, 17 RBI
Cody Kissell (Mt. San Antonio, Fr.), .348, 3 3B, 16 RBI
Andy Beard (Long Beach, Fr.), .400, 2 HR, 19 RBI
Designated Hitter
Chris Warters (Pasadena, Fr.), .456 (conference batting champion), 15 RBI

ALL-SCC HONORABLE MENTION
Cerritos: Earl Powell (So. DH), Dan Luyben (Fr. 2B), Jerome Fortin (So. RHP)
Compton: Daniel Quintero (So. 1B), Marques Jenkins (So. OF), Jose Talmantes (Fr. C)
East LA: Chris Rodriguez (So. RHP), Andrew Soto (So. RHP), Alex Gonzalez (Fr. OF)
El Camino: Mike Zuanich (Fr. 1B), Chris Fox (Fr. OF), Miguel Juarez (So. C)
Long Beach: Jason Dufloth (So. RHP), Kevin Monahan (So. OF), Matt Brooks (So. C)
Los Angeles City: Rafael Chavez (Fr. C)
Los Angeles Harbor: Raul Landeros (Fr. 1B), Steve Garcia (Fr. IF), Daniel Flores (Fr. OF)
Mt. San Antonio: Matt Wetzel (So. C)
Pasadena: Jose Udave (So. OF), Charles Brown (So. 3B-OF), Costa Ananias (So. 2B)

Lenz Field & Sports Complex

Lenz Field & Sports Complex

Lenz Field & Sports Complex sits nicely in a corner pocket Northwest in Jacksonville, Illinois.  This complex was finished in 2009 and is probably the best sports complex in the Midwest.  The complex  started out from being a dream.   That dream of constructing baseball fields similar to The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the university of Illinois Baseball Field in Champaign, IL; and the Tampa Bay Rays Tropicana Field.  

Well, the dream can true with the construction of the first field here in Jacksonville, Illinois (which is now called Field #4).  Field #4 was constructed in 2007 with 100% turf and has not been rained out for over 3 years!  With a total of 5 complete fields, Lenz Field & Sports Complex held over 100 teams throughout the year in numerous tournaments. 

I began working at Lenz Field in August and am pretty stoked.  I never knew that I would get a job working within my field here in Illinois.  I thought I was going to settle for a managers position at some podunk retail store, but nonetheless, something else caught my interest.  My intended goal was to get a normal job and maybe go back to school to obtain my Masters degree.  That goal is still intact but the options are endless with the possibilities of what field I want to get it in.  

More information is to come 

We made it to Illinois!!! 

Well is has been about a month,

but I am happy to say that we have both found jobs within the same week!!!

I am happy to say that my wife Alicia has found a job here in town within the same field as the job that she had in California.  The other great thing is that I also found a job here in town as well.  When we got here to Jacksonville, it was hard to find jobs, especially for me because nobody was hiring.  It then came about a week and a half ago that we both got jobs and we start on August 6th.  Both of us are working jobs within our degrees.

I found a this great opportunity to work at this awesome facility.  You can check the website out www.lenzfield.com  I am happy to say that I am working in the field that I love.  It feel really good to be back with baseball especially being a Special Event Coordinator.

MORE BLOGS TO COME!!!!

 

Day 7-California Crisis

Hello everyone, this is day 7. I though about not writing one today because of how my post was yesterday but I need to stick to goal.
I do however want to say that I am sorry about yesterdays post.  Fresh & Easy is a great company, in fact it can be even more than a great company if they change a few of their operations.  It is also a great company to work for.  For the most part it pays well, it has great benefits, PTO, and 401K.
It is still a baby company and they still need to work out the bugs within the system because we all know that no system is great.
On the lighter side of things,  I spoke with my dad yesterday after work and discussed how the rest of this month and next will be.
I am happy to hear that my father is proud of me for what I've accomplished and where I am heading.  It is a really good feeling inside.  There were a few things that I wanted to discuss like what are we going to do with my car, cell phone, etc (the little things)  Come to find out that I am going to keep my cell phone, and my dad was going to sell the car to a guy that works at my dads store.  The guy is looking for transportation to get to and from work.
I am really going to miss my parents and West Covina.  This was my home town and this is where my childhood was, but we all grow up sometime or another and this time it is for a long distance.


Did anyone hear on the news last night about the budget crisis for California?????  Get ready people of California, there is going to be more layoffs and cutbacks!!!!!
Read this article about Governor Brown speaking about this issues 
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20120515,0,1532582.story




Very interesting to me.....Lets just say its a good time to get out.
I hope that whoever reads my Day 7 Blog Please understand that California is going to sink pretty fast and think about your future.  I don't think California is going to last much longer.

Anyways, DAY 7 in the books...
PLEASE let me know what you think about this issue in California because it may effect you.....

Day 6

Just to keep myself updated, this is day 6 of my month long trial run for my blog.  So far it has been REALLY hard coming up with ideas to talk about.  Skipping days 3-5 and moving straight on lol.  

Lately I have been feeling really drawn back from working any harder for Fresh & Easy.  I am definitely not saying that I am going to sit like a log and not do anything but, I feel that anything extra that needs to be done I am going to question.....WHY?. 

 I feel that Fresh & Easy focuses on a lot of different aspects in the store but they don't seem to understand what ACTUALLY GOES ON IN THE STORE.  I think the company really took a down fall for me when they did not provide the canvas bags for Earth Day.  They gave out SO many coupons for a free bag with a $20 purchase, but FAIL MISERABLY on providing the bags for the customers!!!!!  FRESH AND EASY.....do you realize how many customers we lost because of this????!!!!  We had customers literally leave their baskets and carts at the register because there WAS NO BAG   

UMM FAIL

There have been many more incidences that have occurred in my years with this company but I don't want to disclose anything information that may get me in trouble. Overall, I just feel really burnt out, over worked and underpaid for what I do.

As I said before I am really glad that Alicia and I are making this decision to move back to Illinois.  

This post is how I feel right now and I hope that whoever reads this and works for Fresh And Easy please let me know how you feel.  I would really love to hear some thoughts and feelings about where you think this company is heading.

Day 2

Hello Y'all

This is day 2 of my month trial run.  I am really thankful for the people that are in my life.  This move to Illinois is really big and I cannot wait to get out there and make a career.  I don't have much to say hopefully tomorrow and be a little better.