Back at the Coliseum for my A’s and some root beer floats

Root Beer Floats!!

Good to be home!! @Athletics #RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/gOrlpZ8piJ

— Sam (@phutmasterflex) July 19, 2017

On Tuesday I made it back to the Coliseum for the first time in over three seasons. And it was Root Beer Float Day! I hadn’t been to one since 2011 when Mark Ellis was traded.

But it was so fun to be back. Free parking. A great catch up with some friends and look! Dave Kaval and Ken Korach took photos with me!

Additionally, I just enjoyed hearing the sounds of the game, walking through the park, seeing the field I grew up loving. It was special. I missed all of it. I want to go back!

The Coliseum is old but it still has a fun feel to it. I love you, Oakland!

The trip to Minnesota for Paisley Park and Prince was perfect

pic.twitter.com/nlsps9KdgI

— Sam (@phutmasterflex) October 6, 2016

It happened!

Tuesday morning I went to the airport at LAX and flew right into Minnesota. I am staying with my friend Louis but before going to his house, I get my rental car and hang out at Mall of America for a few hours. I had my first ever Shake Shack, bought two gifts for my girl and even a poster print of Paisley Park. It was a simple but great way for me to relax into Minnesota.

The next day, Emliy picked me up from the house and we had a ball of an adventure. We went to her work in St. Paul and toured the Saints’ park. I did BP there, stole a couple balls and did a quick photo opp in the clubhouse. She got a Prince-themed Saints shirt! It was awesome! We stopped by the Kid’s House, drove by Paisley Park, took a photo of the Prince mural, purified ourselves at Lake Minnetonka, the music mural in MPLS and took a quick stroll by First Avenue. Then after all that, we went to this bar/arcade place called Up Down and I had a blast playing Blitz. I love that game. The mac & cheese pizza was legit and I was loving all of it! What a fun day!

The following day, I went straight to Matt’s Bar to eat a Jucy Lucy again! Delicious! Then off to the Chanhassen dinner theater to take the shuttle to Paisley Park. Everybody was nice. I met two ladies from Vallejo (who called me El Sobrante — we’d hug later as I left). Walking into Paisley Park, the walls were painted with clouds like the sky. A keyboard image wrapped around the wall. The walls were decorated with plaques celebrating Prince’s achievements. In the lobby was a tile with his logo, his urn in the middle. It was weird standing next to Prince like this. Rooms dedicated to his great albums, his office. As part of the VIP tour we got to check out both his studios, listen to an unreleased track, experience three rooms dedicated to his movies. In the Purple Rain room, it had the bike, the jacket, script, piano and Oscar. I got emotional there as the movie played on loop. Inside they also had us take pictures (only ones allowed) of a piano and a guitar. I also played ping pong on his table.

My trip to San Francisco, Minneapolis and Las Vegas

Tonight after work I am going to LAX to fly to SJC for a wedding in SF. It will be a quick one as I will leave Sunday morning a day after the wedding and getting back in time for work.

Monday I work and pack and then boom, Tuesday morning I will fly to Minneapolis for a couple days, capped off by my Prince trip.

That Friday, I fly back to go straight to work. After work, I hop in my car and drive out to Vegas for another wedding.

Oh man what a crazy trip. Three cities in a week. Let’s go!

What a crazy time

I am so packed busy these days.

Because of my new job, I work weekends. That means busy time away from friends. Busy time away from church. Busy busy busy!

Then I got all that traveling in October. In one week I will be going from LA to SF, then back to LA before a trip to MIN, then back for a drive to Vegas.

And not only that, but I don’t have time to actually have nice full days to spend with my girl. And on top of that, I am still trying to find full-time work, which means I am still hunting for a job and interviewing for it and so forth.

Crazy time. And I got concerts to attend as well. Oh man!

I am going to Paisley Park in October because I am a huge Prince fan!

Is this really happening?

When they announce that Paisley Park would be open for tours, I immediately jumped on it. I have to go. I love Prince.

But a return to Minnesota? I haven’t been there since 2010. But yes, for Prince, I must.

Oct 4-7. It has been set. I am going on opening day Oct 6 and will end the night at First Avenue. How cool is that?

The rest of the trip? Undetermined. My friend Louis is letting me crash at his place. All for you Prince!

Where have you gone Sam?

Wow! What a crazy week it’s been and my birthday is tomorrow! Well, that’s for turning 30 years old.

I spent the past week in the Bay and got to go see a lot of people and just enjoy some time off. But still, it’s been a major stressful time working for V3con and then still trying to find a new job. It sucks when you know you’re good enough and you’re so close so many times but nothing works out.

Still, I am blessed beyond everything! I keep it at that!

Here are some photos from my trip. I hope to get back to writing this a lot more frequently. We’ll see.

Day 2 of my trip to Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Recap time!

But at the end of the day...

The problem with having a clueless millennial help you take a photo is that it’s not straight and it’s vertical. Oh well.

Sunday was the whole reason why I made this trip out to Cooperstown. It was time for the induction ceremony for four players from my generation. I was so excited to make it out there but I was also running on empty in terms of sleep. It took me an hour to get to my lodging area and because the doors to the museum opened up at 7AM for Hall of Fame members (that’s me) I woke up at 5AM to prepare my checkout and drive to the Hall. But one benefit of that was that the parking was easy to find (and free) in the area right next to the Hall.

It rained a little that morning but that wasn’t going to deter me. In fact, I…

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First day of my trip to Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame

I'm here pic.twitter.com/QgMw0HCTKe

— Sam (@phutmasterflex) July 25, 2015

What a tremendous day it was for me. I boarded my flight late Friday night after it was originally canceled. I had to work with Expedia to get it all fixed up. The new flight had me go to Detroit then go to Albany. I picked up my rental car and drove an hour to Cooperstown. I got to Cooperstown and since this was not my first time, I didn’t spend a lot of time marveling. I grabbed a quick BLTA for lunch and then went to the stores along Main Street.

The street is filled with baseball memorabilia shops and a lot of things that I know I might buy. One of the first places I went to was Mickey’s Place. It’s a great store of throwback caps that I buy from online. I didn’t visit it the first time I went so I had to do it this time. I didn’t buy anything but look at their selection!

HERE ARE ALL MY PICTURES FROM THE FIRST DAY ON MY FACEBOOK

My Baseball Hall of Fame trip itinerary

You wanna know what I am doing this weekend?

Weekend itinerary:
Friday: Board plane
Saturday: Baseball Hall of Fame
Sunday: Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony
Monday: Basketball Hall of Fame
Tuesday: Boston Freedom Trail & Fenway Park
Wednesday: Return to California

How my trip back to the Bay Area was amazing

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A post shared by Sam (@smallflybox)

As some of you know from my last post about the Bay, I really enjoyed my time there. I was working from the office, I was seeing all the cool things they had around the place. And most importantly, I was being important. And plus I took public transportation each time, which was nice.

They were asking me questions and my input. I was working and giving suggestions, throwing out solutions and all that jazz. I really feel comfortable knowing that I can spend my career doing this and knowing I am useful. I am appreciated.

Another great thing was that I got to hang out with friends. Seeing my old college buddies was great. I even got a chance to see a friend who happened to be working at Amazon nearby whom I haven’t seen in 10 years I think. It was really nice to just be back in the Bay and totally relaxed

As you can see above, that’s one of the cool things along the walls at Yahoo. And I think I will be back sooner than later.