Santa Clarita Summer Beach Bus Service 2017 Begins June 3rd

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Summer Beach Bus Service Starts June 3

Santa Clarita Transit brings back its annual Beach Bus to Santa Monica

I have never taken the bus to the beach from Santa Clarita, but it does seem like a fun idea. Hard to believe that for only $3 each way or just $6 round trip can get you down to the Santa Monica pier.

No driving the 405, no looking for parking, no paying $15 to park near the beach sounds good to me. And you can bring coolers, beach toys and even surfboards. Where do they put all that?

Anyways, has anyone ever used the Santa Clarita Summer Beach Bus service? Wondering if it is a nice ride or cramped with crying, hungry kids.

Below is from the City of Santa Clarita’s website.

Beginning Saturday, June 3, 2017, residents can board Santa Clarita Transit’s Summer Beach Bus to travel to Santa Monica on Saturdays and Sundays. Santa Clarita Transit is excited to once again offer the popular service which allows residents to ride to the beach with ease on one of the City’s comfortable, air-conditioned commuter express buses. The Summer Beach Bus runs through Sunday, September 3.

Summer Beach Bus fares are $3.00 each way for children and adults and $1.50 each way for Senior Citizens and persons with disabilities. Riders may pay using stored value on their TAP card or in exact cash; monthly passes will not be accepted.

Buses will depart at approximately 8:40 a.m. and return at 4:30 p.m., ensuring a full day of beach activities without the stress of freeway driving and finding parking.

Two bus routes will depart on each Saturday and Sunday from various stops in Santa Clarita and take residents to the Santa Monica Pier. Shuttle departure stops include Canyon Country Park, Soledad Canyon Road and Solamint Drive, Soledad Canyon Road and Shangri-La Drive, Via Princessa Metrolink Station, McBean Regional Transit Center, Railroad Avenue and 15th Street, Newhall Metrolink Station, Newhall Avenue and Valle Del Oro, and Newhall Avenue and Sierra Highway.

Travelers may bring their beach chairs, coolers and surfboards.

Thanks Santa Clarita for putting together a way to get down to the beach affordably and safely. For more information you can visit the Santa Clarita Website Here.

Day 1 – Personal Training With James O’Rourke In Valencia

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Today is my first personal training day with James O’Rourke in Valencia.  That is actually a lie, because about a year ago my daughter wanted to change gyms because the training staff at LA Fitness was hitting on her and we were introduced to James O’Rourke who at the time was doing personal training at Big Johns in Valencia which has now closed.

At the time I was not looking for personal training for me (even though I needed it) but signed up with him because my daughter wanted me to work out with her.  How could I say no? I hung in there for about a month or so, but when your head is just not into doing something, it sure effects your motivation.  So I stopped going.

When I decided this time to start working out and to get a personal trainer in Valencia my first call was to James.  When I met up with him to talk about my new goals, I could not believe it that it was almost a year ago that I started the first time.

Man, I always think, “what if i stayed then? I would be in amazing shape!”  Okay, I am over that now.

Well, the reason for this article was to introduce you to James O’Rourke with Survival of the Fittest  (that is his business Facebook page)

The other thing I want to introduce you to is the new gym we are at called Ignition Fitness in Valencia. I will talk more about that in tomorrows article.

How Today’s Training Went:

Today was weights day.  Thank god.  Not that it was easy by any means, but the cardio days can be very tough, especially for me.  I am in very poor cardio shape.  You know this if you read my article about my kids and I running the Spartan Race a few weeks ago.  I get tired after just a few minutes.

So today I got there a little early and warmed up.  For me the warm up seems the hardest.  So I did 10 minutes on the stair climber just to get sweat going and it seemed to help.

Today’s workout was weights and hitting every body part.  We started with 150 sit-up/crunched and then pushed this box with weight on top around the gym.

We then did 4 rounds of weights hitting every muscle group.  Because you are moving from one exercise to the next, there is a definite cardio component to it.  This is why I signed up.  I am the guy that does a set and then takes 2 to 3 minutes of rest and never breaks a sweat.

I needed this type of workout infused into my regular gym days, where I still like to go heavy and take a few minutes break in between.

The great part about working with James is that he corrects you.  Even If you have worked out since high school like I have (so for about 20 sum odd years) there are still some things to be corrected on.  Today I was doing seated dumbbell shoulder presses and he said it was better to stand.  I said, “for some reason, i have always sat for dumbbells and stood for barbell presses”  His reply, “Yeah, that is how it was done in the 80’s!”  Lol

So one day down and feeling good.  I think the personal training, new gym and writing daily about working out will keep me in the game.

Tomorrow I am going to talk about the new gym Ignition Fitness in Valencia.

Here was today’s check-in on Facebook.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Really, Really Starting To Work Out This Time

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Okay, so I may have had one or two false starts at working out.  Okay, maybe 4 or 5, but I swear this is it.

How do I know?  Because I am taking drastic measures this time.  Last time, I just said, “okay, time to start working out again” and then it would only last for a few days.  I think I was failing because I didn’t make a real plan.

This time, i took measures for success.

First, I hired a personal trainer.  I did this so I would have some accountability.  The accountability is from both a financial one ( I paid up front for 3 months of training) and second, from a personal, well thought out commitment I am making this time.

I had to ask myself, “why did I want to start working out again”?  The reasons this time around were about health.  Health to the point of the fact I am now 45 and I need to have good health If I plan on making it to old age.  That and the fact that I just have not been feeling “healthy” for a long time.  And what frustrates me is that just 4 years ago, I weighed 75 pounds less and felt great.

In addition, I decided to change gyms.  I thought I needed a change of scenery (and plus this new place is where the trainer does his thing).

The last thing I decided to do is to write about my progress.  Not necessarily every day (although that is the goal) but often enough that it becomes a habit, just like working out.

So here we go.

Tomorrow will be my first personal training day.  The last 3 days, I did go to the gym on my own, mostly just to test myself if I was really committed.   These last few days I have eaten right, and even decided not to have my evening cocktail, um cocktails, which proved more challenging than I thought.

Do you know how much more you get accomplished at night if you don’t spend the time with a cocktail in your hand in front of the TV?  Even now, here I am after 9 p.m. writing this article (because I can’t sleep). Usually, I would be watching TV and ignoring the family. (sorta).

But not today.  Got home from work, cleaned the house, made dinner, paid the bills, watched tv for a bit with the wife and now just trying to find something to do to pass the time. Weird!

More tomorrow. Promise.

3 Day Weekend, 13 Hours & Not Going To Santa Barbara

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

My 3 Day Weekend – Not

While it is a 3 day weekend for some, it certainly is not for me.  I don’t think I have had a 3 day weekend since I have started this business.  Because when you are a business owner, you are always working.  Our offices might be closed, but I am always working.

Point in fact, I am sitting here at home writing this article and earlier in the morning was recording videos and posting them on my Divorce661 Facebook page.

When I even hint at complaining about feeling like I am always working, my wife is always there to remind me of all the good things that come with owning a business. And she is right.  My wife works hard.  She is up by 5 and out the door by 6 to be in Los Angeles by 8.  She takes the Metrolink and isn’t home until 7:30 p.m.  At least my business has the flexibility for me to leave the office as necessary to take our son to his tutoring and the other activities he needs to get to.

The thing about owning a business is that it is always on your mind.  For me, I am always thinking of how to generate business.  Always thinking about marketing and much of that occurs in the evening or on the weekends since most of my Monday through Friday during business hours is spent working with clients.

13 Hours – The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi

Today I took my wife and son to see the movie 13 Hours – The secret Soldiers of Benghazi. I really enjoy movies that are based on true stories and this one said “This is a true story” it did not say based on so I assume they stuck to much of what actually happened.  The other thing I enjoy is watching military type movies and thrillers.

This is probably from my having been in the Military.  But this movie kept you on the edge of you seat and was a great, great movie.  My wife even said she wanted to see it again and I there were no complaints from our son.  And I won’t get into my personal politics or feelings about what happened in Benghazi.

Not Going To Santa Barbara

My birthday was this past Wednesday on the 13th.  We did not do anything fancy, in fact we did nothing and was just a regular day.  So my wife said we could do whatever I wanted on the weekend.  So I booked three nights in Santa Barbara at an RV Resort names Flying Flags.  I had never been there but saw a friend post on Facebook how much they liked it there a few months ago.

I could tell that my wife was pretty exhausted from the week and decided to call it off.  I made up a story about having a lot of things to do for the business.  My wife is way tougher than me and would never say anything, especially if it was something I wanted to do.  So I knew that if I did not call it off, she would not either.  She would just go and not complain.  In fact she would just make the best of it and you wouldn’t know if she was not feeling well or not.

So we did not go to Santa Barbara for the weekend and just stayed home. She slept 10 hours and did not wake up until 9 am on Saturday which proved to me that I was on track and she needed her rest.  Right now in fact we put on a movie from Netflix and I just looked over and while I write this she has passed out and is sleeping.  It is only 5 p.m. I knew she needed to rest.

As much as feel like I am working, I do enjoy writing these personal posts.  Not so much for other people to read them, which people like you obviously do, which is great.  But I actually enjoy writing just for writing. And perhaps when I am gone one day, these articles I write can be viewed by my wife and children as sort of a diary.

My daughter who is in college now just returned from the gym at LA Fitness and went by Wal-Mart to grab a few things from the house.

Well enough of the personal posts, I have to get back to uploading videos to my blog and to Youtube.

Talk to you tomorrow.  Tim

 

Santa Clarita Divorce | Is There A Divorce Season?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

After being in business going on 5 years and processing about 30 to 40 divorce cases each and every month one starts to see a pattern. It seems that there are definite busy times and times which are not so busy. I have always tried to make sense of this and this is what I came up with.

Between January and May of every year we are extremely busy. The phones don’t stop ringing and I often ask myself, “Is there anyone left that has not been divorced?” This time of year is known as “divorce season.”

Then, beginning around June the amount of divorce cases slows a bit. Then it picks right up around September and stays busy until late November. Again, it slows a bit November through the end of the year.

Can you see a pattern? Here are my thoughts.

January through June is very busy for a couple of reasons. I think the number one reason is that people who would have filed for divorce between Thanksgiving through December have held off until after all the holidays. This is part to blame for the crush of new clients starting about the 2nd week of January. Secondly, I think we can blame the holidays themselves for creating more stress in peoples lives.

Then, when the kids get out of school in May / June and folks are busy with their kids, taking vacations and are just too busy to start their divorce. Again, it picks up right after the kids go back to school in August / September and remains busy until right about Thanksgiving.

While January is commonly referred to as “divorce season” there are definitely patterns I see that appear to simply be a matter of when our kids are in school and the holidays.

Tim Blankenship is a Legal Document Assistant (LDA) specializing in California divorce. For more information about our services, please visit Divorce661.com or contact us for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266.

Providing affordable and professional family law paralegal services.

Our Love – Hate Relationship With YELP – Santa Clarita Divorce Reviews

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

There are lots of stories on the internet about how people, mostly business owners, hate YELP.  And there appears to be a good reason to hate them.

We work hard to deliver great customer service to our clients and we like to be rewarded with positive reviews.  It is important as social proof when our clients leave us a positive review because folks considering using our service look to those reviews when deciding on using our service.

As of this writing, we have Ten (10) Five Star Reviews on Yelp.  However, Yelp has decided to “filter out” half of them, leaving us with only 5 reviews.  In fact, this “filter” has kept us at 5 reviews for a long time.  Almost like there is a cap on how many reviews they will allow to be posted.

I find it a bit suspicious.  A review that seemed to make it through the filter for months, will suddenly be filtered out when a new review is posted.

What is frustrating is that all our reviews are legitimate customer reviews.  Yelp says that their filter is there is filter out certain reviews so that only credible reviews are shown.  How is it then that we have reviews show up for months and then suddenly drop off when we get another great review.

And I have one more thing to add, and it may be a coincidence, but just after a salesperson from Yelp called asking for us to spend over $300 per month in advertising with them, which i refused, we began seeing more of our reviews become filtered.

Now, let’s talk about the positive side of Yelp.  Lot’s of people go to Yelp looking for reviews on business’s.  But, more importantly, they rank really well on the search engines.

So when you search for businesses on Google, they will generally come up on the first page.  So I am sure we are getting some free traffic from Yelp that we may not ordinarily be getting.

I just wanted to share our love- hate relationship with Yelp.  I may advertise with them in the future, but not because I think they will release our reviews that are being held hostage.

Where do you weigh in on Yelp? Has it helped or hurt your business?

Things To Do In Santa Clarita – Get A Divorce!

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Things To Do In Santa Clarita – Get A Divorce!

What? I can’t believe that you would write an article about things to do in Santa Clarita and then say “get a divorce” as the answer.

But it is true.  I didn’t say things your want to do in Santa Clarita, I just said things to do in Santa Clarita.

It is a fact that folks are getting divorced in record numbers these days.  Depending on what you read, it is estimated that as much as 50% to 70% of the population will at some point get divorced.

At first, this seems like a huge number, and it is. It almost seems unbelievable, but if you really think about it, it really isn’t.

I know that a lot of my friends have gotten a divorce.  I know that more of my daughters friends are divorced than married.  Think about your own friends and friends of your children who are divorced.  The numbers are really up there.

Divorce is certainly not something that you want to do.  But if it is going to happen, you need to make sure you understand how divorce works.  That is why we write these types of articles.  We want to get information out there about divorce so people can gain an understanding of it.

We have been providing an affordable divorce service in Santa Clarita for quite some time now and with each year that passes, we continue to grow.  I am sure it is a combination of our marketing as well as people wanting to get divorced and not spend their lives savings.

If you are considering getting a divorce, make sure to spend some time on this website.  We have written hundreds of articles, videos and poscasts about divorce and the divorce process.

When you are ready to move forward with your divorce, please give us a call.

Santa Clarita Halloween Events 2013

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

I was going to write this article about Halloween Events in Santa Clarita to try to write something a little different than about Santa Clarita Divorce which we have written about more than 1000 times.

So as I started to do some research on Halloween events going on in Santa Clarita this year, I saw that a couple of people had already wrote some great articles and covered Halloween Events in Santa Clarita in much more depth than I had planned.

So I will get off easy and reference the folks that already put in the hard work.

First article on Santa Clarita Halloween Events 2013 I came across was written by Zach McReynolds who happens to be a Real Estate agent with Home Smart here in Santa Clarita.  He wrote a nice post about some of the fun things to do in Santa Clarita for Halloween in 2013.

He had lots of links to Lombardi Ranch, Six Flags Magic Mountain and a Heritage Haunt in Newhall.

Next I cam across Tony Lewis’s blog who is also a Realtor. Wow, these realtors really do a good job of getting information out about events…  Anyhow, he had a full page full of links to Halloween Events in and around Santa Clarita.  He even made the links orange and looks like he really put a lot of work into it.  Make sure to check it out.

And one last mention is the Santa Clarita Guide, which listed lots of events for Halloween In Santa Clarita. They also did a good job of listing events.  I saw a Ghost Walk, the Haunted Jailhouse over at the Sheriffs Station and good old Fright Fest.

Make sure to jump on over to those sites for some great ideas on Santa Clarita Halloween Events in 2013 which is right around the corner.

Wait, it’s in 2 days.  Better run out and get some candy….

Santa Clarita Roundabouts | What Do You Think About Them?

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Yes, a little off topic from our usual divorce blog posts, but I wanted to see where people weigh in on the Santa Clarita Roundabouts that seem to be taking over in Castaic, Newhall and another proposed for Sand Canyon.

Oh, this is going to be fun, because I get to talk a little trash to people who don’t know how to drive…

First, let me say this.  If you are in the outside lane, you cannot continue around a turn if there is an exit because the person if the person in the inside lane exits (which they are allowed to do) you will be hit.. 

Okay, I feel better now.  If I had a dollar for every time someone cut in front of me, I would be a rich man.  I would have crashed at least a dozen times if I had not predicted someone is going to do something stupid.

I am teaching my daughter how to drive right now and I use that all the time.  We know it as “defensive Driving” but I tell my daughter, “Expect people to do stupid things”.

In a recent Santa Clarita Valley Signal Article, they discussed the current construction of a new roundabout in Newhall along Newhall Avenue near Fourth Street.  Boy did people chime in about how they hate roundabouts and how they are dangerous.

Let’s talk about that for a bit.  The safety of roundabouts.

First, I will say this.  The roundabouts are as safe as the drivers are aware of how to proceed through a roundabout.  See above bold text for a hint.  But one thing is for sure, you will not see a T-Bone crash in a roundabout.  So from a safety perspective, I think roundabouts are safer.

how_to_drive_a_roundabout

Perhaps there is more accidents due to driver ignorance, but they will most likely be minimal damages.

Personally, I like the roundabouts.  The one’s in Castaic, CA keep traffic moving better than if they were signals.  So for me, I like the idea of roundabouts and think they are classy.

Let me know where you weigh in on this topic.

Should You Trust A Craigslist Divorce Service | Santa Clarita

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

We do a lot of marketing on the Internet by writing informative articles or blogs. This is how we get the word out about our Santa Clarita Divorce Service.

The other day, a friend of mine recommended we advertise on Craigslist.  He said why wouldn’t you?  It’s free?

So being the savvy Internet marketer I am, I decided to do a little research on Craigslist to see if this would be an appropriate place to market our divorce paralegal service.

So I went to Craigslist and researched the “Legal Services” section.

My first reaction was “I won’t be caught dead advertising my service on this site!”

When I searched for divorce services I found all kinds of hole-in-the-wall divorce services.  What I found interesting is that the major idea behind advertising on Craigslist is to say how cheap you are.  Everyone is talking about price.  You would think they are selling used tires.

I also found that non of the people advertising divorce services actually have a website, business address or even a business phone number.

I looked up a phone number that was listed on one of the Craigslist ads for divorce services.  I Google’d the phone number which was tied to a someones home.  I dug a little deeper and found that not only was this company not a company at all, but that they were not even licensed to provide divorce document preparation at all.

This is the biggest problem with this industry.  There are too many people saying they are paralegals when they are not even allowed by law to provide services to people.

This is most likely why they advertise on these underground sites so they can stay under the radar.

If you are going to do business with a Santa Clarita Divorce service, make sure they are licensed to perform divorce document preparation.

You can find our Santa Clarita Divorce Document Preparation Service license right on our website.

These folks out there give a bad name to us reputable companies.  We end up having to fix everything they do wrong and they have zero accountability.  Don’t fall prey to the low cost hole-in-the-wall-won’t-be-there-tomorrow divorce services.

Give us a call.  We would be happy to help with your divorce case in Santa Clarita.

Our executive offices are located at 27240 Turnberry Lane, Ste. 200 Valencia, CA 91355 and you can reach our business at 661-281-0266.