Fun way to exercise...

As you all know, one of the keys to exercising do something you enjoy. For me, I've gotten in to tennis. I'm lucky to have a court right across the street from me. Every chance I get, I practice my serves. Unfortunately it hasn't helped much. Tennis is alot more tiring than it looks. After a while, my right arm basically feels like rubber; however, I enjoy it, and it makes exercising enjoyable. That's what everyone should do; find something enjoyable so you won't dread exercising.

MedicScan

Some of you may have noticed that when you go to the doctor now they may scan your driver's license or health insurance cards into the computer. This blew me away the first time it happened. If you want more details about one of the programs that allows them to do this check out Medicscan. MediScan is pretty straight forward and easy to use. You just insert the card into the scanner, and it automatically scans both sides of the card simultaneously into the computer. The image can then be stored on the computer or on the local area network for later use. This type of technology should greatly improve the medical industry. It should use less paperwork, increase productivity, and cut down on human error. I can see where in the future there won't even be any paper files. It will all be done on computer. So if you want to see more details about how this technology works check out Medicscan.

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Stressed Out

Well, I hate to sound like I'm whining to you guys, but I'm a little stressed out. As you might remember from one my previous posts, one of our employees left us for another job last Friday. Well, another employee has now given her resignation. That cuts our office staff in half. It is the busy time of the month on top of all that. We all know what stress does to one's eating habits. I've caught myself snacking when I'm not even really hungry. I've got to do better. I'm going to start trying breathing exercises and just take it one day at a time. Please keep me in mind and I hope things start looking up here at work.

Whogets.com - Online Game Show

There is a new online game show called whogets.com. It is free to play with nothing to buy or spam to receive. All you have to do is sign up. Here's how it works. After signing up there are many contests you can choose from. Each contest has two rounds. In the first the prize is displayed and you choose whether or not you want to enter to win the prize. At the end of this round seven contestants are randomly chosen to go the next round. In this round those seven contestants write a brief explanation as to why they want or need the prize. Then all other members vote on who they think should win. The contestant with the most votes wins the prize. You might want to go join whogets.com. It's free and there is a good chance of winning something.

This post has been a sponsored or paid post.

Meade mySky

If you are like me, you don't know the difference between Orion's Belt and the Big Dipper but you enjoy looking up into the night sky. Well, there is this cool new gadget called the meade my sky. The mySky is a hand-held device that helps you to identify celestial objects. It is easy to use. All you do is turn it on, point it at what you want identified, and pull the trigger. It then tells you what you are looking at on a full-color LCD screen. If you have a Meade computerized telescope the mySky can actually control it. You just point and shoot and the telescope moves to the target you choose. The meade my sky uses GPS and other technologies to identify over 30,000 objects in the sky and can give you a tour of the best objects in your sky based on your date, time, and location. It's amazing what they are coming up with. It is really pretty cool so you might want to check out the meade my sky.

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Ate Too Much

Today, we had a going away party for one of our employees who is changing jobs. We ordered out for pizza, and I ate entirely too much. I probably had twice my daily caloric intake in one meal. It will be ok though. I'll hit the gym this weekend, and I've got plenty of yard work to do. I'll have to eat healthy over the weekend to make up for it.

Consumer Reports Diet Ratings

The June 2007 issue of Consumer Reports has a really great article that rates several of the latest diet books and plans. The article summizes that the basic rule of weight loss (take in fewer calories than you burn) has not changed but the techniques to achieve this put forth by the different plans and books do differ.

The article reviews seven diet books. Since most of them are new and haven't been put to a clinical trial, the books were rated on an expert-panel questionnaire and analysis of nutritional quality. All the books offered healthful menus but differed in the restrictiveness of the diets and the quality of exercise and nutritional science information. The books reviewed in order of their overall score are The Best Life Diet; Eat, Drink, & Weigh Less; You On A Diet; The Abs Diet; The South Beach Diet; The Sonoma Diet; and Ultra-Metabolism. Please read the article or go to www.ConsumerReports.org to read the detailed analysis of the diet books.

The article also reviews eight diet plans. All the plans reviewed have been tested in clinical trials and published in scientific journals. However, they have generally produced less than 10% weight loss after a year and have had dropout rates of more than 20%. The diet plans were scored on adherence to nutritional guidelines and the results of published clinical studies. The plans reviewed in order of their overall score are Volumetrics, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slim-Fast, eDiets, The Zone Diet, Ornish Diet, and Atkins Diet. Please read the article or go to www.ConsumerReports.org to read the detailed analysis of the diet plans.

Finally, the article offers some general strategies that are fairly common to all successful diets: choose and limit your fats, eat healthfully but sparingly, cut out simple or refined carbs, and fill up on low-density foods. It also warns that there is no silver bullet to weight loss and quick fixes such as diet pills can actually do more harm than good.

This article is very well written and researched. I suggest everyone read it especially those of us who are trying to lose weight or are considering buying one of these diet books or starting one of the reviewed diet plans.

Sports

I'm a huge sports fan. I love baseball, I love watching basketball, and I could watch and play football all year. I Lebron and the Cavs made it to the NBA Finals, but did you guys notice the number of players and managers thrown out of games this weekend. I was insane. It must have been a full moon or something. First of all, Rasheed Wallace need to be beat with his daddy's belt, because he's nothing but a big baby. The Cub's manager was just acting out of frustration, and Joe Torre about the same. I guess it's a little suprising that my man Bobby Cox wasn't kicked out.

I didn't get in much of a workout this weekend, but I didn't play a couple of games of tennis. I was 1-1. I finally learned how to serve consistantly, hooray. I also danced, and I know you guys don't know or don't care, but that's not good. Have a wonderful Monday.

Rehab Referral Service

I think my boss has finally found a way to find the best drug treatment program for her family member with an addiction. She discovered 1800nodrugs.com, a free drug rehabilitation service. It is a service designed to help drug addicts, alcoholics, chronic relapse victims, and their families find an effective drug rehab and intervention for alcoholism and drug addiction of the highest quality at no cost. They are familiar with the thousands of centers and programs in the nation and can help addicts or family members find the one most appropriate for them. Their website also has a lot of good information about various addictions, ranging from alcoholism to prescription drug abuse to hard drugs such as cocaine and heroine. As you might remember from my previous posts, my boss and the rest of her family were having trouble agreeing on where to send their relative for treatment. She is hopeful that when they all sit down together and call 1-800-NO-DRUGS they will be able to agree on the best place for their loved one. I will try to keep you posted on their results and please continue to remember them in your prayers.
This is a sponsored post.

Stop Your Addiction

My boss just found another drug rehab program she likes for her family member suffering from addiction. It is called the First Step 28 Day Drug Rehab program. It is an alternative to normal 12 step programs. The First Step Drug Rehab helps to achieve sobriety in 5 Stages: Detoxification and Withdrawal, Self Control and Communication Exercises, Sauna Cleansing Process, Study Improvement, and Drug Free Remedies for Discomforts. My boss seems to think that since her family member has already been through the normal 12 step program and slipped back into addiction that one of these all natural programs will help him change the way he feels and thinks about drugs and addiction. Like I mentioned in a previous post the only problem is the rest of the family wants to keep him in Georgia and this program is in Michigan. But please keep praying for this man.

This post has been a sponsored or paid post.

Drug Rehab

My boss has a family member that has a problem with drug addiction. He overdosed a few weeks ago and she had to leave work to check on him at the hospital. They had to pump his stomach among other things. Lately she has been looking for a drug treatment center to enroll him in. He has been to one before but he returned to his old problem. My boss was looking on the internet for information on different centers and come across the Stone Hawk website. She was very impressed. The center has one of the highest success rates, 76%, in the country. They use an all natural approach to treat addiction. The program uses vitamins, minerals, exercise, and education to detox and rehabilitate the patients. Stone Hawk is run by people that were once addicts themselves so they understand what the patients are going through. The only drawback for my boss is that the center is located in Michigan and her other family members want to keep him in Georgia. She is still trying to convince them to use Stone Hawk, but I just hope he gets the help that he needs wherever he goes. I'll be praying for him, and I hope you will too.

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News

What is going on with people today? How stupid, excuse me, can folks get? I mean, what kind of idiot would board an international flight with a serious and very contagious strain of TB? He should be locked up. If he is so careless and selfish that he would potentially expose so many people to this disease and risk their health, than he should be dealt with like a criminal. Not only that, but this could send a message, an idea, to terrorist. This guy was in the system and should never have been allowed on the flight; so what does that truly say about the security? Hopefully everyone exposed will check out o.k. Although I've been too busy to really exercise as I would like, I'm still doing all I can to maintain my weight and stay healthy. That's all I can do. Stay safe.

Hammock Chair

I've found a new way to relax guys. I discovered it on my trip to Charleston. There was a guy with a hammock chair on the beach. He let me borrow it for a while and it was one of the most relaxing things I have ever sat in. It was almost like I was floating on air. Of course I was very tired from all that walking up and down the beach we were doing. So when I got home I decided I would buy a hammock for myself. I decided to do some research on the internet before I bought one and the best site I found was hammocksrock.com. It has information about all the different types of hammocks and what they are made out of. I've read through all the descriptions and I think I have decided on getting a portable hammock. That way I can use it at home to relax after a workout or I can take it on my next trip to the beach. I am probably going to go with one of the more popular brands such as hatteras hammocks. If you guys have never sat or laid in a hammock, you have got to try it, and before you get one of your own, I strongly encourage you to read up about them on hammocksrock.com.
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What happens to time??

When you have little to do, the days last 30 hours, but when you're swamped, the days last 4 hours. Why is that? There's no way I can get finished with all I have to do. Will I ever get to see the gym again? I know what you're thinking? "Then why are you blogging?" I don't care how busy you are, you have to have a break from work. I do anyway, I'd go crazy otherwise. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to be cautious about what I eat until I'm able to go back to the gym, right.

PPP Direct

You guys may remember one of my previous post where I talked about blogging for extra income. I a site called smorty; however, I've found a much better site. Some of you may have heard of it. It's called Pay Per Post, and it's the perfect place to make money blogging. There are always opportunities and articles to write. Of course, the higher your page rank, the more money you can make, but, even with a page rank of 3, you can make a great extra income. PayPerPost is a good way maximize your blogging profits while having a service that will make sure you get paid for your work.

PPP Direct is much better than its comptetitors for several reasons. First of all it cuts out the massive overhead. Other sites like ReviewMe charge 50-100% markup, and they keep up to half your money, but PPP Direct only charges a 10% fee, 5% of which goes to transaction fees for PayPal and credit card processing. I love how PPP Direct allows you to view the open opportunities and choose the ones you want. You never have to wait until an opportunity is presented. There is always something to write about.

If any one of you is interested in earning some extra spending money, PPP Direct is definitely worth checking out. Feel free to:

Check out the details here:
http://blog.payperpost.com/2007/05/part-one-of-birdo-release.html

Watch the overview video:
http://blog.payperpost.com/2007/05/payperpost-direct-overview.html

See it live in action:
http://andybeard.eu/

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, today has been a hassle. I've barely had time to eat, which I guess is a good thing being that I pretty much pigged out this weekend. We have deadlines to meet, but no one seems to have things together. We're supposed to have the budget for FY08 in really soon, but the big shots in the state office hasn't given us the information on how much money to budget for what. It's crazy. They've had plenty of time to get this crap together, and yet they expect us to put it together in a couple of day. I guess that's what you do if you have the power.

Bid4Prizes

Ok guys. I know everybody likes free gifts and I've found a site that lets you play a game to win prizes: www.bid4prizes.com. It is really simple to play. All you do is find a prize that you want a place a bid on it. You can bid with either your computer or text message with your cell. The person with the lowest unique bid wins. You don't have to pay for the amount bid or for shipping. It is completely free. The prizes range from HDTVs to designer bags to cash prizes. It is not a sweepstakes or an actual auction. You just try to get the lowest unique bid amount. If someone else bids the same as you then you bid again. The only catch that I've found is you have to view ads in order to bid. But viewing a couple of ads is a small nuisance when you win an HDTV and they ship it to you for free. Check it out.

Weekend workout

Ok, so I didn't actually go to the gym, run, or ride my bike this holiday weekend, but I didn't trim shrubs all day yesterday. If you don't already know, trust me, that's better than any workout you can get at the gym. My shoulder, lower back and legs are so sore today. I think I almost dehydrated. When I finally got something to drink, I think I must've drank a gallon of sweet tea. That was about the extint of my weekend. I went to a graduation party Saturday night and a graduation Sunday night, but that was my exciting weekend. Hope everyone had a great one.