Sunday, September 5, 2010
Monday, May 11, 2009
How to Pick a Gym
Ten things you must do before you finally break down and commit to any gym membership. 
1. MAKE SURE THE LOCATION IS CONVENIENT. Ideally, your gym should be on the route between your home and your job so you see it every day and have no excuse for not stopping.
2. CHECK OUT THE GYM DURING THE HOURS YOU PLAN TO WORK OUT (and not some afternoon you take off from the office). That way, you'll know exactly the kind of crowd to expect when you start going. Also, scope out the parking lot. How easily are you able to get a parking space?
3. VISIT THE GYM DURING ITS PEAK HOURS if you’re looking for a trainer. If you can find one who’s available, you know exactly whom not to hire; he's probably no good.
4. MAKE SURE THE GYM HAS WHAT YOU NEED. A good gym should have the following:
Dumbbells that increase by small increments - particularly ranging from 5 to 50 pounds
A set of two dumbbells for every weight up to 50 pounds
At least one set of every weight from 55 to 100 pounds
At least one squat rack for every 5,000 square feet
5. LOOK UNDER THE CARDIO EQUIPMENT. If you see dust or trash under the treadmills, stationary bikes or elliptical machines, the gym’s equipment isn't well maintained.
6. INSPECT THE CLIENTELE. Is the gym crowd mainly young or old, yuppie or hard-core? More important, how do you fit into the mix?
7. LOOK IN THE SHOWER AND THE LOCKER ROOM and ask your self, is this a place I want to be naked in?
8. ASK FOR REFERENCES. Talk to the gym's patrons and ask them what they dislike most about the place. If you find they love the wide selection of free weights but complain that the locker rooms are always filthy, you might decide if it's worth joining. You can also choose to shower at home instead of the gym.
9. EVALUATE YOUR CONTRACT. Most reputable gyms use closed-ended contracts. That means that when your membership expires, your payments end. Some shady gyms tend to offer open ended the deals. Translation: even when your membership expires, you continue to be charged until you tell them to stop. It's legit, but sneaky; they hope you wouldn't notice.
10. GET A FREE PASS. A gym should offer some form of free evaluation, introductory workout or complimentary session before you join. This is your chance to finally decide if this is the right gym for you. If you have a 1-week pass, make sure that you go every day or as many days as you can. You can do different exercises and utilize different machines on each visit.
1. MAKE SURE THE LOCATION IS CONVENIENT. Ideally, your gym should be on the route between your home and your job so you see it every day and have no excuse for not stopping.
2. CHECK OUT THE GYM DURING THE HOURS YOU PLAN TO WORK OUT (and not some afternoon you take off from the office). That way, you'll know exactly the kind of crowd to expect when you start going. Also, scope out the parking lot. How easily are you able to get a parking space?
3. VISIT THE GYM DURING ITS PEAK HOURS if you’re looking for a trainer. If you can find one who’s available, you know exactly whom not to hire; he's probably no good.
4. MAKE SURE THE GYM HAS WHAT YOU NEED. A good gym should have the following:
Dumbbells that increase by small increments - particularly ranging from 5 to 50 pounds
A set of two dumbbells for every weight up to 50 pounds
At least one set of every weight from 55 to 100 pounds
At least one squat rack for every 5,000 square feet
5. LOOK UNDER THE CARDIO EQUIPMENT. If you see dust or trash under the treadmills, stationary bikes or elliptical machines, the gym’s equipment isn't well maintained.
6. INSPECT THE CLIENTELE. Is the gym crowd mainly young or old, yuppie or hard-core? More important, how do you fit into the mix?
7. LOOK IN THE SHOWER AND THE LOCKER ROOM and ask your self, is this a place I want to be naked in?
8. ASK FOR REFERENCES. Talk to the gym's patrons and ask them what they dislike most about the place. If you find they love the wide selection of free weights but complain that the locker rooms are always filthy, you might decide if it's worth joining. You can also choose to shower at home instead of the gym.
9. EVALUATE YOUR CONTRACT. Most reputable gyms use closed-ended contracts. That means that when your membership expires, your payments end. Some shady gyms tend to offer open ended the deals. Translation: even when your membership expires, you continue to be charged until you tell them to stop. It's legit, but sneaky; they hope you wouldn't notice.
10. GET A FREE PASS. A gym should offer some form of free evaluation, introductory workout or complimentary session before you join. This is your chance to finally decide if this is the right gym for you. If you have a 1-week pass, make sure that you go every day or as many days as you can. You can do different exercises and utilize different machines on each visit.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
THE DREAM COME TRUE
Terius “The-Dream” Nash is working hard to ensure people recognize his name. Prior to releasing his own album, “Love Hate,” Nash was already an established and respected writer within the music industry, having co-written Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” and most of Mary J. Blige’s “Growing Pains” album. For most, the opportunity to work with such queens of pop would be a dream in itself, but Nash aspires for much more: He wants to write, produce and perform his music, and avoid being pigeonholed as just another “ring-tone artist.”For those unfamiliar with Nash’s music, think of a lighter version of T-Pain: just a touch of synth, but barely enough to still be able to hear his real voice over slow-driven beats. His debut album, Love Hate, featuring his hit single, “Shawty is a 10,” sold 59,000 in its first week after dropping and eventually went gold. And with the release of his sophomore album, Love vs. Money, which is out March 10, Nash hopes for the same amount of success, if not more. The lyrics to “Rockin’ That Thang,” his first single off the album, came to him in a matter of minutes. “I went to the studio at 4 a.m., wrote it in 20 minutes and it was a wrap,” he says. “The song is about feeling the moment. When you’re dancing with a girl, the music is playing, your eyes are closed and she is just rocking — you’re feeling really good.” While some songs come to him in a matter of minutes, others require some retail therapy When The-Dream needs to get into a hit-making mood, he goes on a shopping spree. “Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana — as long as I get a good $20,000 worth, that is all the high that I need,” he says. “Those bags that I bring back to the studio set the mood.”
Nash’s dreams don’t end with just music. He is currently working on his clothing line, Millionaire Love Affair, as well as a reality show on MTV in which he searches for new and talented artists. And what dream doesn’t include late-night parties? “I drink so much Patron, they almost have to wheel me home.” He works hard. He plays hard. Yep, he is living The-Dream.
Album: Love Hate (2007)
Singles: Shawty is a 10, Falsetto
Hit List:
Rihanna (Umbrella)
Mary J. Blige (Just Fine)
J. Holiday (Bed, Suffocate)
B2K (Everything)
Britney Spears/Madonna (Me Against the Music)
Highlights: Grammy nominated for song of the year (Umbrella) Both Umbrella and Bed were No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2007. His debut album was No.35 in Billboard after eight weeks.
On writing: “I don’t even try to put myself in the picture when I’m writing, After I finish a song, I try to figure out whether or not I could do it. Even if I’m going to give it to Usher or Chris Brown or someone else, I still try to see if it’s a song that I could sing, just in case one of those guys don’t want it.”
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Money Management
First of all, let me state here that I am a simple, everyday dude. I am a business owner and an accountant with a Bachelor’s degree. Managing your money does not take any special skills that you have to study for. Apart from my mortgage and student loans, I do not have any credit card or other debt. I was able to pay off all of my credit cards while I had 2 incomes (a 9-5 and my business http://www.inmate-connection.com/). If you are paying only the minimum payments on your credit card balances, you are wasting your time as you will never pay off those credit cards. Pay MORE than the minimum balance (as much more as you comfortably can). The whole idea is to eliminate that debt. The credit card companies are making a killing on you by charging you interest monthly. When you make that minimum payment, look at your credit card statement the following month; has it changed much? NO it hasn’t! Simply because the minimum payment that you made, had little effect on the interest that you are being charged. Especially if your interest rate is 14% or higher. Look at this example:
Your balance: $2,456.73
Subtract min. payment you made: $ 25.00
2,431.73
Interest 18% 437.71
New Balance 2,869.44
In this example, you can clearly see that your balance is increasing and the payment that you make is not reducing your balance. You have to pay more than the minimum balance in order to pay down this balance. You can also call the credit card company and get them to lower your interest rate. If possible, try to talk to a manager or supervisor and plead with them that you have been a faithful customer (since you opened the account) and that you have been making your payments on time. This will not work if you have a history of late and missed payments! Oh and by the way, DO NOT charge anything else on that credit card. In fact, you need to hide or throw away your credit cards and pay either cash or from your debit card. Even though I have many credit cards, I have stopped using them and I now get letters like this:
Re: Account ending in xxxx
HSBC Credit Card Account issued by HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A.
Dear xxxxx xxxxxxx:
Due to inactivity on your HSBC Credit Card this Account has been closed. We proactively close accounts that are inactive to protect our cardmembers from potential fraud and identity theft
As an additional security measure, please remember to destroy all credit cards and checks associated with this Account. If you would like to apply for a new account with HSBC, please call our Customer Service Department
1-800-379-7999.
We look forward to future opportunities to serve you.
Sincerely,
HSBC Credit Card
Credit Card Services
I just smile and throw them away knowing that I would rather keep my money in my pocket than pay high interest fees to them.
Your balance: $2,456.73
Subtract min. payment you made: $ 25.00
2,431.73
Interest 18% 437.71
New Balance 2,869.44
In this example, you can clearly see that your balance is increasing and the payment that you make is not reducing your balance. You have to pay more than the minimum balance in order to pay down this balance. You can also call the credit card company and get them to lower your interest rate. If possible, try to talk to a manager or supervisor and plead with them that you have been a faithful customer (since you opened the account) and that you have been making your payments on time. This will not work if you have a history of late and missed payments! Oh and by the way, DO NOT charge anything else on that credit card. In fact, you need to hide or throw away your credit cards and pay either cash or from your debit card. Even though I have many credit cards, I have stopped using them and I now get letters like this:
Re: Account ending in xxxx
HSBC Credit Card Account issued by HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A.
Dear xxxxx xxxxxxx:
Due to inactivity on your HSBC Credit Card this Account has been closed. We proactively close accounts that are inactive to protect our cardmembers from potential fraud and identity theft
As an additional security measure, please remember to destroy all credit cards and checks associated with this Account. If you would like to apply for a new account with HSBC, please call our Customer Service Department
1-800-379-7999.
We look forward to future opportunities to serve you.
Sincerely,
HSBC Credit Card
Credit Card Services
I just smile and throw them away knowing that I would rather keep my money in my pocket than pay high interest fees to them.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Prison Overcrowding
The Effects of Prison Overcrowding in California prisons.
In July 2008, a panel of three federal judges had a meeting to decide on solutions to prison overcrowding. At the same time, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger disclosed that the state was facing a severe budget crisis and declared that the state was in a financial crisis. The panel of three judges threatened to order the release of thousands of inmates blaming unconstitutional treatment of California’s more than 150,000 inmate population. (Wollan, 2008). The judges view this as one way of reducing the State’s expenses on the costly corrections system. They proposed the release of thousands of inmates who are currently incarcerated for petty crimes and parole violations. Inmates who they consider as low-risk offenders and not a threat to society. Every year, there seems to be an issue with managing the state’s budget and those responsible fail to realize that we are spending more than we are generating. That simply means that our expenses are more than we have budgeted for and we have exceeded our spending limit.
The main idea of the article is to prove that overcrowding results in unconstitutional treatment of California’s inmates. I chose this article because prison overcrowding has been a major issue in California prisons for the last 20 years. Not only are some correctional facilitates operating at their maximum capacity; some have already exceeded that capacity. “A punishment-only prison policy” (Califano, February 21, 1998). In fact, in California, some gymnasiums have been converted to dormitory-style living to accommodate the ever-increasing inmate population.
Overcrowding in prisons creates competition for limited space and resources, can lead to fighting, aggression, disruptive behavior, stress, suicide, violence, plotting, homosexual activity and the spread of disease among inmates. Although there are opportunities in some prisons for inmates to train and work in skilled areas like auto-mechanics, refrigeration, manufacturing license plates and farming, these programs are limited and not all inmates will or can get the opportunity to participate. Overcrowding has also been attributed to the rise in crime and drug use over the last 20 years and the California Three Strikes law, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life for repeat offenders. Other contributing factors that lead to the increase in the prison population are population growth, increased arrests for driving under the influence (DUI) and domestic violence.
There were no clear and concise conclusions and recommendations by the author of the article. Malia Wollan, the author reported only on comments from one of the federal judges, a lawyer for the inmates, the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are some solutions to prison overcrowding that I would recommend; most notably are the design of prison facilities to accommodate the influx of inmates and the reduction of the prison population by developing community based alternatives to incarceration. Community supervision costs much less than incarceration. California’s Three Strikes Law should also be amended to punish repeat ‘violent’ offenders and not just offenders who have committed minor offences that would send them back to prison for life. I would recommend that we stay within our budget and spending limits; grow more of the food that we consume and produce more of the goods and services that we import from other countries.
http://www.inmate-connection.com/
In July 2008, a panel of three federal judges had a meeting to decide on solutions to prison overcrowding. At the same time, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger disclosed that the state was facing a severe budget crisis and declared that the state was in a financial crisis. The panel of three judges threatened to order the release of thousands of inmates blaming unconstitutional treatment of California’s more than 150,000 inmate population. (Wollan, 2008). The judges view this as one way of reducing the State’s expenses on the costly corrections system. They proposed the release of thousands of inmates who are currently incarcerated for petty crimes and parole violations. Inmates who they consider as low-risk offenders and not a threat to society. Every year, there seems to be an issue with managing the state’s budget and those responsible fail to realize that we are spending more than we are generating. That simply means that our expenses are more than we have budgeted for and we have exceeded our spending limit.
The main idea of the article is to prove that overcrowding results in unconstitutional treatment of California’s inmates. I chose this article because prison overcrowding has been a major issue in California prisons for the last 20 years. Not only are some correctional facilitates operating at their maximum capacity; some have already exceeded that capacity. “A punishment-only prison policy” (Califano, February 21, 1998). In fact, in California, some gymnasiums have been converted to dormitory-style living to accommodate the ever-increasing inmate population.
Overcrowding in prisons creates competition for limited space and resources, can lead to fighting, aggression, disruptive behavior, stress, suicide, violence, plotting, homosexual activity and the spread of disease among inmates. Although there are opportunities in some prisons for inmates to train and work in skilled areas like auto-mechanics, refrigeration, manufacturing license plates and farming, these programs are limited and not all inmates will or can get the opportunity to participate. Overcrowding has also been attributed to the rise in crime and drug use over the last 20 years and the California Three Strikes law, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life for repeat offenders. Other contributing factors that lead to the increase in the prison population are population growth, increased arrests for driving under the influence (DUI) and domestic violence.
There were no clear and concise conclusions and recommendations by the author of the article. Malia Wollan, the author reported only on comments from one of the federal judges, a lawyer for the inmates, the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are some solutions to prison overcrowding that I would recommend; most notably are the design of prison facilities to accommodate the influx of inmates and the reduction of the prison population by developing community based alternatives to incarceration. Community supervision costs much less than incarceration. California’s Three Strikes Law should also be amended to punish repeat ‘violent’ offenders and not just offenders who have committed minor offences that would send them back to prison for life. I would recommend that we stay within our budget and spending limits; grow more of the food that we consume and produce more of the goods and services that we import from other countries.
http://www.inmate-connection.com/
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