The past few months to say the least, have been stressful.
Slow business, uncertain futures, and piles of other little junk that just seem to build and build.
A friend asked me today “what do you do when you are stressed out?”
I had not really thought about it a bunch, but I do have a bit of a system to help me deal with it.
Here are some of the things I do.
1) Stop working…take a break at Starbucks. Grab a cup of coffee, read something not related to work and just check out for about 30 minutes.
2) Go for a brisk 45 minute to 1 hour walk. Plop my iPod into my pocket, listen to some meaningless talk radio podcasts, and grab some exercise. Not only does it clear my head, it helps me lose some calories too!
3) Meet a friend for lunch to talk things out. I tend to work alone, a lot so some friend interaction is good now and then.
4) Clean house or mow the lawn. My wife likes these best. Something about the work of it seems to clear my head…and my house looks better in the process 
So, what do you do to de-stress your life?
Here we are, another Saturday..another weigh in.
No picture today because my camera was loaded for acommunity service project I will be posting later and I did not have it handy.
The results are in though…drum roll please….
190.4 was the weigh in. Sooooo close to the 180’s I can smell it.
Next week..goal 187! See if I can get there.
When tragedies hit be it a storm, a plane crash or something as senseless as yesterdays shooting at Ft. Hood, it causes us to sit back, take stock of our own lives and reflect.
Nothing more today except this…
Who do you love? Tell them.
What do you want to do? Stop waiting and do it!
Are you teetering on your faith? Stop, embrace and enjoy.
Are you really living your life or waffling? Start living- no excuses.
I can say that one thing is for sure…I love technology.
Today I got my copy of Windows 7, installed it, and from what I can tell so far it is the real deal.
Now, if you are one of those Mac users this might not excite you a whole lot, but for us PC dudes and dudettes, Windows 7 now provides some cool new features that we have not been blessed with previously.
The one I am most excited about I am using as I type this…Live writer. A really nice blogging editor with drag and drop and a ton of other nice features.
The other thing I am excited about is the networking aspect…you can share anything on any pc in the house easily…yeah!
So, enough of my Windows 7 babble…just very happy to have it up and running.
What have you gotten lately that was super exciting?
I saw this story and I have to admit I hit the ceiling.
It is an article about how 4 known gang members from Japan, bought their way to organ transplants in the United States. These transplants were performed at UCLA for cash according to police records and in the process two waiting recipients on the transplant list died. Law abiding, needy, American, insurance carrying patients.
According to reports, the gang members paid cash in excess of 1 million dollars for a transplant.
In a non-related story, it is being reported that prisoners at Gauntanamo Bay Cuba Detention Facility, are in line for the H1N1 Vaccine before children and needy adults in the US. These vaccines provided by the US and the taxpayers. Detainees that are in for terrorism activities and crimes against American troops.
Both of these cases raise huge questions.
First of all I firmly believe that ALL people have a right to medical treatment….but…yep its coming….here it is…
But do they have a right ahead of law abiding, taxpaying residents of the country providing the services?
In the case of the Japanese gang members, these are people who have brutally killed and trafficked. The leader Tadamasa Goto, had preciously not been allowed in the states but was granted entrance if he would provide info to the FBI…which he did….ummmm hmmmmm….you think he really gave the FBI anything of value…NO WAY. He is now back in Japan laughing..
So, your thoughts?
Does criminal activity put you somewhere different on a list of critical care? Ahead, behind or in order of healthy law abiding persons?
What about a foreigner coming to the states and taking precedent over a resident?
What about these cases specifically?
Be careful to not get crazy heated here
Wow…these Saturdays are really coming quick.
Another weigh in with some decent results.
This week has been challenging in that I could not complete a good workout cycle due to a little back injury. I think I am well on the mend after visiting my Chiropractor yesterday and feel better this morning, but no running or long walks until the pain is gone.
Well, here you go. Down 1.4 lbs!
Do you believe in Ghosts?
Do you think kids see Ghosts when they talk to their imaginary friends?
Here is a video along the theme to help kick your Halloween off right.
Anti Pimp had a post about newspapers this morning that I thought was really telling. I don’t usually like to link elsewhere but this was something I thought was really telling.
The blog post showed how the Newspaper industry had a 28% drop in sales and a record plunge in ad revenues during the 1st quarter of the year. WOW.
WOW…is what I first thought then it occurred to me…hey I am part of that decrease.
I used to love the newspaper but now find my news through the web, my Blackberry, radio and other mediums…even the TV in the mornings.
I am obviously far from alone in this.
What I find odd though is how I still love to sit with a cup of coffee and read the paper on Sunday. Just not the rest of the week…no time then. I don’t ride a subway or public transportation so no time there…I tend to just catch it when I can.
Of track though….here is what I want to know?
Is the Newspaper really dead or dying? If not why? How do you get your news?
The big debate in the United States right now is health care.
The fight is on and Americans are hearing terms like Public Option, Government Run, Executive Pay, Immoral Profits etc etc.
What strikes me odd about the whole thing is a lack of common sense on either side of the isle and some simple solutions.
Here are some facts in this whole thing that are being completely overlooked: (this is a fact thing, not a right or left thing)
According to the Associated Press:
1) Health Companies Posted a 2.2% Profit Margin last year (Not record earnings by any means). Average profit margins in the past have run between 5-6%. Rarely above 8%.
2) Health Insurance as an industry lands at 35 on the Forbes 500. Other components of the industry like drug providers landed much higher.
3) The number one profit margin generated last year was Health Spring with a 5.4% profit margin which you can compare to Railroads at 12.6%, Communications at 20.4%. Companies like Tupperware, Coors, Yahoo and Hershey all posted considerably higher profit margins.
4) The largest number of denied claims from an insurer: Medicare and Medicade. In fact, 3 times the claims of all the major companies combined.
5) The top paid executive in Healthcare is Ed Hanway with Cigna…who ranks 28th on the list of highest paid executives. Others on the list (the majors) Humana’s CEO 52nd, Aetna’s CEO 196th, United Healthcare’s CEO 331st and Cardinal Healthcare’s CEO 401st. The others fell way below. (Forbes 500)
6) The average CEO earnings for a Health Insurance/CARE provider came in around 3 million per year.
All this to say…before we cast stones at the industry or damn the government, the facts are the facts.
Simple solutions are out there like tort reform, opening up competition borders (no state lines) and so on.
Two things are for sure though…I do not believe a SINGLE politician when the argument starts and something has to be done.
What about me?
This is my page and my chance to share with you all the crap I dream up on a daily basis. Here are the simple facts that make up my existence..live in Nashville...avid Hockey fan (one step from face painting), father of a 6 year old (genius child- she takes after me..I mean my wife), husband (I'm pretty sure my wife would kick me out if she could figure out how), and "normal" Christian. What is normal you ask? You tell me. I think I know what normal is but then again, we all think we are the normal ones.
My Favorite Web Sites
Bored Again Christian
Hockey Buzz
Nashville Predators