Here is my 16 month old Australian Cattle Dog named Bonnie. She likes to play all day long. I mostly take her to the park and play ball with her but a few days ago I decided to get her a new toy. I went to the Pet Store and got one of those soft Kong Frisbee’s as I wanted to see how she would take to it. I tried with some of the hard plastic frisbee’s but they were cutting her little dog lips so I figured the soft Frisbee would get rid of that problem.

After a few short throws I started to wind up and really send it flying. I play or should I say I used to play Frisbee Golf so I can throw the Frisbee pretty far. I forgot how sore I would get that day after though! It felt like I pulled my shoulder out of socket. Anyway Bonnie is a natural and loves to chase the Frisbee and is pretty good at catching it too. She is going to be a great Frisbee Dog!

I have always wanted a dog that can play Frisbee and have had dreams of maybe being in a competition someday. Now I need to work with her on catching it and let her figure out how a Frisbee is going to react in the air when the wind catches it, and I have to work on getting it to the right spot and we are off to the championships!

Its flu season…again…. and big surprise the Emergency Room happens to be the most popular place around, which means, if we say we don’t have a bed available, we’re not joking or sitting back there having a cup of tea laughing at you writhing in agony, it really means there’s nothing available!

Apparently, no matter how many different ways we break it to you; you still think there’s a secret code to getting you back, or a special room available for just your type of emergency.

Yes sir I’m talking to you, you find it necessary to tell me (4 times no less) that you’re a doctor and your wife is “hemorrhaging”. Come to find out, you have a PhD, which means to me, the only way “hemorrhaging” applies to your situation is:

a) You’re very well educated and could probably spell hemorrhaging, and

b) The only thing I see hemorrhaging in front of me is the bullshit coming out of your mouth.

So take your fancy pants degree and your superior lightness of being and go and sit with the rest of the patients who are waiting for the golden ticket to a bed, and shut the fuck up!

And to you sir, the gentleman who brought your sweet wife in, for an abscess in her tummy tuck incision. I understand that your doctor called ahead, which might mean in your mind that we have a bed waiting just for you, the sad truth is WE DON’T!

You can tell me a hundred times over that your doctor “ordered” a special room just for you, I speak English (and a few other languages), and I heard you the first time, I think you sir, are the one who needs to understand English a little better and maybe learn to lip read, because sir, read my lips “We don’t have a bed available”. The restroom and some ABD pads to staunch the chunky bloody pussy mess that’s oozing out, is the best solution I can offer.

I hope you enjoyed your jaunt all over the hospital looking for that “special room” that your doctor “ordered”. I sure enjoyed sending you looking for it. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before telling your wife she’s fat.

I’m sure you are all fine upstanding citizens in our community, and I sympathize with all of your crappy situations, but don’t treat me like an idiot and please, stop being a dick!

Here is to hoping I never see any of you again

Today I went to a place that lets you take your dog to a to train it to herd sheep. I thought my dog would be a natural for it since its bred to herd cattle. There is a place here in Long Beach, Ca about 5 minutes from my house that has this very setup. I thought bitchen I am getting the ball throwing thing down with my dog pretty good now and she listens to me, let’s go chase a bunch of sheep around and see how she does with that.

Here is a video clip of me and my dog learning how to herd sheep.

Australian Cattle Dog has befriended you, they are a friend for life….but that friendship must often be earned. Australian Cattle Dog are often referred to by their owners as “velcro” or “shadow” dogs…because wherever you go, there they are!
As my health concerns continue to rise, fitness is no longer considered a fad; it is considered a way of life. I am no exception to that rule by any means. I am fat, overweight and as I found out today very out of shape. Smoking sure doesn’t help my stamina and not doing any exercise sure isn’t helping either. I have found the need to start doing some exercise and I want to do it in a fun way I just hate going to the gym.

The deal is you pay $30 and they let you bring you and your dog out with a trainer and they give you two runs and getting your dog to run the sheep. The basic concept is that you get yourself in front of the sheep with the trainer and you try to get your dog behind them to herd the sheep towards you. The sheep are trained to follow the humans around and all you have to do is get your dog to pick up the rear and keep them moving. Well one thing I didn’t realize is that you need to be walking and running backwards the whole time so you have the sheep looking and coming towards you and you can see what the dog is doing and keep her off of your heels.

I was pretty excited about bonding this way with my dog and what a great way to get some exercise for myself. Well what I learned is that you are pretty much running backwards around the corral the whole time because once your dog starts nipping and the sheep’s heels there is no more walking around the sheep are trying to run you over and your in thick dirt which eventually led to me falling on my ass once but I am proud to say that I didn’t let a sheep knock me over because that also happened to one of the other people that were out there to do training. This was one of the best experiences I have had in my life, my untrained cattle dog when not being distracted had a few moments when it went into natural mode and we were working as a team. Of course this scenario only played out about 5% of the time but that 5% is going to get me back next Thursday to see if we can make some improvements.

So basically it was a big mess I was trying to run backwards, get my dog off my heels and on to the sheep’s heels which is no easy task. We did manage to get the sheep around the course the 1^st time with the help of the trainer and the second time my dog Bonnie wasn’t interested in the course so much so the trainer told me to just get in the with the sheep and try and make it fun for her. So here I am running full speed backwards, trying to give me dog commands all while not trying to fall down or get run over by sheep.

When I finished the second time I couldn’t even finish up properly I felt like I was going to pass out I was exhausted and ready for some water. I gave my dog praise and we both had a great time. With a little work I think we are going to have to take the I out of Louie and the I out of Bonnie and become a team because that is what it is all about.

No matter what your reason may be to get fit, is always ready to help. At La Fitness, you will be able to exercise your options. From racquetball to basketball, indoor cycling to swimming, cardio equipment to free weights, group fitness to personal training, and much much more. At La Fitness, they offer an environment that makes you feel as if you are at home, no matter what your fitness level may be currently. In today’s world, it is normal to feel uncomfortable with working out in public but there is no reason for you to be, especially here. The staff at La Fitness centers is friendly and welcoming and they will work with you in anyway that they can to make sure that your fitness needs are met.

La Fitness was established in nineteen eighty four as an American healthy club chain that was privately owned. La Fitness includes a chain of over two hundred gyms that are located throughout the U.S. La Fitness is headquartered in Irvine, California. All of the La Fitness clubs are currently located in several major metropolitan areas located in the Southwest, Midwest and Northeast portions of the United States as well as Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin. All of the La Fitness clubs offer strength training equipment and cardiovascular training, group exercise glasses and free weights. Most of these clubs also offer a whirlpool and a heated lap pool, racquetball, full court basketball, personal training, indoor cycling, a sauna and a kids program. If you need someone to watch your children while you are workout, they also have a babysitting service.

Today, as health concerns continue to rise, fitness is no longer considered a fad; it is considered a way of life. Everyone that is currently out of shape is taking extreme measures to get in shape and quickly. If you are interested in getting your body into shape, you need to contact your local La Fitness and schedule a consultation time when you can arrange for them to talk with you about the programs that they offer. During this consultation, they will walk you through the entire center and let you know what all of the different facitlies are so that you will know what is available to you as a member of the club.

Once you have taken an orientation of the fitness center and got a feel for things, you will be given the opportunity to join the club and if you are as serious as you say you are about getting your body into shape, you want have any problem agreeing. Most of the time, these fitness centers are going to offer you very reasonable prices for the fitness that you are given. If you would like, you can also have a personal trainer that will tell you the areas that you need to work on and the areas that really only need toning up.

The actual ability to live a healthy lifestyle is much more than a pursuit of a hobbyist. In fact, there are loads of mental and physical benefits that can be derived from proper diet and regular exercise. The more committed and rigid an individual is to an exercise regiment and proper diet, the bigger the mental and physical benefits are going to be. Out of all the physical advantages, not only are you going to gain an increase in a positive external or outward appearance or look, the individual will also have the opportunity to gain the additional advantage of healthy conditioning of the cardiovascular system. In today’s society, there are a lot of people that place an emphasis on the outward appearance. This is the main reason why fitness models are labeled as revered figures in this popular culture.

Famous Profiles of Body Builders and Fitness Models

Arnold Schwarzenegger- labeled as the most famous body builder of all times. Arnold was born in nineteen forty seven in Austria. His bodybuilding career began in the nineteen sixty’s and then it progressed to earn him five different Mr. Universe titles, seven awards for Mr. Olympia and numerous amounts of other power lifting and body building competitions.

Tevita Aholelei- Champion of IFBB, International Federation of Bodybuilders. Tevita was born in Fiji which is located in the Tonga Kingdom. Tevita is known as the “Stone of Tonga”. In nineteen ninety seven, he began competing in bodybuilding competitions. In fact, he has several bodybuilding championships under his belt. At the present moment, he lives in California, accompanied by his wife and kids.

Lora Ottenad- She is a world famous bodybuilder and is a very competitive female. Lora was born in Seattle, which is located in Washington, in nineteen sixty four. She is tall, measuring in at five feet, eight inches. She normally competes at a set weight of one hundred and seventy five pounds.

Critics Opinions of Fitness Models

As always, there are going to be some critics that lay claim that fitness models are considered a negative influence because they reflect an image that the average person can’t attain. In one way, there is a smothering of the truth in reflecting such a reflection and the reason for all of this is the fact that professional fitness models are known to make a living based on their physical workout and exercise. Due to this, there are considerable amounts of time each day that are dedicated to performing hard exercise and a lot more than the average individuals are capable of doing.

The bottom line here is that all professional fitness models are very dedicated to their work, it takes a lot of time and a lot of self-regulation to be a fitness model and there are very few people that seem to realize that. Most people look down upon fitness models because they are sexy and because of that, they think that they are bad influences, the truth of the matter is, they are in shape and are perfectly healthy, and there isn’t anything wrong with that.

Of the United Kingdom, Fitness First’s 24 Hour Fitness is the second largest fitness center chain that is privately owned and operated in the world. Carlsbad, California is the home of the company’s corporate office. In San Roman, California near the Bay area, you will find the operations’ headquarters. In total, 24 Hour Fitness has roughly nineteen thousand employees. Mark S. Mastrov founded the company and Carl Liebert III, is the currency CEO. Currently, 24 Hour Fitness is labeled as a subsidiary of Forstmann Little & Company, which is a private equity firm; this resulted from the company’s acquisition in a one point six billion dollar leverage buyout that took place in two thousand and five.

The History of 24 Hour Fitness

In 1983, the company started out as a one-club operation which was called 24 Hour Nautilus. Leonard Schlemm, Mark Mastrov, and another third partner started the firm however; eventually it was only Schlemm and Mastrov that continued to expand the company. In 2004, the company became one of the sponsors for the 2004-2008 teams of the United States Olympics. Some of the United States Olympic hopefuls were granted membership through the sponsorship and it also included some upgrades to the training centers for the U.S. Olympics all over the country, which included the renovation of the facility that is located in Colorado Springs, CO in two thousand and four. Following this renovation, the facilities in Lake Placid, New York and Chula Vista, CA were renovated.

24 Hour Fitness also worked along side of NBC in order to develop the well known and popular reality show “The Biggest Loser”, this show featured twelve contestants that were overweight which were competing to lose the most weight over the period of several months. The show began airing in the later part of 2004 and it continued until the early part of 2005 and once again in the later part of 2006.

24 Hour Fitness’s Current Operations

Currently, 24 Hour Fitness roughly has around three million members and four hundred and twenty five clubs in a total of sixteen states. There are also twenty four clubs in five Asian countries. In addition to the United States, 24 Hour Fitness has centers in Asia (including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei), in Taiwan, there are centers in Taichung and in China; there are centers in Shanghai and Beijing. In Malaysia, there are centers in Kuala Lumpur. All of these centers are based out of the California Fitness which is a wholly owned subsidiary of 24 Hour Fitness.

In the next five years, 24 Hour Fitness plans to have more than one thousand clubs along with sponsorships with several athletes and celebrities such as Lance Armstrong, Jackie Chan, Andre Agassi and Shaquille O’ Neal. 24 Hour fitness also has a call center for its website that is located in Jamaica. 24 Hour Fitness has six different levels of clubs, they are as follows:

• Fit-Lite
• Active
• Express
• Sport
• Super-Sport
• Ultra-Sport

Further to the Part-1 of this article, here are some more steps to guide you to maintain your blood pressure.

• Watch your minerals intake: Studies have established that some minerals like potassium, an electrolyte that helps in maintaining body’s balance of salt and fluids, helps in ensuring normal blood pressure. Potassium can be found in fruits and vegetables, legumes and dairy products.

• Medical fraternity believes there is a link between calcium deficiency and hypertension. There adequate intake of calcium becomes necessary.

• Garlic: Recent studies have provided results of garlic intake as part of your diet helps in reducing blood pressure.

Apart from diet, in order to maintain normal blood pressure, other life style changes needs to be induced. You need to choose now between walking daily in a garden and start walking endlessly to your doctor later on. Any form of exercise according to your stamina and age is fine. You can choose vigorous exercises like going to gym and doing aerobic exercise, or swim or do few kilometers of cycling daily if you are young. Alternatively, you can just walk around the beach or garden while chatting with your friends if you are old. The underlying point here is to do the minimum basic workout required to keep your heart healthy and keeping your blood pressure normal.

Another deadly habit is smoking. There has been lot of global awareness on this count and now the authorities have started banning smoking in offices and public places. Make sure you quit on this habit or else be prepared to quit life. There can be no alternative than to eliminate this habit altogether.

Reduce Stress. Longer the stresses in you, chances are longer the impact on your blood pressure. If something or some event is really bothering you, why can’t you find solutions and make best of the given situation than to unduly worry about it. There is a tolerance limit for everything in life. Your body has enormous capacity to withstand shocks and pressures, but beyond a point, it starts to break. Make sure you are giving your body complete rest and not abusing it. Just like you take care of your precious car so that it does not make you stranded midway, make sure you do not overload your body and mind at any point of time.

If you are above 40, it is time to have a periodical check up for your blood pressure. Any underlying symptoms can be detected early and thus you will save yourself from lot of unwanted complications later on. If you are diganoised with hypertension, make sure you follow your doctor’s advice and take the required medication regularly. A simple harmless pill, which your doctor advises you, will allow you to lead a normal life. Do not underestimate the potential of that pill for god’s sake.

To summarize, below is the nutshell of what has been discussed in Part 1 and Part 2 of this article.

• Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.
• Limit canned and processed foods especially which are more salty and having fat contents.
• Limit or avoid alcohol and caffeine
• Keep your weight down
• Watch your mineral intake
• Quit smoking
• Exercise daily
• Reduce stress
• Have periodical check up
• Follow medications and other advice from your doctor.

I hope after reading this, you would try to improve your quality of life by keeping normal blood pressure.

Blood pressure or hypertension is a very common term used by doctors these days. Even startling is despite the fact that abnormal blood pressure can be life-threatening, many of us actually do not either know steps to control or choose to ignore till it becomes too late.
Deadly diseases of the heart, strokes are all associated with Blood pressure.

However, minimum sensibility and modification of our life style habits would surely go a long way to prevent as well as control your blood pressure. Let us discuss some of the key steps as below:

• Limit your salt intake: Your diet can act as a friend as well as enemy in maintaining your blood pressure. A high salt diet makes your condition worse. Sodium present in salt is directly responsible for increasing your blood pressure. Older people and people suffering from heart disease or diabetes should be particularly watched how much salt they consume. As such, there are different opinions about the exact measurement of salt that one can consume per day. Hence, the lower the better in general. Of course, food without salt would not make your taste buds happy. Therefore, the best way to reduce salt consumption is to avoid certain type of processed foods with high sodium content, pickles and other salty foods. You can also start the habit of NOT adding further salt in your dining table to any of your favorite recipes.

• Keep your weight low : Being overweight contributes to hypertension. If you do want to live, a long, healthy life one of your primary concerns should be to watch your weight. The best thing would be to prevent you being obese first and then exercise. Instead, make exercise as a part of your routine life. Let the excuse of having NO time take the back seat. I am sure you will agree that you have to live first and that too in healthy manner before all other priorities in life. In case, you are already overweight, seek help of a good professional who will train you to specially to loose your weight as well recommend you suitable diet.

• Consume less fat: Diet, which is rich in fat only, leads to weight gain and high blood pressure. Therefore, cut down your diet, which have more fat contents. I know it is painful to leave out those mouth-watering recipes made out of butter, cheese and other dairy products. However, you will agree with me that it is better to consume less than be in a position where you cannot even touch it later on.

• Reduce caffeine and alcohol consumption: Drinking too much of alcohol or caffeine, products contribute to hypertension. Although studies have established that daily intake of a glass of wine or other alcoholic drinks actual reduces the risk of heart attack, consuming more will remove these benefits and only add to you woes of maintaining your blood pressure.

There are further few key points to remember and follow which is being discussed
in Part-2 of this article.

Here are the remaining 8 steps. Make sure you read the Part -1 of this article before proceeding.

• Wear long sleeved clothes and socks: This is necessary if you want to expose your body to the minimum to the bedding of the hotel. Wearing long clothes and socks will allow minimum contact.
• Light an incense stick or a scented candle: This will help in enhancing the mood in the room and provide some stress-relieving aromatherapy. However, do this only if it suits you and make sure you light of the candle before you go to sleep.
• Pack a family photograph: Pack a photograph of someone you love before you go to the trip. This is necessary because you might feel home sick staying away in an unknown place.
• Carry your own alarm system: Carry your own alarm with good batteries instead of depending on the hotel. You can then sleep peacefully with a secure feeling.
• Pack a pair of rubber thongs and slippers: This should be used in the bathroom to prevent fungal or other infections. You never know when the bathroom was cleaned enough to prevent these germs.
• Keep away from the hot tubs: I am sure you are not going to like this piece of advice. Most of the times, we find people suffering from various infections like bronchitis or pneumonia immediately after the trip from the hotel. A bathtub can be a breeding place for all bacteria and virus because of its ideal moist conditions.
• Beware of two insects, the Bed bugs and the Mosquitoes: Make sure on this count. You do not want to get up in the middle of the night with that itchy feeling.
• Maintain personal hygiene: Treat your stay at the hotel as if you are staying at your home. No doubt, the hotel staff will give you all the service of cleaning and other requirements, but you need to remind them quite often for your own good. The difference is you being adamant of not compromising on certain personal hygiene issues under any cost.

And yes, though not on health front make sure to always give contacts to the hotel staff in writing: Make it a point for either you or the front desk operator do not speak about your room number or other contact details loud enough so that they can be heard by strangers. Also let them be aware of immediate contact numbers of your family members and friends so that they can contact them in case of unforeseen emergency.

This article is not intended to frighten you about the harmful effects of staying in a hotel. Instead, it is aimed to make you aware of the basic things you should be doing so that you do not face any health hazards. After all, you have every right to be physically and mentally healthy. You will then cherish all those pleasant memories of your brief stay at a hotel.