It's that time again...

Yup, I have another hoax/scam to watch out for. This one is more like the last one I wrote about in that it's a real thing you need to watch out for.

Apparently certain crooks will get your cell phone number and send it a message saying that your debit card is locked, and you need to call to unlock it. Please don't test it out to see if this is real or not (not smart), but call your bank to make sure your cards are all ok.

That's it for now!

Happy Holidays!

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image and info from lifehacker

Loning the Lone Star Trail

Halloween this year turned out to be a blast! It was on the same day it normally is every year, except it just took me awhile to get around to posting about it. I decided to go backpacking along the Lone Star Trail in Sam Houston National Forest! I finally got to test out my shiny new equipment (not actually shiny, just new-ish). 

This was my first solo backpacking adventure, so I wanted to make sure I didn't mess anything up or get lost or anything like that. I followed protocol on informing people where I'd be and when, and called the ranger office to get tips and advice (thank you Shelly). Good thing I did that too; it was hunting season, so I had to deck out in all orange.

I got all my gear packed up and water filled and rolled out early Saturday morning. I wasn't too sure what I'd be running into, but I tried to pick a lofty goal for mileage and hopefully in a good part. The goal: 13 miles along miles 45 and 58 of the LST (a little info here- the lone star trail is a 130 mile thru-hiking trail)

The trail was filled with lots of pine trees, aluminum tree tags to mark the way, and, best of all, silence. I forget how silent nature can be, and how beautiful it is. Despite not having a nice lake, valley, hills, mountain, water formation, or rock formation to look forward to having the opportunity to hike and be with the earth in its natural noise was perfect. There were the occasional squirrels romping and deers be frightened, and at night, it was silence mixed with a symphony of coyote calls on both sides of my camp.

It turns out after a day of hiking with a semi-heavy load (~30 lbs.), your body may get a little sore the next day. Getting started made me feel like an old man, but once my body got used to the weight again, I was off to head back to my car.

On the return trip, during the road hiking portions of the trail, I ran into a few other people driving and asking me if I was lost. I had to inform them that I was actually on a trail, but it just looks like a road to other people.

I made it back in one piece, and only wetted my appetite for my next outdoor adventure!

check out my Web Albums for more pictures

A real threat

Maybe you saw that I had written an earlier post on "Hoax Emails"? Well it's time another one! Except this one is a threat!

So I've never personally received this one, but know this one has a particularly high success rate at scamming people because of it's credibility. Maybe you've heard it...

It says that a friend of yours is out travelling in a foreign land and are mugged. From there, they have no way of getting money and need you and the rest of the victim's friends to wire it to them through "their" Western Union account. This new scam is smart enough to create an email address for you using your first and last name and maybe even birthday as numbers, and send it out to the hacked person's contacts based on social networks and their friends. Typically the victim gets hacked through what's called "clickjacking" (I think). So be wary of clicking on a stray add when on Facebook.

Pretty intense and crazy! If you happen to see this email notify your friend that sent you this. If you want to read more about where I heard it from, there's an article here (it's ok... that link is not a scam, I promise!)

Low-Tech Tuesdays

Happy December! It's the beginning of a new month, and with that I would like to bring up a challenge that I will be partaking in and if you think it's for you, give it a shot too. For each Tuesday that comes up, I will be challenging myself to have Tuesdays as low-tech as possible.

In a world where everyone is increasingly more connected to the internet and TV, it's nice to take a break from that, and be a little simpler and not flood our eyes with light from an LCD/LED screen (CRT's too, but you're probably good at taking breaks). The idea is to be simple.

What does that mean?

On Tuesdays, do not use extraneous technology that is not a basic functionality to living and carrying out everyday tasks.

Does watching TV help to keep you alive? Sane, maybe, but alive? Probably not.
Same with your computer (no internet, games, facebook (yes I realize that is on the internet...), youtube, etc).
Texting or phone calls should be only what's necessary, and stay off of it for other things (unless you need to use the calculator or are lost and need to use a compass-app (GPS would probably work well too, maybe even a phone call)).
At work, try to keep your use of technology to just work, and take breaks other ways than web-browsing.

What to do instead? Get outside. Read. Draw. Journal. Craft. Meditate. Ponder the state of yourself in the world. If you are having issues coming up with ideas, keep focused and sit around and think, something will hit you.

This is only for one day of the week for one month (so 4 days), so it's a small challenge. Good luck!

The Italian Dance

For Thanksgiving, my family took a trip to Rome, Italy! It was an awesome trip, and you should stay tuned for an entry on the trip with some pictures. Italy is a bit different than the US (although, I would imagine most countries are). I took a cab from the airport to meet up with my parents and brothers (sister had to work :( ). Driving out of the airport, no big deal, just realizing that lane lines are just suggestions and not rules, along with the speed limit.

In Rome, the roads can get pretty narrow, and parking can be, well... wherever there's space. I wish I had some pictures of the spots cars would get through and makeshift parking spots on the side of building. The drivers may appear reckless at first as they zoom past a poorly parked car with pedestrians hugging the walls as the car passes, but rest assured, the Italians have some skills driving. They certainly know the boundaries of their cars... something I would venture to say that a lot of people from the States are not so good at.

Along with knowing their boundaries, they adjust very well to changing conditions. Say for instance a person tries walking out into the street. The car has a few options. The car can A) run over the human, B) brake for the human, C) swerve around the human. Usually it'll be B, which is nice for the walkers because you can just walk in front of a car and not worry about A, but sometimes it's C. If the car brakes or swerves though (and it's not really a swerve, just a quick move around the person), the other cars have to react (if the person gets run over, everyone can carry on (except the late pedestrian of course)). Italians are very good at this. If one car shifts to the left, the next car will do so to avoid a collision and perhaps move into oncoming traffic. At this point the cars on the other side will shift or brake to avoid a collision as well... and then everyone is a happy camper. I feel that those of us here in the States stay in our lane a little better, so if a car comes into a driver's lane, typically there won't be as much movement.

It's show a big difference with the culture and the way drivers drive. I think for the average American, seeing the roads there is a little different and takes a bit of adjustment, especially when walking in front of a car and seeing cars cut each other off with no hard feelings. Either way, in the end, I left feeling very comfortable when the taxi driver would go on a narrow road where a mistake could end in a lost side-mirror or a flattened foot.

PLEASE READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've all gotten them, and maybe even been duped by them... hoaxes! They've been around for a long time. With the advent of the internet, spreading the word has become all too easy. Sometimes things get a little out of hand, but it is up to us to determine what is real and what seems out of place.

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like there is a stereotype that Grandma's forward on hoax emails a lot (this stereotype may have arisen and been bolstered by my own Grandma). Well I happen to receive emails about crazy things that are going on in this world... like the worst virus announced by CNN, or last minute photo of the World Trade Center from the observation deck. Typically they are latent with words like, "You will not believe this..." or "Please tell EVERYONE" or "You will DIE if you don't forward" (ok, maybe not that drastic).

Even though I seem to get one of these emails once or twice a week from co-workers or my grandma, I find them rather entertaining because I like to see what kind of things people come up with to circulate. Be prepared to find different entries that I get from time to time....

The most recent one I got is from my Grandma regarding thieves using your VIN to request a duplicate key from the dealership and then stealing your car. What's interesting is that apparently this is based on true events, but if you think about it, is something the average person won't need to watch out for. As the Snopes article points out, the criminals used this tactic to steal cars from used car lots. Reason being the thief first has to get your VIN from the car, then forge documents, request and obtain key, then go back to the car to steal.

This would most likely take a few days (although, I'm sure if you thought about this very issue, and wished extremely hard for it NOT to happen to you, Murphy's law might work for the thief and they will have your car in an hour or less). So, unless the criminal really has it out for you and your car, you're probably safe.

So there ya go Grandma (and other people too)... as the Mythbusters would say:

Free Stuff

We all love free stuff! I mean, it costs nothing but acceptance and satisfaction (typically).

Well the other day, it just happened that Proctor and Gamble decided that they wanted to shower me with their gifts and make sure that I am using their product. They shipped to me a brand new Gillette Fusion Proglide! Well that's pretty nice of them. Despite the fact that it is only about $5 to get at a store, still pretty nice.

What makes this story even better is that on my birthday, they also sent me another razor, exactly like this one... free! But I didn't need to use since my normal razor was still working just fine. So about now, both of my razors are running pretty low (one blade left for my normal razor), and Gillette came to the rescue.

Considering I have one blade left and a brand new razor now, the new goal will be to extend the life of my razor coupled with well timed shaves to last until Gillette sends me a new razor... I think it's possible.

Wooo free stuff!

Taking a Break

Every now and then, we all have to have our own little getaway from our work. It's true, it can be monotonous and tedious, or challenging and stressful.. but focusing on work for over 8 hours a day is next to impossible.

Breaks have been known to seriously help productivity because it gives your mind a chance to relax and think of something other than work, and almost breathe a little bit before getting back to it.

Of course they are going to vary based on what I am doing, and how busy I am. My breaks also seem to be indirectly proportional to the chattiness of my coworkers (i.e. they are more chatty, I am less likely to take a break so as not to take extraneous blocks out).

Here are a few things I do to set back and relax a little to help recharge the batteries.

     1. In the morning I'll work on the calendar-a-day puzzle

     2. Reading a bit from a magazine or my book. I don't take a super long break to do this, but just a little escape for a few pages or an article.

     3. Work on an ongoing personal spreadsheet I'm trying to develop. Not, per-say,      everyone's favorite side thing to do, but I enjoy challenging myself with a self-assigned      project.

     4. Get up and get some water or do some stretches

     5. Every now and then, if I know the coast is clear, I'll do some sit-ups and push-ups

     6. Read different blogs/ internet surf/ work on this blog



And some other things to possibly help productivity and other breaks to try out

     -Take a doodle break

    -Set up a work timer

     -Take a 15 minute nap (not always possible, but if you can, worth a shot)

     -Create, append and check-off what's on your to-do list


...There are many other things to try too, so give it a shot.

Whose Idea was This?

Well my friends, the day has come and gone, and the dust has settled... and me and my brother are still alive. This past weekend, we took on a big challenge and both ended victoriously. On Sunday, we raced and completed a 70.3 Ironman* in Austin, TX.

I saw this race back late February, before I even had a bike. I thought it just seemed like the perfect race and a great challenge to push myself to achieve. I emailed my brother, Carlos, about the race and he seemed excited about it too... so it was a perfect fit.

Training took off, and it was a long road ahead. Early mornings to bike, run or swim, followed by an evening of the same medicine (but different flavor). I did a couple olympic-distance races (read: shorter), and tried to get educated by reading, and watching some videos on what to prepare for. Unfortunately training isn't without its risks... I had a few injuries right before the race. I ended up taking a spill on my bike and hurting my wrist pretty badly and scraping my knee like it was cheese on a cheese grater. A bit worried, but ended up recovering just in time.

Now the real fun began.

Checking In

Gear for race day. Gels= breakfast, lunch, and dinner... mmmm!

Having already been to Austin and the race site (since Kate already had a tri there earlier in the year), I knew where to go, which made it a bit easier, but still not ready for the volume of people that were competing. We got ourselves checked in, and I got lucky number 86! Why is my number so low in a crowd of about 2000? Who knows, maybe because they thought I was a pro?

We mosied on over to T1 to rack our bikes, and the title picture shows the sea of bikes! Honestly, the worth of that entire T1 section must've been around a million dollars, at least (there were some FANCY bikes there). We then decided to go on a little tour of the bike section of the race (not the whole thing). I started getting a little worried because Austin has quite a bit of hills... and, well, Houston doesn't really have hills.. at all. But we finished up, grabbed some dinner at Carraba's with my parents and got all packed up and ready for the big day.

Carlos got  a levatating bed

Race Day

Pre-Race

As you can expect, we were both pretty nervous/excited about the race. Things went pretty smoothly despite arriving to the race site near Transition closing time. I got my gels and helmet ready to nab after swimming, and tires pumped, and body pumped! I should say that Kate and Emily had perfect timing of showing up before the race. They held our bike pump through the entire race (~6 hours), gave me and Carlos the perfect mental boost, and Emily even held a spot in the bathroom line for me (pre-race bathroom stop... basically mandatory before a big race).

Swim

I got to the start of the swim just in time to put on my cap and make sure my goggles were on tight enough. Probably good timing because I didn't have to think about what I had gotten myself into.

The swim actually went a lot better than I expected. Despite massive amounts of people swimming over me, kicking me,  and just disturbing the peaceful water, it was very nice. Oh yeah, there was also the fact that I took in a bit of water at one point, and also decided to swim away from the buoys/off course and add an extra 100 meters or so (I just love making things harder). Mentally though, it was a piece of cake. The swim came and went almost as quickly as the day had started... and I was off to T1!

Bike

Now the long road ahead really began; 56 miles to be exact. The first 15-20 miles didn't seem so bad though. I kinda had a friend throughout the bike part. Within the first 2 miles, I was going slow (~15 mph) to eat my first meal (gel/gu), when I was passed by racer # 609- Crystal. She only passed me right as I was finishing my gu, so I quickly picked up speed and passed her. Well as it turns out, she passed me, and I passed her again within the first 10 miles. I never saw her again until around mile 40, when she passed me again. I tried passing her again, but I think I just pissed her off, and she was off never to be seen again. I looked up her scores, turns out she's pretty good... she got first in her age group, which is no easy task, so kudos to Crystal.

Well aside from that, the 56 miles was pretty tough. I started forgetting where I was because I was focusing on the road so much. When I did take a look around, though, it was beautiful. The rolling hills, open fields, and the sun just getting to its peak... gorgeous. I tried not to think about what lie ahead, but just to keep going and think of family and friends cheering me on giving me my support and prayers.

There were some high head winds on open roads towards the end, and I was running out of gas (I had actually lost 2 of my gu packs which were supposed to fuel me to the end). I think the idea of quitting passed through my head a couple different times. Somehow though, I was able to find that courage from within. Thinking about getting to the run and finishing, and all the hard work... then about my brother somewhere behind me... I couldn't quit, I had to go faster. I did, in fact; I beat my goal time and was now ready to run.

Run

I think I was in a different state of mind at this point. I was gonna run, but I was gonna take it easy if needed and enjoy where I was. That made a big difference. I just started looking around and taking in all the people doing the race and noticing how everyone there has their purpose driving them to the finish. 13.1 miles (3 laps).... that's a long run, especially after 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile bike ride. It was hot, and I walked a little, but there were people along the way to encourage and motivate me to keep moving (including one with a sign, "Whose idea was this?"). It was nice to give high-fives to Kate and Emily, and wave at my parents too... however, I was searching for my brother.

Finally on my last lap, I was pumped and making my way towards the finish and spotted Carlos. I gave him a little cheer as we passed each other, he was almost done. I was almost done too. The finish took us inside a little arena where they had a big blowup finish arch and stands and everything. Let me tell you.. coming from outside to inside with all those people cheering and seeing the finish.. it seemed magical.

Post-Race

And just like that I was done. 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 59 seconds. It was an amazing feeling. My body was pretty tired, and muscles were exhausted, and I was ready for some food.

A bit later, Carlos came through the finish arch too, victoriously. We both were pretty proud and happy to finish. It was a nice touch to have my family there, and great blessing to have Kate there with Emily too... studs, all of them.

It turns out, Carlos didn't like the heat as much as I did (not that I liked it), but got the proper care and was back on his feet in no time. Our bodies both took a beating and we didn't recover right away... so we both took the next day off of work to recover... we really needed it. Talk about muscle-soreness. Well we finished our goal, and are looking towards are next one now!

___________________________________________________
*otherwise known as a Half-Ironman, but because it's not cool to only be half of an ironman, they are now called 70.3 Ironman's

Communicating with life

When I was a JV in Gresham, my roommate Renata and I were walking through the neighborhood towards some shops. Along the way, I happened to spot a fellow sentient being and decided to try and communicate with it, as it looked lonely. I made the sound, "MEOWWW!" The cat looked over at me with excitement... but just then, Renata yelled at me, "You can't meow in public!" so I stopped and left the cat to be alone again.

Now let's take a step back, I guess I understand that it's probably not really looked at favorably if you're just a normal person trying to practice communicating with other creatures. If you try and think about Jon's life in the cartoon Garfield, he seems a bit crazy having a majority of his discussions with his cat. But is it ever ok for someone to talk with animals, and when is it not ok?

I have put together a list of times when it's probably OK to talk with a creature of another species.

1. The other creature can communicate in the same language
        If you are speaking to a creature that understands your language and can talk back, then you're in the clear. Take Amy from the movie Congo, or Doug from the movie Up, they seem to understand just fine, and communicate back too. But be on the lookout if you have one of these creatures, they may be in high demand or you might not be taken seriously, for example, Donkey in Shrek or all the animals in the movie Zookeeper.

2. They are your animal in your home
        Typically if you're in your house, the people you're living with either a) talk to the animals too b) already know you're crazy and don't mind. Besides, who doesn't love talking to their own pet?

3. Professional
        This is for those Cesar Milan's and Siegfried and Roy's out there. If your job is to communicate with animals, you're probably really good at it, or really good at fooling everyone that you're good at it.

4. Survival Situation
        When you're alone and trying to survive by yourself, you get a bit lonely. Tom Hanks showed us this with his buddy Wilson, who wasn't even a real creature. Even in real life, this has happened... A man named Callahan was adrift at sea for 76 days and befriended the fish that were around his boat.  While it's not totally normal, either is being lost and alone; whatever works to keep you sane and alive is permissible in survival situations.

This does not cover all situations, but if you find yourself communicating with animals, you're just enriching your life, that animal's life, and anyone watching too.

The Best Part of Waking Up...

...is hitting the snooze button! (sung to theme of Folger's Coffee song).


Whoever invented the snooze button was both a genius and against productivity. We all have days that we are unmotivated and get angry at our alarm clock from disturbing our slumber. However, I have noticed a recent trend in my life... If I get up early without hitting the snooze button more than twice, or to work out, my day feels productive and I feel alert. If I hit the snooze button until the last possible moment I have to get up, my day is slightly less productive and I feel like a slug the entire day.

Over the past few months, as I've been training for my half-ironman (this Sunday (October 23)), I will often times do a workout in the morning as well as the afternoon. In the morning, not only does it beat the heat and humidity, but it also seems to jump start the day and lets me know I'm on my way to seize the day. It brings a lot of positive energy to start off the rest of the day. I was able to find an article about waking up early and a bit of the benefits it can have.

It says in the article, "Early morning workouts rev up your metabolism, jump start your energy level and accelerate your ability to burn up calories." From personal experience, I would totally agree with this statement. I mean, not only do I have that personal sense of victory of getting up and being active, but I also have the ability to flaunt the fact that I have already gotten in a great workout and enjoyed a great part of the day all before most people wake up (not that I do that, but I'm just saying the option is there).

Some people do call me crazy for waking up so early, and I might be... but I also think it' been a bit ingrained into my body and head. When I was in college, I was a rower. For a majority of the 4 years, that meant early mornings either in the boat and on the water or on the machines, and always being yelled at by coach. Just when I thought I'd get a break from early mornings, when I did a year of JVC-NW in Gresham, I would get up early with my roommate Gretchen (and sometimes Erin when she would make it) to hit up LA Fitness (and be yelled at if I didn't wake up in time). And right when I thought I was in the clear... I decide to sign up for a half-ironman, and try and cram as much training as possible in and yell at myself when I don't get up.

It turns out, after all the yelling is taken out of the equation, I actually like getting up early and working out. Despite the crazy hours and exhausted feeling in the middle of the day, it sure beats feeling like I'm dragging a 50 lb weight around with my mind and can't figure out what I'm supposed to be doing.

Some advice, if you've tried working out in the morning and hated it... be consistent. Give yourself a few weeks to adjust. Also, don't do it every day... Maybe like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Expecting to do it every single day is tough, so give yourself some days off too.

Enjoy it if you try, and enjoy being a bit crazy!

Starting somewhere

This is a zen story that I heard once:

Taste of Banzo's Sword

A young boy, Matajuro, was son to a great and famous swordsman. His father believed Matajuro to be poorly disciplined and felt his son would never become a master, and disowned him.

Matajuro embarked on a quest to become a great swordsman to honor his father, and found the famous Banzo. Banzo, too, had little faith that Matajuro would not be able to learn the way of the sword.

With enough persistence Matajuro convinced Banzo that he would work hard enough to become a master in maybe thirty years. Matajuro was ordered to never speak of nor touch a sword, instead, he washed the dishes, made his bed, cleaned the yard, and cared for the garden.

Three years passed like this, without any mention of the sword.

One day, as Matajuro was working on his daily tasks, Banzo crept up behind Matajuro and delivered a terrific blow with a wooden sword.

The following day, as Matajuro was cooking, Banzo crept up on Matajuro and struck him with the sword again, unexpectedly.

After that, day and night, Matajuro had to be vigilant about Banzo and when he would strike. There was never a time after when Matajuro would not think about the being struck unexpectedly. After this, he began to learn very quickly the way of the sword and made Banzo proud. Matajuro became one of the greatest swordsman in the land.

We all have our own interpretations of it, but I think it has a great meaning to it. The path we are on in order to learn and become proficient in, isn't always marked along the way. I think that we may be ready to take on a great challenge, but don't always realize the persaverance and patience required to accomplish the task. Maybe not even a great challenge, but just a simple one...

I wanted to start this blog to share little bits and pieces of my life that I have experienced so far, and the things that have yet to come too. Feel free to drop a comment or message or whatever, I'll be waiting.

___

ps. The story is taken from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.