A Life Blog

Weight Loss Update.

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Its been a while....again! It's not that I am not writing, it's just that I have been posting my stuff to Tumblr. I shall quit that and post here.

Last time I went to the Dr. I weighed in at 286lbs. Not to shabby but not where I wanted to be. The reason of my slowed weight loss has been the lack of me going to the gym. I just can't find the time anymore with my new hours. I do get some walk time on my treadmill but its not the same when you swim 20 laps.

I will find the time, I have to find the time!

Just an Update

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:48:00 +0000

I am ok. Still dealing with this weight loss. I know I am eating right. I know I am losing weight but I still get desperate. I know I didn't gain this weight in 3 months so I am not going to lose it just as fast. My clothes tell me I am losing it so I'll go with that.

Life? Well, work is stagnant. Not work, work, but my feeling about it. I feel like it's time to move on. I have applied for other positions within my Department but in different Office. I'll see how that goes. The office I am at is great. It takes me 30 minutes to get there instead of the 1.5 hours it took me before. I just can't believe how crazy I was to drive the freaking 96 miles to work. To think I contemplated putting in for a promotion there again. I must be desperate!

School? Yes, I am planning on going back to school. I want to enter ITT and get my bachelor's degree in ITS and an associate in Web design. I really need to learn that shit or I am going to be left way behind in the electronic race of ours. My job will pay for part of my school so I am looking forward to studying again. I'll have to see how I can accomplish this financially.

Weight Loss Update

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Well, the day has come and passed. I was weighed in on the 13th of January. How did I do? Not good. I only lost 1 lbs over all and that 1lbs was from fat. Most people would say it is a good amount to lose as long as you lose. But I don't feel that way.

I have been working my ass off getting up at 4 a.m. in order to get to the gym. I was doing some lifting but mainly I was getting my cardio by swimming. I kept up with the swimming as best as I knew/know how. As an example, I started swimming 500 meters per day and I am up to 1000 meters. Boy was I disappointed with my loss.

My nutritionist says that Christmas and New Year's food could be the cause of my not so significant weight loss. Even though I told her that I didn't eat that much food, which I honestly didn't, she said that the scale says otherwise. I will go with what she said and live with it. I have now been eating right and I increased my cardio. ( I did taste some of the non read meat foods but it was the tip of the spoon tasting.)

For my daily cardio workout I am doing 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and 30-45 minutes in the pool. For my food consumption I haven't changed a thing. I am still not eating white flours, no red meat and haven't had caffeine since October.

Is this just a diet? Nope, I want to consider this as a life style change. The greatest thing about my lifestyle change is that my daughter started to eat the same way. I can see the weight loss as well! She says she feels better and is eating things like salmon, tuna steaks, grilled or baked chicken and other healthy things.

You too can lose the wait if you put your mind and soul to it!

fring

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:14:00 +0000

First off, I want to let you know that I have switched from a Palm Treo to a Windows Mobile Treo. I love WinMob! I can't believe how powerful the OS is. I can do many things with my WinMob Treo.

What is fring? It is a free application that allows me to skype while using my data plan and not my minutes. With fring you can also setup your IM from Messenger, Gtalk and ICQ. So not only can you call you skype contacts via your data plan, you can IM with your friends as well.

Another thing you can do with fring is twitter. Yes, you can get tweets to your Treo, or any other WinMob deivce. I think that twitter is a little annoying on fring so I don't have it going. Well, if you wanna give this app a try you can click here for fring.

Weightloss update.

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:27:00 +0000

I weighed in at the Dr's office on the 17th of December. I was dissapointed to see that I had only lost 2 lbs. I saw that my overall weight was 297.5 lbs down from 299.5lbs.

When I get weighed it is not some old fashoined scale. This is a special computerized scale. Not only can it tell your weight but it can tell you where you weight is.

The nutrionist comes in and we beging to talk about my meals, excercise and such. I was anxious for us to get to the weight part. Then I just told her. I only lost two lbs and I was dissapointed.

She began by pulling out the strip of receipt paper that the scale spewed out. It read the follow facts: I had lost 2lbs of overall weight, 12.5lbs of fat weight and gained 10 of "other" weight.

This was excellent news for me. Eventhough I didn't lose a lot of overall weight, I did lose 12.5lbs of fat. I have been swimming and weight lifting so I know I am eating the correct foods and getting the right amount of excercise.

So, that is my monthly update.

Checking In

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Wow, its so long since I have posted. The main reason is not laziness, but it was my preparation for surgery.

I had surgery November 7, 2008. It was routine work "under the hood" procedure if you would. As some of you don't know, I have been on this exercise routine since August 23rd when L.A. Fitness opened up across from my office. I normally just swim because I have real bad knees. If I attempt to run, jog or walk, my knees swell up and I am out for at least two weeks.

So, when I started this life change (I don't call it a diet because they fail) I began at a hefty 318lbs of pure unadulterated fat. Even though I had been swimming and started to eat healthier, I couldn't lose any weight. No matter how long I swam or how hard I avoided certain foods, nothing was working.

Then I started to go to a nutritionist. Boy, if you think you are eating healthy, go to one of these nutritionist and they will open your eyes more ways than one! First off, did you know that you have to at least drink 1/2 your weight in water? Yes, I said half your weight in water. It works like this. If you weigh 256 lbs, then you must drink 128oz of water. Why water you ask? According to my nutritionist dehydration is one of the leading causes to many of our diseases.

Let me put it to you this way. Since I began drinking approximately 160oz of water a day, I have been off of my blood pressure medication. Of course it is not only the water drinking but also the 20lbs that I have lost so far and of course, water helps in weight loss. It has something to do with flushing out the bad juice and helping in digestion as well. I just drink the water and I let the professionals argue why its good.

Another thing that I have learned, "if it's white, it isn't right". What do I mean by white? What I mean by white I am talking about refined flours and foods. When food producers refine the flower, they are taking out most of the good stuff out of the foods. Our bodies react severely to enriched flour. Here is a scary thought for you to digest. Did you know that when you eat refined flour, you liver swells instantly? Yes, I didn't even know that. So, it has been whole grains for me and no red meats.

It has been a struggle. These are the changes I have made to put my life style in perspective. I have not had red meats in over 6 weeks. I guess it takes a long time to break down the fibers in red meat. I have had no white flour foods. For pasta I have been eating the spinach spaghetti with turkey ground meats. For my protein, turkey, chicken and fish.

The weight is coming off. I started going to the gym yesterday, Monday 8/7/08. I still can't swim because I still have one scab to work through and then I should be able to go. My goal is to swim 1500 meters every time I get into the pool. Before I had surgery I was up to 750 meters which is the half way point.

Only time and hard work will tell. I will keep you all posted as to my progress monthly. When I go to my nutritionist you will know the results of my weight loss.

Life Lock

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:39:00 +0000

I just wanted to get a quick post in about a very important company. Well, it is important in my life. The name of the company is LifeLock and you can visit their website at www.lifelock.com

Just one thing before I begin to put my thoughts down, I am in no way associated with Life Lock and I am definitely not on their payroll.

What is Life Lock? It is a company that monitors your credit and social security number and prevents, yes, prevents fraud and identity theft. I live in AZ. AZ has the highest identity theft in the United States. Identity theft is one of the longest and hardest frauds to recover from and not many laws are created to protect the consumer who's identity has been stolen.

An example: My brother goes to buy a home and he is told that his credit rating is 420. That he defaulted on a home in Miami, Tucson and currently owns a home and an Escalade. First off, he has never been to Phoenix and he drives a Honda. But the creditors don't know that and the credit bureaus don't either. So he has spent $7000 in court, lawyer and other fees just to clear his name. The process is over bearing and the proof falls on him not the credit agencies.

He basically has to send proof, notarized by the courts, that he was were he said he was when the house or vehicles were purchased. This happened 5 years ago and he is still dealing with this issue. Slowly but surely all derogatory credit is being removed. (By the way, this really happened to him and he is still dealing with this. Apparently some illega alien syndicate stole his SSN and has been using it since he was a teenager.)

Did you hear about the raid in Iowa? Immigration raided a meat packing plant in Iowa. Approximately 378 of the 700 employees were illegals living and working in Iowa. Did you know that over 60% of them had taken on someone else's identity? Yes, some American's credit was ruined. Their Social Security numbers have been used and shared amongst the illegal community. The bad part is that the company knew that some of the SSN were fraud and didn't do anything to stop it.

So, why did I decide to give Life Lock a chance? Because I have worked hard to have a high credit rating. I make sure that my bills on paid on time and that I maintain a low revolving credit amount. So life lock basically takes care of everything except getting your bills paid on time, that still lays with you.

Life lock put a 90 day fraud alert on my family's credit with each of the credit bureaus. Then they requested our free credit reports. Yes, this is something that we could do but it is a pain in the rear to get this done. Why not pay someone to do this plus monitor your credit and prevent credit fraud? Another thing, they will pay up to 1 million dollars to cover any court and laywer fees to get your name cleared. Then they ordered our work history with the Social Security Administration. My children's history had to be asked for by us and it is still in the process. But if it wasn't for Life Lock, I would have never known that I could do that for my kids.

The company will order my free credit reports and will place a fraud alert on my credit with all the bureaus for as long as I have them. So, all this plus the ease of mind for $22.50 a month is not a bad investment. And yes, they are also covering my children, one is 10 and one is 5. So it is ease of mind that their credit will be preserved until they learn to use a credit card.

If you have any doubts, then go to LifeLock.com and give it a go. Heck, even the owner of the company posts his SSN because he is that confident and no, I have not checked to see if it was a valid SSN.

Rechargeable Batteries

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:03:00 +0000

As many of you know, I believe in protecting the environment. I guess that goes against what many believe being that I am a registered Republican. (Not going to turn this blog political, just saying.)

If you have read, or read, my blog you will see that I do believe in protecting mother earth. From getting Fluorescent bulbs, to reducing my water usage outside on the lawn, to getting the High Efficiency front end loaders. (They use over 50% less water than traditional washers.)

I started using rechargeable batteries over 18monts ago. The reason I waited to post this blog was because of the testing I have been doing with them. I have been using them from remote controls, wireless mice, massage bots and my bluetooth keyboard that I am writing this on. Are they the best thing to use for energy? No.

Why not? They don't last as long as alkaline batteries, per charge. I say per charge because I have had the same batteries for the 18month testing period that I am talking about here. What happens when you are done with an alkaline battery? It goes into the trash filling up the land fills. They corrode, leak and contaminate the ground water. By the way, ground water is essential in AZ!

Now, what happens when your rechargeable battery dies? You recharge it use it and repeat. Yes, while they only last a fraction of the time per charge, you are not wasting landfill space and contaminating the ground.

What have I done to make a little difference in the lasting power? I purchased Hybrid rechargeable batteries. What are Hybrid rechargeable batteries? They have Nickel Metal Hydride (NMih) and Alkaline in them. They can be recharged just as often as regular NMih batteries but they hold the juice better when not being used. That technology allows for more energy when you need it.

Yes, purchasing these batteries will mean a little more expense up front, but in the long run you will save money by not purchasing wasteful energy, Alkaline Batteries. The batteries I have been using are 2AA and 3AAA batteries. I will be trying the D batteries once I find ones with over 4000mah capacity. I need the extra juice being that I use a Maglite at work.

When in doubt, use rechargeable batteries. Think of your children"s future and how we will be leaving Earth for their use. We need energy to survive as humans, but we don't have to destroy the environment using that energy!!!

Today I realized

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:14:00 +0000

I realized something today.

There are many Treo users at work. Yes, many people still use the Treo because of it form factor and ease of use of the Palm OS. Palm OS, while old, offers new users an easy way to learn a Smartphone and its OS. Many of the Treo users are long time Palm users going back as far as the Handspring.

But, I realized something today. I am do have some technological knowledge of something. I don't consider myself to be Steve Jobs or or Jeff Hawkins when it comes to technology but I know my way around some technology.

There I was minding my own business and next thing you know I am approached by a co-worker. This co-worker begins to ask me question concerning his Treo 755p. It just so happens that is the device that I am currently using. So we begin to talk about the Treo's features and capabilities. To his amazement, he learned how powerful of a device it is. Approximately 10 minutes into our conversation there were 4 other co-workers listening to my little speech and teachings. What was supposed to be a 10 minute "get to know your device" chat session, turned out to be an hour and a half teachings on the device.

Then and there I realized that I had in fact something to offer. I often hide behind my computer, keyboard or IP address shy about being chastized for the lack of knowledge. However, today I realized that I do have something to give. Therefore, Today I realized.

Power Hero

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:39:00 +0000

What is Power Hero? Power Hero is a strong Palm OS application used to save a little juice on your Treo.

I have been using Power Hero for about 5 days now. Let us talk about the first page of Power Hero. Here you will see a graph. The graph will just give you an idea of what the discharge charge rates are. Click on the graph and you will get a bigger graph. In that graph you can also see the capacity of the battery and the charge rate or discharge rate. This is good for people like me who can stare at graphs all day.

To the left of the small graph, you will see 3 tabs, usage info, Power Saver and Scheduling. If you click on the Usage Info it will give you information concerning your battery. Some examples of this are, Remaining Battery Life, Last Plugged in and Last Unplugged. If you click on the I at the upper right corner of the screen, you will be taken to the info screen. If you select Usage Details, you will see the overall usage of your battery performance. Click on the I on the upper right of the screen again and you will get to the Tips screen.

In this tips screen you will see information about the information on the previous screen. If you scroll down Dan puts his hobbyistsofware e-mail address so you can e-mail him this information. This will help him fine tune the software for our Treos/Centros.

Now we go to the Power Saver tab. Here you will find four buttons at the top of the screen. Auto-Off. Simple what is states, you can choose to power off the Network, bluetooth, Infrared and Keyboard Lights after a certain amount of time. Those times can be determined by you.

Auto-Bluetooth: You have three boxes to choose from, Turn on when call received, Turn on when call dialed and Turn on when plugged in. Being that my Treo is finicky with Bluetooth, I have left these settings unchecked.

Signal Saver: I have these both checked. Just in case my phone can't find a signal for 10 minutes, Power Hero will tell my Treo to stop searching for 10 and attempt to find the signal 5 times. Because of where I work, the signal can come and go pretty often. When you have no signal we all know that the phones are designed to look for one constantly. That will certainly drain your battery.

Miscellaneous: In this button you have some more options. The only three I have checked are, Toggle Key lights with side key. Yes, you can turn off the KB lights saving a little bit of energy. Next, "Don't turn Bluetooth off if paired" Very important. Because if you don't, the Auto-Off feature will turn off the Bluetooth after a predetermined time. By checking this you have trumped the last command. Remember, only if paired will this take into effect. Last but not least, I checked the Log drain rate every 5 minutes. I am still trying to determine where the log is or if I need it. The reason I did select it was I believe my graph needs it to log the drain rate.

Now on to scheduling. You can schedule various things in this button. From network off to phone off, bluetooth infrared etc. This screen will be very helpful if you don't want those things turning on at night or during a meeting.

Below the graph you have buttons for the Phone, Network, Bluetooth, Infrared and Keyboard. By simply clicking them you can turn them off or on. This will allow you to have all the Power saving features in one screen. Last but not least, there is a slide so that you can control the Screen brightness.

How has my phone fared with this application? Very well so far. First off, my 755P is a very stable Treo. I have had no issues with it. Now, some applications can cause conflicts and resets but Power Hero is not one of them. At night I have had 30-40% juice left in my battery after a day of heavy use. Now, I have about 50% left. Th at there is a 10-20% savings of battery power.

I have yet to perfect the settings on my Treo. There is more to learn from this application. I believe that I can get more juice out of it for sure. Out of a scale of 1-5 I rate this application a 5. Why so high? The following are the reasons: The application is stable, it doesn't slow down my Treo in other words, there is no lag. It is a very power application putting all the energy saving methods into one screen and one touch.

If you hurry up Treonauts has a Heist sale going on right now. It does end on the 17th of August so hurry up. For only 9.95, Power Hero is a must have application!!!

UPDATE:

I wanted to have an honest review on this application for Palm OS. Still, PH is a very useful application. I am most impressed with the ability to save power on your Treo/Centro all on one screen. The feature rich PH application is a must for all Treo/Centro users

With this said, I did run into some issues with my Treo. Let me start by saying this. I don't believe that the program is flawed nor do I believe that my Treo 755P is broke. My issue happened to be with another great application, USBModem.

See, both applications work well on my Treo. While using PH I had no issues, as stated above. The application worked flawlessly. On Saturday I needed to use USB Modem. I set up my connection and my Treo reset. I tried numerous times to get USB Modem to work with different settings on PH. My belief is that PH had control of the network. When USB Modem tried to disable the DUN and take over the network, PH did not want to give it up.

I decided to uninstall PH and try USB Modem. Guess what? Yup, USBModem worked like it has for the past year. Now, I am not saying that PH is not a good application. But as happens with Palm OS applications, sometimes they just don't play nice together. For now, I chose to stay with USB Modem. Not only because I paid for it, but because I need it to connect my laptop when no WiFi is available.

I did e-mail both programmers with my findings in hopes of a fix. I really want to use PH but I need it to play nice with USBModem.

Weather App

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:45:00 +0000

Nifty little application that I purchased for my daughter's Centro and my Treo755P is Weather. Yes, simple yet complicated.

This application allows you to create your own weather channel. For example, I have it update the weather for locations of where I live, work and vacation. The weather application simultaneously updates all locations that I have set for default.

There are default times for updating and then you can set your own times. Usually I like my weather to be updated 4 hours a day. So I set it up where my weather station updates at 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

I get the current weather, 48 hour weather, 7 and 14 day forecast! The weather seems accurate enough except for three days ago. I manually updated the weather and it said that it was clear with a full moon. Well, it happened to be raining and the moon was covered up! But that could do with the weather station being out of commission and not the weather application itself.

Apart from collecting the weather from virtually anywhere you want, you can also set up a wallpaper of your choice. If you wish to take a picture with your Treo or Centro and then use it as a wallpaper, you can. The wallpaper you see in the background of my Weather app is of the rest area east of Indio, CA on my way to TweetupLA.

The cost? $4.95 for a 1 year subscription or like I did, $19.95 for an infinite subscription. Give it try I know you'll like it

Recycle, doing my part.

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:07:00 +0000

I called this recycle because I purchased something at Starbucks today. No, I am not affiliated to, work for or promote Starbucks. I don't think that a multi-billion dollar company needs this blogger's help.

But why am I posting about this? Well, let us say that Starbucks sells 1,000,000 plastic cubs of Iced Mocha. Now, let us put those 1 million cups in a land fill. Plastics can take thousands of years to break down but are not biodegradable. If they are, please direct me to the site that says so. Starbucks is the #1 coffee supplier, at least to my taste buds and the taste buds of my co-workers, that is about 400 of us. So you can imagine the unsurmountable amount of plastics that go into our land fills. Now, the 1 million cup number is for the United States. Starbucks is a worldwide company, imagine the numbers now.

So, if you have read my posts on this blog, you can deduct that I am about conservation and saving our earth. So I bought this hard plastic cup at Starbucks today. I have actually been looking for a cup like this since purchasing my hot coffee one months ago. What do I like about this cup? I can use it over, over, over and over again. There is no damaging the environment, other than the production of the cup, every time I go buy a Grande Iced Skinny Mocha.

So, what are you doing to help out? It may not seem like much, but every bit counts. A cup a day, keeps the landfill a little emptier. Let me know what you are doing to help out mother nature. As you know, we Americans are the most wasteful people on earth.

TweetupLA 2

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:39:00 +0000

This is my after tweetupla post. I do have to say that I did have fun. I was nervous at first, but after a few minutes I settled into myself.

The entire night was full of conversation and everyone talking about everything from Baseball to Linux! It was a conversation that left me in awe. I thought we would only talk technology and that made me nervous since I am not a tech guru. I know some stuff, but nothing like some of the twits I follow. So to hear some baseball, politics and food, it put me at ease for sure.

I cannot put into words how great of a night it was. The night was entirely full of laughter. It was almost as if we knew each other. I know it is different knowing someone on twitter and RL but it really isn't. What they are on twitter is what you get in RL. I met some aspiring actresses, @demca and @querzny. Then I met the twittertini sisters, @IBTerri and @Wiggly_Lisa. OMG with these two. It was so awesome getting to know them IRL because we have so much fun on twitter. Meeting them was one of the highlights of the tweetupla.

I am not saying that meeting @rissadee wasn't as exciting. She is a great conversationalist and loves Obama. We matched up like oil and water! (FYI, I dislike Obama like the plague.) But she has interesting topics and a very cool @ pics from the tweetup!!! Likewise, I saw @BrooklynBeast again. BTW Beast, I have not forgotten your tequila, I will get it to you soon. Getting to see the first tweetup bud was nice. He even flew all the way from NYC to just to be there, it was great.

So many twits and tweetple that I can't mention all of them! But I do have to recognize @gregbarnett! He and @demca set this baby up and they did one hell of a job. Very well organized with much to drink and eat. Plus, the Studio Bar is a very nice place to hold a party like that. The tweetupla was going to be streamed but @scarab couldn't get the stream to load up. I guess you all had to eat what we tweeted.

I do have to say, tweetupla set a high standard for all future tweetups! BTW, the bartender that @gregbarnett hired was da shiznit!!! She could mix a drink with seaweater and kelp and make it taste good. Yes tweeple, she was that good!!!

Look around the net for other posts and Flikr posts that some may have put up!

TweetupLA

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:45:00 +0000

It is Friday and I am only 24 hours away from my meetup tweetup with some Twitter folk. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Nervous you ask? Yeah, it is very different meeting people in person than it is meeting someone on twitter. To me twitter is a "barrier" from RL(Real Life) to my CL (CyberLife). These jitters will go away quickly though.

I am the type of guy that quickly adapts to changing environments and such. I know @BrooklynBeast in person. I met @BrooklynBeast and he is a cool kat and of course the other twitters that we know via twitter will be there. So knowing the beast will be a relaxer as I am sure it will ease the tension. There shouldn't be any tension, but you know, those jitters. Wow, I sound like a boy about to kiss his girlfriend for the first time. RAWR!!!

I can't wait to meet everyone. It should be a blast and we will have fun. The only problem I see is twitter. Twitter has had some serious issues that they can't recover from. I was hoping we could all tweet while we are at the tweetup but it appears that we won't be able to. Twitter is acting sub par at best.

Another thought that I had thinking about this tweetup. I have met people from NYC, @BrooklynBeast and @BrujitaLinda, I am going to meet some more cool twitterers at the tweetup. All these tweetups and I have yet to tweetup with any Phoenix twits. It is not that I didn't or haven't wanted to. The problem is the conflicts on dates that the tweetups have taken place here in the valley.

Well, enough of that. I am packed and ready to go. BTW, @BrooklynBeast, I have your bottle of Tequila bro.

Mexico Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:05:00 +0000

How I have neglected you. By you, I mean my blog. I have been so busy with other things in real life that I haven't made time for writing. When I decided to start a blog, it wasn't to improve on the world, or start a new idea. It was more for me to jot a few thoughts down and help ease my mind. So blogging to me is not what it is to others. To others it is a life event, to me, it is just a few words put down on an electronic device. A few thoughts to vent my mind from everyday stress.

The family and I went to Mexico on vacation. It was more of a "going to a wedding" trip than a vacation. However, we did manage to go to Guanajuato, Guanajuato. Do you know what Guanajuato is famous for? Yup, mines, slaves and Mummies. Let me elaborate before people get upset. I should add, that it is past history and therefore it is mentioned here.

The Spaniards came to the new world with visions of riches, gold, silver and bronze. Their main goal was gold of course. They ended up in the area called Quanax Juato by the natives living in the area. Since the Spaniards couldn't pronounce the name, they called it, Guanajuato. The Spaniards, like most European Countries inhabiting the New World, bought slaves in order to work the mines. I am not going to go into the details of the conditions these poor men worked in, but you can imagine the silicone in the air and lungs. These men didn't stand a chance of survival.

The mummies are another spectacle in Guanajuato. These are not actually mummies, but bodies that are petrified. These bodies were not actually buried in the ground but were buried in walls made of stone. The belief is that through time the water and mineral protected the cadaver from deterioration. What ever the cause this museum is very interesting to come and see. I have attached some photos for your viewing.

If you ever want to go to Mexico on vacation, I recommend a stop by Guanajuato. Very lovely and clean city.

My Hdd

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:47:00 +0000

As you can see from the picture, I am holding my laptop's hdd. Why you ask? Well, I arrived home one day and went to turn it on. It wouldn't turn on. I checked to see what the problem was and what do I see. Water. Yup H2O.

We all know that H2O is no good around electronics. Needless to say, my laptop was all, well, broke. Sadly I lost all the music I didn't back up. I am hoping to be able to recover some of the files myself.

Tenshots26 helped me out and showed me where I can buy a cable adapter for my hdd. Once I get around to ordering it, I will give it a go. I am hoping to recover most of my stuff plus a few music downloaders I had. Piece of advice. Don't get water on your laptop. I know it is common sense, but damn it hurt. I had my baby set up on more ways than one. Eh, what's done is done.

Quicknews

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:27:00 +0000

I was finally able to get Quick News working on my 755P. I need to speak on it because this reader for my Palm Treo, is da bomb!

It is not uncommon for people to want to get their rss feeds in the easiest way possible. You can't get any easier than Quick News. The way I did it was to download the OMPL file from my Google Reader. I Hotsynced it to my SD card on my Treo. Quick News has a search function that will search for that OPML file. Once it downloads it, it will place those feeds into Quick News.

You have the option of doing the auto update or manual update. I have mine set to auto update on a certain schedule. You have the option of 12, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 hours update increments. Depends on how much your feeds get new messages, is how you will set up your auto updates. The program is pretty stable and has caused no resets on my Treo. There is a 28 day trial for our convenience and testing. By all means, test it, test it, test it before purchasing the key for it.

Now, after the updates, you can begin to view your feeds. Scroll down and read your feeds. This is where I love Quick News the most. If you subscribed to a Podcast or a feed that has a podcast, you will be able to listen to the podcast. You can download it or listen to a stream. All of your downloads can be kept on the card saving you space on your Treo.

The program is very intuitive, easy to use, easy to set up and easy to keep your phone's space free. Give it a try and if you like it, purchase this little program.

Here is the link: http://software.treonauts.com/product.asp?id=449

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:50:00 +0000

alife

Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:33:00 +0000

You know you live in AZ when it rains and you blog about it!!!

As you guessed, it is raining here in my part of AZ. Why do I get all excited? Well, there are millions of reasons I do. Rain not only helps clean the air of impurities, but also replenishes water reservoirs that were depleted during our ultra-drought.

Yes, we live in the desert. Yes, we are used to not having rain. Hey, the way most people see it, as long as Colorado gets snow, AZ will be okay. That is partly true being that the Colorado River provides us with over 50% of our water.

However, there are cities, like the one I live in, that depend on well water for survival. While rain will provide some relief to the ground, ground water will not be replenished so easily. Being winter, plants, trees and grass don't require as much watering.

Since we have received a good amount of rain, I am going to turn off my sprinkler system until Monday. My grass only gets watered on Sundays in the winter. So this rain fall will satisfy my grass watering needs for this week! Also, my plants get watered on a 4 day skip cycle. That is 1 gallon/plant ever four days in the winter.

If every household in AZ getting rain was to do what many do, it could amount to millions of gallons of water not wasted. Remember, 40-50% of the water bill is spent on watering outside plants and grass.

We need these rains to continue into the night. If only the Gila River can flood again like it did in '93, that would help with some of the ground water issues facing many cities that border it. While the Santa Cruz River flows during the monsoons, it is not enough to satisfy the diminished water supplies.

Well, enough doom and gloom. The rains sure are nice. It is a cool 63 degrees. No AC, no heater and no water wasted. The only problem, I can't cut my grass tomorrow. I will have to give it 2-3 days of drying.

Eh, who cares. I hope it rains all weekend. Oh, by the way, if you live in AZ becarefull with all the drivers. Remember, accidents increase 40% during and after a rain in AZ. Yeah, we can't drive in the rain.

Its Been Busy

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:37:00 +0000

Where to begin.

I haven't been on blogger.com in a while. With everything else I am trying to do on the net, it seems that I don't have time for writing. I use this more for a vent than for blogging.

Lately I have been messing about with Google Desktop. I became jealous when I saw my wife's cousin's Vista Laptop. The only impressive thing about it was the widgets.

So, being the "let's try anything tech" kind of guy, I decided to re-install GD. I browsed some cool gadgets that I love and some that were not up to par with me. The ones that I have now are gdShredder, Battery Meter, CPU usage meter and two weather gadgets.

I am still browsing and looking. Eventually I will settle with something that fits my everyday needs. However, Google makes it very easy to add and delete as you wish.

As you can see from the picture, I have it locked. It is a little inconvenient when browsing treonauts.com. The website does not adjust so I have to scroll left and right to get my posts read.

Every other site though seems to do just fine. Well, I will keep messing about and see if I like it.

I also have Spring Widgets but so far, Google Gadgets has had the biggest impression on my.

Veteran's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:47:00 +0000

Its Veteran's Day today. We are going to a parade. To honor those who fought for us. Who gave it all without a fuss. Times are sad for Veteran's today. They are rejected by Americans in every which way. All they do is protect and serve. Keep our rights they lose no nerve. The ultimate sacrifice they did give. They lost their lives even limbs. Today is the day we honor them. Yet so many despise them. It does not matter for they know. That they are doing what is rightfully so. When they come home they will see. A great America that is FREE. If I lived in another place. What rights would I have, could I say grace? The Constitution was not written. Without American Blood spilled, no Rights hidden. We have fought for what we think is Right. GOD has given the might to fight. To be free in every way. That is why I type, I can say it everyday.

I made this poem off the top of my head. I did not edit it in any way.

The rights that we take for granted, is the very right that they have died for. Could you imagine what kind of country we would be now if our fore fathers hadn't "killed" for freedom? Yes, I am not denying that wars are nasty and cruel. Some wars may not be just in some one's eyes. I am trying to find a quote from a war reporter who hated war.

He went on a mission with the soldiers and Marines. He then understood what was going on. He understood that the basic human rights that we as Americans take for granted, was the same rights we were trying to give these people. Many say that "the war is not here". But isn't that the American way. To ensure freedom for everyone, not just Americans.

We cherish the basic human rights. The Freedom of Speech, The Freedom of Press, The Freedom of Religion and so many other rights. So many countries that take these rights away from their citizens.

Every one can question our beliefs. In America we respect everyone's rights, that includes Gay Rights. I ask you, go be gay in a Muslim country and see if you are greeted nicely. No, you will be rocked to death or beheaded. Hmhm. That is what we have here. Not everyone may agree about homosexuality, but at least you won't be killed for it. We have a long way to go on the homosexuality thing, but this is the solution. Love everyone as a human being. Don't find fault in them before you fix your faults.

If you don't agree with Veterans it is ok. It is your right not to agree. However, don't disrespect or spit on their faces. Express yourself, another guaranteed right, but you don't have to intimidate them or their families.

Calling them killers because they killed to keep you free, I will call that Hippocracy.

Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:59:00 +0000

What does Thanksgiving mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

I just found out that I have to work that day. Its ok, I should be home by 2 p.m. Normally, on that day, I would be assisting my beloved wife prepare some of the food for the evening meal. Of course, my way of assisting is taking care of the children and emptying the garbage every half hour.

When it is all said and done, we all gather around and chill out and talk. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? Family and communication is important as well as being together as a family unit.

This year we have a cousin, my wife's actually, coming from Guadalajara, Mexico to partake in this years Turkey Day celebration. He is coming because he always hears about the day and wanted to know what the big hoopla was about.

What is the big hoopla? I talked about it briefly already and mention the important things for family. It is a tradition that started when I married my wife. We used to celebrate it at her parents house every year. Since moving to Phoenix, we have been having Thanksgiving Diner at our house.

My wife, she needs her own cooking show I am serious, takes care of everything for the cooking. I think it is her therapy. She relaxes and enjoys it so we let her do it. (Insert evil grin here.)

Then as the family begins to show up, I still don't do a thing, the conversation begins, which makes me mad because I am trying to watch football.

When it is all said and done, we overate, over drank, and over communictated. I still feel that it is well worth the time, energy and fatigue that one goes through.

Basically, it can be whatever you want it to be. It is you and what you want. Some people will not have a Thanksgiving Diner but will instead be volunteering their time at a shelter or Red Cross. What ever it means to you, just do it!

Growing up, we didn't have Thanksgiving Diner/Day or anything. It just wasn't our tradition. My mom, being the legal immigrant, didn't know nor did she ever celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I would eat meals at school, but it wasn't the same.

Do you remember how Thanksgiving Day came about? Starving Pilgrims that could not sustain themselves through the cold and harsh times.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day and remember to stick with the fundamentals. Don't fall for these companies portraying this holiday as a means for you to get your ass into more debt.

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:40:00 +0000

Well, Halloween is over and it was over quick. Seemed like just yesterday that I was putting up the Halloween Decor.

We have a little family tradition that I started. Obviously it is nothing that most family don't with their children but it was new to me. When my daughter was 2 years old, we started to carve a pumpkins for Halloween.

We continued this until my son was born. Since his birth, we have been carving two pumpkins for Halloween. It just seems as though it became more stressful. Darn kids fighting over whose pumpkin I was going to carve first.

What would having kids be without the fights, right? I enjoy and my wife enjoys taking video as I gut out two pumpkins with my kids designs on them. I don't claim to be a pumpkin carving expert, but as long my kids are happy, I am happy too.

Tired

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 17:55:00 +0000

I haven't posted in weeks! I have been very busy at work and tired.

I don't know what my problem is. I feel so tired. I know I have to be up at 3 a.m. but no matter what time I go to sleep, I can't seem get that good rest I need. Hmm, dunno. Well, just wanted to let you know I am still well.

Not Poor By Choice.

noreply@blogger.com (Luis Martinez) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:32:00 +0000

Until recently, I believed that poverty was a choice. How can I be so insensitive? Okay, a little history of my childhood. I was born to a mother who is an (legal) immigrant and a United States Citizen father. At the age of 12, my parents divorced. I am the oldest brother of 3 and when dad left, I had to become that "dad" to my siblings.

My mother, like many immigrants, worked in the agriculture field. Yes, she picked, packed and clean our everyday produce. She would get up at 4 a.m. and not be home until 7 p.m. So, I, as the oldest, had to step up to the plate and help my mother. I made sure that my brother and sister did their homework, finished their chores and I had the responsibility to feed them cause mom was at work. Yeah, that is a lot of responsibility for a 12 year old. Not to mention that I also worked picking green beans and in the lettuce fields to help bring in income. Yes, at the age of 12.

Some nights, not many, for dinner we would have bread with mayonnaise and mustard. If we were lucky, we would get some kind of meat with that. Granted, this wasn't an everyday thing, but it happened. I grew up realizing that when food was on the table, it was time to appreciate. I also learned that when there wasn't, hard times were just around the corner for my siblings and I. I think I worried more about them than I did for myself.

While going to High School, I was the one who couldn't go any where with my friends. The one who had to borrow deodorant at gym from my friends, 3 pair of underwear and if I was luck, 3 pair of pants. Yeah, poor! Being poor wasn't by choice. The man who called himself my father could have kept us afloat but made it a point not to pay child support.

Just the other day, I was looking at my moms Social Security Earnings statement. She made $7000 when I was 12 and then hovered around $14,000. Yeah, that much to raise three children, and a house payment. Granted this was back in the 80's through 91, when I graduated high school. With that income, there wasn't much left for extras.

I remember my mother telling me, "You will not work during the school year, school is more important right now." With that sacrifice, I would study as hard as I could to graduate. After graduation, I joined the Army and would send my mom $200 a month to help pay the mortgage on the house. The very same house we worked hard to not lose to foreclosure twice!

Now, I am a successful man with a beautiful family and a great wife. No, really, I married the almost perfect wife. As we all know, we can't be perfect, but she comes close.

So as I became the man that I am now, I would get so upset at people that would complain. "Its the government's fault." "Its the man keeping me down." I would get so upset that I would actually open my mouth. I would tell people about my story. My feelings were that they had the same opportunity as I to get an education and become someone. Yes, I grew in a bad neighborhood. I had a friend shot in the face, drug dealing in my front yard and drive by shooting at friend's homes. Statistically, being Latino, I was supposed to be in jail.

I still feel the same way today, but understand that in some instances, people do have an influence on other people. Friends that I went to school, whose parents had money, are in jail now. What can be the influence on young people? While governments, racism, and social disparities have an influence, I feel that the ultimate decider is the man or woman.

Having gone through what I have gone, I still don't understand why. I guess I am no sociology major. To me, excuses are made to justify laziness. Its off of those excuses that laziness lives off of. Really, it is easier to suck off of Uncle Sam than it is to make $6 and hour. When I started working, I was making $3.15 an hour. We did okay with that.

My motto throughout life is, "Being poor was not my choice, not being poor is."

While there are outside influences in a person's life, there is always room for growth no matter what those influences are. I guess my mother's work ethic was passed on to us. All my siblings are successful professionals and make a middle class income.

This is my

Thanks to Jesse for hooking me up with this picture.