In our defense, the league this year was out of control with stacked teams!  Pretty sure there were at least a few dudes (and possibly some females) doing a hard cycle of roids or HGH b/c there were some monsters competing :0 Maybe that’s what the Pitches need next season.

Question of the hour:  will the Pitches return?  The answer is YES! Probably, most likely, eh maybe.  I think there will be another round of fun (this time in the Summer) with the burnt orange crew, but who knows.  Kickball brings out a lot of emotions and I don’t know if we can all put ourselves through that kind of physical/mental punishment again.  If/when we do return, we’re going to be ready (maybe even practice a time or two) and shred some serious CORE (#shredcore). O’Doyle Rules!!!

That’s all I’ve got.

Luckily for us all, I documented the entire event with the ever-useful iPhone and will now show off our amazing sushi making skills!

How to make Sushi:

Get the right gear!  And by gear I mean ingredients.  Check out our plate of sliced veggies and variety of fish/seafood.  I’ll try to write down all that we had:

The Pregame: Here's what we've got!

The of course, we have the fish and other seafood items to add to the rolls.  Believe me, it tasted better than it looks here

The Fish!

- Yellow Tail
- Another type of Tuna
- Octopus
- Imitation Crab
- Scallops
- Salmon
Now for the veggies.. what did we have to go with the substance?  Let’s find out:

- Cucumber
- Japanese Radish (forget the real name for this)
- Jalapeno (sounds spicier than it was)
- Radish sprouts
- Avocado
- Green Onion
- Sticky Rice
-”Mid Range” seaweed (we weren’t all about to go top shelf on this)

With all that in place, we were full blown ready to go with the making of the sushi.  I’ll fast forward here and just drop a ton of back to back pics of how we did things… I think everyone would appreciate that more than me giving the play by play.  Ultimately, we rolled it all together and got some seriously tasty dinner.  Oh yeah, and my brother put on his chef gear to give the full effect!  Pretty supreme looking hat:

So there you go, there’s the action shots of this all going down.  You might be wondering where I am in all these pictures, and the answer is that I’m taking them.  Don’t worry, I was definitely making rolls!  After all the hard work of carefully rolling our masterpieces and chopping them up into little stout cylinders we were left with a heaving plate full of Sushi.  I have to say, it was surprisingly (ridiculously) good:
FAQ’s:  Was it good?  Yes.
Would I do it again? Yes.

Here’s a better way to save money:  each paycheck, drop a couple hundred into a separate bank account that you don’t have readily available access to.  I don’t do this personally, but I know at least TWO people who do this and dig it.

Another way to save some money is to drive less… maybe try riding your bike to work (I do this sometimes [edit: when it's a little cold for me to be doing this now, but I have done it in the past]).

Finally, another way to save money is to simply not spend it on ridiculous stuff.  For those of you who know me, you know that I spend a ton of money on random weird things that no one in their right mind needs (or even wants for the most part).

Bottom line with this post:  Don’t be like me.  Save money the right way.

Weekday:
7:23 –> wake up to get ready for work.
7:42 –> leave for work.
7:50 –> get to work, boot up the computer, and start the first cup of green tea for the day.
8:00 –> work day starts!!!
10:00 –> 2nd cup of green tea, still at work
12:00 –> LUNCH!  3rd mug of green tea
3:00pm –>(depending on the day) 4th mug of green tea
4pm –> workday officially ends, but I’ve usually still got some stuff to finish up
5:30 -6pm –> leave work and head to the gym (4/5 days… on the offday [usually Wednesday], skip to 7:30pm)
6:15-7:20pm –> get shredded up at the gym
7:30pm –> get home from the gym and start making some dinner
8pm –>  Eat some dinner while watching a little TV (current fave shows: Pawn Stars, Daily Show, Colbert Report)
9pm –> hop online and do my online thing!  Check emails, facebook, look for new merchants to promote, work on websites, design projects)
10pm/10:30pm –> hop in the shower
11pm –> hop into bed and read for about 20-40 minutes
11:30′ish – Midnight –> fall asleep

Weekends:
10am –> Wakeup
10:30am –> Eat breakfast  / work on websites
2pm Onward = ???

Daily:
–> Check text messages / voicemail to make sure there are still “none”

Weekly:
–> Call home and see how things are going with the folks
–> PPC stat review (make sure I’m not spending too much money on my websites)
–> Post to Forums / Comment on blogs (just to make sure my name is still out there)

Monthly:
–> Do some WORK! (aka take photos)
–> Make new epic shot pictures (for pictures for people I like)
–> Check for deals on new TV’s (or whenever Splooge sends over a deal)

Welp, that’s just about it.  I am pretty sure that’s all I do!  If there’s anything else I forgot to add, then I’ll be sure to update.  Comment!

Pros to New Prius:

• They look less like toasters and more like cars.  The old look of Prius’ is kind of strange, but the 2010 models are actually pretty sweet looking.
• No existing problems / no miles on it
• I’d get to pick the color
• Wouldn’t have any little dings or scratches
• Full warranty from the dealership

Cons to New Prius:

• More expensive than a used (about $3,000 – $5,000 cheaper to get a used)
• That’s pretty much it for the cons

Pros to Used Prius:

• Cheaper than a new one

Cons to Used Prius:

• It’s always weird buying a used car
• Might have strange problems
• The one’s I’ve seen have test driven / seen have all been fairly high mileage (even the ones that were only a year or two old)
• It’s weird that someone would want to give up a car that’s only a couple years old… seems sketchy (a little bit)

So what do you guys think?  I am leaning towards a new one just because I think it’s worth it, but I’m always down to get people’s take on it.  When am I going to get it???  I don’t know, maybe February.

Take what you would like out of this, leave the things you don’t like… as I mentioned, just something I threw together…

Fair warning, there won’t be a lot of structure to this. It’s probably going to be a bunch of random points in no particular order:

The ’system’ needs to constantly be shocked. Muscles get lazy and will do anything to avoid pain or discomfort, so after a few weeks of training, it’s always a good idea to switch up your exercises. Work the same muscle groups, just different ways.

Your days should vary, meaning you should not just do the same workout day after day after day. When I’m at the gym, here are my workout routines:
A.) ARMS: 20 minute warm up run. Biceps, Triceps, and Forearms (I’ll alternate the exercises I do for each muscle group every week or so). Abs.
B.) CHEST: 20 minute warm up run. Chest (I’ll also usually throw in some legs this day). Abs
C.) SHOULDERS / BACK: 20 minute warm up run. Back and Shoulders (typically a lighter weight day for these groups), then Abs.
D.) LEGS: 20 minute warm up run. Leg machines and squats. Abs.

As you can see, I do a 20 min run in the beginning and always end my workouts with ab work (not a whole lot, but some). The run is to get my blood flowing (some people do this at the end of their workout to “clean lactic acid”… I feel they are crazy). You want as much blood flowing as possible as it spikes your metabolism and gets your body working. Yes, it gets you tired, but not too tired, and your body is less likely to get injured from the lifting as it is warm. The reason I do abs daily is because I hate doing them. I can’t just sit down and have an ‘abs day’ or something because I would be in too much pain the following day. As long as you change up what you are doing for abs, it will be good. I typically always use a yoga ball and have a bunch of different exercises I do with that, but I find the best results always come from yoga ball work.

Believe it or not, taking rest days is ESSENTIAL. Hard to get yourself to stray away from a daily routine, but unless you are an all-pro body builder, your body needs a break. Personally I work out 3 or 4 times a week MAX. Most magazines say the same thing and typically split up the off days in a “two day on, one day off… one day on, two day off” cycle. I’m bad at this because of my schedule, but I’ll go Mon and Tuesday, then take Wed off for golf (in the summer), Thursday I’ll go, and then MAYBE Friday if I don’t have anything going on. Weekends I typically take off.

The ultimate goal (which sounds too good to be true) is to have your system working while you are not. It’s pretty much the hardest thing, but I feel I’m getting better at it, and here’s how:

There are 2 times when your body develops/grows muscle the most: While you are sleeping and up to about 40 minutes after you are done working out (in that order). Be sure to get full night sleeps, especially on days that you have worked out. Also, consume protein after your workouts (preferably no later than 40 minutes after your workout ends). Protein should be a big part in your diet, not to put on ’size’ or muscle, but rather to keep your body working. Remember, the ultimate goal is to have your body work while you are not. It’s kind of like setting yourself to auto-pilot for your health.

What to eat and why: the ultimate question. This was the HARDEST part for me to finally understand and start to practice, but I can honestly say it really helped me out. Here are a few key foods that I have recently been eating a lot of:
- Mushrooms (raw = amazing for you)
- Bright colored veggies (the brighter they are, the better they are for you)
- Spinach (protein packed)
- Wheat breads / bagels
- Yogurt (protein packed)
- Fish (awesome for you)
- Eggs (this can be tricky… there is an INCREDIBLE amount of protein (well, 6 grams) in eggs, but it’s the whites that are good for you. The “good part” aka the yolk is full of cholesterol. Not the worst kind of cholesterol for you (it’s the ‘good’ kind), but still, too many egg centers is probably not the best. Sometimes I’ll make 4 eggs for breakfast but only have 2 yolks instead of all 4)… this tip I stole from a housemate :0
- Almonds (AMAZING for you… huge in protein, vitimins, and essential oils… plus they are awesome! The dry roasted ones (the ones with nothing on them… I get mine from Costco) are the way to go.) Yeah, they are a little fatty, so don’t eat too many in one day.
- Chicken (protein packed)
- Vegetables in general… because you just can’t go wrong with veggies.

My diet is very high in protein, which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend, but having a decent amount of protein is absolutely necessary for having your body ‘continue to work while you aren’t working out’. Also, space out your meals… the whole “3 meals a day” is a strange concept… it’s much more optimal for your body to intake food when it needs it instead of sitting down and loading up 3 times a day. Breakfast is essential. Without breakfast your metabolism will slow for the entire day, slow your body down, weaken your workouts and energy levels, and give you an overall bad day.

Diet plays a huge role and should not be taken lightly. This was the hardest part for me to figure out but when you think about it for a while it makes total sense. You are what you eat, and you wouldn’t put 87 octane gas in a Ferrari (I probably would!), so the better the food you ingest, the better the results are going to be. One last thing, which is also a hard one to understand but uber important: You have to eat a lot. Healthy food, of course, but it needs to be in your system. It’s like in monopoly, my strategy was always “You’ve got to spend money to make money”. Applied to this, it would be: “You’ve got to eat a lot, to get a lot out.” Starving yourself and going to the gym does not work and here’s why:
You’ll have no energy. Your body can’t get your metabolism up without energy (think of it as putting fuel in the tank). Ultimately your workout is doing nothing and you are wasting your time. Stay energized, stay hydrated, and you will start seeing improvements.

Random fact: drinking Cold water during workouts allows your body to stay focused and stronger better than luke warm water… weird huh? Also, taking “gulps” instead of sips cools your body down faster. Also a sports drink at the gym is better than water. A cold sports drink? whoa!

Sprints. No one ever does them, but what better way to shock the system… out of control for overall fitness and agility. Very hard to do, but worth it. I don’t really do them, but I should.

Jump Rope. Yeah, it’s lame, but an incredible aerobic workout that gets my heart racing faster than anything else I do… very very very effective (yet you don’t see many people using them!)

Lastly, stretch out when you are done with your workouts. A lot of people stretch a ton before they start working out (I used to be one of them), but now I don’t stretch out at all before (it just tires me out). I’ll do one set of something, then stretch the muscle group, then do my other two sets (*I typically do 3 sets of 8-12 reps for everything… with a minute break between. Heavy breathing is what you want when lifting… it means you are doing something right).

I’ve got a million other things that I’ve read up on, but the above are by far the most important. I feel that anyone spending time at a gym should know these things because they will make your time well spent and optimized. Again, take from it what you would like, leave out what you wish to not do, but I think it will help you to achieve any gym goal you may have. These are honest things that I make a conscious effort to do and really feel they have worked well for me. There are no fancy pills or crash diets… just hard work (which you are already probably doing at the gym) mixed in with giving your body what it needs to keep working while you are done with your workout.

That’s my take, but again, I’m no bodybuilder (or even that huge), but these tips seem to be working.

Let me know if I messed up something or if there’s anything to add to this. I definitely don’t know everything, and probably got some stuff wrong in here, so correct me if I’m wrong.

I am a little concerned with how my followers are going to react to it.  Right off the bat, I don’t have too many people who actively follow my updates (so that’s not an issue), but I think it will negitively impact me growing my list to new potentials.  I’m really going to have to use this sparingly, but am excited with the potential it has.

If only I were a celebrity…. then I’d really be raking in the dough!

Back in April of last year I was having an issue with my fuel pump (the WORST) so I brought it to this small shop to have fixed.  It was a pretty big job, but by the end of it, my car was running like a dream.  Until a few weeks ago that is.

I started having issues with starting my car back in late October on what seemed to be the exact same issue as before.  Thinking “There’s no way it’s the fuel pump, I just had this fixed” I decided to ride it out and see if it would just go away.  It didn’t.  It wasn’t getting any worse, but it wasn’t perfect… that’s for sure.
SO, at the beginning of this week, I decided to take my car back to the shop that had done the fuel pump work to have them take a second look at it.  At first they said they couldn’t replicate the problem and the car was fine, but I knew this wasn’t the case (I know my car), so I asked for them to keep it overnight and check it out again in the morning.  Like clockwork, the next morning they called saying they had found the problem and yes, it was my fuel pump.

The solid part of this story is that because the original work was done last April it was still under warranty (one I didn’t even know existed!).  What does this mean for me? Not only is the part replaced for free, but the store owner said that they were going to do the labor for free too since they were the ones who put in the part to begin with.  SCORE!

That’s my tale of how I got my car fixed for free.  Er, well, I haven’t gotten it back from the shop yet, but I will tomorrow, and then it will be free!  Woohoo!  AMERICA!