Back Issues -

Exercise programs

It was a cold day outside, there was overcast and it seems like rain was coming. I thought it was a good idea to give my son a bath, since it did not seems that we were going to go anywhere for the day. So I was kneeling down by the tub and preparing the water for my son to take a bath, I remember his giggles; he was 14 months old and was looking forward to playing in the water with his new toys.

As I was kneeling and preparing the water he kept coming into the bathroom, you know how kids are, anxious to get things done, but he kept reaching for the paper waste basket or opening the toilet seat…so I had to keep on chasing him out while the water was running.

In one of those instances I was testing the water and it almost seems right, but out of the corner of my eye I happen to see my son reaching into the tub and about to fall in. I was still knelling and my reaction was sort of weird, but the movement that I made would change my life for ever. As I was knelling and saw him going head first into the tub, I twisted my body to catch him, together with the awkward twist, his weight and my position my back went out.

It was the most painful sensation I have ever had, I had my son in my arms and was twisted to one side, I it seems like hours, but I finally got the strength to yell for my wife. She ran into the bathroom and saw my expression, she knew something was wrong. Her first response was if our son was ok, when she noticed he was fine she looked at me and how I was positions on the floor…I could not move. Every attempt I made to move was the most excruciating pain I would never wish upon anyone. I remained in that knelling twisted position for sometime, and after an hour had gone by my wife wanted to call an ambulance, I told her to give me sometime. You know how guys are…anyhow, about three hours had gone by and I was finally able to get up with help. I headed to the bed, which seem like an eternity, it took an additional 15 minutes to even climb into bed.

This occurred on a Friday evening, by Sunday night going to the bathroom would bring tears of pain. That Monday morning my wife had to take me to the Hospital, arriving there was painful for ever bump we hit was painful. A nurse had to come out to get me in a wheelchair, since the pain while walking was intense. After several hours in the hospital, with X-rays, a few doctors checking me out, they finally diagnose me with one of my Disks had slipped out. The doctors did not know how I was so still since I should be in excruciating pain, I told I was. They were talking to see if surgery was going to be needed, but after several additional hours I was sent down to Therapy, where I went through several exercises’, and electro shock therapy. The therapist also gave me some messages, painful at first, but it eased after a few minutes.

I was released to go home the next day and was prescribe o go to therapy. After 6 months of therapy, my insurance was done and any further therapy sessions would have to come out of my pocket…they were $195 per 45 minute session…which I could not afford at the time. The therapist understood and gave me some exercises’ to do at home, which I continued and after about a year I was almost back to normal. The thing is that now, I have to be very careful on how I pick things up, how I carry things and my limit of weight I can handle is not was it use to be. The slightest weight above my threshold or the slightest incorrect move can cause my back to go out…usually for several days, but most of the time I can still function, just very slowly.

I learned since then to watch myself and do things carefully, the thing is I am writing this because as you can read I started the Insanity Program and on my 6^th day as I was going through the routine, which I already knew, I made one bad move and my back tighten on me. I am still continuing the program, the thing is that I am doing the exercise routines slowly, ½ speed and a few exercises I do really slowly no major impact. I still sweat like crazy, but I realized that stretching and warming up [slowly] will allow you to continue. I don’t suggest that anyone continue the program if they hurt their back, I am only sharing my story, plus I know my limits…that my body can handle. I wanted to share because I have had hundreds of excuses when trying to loose weight and something always happens. I know…I know…hurting my back is a true excuse, but I wanted to not let something happen again…so I just do it slowly and carefully listening to my body as I do each move…slowly…I made it through my first day of having back issues and doing the program.

Once again do not take this post as a go ahead and work through your back pain, please don’t, I just wanted to share my experience. Thanks for reading and please come back often for more articles, thoughts, posts. Stay safe, be adventures and listen. Latino Man Signing off.

Non-Interactive Society

Texting, Social Networks, No Social Skills…

We all remember Wally – E and the famous ship traveling the universe where mankind simply sat in these oversized lounge chairs, while they did nothing physically. They were waiting for the time they would be able to return to earth and restart where they had left off.

The story line seems awfully familiar, almost seems like many of us are living it right now. With all the floods, earth quakes, financial worries looming on the media, why would anyone want to leave the safety of their home. Simply staying put on that couch or lounge chair seems to be taking a hold off our society. Now, we can place the blame completely on the media, we also need to start looking at all the new technology advances, such as text messaging, social networks like face book, these conveniences might not be all that convenient or healthy for us.

Society now has now been so accustomed to having everything at their fingertips, or thumbs in some cases. With the new revolutionary way of communicating, via texting people simply pull out their convenient phone and send a quick message to their beloveds. It seems to be quicker than dialing and talking. Before the night club scene was the place to socialize, meet you people that you can actually touch, see, smell and hold a live conversation. Social network like Face Book, My Space and Twitter people simply write a quick sentence or post a picture and that’s how they communicate. But that’s not the worst of it all, now with abbreviated text messages, such as Laugh Out Loud (LOL), By the way (BTW), etc. people are beginning to loose any social skills that we had. Dating , well people meet online now, emails or post are exchanged and then one face to face meeting and your setup, married, engage…but hen a few weeks later things don’t work out, because most of the people online most definitely twist their stories and well simply put you never know who you will meet online.

It’s amazing, even the convenience of Texting, people don’t pick up the phone anymore and say hello or please stop by the store…its now, “Hey Can U Go 2 da store. Thnx”. Texting has giving people a new method of avoiding any kind of human contact, in any type of relationship, friends, dating partners, married couples…its everywhere. Social networks have not only replaced going out, but it has also become a means of bullying others and not only in front of your friends or neighbors, these cyber bullies can bully you in front of MILLIONS. I totally feel that all these conveniences are great, don’t get me wrong, but we need to find a balance and not loose touch with our human side. But please don’t take my words for being true, simply look around you when you are out and about, people walking as they texting, or ask your friend if they have a Face Book account, maybe you do as well, you’ll see that most everyone you know and that they know are on some kind of social network.

Ok wait, I do hear that people use these social networks to communicate with family, and friends all over the words, by sharing stories, events and pictures, but then you forget how to say hello, or guess what, people interpret writing differently and misunderstandings happen, “well that text sounded like she or he was mad”, and friendships and marriages or relationships are broken…because of a text message misunderstood….wait, imagine on Face Book, then someone you thought you know writes something horrible on your wall, the wall is where people on Face book write messages, well those that you allow to, so what do you think would happen…someone writes that they saw you with so and so, when in fact it wasn’t true…a relationship could be broken…because of someone hundreds or thousands of miles away. People don’t have to put face anymore and still hurt others.

The world is failing economically, we are slowly finishing the earth resources, we are slipping away from live interaction and it seems no one really cares, they are sleeping going with the flow. Walking in a st5aright line looking at our cell phone while texting, getting home and eating ready made foods and jumping online to begin socializing with friends and family. No more BBQs, or holiday dinners, or speed dating. One day we will be hooked up to our computers and simply be.

I mean, of course we have the gas prices issue that many are enduring and makes traveling by car near impossible or only a necessity if needed, so I guess a little everything sort of plays a part on the direction our society is going towards…maybe Wally-E will eventually be. I might not be in my complete right mind, and maybe thousands will disagree with this post, but let’s see what our society will look like in 5 years.

Thanks for reading, keep safe, be adventures, and talk to your love one instead of texting or emailing them, read a book first before watching the movie, BBQ instead of having Mc Donald’s. Till next time, Latino Man signing off.

Office Crushes –


This is a fantastic topic, I think I might have posted something related to this, but I wanted to sort of expand on it a little more, simply because I work in an office and I have worked in three huge companies over the past nearly 20 years.
So, anyways what I am talking about is “Office Crushes”. Not necessarily office relationships, but crushes, those that did not develop into anything, simply were. So, I am sure there are many people out there that can totally relate to this article as been the one with a crush or having a crush on you or have seen it as an on-looker, like you knew a friend that had a friend…sort of.

Anyhow, so office crushes, are those feelings one individual has for someone else within the same office, but never says anything about it or simply knows it’s not a good idea, maybe because they have heard horror stories on work related relationships or because the other person is already taken.

Now, we have seen this once too many times, you go work at a company where you interact with many other individuals, and you pretty much spend most of your life, or days with these people, well with such long interaction, you eventually learn about these peoples likes, dislikes and begin to build a relations that becomes either a close friendship or stays simply a worker-worker relationship. But at times, many individuals begin building feeling for someone, because they are cute, pretty, and funny or well a lot of possibilities and you end up having a crush on them. What the individual does with those newly found feelings can lead to many scenarios, and of course it will depend if the person is married or not. Now I did not say taken like a boy friend, because relationship seems to end quicker than a divorce…only saying…so people have a tendency to pursue a person that is simply dating someone else that pursuing a person that is married, maybe there is more of a challenge or children are involved, etc. whatever the case is individuals either pursue those people that they feel they can, of course many, and I do mean many times people simply don’t say a word.

Of course most of the time work office relationships lead to a disaster, but there are also many that do work out. My thing is the crush thing. Many have to relate, their has to be one individual in your office that you think is cute, pretty, funny or well, you know…that you simply like a bit more than a co-worker only. You might say to yourself that, “you know if I was single, or I was younger or older, whatever the case may be, I would ask that person out”…yah you know what I mean.

My Perspective:

Office crushes if handled right...I think could be fun…only saying. I think we can get into the drama and details that sometimes involves office crushes it could be a whole other post. Thanks for reading till next time Latino Man Signing off.

Opportunities Left Behind –

You know the other I was watching the stock market and of course some of the Metals and I was looking at our dreaded Oil commodity. If you look back a few years ago, say 2009, at the beginning of the year of 2009 Crude Oil was trading $36 - $46, give and take. Now, since them I am sure you see it and have felt it; prices have reached $115 or so. Imagine if you could have enter the Crude Oil stock back in the beginning of 2009, well you can do numbers from 35’s to 100’s…not a bad investment and more importantly a return on your investment.

The thing is that this was the case with many stocks and other investment vehicles. If you had money to invest and I know many of us did not, but if you did you could have been in a better position at the moment. I thought about it and yah if I would have taken the step to maybe take out a little from my 401K, and invested in one of the nice stocks or other vehicle, then I could have been in a better position.

I understand that it is HIGHLY recommended that you never take out of your 401K, but statistically as many times as individuals change jobs, most individuals never put it into a CD, IRA or something, instead the  money usually goes towards supporting the time that they did not have a job. So, why not while you know you have a steady job, take some out and invest. You end up paying your self back through your paychecks and with interest paid back to you….I know many don’t agree, but I am only stating an option…not the best option. I know what if you get laid off, you have to pay the loan back immediately or you will need to pay taxes on what you took out. I am only suggesting to do it, if you are confident that you will have the job at least until the loan is paid. Maybe set the payment plan to 2 years…thinking that maybe you’ll still have the job in 2 years…depending…I guess to each individuals circumstance.

But if you have been with a company for 5+ years and you are a valuable team member, then why not take some out and invest in something. Yah, I know it is water under the bridge the opportunity has left us, but maybe if we look closely at the market, another one will present itself. You know what I don’t know, I am thinking probably out-loud and something I wished I would have done, who knows…I see all these possibilities, they seems to always repeat themselves and we end up passing it by, or maybe I simply do, the thing is can’t let the next one go by and I am confident that there will be another opportunity.

Anyhow, I do appreciate you stopping by and reading my babbling, I share my ideas and thoughts only as an optional purposes, when they are good ideas I say so, if they are risky then I say again…simply use my babbling as another bit of information to go on. Remember we all need to keep our ears open and eyes peeled, because opportunities are all around us, we just need o learn to listen, but most importantly make sure it’s a legitimate opportunity and good investment.

Till next time, Latino Man signing off, “Be Safe, Be Adventurers”.

Beyond out Capabilities –
Taking the first Step

The time has come to look beyond my means…it’s time for me to step into what I have always wanted to do. I have the tools, the knowledge and the means to finally take that step that has long been coming. Some people can accumulate immense knowledge, some people have the ability to manipulate numbers, the alphabet, games and well so much more and have proven that the human mind and body can go beyond what many believe they can do, it’s just a matter of taking that first step.

We have read, seen and experience amazing things in our lives, while we were children and as adults and with all that there has to be something we can do to take it further than we are use to. We do believe, we sometimes let other things get in the way…what those things are somehow we don’t know so we are kept at bay from our true potential in life.

We have heard time and time again that we have all been placed in this world for a reason, whether you believe it or not, there has to be some truth behind it. Finding it is our journey, our obligation, and few only dare or have the ability to actually attempt to find it…the rest of us live in that dream. We are outsiders looking in and only a few will actually ever be inside.

It has been proven time and time again that as individuals in order to succeed or be successful we need to drop to the lowest we can…we need to meet head to head with the most horrifying fear we can imagine, only to make us the person we were meant to be. But why do we need to go through such pain, suffering, in order to move ahead and become that of what we have always wished for…why can’t we simply push ourselves beyond and become?

I will submit everything I have learned and everything I am capable of learning and move forward with success, that success that I know I can accomplish, reach, obtain…that will make me a better person not only for me, but for my family and most importantly the community. I have reach my prime, I am the best at what I do and now I have to break out of that and move ahead to what I was meant to do and be. It will come, it will be reached, it will not be easy, but the journey will make me and not break me…positive thoughts, positive ideas, positive moves ahead that relate to what I have learned.

My Perspective:
We all have the capability to be the best that we can, to teach the best things we have to our children, to provide the best to our community…all it takes is that first step, once taken the same momentum will propel you to where you belong.

Thanks for reading, thanks for putting up with my thoughts, till next time Latino Man signing Off.

Insanity Work Out Program

Purchasing On Line

Ok so I decided to go ahead and try Insanity work out program, by Beachbody. Now, my experience in purchasing directly from Beachbody was horrible. I order online and received a confirmation of my order and it stated I should receive a follow up email with the tracking number. I never received it. Now, after which I never received any kind of correspondence from Beachbody, it had been 5 days since placing my order. I upped to get it delivered 2-4 days, so when I never received the program I submitted a ticket online to customer service; I had to take the initiative to find out what was going on.

So I get a reply from an agent at Beachbody stating that they are very sorry for any inconvenience. But that it seems my credit card was declined. So I contacted my bank and they confirmed that they have not received any attempts to bill in the past several days, but the bank did state that I should make sure they had the right information. Well, that did not go good with me, because I always capture screen shots of any information I enter into any systems online I may purchase through, well they had the right information. So I then, which I don’t recommend you do, contacted customer support at the numbers provided, low and behold the agent was somewhere in India, only saying.

First of all the agent had a hard time locating my order. The agent later asked me to re-order since they were having technical difficulties, he wanted me to provide my credit card information, but also he started to up-sale…let me tell you it clearly heard like the agent was reading a script. Anyhow, I declined and asked to kindly cancel the order since it hasn’t been processed. I asked for this because I wanted to make certain that they did not try and run my card again or send me the packet later asking me to pay for it or something else.

So I will wait for a few days and see if any attempts are made to bill me or if I happen to get the packet. I will be certain to return it unopened if it comes through…oh yah and I’ll be sure to send it certified so I know they got it back. If everything goes ok, I will go ahead and try to order the program through Amazon, same program and it looks like it is cheaper…anyhow. If you decide to order insanity, I would highly recommend doing so through Amazon or maybe it is available at a local store…just don’t do it on-line at least not through Beachbody.

Wait, ok…I have heard through many people that they ordered products through Beachbody with no issues, ok, I know there is always exceptions, but by experience, if you order on-line best do it through someone like Amazon…there customer support is a lot better…only saying. Products are the same, but the customer support makes a HUGE difference.

My Perspective:

Doing any online purchases are fantastic, convenient and you always have a broader range of options available to you, but with purchasing online you need to be extra careful as to where your credit card or personal information is going. Not saying that we shouldn’t purchase online, all I am saying is do so carefully. People learned which sites are great in getting products to their customers and have the best customer support to resolve any issues that may arise; so people stick those sites and become loyal customer. I personally have experience no issues with Amazon and I do a lot of my purchases through them, so of course everyone has their experiences can only suggest that you do your research on the company you will be purchasing, and try the out with something small…if possible and then once you like what you see, you can be more comfortable ordering from them.

Anyhow, thanks for reading, take care, be careful online and till next time Latino Man signing off.

P.S. I did end up ordering through Amazon, it was about $5 dollars cheaper and so far so good. I'll keep you posted.

Everyday Life Around Us


Another day another dollar, I guess after taxes it is about 60 cents. So it’s been a while since I have just blabbed, most of my topics are on communication, talking, relationships, and well anything to do with couples, strange but that sort of revolves around our lives, you known people talk about working at relationships and it like having a job, others disagree, well you know I think it is like a job, the only difference between relationships is the difficulty of the relationship, like any job. Some jobs are tough, require possibly physical labor and some require lots of mental labor and other require both, well just the same in a relationship it requires either or both.

Yah ok I am going into that tangent again, but my post today is about everyday life and how everything has its ups and downs, even down to the very minutes of your life. Sometimes you find yourself extremely busy with out a break and other times the days seem to drag because of the lack of work. It happens in many aspects of our life, like, if you have children, the first many years of their lives you are the one taking care of them, etc, and then as they grow up they need less and less help from us…well you know what I mean.
In a relationship some relationships seems to function with little work needed and of course there are those that well both people in the relationship are working hard at it and well like life, sometimes it goes smoothly sometimes it doesn’t. I mean it as simply as making a decision on what you will be having for lunch, it can become complicated for some and others just decide as quickly as they would in other things in life. Work, bosses, children I mean if we look at it all we see children play, and some times tease or fight and if you look at your daily interaction with adults it’s almost identical, you play, work together, tease one another, indirectly or directly and of course there our fights or arguments. As children we tend to not be friends with those and as adults we can either get fired, quick or in some occasion it can get worse…fights, deaths etcetera.
I don’t know, it’s very possible I am not making any sense at all, but I am amazed at what you can see and learn if you simply stop, listen and look closely enough at what your day entitles and what your kids day entitles or maybe you remember certain thing of your childhood, teenager years etc., and think wow, is this just like high school…all the drama and headaches that come with growing up. Yet we all know that these things are happening everyday and not only to you but to millions of others and people talk about it, books are written, news is told and now Blogs discuss these exact topics…and yet we do nothing to change how we live our lives or how we can teach our kids to live.

I guess without all the drama we have in this world it would be boring, maybe, but I am certain that a lot of the little things that take up our time and are essentially not worth it…we can do without. I mean we have enough with everything else that we need to deal with the same things we all know about. So stop, and talk to your significant other make things work, if not then MOVE on…seriously. Even if children are involved, if you leave now, then you can show your kids that things can be worked out without anger, violence and still maintain a family or at least have both parents involved in the kids lives without the horribly remorse of all the years of fighting in front of them. Kids can learn that things can be discussed calmly and have a solution.

Crazy I know, but as with anything I could hear millions of excuses…and yet stop and listen…they are the same ones your mother and father made, or your friend or someone you knew or about someone you heard about in the news…its all around you that same excuse and yet you and I still believe it. Change now, it can be done, move forward, lets better ourselves as individuals, let our children learn from our mistakes and not follow them…if we can give them the tools to make better decisions, if you can’t then teach them to be better people with what they have and always strive to learn all they can and be successful in school…the one area that can actually give us a hand up.
This post is just not about relationships, it’s about all the things we do every day, how we handle them, how we solve them. Its not just about communication, its about listening when you need to, talking when you need to and simply being there when you need to. But the one thing is for sure is that we all need to stop making excuses and start making changes, whether they are small, or large, whether they involve you or your partner, family, son, daughter, mother, father…or just you…but we need to start somewhere. I am probably one that makes excuses just like millions of others, but you know I want you to forget everything I just wrote…
Step back, take a look at your life, your kids life if you have kids, your parents lives if they are alive…I mean take a look at your friends lives, coworkers, and you’ll see that there is always something that someone else is going through, that you already know about seeing someone go through it or heard about how others handle it…and yet depending on the circumstance you ask why did they do that? That’s the same thing that happens; it’s like a cycle of never ending issues…same issues that are passed on for generation to generations, and why…it happens. The same things heard over, divorces do to financial, adultery, violence, Car accident do to drunk driving, just because I had one drink, or I could handle my liquor, or a frat party, or well you know what I mean…these things occurred while you were growing up and they are happening while your children grow up, but nothing ever changes. And you what I hear…”Ahh come on let them learn like I did”, or “let them learn the hard way”, or “Ahh that will teach them not to do that again”, are we serious…the cycle never ends.
My Perspective: Can I have one since blabbing away? I don’t know…I could be taking this beyond philosophical…or well…I could be getting carried away, I just can’t believe that life in general and the bad things that happen to us, has been around for hundreds of years and it seems to just be a cycle of life all around us.

Anyways, I’ll stop babbling and take my leave here, till next time, slow down in life, stop and listen and talk you’ll be amazed at what you have been missing and maybe you can change one life. Take care thanks for reading, Latino Man signing off.

Psoriasis

I wanted to talk about a mild case of Psoriasis and what I do to keep it at bay. Now, I most show on my elbows and sometimes it shows up as dandruff, but the most sever case on me is my elbows, so I wanted to briefly tell you what I do to keep it at bay.

Now, I simply put some Cortisone +10 on my elbows every day, just a dab. Now, one thing I come to realize, I am sure many know this, but if you bend your elbow you will cause the skin to stretch and I have noticed that the cortisone will not be as affective. I now simply leave my arm extended and rub in some Cortisone + 10 in the mornings.

Now, if it is sever enough, it will take several weeks to begin clearing up, at least in my mild case it did. The thing is that you need to be persistent, put it on everyday for at least 10 days, then after that every day or maybe every other day. Now, I put some Aveeno one day and then the Cortisone the other day so that way I don’t forget to put on some type of ointment. Like I said the thing I noticed is to keep your arm extended not bent when applying the ointment.

Just a little tid-bit, thanks for reading till next time Latino Man signing off.