Justin Germino Ramblings

A couple of days ago I came the the decision to try and adding podcasting to at least one of my blogs.  This is to provide some audio updates and test the medium which is very popular and see if it enhances or detracts from my blog.  But one other additional goal is to better enhance my speaking and presenting abilities.  You see I am giving a presentation at Computer Associate’s CA World in Las Vegas on November 19th 2008.   This would be my first presentation to a room full of people and I am very nervous.  I am an expert on the topic but I am terrified of public speaking.

I think if I can get used to podcasting and presenting, it will help with my ability to publicly speak and present at CA World.  So I am giving it a shot, I have downloaded and installed the PodPress plugin for wordpress and use Audacity to create my audio files.  The LAME encoder allows you to export the audio as mp3 and then I uploaded it to wordpress.

Let me know what you think of my first attempt.

-Justin Germino

I have so little resistance to good food it is amazing.  My wife made some coffee cake yesterday which the moment my olfactory senses caught the scent of cinnamon and pastry baking in the oven, my tongue was pouring buckets of saliva.  I barely was able to keep from running downstairs and burning my hands on the hot pan.

I shared it with my boys last night as a treat after dinner and scarfed down the rest tonight, sometimes I find myself never feeling full but eating food  until I am gorged.   Times like these I think sometimes I could use an appetite suppressant but I hang in there with willpower alone.

So I have to work out an extra ton over the next 3 days to compensate for eating so much coffee cake, but oooh, it was worth it.

-Justin Germino

It seems more and more lately I have either witness first hand or have heard from my spouse or friends about the things people do lately that just seem plain wrong.  Either society is just more corrupt and morally bankrupt now than ever, or it was just much more hidden from the public and therefore not as widely put on display previously.

Examples of this are how people try to save a dollar at a local sandwich restaurant.  I mean I understand people are economically tight, but when you order something on the menu that costs $5, and you try to sub out meat for more expensive meat and expect the price to be the same $5 dollars, this is trying to milk the system.  Customer trying to order a club sandwich and saying, make it all roast beef instead, it cannot be called a club sandwich. Secondly, people will order food then eat 3/4 of it and complain something was wrong when they are at the last bite, then restaurant policies would refund or make a replacement.  Customer basically milks 2 meals for the price of one.

People who will report stolen items that they never owned to police after a house robbery, people who claim to do something that they have never done but witnessed someone else do so they can accurately describe and fool people to believe they did it.  Too many people take credit for someone else’s good deeds.

I genuinely believe in my core I am a good, kind hearted person.  I try to live that way, I try to be an optimist and see the glass as half full and try to see the good in all people and not judge a book by its cover.  However, I am guilty of my own personal bad behaviors, rudeness at times, lying, occasional theft (like you haven’t stolen office supplies).

To keep my spirits up and my attitude positive, I have taken a new policy before bed every night.  I started this a few months ago.  Before going to sleep I try and reflect and thing of at least 3 things positive in my life that happened that day.  I want my last thoughts before sleep to be of some good things that happened, something pleasant.  Simple stuff like my son telling me how much he loves playing with me, or seeing my wife smile when I tell a joke.

Sometimes it helps me have good dreams and wake up in a better spirit, other times it doesn’t seem to help much, but I still like reflecting.

Just some of my insight.

-Justin Germino

Arizona is a state which requires drivers to own car insurance, I don’t know if all 50 states have this requirement but I honestly think it is a good requirement. It protects accident victims so they get compensated when the other driver is at fault. However there is a flaw in the system. I was driving my car in Tempe a few years ago and was rear ended by a young woman, we pulled into a plaza and waited for police to arrive. They did arrive on the scene and the lady who rear ended me did not have any insurance or registration for her vehicle, they just wrote her a ticket and let her drive away without any insurance or registration.

I had to file a claim with my insurance company and pay a $500 deductible to get my car repaired which sat in a shop for 3-4 weeks. Out $500 plus the inconvenience of not having my car for a month all because the other driver was not insured. They say that insurance companies try to contact the other party and you will receive compensation if your insurance can collect, but five years later that hasn’t happened.

The police should not let an uninsured driver just drive away from the scene of an accident without providing all of that persons information to the other party.  I would have potentially filed a lawsuit or pursued litigation since the other driver was uninsured.

I am actually a strong advocate of every Driver must have insurance, it isn’t protection for the driver as much as it is for potential victims of an accident. It does protect the driver as well if you are injured in your own accident, but it protects both parties.

-Justin Germino

I am actually new to blogging, have only been blogging for 2 months now and I am learning how some bloggers make money by selling products on their site. An example of such a sales exchange can be done with orovo a nutrition, fitness, health company which sells powerful products to build muscle, improve health, fight acne, promote weight loss…etc.

Associates sign up on their site and list links to their products from their own blog or site, if somebody clicks and purchases an Orovo product then the person who did the advertising gets paid as a result. These health products are not cheap, but they are advertised as very high quality. I can’t speak to the quality of the product since I haven’t tested them myself, but they do seem to have a very fair Associate program.

Example:
If someone were to purchase their Orovo Superfood Flagship Product for $79.99, the Associate would receive $39.99 in payment. This is like a 50% associate pay out rate which is very very good I would thinks as I have seen Amazon associate payments and they range from 5% – 15% at most.

So whether you want to check out the health food products, or see if you want to leverage and promote Orovo products on your site and make some extra money, these products fit very well for health and fitness blogs.

-Justin Germino

Life should not be as complicated as it is for the majority of us, especially if you know the basic most important things that you want in life and you have no confusion about what it is you want.  Those who work hard at achieving what they want don’t always clearly see that it is a two sided street and that in order to get what you want, you have to accomodate what somebody else wants.

I try to learn more about life every day, every interaction with every being, every conversation, I really do try and grow myself as a person.  I have identifed about a half dozen extremely self defeating traits and I work very hard to try and patch up these personality flaws and weaknesses.

True discovery of oneself comes from within, and when you know your weaknesses and admit to them.  You are at least admitting you are human and have flaws.  Trying to fix them is another story altogether.

Some people are able to isolate and fix their own weaknesses and draw out their own strengths, others require psychiatric treatment or therapy.  Others find that if they associate those who have traits they wish to possess, eventually you will pick up those traits.  I do believe that people adapt to others and take on some personality of everyone they interact with.

Know that whenever you find yourself wishing you can change something about yourself, or you wish you werent a certain way, or did a certain thing.  Know that you are not alone, millions of others feel the same way.  Reach out and talk to someone who understands without judging, whether it be a family member, trusted friend or a professional.

We all walk this difficult road called life, I am starting to believe the more friends you have along the way the less difficult the path has to be.

Just some insight to my way of thinking for today.

-Justin Germino

I have become a regular contributor and regular blogger of the online magazine Ya’Sou Magazine which is dedicated to publishing the work of up and coming poets.  This is a great opportunity to connect with my readers and share my insights into the world of blogging as well as to help promote and put out the wonderful poetry that comes from fellow bloggers in the community.

Thanks to A Poets View for running a great poetry blog and putting together Ya’Sou magazine which features some really great poetry and nice bio’s about the authors.  It even has a games section and a links section where you can play some online flash games, or have your link added for promotion.

-Justin Germino

With the shaky economy and the stock market roller coaster I actually think with costs down and the economy in a recession would be a good time to find a small business that could be targeted in your area and invest in one. I learned that Microsoft Corporation invested in small business for sale and actually helps put together this site which categorizes franchises and brings small business together for people looking to invest.

The site is very easy to navigate and allows you to search by state. You can see all the franchises like “Arby’s Starbucks, Play’N’Trade…etc” any category whether you want to invest in food services, auto repair, Dry Cleaning, Vacation Planners, and much more.

They have business franchises that match virtually any investors price from $10,000 and up. So you don’t need six figures just to invest in a small business, many small businesses fall within an affordable range. You can also sort by price range and industry besides location.

So if you are looking for investment this is one option to look at among many others.

-Justin Germino

Listen if you have spent time researching the best fat burner then let me tell you, there is no one size fits all solution here. I have posted previously about how I lost weight, and that eating in moderation, changing your lifestyle and way of thinking and exercising are key. However, for people who have to try and find a pill that assists or helps jump start, and you have tried other things with limited success, you have my complete support as well.

Unfortunately there is no magic pill, but there are pills that help stimulate metabolism, control cravings and stuff and if you do proper research and analysis you may find something that will assist you. But note, you can’t replace eating in moderation and exercise, you can only supplement. I would suggest using natural products versus dangerous chemicals if possible.

Good luck to everyone trying to lose weight, I should note that my own weight loss method has slipped a little. I just weighed myself on Wii Fit yesterday and turns out I gained 8 pounds since September 1st. I can directly attribute this to my eating pizza and 2nd meals at 11pm because that is when my wife gets off of work, and she likes to eat a little snack after working 7 hours.

So eating just prior to bed is one of the worst offenders for weight gain, try not to eat for 3 hours before you go to sleep, if you go to bed at 10pm, don’t eat past 7pm. Resist the urge to snack before bed, causing food to sit in your stomach overnight really works against you.

-Justin Germino

I am posting the review on my Dragon Blogger blog tomorrow morning, but I just wanted to tell everyone who sees my personal blog that the movie was great.  I actually watched it with my five year old even though it had inappropriate language and don’t regret letting him see it.

The movie was inspiring and showed what creativity two boys can have and the bonds of friendship and what they mean.  I really liked this movie at least as much as I liked Bridge to Terabithia, it is a similar style of film in my opinion except instead of role playing the kids are acting in a film that they are making together.

I highly recommend it to everyone.