Justin Germino Ramblings

I was at a sporting goods store which happen to sell all kinds of things including sports equipment, golf swing training aids, and workout equipment. They had used disc weights which I had been looking for, for $43 I was able to buy two fifty pound 1/4″ disc weights, which will go nicely with my weight set.

Now I can’t just add 100 pounds and bench it all, I am simply not that strong, but I took off my multitude of 35, 25 and 10 pound weights and started with the fifty pounders and a fifteen on each side making my bench now 150 with the weight of the bar.

It is a good step up for me and I am gradually working toward my goal of benching 200 pounds by the end of the year, which is the maximum weight my starter bench can safely support. I shall add ten pounds ever two weeks until I reach my goal.

I really do enjoy working out, there something about lifting weights while listening to really heavy metal and rock music and feeling fatigued, out of breath and that muscle soreness is actually a pleasant feeling I have found. My whole state of mind and body feels better for several hours after a workout, though I must admit I get tired early when I work out heavy and have been known to go to bed at 9pm at night after working out heavily during the day.

-Justin Germino

A NASA balloon release from New Mexico and floating over Arizona was mistaken by dozens of people as a UFO who called stations and police in several cities.  The balloon is a 4000 pound research instrument that floats at about 130,000 feet; this gave it the appearance of a circular disk or bubble in the sky that was so high that planes were seen flying underneath it.

The balloon made its way from Fort Sumner, N.M., where it was launched Sunday morning on May 17^th and landed near Kingman, A.Z., around 9pm on Monday May 18^th.  The balloon was visible for up to 170 miles in all directions with clear skies so many people from many cities were able to observe the strange looking object.

This isn’t the first time balloons were believed to be UFO objects and it won’t be the last, many times pranksters will tie flares to helium balloons and launch several of them to create glowing balls in the sky that seem to move in the same pattern.   Several such actions as these have made newspapers and have video footage of strange glowing orbs in a line pattern in the sky.

-Justin Germino

So I dusted off one of my only two suits and took my lady out to The Melting Pot restaurant back on Wednesday night, which is a very intimate and romantic restaurant that serves Fondue style foods here in Arizona. I rarely get in a suit and I wanted it to be a special occasion as it was the 13th anniversary of the day we met. To think that I met this beautiful girl back in May 1996 and she is still with me to this day makes me feel like a very special man indeed.

I am just glad I still have a suit and some dress shirts still hanging up in my closet, and believe it or not, I have never in my life worn a Tuxedo or had to rent or purchase tuxedo shirts for any occasion. I even was married while wearing a suit instead of a tuxedo, I often wonder if I will have to attend an event where I will wear a tuxedo.

Meanwhile she looked like a princess in the black dress that she wore, and I was just completely mesmerized and could not stop staring at her the whole night. We still got something if thirteen years later my heart beats faster every time I look at her.

-Justin Germino

Who says Pit Bull dogs are all bad?  In Oklahoma City, a Pit Bull by the name of D-boy manages to scare off an intruder who shot the dog three times before he fled.  His owner’s life was probably saved as the intruder was clearly armed and may have shot the owner had the dog not chased the man off.

Now, people say “All Pit Bull’s” aren’t bad dogs, that there are bad owners which is true, but it is still Pit Bulls who account for more child fatalities and injuries than any other dog breed in the world.  Pit Bull’s if an owner chooses to have one can make fiercely loyal guard dogs and they love their owners like any other dog.

I just think that people who own Pit Bulls should be very responsible with them; never let them roam, wander without being kept on a leash and never leave them unattended around strangers or children at parks, playgrounds or anywhere.

I used to own a Pit Bull a long time ago back in Mesa, but it’s a funny story, we didn’t really know we were buying a Pit Bull, we saw an ad for Sharpee / Bull Mastiff pups and when we saw the cute little wrinkly black puppy we just didn’t know that we were buying a pit bull.  When the dog grew up and would try to attack the UPS guy and even my in-laws were afraid to come over, we decided that the dog’s personality was just too unstable and we were afraid our in-laws could get bitten while we were on vacation and we certainly would never have trusted that dog around a child.   So we had to take him to the pound only a year and a half after we bought him as his behavior and personality were getting worse and we were worried he would be a liability.

-Justin Germino

I am actually partially bummed by my trip to Cabo in a few weeks, I realize that I have gained almost ten pounds in the last six months and my weight is slightly over 170. I was seriously looking over some fat burner reviews to find out if there is any quick way to shed five or six pounds in a week so I don’t look as bad in swimming trunks which I will be in while on the beaches.

Really I know my own solution and I have fallen off of my own plan, I eat more than I should calorie wise because I have always enjoyed eating. I still work out fairly hard, but the problem is people who dine out frequently consume more calories than people who eat at home. This is because restaurant food is packed with more calories mostly because they serve much larger portions, and people tend to eat everything they are served figuring a serving is a serving.

If you ate two meals at home for instance let’s say a plate of pasta vs. a restaurant you probably eat 40% more calories at the restaurant, because you won’t probably eat as much bread before the pasta, with butter maybe as well. And you likely won’t order a dessert; in addition seldom do you serve such a huge portion on your plate at home. (Not in my case though, I tend to eat a lot of pasta, it is in my Italian blood).

So I am really going to try keeping to no more than 1500 calories for the next week, I probably can trim at least three or four pounds if I can stick with that because I do burn off quite a bit with working out.

-Justin Germino

This is a really hot button lately in the news, with Colleen Hauser a mom who has fled a court order with her thirteen year old son to avoid getting him chemotherapy to treat his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The family opted for a holistic approach citing religious and spiritual reasons and the mother is in direct defiance of a court order.

So here is the question and it is not so cut and dry, who should have the ultimate say in the medical care that a child needs?

On one hand you can’t have the state, or government dictating and mandating medical treatments for children, this could easily get out of hand and become an abuse of power as a result. But flip the coin and the country and government can’t let negligence happen to children, parents have no right to cause harm to their children.

In most cases I would say the parents have the absolute decision to choose what medical care their child receives, especially when the child is less than 16 years of age. I would not want any government to interfere with what medical treatment I seek for my own children should they be sick and need treatment. What if your child came down with a type of cancer and you wanted to try stem cell therapy, or gene therapy instead of chemotherapy or radiation?

On the other hand I don’t believe that medical treatment, especially in a medical condition like Hodgkin’s Lymphoma which has almost a 90% success with chemotherapy treatments should be ignored and no “realistic” alternative chosen. You can believe in religion, spirituality, and holistic therapies all you want, butlet’s face it, sweat therapies, purified water, minerals, vitamins and other natural herbs are not going to cure such illnesses. It is one thing to try these approaches for yourself; it is another thing to force them on your child when the facts show there is virtually no chance they will help.

It doesn’t matter your spiritual belief, you need to look at things from a scientific fact based perspective when it comes to disease and therapies, you do the research and you choose the therapies that are shown to be most effective. Even if painful and uncomfortable you choose them because there is a high risk you will survive and maybe even be cured. If this boy’s cancer was declared terminal and the doctor’s would have said there is only a 5% chance of success, I would have completely supported the mother’s decision to forgo treatment and at least let the child not suffer the side effects for the little time he had left.

But as long as medical doctors (which I am not saying are always competent, so you have to get second opinions) offer you a relatively high percentage a treatment will work, then you attempt whatever has the highest success rate. These are our children we are talking about, you cannot afford to let your own beliefs and values get in the way of treating and trying to heal your children. They will grow up to be adults and make their own decisions and choose their own values which may or may not follow your own.

Especially a thirteen year old should not have a say in their medical treatment as they are still minors and decisions fall on the parent, parents are responsible for making the tough decisions. Again, a child may be suffering from side effects, but if there is a high percent chance of success then it is worth the suffering.

These are my beliefs though should I ever be faced with this same situation, in the end I would choose science based facts and treatments versus holistic approaches unless science proved alternative therapies were close to equal in success rates.

With that being said I am not opposed to alternative therapies and natural healing, I myself don’t take antibiotics and use colloidal silver to treat throat infections, oil of oregano for lung problems and vitamin C and D as well as Salmon oil every day for overall health and wellness. I prefer natural therapies to drugs and I have not taken a prescription drug at all in over two years and that was only an antacid, I have never ever taken a prescription pain killer since I had surgery when I was a teenager more than fifteen years ago.

It is a very tough choice but in the end I think the government should get involved when the parent starts being irresponsible and jeopardizes the health and life of their child by choosing to avoid treatments that have high success rates.

-Justin Germino

I can tell you I am versed in many things, but when it comes to fashion and women’s shoes, I don’t have much knowledge on the subject.  So when my wife and I were at a shoe store and she picked up a shoe and questioned me “Do you know what type of shoe this is?” my one response was “a dress shoe” to which her expression clearly indicated how uneducated I am in the way’s of women’s fashion.

She then said it was called a “Peep Toe Pump” and I was like “you are just making that up”

So I posed the question on twitter and sure enough there is such a thing as a “Peep Toe Pump” shoe, and here is the picture of what a type of shoe looks like.  It is a shoe with a partial opening in the front to reveal just some of the toes (hence the Peep Toe) part.  Pump I guess is another term for a heeled show that adds height.

So yesterday I mentioned that we attended my son’s Kindergarten graduation in the middle of the day, this was supposed to be a joyful event and it partially was, we were so proud of him.  However, in bringing our two year old he was very obnoxious, screaming, yelling and annoying other parents.  He was just bored and even though he saw his brother on stage, he just didn’t want attention to be off of him and on his brother.  I have to admin I was very frustrated, we tried bribing with food, letting him play with my camera accessories, but finally I just had to take him away from the ceremony.

I do however see it from his point of view, toddlers get bored easily, and at that age they are very focused on their own exploration and entertainment and don’t really know how to empathize or consider other people being the spotlight.  The solution should have been to leave him with a sitter, or for one parent to attend the graduation and the other babysit the child if no sitter could be found.  At certain times toddlers really should not be brought to events if you know they are likely to act up and create a disturbance.

As a child growing up and an older brother I noted similar things when my younger brother was brought to my school functions and play’s, and I am sure many people and parents can related to these things.  While it is unacceptable for an older kid to behave poorly in public, a two year old has a really hard time being rationalized with so therefore it is better to not force them to endure such situations where parents are “hoping” they will behave the entire time and not act up.

I hope my youngest outgrows the terrible two’s pretty soon, he is really a strong, stubborn and manly child.  He is definately an alpha personality and will be one of those who is likely to bowl over anyone who gets in his way, this requires a very different parenting approach than my oldest who is much more laid back and much less aggressive personality wise.

So parents, when you need to attend an older kids function and you have a baby or a toddler around who just is a “wildcard” if they may make the event enjoyable or difficult, it is better to divide and conquer and send one parent to attend (alternating) if you can’t find a sitter than bring your very young one and potentially get yourself frustrated.

-Justin Germino

I can’t believe that I am attending my five year old boy’s kindergarten graduation ceremony today, I am taking an hour break from work to visit him at the school and take my JVC camcorder to record the whole event. I strongly believe that no matter how busy parents are working, you should take the breaks from work to be with your children as they achieve and celebrate their life milestones.

I vowed early on as a parent that I would be at every school play, parent teacher meeting, birthday party, and everything else I could attend, because these moments and memories only happen once and for each one you miss, you don’t have the ability to get them back. In the end the moments in your child’s life will comfort you more in your later years than any job you held or had to do.

So make sure you prioritize your family and your kids, take the moments of time needed to be a part of their lives even if it means escaping from the office a few hours early, or taking a sick day. Never let your kids think your work is more important than they are to you.

-Justin Germino

So here I stand…err, I mean sit stunned at what a fundamentally chaotic day I have had, which ended on several good notes.  First of all I want to thank all of my poetry fans, because they have grown so rapidly over the past few months since I started the random twitter poetry game back in October 2008.  I finished my 119th Random Twitter poem today and found that writing my random twitter poems is one of the most fun routines in my week day.  So everyone who plays is contributing to my enjoyment.

On the work front I am simultaneously supporting three dozen projects and my entire organization is swamped and busy, but busy is good in this downtrodden economy, so the fact that I can even carve out 30 – 45 minutes to write a poem on my lunch break is surprising and I hope I can keep doing it.  Today I saw tons of blog troubles with my primary site being down for 8 hours due to some runaway php plug-ins which I have not yet resolved, the site mysteriously started working and I still don’t know the cause or how to prevent it from happening again.  I did trim my plug-ins down further but some of the ones I am using are just too valuable to get rid of at this time.

So here come the highlights of my evening,

My wife makes me the most superb dinner with fresh chicken breast, rotini pasta, broccoli, garlic (my favorite), carrots, corn with a light olive oil sauce and grated Parmesan on top.  I am so lucky to have her in my life, following that we took the kids out to Cold Stone for some sorbet and Ice Cream (I can’t have ice cream due to lactose intolerance so I always have the sorbet).  Then to blockbuster where I rented a movie “Mall Cop” to watch tonight, I need a comedy after today.  Finally I come back to catch up on some blogging when I see I reached 1500 twitter followers, an amazing number.

Many of my followers are so interactive that we have daily conversations back and forth as part of the twitter poetry game, some of my followers enjoy my tech blog, others my poetry and others still my personal diary blog.  I enjoy reading other peoples blog posts and I am always responsive to people who ask me questions on twitter or are willing to share advice on anything I can share on.  Twitter is one of the most enjoyable communication tools I have used, and I have met some great people like @shemah,  @santasdevil,  @zorlone,  @anefallarme  among many many others.  These people are friendly and have made it a point to support my poetry, some followers like @evliving  have gone so far as to publicly proclaim themselves my #1 fan.

I am honored that anyone at all would find a mild mannered IT computer geek by day, husband and father of two kids who blogs part time at night interesting enough to follow nonetheless promote to their friends and followers.  I can’t thank my online fans and friends enough for all of their support.  Anything anyone needs from me as far as help blogging, a poem, a tip, a comment, feel free to hit me up.  I am happy to meet many of you, some of you are not so pleasant (you know who you are…Just kidding).

-Justin Germino