I am looking to become the next SAM-E blogger and really could use your vote, I have a long way to go and the voting ends on October 30th. The winner of this contests gets to become the next SAM-E Good Mood Gig blogger and it would be an honor to win this position.
Vote for Justin Germino on Good Mood Gig by clicking here or the Good Mood Gig button in my sidebar please.
Wish me luck
-Justin Germino
After reading several articles on various news sources on Google News and CNN it is no secret that Swine Flu worry is on the rise again, as fears the virus could mutate into a stronger and potentially more lethal strain. The main topic that was discussed is whether or not parents or families are having Swine Flu parties where when one child gets sick with the swine flu, they deliberately invite friends and try to get everyone to become infected and catch it in the hopes that building up immunity now while the virus is mild would be better than catching it later when it could be more deadly.
I haven’t found any verifiable reports that these type of parties are being done, but if they are they should be taking the children away from the parents who would even consider this. The best way to try to avoid flu is to get a flu shot, and a separate swine flu shot then use hand sanitizer like it was going out of style. Always cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and hand sanitize immediately and often. To deliberately attempt to get your kid sick can lead to serious risks and unintended consequences. Who would deliberately try to get their child sick or a group of children sick anyway?
It is a backwards world we live in, seriously.
-Justin Germino
So Barro’s Pizza finally opened a few short months ago in Casa Grande Arizona and it is our first Barro’s in the area, I had enjoyed Barro’s on the few times I visited in Tempe and had gone three times in the past two months. In summary the Pizza is chicago deep dish style, the crust is thick and soft and the toppings generous. Their Hawaiian pizza is one of the best I have had in any Pizza restaurant, but I wasn’t overly fond of their Boneless Mild or Boneless BBQ wings. The flavor of the wings aren’t so bad, but the boneless chicken meat they use is already pre-seasoned with spicy seasonings, so even with mild or sweet BBQ sauce the wings are just too hot for my taste buds and spicy for my guts.
When I order mild or sweet BBQ, I don’t expect my tongue to burn for fifteen minutes. This may not be a negative for most people, but it is for people with sensitive stomachs who can’t handle spicy foods. The mozzarella cheese sticks were fairly good, but the marinara sauce is not as good as other restaurants for dipping. All in all Barro’s is a fine choice for a different kind of Pizza in Casa Grande, AZ but it is not as good as T&M Pizza which is by far the best Pizza place in the city. Geno’s Pizza which is located on Florence Blvd also is fairly good but has the same issue with spicy mild wings (seriously, mild should mean mild guys, why bother calling it mild).
-Justin Germino
The last several days the temperatures have dipped into the low 60’s at night with it only becoming in the low 90’s during the peak of the day, this now starts among the best times to live in Southern Arizona where you can wear shorts all day long and not feel too uncomfortable. This is the time where I take my kids to the playgrounds much more often in the late afternoons instead of the very early mornings, and the time to start enjoying Arizona. It makes you forget about the dreadful summers when you experience the wonderful warm winters.
Casa Grande particularly has a slightly different temperature and weather pattern than Phoenix or Tucson, reaching higher temperatures than Phoenix in the Summer, but lower temperatures in the Winter, we often can be five to ten degrees colder or warmer on average and are always warmer than Tucson. Also when it rains or storms in Tucson or Phoenix, often it skirts around Casa Grande and we see far less rainfall than the surrounding areas, we barely had any Thunderstorms this year and I do miss them.
-Justin Germino
I just got finished doing a twenty minute workout on the new Wii Fit Plus which was released today, I was at Walmart bright and early to pick up my copy. I burned a measly 74 calories with my varied workout. How do I know this? Simple, the new Wii Fit Plus tells you at the end of every workout how many calories you have burned, which is a welcome and excellent addition to the game. It does however demoralize a little knowing that after sweating and working out for almost twenty minutes I only managed to burn through the amount of calories in less than one Special K cereal bar. Barely denting the two plates of Pasta I had for dinner.
However, there is so much to like about the new Wii Fit Plus
There are also a slew of new activities, and tonight alone in my custom routine I was throwing snowballs, rollerskating, doing Kungfu moves in a class style where you have to time your moves in sync with everyone else, in addition to the familiar jack knives, tricep extensions and more. There was one move which was a very nice routing called a balance lift which has you sitting your bum on the balance board and lift up with one leg straight out while you push up with your arms and hips. This one really works out the hips and arms and was among the more intense Wii Fit routines I have seen.
I haven’t even tried the multi-player or the fun “weigh your pets and kids” function of Wii Fit plus, but the fact that you now can just jump on and measure your BMI and Weight without fiddling with the Wii Fit Age screen saves you time so you can weigh in every morning and dive right into a routine that fits your schedule.
I have been a huge fan of Wii Fit, according to my own Wii it says I have had it for 540 days (though since my kids lost my original Wii Fit Game Disc last month, it had been over 40 since I actually worked out with it).
Wii Fit Plus is an excellent choice for entry level fitness and a steady and healthy pace to lose weight and start toning your body, if you are out of shape you will be sore the next day, and if you are in shape you can just increase the amount of time and vary the routine to get more benefit from the workouts. Each little workout is around 1-3 minutes long and and combining them really adds up to help you sweat and tone your body.
I highly recommend Wii Fit Plus
-Justin Germino
I found something amusing and somewhat sad the other day. My wife had moved her computer and desk downstairs so she can work on her production company web stuff and be closer to our little one while she worked. As a result when I am working on my computer and she is working on her computer we aren’t on the same floor anymore. None of our TV shows had started yet to watch so I actually DM’d her on Twitter, “Just DM me when you want me to come downstairs”. Really seriously, in my own house I am communicating with my wife on Twitter because she is on another floor and we ask each other questions on Twitter?
That my friends is amusing but somewhat sad.
-Justin Germino
My wife wanted to go see Shinedown at the Marquee Theater in Tempe tonight and I volunteered to go along with her, believe me the thought of missing Heroes while it was airing live was tough to bear. However I decided that I would DVR Heroes and watch it at midnight when I returned and this made me realize just how pathetic I am. I actually was a little bummed about missing a show because I wanted to blog about it and get the 400+ boost in unique visits from my Heroes review on DragonBlogger.com.
I almost considered giving up on leaving the house to see a rock concert because I wanted to blog? How low can I be getting with my blogging addiction? I haven’t actually gotten out of the house to go to an event with just my wife and I in over a month, so it is time I get off my duff and “Just Do It”.
Don’t let blogging become so compulsive that you find yourself wanting to stay up late every night, or get annoyed when you have to leave your computer or leave the house because you aren’t able to spend that time writing, or testing SEO tactics. It is far too easy to become addicted to blogging and become obsessive about it.
-Justin Germino
I can’t believe that my oldest boy turns six years old today. The time flies as I remember the moments of the previous years and he has grown so much as a person and a child. Now able to read and write as well as do basic arithmetic his creative strengths and personality are becoming more concrete and clear every week. I could not express in words just how much my boys mean to me and my eldest and firstborn has that special place in my heart.
I hope he enjoys some of the presents for his birthday, I know I enjoy his presence each and every day. I could not have asked for a better child and a great human being and I am already so very proud of him.
-Justin Germino
I write for both Helium and Associated Content and originally was favoring Associated Content for the up front payment of articles and the fact that it is easier to just write and submit anything you want instead of having to find a category and title to write for. Plus many titles are closed and you have to find alternatives on Helium which can be a time waster. Helium also requires you to rate articles and maintain a certain amount of rating starts to earn via performance from your articles.
However, then I looked at September’s earnings and saw that I have 144 articles published on Associated Content and have earned just over $2.05 from view performance. Yet I have only 17 articles on Helium.com and earned $3.07 from page view performance for the same 30 days. Theoretically at least this means if I had those 144 articles on Helium instead of Associated Content I would have over $20 per month in page performance revenue. This makes me want to write and publish more on Helium to see if this pans out.
Whichever you decide to use I recommend you create a writing profile on both, in many cases you can use some of your articles on both sites, as well as reusing the articles for your blogs once and a while. When you create articles on these two sites and occasionally include links and references to other articles or your blogs, you can also build some backlink traffic to your other works as well. They both should be leveraged, but my AdSense for my blogs earned me $37 this month and far exceeds any writing for A/C or Helium so if you are looking to make money writing online, know that creating a quality blog will earn you more than either of these services in the long run. Don’t forget A/C keeps the AdSense earnings from the visits to your article.
-Dragon Blogger
I read in the Casa Grande Dispatch the other day that the City of Casa Grande and Pinal County have used “criminal funds” seized from drug operations to fund a new Lenco Bearcast for the Swat team. This armored vehicle holds 8 fully armed police officers, has bullet proof armor and is equiped with a sniper or observation turret. The armored SUV is designed for SWAT missions or off road search and rescue operations and you would think why would a small city need such a unit? The answer is simple, there have been between 80 and 100 deployments of the SWAT team for Pinal County, so this armored vehicle will help keep the officers safer and help them do their jobs.
I think it is a good idea that seized funds can be used to purchase better equipment for the officers, and that money should be put to use to better fight the criminals. Though it should not be paid as salaries or bonuses, as this would encourage risky behavior or motives in acquiring it.
-Justin Germino