Keep Both Hands On the Wheel

I am a gadget guy, but then again what guy isn’t. He who has the most toys wins! I recently did some research on bluetooth speakerphones for my car. After extensive research on the internet I honed in on one such device, the BlueAnt Supertooth Light Bluetooth Speakerphone, made by BlueAnt. As I always do when I want good quality reviews of products I am interested in, I went to http://www.cnet.com/ to read the write ups on this product. This device received 3.5 of 5 stars. Even though I look for a perfect 5 of 5 rating, I was not looking to break the bank on this purchase and also was not looking for a ton of features; I wanted a basic speakerphone with good quality speaker and mic.

I received it in a few days and before I knew it I had both hands on the wheel talking on, what I consider, a must buy. If you want to spend more money then BlueAnt has other products you can explore but for the fifty-dollar range you can’t go wrong. The speakerphone is loud even on highways driving next to trucks and cars. You don’t have to talk loud for the other party to hear and the people in the backseat can join the conversation. It comes with a home and car charger so you never have to take it in the house to charge up the battery. Be Safe!

Clean Slate (revised)

They say that youth is wasted on the young. It’s so true. Which leads me to ask you “What is your restore date?” Everyone has one. Even computers have a restore date but you can only go back a few months. What would be your restoration date, if you had a choice?

In my past blog “A Million For One” I wrote about the willingness of having a pinkie removed for one million dollars, tax free. I am still not interested in giving up a pinkie for money. This may sound like a contradiction to my previous blog about giving up my good health but since I believe that health, time and knowledge is more valuable than money I would be willing to entertain an offer: trade my pinkie for my restore date of, January 1, 1983 (a year it all started happening for me) plus to go back knowing what I know now. Hell, I may even throw in a pinkie toe. I guess everything does have a price.

You always hear the older generation saying “I am not smarter, I'm just older.” True, but you're smarter because you are older.

What’s your restore date?

No More Toasted Almond

I am a true believer in that my weak eyesight is compensated by my strong sense of hearing. My hearing is so good that I can practically hear what you are thinking.

As the year goes by and spring and summer time come around it is nice to hear the sounds of nature such as trees blowing in the cool breeze, birds chirping and the local train pulling into the station which is well over a mile away from me. But as great as my hearing is and as much as I try I can’t seem to hear the sound that was once so familiar to me, the sound of the ice cream truck rolling through the local streets like I did growing up. When I was a kid the ice cream man was around almost every night. The only time we ran home as kids, besides when we were called for dinner, was to get money for the ice cream man. It seemed like he was everywhere and as I reminisce about it I realized he was everywhere because we played all over the neighborhood. It was almost like we traveled with him.

I am learning a lot as a parent and realize things never remain the same but being a kid should not change. Whatever happened to going outside to play after breakfast and only coming home to eat lunch, dinner and then finally come home to wash for bed. Whether it is video games, organized sporting activities, etc., it's a shame you don’t see kids growing up playing in the streets as previous generations.

Hello, My Name Is....

Tonight my daughter read me a chapter in her science book on planets and how they got their names from ancient Greek and Roman goddesses and gods. As she read the names of all the planets I thought to myself "How serious could the ancient god Uranus be taken?"

Think Long Term

I never said I was a doctor but I experimented with enough diets to know that genetics plays a major role in cholesterol, diet intake not as much. I have tried many different diet scenarios in an attempt to lower my cholesterol. My cholesterol numbers were in the mid two hundred range. Remember it’s not just the total cholesterol but the triglyceride, HDL and LDL numbers as well. A good way to remember the good cholesterol from the bad is: HDL is the good, think “H” for healthy and being healthy is good. (From now on I will use the letter C to reference the word cholesterol because I will be writing that word a lot).

I am a big snacker. I love my chips, cookies and donuts or at least I did. The first sleeve of Chips Ahoy was an appetizer to the second sleeve, a bag of Doritos were gone before the movie ended and a bag of M&M’s never had a chance. I finally realized I needed to do something about my high C because I knew that it could potentially lead to cardiovascular disease which can lead to a heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. So as time went on I tried different types of dieting for six month stretches. The diets did not include the South Beach or Atkins but included many different variations of a low fat diet. There were months where I would not eat a cookie, donut, piece of cake or M&M. After dieting my C test would come back as if junk food was all I ate. This went on for approximately seven years. In a conversation with a colleague about high C, she turned me onto Citrucel, a fiber therapy. It is a bulking agent that helps move material through the digestive tract (don’t worry no more details). I have heard of it before but paid no mind to the product. She explained to me that she took Citrucel to help lower her high C. I did say before that high C is mostly related to genetics and not diet intake but a high fiber diet can help lower cholesterol. I bought my first container of Citrucel and being the extremist that I am I followed the maximum dose of one scoop three times daily for five weeks. That’s right, one scoop for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Before I started Citrucel my C was 208; five weeks later of the max dose per day of Citrucel, my C results were 169. And now, five years later, my intake of Citrucel’s max dose daily is a way of life and helps me maintain a C level in the low to mid 160’s. Note: “The American Dietetic Association recommends 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day, but most people get 10 to 15 grams per day.”

Even though the C results of my experiments drinking Citrucel maintaining a normal diet versus drinking Citrucel maintaining a low fat diet did not differ dramatically I, til this day, limit my M&M and fat consumption. I have not had any Doritos, cookies, donuts or a piece of cake in five years. Again, I am an extremist. I do, every now and then, eat Paul Newman’s organic cookies though. I stay away from the partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats and limit the saturated fats all while maintaining aerobic and anaerobic exercising. I eat turkey, chicken and my red meat intake only consists of bison (buffalo), which is super lean and low fat. I do believe that this formula will not work for everyone but it is worth a try. The worst that can happen is that you will be regular while consuming Citrucel. I also believe that my body may change as I get older and this method will not be the answer to my high C, but for now I would rather continue this diet than start taking high C prescription medications. If you do not want to follow my extremist diet at least try to maintain an “everything in moderation” diet with the proper amount of daily fiber and exercise. I believe the Weight Watchers diet is the best out there because you get to eat the foods you crave. Avoiding them only leads to a binge.

Visit Citrucel at http://www.citrucel.com/ for more information.

I am curious to know what you think. Email me at thedwindleddollar@yahoo.com

Alone In The Dark

Does anyone get excited anymore when there is a blackout; you know, lose electricity in your neighborhood for period of time. Well, when I was younger and our neighborhood would lose electricity we, the children, thought it was a celebration. We would grab our flashlights and run outside to see what was going on all the while praying the lights would never come back on. It didn't matter how hot it was outside since most of them happened in the summer. We would just be glad we got to stay up late and hang out with our friends plus we had an excuse to eat all the ice cream in the freezer before it melted and spoiled.

Maybe it's me, maybe it was just a Staten Island or Brooklyn thing but when I moved to New Jersey and we had our first blackout I got a flashback. I'll admit, being much older now I still got a little excited. It brought me back to my yout. "What's a yout?" I'm sorry, youth. So there I was grabbing my flashlight again, running outside to check out what happened and figured this is going to be great, my first blackout in NJ. I ran out into the street only to find out no one budged. I was the only one all alone in the street, me and my flashlight. Then, one of my neighbors came out, I was relieved. I said to myself, "Oh it probably took him a while to put his sneakers on", and thought people will start to come out now. I walked over to him and said, as he was looking up at one of the lampposts, "What do you think happened?" He said, "Not sure but it could be the generator". He then turned around and went back in his house. There I was, flashlight in hand saying to myself "Where is everybody?" I can’t believe how different things are when you cross a bridge.

A Proud Moment

She prepared all year for this night, her second piano recital. She was excited all week as well as the rest of us. She was calm, smiling and laughing in her seat waiting for her turn to perform. Then the caterpillars changed into butterflies which turned into, “Humina, humina, humina”. I wasn't sitting near her as I was in a section close enough to video her performance. For some reason I turned around to look at her and saw her wiping her eyes. I realized at that point it hit her, the “Oh no, I’m going on next, it’s my turn”, feeling. I quickly walked over to her while signaling to her piano instructor to skip her turn as he was getting ready to call her name. We took a walk into the back for some fresh air. Having that nervous feeling you get when performing in front of people got the best of her. She quickly composed herself, walked back in and gave a performance that I could not be more proud of.

This proves how resilient kids are. How fast they recover and adjust. It is important for children to have a good solid foundation around them. Having a good support system is important for everyone. I explained to her that everyone gets nervous and that nervous feeling is what makes you give it your best. She will build on this day and it will prepare her for the future. One day she will use this experience as motivation for someone who is in the same or similar situation. I always believed that life’s lessons and experiences prepare you for the next one. As you prepare for the next challenge you say to yourself, “I can do this, no problem!”

Special thanks to Chris Deibert (“The Maestro”), my daughter’s piano teacher, who with his exceptional skill, dedication and patience has really made a difference in her life as well as ours. Thank you.