#6 The End is Upon Us

As it all comes down to an end and I reflect back on what I missed, what I learned, what I will take away with me, and what could I have done better all run through my mind. Some are obvious that  I should have applied more attention to my blogs and done more research on my topics for them. However, I know that we all learn different and that English class was never or probably never will be a strong suit of mine, yet I try not to turn that in to an excuse. There is no rhyme or reason except a lack of effort separates me from being an average, active, and entertaining  blogger. Which I only have to say that no, no I did not enjoy blogging. I just don't have the drive to blog and update others on what or how I am living my life. That is not to knock on others for blogging actively, anybody can do what they enjoy and they have an up on me for posting more than I. Which then I do believe that I should knock on myself because I always want to strive to be the best and will keep on pushing myself, which is why I am disappointed in myself and can only learn from my mistakes.

Did I in my posts take it seriously? YES! When I did post I took them all deeply into consideration about my true feelings about a topic. Especially, the post about the salary of our heroes. That was the post that I will take the most away with me and stand by that topic deeply.

Learning is the point of all studying in my opinion and if you didn't learn anything from an experience then why did you participate at all. Good ole DR. Seuss said it best, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”Learning is the key to everything in life and you should learn everyday as it will take you everywhere. I began to learn how to express myself through different topics. I found that you can still be scholarly, yet still apply your voice to it. To say it best through what blogging I accomplished, I found my VOICE!!!!

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” said Benjamin Franklin. Professor Murphy provided the resources, the tools, the background information, the time, and all the support that could be offered from somebody so it is what you do with that information that determines your success at that moment. 

“The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.”
 ― Marcus Tullius Cicero  

Til next time!

Is It Safe To Travel Anymore?

As I prepare for what will be the two most adventurous weeks of my life, the nerves seem to be slowly seeping in. I will be traveling from here to London and continuing onto one of the most war stricken countries in the world at the moment. That being Egypt! I am nervous, excited, scared, but mostly excited. This is coming from a guy who has never left the country before and defiantly never imagined traveling to Hurghada, Egypt would be what frees me from my "lockdown."

I will be scuba diving for the very first time which is something I have always wanted to do and can cross it off of my early made bucket list. Perhaps the most nerve-racking part of the trip to me is I am traveling meeting four people whom I have never met before! To add to that is that they are all from foreign countries and honestly I am not the greatest at understanding accents.

What I am getting at through all of that in traveling to Egypt and all that comes with and around it.
http://www.touregypt.net/ offers tips for safety along with a variety of other websites. Some websites say to not advertise that you are American or a tourist in any way.

Would you still travel to one of your most desirable destinations even if it was the middle of a war zone?

#3 Human Dystopia

The first part of the video that popped out at me was the fact that there was nobody who looked as if they were in the greatest shape. In fact they all looked the complete same floating in their hover chairs, unable to stand up, unable to think for themselves, unable to do anything with out help of a mechanical/technical device.

Being told what and how the newest and greatest way to eat is. To lazy to throw our trash away, to lazy to walk, to lazy pick out what we wear. Is this possibly where we are headed and it probably is not to far away and it is scary to think that that fantasy/nightmare could be a reality in a way.

Another part that stands out to me was the liquid food drink. It scares me to think that in a few gulps we could have everything to from a dinner plate and into a smoothie. I enjoy eating every part of my meal, I defiantly go against any sort of idea like this! 

There are a few devices that are slowly advancing our everyday lives into this scene of the movie in my opinion. We all have used them, escalators, think about shoppers at the mall and how many times they will go up and down escalators, now think if they were stairs. The amount of calories burned over just standing there is phenomenal.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/307962-calories-burned-taking-the-stairs/

This is an article from the livestrong website discussing the advantages of taking stairs opposed to escalators or elevators. I am not saying they should be removed just that our decision making skills of when to and when not to take them are becoming poor.

Technology has now advanced to the point that we have standing moving sidewalks. I have yet to ride one or seen one, yet I know the facts of walking compared to standing will be significantly different.

Salaries of Our Heroes

Our heroes put their lives on the line everyday for us maintain our freedom, our safety, and our health. I am of course talking about the soldiers, policeman, and firefighters across our great country. We all cherish them and look up to them with the up most respect,  However in my eyes we disrespect them with the salaries that give them.

Soldiers starting salary is set at a measly $18,194. So they try to raise and support a family while they are in another hostile country being shot at or worse. They deal with terrible living situations, away from their families for several months to a few years at a time, and we stick them with that pay.

Police men and women are another career that puts their life on the line everyday to protect the safety of the public. The starting salary for a police officer is generally around $29,000 it's better but not by a whole lot. There were 119 line of duty officers killed last year in the U.S. which is about 119 to many. 46 of those were killed via gunfire.

Firefighters across the country face some of the most intense environments of any occupation out there. They protect our property and they keep us safe. The general starting salary for an occupation that put our immediate lives in the hands of is between $30,000-$40,000. We trust them to perform their dangerous job everyday perfectly and will ridicule them if a mistake is made.

Do you know how much money Alex Rodriguez brought in last year? It will truly knock you out of your chair. $29,000,000.00 was they salary in 2012 for Alex Rodriguez despite him being injured for a good portion of the year. That comes down to $237,704 per game.

Tom Cruise, one of Americas favorite actors brought in a total of around $75,000,000 according to Forbes.

These are just two examples of people who are the "best" at what they do but are they truly worth the pay.

Where did we go wrong that somebody who consistently faces death at their occupation makes a few thousand dollars more than somebody working full time for minimum wage, but where a guy who swings a wooden stick at a yarn ball makes more money in a year than most of us can even imagine.

I love baseball and any sport for that matter more than most yet I find there to be a problem with the wages that we offer some occupations over others.


 

#2 A Challenge to All

It is great that technology is advancing, as it should, but maybe it advancing to fast. Doing only one thing at a time isint always a bad thing as it allows us to sometimes build stronger relationships or just enjoy life as we were meant to.

Ted talks are a great way to learn about a variety of subjects and I watch them all time for fun and knowledge about how we are evolving. I found this video and it interested me greatly and influenced me to try it. It is not as easy as you may think. In stead of always being go, go, go, try taking a step back from the fast paced world we all live in and just listen.

I choose this video for a few different reasons. It will first act as a challenge to all of you who read this, second its semi funny, and third it is a great example to show how technology effects us as a population and the relationships we try to develop with others.

I challenge you all to try to just monotasking for just a few minutes or hours. See if you can be successful.

The Endless Search

Where do I begin about the ultimate search for that pure adrenaline rush. Some say that its crazy or stupid, but i find them to be just boring and jealous.

It really all started when four years ago. Surfing, it was not a huge rush but enough to give me that excited and need for more feeling.

So how did i go bigger... Skydiving. Me and my crazy friends jumped out of a perfectly good plane for my 18th birthday. If you saw my first blog post you should have seen the photo of me soaring through the air. That was the greatest rush I have ever had and I am supposed to re-jump again in a few months. Hopefully one day I will receive my solo jump certification. http://www.skydiveaz.com/

However, I am afraid that my search can not end there. I still have that burn to find another sport or adventure that can give me the greatest feeling on earth.

 One day I want try bungee jumping or base jumping. Perhaps the greatest video I have ever seen was Felix Baumgartner free falling from space!! My dream is to be apart of that intense Red Bull Team. If you have never seen this video WATCH IT!!!!!

If you have any other ideas, PLEASE TELL ME!! I am always up for suggestions.

#1 My Opinion

After reading multiple blogs, I found very few blogs that I would follow on a regular basis and multiple that I could do without. I have discovered through the hardships of finding a blog I enjoyed reading though, was the way that different bloggers used voice to attract their desired audience.

I will begin with my favorite one out the the multiple I sorted through. The Whole Foods blog (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/whole-story/) drew me in with the vibrant tone and style. I enjoyed this blog the most because I believe that it shows a good example of the mix between corporate and some what personal with the variety of photos they post. However, they still kept it professional because they posted the photos with dialog about the actual product they sell. Plus, it helps attract me because the food looks quite delicious! i.e these pancakes

The second blog to discuss was the LinkedIn blog (http://blog.linkedin.com/page/2/). I found some pros and cons in my opinion about these posts. I really enjoyed how there is always a different person who constantly posts along with the steady change of topic which can appeal to anybody. http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/01/29/the-50-places-where-big-ideas-are-born/ was the post that I found to be very interesting because you never hear the stories about how ideas come from, but when you do it always finds a way to come at a time when the inventor wasn't even seeking it.

 The last blog I will discuss is Deadspin (http://deadspin.com/). Now I enjoy watching, listening, and playing sports more than anybody but when it comes to blogging I really was not drawn into it. I am very drawn in by images and design first, as I believe many others are, and this one just didn't do it for me. Their audience to me was some what defined but I believe they are trying to expand it as they are growing which obviously works hand in hand.

 

Now I am not an expert but I would like to think that I am starting to get the hang of this and understanding what the point different posts are trying to get across. 

Signing off for now!