30-Days Back to Better Health

Starting March 19th and running through April 17th, I am going to embark on the Isagenix Diet and Cleansing Program. Many people have recommended it as a full-body cleansing program that really works. I will be doing postings twice a week during the 30 days, to let my friends know how it’s working. It’s not going to be easy, because I won’t be able to drink any beer, but I want to get my weight down and this seems like a great, healthy way to do it. Wish me luck. I will write more as I get ready to start the program!

Here is what they say about the Isagenix 30 Day Program on their web site:

Become healthier, leaner, and achieve peak performance with our 30 Day Program. It's the recommended program to start with to help you lose weight at a steady pace. (Plus, the 30 Day Program Pak has enough product to follow a 9 Day Program, should you choose to do so.) The program feeds your body cleansing nutrients like aloe, herbal teas, vitamins, and ionic trace minerals. Then, it helps kick-start your metabolism to burn fat naturally. No stimulants are used. Losing weight becomes easy and enjoyable with a delicious wave of nutrients from IsaLean Shakes. You may also gain more energy, build muscle, reduce unhealthy cravings, and improve your mental clarity. In addition, Ionix Supreme provides healthy adaptogens to encourage optimum health, IsaFlush encourages regularity, and Want More Energy?, our natural electrolyte drink, gives you more energy.

Don't Lose Your Memory

Ahhhhh, the memory. There’s nothing more satisfying that knowing your computer has sufficient computer memory to run properly. There’s a web site called the memory store where you can get all of the best memory products out there on the computer cyber market today. You can compare name brand memory or take a long gander at one hundred per cent guaranteed compatible memory. They let you do the choosing, which I find very amusing and not the least bit confusing. Check out the memory store today. You’ll never forget the place!

Hampton Hurt Again?

What a rip off pitcher Mike Hampton has turned out to be. This guy signed for some outrageous amount of money a few years back and hasn’t earned one single penny of it. He’s been hurt pretty much the entire time. Guys like this should feel guilty for taking tons of money they never came close to earning, but I’m sure they don’t. If this guy had a decent (un-injured bone) in his body, he’d return some of his salary. Fat chance!

This appeared on http://www.cbssportsline.com/ today:

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Left-hander Mark Redman agreed Friday to a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves, who learned a day earlier that Mike Hampton will be sidelined for up to two months.
Redman was scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. If he is added to the 40-man roster, he would get a $750,000, one-year contract and the chance to earn $500,000 in performance bonuses based on starts
The 33-year-old was an AL All-Star last year, when he went 11-10 with a 5.71 ERA for the Kansas City Royals. An eight-year major league veteran, he is 64-76 with a 4.65 ERA in 186 starts and 12 relief appearances.
Redman began his career with the Minnesota Twins in 1995 and reached the majors in 1999. He was scheduled to report to the Braves on Friday night.
Hampton, coming off reconstructive elbow surgery that caused him to miss last season, strained his left oblique during batting practice Wednesday.

I Need a Break...In Orlando!

I need a vacation big-time. This overcrowded yuppie-infested city is driving me completely out of my mind. Before I go insane, I’m looking into an Orlando Vacation Rental. Orlando is a great vacation spot, with the ocean, great weather, all of the amusement parks and a whole lot more. San Francisco is full of mean, rude people, while folks in Florida and more genuine and down to earth. I need some time off to hit the beaches of Orlando!

Sleeper Sofas are Convenient...For A lot of Things

If you’re going to have friends staying overnight, or for when you get in trouble with your significant other and you have to sleep on the sofa, it’s great to have one of those sleeper sofas. They come in a wide range of styles, colors and sizes and they’re much more comfortable than they used to be back in the day. I remember those old ones where the mattresses were paper-thin, but the new ones they make nowadays are very comfortable.

Baseball Cards to Go Corporate? Say it Ain't So!

Wow, this comes as a shocker. As a former long-time baseball card collector, Topps has always been a company that’s very dear to me. Now Michael Eisner, the cutthroat former CEO of Disney, is trying to take over the card manufacturer. Everything in Major League Baseball is going corporate, so this is no surprise. Michael Eisner was the guy who tried to replace Walt Disney, schmoozing with Mickey and Goofy during the intros to the Wonderful World of Disney TV show. Walt Disney was one of the most creative visionaries of our era. Will Eisner is a hack who ripped off the Disney empire and doesn’t have one creative bone in his entire body. If the group he represents takes over Topps, it will be a disaster and a travesty.

The baseball card pictured above is a 1968 Topps Mickey Mantle. When I was 10 years old, it was the one card I would have given up anything for , including my bicycle, my slingshot, my walkie-talkies and my little brother.

This article appeared on aol.com yesterday:

NEW YORK -- The Topps Co., maker of baseball cards and Bazooka bubble gum, agreed to accept a $385.4 million takeover offer from a buyout group that includes former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner.
Topps, founded in 1938, makes trading cards featuring athletes of Major League Baseball, the NFL and NBA.
Eisner was CEO of The Walt Disney Co. for two decades until he stepped down in 2005. Disney owns theme parks, movie studios and the ABC, ESPN and Disney TV networks.
The deal drew immediate opposition from Topps director Arnaud Ajdler, who said Tuesday he had not yet been in touch with other major shareholders. He thought the deal should be abandoned because negotiations did not go through a proper process and that the Eisner-led offer undervalues the company.
The board approved the deal in a 7-3 vote, with Ajdler and two others opposed. The company said it will solicit better offers over the next 40 days. The deal requires regulatory approval and a vote by Topps shareholders.
AP NEWS

This Week's Restaurant Review: Little Thai in SF

San Francisco has more Thai restaurants than anywhere this side of Thailand. This town is well-known for its Thai, which is a good thing, because last time I looked flights to Thailand aren’t cheap. There are even a large number of specialty Thai places in SF, including a very pricey formal Thai spot called “Suit and Thai”; the famous fusion Australian/Thai restaurant called “Thai Me Kangaroo Down,” and then, of course, there’s the Thai joint where the meals come with all-you-can-drink beer and wine, “Thai One On.” All kidding aside, we have a Chinatown, a Japan town and a Little Italy, all very popular, and the one reason there’s no Thai-town is because all of the Thai restaurants here are pretty spread out. One of the best Thai eateries anywhere is on Broadway and Polk in SF and it’s called Little Thai. Little Thai features great service, huge portions that are reasonably priced, and an extensive menu of wonderful soups, appetizers and entrees. It’s a fairly small place with a balcony and it’s hopping all the time. One thing about San Franciscans, they know good food and will flock consistently to places like Little Thai. The other night we were there and we had three entrees, an appetizer and some soup and the total bill was $35. Where else can you get a great meal like that in this city? We started off the meal with a Po Tak Soup ($8.95), a seafood soup with lemon grass and lemon juice. It was chock full of scallops, shrimp, squid and fish. One great thing about Little Thai is that they don’t skimp on the goodies. I hate it at some places when you order a soup like this and it’s 80% broth. Every soup at Little Thai is thick with meat, seafood and/or poultry. You’ll never feel like you’ve been cheated on portions or quality. For an appetizer, we love the Shrimp and Ground Pork Toast ($7.95). They deep-fry the toast topped with this amazing paste, yet it’s not greasy or overly rich. For entrees, Thai into some Little Thai Curry, which includes things like Kaeng Pad ($8.50), a boneless roast duck in red curry paste with tomatoes, pineapple and basil; the Panting Near ($7.95), which is sliced beef with hot curry paste, lemon leaves and basil, or the Green Curry ($7.95 with chicken/$8.50 with shrimp), an amazing concoction with eggplant and snow peas. Other items on the Little Thai menu of note are the Roast Duck ($7.95), the Near Pad Prig ($7.50), which is sautéed beef with chili, ginger and onions; the Plan Much Pad ($7.50), sautéed squid with hot chili pepper and bamboo shoots; and the Remit Moor Din ($10.95), an absolutely incredible seafood combination stew served in a clay pot. Wow! Little Thai has a ton of regulars and after you’ve been there one time, you’ll know why. Located at 2065 Polk Street, Little Thai’s phone number is: (415) 771-5544. You can also order food for delivery if you live close enough to the place. Try Little Thai and you’ll never go to another Thai place again if you can help it. It’s just like going to Thailand without having to pay for the flight or going through customs.

Dog Walkers Need to Walk the Legal Line

The City of San Francisco is seriously considering imposing stricter regulations on dog walkers. Reports of lost mutts, verbal abuse, dogs being left in poorly ventilated vehicles for long periods of time, and letting pooches roam without leashes through city parks without supervision are some of the complaints that are causing local politicians to bark for tighter laws.

The city is thinking of making dog walkers get a special business license and setting limits on the number of dogs pet care providers can walk at once. It’s about time. We had trouble with a dog walking service a while back when they got into the habit of short-walking our dogs. The service claimed that they would walk our dogs every day for a minimum of 20-30 minutes, but our neighbors told us that they saw them walking our two dogs to the corner and back on some days. We got upset because we were paying these people $25 a day to walk the dogs. A ten-minute walk only makes a dog hyper. It’s like teasing the animal and just creates anxiety.

The dog walking industry in San Francisco has operated for too long with little oversight. There are an estimated 150 to 300 dog walkers in SF and getting into the business is as easy as saying you’re a dog walker. I could put an ad on Craig’s list tomorrow and get customers without any problem.

There are tons of people in this town who have dogs but work 40-60 hours a week, so they’re in desperate need of someone to walk their dog during the day. People think it’s an easy gig to walk dogs, but it’s not. You have to develop a rapport with the animals and you have to know how to walk them safely. You also have to pick up their poo, which is something many dog walkers don’t do. A responsible dog walking service has insurance, trains their walkers and requires its employees to carry first-aid kits at all times.

Dog walkers can make good money – I know one guy who makes around $50,000 a year walking mostly rich people’s dogs – but he is really good at what he does. He gives the dogs he walks long, fun walks, runs with them and really builds relationships with them. He’s not just a dog walker; he’s a canine concierge. In many cases, the dogs start liking him more than their masters!

Regulating dog walkers is a smart move. If people are out there doing a lousy, unprofessional job, they need to be put out of business. Maybe putting them to sleep is going a bit too far, but making sure they’re running a safe, dog-sensitive operation is something any pet owner living in this city surely needs and deserves.

My Eight Rules

1.) Perform Random Acts of Kindness Every Week.

2.) Don't Hate..It Only Leads to Stress.

3.) Don't Worry About Things You Can't Control.

4.) Don't Try to Control People, Events or Things.

5.) Be Nice When You Feel like Being Rude.

6.) Don't Whine or Feel Sorry for Yourself..It Could Always be Worse.

7.) Don't Fart or Belch in Public, If it Can Be Avoided.

8.) Love Somebody. You'll Live Longer!

Lost & Crazed Youth

What is it with kids today? I know I was no saint when I was in my teens, but it just seems like its gotten a lot worse out there. I blame the media, our permissiveness, and the fact that many parents just don’t give a s---! This whole thing with Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton is just an indicator of what our children are out there doing. It’s unbelievable. I’m just happy that I don’t have any children of my own, really. I have enough problems without worrying about my child having unprotected sex, doing drugs and generally acting like a fool. I reserve that type of behavior for myself!