Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Midori Spring Ceremonial (GOLD) Matcha Green Tea Review

This was my first time trying Matcha. The only other green tea that I ever drank were the Lipton Green Tea prepackaged drinks.

The good:
Packing is very good and shipping was fast.
The manufacturer placed a disclaimer that it might take some time getting use to like the first time one drinks coffee.

The bad:
The taste. I am not a fan of this green tea. I'm sure that there are some out there that will say the same for coffee.
I also did not have the traditional bowl and wisk that is used to prepare the tea. Perhaps not having these took away from the experience of drinking the tea. I don't know. I will continue trying it to see if it grows on me. If it does I will update this review.

I received this product for free for an unbiased and honest review.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

15 Low Calorie Slow Cooker Recipes

I'm always on the look out for slow cooker/crock-pot recipes. These that I found are broken down by:

Breakfast & Brunch

Chicken & Turkey

Pork and Beef

Meatless/Vegitarian

All of these recipes are less than 375 calories.

Enjoy!

15 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes–Under 375 Calories!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

12MP Full HD 1080P Bicycle Helmet Sports DV Action Waterproof Car Camera

So I was thinking about buying a GoPro HERO3+: Black Edition for my trip to Miami. While searching I came across this camera: the SJ4000 DV Camera



I looks a lot like the GoPro Hero3+: Black Edition (See side by side pics)


However there are some differences in specs. The main differences are that the SJ4000 doesn't have wifi and cannot record in 4k or 2.7k. Here are some more specifications.




GoPro Black Edition
SJ4000





Specs:   4Kp15 / 2.7Kp30 / 1440p48 / 1080p60 / 960p100 / 720p120 fps
Image resolution :12 Mega Pixels (4032*3024)/10 Mega Pixels(3648*2736)8 Mega Pixels((3264*2448)/5 Mega Pixels(2592*1944)3 MP(2048*1536)/ 2MHD(1920*1080)/ VGA(640*480)/ 1.3M(1280*960)
 
12MP/ 30 fps Burst
Video resolution :1920*1080 30fps / 1280*720 60fps /848*480 60fps / 640*480 60fps
 
Built-in Wifi
Video Compression Format :H.264
 
Wi-fi remote
Default resolution --Video:1080P,Picture:4032*3024
 
GoPro App
12Mega Pixels CMOS-Sensor
 
 
LCD :1.5" LCD screen
 
Slot for Micro SD card up to 64 GB
Slot for Micro SD card up to 32 GB
 
Battery life: 90 minutes(1080P)
Battery life :60 minutes(1080P)
 



What's included   HERO3+ Black Edition Camera
1 x SJ4000 HD DV
 
131’/40m Waterproof Housing
1 x Waterproof Case
 
Wi-Fi Remote
Detachable 900mAhB attery
 
Higher Capacity Li-ion Battery
1 x Bike Bracket
 
Quick Release Buckle
1 x Bandage
 
Vertical Quick Release Buckle
1 x USB Cable
 
1 Curved + 1 Flat Adhesive Mount
1 x Waterproof Case Bracket
 
3-Way Pivot Arm
1 x Waterproof Case Clip
 
USB Charging Cable
1 x Multifunction Clip
 
 
1 x Camera Clip
 
 
1 x Cleaning Cloth
 
 
1 x Power Adapter
 
 
1 x Bracket Adapter


 
1 x Manual

As you can see the by the specs SJ4000 DV Camera will not replace the GoPro HERO3+: Black Edition pound for pound, HOWEVER considering the price of the GoPro HERO3+: Black Edition at $499 compared to the SJ4000 DV camera at ~$93 you can see that the SJ4000 is the smarter of the two buys and at that price you can buy FIVE of them and do more than you would be able to with just one GoPro HERO3+.

At the least you should consider the SJ4000 as a backup camera for situations where you would hate to lose a $500 camera but are willing to sacrifice a $95 camera.



Friday, June 6, 2014

The History of Father's Day

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father's Day was inaugurated in the United States in the early 20th century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting.

After the success obtained by Anna Jarvis with the promotion of Mother's Day in the US, some wanted to create similar holidays for other family members, and Father's Day was the choice most likely to succeed. There were other persons in the US who independently thought of "Father's Day", but the credit for the modern holiday is often given to Sonora Dodd, who was the driving force behind its establishment.



Father's Day was founded in Spokane, Washington at the YMCA in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd, who was born in Arkansas. Its first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there. After hearing a sermon about Jarvis' Mother's Day in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, the pastors did not have enough time to prepare their sermons, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June.

It did not have much success initially. In the 1920s, Dodd stopped promoting the celebration because she was studying in the Art Institute of Chicago, and it faded into relative obscurity, even in Spokane. In the 1930s Dodd returned to Spokane and started promoting the celebration again, raising awareness at a national level. She had the help of those trade groups that would benefit most from the holiday, for example the manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes, and any traditional present to fathers. Since 1938 she had the help of the Father's Day Council, founded by the New York Associated Men's Wear Retailers to consolidate and systematize the commercial promotion.[8] Americans resisted the holiday during a few decades, perceiving it as just an attempt by merchants to replicate the commercial success of Mother's Day, and newspapers frequently featured cynical and sarcastic attacks and jokes. But the trade groups did not give up: they kept promoting it and even incorporated the jokes into their adverts, and they eventually succeeded. By the mid-1980s the Father's Council wrote that "(...) [Father's Day] has become a Second Christmas for all the men's gift-oriented industries.

A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father's Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation. Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by Congress. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus "[singling] out just one of our two parents". In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.

In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries on November 19 for men and boys who are not fathers. (copied from wikipedia)

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Thursday, May 15, 2014

How to Convert Workouts to Steps



How to Convert Workouts to Steps

The company I work for has a six week challenge where they reward employees for exercising, specifically walking.

How the program works.

The company send you a free pedometer that you keep on you during the day. The goal is to walk at least an average of 13000 steps a day. In order not to discourage anyone not capable of walking 13000 steps a day they broke it down into a tiered reward system.

If you walk and average of 6,000-9,999 steps per day you will receive $50.
If you walk and average of 10,000-12,999 steps per day you will receive $75.
If you walk and average of 13,000 steps per day you will receive $100.

After six weeks, based on your level of activity, you will receive your reward. Now this is based on the honor system and the only person you cheat is yourself.

The program does not start until June but I have already received my pedometer and have been wearing it. One thing that I've noticed it that I need to step up my game. I've only been averaging about 5,500 steps a day. At this rate I will not qualify for the basic payout. I realized that I need to step up my game. So today I dusted off my membership card and went to the gym. I rode the stationary bike for a half hour. I thought this should really increase my numbers.

WRONG!

When I check my pedometer when I entered the gym I was at 150 steps (it’s not very far from my bed to my truck). After cycling for 30 minutes I was only up to 315 step. The pedometer does not do a good job at tracking other activities other than walking. There are conversation charts available online that you can use to convert your activity to steps. Here is a link to one of many. Click here.

I'm taking a different approach.

I just ordered the Polar Loop Activity Tracker to help count my steps and track other activity.
  The Polar Loop Activity Tracker claims it can counts calories burned and monitor your sleep. Polar also states that it is waterproof and can be used to track swimming and cycling.

I was going to order the Nike+ Fuelband but decided otherwise when I saw that first, it is not compatible with Android devices, Apple only, (MAJOR flaw on their side) and that it was not waterproof. It is water resistant however.

I will post an update once I receive it and try it out for a while. Hopefully I will reach the max goal and the reward will pay for the cost of the Polar Loop.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Wandering Taíno

So if you're like me you are a displaced puertorriqueño. Born in New York to Puerto Rican parents I still love my island and my culture. However, since I joined the Army and traveled around I find it hard to buy the things that I was use to growing up. I miss my mom's pasteles, empanadas con carne,
alcapurria, arroz con pollo, you get the picture. I've been able to sometimes find some Goya products in the commissaries and Wal-mart but not always. I mostly buy them online.

I finally retired from the Army and now live in Charleston, South Carolina. Mecca for Puerto Ricans? Not. However, we are everywhere. After settling in I found out that my neighbor acroos the street is Puerto Rican as well as the neighbor down the street. Its still; not the same as New York or Miami but it will do for now.

One of the pluses about moving to South Carolina is that they don't require a front license plate. Now I can put my new Borinquen license plate on. That's a win for me. Wepa!


Thursday, May 8, 2014

Protect your so called "vicious" dog and you

Most "vicious" dog owners know by now that the data used to label their dogs as "vicious" or "dangerous" was take from a twenty year study conducted by the CDC back in 1996. The CDC no longer tracks bites by breed because people often misidentify the breed of the dog. If someone was bitten by a dog it is often labeled as a pitbull or pit-bull type or mix. The reason why is because of ignorance and fear mongering by the media because that's what sells.

Either way I came across these ingenious collars, leashes or leads, and harnesses that protect you as a dog owner and your dog from idiots who think that your dog wants to play with their aggressive, hyper and nervous Chihuahua who has a Napoleon complex.

http://amzn.to/SDiAyY

Please do yourself a favor and most importantly protect your dog with one of these.
http://amzn.to/SDiAyY