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An oil change may lead to needing a tire change

September 27th, 2012

Generally speaking, I’ve had no trouble with Fast Oil & Lube on Highway 31 in Tyler, just a mile from the loop. That is until a few months ago when I decided to never go back there again, and it’s a shame because my house is located just down the road.

Anyway, I had just gotten off work and I needed an oil change for a road trip I was taking the next morning.  I got out of my car and let the employees do their thing when one of them asked me if I had a spare tire. I answered, “Yes, but why would I need it?”

He then proceeded to show me my flat tire and the valve was completely torn out.

Not that there’s a good time for this to happen, but the timing couldn’t have gotten worse for me. I had to be leaving town no later than 7:30 the next morning and most places don’t open util 8 a.m. Yes, I made them pay and I made a decision as to where I will never go to get my oil change.

I never got an understandable explanation but I was obviously extremely upset with them. The most logical explanation I could come to was that when they did their courtesy tire check, they decide to add more air the were careless as they yanked the hose while it was attached to the valve. Not sure if that’s accurate, but that’s not important. What was important was they made a stupid careless mistake that cost them at least one customer. I’d advise you not to go there either unless you don’t care about keeping your vehicle in good shape.

1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel Shows Obama Born in Kenya

May 17th, 2012

This was just released today by Breitbart news website that shows Barack Obama our president was born in Kenya. Acton & Dystel was President Obama’s literary agent and produced this promotional pamphlet on him.

It is assumed him and several others would have to approve of the accuracy of the pamphlet before producing it.

It could be that Barack was lying then instead of now. Either way he has obviously been tweaking his background when it suits his ambitions.

Right now I feel like we have a total fraud and clown in the Whitehouse.

The Comfort Inn & Suites in Tyler… & Beyond

May 7th, 2012

The fact that I grew up traveling has gone a long way to creating in me a nostalgia for staying in hotels. I realize that for many people who travel solely for work- related purposes that may seem like a fairly absurd statement. But for me, staying over night in a hotel was part of an adventure.  I’m sure that the level of one’s enjoyment of hotels is due solely to the purpose he or she has in traveling, but it’s almost always been a positive experience for me.

It’s always amusing to me to hear people discuss their requirements of a hotel. It must have this or that, it had better not be lacking in this amenity or that one… We all have different levels of expectations. I’m generally fairly easy to please. A cool, clean room, comfortable bed and working TV with Fox News and ESPN will generally keep me content. Throw in a good continental breakfast, and I may even stay another night.

On a recent trip to Dallas, (which was purely recreational mind you), I introduced my son the fun of staying in a hotel. We’ve stayed in them before, but he’s only four so his memories of previous trips are foggy at best.  On this outing I chose to stay in a Comfort Inn. Admittedly a simple establishment, but it came complete with a pool and all the amenities I’ve listed above, along with quite a few I didn’t. Now I realize this was Dallas, but I should reinforce the fact that Tyler also has a Comfort Inn which is arguably more upscale than the one I visited. Enough so that it should surely be able to meet the requirements of patrons whose needs are more… sophisticated than mine are.   The Comfort Inn and Suits in Tyler is located on South Broadway and has all the amenities one would expect, including an indoor pool, hot tube, fitness center and more. It’s generally on the more high- end side of the chain but prices are still reasonable. Tyler has what seems to me a surprising number of places to stay, but the Comfort is among the nicer choices. To read more or to make reservations read about them online or contact their office at (903) 534-0999.

Get Paid to Exercise, Yes Really!

February 27th, 2012

XTC Fitness launched a 12 week weight loss challenge that is probably about half way through by now and the winner gets a lot of cash.

Now for those who missed out on this opportunity and for those that are not members at XTC Fitness you can still get paid to workout.

Here is how this works. There is a gym mobile application called Gympact that pays you money for working out. Unfortunately it is only available for the iPhone at this time.

It may sound too good to be true but it is for real. What happens is that you setup an account with them and a part of that includes giving them your credit card information.

You set a number of days you plan on working out at your gym per week. Gympact asks you to check-in through their app when you go to your gym so they know you went.

This application basically helps to keep you accountable to your gym workout goals. If you fail to go to the gym the allotted number of days you set than you end up paying money instead of getting money.

If you workout everyday you promised Gympact will pay you for it.

So what you have is a pool of money from all those people that failed to workout. If you are good at sticking with your fitness goals you have one more reason to show up to the gym now.

If you have yet to find the best Tyler TX gym I would like to direct you to go by Tony Cruz XTC Fitness & Sports. This is a very large mega-gym in Tyler I visit 4 – 5 days a week.

XTC has over 80 group exercise classes a week and is sure to give you plenty of planned out reasons why you should come to the gym at almost any hour of the day.

Other fitness applications that reward you although not in cash like Gympact are: Earndit, Fitocracy, Switch2Health, and Nexercise.

Earndit is the closest to Gympact because you can win gift cards to retail stores. You can connect your RunKeeper or FitBit account to this app. To connect up you can simply login to the app using Twitter, Facebook, Google, OpenID, and others and start earning.

If you just like that motivation that comes from the praises of others than Fitocracy may be the app you need. This app is heavy on the gamified aspect of design. You get a combination of a game and social network that allows users to join groups and motivate one another in a contest of sorts where you earn many different coveted badges.

Switch2Health is like Earndit because it allows you to win gift cards. This app is also compatible with many different devices such as the iphone, Nike, Foursquare, and Android.

The last app I am aware of is called Nexercise. This app is an iphone fitness app with a lot of promises such as coupons but at this time only offers a gamified competitive fitness experience with other gym goers like the popular Foursquare check-in service. You can expect things like badges for reaching different fitness achievements.

How My Gym Workout Went in 2011

December 31st, 2011

Wow! I can actually go into a new year without wondering if I should make a new years resolution to workout again. I have been working out over at Tony Cruz XTC Fitness & Sports the last few months and I have seen some dramatic results.

For instance, when I started working out there I weighed 195 pounds but as of today I weigh 172 pounds all from doing the kick boxing group exercise class they have there. I learned a few fundamental basic fighting skills through repetitive action on the kicking bag. I have increased my cardiovascular system through running the undulated indoor track during the 45 minute kick boxing class. I have also managed to tone up quite a bit and put on some muscle pounds.

I am a male and so I managed to lose a lot of weight because most of it was a lot of pure extra body fat on top of muscle. For women you will not always see a quick reduction in weight in the beginning as you are building a lot of muscle while at the same time shedding pounds. This class is just as much for women as it is for men and often times there are more women in my class than men.

What is so cool about XTC is that you get to see a full spectrum of fitness levels working out with you. Everyone pitches in to encourage and lift up those around them. You only workout as much as your body can handle but over time you will find that you are able to push a bit more each time and will eventually be able to accomplish everything the instructor asks the group to do.

I personally must still cheat on some exercises as I really push myself about as far as I can on each exercise and so many times I have to simply quit before the instructor tells us to stop.

If you are like many of us who will be making a new years resolution regarding fitness and weight loss in Tyler Texas I highly recommend trying out Tony Cruz XTC Fitness & Sports. They have over 80 group exercise classes a week which are sure to keep you on track with your goals. The best thing about these classes is that they are free with your gym membership.