The Art of Grilling

One of my few passions is grilling or smoking meat. I only became really interested in this about 2 years ago. It's one of my favorite things to do on the weekends or anytime there's sports on tv. Whenever I'm genuinely interested in something I spend a lot of time trying to improve my craft. Recently I've gotten a lot better at making a near perfect medium rare steak, chicken that's cooked but still juicy, and overnight marinated pork shops. Another related task I love to do in my free time is smoke meat. This requires a lot of patience but is well worth it in the end. Currently, I'm practicing on cheap cuts of beef and fish; my next step is to marinate and smoke ribs. The best part of all this is the opportunity for my friends and family to hang out and just enjoy the simple pleasures in life. I really enjoy cooking but grilling and smoking are my favorite types of cooking.

Wildfires across the Western United States

 I'm sure everyone has heard of the growing wildfire issues across the Western United States and it's starting to concern. Recently I saw the aftermath only a few hours after a wildfire was started in San Bernadino due to a gender reveal. Yes, it's the same wildfire that is all around the internet and in memes everywhere. Obviously climate change is major factor in the dryness of the Western United States, but I wanted to talk about a different reason.

Believe it or not there has a been a growing Cartel presence in the entire Western United States. Even with the legalization of marijuana, illegal growing still exists. Now you may ask, how does this affect wildfires? Well, the soil in the Western United States is perfect to grow marijuana; therefore the Cartel employs individuals to divert water with make shift dams and piping to irrigate their illegal grow. This not only affects that small ecosystem but nearby ecosystems as well. The diversion in water makes the landscape drier and forces local animals to move to water. This can make the plants in that region die or become even drier which is what a wildfire needs to spread rapidly. Lastly they use strong pesticides in order to protect their marijuana plants from other creatures in that ecosystem. This pesticide makes it's way to the water which can kill animals plants and even kill humans if ingested. The dead plants in the area create additional tinder for the wildfires. 

I understand this may not effect us directly but it's having a major impact in the Western United States. If you go hiking in higher elevations, be aware of these illegal grows and report it to authorities. Stay safe everyone and have a great week.

Working Students

 I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend. After Labor Day weekend I was called to work immediately for an important task that required travel. This task required daily 12 hour training and was in the classroom and outside practical exercise training. Long story short these tasks that required me to travel 5 hours away from my home of residence and long hours of work have put me at a temporary setback with my education. Which brings me to the topic of this post, "Working Students."

In today's society many students are finding it difficult to afford college and living expenses at the same time. This has forced many students into either part time or full time work. I work full time, which usually entails at least 50 hours per week. It can be difficult at times but as long as I stay on a fixed schedule I can manage all of my responsibilities. The concept of taking student loans to cover these expenses scares students and can impact you financially the rest of your life; but many jobs that students are qualified for, will only make a scratch in the tuition so they're force to take the loans or take less classes. This creates a major issue with the progression of our young members of society. We are forced to work ourselves to death to pay for basic living expenses and our education in order to succeed in life, or we just take the loans and pay for it later. 

Education in my lifetime has shifted from purely academic to knowledge for profit. Not all institutions are alike, but many students shouldn't have to choose between affording an education or working ridiculous hours to afford the chance at it. This is just my opinion and I could be wrong but the working student has become the new normalcy for college students. 

Why don't diets or gym memberships seem to never work?

 I've noticed that there are too many shortcuts and different programs that promote fitness and well being. What seems to irritate me on this subject is that majority of these programs are not sustainable and forgo the hard work aspect. Too many diets are not sustainable and many people quit the diet once they reach their goal, resulting in a loss of progress. The same can be applied to physical fitness. Multiple programs preach that this is the easiest and fastest way to achieve your physical fitness goal. In reality, you can lose all of your strength and conditioning in just three weeks if you stop training entirely. How do I know this information?

Well I kept a log of my training and eating habits pre-COVID. I noticed that within three weeks of not working out (intense physical training) and being trapped in the house, I lost a significant amount of strength and conditioning. I still did my best to train with body weight workouts but my strength had decreased by a large factor. Once I had access to equipment again, I began to show signs of improvement. I know I wasn't the only person in the world who lost physical fitness progress due to COVID, but I was determined to find a solution.

People focus on the wow factor of fitness and not the overall health of that person. This creates an image to focus on rather than a lifestyle. One thing I learned is that changing your lifestyle rather than dieting, has a major impact on your mental health and physical fitness. You won't need to diet, if you change what you eat, how much you eat, and how often. Too many people don't enjoy life's simple pleasure's because they're too worried about breaking their diet. In moderation, one can enjoy all of the same things without having to sacrifice their physical fitness. Same goes with working out; too many people (like myself) rely on the gym to provide all our equipment. Through research and trial and error, I have incorporated multiple exercises that I can conduct virtually anywhere while keeping up my strength. We need to change our lifestyles and habits to live a long a healthy life.