September 21st, 2012
San Diego Gyms
I have been looking for a good gym to call home so I can get back into the work out rhythm that I used to follow. I tried out the following ones so far:
Frog’s Fitness: Carmel Mountain Ranch: Right off the bat, the staff is nicer and friendly. Usually, gyms allow you to try it out with 3 days with a pass. I requested it online from their website and the next morning, on my way over there, I called just to make sure it was alright to join a class. I hadn’t seen a guest pass in my email yet. The lady was really nice. I got there and she told me that the membership person wasn’t here yet but I should go ahead and join the class as it was starting soon. I thought that was nice of them. I did BodyPump and boy was it a workout! I chose serious weights (for me) and it was challenging and fun. They also have towels which I thought was a nice touch as it helps with wiping sweat and of course post work out shower. I am not a huge germaphobe. I have 3 kids after all. But it can be bothersome to be on sweaty equipment. Gross. It is nice that they have fresh towels.
Post work out, I waited for a few minutes to see the membership dude. He gave me a free pass for a week. Over the past week, I have tried out Bodypump, a class call CX360 (?) core work out class and a deep water exercise. The deep water class had old ladies in the pool and they were very sweet. They had been a member for a while. One of them told me that she works out everyday so she can eat a piece of cake once in a while.
LA Fitness: Dove Canyon Road I went to this location once. I tried out their aqua fit class. It was pretty good. Their pool is indoor and 4.5 feet deep so you can stand up in it. That suits me just fine as I haven’t been in water in a while and I like standing up just in case.
Just as Frog’s, I didn’t get my pass via emial so I drove there to check it out. I had to wait for the member specialist to be available for about 10 minutes. I told the lady at the front desk that my class was about to start. She let me proceed to the class. They had my ID. I went to the locker room and in hindsight, I really should have checked it out a bit more. I was in a hurry to get to my class. The class was good. I left after my class as I had friends coming over later in the day. I still had to prepare. Note that I left my ID here. I had to go back the next day to pick it up. I finally met the membership dude. He was alright.
Fast forward to a week later, I got a call from him asking me what I thought of LA fitness. In all honesty, I had only been there twice. Once to try out the class and second time to pick up my ID. He told me of the specials they were running and I will write about them in a new post as they deserve a full on assessment and just the trickery involved. So nuts.
Tags: fitness classes, frogs fitness, gyms in san diego, la fitness, san diego gyms
Posted in Aparna Vashisht | 1 Comment »
June 3rd, 2012
An appeal from a dear friend:
| This is really last minute, but I my current/former San Diegan friends and frequent visitors to write to Kanani Brown at the CA Coastal Commission before the June 5th deadline. The protective barrier at the La Jolla Cove seal sanctuary has been removed and today I witnessed, first-hand, a group of people tormenting a seal pup trying to beach on the sand by surrounding it and petting it, giving it no way to escape back into the water. I couldn’t do much except yell at the people from a distance to stop. This used to be a great place for seals to beach and for people to come and watch the seals from a safe distance. The CA Coastal Commission will be meeting July 11-13 to decide if the barrier should be up year-round. If you can’t send the letter in time, you can call the Parks and Rec director (619) 236-6643 and the Mayor’s office at (619) 236-6330 to complain.
Please spread the word and help in whatever you can. Tweet, Facebook it, let everyone and their neighbor know so we can help the seals.
San Diego SealWatch- La Jolla, CA
www.savesandiegoseals.com |
Posted in Aparna Vashisht | 1 Comment »
May 23rd, 2012
If you are feeling down, or just having a rough day, read these quotes, they will make you feel better.
“I am my own biggest critic. Before anyone else has criticized me, I have already criticized myself. But for the rest of my life, I am going to be with me and I don’t want to spend my life with someone who is always critical. So I am going to stop being my own critic. It’s high time that I accept all the great things about me.”
― C. JoyBell C.
“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for. ”
― Maureen Dowd
“Sometimes you just have to regret things and move on.”
― Charlaine Harris
We are all going to die so try to be kind to fellow human beings. Even the ones that cut you off on the road.
“How wonderful! How wonderful! All things are perfect, exactly as they are.”
― Siddhārtha Gautama
“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, So what. That’s one of my favorite things to say.So what.”
― Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
Be nice to others. Be true to yourself. If you have a flaw, accept it. It is what makes you who you are. Stop fighting it. (This is a note to myself). Try a random act of kindness every day. It feels great. I love doing it. If you are not in a hurry, let people pass you on the highway.
Posted in Aparna Vashisht | 1 Comment »
April 30th, 2012
Have you noticed that you aren’t watching as much TV as you used to? DVR is getting to be a pain?
We also noticed the same and decided to downgrade our cable. We were lucky. We were at the end of our contract with Time Warner Cable. Therefore, we removed all our DVRs and moved to basic cable. Please note that if you are in a similar situation, there is a $45 early termination charge. We had that waived as well, I don’t even want to start.
So you might wonder if are moving to a time also known as my childhood. Fear not, we moved to Netflix and Hulu+. We are thinking about adding CinemaNow. I also am an Amazon Prime member so I can access that content too.
I believe a Roku box lets me access all the above channels.
Why we moved to Internet Media:
- With Hulu+, I no longer have to DVR. I know I sound lazy but with kids, work load, and with a need to read, I just don’t have the time. With Hulu+, I have regained my time back. Yes, there is advertising in Hulu+ but I just mute it and go check my Facebook or Twittah!
- Netflix, hello my Bollywood buddy: I have been watching awesome Hindi movies that I missed because I live in the US. I think I may have watched all the Hindi movies on Netflix. There is also Mela.com which has more movies but I need to get a Roku box. I will try it out and let you know what I think.
- CinemaNow has new movies on demand. I love watching movies so having new releases at my finger tips is very attractive.
- The cost! We slashed our cable bill by 50%. Netflix is $7.99 a month. Hulu+ is the same. CinemaNow has movies for rent for $3.99. Those numbers work for me.
- NO Contracts: Yeah! I love that I can cancel anytime. It is fantastic. Did I mention there are no contracts with Internet Media?
Time Warner Cable was not happy losing us. I hope they change and offer more competitive pricing. Till then, we are thrilled with our new services.
One thing really bothers me though. Why do I, a consumer, only have 2 options for cable? Time Warner Cable or AT&T. It should be a free market right? I am really happy about Internet media that has truly put the consumer in the driver’s seat.
Posted in Aparna Vashisht, Technology | 19 Comments »
April 14th, 2012
I have been hiding. I just had some family issues and travel come up so I was offline. I wrote this post which is a resource for you to use good pictures for your page. Pictures are easy as they are binary (Like: Yes/No) and people find it easy to engage with simple choices. Who doesn’t? 
In addition to posing engaging questions on your Facebook page, you can also share sites and cool things with your audience. Here are some of my favorite sources of information and cool posts.
- http://whathappenedinmybirthyear.com/
- http://theoatmeal.com
- http://www.good.is–They have great info graphics. Who doesn’t like those right?
- http://imgfave.com/ This is my new favorite site. I love it! Some of the images are adult so you have to sift through them. There are plenty of uplifting posts that you can post on your Facebook page to end a week nicely or begin one or somewhere in between.
- Of course, there is always Pinterest and Stumbleupon.
Other types of posts that work really well are ones with inspirational quotes, pictures, nice pictures. In any case, enjoy and use the above. I will be back with more resources for your page. It is good to be back.
Posted in Aparna Vashisht, Social Media | 2 Comments »
