Bye Bye Blackberry

Last week I took the plunge and traded my Blackberry for a Droid Pro.  I sadly pretty much live through my Blackberry.  As far as email is concerned, there is nothing easier than a Blackberry.  It had gotten to the point that I could type an email without even looking at my phone.  It fit perfectly in my hand and my chubby fingers had no problem hitting the keys.

Blackberry's software is produced by RIM (Research in Motion) and when they first came out they were the best.  Every one who needed access to their email quickly had a BlackBerry and Blackberry users are faithful to their phones.  Right now, if Blackberry cameout with better software and more apps, I'd trade the droid in a second, but RIM seems to be falling further and further behind with both their software and their phones.  The straw that broke the camels back was the announcement that Google was no longer going to offer Gmail support to Blackberry.   Google has become such a powerhouse in the tech world.  How can you produce a product and expect to be successful without either Google or Apple on board?    Blackberry has struggled to move forward and I really hope they succeed as I would love to return to being a Blackberry Faithful.

My new droid has pretty much used up all my patience.  It has both a keyboard and touch screen which is nice, but the keys are smaller and sending a text at least for now requires me to hit the back button several times as I'm constantly hitting the wrong key.  Learning this thing is going to be a work in process.  I'm sure there are those of you with Droids and love them.  I hope to get to a point that I'm pretty good at it and have no choice right now but to try.  I guess it's better than a flip phone.  For those of you that can text without a touch screen or keyboard........more power to ya.  I'd end up just throwing the thing out the window.  

It's been a week???

Wow I can't believe it's already been a week since my last post.  This week has been super busy.  Christmas is going to be here before I know it and I don't want the "season" to pass me by.

Friday night was the company Christmas Party.  I really like supporting the Girardi's so we opted for El Rancho.   I know I say this all the time,  but I have such an outstanding team.  I have never seen a group of people work so well together.  They work their tails off and never have one negative thing to say about anything.  Steven, Michael, Mike, and Denice are about the funniest darn people you could ever be around.  There is never a dull moment when they're together.   I thank God everyday for blessing me with not only great employees, but some of the best friends anyone could ever ask for.  The dinner was a great time for all of us to finally relax and have a great time together.

Last Saturday, my two younger boys (my oldest was in Phx), my wife and I went to see the lights at Camp Tatiyee.  It was a small production but I'm glad we went.  The donations go towards a good cause and Keevan got to see Santa Clause for the first time.  Once we saw Santa though, Keev wanted nothing to do with him.  He wanted no part of Santa's lap until Christy and Coby sat down as well.

Isn't this the coolest looking Santa

We've been growing like crazy at work and lately I have been without a work area.  I usually just grab a little table, turn on the laptop and work away.  The problem is, when everyone is at work (two team members alternate days) I have no place to work.  Funny huh, the boss has no desk, no computer, no phone, no nothing.  So this past Sunday, I decided to build me a office inside of our big office.  From 10 am till about 11pm, I was building walls, putting up drywall, and putting in a door.  Today I finished the texturing the drywall and now it's ready for paint and trim.  Here's a pic of the unfinished product.

I now have an 88sq ft office.  Not bad for a white collar guy with a biology degree huh? (don't pay attention to the mess in the corner,it'll be cleaned up tomorrow)

Another project that not really me, but my wife has been working on,  is the gingerbread house for the gingerbread village competition.  Businesses are asked to build theme like gingerbread houses where they go on display this weekend at the Real Estate Center (just above Bell Gas).  The them this year is "Who Ville".  My wife did such an awesome job.  I never knew she had such an artistic side.  

 Check out the rice crispy mini vans:)

 Christy made the Grinch out of colored tootsie rolls.  So cool.

We'll be gone this weekend, so we're not going to be able to see what everyone else came up with.  I gotta say though, I'm proud of all the work my wife and Denice put into this.  Better than I could ever do.

Speaking of this weekend, were heading down to Phoenix this weekend with the Romingers.  We're hoping to get a little Christmas shopping done then go to a Coyotes game on Saturday night.  It'll be a nice break from the hectic week.  Sunday were going to head home via Flagstaff.  I have a few referral sources I want to get some gifts for and want to give them something special.  I have something in mind and Flagstaff is the only place I can get it (can't tell cuz I don't know who reads this thing).

Oh ya, the diet thing..................this week wasn't a good diet week.  I haven't even made the time to weigh in so I have no idea where I'm at.  I'm sure I'm back at my 183 but I'm not sure.  My left shoulder has been bugging my so I had an MRI done on Monday.  Dr. Cavanaugh called me today and told me that something is wrong with my AC joint and Labrum but that's about all I know for now. He didn't go into detail except that he said I should probably have it injected.  I'll talk more in depth to Newell tomorrow.  I'm hoping for something that is minimally invasive.

Ok, it's getting late so I best be going.  Gotta get up early.  I've got a ton to do so that I can get out of here tomorrow at a decent time.  I'm hoping to finish the Weight Challenge flyers tomorrow and start handing them out this coming Monday.  The new year will be here before we know it.  

Coby and his sport coat.

The weekend is almost here.  I'm really looking forward to our Christmas dinner tonight.  It'll be fun having everyone together.

Last night we went to the kid's Christmas musical.  The school usually keeps it short and sweet so I actually enjoy going to it.  Plus there is always cookies and drinks afterwards:) .  Believe it or not, I didn't have one cookie, not a single one.   And (I know you don't start a sentence with "and") not to single anyone out, but Coby (my 9yo) looked absolutely adorable.   He's been wanting a sport coat to wear but the darn things are so expensive.   We found some the other night but didn't end up getting one.  He was so upset.  So of course it bugged me all day, I called my wife and had her go ahead and get him one.  I'm so glad I did.  He looked great.  Afterwords I told him that I had noticed he even got to stand next to the cutest girl in the class:).  All I got was big grin.

What a handsome young man.

I haven't weighed yet today, but as you can see by my stats over there on the right, I haven't lost more than 3 lbs.  I'm good with it for now though.  With tonight's party and another tomorrow, it's gonna be tough to be good the entire time.   One thing is for sure though, after watching that food documentary, it is much easier to be pickier about what I eat.     It still just blows me away what they put in our foods.   I was reading the back of a mayonnaise jar the other day and like most foods, you can't even pronounce most of the ingredients.  Speaking of reading, I came across a book called Life Plan and of course immediately downloaded it to my ipad.  Just started reading it last night and really enjoyed it.  This guy makes some great points.  There's a lot of debate about hormone replacement.  Too much causes cancer they say, but there are others that say it's just the opposite.  The FDA of course makes suggestions against it, but after watching the documentary about Dr. Burzynksi and his treatment for cancer, I don't have a lot of faith in the FDA.   It's just another politically motivated agency.  30 years ago, it was heart attacks that killed everyone.  Now it seems like everyone you know has been affected in some way or other by cancer.  How can we be so naive not to think that part of this is environmental (our food)?   

Ok I'll get off my high horse for now.  I hope you all have a super weekend.  Maybe it'll be a bit warmer.

This day is going to fast.

Are you kidding me!??  I'm still at 180lbs.  I've been doing pretty well with the diet, working out everyday (except yesterday) and nothing.  Haven't lost anything.  Just throw me a bone, do something do help me stay motivated.  I'm gonna throw this scale out the door. 

The muscle physiologist who is helping me with my back just increased my workout again.  This is a good sign as it means my back is slowly getting stronger.  Here's a link to one of the main exercises he has me doing.  When I first started, I could barely do 80 lbs a few times. It was both embarrassing and pathetic.  Now I'm doing 165 lbs 20 reps.  Definitely better than when I started.  My back is finally getting stronger and hopefully soon I'll be able to put in 50 miles on  the bike pain free. 

The Christmas party season is approaching. We have one tonight, our company one is tomorrow, and then I have another on Saturday.  Dear Lord, can you give me 12 more hours in a day.  Just today I get a text from my son's principal wanting to know if I can start basketball practice next week.  I'm still debating this one.  Not sure if I'm into coaching another year of basketball, I'm sure he'll talk me into it though. 

Today has just flown by.  I feel like I've got nothing done.  I hate days like this.  So much to do and such little time. 

Sorry for the boring post,  I'll try to do better tomorrow.  Gotta get back to work though.

OSSM Staff

Ok this weight thing is becoming pathetic. I weighed in at a thin (not!!) 183lbs!!  Are you kidding me!!??  I'm 20 lbs over where I would really love to be.  As of last Friday, I'm doing really well with my 1500 calorie a day diet.  I'm still amazed at how quick it adds up, but I definitely feel more knowledgeable about the foods I eat.  I was reading an article in Consumer Reports yesterday and it was giving a brief look at how many calories were in a variety of drinks.  A white chocolate mocha from Starbucks.....a whopping 700 calories!!  That's just crazy!  A chocolate peanut butter shake from Stone Cold Creamery....1700 calories:),  A full days calories in one drink. 

With my disappointing weigh in yesterday, it brought about a little more motivation.  So yesterday I think I only took in 1200 calories, went to the gym at noon, and then rode the trainer last night for about an hour.  Great day as far as diet and workout are concerned.  

I'm preparing for the 3rd annual Alpha Oxy-Med Weightloss Challenge and will be updating the site soon.  I believe we're going to start around the 2nd of January and go till April 15.  We had an OSSM turnout last year and hope for even more this year. 

Well  I had my first accreditation meeting with my staff yesterday.  One thing is for sure....I sure love these guys.  I'm just blown away at how above and beyond they all go.  We had a van do down yesterday and without even asking one of them took it upon himself and had it going by mid morning.   I'm not sure they know how much I appreciate them, but I do my best to let them know all the time.  Last week was Christmas bonus time which I try to save for all year long.  I love the Christmas season and I enjoy giving my staff as much as possible.  I had Denice hand out the checks as I was home all week working on policies.  On Friday I get a call from one of my drivers, about in tears, thanking me for the bonus.  Well by the end of the call, he had me in tears.  His gratitude was so heart touching.   Everyone here is so giving and caring.  I just found out that Michael (one of my drivers) took hours out of his Saturday to go visit one of our patients that live way out in the middle of no where.  He wanted to be sure they made it through the storm ok.  How OSSM is that?!!

This Friday we are having our first Christmas dinner as a company.  It'll be great to have everyone and their families together.  I'm really looking forward to it.   Christmas will be here before we know it.  Make the most of the season.

Physical and Psychological Benefits of Exercise

Physical activity is critical for an individual who cares about their health, but it is particularly important for a person receiving cancer treatments. The body of a fit and healthy person can find physical activity demanding at the beginning, but once the body adapts and becomes stronger there is not as much stress on the body.


Physical activity moves oxygen and nutrients around the body and aids in eliminating waste products from the body. For cancer patients this is an especially significant benefit. Increasing oxygen levels improves endurance and increases energy levels which enables cancer patients to better cope with the treatment process they are going through. This goes for people taking on breast cancer treatments to the treatment of mesothelioma.

Exercise provides other benefits like stronger tendons, ligaments and bones which helps decrease the chance of injury. Physical activity also lowers an individuals’ resting heart rate, increases the size of arteries and increases heart strength in general. It also decreases triglyceride levels, blood cholesterol and blood pressure while improving immune function. During many cancer treatments white blood count levels decrease so it is great cancer patients have a way to improve immune function. These benefits allow cancer patients more energy to fight the cancer that has infected their bodies.

Cancer patients should choose exercises that wont overwhelm their systems and make sure to contact their doctor with any questions they might have about what exercises would be the most beneficial. Usually, choosing exercises that create the most enjoyment like dancing, gardening, tennis or walking are best because they are more likely to be repeated and create a positive feeling.

One of the most damaging psychological side affect from cancer can be the onset of depression. A regular exercise routine has the capability to elevate ones mood. There are neurochemicals released during exercise, like endorphins, and these create a positive feeling.

Both psychologically and physically physical activity proves to be beneficial. Exercise can give cancer patients the push to make other positive changes in their lives as well.



Liz Davies is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer especially interested in health and wellness. She wants to make a difference in people’s lives because she sees how cancer has devastated so many people in this world. Liz also likes running, playing lacrosse, reading and playing with her dog, April.

Staying Home Too Cold to Race

Well with the ton of snow we got Thursday night, we opted out of driving down to the valley for the mountain bike race.  Our 4 man team is now a two man team with Newell and his son Spencer stepping up to the plate.  Spencer was never even supposed to race, but he stepped up and is currently out there with his dad.  Some of the guys have sent me various texts saying the weather is beautiful down there, so a part of me is bummed that we're not down there. 

Oh well, I'm loving staying home and watching it snow.  Great time to watch tv, enjoy some yummy coffee, and just relax.   So, now I'm cathching up on all my missed episodes of Chopped and Chuck's Day Off.  

On Thursday, I went to see Newell about my shoulder and started talking about diet.  I've really been frustrated with my inability to lose even a few pounds.  I think I'm about 180 which is heavy for me.   I'd really like to get to 165 and right now I'm failing miserably.   He suggested putting a calorie app on my phone and cutting back to 1500 calories a day.  Well there's a noble thought.  Of all the dieting if tried and all the nutrition courses I've taken, I have never counted calories.  So yesterday I started counting.  It's incredible how fast it adds up.  It's not the easiest thing to do, but it's really been an eye opener.   The counting has really helped cut back on my foraging through out the day and I'm hoping to see some results by the end of the week.

Everyone knows how fearful I am of Cancer and how frustrating it is to see that miserable disease affect so many different lives and families.  Just recently I received and email from Liz Davies wanting to know if she could contribute a post regarding the importance of exercise both when were healthy and when were dealing with an illness.  It's a great write up hits the mark when it comes to the advantages of an exercise program.  Hope you enjoy.