SmashedLife

Aaron Nace/Rosie Hardy/Flickr

Valentine’s day is one of those days that people either love or hate the day. May it be trying to find the right romantic gift or not having a date at all or having to throw up because of all the sappiness going on, it is hard not to have an opinion on this romantic commercialized holiday.

To me, whither I have a date or not, it is a day I love. It lets you show your love ones that you care about them. Don’t take me wrong here, there doesn’t need to a special day to be called out for me to show how much I can love someone. It should be shown everyday but by calling out a day, you can specialize that day in your heart. It is kind of like a birthday or an anniversary, these days are arbitrary. They are solely based on one’s own decision to celebrate these days or not.

It might be because I am a romantic at heart that this day interests me. Stories like Aaron Nace and Rosie Hardy Flickr love story appeals to me because of the emotional draw it has on you. Two people separated by an ocean meeting on the photo sharing site Flickr pulled together by the common interest of photography. It is kind of a love story that you really only see if movies but throughout the world, things like this happen daily.

So I urge you to reach out and show your love ones that you care on this day. Take action in your life, you never know what will happen.

We need your help with Portland Twestival and helping raise $500,000 for charity:water.

On February 12th, Twitter users in over 160 cities around the world will come together to meet, greet, raise awareness and help raise funds for charity:water.

By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis. charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean drinking water just below the ground, but no way to get to it. This is where charity: water and their partner organizations come in. Drilling a well can cost from $4,000 – $12,000 USD and many living on less than $1 a day cannot afford one in their community, even if the money is combined.

To sponsor or volunteer, contact us at:
http://twitter.com/mssonicflare
or http://twitter.com/smashedlife

Please support the Twestival efforts for charity: water by making a donation, attending an event or participating in one of our many online fundraising activities.

Last but not least, please spread the word to all your friends and families. Stay tuned for details more details on the location.

Source: Twestival, iJustine (video)

The sales people at LA Fitness are pretty pushy on trying to get you to join the club. I must of been asked to sign up right then 6-7 times during my three day guest pass. While I get that they want to make a sale, there is such a thing as too much pressure.

At Hawthorn Farms, it was very relaxed environment and the sales person asked for my permission to contact me after I went through my guest pass. There was no pressure to get the sign up right then. They wanted me to try the club first and then make a decision.

Sadly, when I visited Bally’s Total Fitness, they did not have any sales people while I was there. It was the middle of the day so I wonder where they were.

As I have been gym shopping, I have realized that if I am not happy at the gym, I most likely will not go there. This has been the case with my current membership at 24 hour fitness. The closest one is about 20 years old and it is starting to show. They only have weights and cardio machines which makes the gym very limited. While on the other hand, gyms like LA Fitness and Hawthorn Farms Athletic Club are more like all around sport centers where someone can shoot hoops, swim, workout, etc. This gives the person options and really, everyone likes to have options. Here is a comparison of LA Fitness and Hawthorn Farms.

After looking at this table, it seems like Hawthorn Farms is the better deal. What do you think?

A few weeks ago, I decided that I really needed to find a new gym. My current gym at my condo was just not cutting it plus I swear it is like a sauna in there when there is more then two people working out. It is a 10 by 15 feet room with an all in one weight machine, two treadmills, two cross trainers and a seated bike. Not so shabby if you just want to do cardio. So I have been trying out as many guest passes to the local gyms around here which has also caused my cellphone to ring off the hook with sales people.

The first gym I tried, I will never go to again. Well I take that back, I am sure there are nicer ones out there but the Bally Total Fitness on Cornell is a dump. They have an confusing layout plus many of the machines I wanted to use were out of order. Unfortunately this is the closest gym to my house.

The second gym, LA Fitness is a very nice gym. It was extremely clean and the people there were friendly. I did feel that the sales person was friendly but pushing a sale right then and didn’t want to let it go without one. I have worked out there twice now and it definitely is on the radar.

The third gym I am now trying is Hawthorn Farm Athletic Club. It is the nicest of the bunch with the most amenities but also the most expensive. It is the only gym that I can just jump onto the max but the hours are the most limited there.

Which gym do I chose? I know already it will not be Ballys. It is a close race between Hawthorn Farm Athletic Club and LA Fitness. Decisions, decisions.