Zapatista

Thanks. There's a story behind the name Pretzel though. The Norweigan Elkhound was name Bryna (pronounced Bear-Na, which is supposedly Norweigan for "bear hunter" but I'm not sure if that's true). Anyways, my dad would always call Bryna something other than her name (his favorite was "beer nuts"). So when they got Pretzel as a puppy he decided to name her Pretzel because of "Beer Nuts" & "Pretzels". And you're right about how amazing the bond that a kid and dog have, and it can is amazing how loving dogs can be towards humans. Have you all heard about the dog that saved a guy's life? (well there are many but this one is amazing and I don't know how many of you have heard it) There was a guy with a yellow lab and the man was having health problems and the doctors couldn't really figure it out. Well the dog would continually sniff at the right ear of the man whenever the dog had a chance. The man mentioned something about that to his doctor and they did a scan of his head (don't remember if it was a CT or MRI) and there was a tumor growing in the right side of the head. It turns out dogs can smell tumors. There's a man (I don't remember where he lives but he was featured in this story on the news too) who is taking dogs from the pound (so they don't kill the unclaimed dogs) and training them to smell certain things so they can later help humans. One of the things they were smelling was tumors, but there were so much more. It's amazing how dogs can save lives without even knowing it.

Just a question: were the mice food for the snakes or seperate pets? Also, my dad and step-mom have two dogs, one a chocolate lab named pretzel and I don't know the name of the other one since I stopped seeing him before he got it. But during the time I would see my dad he had a purebread Norweigan Elkhound (a very pretty bread) that was an amazing dog. And when I was younger I had a mutt (yellow lab/golden retriever mix) that was named Buffy and she was the sweetest dog. My parents (and then my mom) had her as a puppy (before I was born) and then until I was 7. When my mom and I talk about Buffy, she always tells me that she was so good with me. She didn't do anything when I would poke her and hit her (when I was an infant). Also, my mom would put me in the backyard in my stroller and my dog would lay next to me and whenever a person would walk past on the sidewalk Buffy would get up and get ready to defend me if need be. I remember during the winter I would pile snow on top of her and she just loved it. Right now I'm tortured. I live in dorms on a college campus so no pets except small fish. The only dogs I see I can't pet because they are seeing-eye dogs who help the vision impaired. I can't stand it because I want to pet the dog so bad, but I can't.

There's nothing wrong with being a total geek! Anyways, the only Java I've done is Javascript (which is like a weak derivative of Java) and it was okay. I've heard from others that Java is weak and C++ is a lot better, but for some reason Java has been making a splash at schools. For the programming class I must take I have two options. One is elementary programming which the class description just says that it is a high level language but don't state which one, which leads me to believe it's either C++ or Java. The other class is FORTRAN, which I have been told to avoid like the plague. It looks like I'll be doing the elementary programming.

I prefer UFC rather than Pride FC. The main reason is that Pride FC uses a boxing ring and I hate the fact that if the fighters are by the ropes that the ref stands them up and puts them back in the same position at the middle of the ring. For some reason that's a big issue for me. Plus, UFC puts fights on cable whereas all Pride FC events are on Pay-Per-View so I don't get to see it. I used to watch some Pride FC when I had a membership with Netflix but now I'm at school with no job so I can't afford Netflix and the cable in the dorms doesn't allow for us to order Pay-Per-View, so I basically get by with Ultimate Fight Night on Thursdays and then the re-run of that weeks Ultimate Fighter on Saturday.

Yes I would put my money on plantar faciitis. It is a horrible thing too since there is no way to "cure" it. It's basically a form of tendonitis. But yes, see your doctor. Does it hurt to walk at all? Or if you're sitting/laying down for a long period of time (such as sleeping or just watching TV or sitting at a desk at work) and then you get up to walk, does your foot/feet hurt?

I may have been far ahead of you years ago. I have almost completely forgotten nearly all of those languages. What programming/coding language do you use? I'm guessing Visual Basic. If you're into making more complex programs I'd suggets C# (I think that is Microsoft's version of C++). It can be pretty powerful. I have to take another programming class (this time in college) for my major (a Bachelor's in Science in Economics)

I used to program a lot. I took Advance Placement Computer Programming in high school and we learned C++. It sucked because it was all console programming (similar to DOS), so it wasn't really applicable to today's market. Over the years I've learned QBASIC, C++ and some Java. I also learned a few coding languages such as HTML, PHP, and some Perl.

Interesting stuff. Thanks Rick. I'll give running another try in a week or two.

You're right bearich, I didn't think about the things you've mentioned. Here's another question, I've heard that BJJ depends less on strength than JJJ does, is that true? (I don't remember where I heard that, but I haven't done either art, yet, so I'm not sure)

I'm going to start increasing my stair walking to at least 3 times up and down and then go faster. I'll probably start running outside too. There are times were I really want to go lift some more (but I shouldn't since my muscles are healing) or go out and run. Unfortunately that is usually later at night so I don't really act on it. I've been trying to stray away from running because I'm a little overweight and have bad knees (I've torn cartilege in one of them before) and I'm afraid running will hurt my joints. I've lost some weight so far and I'll probably lose more, so after I lose a little more I'll try the running outside. Thanks for your respoonse.

It depends on the grappling art you study. I believe (but am not 100% sure) that wrestling such as Greco-Roman, and maybe Catch Wrestling depends on strength and there is a disadvantage if you're smaller, but arts like jujutsu and judo are designed so that somebody smaller and weaker than their opponent can still fight against them and win.

Awesome site. Thanks for the link.

Well in your title of the post you say Judo while in the post you say jj which I'd assume you meant judo but did jujutsu. Judo is a sport version of jujutsu. The sport is mainly throws with a few submissions. You try to get your openent on the ground (on their back) from a throw for points and then you get extra points if you are able to lock in a submission. The thing I've heard about Judoka (those who practice Judo), is they are more explosive when doing their submissions because in competition if they don't get the submissions rather quickly the ref stands the two back up. BJJ has more submissions than Judo and is basically a ground art. BJJ focuses a lot on position and dominance in positioning. I haven't seen or heard about competitions for BJJ, so I can't help you there. I've read articles in martial arts magazines that have said that for the best results one should crosstrain in Judo and BJJ as the arts complement each other well. Here are links: Here's a link about BJJ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu-jitsu and here's a link about Judo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo

I listen to a lot of different music while working out. Usually it is hard fast stuff such as: Crossover/Thrash bands such as: Corrosion of Conformity (Animosity album) Municipal Waste DRI Hardcore Punk: Hatebreed Madball Punk: Dropkick Murphys (they have a lot of songs that really inspired me) Other Music: Billy Bragg Ryan Harvey Tom Frampton

I'm trying to lose weight and I know that in order to lose weight one must burn more calories than they take in, simple enough. But here is the problem: how do I know how many calories I'm burning? Also, do calories burn at the same rate no matter what you do? My cardio consists of me climbing 12 stories of stairs a couple times and jump-roping. I've done the walking/jogging on the treadmill too but I get bored with that. On the treadmill it tells how many "Cals" I've burned (I'd assume that is short for calories unless there is a different unit too) but when I increase the workout (either increase the incline or speed) the "Cals" move the same as if I was just walking at 1.0 mph. It's simple for me to count calories for intake because everything is labeled in the dorm cafeterias and online, but I just don't know how many calories I'm burning so I don't know how many calories to consume. What would be a good amount? I'm 6' 3" around 245 lbs. I'm trying to get down to 200 lbs to 215 lbs. at my current muscular development (I want to get around 225 to 230 with muscles and little fat). I lift weights Monday/Wednesday/Friday and do some cardio then too (like 5 minutes of jump rope) and on Tuesdays/Thursdays I climb 12 stories of stairs twice and on Saturday/Sunday I do either stairs, jumprope or take the day off. I'm lost with all of this, could somebody please help me out, I'd much appreciate it. Thanks