Category Archives: Uncategorized

3 Cities with the Best Public Transportation in the US

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Whether you’re looking to explore a city’s best restaurants or get to work, you likely don’t want to spend large chunks of time-fighting traffic. Extensive public transportation can ease the burden that goes along with terrible commutes and other difficulties getting around. Here are three cities that have some of the most extensive public transportation options.

Boston, MA

Boston has a comprehensive transportation system that consists of trolleys, ferries, a heavy rail system, and a commuter rail system. There are three heavy rail lines that serve the city from each direction. The green line is a trolley that is branched and has 66 different stations. There are 133 total rail stations between all of the lines. There is also a bus rapid transit line that has its own lanes and tunnels. The “T” carries nearly 1.3 million passengers each day, and almost 800,000 of these are on the system’s rail lines.

Chicago, IL

Chicago has one of the better systems due to the ever-present “El” trains that run throughout the city that are part of the Chicago Transit Association. The El is the second-largest heavy rail subway system in the country. It currently operates 242 stations and has 11 separate rail lines, serving millions of passengers every year. In fact, over 1.6 million people each day ride the CTA to avoid commutes that can last for up to 90 minutes. For those with longer commutes into the city, the commuter rail system METRA serves over 200 stations throughout Cook County.

New York, NY

No discussion of the most extensive public transit systems can exclude New York, which has subways, railroads, ferries, and buses. There are three different commuter railroads to get people in and out of the cities that serve commuters in all directions. The iconic New York Subway runs day and night over 36 lines, serving nearly 500 stations. The subway system carries nearly 6 million passengers on weekdays and three million passengers each day on weekends. There are almost no parts of New York City that do not have their own subway stop and those that do not are easily a bus ride away from the subway station. Many people who live in New York find it completely unnecessary to own a car and for good reason.

No one loves driving in stand-still traffic on their commute home. If you do not want to spend time-fighting daily traffic, consider living in a city that has a comprehensive public transit system. It could make your commute much more bearable.

Top Places To See When Traveling In Texas

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Texas is one of the most popular and most exciting states in the nation. This place just so happens to be America’s second most populous state, and it hosts many of the nation’s most affluent cities such as Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth. The Lone Star State consists of more than 260,000 square-miles, and it has some of the very best historical sites, national parks, amusement parks, train rides and science museums. Another great reason for coming to this destination is that there are a number of family-related activities that people can enjoy as a group. It’s time to pack your bags and take a trip to America’s last frontier.

Houston Museum of Natural Science

One of the absolute best things to see up close and personal is the Houston Museum of Natural Science. This extraordinary museum has been around since 1909 and over 2 million people visit this place every year. Science and education meets at this intersection as visitors will get a chance to view dinosaur exhibits, get a chance to see some of the rarest gemstones as well as see some of the best taxidermied animals. Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.

San Antonio Riverwalk

The San Antonio Riverwalk is by far one of the most interesting and relaxing destinations on the planet. Located in Texas’ second most populous city, this destination provides up to 2.5 miles of walkway along the San Antonio River. Did you know that the Riverwalk is the most visited attraction in the state of Texas? Yes, this is 100 percent true as this place offers artisan shows, festivals and parades. This long channel of water was first designed to provide flood control for the city, but as of today, it is lined with affluent restaurants, lodging facilities, museums and shopping outlets. TripAdvisor.com states that over 76 percent of people who visited this area gave it an excellent rating of 4.5.

The Fort Worth Zoo

Who aren’t amazed at wild animals? The next great attraction is basically the Forth Worth Zoo. There are over 542 species of birds, reptiles and animals here. Kids will get a thrill while viewing silverback gorillas, lions, tigers and other majestic animals. The prestigious USA Travel Guide ranks Forth Worth Zoo as the 5th best zoo in the US. This huge wildlife refuge hosts a splash park, a carousel, a train ride and a theater.

Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Resort

This particular waterpark is a fan-favorite as it allows you to beat the heat with downhill racing slides, a water coaster, a lazy river ride and pools. SW&R is located in New Braunfels, and it has a variety of attractions for kids and adults. Swim-up pools and cabanas roundoff some of the more popular venues here.

There you have it! The great state of Texas has many activities to participate in, and it has much to see. All in all, visiting Texas should definitely be on your bucket list.

Did you enjoy reading about travel to Texas? Maybe you might like some more articles on travel, like 5 Other Must-See Beach Vacation Destinations or 5 Local Things Not To Miss in San Francisco!

 

References:

MommyPoppins

Visit Fort Worth

Avis

All Storage Online

Macrobiotics: A Holistic Diet Approach to Better Nutrition

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When Diets Ruled The World

One of the challenges of being bigger than the nationally accepted BMI scale is that everyone is quick to offer you advice on ways to diet and  “loose” weight. Now the best advice always starts with you talking to your primary, skilled clinician or practitioner. That advice from “Great Aunt Sally” may sound good, may just not hold much “weight”. Get it <grin>.

Unfortunately, because of that, there are many diets that promise easy weight loss and a healthier lifestyle. Those on the menu have includes the Paleo craze, the “group loose” collection from Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem to the more vintage Grapefruit diet, fasting and more. 

Note: I don’t advocate or know enough about all of these to promote. Links are simply shared for your personal reading.

Diet Focus

One that I often heard about but always seemed like way too much work was the Macrobiotic diet. But since I have a pal recently starting it, it was a good reason to look into it more.

What separates the macrobiotic diet from all of these is that the macrobiotic diet promotes whole health improvement, including mental and spiritual improvement as well. This is a very general description of the diet. The macrobiotic diet is a very restrictive diet and takes effort and self-discipline to follow. It is more of a way of life rather than just a change in eating, often promoting a positive energy and a more informed state of mind. To follow a macrobiotic diet is to enlighten one’s life.

So Why Consider a Macrobiotic Diet?

There are several reasons why you might want to consider adopting a macrobiotic diet. Many people choose to start eating healthier after learning that they are at risk of developing a disease. While a macrobiotic diet won’t cure you of disease, it can improve your health and complement a treatment plan a medical professional has prescribed.

So if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease, premenstrual syndrome, or are at risk for breast cancer, then you may want to try the macrobiotic diet. Beyond these benefits, a macrobiotic diet promotes whole-body health. Whether you want to lose weight, eat clean, or have more energy, adopting a macrobiotic diet may be able to help you achieve these goals.

How to Follow the Macrobiotic Diet

Macrobiotic foods include indigenous, local, seasonal foods that have been organically or naturally grown, processed, and stored. Some research indicates that the macrobiotic diet is good for the local economy because one of the biggest rules of the diet is to try to buy locally grown products. Besides buying locally grown products, there are a few other principles that dieters are encouraged to follow:

  • Avoid cooking with electric appliances.
  • Only use natural products such as wood or glass to hold and store foods.
  • Chew each mouthful of food at least 50 times until the food is close to liquified in your mouth.
  • Purify water before drinking it or cooking with it.
  • Only eat and drink when hungry and/or thirsty.

Some people follow the rules strictly, while others choose to be a little more relaxed. The rules are more about adopting a holistic and balanced lifestyle rather than losing weight.

What to Eat on a Macrobiotic Diet

The macrobiotic diet is a very restrictive diet. When describing the definition of macrobiotic foods, natural, wholesome, and nutritious are good words to use. The macrobiotic diet is composed of:

  • 40%-60% whole grains
  • 20%-30% fruits and vegetables
  • 10%-25% bean products

Just as some people are relaxed on the rules, some people are also relaxed on the included food groups. They may include seafood and/or lean meats as well. The foods should be primarily baked, boiled, or steamed when cooking.

The Overall Effect of the Macrobiotic Diet

Although the macrobiotic diet will help with weight loss, that isn’t the main focus of the diet. The diet is designed to help people adopt a more balanced, holistic, natural way of living. Adopting the macrobiotic diet means adopting a new lifestyle and in the process creating a new you.

Feeling inspired? Try these healthy recipes:

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Date Night is about the food and the man

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Traveling so often for work, having our four-legged third, wanting attention along with both of us having demanding work and social time – –  getting time out with just the two of us alone isn’t always easy. So when we can do it, we take it. Last week we wanted to go see the new Meryl Streep’s new film, Florence Foster Jenkins at the CineArts at the Empire and had time to eat at one of my  favorite West Portal resturant; Trattoria da Vittorio. 

I really can’t say much more about them except “just go already”. If you want authentic italian foud with a Calabrian influence you can’t go wrong. 

http://trattoriadavittorio.com/

150 W Portal Ave, San Francisco, CA 94127

Great Shakes for him and Me!

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Sometimes its the little things.. Like finding a place which offers lactose free ice cream and does them as shakes!!! 

Now Paul Burke and Ralph Hyman can have Cold Stone and I can have soft serve or a shake!

Great quality, rich and creamy without the “ice” water often a side affect of non-dairy ice cream. 

Great Shakes. 160 S Palm Canyon Dr, Ste A, Palm Springs, CA 92262

http://www.greatshakesps.com/





Wireless charging with @InPofi

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Got a chance to see InPofi’s wireless charger/case kit at MacWorld this year and after checking out some the other vendors decided to go back and purchase the kit.

I have to say can’t be happier. The case fits smooth and snug. The low profile chargers are quick and efficient and the fact that they offer two means I could leave one of my office and one in the kitchen. They come in several colors.

If your are on the fence on wireless charging-jump. Its worth the plunge.

Also on Amazon;

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My Sunday “Staycation” in Tuscany

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Always love a sunday at the second hand bookstore. Full of treasures waiting to be discovered. This weekend’s find was a cool cookbook called “Tuscany”. Just finished reading it; and yes I read cookbooks cover to cover and tab pages I like for later. I found several cool regional dishes that will get tried the next few weeks.

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This is the description from Amazon;

A unique cookbook containing 50 recipes from the tables of Tuscany, the finest gastronomic region of Italy and birthpace of most Italian cuisine as we know it today. Recipes are accompanied by texts detailing traditional Tuscan ingredients, producers, food markets and speciality stores. Contains specially commissioned photography of landscapes and products from all provinces of Tuscany, from Florence and Siena to Pisa and Lucca. All-new, authentic and easy-to-follow recipes from the Silver Spoon kitchen, ranging from simple crostini to delicious desserts.