Daily, Soccer

Paranoid much?

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After getting my braces off in 2008, I contemplated getting a sports retainer for soccer. I first went to my orthodontist to set me up with an appointment, but after contacting my insurance company through work, and finding out I wasn’t going to be reimbursed, I forgot about it altogether.

I’m not glad that I stopped playing, but I’m very thankful that I’ve never gotten a ball to the teeth while playing in my X number of years playing indoor and out. A few of my (former) team mates have had such bad luck playing soccer that they had their teeth chipped twice in one year. Brutal. I’ve even thought of googling places like Plano cosmetic dentist in case it ever happened to me. Paranoid much?

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Reviews

Minimze the risk

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Imagine one morning you wake up, head out to your local coffee house and use your debit or credit card. Only to find out that you are not yourself anymore. Doesn’t make sense, right? Not right now at least.

Maybe you’ve spent a little too much time on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, and all the others out there. Be careful with giving out your name and address to anyone, just because they require it for you to sign up doesn’t mean you should. Networking website such as the ones listed above are becoming the ultimate platform for creating brand awareness. It’s critical that you get some sort of identity theft protection, this day and age before anyone else claims it.

People work hard each day to try and making a living to support themselves and their families. It’s devastating when financial fraud has happened. It can happen by money laundering, an organized crime by stealing PIN numbers from ATM machines, or even while you use your debit card at a place such as McDonalds — hey don’t laugh, it’s happened to one of our clients here at the financial institution I work at. McDonalds people. These folks are getting bold with setting up whatever gadgets they may have, so they can rob people. It’s sick.

How can you protect yourself? I advise people to start using credit cards on a regular basis, that is — if you’re diligent with them and paying them off even before they’re due. Often if you pay with something with cash, debit or cheque it cannot be reimbursed to you if something doesn’t turn up that you ordered. Visa and MasterCard have a protection plan against that. Minimize the risk. You have to be careful about sharing your personal information online or letting it circulate freely about on the interwebs. If you’re asked to provide your information — don’t be afraid to ASK why it is needed and how it will be kept safe. Do not ever give out your SIN (Social Insurance Number) out to anyone but potential employers, and do not ever carry your SIN card (or Birth Certificate) in your wallet.

Pay attention to your billing cycle – say your credit card or other bills fail to arrive to  your home. You need to contact the company to ensure that it hasn’t been illicitly related. Further more, choose difficult passwords, memorize them and chance them often. Do not write them down and to make them more difficult use a combination of letters and numbers.

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Daily

I’m no professional buddy…

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It’s funny. When you tell people what you’ve been doing in your spare time; for me… it’s working out at the gym maybe twice a week. They automatically think you’re the fitness-queen, a gym junkie, or someone who really knows their stuff. They’re all coming up to me and being like “does nutrisystem really work”? Honestly, I have no idea but I’d just rather give them an answer of a big fat NO. People – you need to be motivated to work out. Having a belly roll is enough for me to start working out and thankfully my body is forgiving with toning up quickly. Just because I’m thin, doesn’t mean I’m fit. I wasn’t, when I re-joined the gym. Soccer was my only form of physical activity and I loved junk food. The more the better.

As soon as you start working out, something weird kick starts in your brain and you actually don’t crave the junk food anymore. It’s honestly a miracle for those sweet tooth lovers like myself. But also, since getting a puppy I’ve been eating a pretty balanced meal since having him in our household. In the morning I now wake up an hour earlier and eat breakfast with the dog. I come home and need to let Alfie go “potty” and I eat a healthy lunch. Before, it used to be: wake up as late as possible so I can get more sleep, then rush to get a shower, blow dry hair, get dressed, and bring a granola bar into work. For lunch I’d have a frozen dinner. Supper would be my biggest meal. Isn’t breakfast supposed to be the largest?

Regardless if I’ve got the dog less than a week ago, and I’ve only been sweating at the gym for less than a month. I’m changed for the better, and lets hope I can keep this up.

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