Lifestyle – Creative Journal: Marketing and Creativity

College, Lifestyle, Social Media, Sports

Mission: Live at 24 Hour Fitness

January 8, 2009

In the next month, I will be attempting to spend 24 hours at a 24 hour fitness. I will eat, sleep, and exercise at 24 hour fitness. It may seem a little crazy (maybe more than a little), but it was an idea that I came up with when talking with my friend. As a college student I paid $700 a month including furnishings and utilities for housing. I got my own room, my own bathroom, and shared a living space with 3 crazy other people. Compared to what other college students were paying at other colleges, I consider myself lucky. For example, my girlfriend paid $800 and shared a room. This didn’t include utilities or furnishings.

So the question that my friend and I talked about was how to live cheap. Now the word cheap may be associated with ‘poor quality,’ but to a college student it means ‘bargain’ and ‘good deal.’ The idea that I came up with was why not live at 24 Hour Fitness.

For $20 a month, you have 24 hour access to their facilities. Assuming that their are 30 days in a month that means you are paying an average of $.66 a month! That is a deal. I know what you are thinking by now, “Who in their right mind would do this?” The answer to that would be a college student. The perception that anything can happen in college is pretty accurate and an idea like this is right up a college students alley. Now, what I am proposing is not to actually live, study, and sleep at 24 hour fitness permanently, but to stay their for 24 hours for fun and jokes.

For 24 hours, my friend and I will be going to a yet to be determined 24 Hour Fitness Center and attempting to ‘live’ their for 24 hours straight. We will each be bringing a small gym backpack. In it will be a small container of rice (in case we starve), $10.00, gloves (for when we pump iron), and duct tape (I’ve heard you can use it for anything). Aside from the items listed, we will also be bringing a basketball, toothbrush and toothpaste, a sweater, and 1 paper cup each.

Also, I plan on video recording the whole 24 hours (or at least most of it) so I will be bringing additional disks to record as well as batteries.

The next question that you may be wondering is, “What will you eat? Where will you sleep? How will you shower..” The answer is simple. For every daily activity that we would normally do, we can do it at 24 Hour Fitness also.

Here are a couple questions that some of my friends already asked me:

1. Where will you sleep? –Yoga mats in the exercise rooms (gonna pretend we’re meditating…for a long time)

2. Shower? –Lucky for us, 24 Hour Fitness has showers for members to use. I will not be recording this for obvious reasons.

3. Food? –Simple. All the PowerBar’s we can eat for $10. Water is free (if not, we might die of dehydration.)

4. Boredom? –No way to solve this. It is bound to happen. Hopefully later than sooner.

5. Getting kicked out of 24 Hour Fitness? — As far as I know their is no rule against staying at the gym as long as you are a member and you aren’t breaking any of their rules.

6. Are you gonna bring your cellphone? — Nope. If I need to contact someone I’m gonna do it the old fashioned way: pay phone.

Hopefully at the end of this ‘adventure’ I will be able to look back on it and have a few laughs. Otherwise, I expect to never set foot in a gym for many months after it and have a greater appreciation for my bed.

Stay tuned for 24 hours at 24 Hour Fitness review.

Cars, Lifestyle, Travel

Traffic Capital?

January 5, 2009

You go anywhere in the United States and you would be hard pressed to find a place as busy as Los Angeles when it comes to the traffic on freeways and downtown streets. While it is an exaggeration to say that freeways are always crowded, it isn’t entirely true.

When people mention to others they are from Los Angeles, one of the first things that people think of aside from the southern California weather and beautiful beaches is its overpopulated freeways and congested streets. As an LA native, living in the southern California and commuting to LA frequently has made me ‘comfortable’ to traffic. What I mean by ‘comfortable’ is that driving in and around the LA area, you come to expect the 10 minutes stuck in traffic to get to the 5 south interchange and spending 30 minutes in traffic to go just 3 miles in the morning. To those who haven’t driven in the LA area, 30 minutes may seem absurd but that is just how traffic is in Los Angeles.

By far, the worst time to commute is the early morning rush and the evening rush hour (3:30PM-6:30PM). If you do ever need to go into downtown LA during this time, be prepared for some quality time with your radio. Still, the morning and evening rush hour is something that all LA natives have come to accept and become ‘comfortable’ with.

The answer to why we as LA natives have come to be so ‘comfortable’ with the traffic in LA is like trying to explain how the earth was made. Their are multiple reasons, but one that I feel best explains it is because we feel that their is no way to solve it. What is meant by this is that Angelino’s have become so dependent on driving all over LA that they are willing to put up with the traffic because their is no real solution to it. The two options are to put up with it, or don’t drive. Sure, you can choose to drive at a different hour of the day when their are fewer cars, but this still doesn’t solve the problem of traffic itself. For the rest of us who have to commute into LA to get to work by 9AM, the morning rush hour is our only option.

LA has tried to alleviate the problem by increasing the efficiency of traffic lights and expanding freeways. Still, for every freeway that is expanded, it seems like another has construction on it. Like a disease that has no real cure, the LA traffic situation can be treated by attempting to ‘quarantine’ and ‘contain’ it so that it doesn’t get so out of control that not driving becomes a realistic option.

Career, Economy, Lifestyle

What Are You Worth?

January 2, 2009

When looking for a job, one of the biggest determinants in the job search is pay. While it is important to have a job you like and environment that is conducive to work, it seems that pay is the one factor that most would rank high on their job search importance. In a sense, the value of the job can be seen as having a monetary value.

Except for very extreme situations, most job’s will be taken by anyone if the pay is right. For most of us, pay is balanced out by our satisfaction with the work environment, company culture, and several other factors. It is no surprise that salary and how much you make a year is one of the biggest factors by which society judges individuals. Even as a small child we are taught in school that we need to study hard so that we can get a good job in the future.

So what is a ‘good job?’ Their can be many different definitions to what a ‘good job’ actually is, but the consensus response will almost always include making money. Their is nothing wrong with wanting to make a lot of money. I would be a liar to say that making money wasn’t important. The truth is that whether you hold money to be important or not, it is. Money drives our economy, culture, and society. Money has become a way for us to measure the value of things.

Among the many things that we put monetary value on, humans are one of them. Some may feel that putting value on a human is like putting a value on their life. Still, insurance companies do it all the time. They even have a human life value calculator. Factors such as if you smoke, what your occupation is, and how much you make are all part of the valuation of humans.

In a sense, everything that we do can be used as a determinant in our value. Similar to how employers determine your salary based on your experience and the value created by the work you do, humans can be valued in the same way based on their life experiences and value added to society. While it may sound like a bad to say that one individuals life is more important than another because they didn’t smoke and the other did, taking a closer look around us you can find examples where we are already doing it.

A classic example is what goes on in hospitals. The function of the hospital to save human life. While this is the goal of the hospital, the hospital also must be able to generate revenue. This means that the hospital must make decisions that they feel will be both cost effective as well as effective in saving and treating patients.

In some situations, expensive treatment is needed. This is where the valuation of human life can be seen. Imagine we have two patients, patient A and B. Both patients need to be treated for a life threatening condition which is very expensive. Treatment will successfully treat the patient and make them better. Patient A has health insurance, a white-collar worker, and it is his first time in the hospital. Patient B has no health insurance, a blue-collar worker, and his fourth time in the hospital. While it is ideal for the hospital to treat both the same, reality is that they don’t. What will happen is patient A would receive treatment at the hospital, and patient B would be stabilized and discharged to the county hospital where they would receive little treatment. While it is wrong to do so, it is reality. So goes the saying, ‘money doesn’t grow on trees.’ As long as it doesn’t we will continue to put a monetary value on human life.

Lifestyle

Tag, You’re It!

December 31, 2008

Similar to the game of ‘tag,’ I am now it. No, I am not going to run around tagging you, but instead am going to mention you in my blog. James Walker, mentioned me in his blog so I am “it.” Here are the rules:

link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
share seven facts about yourself in the post – some random, some weird.
tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or twitter

Without further delay, here are the seven facts of me:

1. Lived in the Los Angeles area my whole life.

Since I was born, I have lived in the LA area and wouldn’t have it any other way. Their was a period in my life when I thought that I would want to grow up and live somewhere cold, but I quickly realized that snow and rain just weren’t for me. The thing I love most about LA and its surroundings is its diversity as well the beach. Drive west for 20 minutes and you are bound to hit a beach. Also, the weather is a big plus.

2. I had an appendectomy when I was 11 years old

When I was 11 my appendix burst. Doctors say that it can happen to anyone when they get an infection in the area, but mine was burst because I got hit in my side (appendix area) when I was playing basketball during recess. I remember lying their in pain and the playground supervisor saying that it was just a ‘boo boo.’ I wish I could tell her she was wrong.

3. I am still in love with my first car.

Their is a saying that every boy falls in love with their first car. Well, that is true for me. My first car, an Acura Legend, is still a car that I love. Unfortunately, it was totaled in a car accident. Still, I plan to one day buy another one and restore it to the condition my old one was. It may not have been a Ferrari or Corvette, but it was mine, which is why I loved it. Good times.

4. Growing up I wanted to be an architect.

My favorite thing to play with when I was younger were Lego’s. Seriously, who didn’t like Legos? I would spend hours just sitting there at my ‘Lego Table,’ building boats, houses and cars. To this day, part of me wants to just get back to building Lego towns.

5. I am a horrible artist

When it comes to drawing, painting, or anything of the sort, my sister got the artistic genes, not me. She can paint beautiful canvases while I struggle to draw stick figures. I was so bad at art that in high school, the art teacher told me she would just give me a B+ cause she didn’t want me to come back again just for art. Hopefully my children don’t inherit my artistic genes.

6. I have been to a Disney theme park 11 times in the last 5 years.

Whether it be Disneyland or Disneyworld, Disney is a fun place to go. Their really isn’t a real explanation to this other than it always seems that someone I know wants to go. I wish Disney had a frequent flyer type card for their parks so I could earn back some of that cash I spend on their theme park food.

7. I have known my girfriend since kindergarten.

How many people can say that? I would bet not many. I have known my girlfriend since kindergarten and started dating her during highschool. From the high school prom, to graduation, to a long distance relationship during college, to graduation again, and to now, I have come to love everything about her.

Now that I have shared a little about myself, it is time to pass it on.

Here are the people who get tagged:

Okay guys, you’ve been tagged so here are your next steps:

-Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
-Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
-Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
-Let them know they’ve been tagged

I hope you guys have fun in our little game of tag!

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