Salt, Sugar, Fat

Salt, Sugar, Fat

               The book Salt, Sugar, Fat was an eye opener. The book was very informative and had plenty of great examples alongside shocking statistics throughout. The most memorable part of the book was when it talked about food giants like Kellogg, Post, and General Mills making a shared monopoly. It is just fascinating to me seeing these giants began getting so rich and powerful to the point Washington couldn’t even stop them. They were able to successfully make a shared monopoly. They were crushing all opposition and showed no mercy. It’s a concept that’s been nearly impossible to execute due to many laws being in place but these three giants pulled it off for many years. Another part of the book that really stood out was the creation of the food product known a Lunchables. The food company Oscar Meyer’s number one product was bologna for many years. When they saw a decrease of sales in their star product they began to worry and came up with a product every children loves. Lunchables came about in in the 1990s with a big success. The company did research right before the product launch date to make sure it would be a huge success and the research proved to be right because they made millions in sales the first few weeks. It’s intriguing knowing companies don’t release a food product without doing research prior to its release. They don’t take risks they have to be sure their product will sale. They put in a lot of science and research behind their product to be one hundred percent sure it will be a huge success. Lastly, reading the dark side effects these products can cause was frightening. Reading of how 1 in every 5 kids are obese and have diabetes in America is scary. The way the food industry and the USDA try and hide what their products is doing to the American public’s health by devious marketing techniques. After reading this book, I’m going to try and stop eating so much red meat. I don’t want to acquire a deadly disease or suffer from some sort of chronic illness. I will strive to eat healthy and live a healthy lifestyle.

Thanks

I am Thankful For:

1.      Having a loving and supporting family

2.      Having a roof over my head

3.      Being healthy

4.      Having an education

5.      Having a warm bed to sleep at night

6.      Being able to eat food every day

7.      Having functional legs and arms

8.      Being able to walk and run

9.      Having clean water

10.   Being disease free

 

Materialism

Materialism

              I completely agree with the second essay by Lauren Smith. I believe the holiday season just brings everyone together and gifts given or received are done so, with love, care, and selflessness toward the other person. In the first essay by Amel Saleh, she speaks of children becoming spoiled and greedy as they become older due to their parents giving them a lot of presents/toys during the holidays when in fact that’s not the case. I believe a child regardless of how many presents he/she receives doesn’t make him/her greedy and demand the most expensive items as they get older. It all comes down to how the parents raised him/her. The parents should make the children understand the difference between what’s good or bad in society at an early age. There are rich kids that were spoiled all their baby life and by the time they get older they know that if they want to spoil their kids just like their parents spoiled them they are going to have to work just as hard. Even though they were spoiled, they were also educated as to what society expects from them and what not to become. Giving expensive presents is not a bad thing, it just show the other person how far you’re willing to go for them. Regardless if it’s expensive or not the act of actually giving gifts to another person just shows you care about them and are thinking of them. People like showing care and love towards other by buying them gifts which is perfectly fine. During the holidays everyone likes following the old traditions of giving gifts to their loved ones. Shopping, giving, receiving gifts is a tradition that will continue to be for years to come. Others are just happy to spend time with their loved ones during this jolly season.

School

School

              My current semester is going by smoothly and somewhat difficult at times. At the moment I am enrolled in English 101, Math 14, and Geology Lab. Each class has its easy and difficult point throughout the semester. In my math class some chapters are easier than other. While in my geology class, we are approaching our midterm in two weeks. The midterm consist of naming over thirty different rock types and minerals which is a little intimidating. My Geology class is three to four hours long at times which some students tend to doze off in such long classes. My Geology professor teaches the class in a more interesting entertaining way that makes the class seem shorter than it actually is. We are currently spending all class period studying for our midterm as it approaches in a few weeks.  As for my math class, we just took our first test and I got an 85 percent on and I have been turning in all my homework so I have a good grade so far. In my English in the other hand I tend to wait until the last minute to do an essay which is a bad habit to get into. Sometimes I know I can make the essay longer and better but the time does not permit me. I will try to spend more time and really write my essay a few days before it is due to not get stressed out a night before. What motivates me is the paycheck at the end of the tunnel. The fact of waking up and having a stable well paid career is what motivates me every day to keep going and not give up in my education. “Those who give up don’t succeed, those who succeed don’t give up.”

Reality TV

Reality TV

 

               We all watch reality TV and we all have our own favorite show to watch. My personal favorite shows to watch are Pawn Stars and Duck Dynasty. Half of the reality TV shows aired I dislike, for they use fights to get more viewers. Although a fight breaking out in a TV show is entertaining at times, some of these shows all they air is drama related. Each episode of these shows always has something to do with a person being mad at another person for some stupid reason. I understand it is fun to watch other people’s problems and gossip unfold on TV, but overtime these shows become repetitive to the point the viewer’s know what’s going to happen. In the other hand, the reason I enjoy watching the show Pawn Stars is because I learn a lot. They give history on items being sold, bought, and pawned to the audience as well as how the certain item are used. They bring in specialized experts to give their personal opinion as to how much a certain product is worth in the current market. The show doesn’t get as repetitive as other shows get. There always showing different items followed by some history and use of the item. I think Pawn Stars is a great show and gives knowledge to the viewers. Duck Dynasty is my second favorite show. These show revolves around a southern family from the swamps of Louisiana that made millions of dollars from making/selling duck calls. For those who don’t know, a duck call is sort of like a whistle in a way except in the duck call you have to blow it a certain way to make the quacking noise a duck makes. I enjoy watching this show because unlike other family shows Duck Dynasty doesn’t revolve around family drama. They only show the fun times they as a family have together. There’s never to fights going on between two relatives or jealousy going around it’s all about a family having fun enjoying what they like to do best, which is hunt duck. I also really enjoy the show because they all seem to be acting like they would act on a regular day. They aren’t acting like someone they are not just for the cameras. I see a lot of shows where you can just tell there acting for the camera. Portraying themselves as someone they are not. I believe some reality TV shows are just the worst for society. Some of these shows are just dumbing down society. Especially when teenagers watch these shows and see all the drama and fights that occur and believe that’s how they should be acting. Most reality TV shows are not meant to be taken serious but yet there’s people that want to try and follow in the footsteps of their favorite character and live that lifestyle. Reality TV shows are not the best thing to watch but some are beneficial to watch like Pawn Stars but there’s always going to be more drama related TV shows because America loves watching other peoples gossip and drama unfold.

FOOD

Christian Juarez

McPherson, Gaylene

English: R101

28 September 2014

Food

               Fast food has been a part of my life since a very young age. I remember being five years old and wanting McDonalds because of the toy they would include in the happy meals. I wouldn’t even finish my meal because of how eager I was to play with my new toy. Being young at the time, I didn’t know that McDonalds would become one of my favorite fast food restaurants of all time.

               As a child, rarely would I eat fast food. It was always my mother’s meals and about once a month it was a meal from a fast food place. As I entered my teens, I found myself eating at fast food restaurants more regularly. About once a week I would find myself at a fast food restaurant. Although eating at several fast food restaurants, I always found myself going back to McDonald for that Big Mac Meal. I have tasted several burgers in my life, from burger king to In N Out to other fancier restaurants but I found myself loving the Big Mac more. Every Friday after school, my friends and I would head over to McDonald to eat. They would get their chicken burgers, Chicken McNuggets, fish burger, but I would always get the number 1, which was a Big Mac Meal. It was something about that burger that always made me want it even more. It wasn’t the loads of salt and sugar they add to their burgers that made me love it because Burger King, In N Out, Carls Jr add about the same amount of salts and sugar into their burgers but yet I don’t find them as tasty as a Big Mac. McDonald will continue to be my favorite fast food restaurant of all time. “Im Lovin It”

               As a current college student fast food is a part of my daily life. Being always on the go, I always find myself at a fast food restaurant drive-thru. Although unhealthy, I eat at a fast food place about twice even three times a week at times. Since I know all those calories are unhealthy, I try and stay active on a daily basis. I tend to go out for a jog every other morning and try and build a little muscle. Since last year I have been trying to distance myself from fast food restaurants because diabetes is no laughing matter. All those diseases I hear of people getting due to the food choices they make scares me. I have been finding healthier alternatives rather than eating at a fast food place. Every so often I tend to crave my all-time favorite burger, the Big Mac. The craving begins and I try to overcome it and reach for something much healthier for my body. As of now, I have been eating more fruits and veggies and will try and remain eating healthy and avoiding all unhealthy foods for the rest of my life.

Essay 1

Christian Juarez

McPherson, Gaylene

English: R101

15 September 2014

Car Accident

                      Your heart begins to race and palms begin to sweat as you feel panic flowing through your entire body. We have all seen or hear of these severe automobile accidents that occur. Most of us personally know of somebody that has been through one but yet we believe that one will never occur to us. Most accidents can be prevented if we as drivers focus more on the road and take driving seriously. I had to learn the hard way and has forever changed my driving experience.

I had just received my driver license and was very excited to begin driving. My first year of driving went excellent, I didn’t crash nor did anybody crash into me. I was very cautious while driving always respected the signs and would always try and be aware of my surroundings. As time went by and I drove around with my friends, there bad driving kind of rubbed off on me. My good driving habits were beginning to fly out the door. Seeing how my friends drove, sort of in a way influenced me in the way I should drive. While driving, I would be distracted looking at my phone or found myself speeding a times. One of the things I would do the most is tailgate other drivers. While driving, I never really found myself in a hurry when I was traveling from point A to point B, it was just I never liked being behind slow drivers. What I found worked was to tailgate them to try and make them speed up a bit, which I found worked at times. That bad habit of tailgating other drivers will soon come back to haunt me.

          It was a cold sunny day in January when my driving experience will forever change. It was an early Thursday morning and I was heading to my sister’s house. I had been in Santa Paula since the AM taking care of some business and once I finished it was off to my sister’s home. As I was leaving Santa Paula, I noticed there was no traffic and everything was flowing smoothly. As I entered the freeway, I escalated my speed to be at the current traffic speed. Everything seemed fine, until I saw from a far that I was catching up to a red SUV truck. As I got closer to the truck I began to tailgate it to try and make the person go faster. Changing lanes was not an option, because right next to the SUV was another car. They were going approximately around the same speed, so I was stuck behind them.

As I continued to tailgate the driver, the person driving wouldn’t increase speed. About five minutes into the tailgating, the person in the SUV suddenly hits the brakes. I didn’t know this until later but in front of the SUV was another car that I couldn’t see thus the reason the truck couldn’t speed up. The smaller car in front of the SUV hit the brakes first then the SUV and I was behind the SUV. Two choices had to be made, either hit the truck in front of me or crash into the metal fence that was on my right, that are on freeways to separate the directions in which traffic is flowing. In the little time I had to react, I quickly jerked the steering wheel to the right, into the fence. I couldn’t just slam the brakes because doing so would make my car spin out of control. Thinking to myself, I thought maybe if I gently begin to brake and while scraping the side of my car on the fence will make the car slow down to a complete stop. As my car began rubbing against the fence, I can see from the corner of my eye orange sparks flying out all over the place. Something of my car got caught in the rusty metal fence making the car begin to tip over.

By the time the car was beginning to tip over the speed was very low but still a scary situation. The car ended up flipping over on to some bushes and came to a complete halt. As I opened eyes and look into my rear view mirror and see I have blood dripping from my cheek on to the roof of the car. It wasn’t severe but at the moment it was a horrific sight to witness. I was in the car for about ten minutes when from a far I begin to hear sirens. The sirens become closer and closer until I hear them right next to me.  A fire man helped me crawl out of the car and into the open. Ambulance soon arrive to the scene to check up on me. They clean my face up from all the blood I had and told me I was going to have to go with them to the hospital to get checked out to make sure there is no internal bleeding going on. So I ride with them to the Hospital and get checked out. I was in the hospital for about one hour when the doctor told me I was fine and I was free to go.

          Since that day, my old habits of driving are out of the picture. I realized although I was okay and nothing happened to me, it could have been a lot worse. I was lucky to only come out of that accident with only a cut on my face, as I hear of other accidents where drivers come out ten times more worse than me. I began taking driving more seriously and know drive very cautiously. No more tailgating other drivers and no more distractions for me. Driving is something not to take for granted. Obey the signs that are in the roads as well as the traffic laws. We should all drive intelligently not brainless.

         

         

         

Marriage

Marriage

               Marriage has been strong for several eras but has changed drastically now in in the twenty-first century. I believe marriage isn’t as alive as it was back in the old days. I believe now a days it the men not wanting to get married, reason being when getting married your wife owns everything you own and vice versa such as properties, cars, bank accounts, etc… As a man we become scared as to if she divorces me she’s getting basically fifty percent of everything I own. Now back in the old days you could just leave your wife and not go through all the massive amount of paperwork we have now a days. I personally know over a dozen couples not wanting to get married and are scared it won’t work out. That’s the reason I like the idea of Rivera’s of being able to choose how long you want to be married. That way if it does not work out you can just wait until the contract is over and leave. Another reason being if the contract is up neither one of you could take the other partner to court and demand properties, cars, or money. I see several couples not married because it’s a big agreement to agree too. You’re living, sleeping, breathing, eating the rest of your life next to that person which from a man’s point of view it’s kind of scary to think of. Everything now a day’s is done by a temporary contract. For example; phone, television service, bank loans, purchasing real estate, so why not make marriage a temporary contract you can renew if you decide you want to. When you open a phone contract with AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint you sign a two year agreement to their service. Once the two years are up you can stay with the company if you like the service or transfer over to a different company if you didn’t. If you want out of the contract and the two years aren’t up yet then you have to pay a fee to get out of it. I believe marriage should work like the phone contracts work. Renew the contract every certain years if you like the person or leave and find a new partner if you didn’t end up liking them.

NAMES

Christian Juarez

McPherson, Gaylene

English R101

7 September 2014

               What does my name mean? Is a question I never really pondered on, until now. The name given to me by my parents is Christian Juarez. I asked my parents why they named me Christian and the meaning behind the name. I received a simple answer “your mom just liked that name”, said my father.  Since my parents were as clueless as I was on the meaning of the name, I hit the worldwide web and began my research.

I began my research on the name Christian and came across some really informative articles of the origins of the name as well as a silly definition. The name Christian has been around since the mediaeval times. I was surprised when I read that the name was given to male and females back in the 1700s. Now a days Christian is mainly used as a masculine name and when they want to convert it into a female name they use Christina. Upon my research I also found out that the name was given to ten different kings in the 1500s from Denmark. As for the meaning behind the name I found out Christian means follower of Christ. The rest of the articles I found revolved around religion except for a funny definition I found. As I searched my name, I came across the website known as urban dictionary which focuses on the slang meaning of words. According to urban dictionary the name Christian and I quote “Someone who is tired of searching their name on the internet and receiving only religion-related results, overall an awesome person, extremely intelligent and attractive.”  I found that definition very comical and it gave me a few laughs. As for my last name Juarez, I found out it’s from German descent as many Spanish and Portuguese last name are.

            In conclusion, I personally like my name. I wouldn’t change my name but if I did I would probably change it to Christopher. The reason being, it just sound like a sophisticated classy name to me. That’s what I’ll name my son one day most likely “Christopher”. I always thought it would be a hassle for somebody to change his/hers first name since you would have to change information in bank accounts, social security, job, etc… Also it would be hard for your loved ones and friends to call you by your new name since they get accustom to calling you another. I don’t have a middle name but have always been curious to why give somebody a middle name. I personally love my name and wouldn’t change it at all.

PAST - PRESENT - FUTURE

 

 

        My name is Christian Juarez. I was born and raised in Southern California. As a child I was really into Basketball that is until I played with my first computer. Not many people had computers in the late 90s early 2000s reason being they were really expensive back then. So when my brother brought home our first computer I was just amazed of all the possibilities you can do on it. I was 8 or 9 years old at the time but I knew I found my passion.

           I am currently attending Oxnard College and majoring in IT networking. On my spare time I am learning a programming language known as Java. For those who don’t know, java is mainly used for application development. I am focusing in development of android apps and maybe IOS as well. Since last year I have wanted to create an app but never really took the initiative to go for it but once I seen the type of money some of these guys make developing apps I am definitely going for it. I want to share a few examples;

-        The popular app known as Snapchat has recently been offered 3 billion dollars by Facebook to buy the app off of the 23 year old creator.

-        Another popular app was WhatsApp which was bought out by social media giant Facebook for 19 million dollars.

-        Instagram was bought out again by the social media titan Facebook for 1 billion dollars.

-        An app that shows the current events was bought out by Yahoo for 30 million dollars. Ohh and the creator was 17 years old. :O

 

       In the near future I would like to release my own app and hope it gains popularity. I know it’s going to take time and my first app might flop and completely be terrible but I won’t give up. I will keep improving as I go on and learn more. Who know maybe just maybe my app will be as popular as Snapchat.