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PUBLISHER
Juliet Hubbell
EDITOR Nancy Moreland
ASSISTANT EDITOR Tamara Abel
ART DIRECTOR Adra Stafford
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Ann Greer
CONTRIBUTORS Byron Barclay Audrey Boutros Newt Harlan Bobby McCallitt Anice Shelton Susan Scott Watts Reader correspondence, editorial submissions and advertising inquiries are welcome.
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PETS
College Students and Pet Care Taking your four-legged companion to school
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STYLE
8 Ways to Bring Style to Small Spaces Don’t sacrifice style due to space restraints
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FOOD
Bon Appetit Ah... the crockpot!
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HUMORIST
Honest Lies and Other Misguided Thoughts Remembering way back when
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SPORTS
Instant Replay The NFL could learn from the NCAA
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LEGAL
Business Start-ups and Downs The American dream done right
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HEALTH
Healthy Teeth at Any Age Braces aren’t just for kids anymore
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September 2015
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ULTRA PETS
College Students and Pet Care Taking your four-legged companion to school
It’s that time of the year again. Students have entered another phase of their academic lives, and there is so much to take care of at once- excelling in academics and sports, eating healthy and staying stress-free. Many students live away from their homes during college, and a pet can be a great companion when students miss having their family around. But a big question remains: Is maintaining a pet while at college a good idea? “Having a pet in college has its challenges but it is not impossible,” says Dr. M. A. Crist, clinical assistant professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM). Students need to think about a number of factors before deciding to own a pet. A very important consideration is the amount of time the owner is prepared to spend. “Pets need to be walked, fed, and socialized and this can take up quite a bit of a student’s free time,” explains Crist. Hence, aquarium pets like fish, which only need regular maintenance, are a good choice - especially when sharing apartments with roommates.
directly by email,” reassures Crist. “Such student discount coupons are also available on the internet. Keeping our furry, feathered, or scaly pet friends on a good quality diet will save money in the future to avoid unnecessary veterinary visits and expense.” A new pet needs to have an initial visit to the vet and must finish the series of puppy/kitten vaccinations. “It is recommended to spay or neuter, and microchip their pet, as well as keep them on heartworm and flea prevention,” says Crist. Students can take advantage of the discounted services offered by veterinary offices at different times of the year. For instance, students, staff, and faculty at Texas A&M University receive special discounts on pet food, medicines and services at the CVM. choice even though they require more time for walks and socialization. “More and more college towns are developing dog parks to have areas where students can enjoy their canine friends,” Crist notes. Apartment complexes may sometimes require special deposits for keeping pets and students need to plan for that extra expense. Some students love horses, but they need to make arrangements for a stall at an equine facility and a pasture for riding. Pet nutrition is another concern for many students. Veterinarians recommend specific diets for pets based on individual requirements. According to Crist, the most important thing in pet nutrition is “to maintain continuity.” A constantly changing diet can cause gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea and vomiting. In some cases, this may even lead to illness or death, she warns. However, healthy pets can be maintained on a student budget.
Similarly, cats make great indoor pets for students who do not have “Many manufacturers of the commercial pet foods will time for walks. Dogs are a popular provide coupons for your pet if you contact the company 8
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Aside from nutrition and regular check ups with the veterinarian, a budget for pet care needs to include the costs of unexpected emergencies. Students also need to plan ahead for events such as road trips and parties. “Situations have occurred where students have had parties, and their pet got into a fight with another pet brought to the household by another partygoer,” says Crist. She also cites instances where pets have been lost or injured during parties when students have been too distracted to notice. However, with care and attention, students can certainly make good owners of happy pets. Crist suggests that adopting a pet earlier in the summer would help one to know more about the pet and train it before school starts. Having a roommate who also likes pets helps avoid any potential conflict in the future. If the roommate has another pet, she advises that both the pets are introduced to each other early and have time to socialize and become friends before they are left alone. Doing such little things to make the pet feel at home would go a long way in making pet ownership by busy college students more manageable.
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Ways to Bring Big Style to Small Spaces
As college students prepare to move into dorm rooms and apartments, they trim their packing lists and often sacrifice style due to space restraints. Although it may seem difficult to bring big style into tight quarters, there are several small things you can do to bring your personality to life on move-in day. “Dorm rooms can sometimes feel drab and uninspiring, but just because they’re temporary doesn’t mean they have to look like it,” said Tyler Wisler, interior design expert from Tyler Wisler Home and HGTV’s “Design Star.” “With the right tools and creative design elements, you can transform your home away from home into a space worth staying.” Wisler recommends these simple tips to turn that bland box into something spectacular...
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Color your world. Incorporate colorful throw pillows and blankets to infuse additional hues into small white spaces. You can even change them out each season to keep things fresh.
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Spruce up the space. Buy a plant or two to break up the hard lines of the generic room. Succulents or cacti are great lowmaintenance options for busy students.
Accessorize your walls. Hang jewelry on a Command Clear Jewelry Rack to keep them from tangling, while dressing up plain walls. The shape of the rack also helps add a subtle chevron pattern, and removes cleanly from surfaces with no holes or sticky residue left behind.
Warm it up. Add an area rug to ground furniture, bring texture and warmth underfoot, and get rid of the “institutional” feel. Consider throwing a faux sheepskin over your desk chair for a chic and comfortable accent.
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Say “no” to fluorescent lighting. Incorporate alternative lighting such as a simple floor lamp in the corner of the room or string lights to add a subtle twinkle above the bed. These light sources give off a warmer glow and will save you from flipping on the fluorescent boxes that often cast unflattering light.
Store the small stuff. Use labeled containers or boxes to store smaller items or trinkets. The less “stuff” you see in a small space, the more spacious it will appear.
Clear the floors. Prevent rooms from looking cluttered by keeping things off the floor. Maximize space on walls or the back of the door by adding damage-free jumbo hooks to hold purses, empty backpacks and coats.
Dress up the furniture. Embellish boring furniture by creating interesting designs using colored and patterned washi tapes. Try an intricate pattern such as Greek key or simple stripes to instantly improve desks, shelving and dressers.
For more tips on small-space decorating, visit Command.com. Photo courtesy of Getty Images. UltraMagTexas.com
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ULTRA FOOD For years mine languished in a dark corner of a kitchen cabinet along with other items I received as wedding gifts that I had little use for. It only came out to play when I made queso for a party. For years I thought of crockpot cooking as some sort of midwest housewives version of a casserole. You know, throw in meat, some canned veggies, pour on a cream soup, and call it dinner …
Bon Appetit AH... THE CROCKPOT by Anice Shelton
How un-appetizing does that sound? Exactly… I’ve learned a few tricks that have made crockpot cooking relevant in this century. With kids getting back into school and everyone’s schedules ramping up with practices and activities, I thought it might be useful to have a few delicious recipes that you can use. But first - my rules for good crockpot cooking! 1. Always, always, always sear your meat first! There is flavor when you brown meat first, so season it up and brown it in a bit of oil or butter or, even better, bacon fat. Browning is one step you can’t skip and I promise it makes all the difference in the world. Some of the newer crockpots even have a sear feature built right in. 2. Use the right braising liquid. A lot of crockpot
recipes are basically braising, so be sure to use plenty of liquid, and one with flavor. Cream soups separate so, if you want something creamy, add it at the end. Good braising liquids are stock and/or wine. 3. Be sure to add some aromatic veggies. They will usually dissolve, but will help flavor the base. 4. The smaller and “mushier” the vegetable, the less it needs to cook. Add onions and garlic up front for flavor. Potatoes and carrots can go in early. But, if you are putting in mushrooms, peas, or corn, save them until halfway through the cooking (or later). 5. Add herbs and seasoning, but save your salt until the dish is done. If you salt up front and then add a stock, you will likely have a very salty dish, so wait on this.
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So let’s get cooking …
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MOJO PORK TACOS 3-5 lb. Pork shoulder (Pork Butt or Boston Butt) 1 bottle Goya Mojo Sauce 2 onions (one for cooking, one for tacos) orange juice tomatillo salsa or salsa of your choice sour cream or Mexican crema corn tortillas
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The first two recipes are pork dishes, but you can substitute chicken (I prefer thighs for extra flavor) and reduce the cooking time.
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Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper and sear until browned all over. Remove and set into crock pot. Drain most of the drippings (keep about a Tbsp.) from searing pan and throw in one of the onions, sliced, and cook in the drippings until the onion starts to soften. Deglaze the pan with the mojo sauce, and add the onions and mojo to the crockpot with the pork shoulder. Set crockpot on high and cook 6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. Once the meat is fully cooked and soft as butter, remove all but about a cup of the liquid (save the liquid) and shred it (pull it) with two forks. Throw a thinly sliced onion into a hot skillet with a Tbsp. of olive oil and cook until caramelized. Add in ½ cup of orange juice and let the OJ do its magic and further caramelize on the onions. Take a pastry brush and brush your corn tortillas with a bit of the reserved liquid; cook them on a griddle or skillet until warmed and golden … no need to fry! I promise this step is where the magic happens. Load up your tortillas with pork, a little salsa, the orange glazed onions and some crema. Top with cilantro if you wish.
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ULTRA FOOD PULLED PORK WITH A KICK 3-5 lb. pork shoulder roast (or chicken) ½ cup Worcestershire sauce ¾ cup brown sugar 1 onion, sliced slider or Hawaiian rolls cole slaw (see note)
Bon Appetit AH... THE CROCKPOT by Anice Shelton
Now here is a dish that is fit for company...plus, your house will smell divine! Salt and pepper the ribs and sear in a tiny bit of olive oil in a hot pan. Sear ALL sides. Drain the grease from the pan and lightly cook about five slices of bacon (cut into small pieces) until the fat starts to render...add the onions and cook until the onions soften and the bacon remains soft but has rendered out a lot of the fat. You can skip the bacon step and just cook the onions in the pan drippings from the rib sear, but the bacon really adds flavor. Throw the bacon, onions, and ribs into the crockpot and pour in a bottle of wine. If your family does not care for wine, you can use stock or half stock/half wine. Even with a whole bottle of wine, the wine flavor is not overwhelming. Add in about five stalks of fresh thyme. Turn crockpot on low (8-10 hours) or high (minimum of six (6) hours). Add mushrooms about halfway through cooking. The meat will be falling from the bone and will be very tender. Serve over pasta, gnocchi, or mashed potatoes. So embrace your crockpot and make your life easier! Have fun with it and do something more than stews or queso...your family will thank you! And, if you are lucky, someday I will share my super-secret queso recipe with you, too.
Slice the onion and place it in the bottom of the crockpot. Then lightly salt and pepper the pork shoulder and sear until browned. Place pork on top of the onions and pack the brown sugar on it and pour the Worcestershire all over. Set the crockpot to low for 8-10 hours or until the meat is very tender. Remove and reserve the liquid that remains and pull the pork with two forks. Add in a bit of the reserved juices to keep it moist. Serve on slider rolls with cole slaw.
CABERNET BRAISED BEEF SHORT RIBS short ribs (plan on about 2 per person) onion, thinly sliced bacon (smoked or jalapeño...do not use maple) 1 bottle inexpensive cabernet (no more than $10) thyme mushrooms pasta, gnocchi, or mashed potatoes for serving
Note: I prefer a less sweet cole slaw with this. Simply buy a package of cole slaw and add the zest of one lime and the juice of the lime to the dressing mix that comes with it. I also like to add in some finely chopped jalapeno and a ¼ cup of cilantro. If you don’t want to use the dressing that comes with it simply use mayonnaise and add ½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to it and then add in the lime zest and juice and cilantro.
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ULTRA HUMORIST
Honest Lies and Other Misguided Thoughts REMEMBERING By Newt Harlan
One day last week as I was driving through town, I saw a ‘55 Chevrolet hard top parked in front of the café with a group of folks gathered around admiring it. I slowed down without stopping to have a look and not surprisingly, the sight of the “vintage” car really got my memory wheels to turning. I remember when the ’55 Chevy first came out that it, and the Ford Crown Victoria were the dream cars of every teenaged and twenty-something young man that I knew--man alive, we all wanted to own one. Of course, very few of us could do much more than just imagine and wish, but we sure did a lot of that. I could picture myself in one of those cars---two tone paint job, fender skirts, fancy hubcaps, back-seat speakers, clear plastic seat covers to protect the upholstery--I would’ve needed a stick to fight off the girls. Alas, my dream never came about since by the time I could afford to buy a car like that, my tastes had changed and I was happier with a new pickup. Remembering these cars led to thinking about all the things that have changed on cars since those days. For instance, when was the last time they made a hard-top body style? I know it’s been long enough 14
that I can’t recall, and two tone paint jobs, you know the kind where the bottom of the car is one color and the top another. I don’t imagine there are any of y’all under fifty who even know what fender skirts are. Fender skirts were (and I guess are) metal pieces designed to clip into the wheel wells on the rear of the car to cover the top half of the wheel. These were painted to match the color of the car and give the appearance that the bodyline was continuous from the front wheel to the rear bumper. (I know it sounds kind of silly now, but it was important back then.) Fancy hubcaps---the standard issues back then were small metal discs, just large enough to cover the hub of the wheel and the lug nuts. If your car was going to be anything but plain, you just had to have hubcaps that covered the whole wheel and the more ornate the better. In those days all car radios were AM and had only a single speaker installed in the dash centered under the rear view mirror. To really be “state-of-the-art” we would install speakers in the shelf below the back window behind the back seat---hence “back-seat speakers”. If you were really fancy, you installed a UltraMagTexas.com
Front-Rear-Both switch and a separate volume control for the back speakers on your dash. I don’t think the back seat speakers improved the sound quality very much, but it enabled the back seat passengers to hear the radio when you were driving with the windows down, since air-conditioned cars were almost unheard of back then. (We had what we called 460 air conditioning, which translated to driving 60 miles per hour with all 4 windows rolled down.) Somehow people got sold on the idea of buying cars with nice fabric upholstery on the seats and then covering it with clear plastic seat covers to “keep it nice” for trade-in time. The same reasoning went for buying carpeted floorboards and covering them with plastic floor mats. The whole idea never made too much sense to me. In my mind, if you were going to spend the money for nice fabric and carpet, then you should enjoy it and then if it wore out or something, install the seat covers and floor mats at trade-in time. In spite of my thoughts, this idea remained popular for several years during the ‘50’s and ‘60’s although it never worked worth a damn. After just a few months of exposure to the Texas sun and summer heat, the seat covers went from clear to dark amber and soon became continued on page 18
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THE NFL COULD LEARN FROM THE NCAA by Bobby McCallitt
The NFL is typically on the cutting edge when it comes to football rules and regulations. For as far back as anyone can remember, most all football rule changes have been instigated on the professional level, and then trickled down to the NCAA and even high school football. When it comes to football guidelines, the NFL almost always gets it right – except when it comes to Instant Replay.
ULTRA SPORTS
Instant Replay
Most plays are routine and play continues without interruption. However, if there is reasonable evidence that an error was made in the initial ruling – and the play falls under the guidelines of one that is actually reviewable – the game can be stopped and a video review will take place. Not all plays can be reviewed, and there is a clear set of rules for determining what is and is not reviewable. As a general guide, all scoring plays, fumbles, rulings of catch/no catch, and progress spots when dealing with the line to gain, are reviewable. How the NFL and the NCAA handle this review process is quite different.
In the NCAA, every play is reviewed by a Replay Official up in the press box. This NCAA Replay The National Football League Official is the one who determines when play should began using Instant Replay way be stopped for a review, as he is watching every play back in 1986 on a temporary live and then again from his high-definition monitor. basis, and went full time starting If he sees that a possible mistake has been made on a in 1999. It was so successful play that has a direct impact on the game, he pages the and well-received that the officials to stop play for a review. College coaches can NCAA adopted instant replay also initiate a replay challenge, but it rarely happens as well, starting with 2005 because if there is any doubt, the Replay Official will season. (Don’t be surprised to stop the game. see the Texas High School State Championship games using it in While there is a Replay Official at every NFL game, he has no authority to stop the game – even if he sees that the near future.) a mistake has been made. In the NFL, the head coach Instant Replay has been great is the only one who can initiate an Instant Replay for the game of football. It is a review. He can “challenge” a ruling on the field by fast, violent sport, and thus it throwing a red flag prior to the next snap. With teams is a hard game to officiate. It often hurrying to run another play, it is a decision that requires split-second decisions must be made quickly, and since each team is only and often times these decisions allowed one challenge per game, they must use their effect the outcome of the challenge wisely. Typically, the only way the head game. Everyone, including the coach on the sideline will know if a possible mistake officials, wants the rulings to be was made is to rely on his coaches up in the press box right. Instant Replay has helped who are watching replays – exactly what the NCAA ensure that that happens. Replay Official is doing on every play.
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How play is stopped to be reviewed is also quite different in the NFL versus the NCAA. Head coaches are very busy during the game, thus trying to determine what play is reviewable and when to challenge, shouldn’t be added to their worries. In the NFL, we have seen instances of coaches challenging plays that are not reviewable, as well as teams “losing” their right to have a call reviewed because of an earlier unsuccessful challenge. It’s time the NFL learned a protocol lesson from its college-aged brother; let’s retire the red flags and leave the instant replay in the hands of the Replay Official.
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HONEST LIES & OTHER MISGUIDED THOUGHTS continued from page 14 brittle and cracked, and while the floor mats somewhat protected the area under them, the other, exposed areas became dirty and faded, so that part of the idea didn’t work too well either. The clear plastic wasn’t limited to cars. Furniture manufacturers at that time covered their products with a light gauge clear plastic film to protect it during shipment and storage. Many folks just left it on to protect their furniture from everyday wear and tear, especially the “good” furniture in the living room. I remember many times when visiting one girlfriend, going into the living room to get away from the watchful eyes of parents and siblings while we did whatever it was that girls and boys do at that age and having her mother say, “now you kids be careful if you sit on that good furniture that you don’t fool around and tear the plastic, I’m trying to keep that stuff nice for company.” Not too many years ago I was helping a friend move some things from the house of an aunt who had recently died and there was furniture and lampshades in the living room covered with the original plastic film, still being kept nice for company after almost 50 years. The Salvation Army didn’t seem to care one-way or the other. How many of y’all remember black and white television? That’s what we had when I was growing up. I think my family got our first TV around 18
1952, but I’m not exactly sure. I do remember that at first there were only locally produced programs available. Some people placed a colored plastic sheet over their black and white TV screen. The sheet was blue at the top, red, orange and yellow in the middle and green at the bottom. This was supposed to give the illusion of a color picture, but it didn’t do much for me. Children were always cautioned not to sit too close to the screen because it would make you go blind and there was no telling what all that radiation might do to you. Of course my sisters and I and all our friends always sat as close as we could manage so as not to miss anything, usually about three feet away until our parents hollered at us to move back, and as far as I know there are none of us blind or affected in other ways from this habit. This didn’t stop me from telling my kids or them from telling my grandkids; “back up from that TV before it makes you go blind.” Another idea at that time was if you watched TV in a dark room it was bad for your eyes. Most folks chose to put a lamp on top of their TV set to remedy this problem. Probably the most popular (and ugly and tacky as a velvet Elvis painting) were ceramic lamps molded in the shape of a big cat stalking prey. They all looked the same, except some were painted as black panthers, some as tigers and others as leopards. Thank God my family never chose to have one in our house---I really hated them. Besides all that extra light interfered with the business at hand when I was watching TV with my girlfriend. continued on page 20
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Holiday Luxe Décor BY KAREN BUNCH
HONEST LIES & OTHER MISGUIDED THOUGHTS continued from page 18 Around 1954 Houston finally got hooked up with network TV. In those days it was by telephone cable rather than satellite. Anyway, it opened a whole new menu of viewing for us and soon we were all hurrying home after football practice to watch “Mickey Mouse Club”, not for the Disney characters, but for Annette, Darlene and some of those other well built young things parading around in short skirts and mouse ears. We also had to watch American Bandstand so we could pick up on the latest dances, but my sisters were much better at this than I was. They’d learn the steps and then patiently guide my clumsy, two-left-footed butt through them. I guess they did a pretty good job because I could usually find a girl or two to dance with at the sock hops. Then came color TV. It was a big novelty for several years and folks who had color TVs used to have viewing parties on weekends to watch programs in color. Can you imagine a houseful of people trying to watch one 19” TV set?
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The two appliance stores in town at that time were located on opposite ends of Main St. and on opposite sides of the street. Both stores took advantage of the novelty of color TV and put sets in the show windows at the front of their stores with an outside speaker so that folks passing by could see and enjoy the wonderful new technology. This soon became a big attraction on weekend nights when folks would bring lawn chairs, cold drinks and snacks and set up right on the sidewalk for a night of watching color TV. The stores always were open and had an employee on duty to change channels and to help if someone decided to buy something. This practice lasted for several months, but was finally discontinued when a big-assed brawl broke out over which program the sidewalk audience was going watch and in the ensuing melee, somebody was thrown through the showroom window breaking the TV set into pieces. Earlier I described the 460 air conditioning which we had in our cars back in those days, well the home air conditioning was about the same caliber--most of us didn’t have any. Our houses were mostly cooled with fans--there were ceiling fans, oscillating fans, window fans and if you were fortunate, an attic fan, which would “cool” the whole house. These systems worked better than they sound to us today, because back then houses were built for ventilation cooling and we were accustomed to life without air conditioning. Of course, we never got used to those hot, muggy nights with the temperature of even the night air registering about 85 degrees, and the mildew growing on your shoes and clothes because of the constant humidity, and the attic fan pulling the wall paper off the walls because you didn’t have enough windows open. Truthfully, I’m really not interested in experiencing those days again-- I much prefer the airconditioned comfort of today and my shiny new pick up truck has great air-conditioning too!
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Why Water is Your Workout Buddy If you think drinking water during a workout is just about keeping your mouth from drying out as you pant your way through each set, think again. In addition to keeping you comfortable, staying hydrated is a necessary aspect of any healthy workout. Your body is composed of 60 percent water, but on average, you lose 2-5 percent of your body weight from water loss every time you work out. Once you get into your workout groove, you may find it hard to stop, even for a water break. What you may not realize is that water is an essential nutrient that keeps your muscles primed, blood flowing and the nerves in your brain firing. Taking a break to replace what you lose while exercising is actually a good way to keep your workout going. The evaporation of sweat helps cool the body during exercise, but this diminishing hydration can lead to poor performance and even possible injury. Make the most of your workout and stay fit with these helpful hydration tips from the Army National Guard’s Guard Your Health campaign: • Cool, plain water is the best drink to replace the fluid lost as sweat and help regulate your core body temperature. • Plan to drink water before, during and after exercise to prevent dehydration and help enhance performance. Sip a 16-ounce bottle of water every hour while working out. • Outdoor workouts require extra hydration, even during cooler weather. The water content in your skin helps it perform its protective functions, including limiting damage from the sun. Make sure to drink plenty of water before, during and after any time spent in the sun. • Learn to recognize signs of dehydration, so you can take steps to reverse it. Early signs include muscle cramps and fatigue, while a dry mouth, headaches, dizziness, slurred speech and confusion all signal advancing dehydration. If your extremities become swollen or you become feverish, medical attention is necessary. • Another way to check your hydration level is by monitoring your urination. Urine should be clear or light yellow, and you should urinate every two to four hours. • If you find yourself dehydrated and water isn’t available, a melon, orange, celery, cucumber or bell pepper can help replenish your body’s water content. • Make it a post-workout practice to replenish electrolytes with a banana, dates or coconut water.
For more health-related tools and information, visit www.guardyourhealth.com.
It’s important for everyday health to keep well-hydrated away from the gym, too. Staying properly hydrated helps regulate your body temperature, weight and mood. Keep a refillable bottle of water with you wherever you go, and if you need a touch of flavor, add lemon, lime, pineapple or cucumber for a refreshing twist. Aim to drink 50-75 percent of your body weight in ounces of water each day to stay hydrated. UltraMagTexas.com
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ULTRA LEGAL
Business Startups – and Downs! Courtesy of Byron K. Barclay
Starting your own business is the great American dream. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple Computer as 18 year olds in a garage in Palo Alto, turning the fledgling business into the Wall Street powerhouse it is today. What is interesting though is that many people start their own businesses with a great idea, but no business structure. They fail to do the preliminary work to set their business up correctly, before starting to run their business, and the end result later can be financially costly fights with business partners, hurt feelings, and litigation over ideas, assets and even the With business partners, it is important to have business itself. some formal arrangements in place, so there is no misunderstanding about profits and losses, and how they There are several different will be divided. An operating agreement, a partnership business structures that lend agreement, or a shareholder agreement are important themselves to small businesses. documents for different business structures that set out A sole proprietorship (i.e. a how these profits and losses will be shared, how the one man/woman business) business will be funded with start-up monies, and how a is the most basic. There are business partner can exit the business. These agreements partnerships, where two or can include buy-out options, where one partner can buy more people share profits and out the other, and can also include the circumstance of losses, and then there are death of a partner, and how the business will treat the more sophisticated business deceased partner’s share of the business. structures, from limited partnerships, limited liability Contemplating the death of a business partner is also companies, limited liability an excellent opportunity to consider life insurance partnerships and corporations. and “key man” insurance, so that if a partner dies, the Each one has different other partner(s) will have monies to buy the partner’s advantages and disadvantages, family out, and continue operating the business and a small business lawyer can without the decedent. A death scenario also can give advise you on the best business rise to consideration, in Texas at least, about a spouse’s structure for your venture. community share of a business should a business partner and his or her spouse divorce. The business 24
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doesn’t want the chaos of a nasty divorce to disrupt the operation of a business because a partner has decided to divorce, and the soon-to-be ex-spouse is entitled to half or more of the partner’s value in the business. The last scenario in which a small business lawyer can help is in the sale or purchase of a small business. A comprehensive contract for the sale or purchase of a business can avoid many headaches and litigation later for breach of contract, fraud and misrepresentation between buyer and seller. A good contract will identify the parties, set out the terms of the deal (money to be paid, when it is to be paid, and how it is to be paid), along with whether the seller will agree not to compete with his former business or will work as a consultant to help the new owner transition into operating the business. The contract will also set out the assets of the business to be purchased, the value of those assets and how those assets will be delivered at the closing of the sale of the business. Finally, there will be language in a good contract which sets out how any later disputes between the parties
Byron K. Barclay BKBarclay@lawyer.com
BIOGRAPHY AND DISCLAIMER Byron K. Barclay is a Houston, Texas attorney and Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law. In addition, Mr. Barclay handles estate planning matters and is regularly appointed to serve various courts in Harris County as an Attorney Ad Litem for the estates of persons who have died without a will. Mr. Barclay also handles commercial litigation, divorces, family law and child custody issues. The foregoing article is offered only as a public service to this community and does not constitute solicitation or provision of legal advice. This site and column should not be used as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney licensed or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. You should always consult a suitably qualified attorney regarding any specific legal problem or matter. The comments and opinions expressed on this site are of the individual author. Nothing in this column or on any website where it may be published is intended to create an attorney-client relationship and nothing posted by Mr. Barclay constitutes legal advice. Should you have questions, you may forward them via email to Mr. Barclay at BKBarclay@lawyer.com. Questions may be edited for length info@klkreations.com 832.569.5010
or clarity. Mr. Barclay will choose questions submitted for brief answers and possible publication. Mr. Barclay reserves the right to choose which questions to answer, and submission of a question does not guarantee
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will be resolved, whether through mediation, arbitration or litigation. In setting all of this out at first, when the parties are amicable and friendly, eager to complete the sale, will go a long way towards smoothing out any disagreements between the parties that may later arrive or differences in opinions about what the terms were or who said what when the initial business deal was made.
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An experienced small business lawyer can help small businesses start up right, grow quickly and smooth over any bumps in the road on the road to a great business success. Failing to set up your small business correctly however can lead to a rocky and dangerous road, fraught with perils, expensive disagreements and costly litigation. UltraMagTexas.com
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ULTRA HEALTH
Healthy Teeth at Any Age Courtesy of Dr. Audrey M. Boutros, DDS, MS
AUDREY M. BOUTROS, DDS, MS Member of the American Association of Orthodontists
Call our office today to schedule your complimentary orthodontic evaluation.
Many people associate braces with teens, but getting
There is no such thing as “too old” to straighten your
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overcrowded and want to regain their straight smile.
and Invisalign. Ceramic braces or “clear braces” are
Other adults get braces because they’ve always had
made out of ceramic alloys and blend in with the teeth
crooked teeth, but they weren’t able to have braces when
making them less noticeable. Invisalign is a series of
they were growing up. Finally, some people say they’re just
clear plastic aligners that are removable which allows
finally getting around to it, or that they want straighter
you to continue to brush and floss as normal. These
teeth for a new career. A great looking smile can boost
newer appliance options no doubt have contributed to
self-confidence and studies have shown that orthodontic
the increase in adults seeking treatment. So remember
treatment can enhance an adult’s career opportunities
that when it comes to straightening teeth, there is
and social life. There is also a potential health benefit, as
no age cutoff. If a better smile is something you really
misaligned teeth can be harder to clean, which can lead
want, schedule a consultation with an orthodontist to
to tooth decay and gum disease. Straightening teeth can
discuss your treatment options. As the saying goes, it’s
also make chewing more comfortable. So there are many
never too late!
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