Perez Studios

One day while I was in Okinawa, Japan back in 1999-2000 my friends and I all decided to go rent some underwater gear to check out this one area that the scuba divers use.  I rented an underwater camera housing unit and some snorkeling gear and we took off.  I was kind of curious to see how the camera would operate but it was fairly simple.  I used one of those disposable cameras and it worked fine. 

The photo on the left is of me underwater with the snorkeling gear on.  We had a blast at this place.  In fact a couple of months later some other friends and I went back to check it out again.  We found some underwater caves that took you over to the other side of a big cliff.  We held our breaths and dove in and raced over to the other side.  When I came up I came up too soon and scratched my back on some coral.  It was very painful after I got out of the water. 

We explored the other side of this cliff and found some caves that were above ground.  One even went in about 20 feet or so.  It started to get very tight at the end and we had to crawl out. 

I had a blast while in Japan but it does get kind of sad when the other half of you isn’t there with you.  I eventually left the Marine Corps after serving four years on Active Duty.  I think of the Corps as a place that anyone will transform into another person that has lots of self respect, respect for others, discipline, and time management skills. 

Until recently, I used to think that all the jobs I got were because of the discipline that the Corps instilled in me, but when I interviewed at two different jobs recently and didn’t get the jobs, I began to think that I am losing those traits that the Corps gave me. 

So, I began working on getting those traits back by giving my all at my work, my marriage and my life.  I started on an exercise program back in April called Beachbody’s Insanity and I went from 240lbs to 223lbs in 60 days.  I must say that Insanity is probably one of the toughest programs I have done and remember, I went to the United States Marine Corps Boot camp.  After the 60 days I tried some other programs but none of them gave me the performance like Insanity.  I have also started using my Bowflex to build muscle which they say burns fat.  I have seen a big difference.  I am now at 218lbs and have had to buy a new belt that is smaller than the other one because the other was too big. 

My goal is to get to 175lbs eventually but I am just trying to get to the 200lb mark first.  I know I can do it with a lot of hard work and dedication.  I am drinking water like it were candy and trust me the cravings for soda is almost unbearable. 

I know I can do it and if you are on some kind of diet, then I would love to hear about it.  If you have any questions about the photos from Okinawa, Japan or the Insanity program please feel free to let me know.  I would love to work with you all.

That’s all for today!

Semper Fidelis,

Manuel Perez

This is a photo of the Golden Orb Spider.  I came across this fellow while visiting the Academy of Science Museum in San Francisco, CA.  They are in an exhibit in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. 

I came across one similar to this when a friend and I were walking through a jungle in Okinawa, Japan.  We were walking through some pretty thick brush and I was watching behind us hoping noting would come up on our rear when all of a sudden I ran right into the back of my friend who had stopped all of a sudden.  I asked him why he stopped and he said look.  I looked out and all I saw was the jungle.  He said not out there look here and pointed right out in front of us and saw this huge web with a big giant Banana Spider hanging in the middle. 

After that day we were all a little tense about the spider problem.  Turns out it was their season because we had three other radio operators in the hummer with me monitoring the radio (or playing cards and relaxing) when  the way we had our hummer it faced the sunset and we had a poncho laying over the windshield to block the sun.  I was sitting in the back driver side seat and I noticed a shadow that seemed like a bird had landed on the hood of the hummer.  I pulled out my flashlight and flashed it at the inside of the hummer and saw a huge Banana Spider sitting on the inside of the hummer.  We ran out of the hummer and noticed there were a couple more sitting on the hood and another that was on the inside of the passenger door.  We grabbed one of the M16’s and tried stomping on it but it seemed to counter our movements by jumping to avoid the stomp. 

I came across another story of a gentleman that came across the Banana Spider   His name is Paul R. May.  Read about his encounter with the Banana Spider here!

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Manuel Perez