LADERA RANCH, CA - On August 22nd, Ladera Ranch resident Sarah Thompson posted the following message to her neighbors on the LaderaLife.com website:

"Is anyone having a problem where the water from the tap smells funny, like a sulphur smell? It is happening in the bathrooms for myself and one of my neighbors. We live in Terramor, although I don't know if that would have anything to do with it. I have purchased a water test kit, but am not sure what I'm looking for. Anybody with any experience similar, please reply. Getting a little grossed out every time I brush my teeth!

Thanks :)"

LaderaPortal NEWS spoke with a water testing engineer at the Santa Margarita Water District about water quality concerns. Amber Baylor is a Santa Margarita Water District water engineer with a Masters Degree from John Hopkins, who, happens to be (on the side) a home brewer of fine beers and an avid fan of high quality tap water for her hobby craft.  Ms. Baylor observed the following:

"We supply water to all of the pools in Ladera Ranch, as well as all of the homes," said Baylor. "If there was a problem with the water coming into the community, you would smell it everywhere."

Baylor said that during certain times of the year, that the Water District gets complaints about “foaminess” or “cloudiness”, usually related to changes in water temperature that she says cause differences in oxygen diffusion in the water.

"What people should be aware of," says Baylor “is that even if they are a 'clean person', that bacteria can build up in the pipes and cause the production of many gases." According to Baylor, sulfur dioxide is the bi-product of certain bacterial fermentation of matter that may exist in drains.

"Usually, I suggest pouring some bleach down the drain," said Baylor. "That seems to work."

When Catherine Miale debuted her new exercise class with an offer for a free workout, I thought I would go check it out.

I haven't been to a group exercise class since I was in doing “PT” in the Navy in the 1990's, and I knew that the clientele would be mostly women. In the back of my mind, was picturing Jane Fonda-esque leotards and leg warmers.

What I found when I entered the Covenant Hills club house (which is a fantastic and beautiful place to work out) was the typical Ladera Ranch moms in work-out wear from sporty-spice to Rocky Balboa.   Everyone seemed to be there for their own reasons and everyone was raving about the workout.

Miale teaches a style of workout called R.I.P.P.E.D., which is an acronym for Resistance, Interval, Power, Plyometrics, Endurance and finally, Diet.

For the workout I attended, Miale had invited Co-Founder/Co-Creator of R.I.P.P.E.D, Terry Shorter.   Shorter is my age, and when I saw how “ripped” the guy was, I was both a little embarrassed and a lot motivated.

As the workout progressed, Shorter was sweating as much as I was, so I knew that this was a workout in which you could not plateau. A plateau in a workout routine is when the exercises become “normal” for your body and you have adapted.   I was interested in this type of workout after engaging in the widely popular P90X workouts. Similar in some ways to P90X, R.I.P.P.E.D keeps your muscles and body guessing as you progress through each of the steps.

In about an hour, we moved through a high-energy workout that had me, at times, bent over breathing very heavy with my hands on my knees.   I barely had time to look around the room during the workout, but as I did, I noticed that everyone was working very hard, taking brief breaks to towel off and sip water.   Even with the doors open, the room was getting quite warm. You could almost see a cloud of lost calories wafting through the steamy air.

Miale says that she is ramping up for “Back to School”, with a twice-a-week workout at 9:00AM Mondays and Wednesdays (right after kids get dropped off at school). Costs are $120 for 8 weeks.   Although most of the attendees are women, men are more than welcome, and let me tell you, guys: it is a lot tougher than you think. The bouncy aerobics class images have been washed from my mind and been replaced by a sweat-soaked vision of a high energy workout.

Bring a towel, water, some exercisebands or light weights and an exercise mat... and bring your “A” game!

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