Article: An air to fakie means that you do not turn in the air to land your jump with the same foot in front. This a bit like when you did you traverse, except you are getting air off the lip of the halfpipe. This trick is harder than it looks so start with very small jumps when just beginning. Approach the lip straighter than if you would when turning to land with the same foot in front (the frontside air, like when you were doing slide turns). Turn your head back past your tail before you land to figure out when you need to extend your legs to make contact with the wall. Practice grabbing either the tail of the board or between your feet on the front edge while you are in the air. This is called a grab and requires some height before it can be completed easily. Do not grab between your rear foot and the tail on the front edge of the board (tindy). An alley oop basically refers to any spin (180 degrees or larger) in which the direction of spin is back up the halfpipe. Try a backside alley oop at first. This will be when you are going up the wall on your toe edge and turn uphill 180 degrees before landing with your same front foot forward. The backside alley oop is similar to when you do a normal air except you are turning your body in the opposite direction. Rotate your head and shoulders to initiate the spin and try to land downhill as normal rather than uphill or right below the jump. Grabbing the board will help you turn easier, but do not grab tindy (between your rear foot and the tail of the board). Release the board and make sure it is flat again when approaching the lip on the descent. This will be easiest from your toe edge and is not much more of a spin than your normal frontside turn from your toe edge to heel edge. As you approach the wall on your toeside and leave the lip, rotate your head and lead shoulder extra far. This will initiate the frontside 360. As you turn your head and shoulders make sure you are looking directly down the pipe so that you can land nice and straight into the transition. Try to land very slightly on your toeside edge if possible. You will land with your opposite foot forward (switchfoot or fakie). A cab 360 is basically a switch frontside 360-degree turn where you land facing forward. As you are coming up the transition pre-wind your shoulders slightly up the pipe and then unload that rotation as you leave the lip, rotating your shoulders in the opposite direction, frontside. Try not to spin too early or else you will lose your pop off the lip. Hold your edge all the way up the wall and then only spin once you are in the air. You can add a grab into your cab 360 for extra flair if you are comfortable. For example, you can grab the tail of your board. The benefit of this trick is that you land facing forward so it is great for getting your regular foot back in front after another trick. This is basically the same as a frontside 360 but with an extra half-turn. Turn into the jump with your shoulders moving downhill (frontside) and do one and a half turns, landing with the same foot forward. You will need more pop off the lip with extra air and a bit more snap with your shoulders and core compared to the frontside 360. Backside 540s are much more difficult than frontside 540s because they are completed from your heel edge, which is harder to pop off of than your toe edge. As you are going up the wall on your heel edge, pop off your heel edge with your shoulders snapping you around backside and complete one and a half turns. You will land back with the same foot forward. Go into the jump with a good amount of speed for extra pop and a little straighter than for a frontside 540 so that your board can flatten out and give you more of an area to pop off. This jump is much more difficult than the frontside 540 so make sure you are comfortable with all the other jumps before attempting. The backside 540 is actually a bit easier than the backside 360 because with the backside 360 you land switch, meaning you will be ready for a backside switch hit on the next jump. Backside switch hits are quite difficult to accomplish so it is better to try the backside 540 than a 360 first.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Start with an air to fakie. Try an alley oop. Attempt a frontside 360. Try a cab 360. Work on your frontside 540. Try a backside 540.
Article: Cats with failing kidneys tend to have high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). This problem places them at greater risk of throwing blood clots and having strokes. In addition, hypertension can cause fluid to accumulate between the retina and the back of the eye, causing retinal detachment and sudden blindness. Because hypertension is such an issue, you should make sure that your veterinarian checks your cat's blood pressure regularly. If your cat's blood pressure is slightly high, an ACE inhibitor may reduce it by as much as 10%. If the hypertension is more severe, your veterinarian may recommend an antihypertensive medication, such as amlodipine. The average dose is 0.625-1.25 mg once per day this is about an eighth of a 5 mg tablet. Because cats with failing kidneys have weaker urine, they are more prone to urinary infections. Lower-grade infections may produce no symptoms, but they still need to be treated because bacteria can travel from the bladder into the kidney, contributing to renal damage. Your veterinarian should perform a urine culture at least twice a year in order to identify infections. He or she may prescribe antibiotics if the culture turns up positive.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Understand the problems associated with hypertension. Check your cat's blood pressure regularly. Watch for urinary infections.
Article: If you can't make it to a concert or sporting event, the money you spent on tickets does not have to go to waste. You can also try buying a few extra tickets to an event at student prices. Then, sell them to friends and relatives who do not go to your college for an extra cost. If you go to a school with a big sports culture, tickets to things like football and basketball games are in particularly high demand. Many students resell old textbooks at the campus bookstore at the end of the year. However, resale prices there tend to be low. You can try reselling your books on your own. You may get more money going this route. The website BookScouter will give you an idea of how much a specific used book tends to sell for. You can then try to sell the book online for that price, or try to resell it to another student for a similar price. You can also go to local used bookstores. If you have a book that's in quality condition, you may be able to resell it there. If you just got a new phone or laptop, do not throw out the old one. You can resell old electronics online or through a used electronics store. People may need the parts, or be okay using a used laptop that's less pricey than a new one. You can auction off old clothes on websites like eBay. You can also stop by a local thrift store or secondhand shop and see if you can get any money for old items of clothing. You can also look for online consignment shops, like ThredUp.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Sell tickets to events you're not attending. Resell your textbooks. Sell your old electronics. Sell your old clothes.