Where are they

Now living in California ... I was thinking to myself the other day that this is the land of earthquakes - who knows what could happen. I have never experienced an earthquake so I have no idea what it must be like. And even worse what it must be like to experience the wrath of what a powerful wall of water can do as we have been experiencing with what people are experiencing right now in the world Where are they

I guess with anything like this the only way we can start to make a difference in the world is by tuning into what it must feel like to be the other person... so I thought to myself, what it would be like for me... if I came home one night and many of my friends and family were simply gone missing. No way to contact them. I am thinking it might be total panic for me... but I can't know for sure other than the imagined idea of it...

I just watched bowling for Columbine... and there was one scene in the movie where all the reporters are lined up in some parking lot covering the story of where a small girl was killed by a small boy with a gun. As Michael Moore was commenting that they were removed from what had happened and that the reporters had not talked to some of the people in the town. How odd it all is... this sense of dissociation from our human connection - how we have turned insensitive to things. Imagine it was my best friend... would I not want to console the family and see what I could do to help. Even though I don't know these people, who are suffering such great loss - they still are my brother and my sister.

So I got to thinking ... one earthquake strikes and so many thousands of people die... do we retaliate with our armies to Mother nature and fight it... we live with our loss for as long as we need to... and then we move on in life...

It got me thinking ... what if the planes that hit the world trade center were some strange act of mother nature... we live with our loss for as long as we would need to and move on in life because there is nothing more we can do...other than be in the present moment. What if the trillions of dollars, that are spent to defend us, were instead spent on solving hunger, aids, and poverty around the world .... What kind of a world would it be today ?

What kind of world do I want to make ... one where I can be an example of what it can be like for an ordinary person to start speaking out for what they believe to be the things that are important. After all this is the land of the free speech...

I am not moved to help these people who have suffered such great losses, by the poverty of these people, but rather by my interest in seeing that I can take responsibility for the way I act in this world and in taking this responsibility I choose to seek out some method in which I can also lend a helping hand to my brothers and sisters of this planet - because they are in need...

I feel like I have never been involved in life as much as I feel I want to more and more...

Thank for listening... and thanks for showing up in your way in life. To act as a living example for our future generations, and to see that we can live together and help one another.

In peace and in silence I am thinking of the suffering of those people and sending my donation hoping that every little bit can help... please forward this to anyone you think might inspired by this...

In Fahrenheit 911 the last words that flashed up on the screen from Michael Moore's documentary were "Do something".

Look online for ways that you can help our brothers and sisters who have suffered such great losses.

Arrived in California

Well I am here in California and have already met some interesting people. Went to a dinner the other night at a community housing project. It was like being in the little village of Lord of the rings. It is nice to meet so many new people and who are doing things to make a difference. I noticed a bumper sticker before I left that pointed to New Dream . Another one that I liked was More Fun - Less Stuff. Certainly moving puts us in direct contact with the amount of good that we carry around with us. It felt good to shed some of that weight.

I also got to drive my motorcycle here in the bay area... wow one has to be really focused here on these highways... people changing lanes thing move very quickly.

I look forward to saving up some money and being able to actually afford a home again... haven't checked the prices lately but I am sure they are no where close to Phoenix prices.

But I do have a plan and working aggressively to move in these new directions so stay tuned for some exciting things.

Thanks for reading... Oh yeah - I love the fog in the bay area ... is it so magical here... even in Ojai when I was there last week ... wow - ok signing off for now...

Saving the world with FileMaker Pro

Seems like a super-hero movie or some magnificent adventure of sorts... but no it is only Joel Bowers who is doing his part for saving the world. I have known Joel Bowers for the longest time ... he is one of the founders of the FileMaker community connecting and encouraging people along the way. I think he deserves one of the awards for just being so helpful and consistent with the community. I figured I would use the title from his blog to catch a little attention about this.

Joel Bowers is one of those people in life that helps everyone and everyone knows him. I am so grateful to have known him as he has offered me advice and inspiration. And I am glad to see that he is doing his part to save the world with FileMaker Pro.

Have we grown up yet?

I don't listen to the news much but the other day I was overhearing the news and heard someone say something about Yasser Arafat. How sick he was and that they had to rush him to a hospital. Like I said I don't follow the news much, so that said - Yasser Arafat might be to Palestine what the late Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was to Canada. He may be a very influential leader there. But come on guys don't you all see that this is such a game... I mean on the news it said something like ok we'll let that plane with Arafat go through so that he can get proper medical attention...

I don't konw you but when I was a child and we played games in the street we had what we would call "Time Outs". So that we could drink something or go inside and get a bite to eat and then get back to our play war or whatever it was that we were doing with our lives.

I would hope that these people would grow up ... you woudl think and they could realize the stupidity in all of this... Hey guys ok stop killing each other so that we can let Araft go and get getter so that he can come back and play this stupid war game and continue the fighting. So pardon me about this but I think it is rather childish behavior... and its about time that someone there grows up and says ok lets become mature adults and put our guns down and lets make a better world to live in... grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

It's all about people!

I find this blogging thing to be quite cool actually... Thank you for reading.

When I was first getting started as a computer trainer consultant in Montreal - After things were slowing down with a manufacturing company that I was operating called "Zenyatta" - a story for another day. But as things would be seasonal with it, I decided to venture off and do some teaching. I was becoming quite popular amongst my acquaintances, as I had successfully implemented technology in my company. I would teach at a local college... Collège de Maisonneuve things like FileMaker, Word, and Excel. I loved teaching and sharing with people - very grateful for that opportunity.

Then one day a person whom I was doing some consulting for at a Travel Agency asked me if I would teach his dad. I said sure. So I show up at the home of this person ... He lived in one of those very expensive condominiums in a beautiful area of Montreal. It was interesting in that we spoke for a while before we got started. In the end I don't really remember doing much teaching. He was mostly telling me about his live and experiences of being in business. Almost like the kind of thing you see in a movie.

He told me that he also had a company in his days that provided (and I forget what it was that he provided - but that is of lesser consequence) some service or product. His son was very young and was working with his father on this. One day they had a client request a bid. They also had competitors in their line of business, and were familiar with their offering. His father drew up the proposal and showed it to his son. His son said this was way more than what the competitors would offer their services at and that he was sure that they would not gain the business.

Nonetheless his father was confident and told his son that in life it was not about the things, or if it is cheaper, or faster... but that important thing to remember is that it is all about the PEOPLE... the connections we make with others... how we treat them. I am a big believer of this and have been very grateful to have been able to learn some valuable lessons both in my personal life as well as in my professional life... that man on that day sparked a way of seeing things for me that have stayed with me since that time.

I find especially in this day and age that - where it can be so easy to just buy something without much human contact, that it becomes more important that we really pay attention to the people around us. Not only does it enrich our lives, and the lives of those that we server in our daily connections with them... but it also makes for an interesting journey.

I'll leave you with one my favorite quotes lately - and I hope I have it right... this is something I heard Cheri Huber (zen teacher) say at one point... "The way you do anything, is the way you do everything"...

Have a great day ... and I thank you very much for stopping by and reading my blog... feel free to drop me a line.

Cioa.

What for!

Our natural tendency is to read things. If we see a sign we read it, its almost impossible not to read something that is in front of us. So as I drive my car around I come across many different signs and sometimes bummper stickers. I think many of have seen the political bummper stickers. Sometimes there are those about my child is on the honor roll. Some are about not getting too close.. and when you read them you realize you are too close.

Others are like a sense of turf, so that people can know who they are messging with You get the idea of what kind of person is behind the wheel. They are statements that allow us a brief glimpse into their world. Then there are ones that tell us that angels are driving the car in front, or that there some environmental cause to watch out for. Yes I know its a free speech country, and I am grateful for this. But my all time favorite one is "Is the cab you are in 'Insured', we are!" Ok, now tell me how does that help me any. Ummm, its a bummper sticker! Ok. When was the last time I took a cab and said to the driver are you insured? If not then I'll wait for a cab that is? Why a bummer sticker... Just so the world can know? To me this is like noise pollution. Its like that song that won't get out of your head. Grrrrr.

Today is a very specail day

Today this flight into space is history that we have witnessed... wow

And at the same time mirrored by what is going on in the world it is amazing.

New Beginings

It has been a wonderful learning experience... Not sure what the next steps are going to be for me, but I am confident that I will find the right path.