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Today is: [ Year 2003 ][ Year 2004 ][ Year 2005 ][ Year 2007 ][ Year 2008 ][ My Research Journal ][ Back to JimFurey.com ] Christmas is almost upon us. So let me say my most important message of the year. I hope that you take just a few minutes of your time to read this. The message I have is: "help". Not help me, but help others. Last month (November) I actually had another journal entry that I decided not to post. It was a little controversial and I didn't want to ruffle any big feathers. But to give you some excerpts, it had several stories about how people can choose to help others or not. One example was a story I read about the homeless and how their numbers are more and more made up of the elderly. There was a doctor in San Francisco that dealt with the homeless a lot who said heartfelt things like "It's heartbreaking, not to mention immoral, to discharge a debilitated 60-year-old with heart failure to the street, knowing they would be exposed to all the elements. We can perfect our medical treatments as much as we can, but it's not addressing the problem." Then I read a link on the same page to a similar pictorial story about the LAPD entitled “Skid Row Crackdown” where police were hassling homeless for occupying “too much” space on the sidewalk. Making arrests and detaining people for their misfortune. Some people who have had a few bad turns in life never get chances. We say "Everyone deserves a second chance." But the truth is, the news is full of stories where rather than help people, they’d rather jail them. Rather than examine, they’d rather conclude. This was supposed to be a country that people fled too to escape persecution. But we're slowly headed in the wrong direction. I also cited a Washington student who was barred from the campus of George Washington University and threatened with expulsion because he checked into a hospital with depression. The school told him (Jordan Nott) that his 2004 hospitalization violated the school's code of conduct because it demonstrated dangerous behavior. He said he hadn't tried to kill himself before the hospitalization, but had been thinking about it because of the suicide of another George Washington student. This was a totally involuntary choice by this guy. So now we're penalized for trying to get help. It's like I said before, rather than help people, we’d rather jail or punish them. We need to learn to forgive people for their shortcomings and temporary failings and help if we can. What ever happened to "To err is human, to forgive is divine?" So at Christmas, let us practice the words we only mouth in church: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Also, let me set straight any arm chair psychologists that are out there. Some would say that I preach the word of forgiveness because I need it. Well, I'm not a saint and I certainly can use a little forgiveness. I keep trying to be a better human being and improve myself. But this is more about everyone who also needs forgiveness and understanding and PEACE. Just help others. You'll be helping yourself more than you know. I have one more important piece of news. First, PLEASE see the movies "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Who Killed The Electric car". Luckily, (in part) because of these movies the general public is becoming more aware of the facts in global warming and what we can do to help fix it before it's too late. And yes, there IS a "too late". I personally urge you to become more aware of the facts in the matter and these videos are highly factual. I was so affected by these that I became more of an activist. I saw some need for greater organization in getting the public more aware. And directing what to do. I know a great frustration when myself, when I want to volunteer or use my talents to do something and it's hard to know where or how to do that. So I'm going to be making a separate site that will do that. I'll keep you posted on when it's up and running. So that's about it. I hope that during this Christmas season that you all have a merry holiday. And that you look towards the big issues and help make a change that helps people and not just the ones who fashionably need help. Look towards your heart for love and forgiveness for yourself and for your trespassers.  I have a story about productivity and happiness, so I hope you all like it. I’m originally from the east coast and many years ago moved out to California. But about a decade ago I spent some time on the east coast again only this time in Connecticut. I got a job there for a company that could only offer me $10,000 less a year than I was making previously. But engineering jobs were scarce in that area so I took what I could. The owner of the company was a man named Floyd. When I first started, he seemed very jovial and I enjoyed talking to him. But a few months into working there, he decided to have a “growth spurt”. They wanted to expand the business and increase warehouse size. He invested over a million dollars of his own money to add an extension to the existing building. During this spurt, Floyd’s temperament seemed to change. I could tell that he was gambling a bit with his own money and that probably weighed on him, but it often spilled out on its employees. The occasion that stayed with me so much was his uncontrollable desire for timeliness. One day he called everyone into the main area and made an announcement. “Get here by 8:00! And if you’re going to make coffee first, get here by 7:50 to make it.” Now I’ve told this story to many people throughout the years and each time they all shake their heads. That really sounded unreasonable. I know that most of the “lifers” (n. 1. a person overtly devoted to a company to be there for life with no chance for parole.) at this company all nodded their heads in agreement with Floyd and went along with it. And I agree that this is the man’s business and he’s more than entitled to expect promptness. But I was just as eager to leave at exactly 5:00 PM by the experience. He repeated this speech a few times. Once while I was walking in at 8:10. He had just finished his “be here by 8:00 AM sharp!” speech when the door opened and I walked in and said “hi” and proceeded to my “area”. It’s little wonder that this focal point of Floyd’s business acumen was my undoing. But the ironic thing is that I was never less than exemplary in my work. You may get some argument from other employees who worked there in overdrive, by any other standards I’ve since or past known, and were used to it. There was one incredible employee there whom I respected very much who was extremely capable and would easily double his salary if he was in California. But he not only seemed content to stay there, but often defended the company’s restrictive policies. In the year I was there, I produced 26 different software applications. Everyone I tell that too looks at me like “how did you do that?” but to that company I was probably “a little behind” in my work. Suffice it to say that I gained perhaps a biased opinion that most east coast workers seem to overwork themselves. An observation I had already begun to make when I first lived there many years ago. My point behind all this is my “today”. I’ve been working where I’m at now for 4 years. I’m well respected and even have two patents to my name from inventions I’ve made for them. They use my name like a noun and say “What we need in another Jim Furey”. My schedule is totally open. I get to work between 8 AM and noon and do at least an 8 hour day. But I usually like work so much that I do 9 or 10 hours. Not being treated like a 19 year old makes a person feel connected to their work. Not the threat of losing your job should be the governing reason to be devotional. About 30% of the times that I leave my house after 10:30 to start for work, I think of Floyd. And it’s been years. I think about how subliminally stressed people can be about a goal. I think about how it seems like great inventions and advancements come from the west coast more than the east coast. Some of that may be a Mecca of electronics exists here, but I think at least part of that is the laid back attitude that exists here. I know this is an observation and not a rule. And I know that focus and drive help make things happen. But in a creative sense, flexibility gives birth to so many more great ideas that pressure. So today I was leaving at 10:23 and I had my morning chuckle about Floyd. How unimportant being there at 8:00 was if I didn’t feel like putting in overtime for free. What did it gain him? And what has being flexible gained me? I think a lot more. So I thought I’d write it down here since I hadn’t made many entries like this. Maybe someone will take the time to read it and think of a way to make things easier in their lives and find greater abilities. I know it’s not easy, it wasn’t for me to find the right environment to work in, but it’s possible. Oh, one last thing. The person I spoke of early whom I respected so much, (his name is Karl) I used to try to explain how the California way of working was and how it advances things, but his opinion of California was shaded by some one experience he had of visiting here and he says everyone (or at least a few) of the people he met were smoking pot. I guess one opinion can truly make you biased, which is why this is just a story and not a documentary. I’ll keep an open mind to other philosophies, how about you Floyd or Karl? Well, thanks for listening to my monthly rant. I hope my words touch someone and made a positive point. Lately I've been very much into electric cars. Don't ask me why or what started it exactly, Maybe I was looking through eBay and saw a few and it just clicked that that's what I should get. Or it's also possible (and more likely now that I think about it) that I had heard about the demise of the EV-1 and how GM crushed all the vehicles which they only leased and never offered to sell. I'm not a political anarchist or conspiracy alarmist, but I am an intelligent, educated and relatively cognitive man. I see gas prices go up and I see companies like Tesla Motors create an electric car that's sexy and can go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds and get a 250 mile range. They just need to get their heads out of the "recover our engineering costs" price range and sell to someone other than well padded southern Californians. It's possible to make a great electric car that everyone can use and I'm very interested in that. I do have to say that recently I've been interested in buying a new (or used) car. I've wanted to get an electric vehicle, but every time they become available, their prices are over priced. A few months ago, there was a 2003 Toyota Rav4 EV on eBay, and someone bought it for $55,000! The original MSRP for a 2002 RAV4 EV was $42,000 with rebates of $9000 and $3000 making the buying price $30,000 in CA including the home charger. Yet people will pay double for a 3 year old car. The current 2006 RAV4 has an MSRP of $20,300. I've often thought of taking one to a company that says it'll convert any car to electric for $10,000. Then taking my 2006 $30,300 Rav4 and selling it on eBay for $50,000. I mean, current technology can make it go further and faster than the "real" 2003 Rav4. Wouldn't it make sense to have a brand new car that works better than the original and costs $20,000 to $25,000 less? I'm often troubled by the lack of common sense. And Toyota has made it very clear it's not going to support the Rav4 any more so you're not getting any better service. Currently, there's another on eBay for the "but it now" price of $62,000. I've often contemplated building my own electric car, but I have a billion more projects ahead of it. I've particularly looked for Fiat X1/9s, Honda del Sols or possibly even a PT Cruiser. But one del Sol on eBay was going for $6501 with the "reserve not met". How much IS it? Hey, I can buy a used del Sol for half that and convert it easily. Well, with time which I don't have a lot of! But I'll get there, I'm patient. The right combination of circumstances will come along soon. So this month I've really gotten very jazzed about electric cars and hope to have one soon. My last entry about "trading" is still a very good idea. But all my schedule has been filled with business and work and life responsibilities. So I'm still excited by it, but no change lately. I'd love to hire someone to be my "personal assistant" and help accomplish my goals, but it's hard finding someone right. Well, I guess that's it so I'll leave you for now and keep you posted. I've done it again, haven't I? I used to write here so often and enjoyed having so many loyal readers check out what I've been doing. I guess "life" happened. Like John Lennon said "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans". My life has been busy with friends and family and it's been a very full life. But one goal has been eluding me for a long time. The goal of doing my medical research. I used to watch shows on television or see the news and there would be this case of someone suffering from cancer or some other debilitating disease. I was always touched and on many occasions brought to tears about the kind of struggle and hardship some people would be going though. I'd hear of celebrities dying from cancer or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or some other form of disease that I just felt if I had an opportunity to research that there was a chance I could do some good. Maybe find a cure, maybe at the very least add a few answers to the growing list of questions on how to reach those goals. I've tried conventional means. I tried starting a few businesses, all of which were designed to give me time and money to reach my goals. But each time, all those businesses needed their own time and money to grow. With a full time family and job, it leaves little time for anything else. My progress has been steady, but very slow. Plus, even if I succeed in business, how long after that will I be able to afford to then use my own time for research? I've come to realize this process is slow and seems, at least to me, to take forever. Each day that passes by feels like lives lost to me. And it eats away at me that I can volunteer my time, but can't do what I was born to do: my own research. I believe we're not looking at the problems the right way. That it will take a fresh and less likely path to find the answers we seek. Otherwise why have all these paths science has taken already not found cures in 50 years? Then I came upon a very inspirational story. Kyle MacDonald started a quest to get a house. He started with one red paperclip, and in 14 trades got a house in Kipling Saskatchewan Canada. Picking up newsworthiness along the way certainly helped. So it occurred to me, why can't I do the same thing? It only took Kyle 1 year (359 days to be exact) to reach his goal through simple trading. And it didn't take a lot of his time either. So as silly as it seems, I'm going to do the same thing. Only I feel so much more motivated. I'm not doing this to show how a person can accomplish anything, although that's a very important point. I'm doing this for a cause to help others. For those kinds of goals, I think every man and woman should find a way, against all odds and disparaging comments, to do what they can to help mankind. So I will keep you all posted here about my progress. Today I have a really bad cold, so I'm not in a very good "build a special page for this" kind of mood. But I will get to it soon, probably this weekend if I'm feeling better. And then I'll post it here. So, until next time, keep the home fires burning! Well, slipped into May before I could write another entry here. I know there's a lot of people who come here to be entertained and read about my life. People I don't know and some whom I do know. I would like to keep it interesting here, but I also know that some of my life is very private and I like to keep it that way. I wanted this site to be something fun to do. A place where I could keep friends and family informed as well as entertain and maybe toot my own horn every now and then. I had hoped that maybe my example would help others find reason to try to do their own goals as well. That seeing mine progress would show it's not impossible to accomplish our goals. But some times people contact me requests about where I live or other piece of personal info and I'm just not inclined to say. I appreciate the emails and it's always nice to hear form others, but I keep my address, family and other facets of my personal life off this web page. Please don't take this as something negative, but I completely understand how some people in the public eye want to remain anonymous. I guess, I've put myself in the public eye unintentionally. I never suspected that this web site would get so many hits a month! It's really unexpected. So, for those of you who want to know about me, read my pages, it all here. For those who want to tell me their stories, I'm a good ear. And for those who want to ask about my research, that subject is always open and I welcome any type of communication about it in the hopes I can make a difference. I hope this doesn't offend anyone. Ok, so now that that's over, let's catch up. I spent last week on the east coast visiting some relatives. It was really great that I got to see some people I hadn't seen in almost 40 years! Ironically, they all hadn't changed much. Oh sure, older looking, but really not bad for their age. I think we much have some kind of gene that does that in the family. On Sunday, Barry said mass for all of us in the living room of my cousin Helen's house. It was really special to have everyone there for the largest family reunion I had ever been to. Cees and I went to see Washington D.C. and Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. We had a great time seeing all the monuments and memorials and having a Phily cheese steak, and of course my own favorite, Taylor pork roll with mustard on a Thomas' english muffin. Yum! As a birthday present, I helped Priscilla get her Photoshop CS software bundle. That girl has great talent and I know she'll go far. I am looking forward to her giving me some help on my web pages. I'm afraid the "Around OC" web site is becoming the last on a list of web priorities. I haven't had a moment for business or other concerns lately. Some times just living life takes all your time. I've found that without any negative influences, I am a good provider and helper to people. At the core of who I am, I have been trying for decades to be the most helpful person I can be. I'd like to make great strides in research and find a path no other has thought of. I see the paths but have trouble getting past the starting posts. But I have also found happiness in doing the little things. Yet, as I approach doing the big things, it seems like old troubles poke their heads up and try to cause me more delays. Is that normal? Does that happen to everyone? Why does it happen at all? Can't we achieve our goals? Or is there some unknown yet naturally occurring "thing" that keeps us from making "big" strides. So that we don't grow faster as a race than we should? I wish I knew for certain, but I'll just keep doing what I do and hope to make a difference in a positive way as I travel my own path. Well, I guess that's it. I hope reading philosophy isn't too boring for a daily blog. I appreciate your readership and any comments you have. Look for the contact me page to respond. Thanks and have a great day! Some times it's just embarrassing that I don't make enough entries here. I guess life just moves up on you and you lose track of things and suddenly it's 2 months later! Sorry all. But my newest idea is one based on necessity which is after all what all great ideas are based on. I was looking around for things to do in Orange County and I found several web sites, but they were really lame. Either their "restaurants" were listed as ones like "McDonald's" or their sites made it hard to find what you wanted, or (many) were out of date or not kept up. So I decided to start my own. The new site is called "Around OC" and will have all kinds of info about events, entertainment and more in Orange County and surrounding areas. I was supprised that http://www.aroundoc.com wasn't already taken as a domain name. You'd think in this competitive southern California area that someone would have scooped it up. But it's mine now! I've only just started creating it, so check back later. I hope to make a site worthy of high traffic. And speaking of traffic, this site has suffered. My absence from here has caused too few to return. So I hope to change that. Although I truly have little time, I'll do my best to update things. I'm only making this entry because I started the new site. Otherwise I hate to bore people with "ordinary" facts. "What does he do with his time?" do you ask? Well, there's my regular full time job which I often do 9 or 10 hour days at. And then there's my own Reminder project which had a delay in finishing. I had to create a supplimental project that would duplicate the voice chips that contained the messages. So when I have time on the weekends to do software for that. There's family things to take care of including my trip to the east coast to see my cousins and brother. I also still eek along on my medical research. It's nice to hear from a few of you out there who have read the info. Thanks! So, again, sorry that I haven't added much here lately, but I've been extraordinarily busy! But dear not, I haven't abandoned this site, I'm about to finish the Reminder and Around OC sites and when they're up and running much more will be added here. Possibly even a new look! Oooo! So until next time, 2005 was an interesting year. So many things have happened and I'm glad that they have. I'm grateful to the people who were responsible for giving me peace and understanding I've gained so far. I'm thankful for those who have checked in here and kept an interest. I actually started this particular entry 20 days ago, but I didn't like the style of what I wrote, so it took a while longer to get this posted. Recently I've stressed forgiveness and understanding. I believe these are two of the most profound things you can cultivate in life. Life can make you humble if you're lucky, hopefully without breaking you. I haven't felt well lately. I mean in a physical way. I have these heart palpitations and pains that no number of visits to the doctor seem to explain. But it's not this condition that's caused me to keep an open mind. It's just the wisdom of age creeping in. I've listened to many stories lately about relationships. One person doesn't get enough "quality time" with the other, or in another case, the love has left but the relationship goes on. One person focuses on money, while the other just on their self. In all, I've found that no relationship is perfect. There will always be something there we didn't plan for or want, or may be just missing. I think if the big pieces are there, it's good. But what it means to me is that we have to watch and learn and grow from the experiences we go through every day and the experiences of others that they choose to share with us. There is a beautiful painting of many colors under the brown paper wrapping and we only have to want to look and to except the unknown. So I'd like the first thing I'd say this year to be that life is meant to be enjoyed. There will be troubles and bumps in the road and set backs and misfortunes. But that is simply life. Put those things behind you and find the beauty in life and draw from that rather than dwell on a negative point in the past. I hope that helps. In contrast, I've also gotten more "political" over the past year. I think I've seen a few too many circumstances where our society has been too harsh and vindictive. I'm sorry to say that. I know there are some great people out there who do really nice things and are very fair and forgiving and understanding. But there seems to be a move to be more "out for yourself". I was thinking today about how when I first moved to California that people suing each other seemed like a "trend" and almost was passed off as something that would die out because the kind of lawsuits seemed trivial. Now it seems like you read about something odd all the time. I think it may be a regional thing. I hope that soon things will change and people will try to get along more than try to get something from each other. I'd like to find a way to open up avenues of ways to change things for the better. Maybe a more educated society about some ridiculous facts and possibly ways to change them. "I'll keep you posted" if I find a way. I'd like to help others find a center in their lives. I'm hoping this year will be the year I can make a greater positive difference. Perhaps creating a network of people and talents. Or a web center of information and links to help others in their pursuits in their lives. And I hope to have the beginnings of this before the end of February, so wish me luck on that. Finally, I'd like to say that I know I get about 15,000 hits a month on this site, a number I never thought I'd ever see! And if you have a suggestion on something you'd like to see more of, please let me know. I'll see if I can un-earth more information about a subject I may have already touched on or maybe even something else. Please be kind in your responses. I hope to hear from some of you in an effort to improve the web site. Thanks! |