I have new news to report.  I am now working at Ancestry.com (part of The Generations Network) as a software engineer for their search development team.  As time has passed, I am realizing that I need to support my wife and child and I am not in a position to earn a full time living from home yet.  Today was my first day and though it will be tough to sit doing full time work again, I am thankful to Ancestry.com (TGN) for hiring me and giving me a pretty decent salary and benefits to support my family.

 

I look forward to continuing work on drjerm.  My focus is to provide information and resources that will help people having trouble in their lives.  I seek to share advice from my heart.  I also share lessons I am learning in my life.  Sometimes those lessons are very painful.  But I know that with continued effort and faith, that good results will eventually come.

 

Thank you to all of you who participate and read my blog (and website) entries.  As time goes on day to day, I get excited about the prospect of being a full time life coach one day.  But for now, it will just have to be part time, though I never really stop being a life coach, even when I’m at work doing development.  Life coaching is all about people and I now work with people whose lives I hope I can impact for the better.  I am also excited and hopeful to meet The Rock, Dwayne Johnson someday, and show that with effort and faith, big things can be set in motion.  Thanks again!

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The olympics have recently finished and I’ve been following the United States men’s basketball team for the last few years. The team won the gold medal in the Olympics this year (2008) by beating Spain.  The team has done pretty well with a couple challenges in the past. Being a basketball fan, there is much interest for me in this team – they are a team of all NBA basketball players. I would like to share some things about this team that I believe are of note and may possibly be of benefit to those reading.

 

A Little History

 

Back in 1992, the Olympics began to allow NBA players to play.  This led to the U.S. easily capturing the gold medal that year.  In 1996 the same thing happened.  In 2000, the U.S. did pretty well, but had some close calls.  They only beat Lithuania by 2 points, but won the gold medal again beating France.  In 2002, the U.S. began losing basketball games in international competition.  In 2004, the U.S. won the bronze medal in the Olympics after losing to Argentina in the semi-finals (final four teams).  The U.S. team faced much scrutiny with losing in international competition and some would say that the loosely throwing a team together of ‘NBA stars’ was no longer working.

 

2006 – 2008

 

One thing I really like is that the coach of Duke University, Mike Krzyzewski, was put in place to lead the U.S. team.  If you do not know who this man is, please read about him here.  He is an amazing man and a terrific basketball coach.  Not only that, a team was put together with some NBA stars, and other players who filled specific roles like shooting specialists.  I believe in 2006, that a team chemistry began that started to propel the U.S. forward.  Even though the U.S. lost to Greece in the 2006 world championships (their only loss), I could tell that things were turning around.

 

Hard Work, Dedication, and Lessons Learned

 

You can find a series of videos entitled, ‘Road to Redemption’ about the U.S. basketball team here.  I recommend watching all of them, they are very interesting.  The things that stand out to me are the immense amount of time that the team is spending preparing for the Olympics.  And the Oympics were just a month long or so.  The players on the team all make millions of dollars and have more money than most of us could ever dream of.  It would be very easy for them to not want to participate in the Olympics.  Just by watching the videos, you can see the tremendous effort that the team, coaches, and other managers are putting in.  How many of us, if we had millions of dollars, would still be working this hard?

 

I believe the U.S. learned some valuable lessons from losing in international competition for basketball.  They realized that being complacent and not giving maximum effort will not yield the best results.  They are realizing that hard work and dedication pays off.  These are lessons that we can all learn from.  Are you frustrated that things are not happening in your life?  Start by getting dedicated and putting in hard work.  See if things don’t start turning around eventually.

 

This journey of the U.S. basketball team has influenced my life.  I truly am amazed by their hard work and dedication, and it is an example to me for what I should be doing in my life.  Though I may never meet any of the players on the U.S. team, they have inspired me and are an example that helps me in my life.

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In the early/middle of 2008, I experienced some hard times with a company I helped start.  I look back and I had a wide array of emotions from frustration to anger to optimism.  I want to show these posts in order so that one can see the journey I went through.  Yes, even I have to deal with anger and frustration in situations.  The end result is that I decided to be positive and optimistic while maintaining a sense of reality.  It is ok to be angry.  It is not ok to let that anger fester.

 

Some people told me I should remove the posts because they have some negativity in them.  I am deciding not to because I want to show that I am human as well.  I have faults and things I need to work on just like anyone else.  With that, here is the list of posts outlining this situation:

 

http://blog.drjerm.com/2008/06/27/your-day-job-is-gone-now-what-are-you-going-to-do/

 

http://blog.drjerm.com/2008/06/28/the-aftermath-from-being-let-go-from-a-company-i-helped-start/

 

http://blog.drjerm.com/2008/06/29/handling-intense-negative-emotions/

 

http://blog.drjerm.com/2008/06/29/the-reciprocity-of-drjerm/

 

http://blog.drjerm.com/2008/07/02/handling-change-and-being-adaptable/

 

http://blog.drjerm.com/2008/07/03/keep-your-head-up-and-move-forward/

 

Thank you for reading, and I enjoy sharing my experiences with all of you, both the good times and bad, and seeing that I have faults and things to work on keeps me motivated to help all of you, my readers.

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I recently returned from a trip along the Oregon coast with my wife’s side of the family.  I’d like to recount this trip along with some of the things we did as well as some neat things I learned.

 

Camping Sites

 

• Cape Lookout State Park
• Nehalem Bay State Park
• Valley of the Rogue

 

Places Visited

 

• Tillamook Cheese Factory
• Air Museum
• Oregon Coast Aquarium
• Oregon Vortex
• Crater Lake
• Beaches

 

Things Learned About Successful People

 

In talking with my brother in law, Jeff, we agreed that highly successful people are talented, smart, charismatic, and lucky.  It takes a string of events favoring an individual to truly propel them into what is mainstream success for a profession.  However, success can be garnered without a string of lucky events.  Creating something of high quality and value for other people and being persistent and determined are the main ingredients for success.

 

Visiting Nature

 

Taking a break from sitting at my computer to visiting nature was a very good idea.  I loved to sit in the forest and look at the trees, or sit around the campfire and stare into the flames.  All of this was helpful in taking my mind of my busy life.

 

Quality Time With My Wife

 

This trip was a time to spend quality time with my wife and her family.  We were able to make memories together through video and pictures.  This is something that is very important to her.  I’ve realized that I need to take more trips with my wife and family to further our relationship together.

 

Recap

 

The trip was wonderful and tiring.  I learned that trips together with family are a good chance to make memories and help bring the family closer together.  All in all, a good trip and I am glad to be back home and am ready to go to work :)

 

From My Wife’s Point of View

 

My wonderful wife and I have a family blog where she speaks from the perspective of our tiny toddler Ellie.  I am posting what she wrote about the trip here as she does such a good job explaining things :)

 

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Hello hello! We are back in town from our family reunion on the Oregon coast! It was so much fun! But I am glad to be back in my own crib! My schedule got pretty whacked over the last ten days and the last three days I wasn’t feeling well. I cut a new tooth last week, too!

 

Here is what we did:

 

Day 1:
Flew to Seattle with my parents. We spent the night at Aunt Wendy and Uncle Jeff’s house.

 

Day 2:
Drove to Cape Lookout State Park with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Pat, Curtis, mom, dad, and Jager the Australian Shepherd puppy. Grandma Janice, Aunt Jennifer, Madison, and Katelyn drove to Seattle and then drove down with us as well. We were supposed to leave at 10:30am, but who leaves on time for a trip? We left my aunt’s house at 5:30pm and didn’t arrive to the campsite until 11:40pm. We met up with Uncle David, Aunt Vanessa, Courtney, Brandy, Jaden, and Uncle Danny.

 

Day 3:
What a beautiful day! We hung around our beautiful campsite and strolled along the beach. The sun was shining and the temperature was very nice. This was my first time to see the ocean! The beach was very cool feeling. Aunt Wendy, Uncle Jeff, Milo, and Hunter met us here in the late morning.

 

Day 4:
We drove into Tillamook and toured through the Tillamook Cheese Factory! We also went to the Air Museum, which is the largest wood hanger in the world! In the evening, mom played Fluffy Bunny with Hunter and Curtis. (The Fluffy Bunny game is where you are asked a series of questions and for each wrong answer you have to put a marshmallow in your mouth and say “I am a fluffy bunny.” You can’t chew until the game is over.) Mom asked questions about me–per Hunter’s suggestion; it was cool to see how much they knew about me! Mom asked questions like when was I born; what was my first Christmas present; what was my birth weight; when did I start to crawl, etc.

 

Day 5:
We drove to Newport and went through the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Mom and dad got to pet real sharks and stingrays!

 

Day 6:
We drove to our new campsite at Nehalem Bay State Park. This was also close to the beach. Mom and dad made Pork Stew for dinner in the dutch ovens. This is the day that my fourth bottom tooth broke through my gum!

 

Day 7:
Mom and dad put me in my swimsuit and headed for the beach. Ha! The wind was so strong that it was pushing us over! Needless to say, I stayed very close to mom and all bundled up. It was still cool to see the water, though. This is the first night that I didn’t sleep well.

 

Day 8:
We drove to our last destination, Valley of the Rogue State Park. We stopped at the Meares Lookout lighthouse and saw the rocks from the “Goonies” movie! That was pretty cool. We also saw Sealions basking in the sun. The drive took a long time, and so, once again, we had to set up our tent around midnight. I didn’t sleep very well again.

 

Day 9:
The temperature was so nice and warm! Aunt Wendy, Uncle Jeff, Milo, mom, and dad stayed with me at the campground while everyone else went to Crater Lake. We went to the store and bought some Tylenol and Orajel. I began feeling much better once I got some! Mom and I were able to take a two-hour nap!

 

Day 10:
Our last day. We went to the Oregon Vortex. This was pretty cool, too. It is an area of naturally occurring visual and perceptual phenomena. After going here, we said good-bye to everyone who wasn’t driving back up to Seattle. We drove to Seattle and then went to bed.

 

Day 11:
Today! My cousin, Drew, drove us to the airport and we flew home. Our neighbor, Curtis, picked us up and we arrived home at 7:30pm. I have never been so happy to fall asleep in my crib! :D

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I received some information on my website about someone who had taken some big steps to overcoming a challenge they were having with eating food and a desire to deal with a job they do not like.  Here is what they said to me, and I quote:

 

“Thanks to Dr Jerm, I’ve decided to take control of my life. I was
struggling for a good 2-3 months. I couldn’t get enough sugar. The more I ate,
the more I wanted. Even with my lap-band, I was able to down tons of cookies,
shakes, ice cream, brownies, you name it. And I was miserable. It was the
never-ending cycle of my whole life. Eat, get depressed, eat, get depressed. I
woke up in the morning remembering the day before and how awful I ate. I went to
bed at night thinking about how horrible I am and how hopeless I felt. Well,
after a great discussion with Dr Jerm and after I downed 2 huge pieces of cake
with the best Meadow Gold Cookies and Cream ice cream, I decided that was it. I
came home and literally pulled out a garbage bag and started dumping my junk
food into it. I thought I was saving that kind of stuff for my kids, but they
don’t need it either! I threw away all the peanut butter cookies I had made the
day before (I ate 3 in the process of throwing them away!) I threw away all the
Rice Krispy treats, Kit Kats, sugary cereal, Costco cupcakes that we paid $15
for, a box of brand new cookies we bought at Costco, and my favorite creamy Jif
Peanut butter that I can’t get enough of. Today is Sunday so that means I
haven’t had sugar in 4 days. I didn’t think I would be able to make it. I am
hoping to take this momentum and start exercising this week as well. I haven’t
weighed myself, but I’ll have to weigh tomorrow and start posting my weekly
losses. This is so hard and it takes so much self-control.  I also need to take
control of the complete misery and depression I feel every time I get ready for
work and all day long while I’m at work.  I’m hoping Dr Jerm will help me find
my true meaning and solve the root of a lot of my problems, which is my horrible
job.  More to come.”

 

I am very excited to see that I’ve had a positive effect on this person.  Just look at all the junk food that they have thrown away!  That is terrific to see.  I know that overcoming eating habits that have been formed over a long period of time are extremely difficult to break.  There is no ‘easy’ way to start eating right if you’ve been down the easy track of eating, so it takes a little bit of discomfort and some real willpower.  This person is on just the right track to taking control of their life.

 

I love to hear stories like this because it helps me realize that what I am doing is making a difference in people’s lives.  I know that I am only one man, but I believe if I am proactive and continually talk about what I do with people that I will continue to reach people and hopefully stir something within them to make some changes.

 

I know that making changes isn’t easy.  But I wanted to share this particular person’s story with all of you because they have shown immense dedication in overcoming their problems.  To this person, I have the following to say:

 

It won’t be easy to continue down the path of proper eating.  It takes daily discipline and commitment.  Remember that a colorful plate of food is your friend.  Apples, carrots, walnuts, black beans, salmon, regular oatmeal, eggs, tomatoes, regular yogurt, all natural peanut butter, wheat bread are great foods!  You will even get to a point where an occasional indulgence in something sweet is ok.  But remember the way you felt when you were eating in a way that didn’t make you happy.

 

When you are craving food, just substitute that craving with doing something proactive.  Either a fun activity or finding something healthy to munch on, like some yogurt or walnuts.  In regards to your job that you do not like, I know that with a bit of planning and thought that you will realize there is more for you to do in the world and I wish you the best of luck as you seek to figure out what this is.

 

With a little bit of effort and faith, we can all overcome the challenges that plague us.  It comes down to making the choice to do so.  I hope that I am able to stir people to action and I am happy to see that I have affected this person for the better!

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A very interesting thing happened to my blog yesterday.  I notice that my traffic shot up like a rocket.  I’ve since been trying to see why this was and it is because of Oprah Winfrey.  Yesterday (7/1/2008), Oprah aired a rerun episode with Yvette Cade in it.  I wrote an article about Yvette Cade a while back and that article brought in over 150 visitors alone on Google.

 

So first and foremost, thanks Oprah for the extra traffic to my blog.  I hope the readers of my blog are able to get the information they need and also find other interesting information to read about.  You can click on the categories on the left to see my blog entries.  Or search in the box at the top left.  For those of you wanting to find the story of Yvette Cade on Oprah, you can use the link here.

 

This got me thinking about the power day time television really has, particularly Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks.  A light bulb went off in my head.  How about expounding on topics that popular talk show hosts talk about and linking to their information?  Seems worth a try to me!  I will give it a shot and we’ll see what happens.  Plus it will give me more to write about.

 

I wrote about Yvette Cade earlier because her story is truly inspiring.  She is an optimistic and positive woman.  I am proud to have her on my blog.  I know there is much we can all learn from her.  As a woman, set on fire by her estranged and ex husband, Yvette is a survivor.  I am thankful to know her story.

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So I’ve been a bit serious lately with one of the bigger challenges in life that I have faced and that is getting betrayed by a business partner.  More will certainly come on that later, but for now, let’s look at something a little different.  Are you ready?  I thought so, let’s read on!

 

The 10 Year High School Reunion

 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend my wife’s 10 year high school reunion.  This was held at one of the local universities in a nice big room.  There was also some kind of singles dance down the hall a bit where cologne was running rampant, but more on that later.

 

My wife has spent the last six months going full steam ahead planning this 10 year high school reunion with a couple of her friends.  It’s been her second job.  My second job has then become doing anything to help her work on the reunion, such as keeping our daughter Ellie from chewing on things important to the reunion.

 

So we arrived early to get stuff setup for the reunion and apparently they were planning on having a stage for the reunion but instead there was just an open area against a wall.  Uh oh, things going wrong with something, now that’s absurd!

 

But that’s okay because there was a table, podium, and microphone there.  And a place to hook up a laptop to show a slide show presentation so all was good… or was it?

 

We had food catered to us in a room with about 25 tables each with 10 chairs or so to them.  All of the waiters were Spanish.  So when I said to one of them, ‘these rolls are tasty, can we get some refills?’ I got a um, shrugged shoulders, blank stare to which I responded, ‘don’t worry about it’.  No extra rolls for me to eat, I’m a big boy, I can handle it.

 

And then it came time to show a slide show and, whoops, there is sound but no display.  Luckily, one of the husbands of an alumni, or maybe it was an alumni with a wife, was able to tinker around and working his mojo got the display to work.  Woo hoo, the slide show is full steam ahead.

 

So a few wrenches were thrown into the reunion, but that’s ok.  It worked out great, everyone loved it, and the thanks my wife and the reunion committee got was great.  It goes to show that effort, dedication, and proper planning lead to wonderful things.  The 10 year high school reunion was a big success!

 

After the Reunion

 

Then there’s the after reunion stuff… Which means everyone talking to each other and catching up.  And for the spouses it means finding something to keep yourself occupied.  I had a book that I am reading about real estate.  It’s actually a pretty interesting book so far.  When I am done, I will post a review on the drjerm website, but until then, you can check it out here.

 

And when my neck was hurting from reading, I found myself counting the bark chips in the plant holders, counting the tiles on the walls and floor, and pacing around like an English soldier or wandering drunk, except I wasn’t drunk.  Counting the tiles was fun, it reminded me of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ movie released a few years ago where in prison, Edmond Dantes tells the priest he’s counted 12,000 (or some high number) odd stones and the priest asks him if he’s named them yet to which Edmond balls like a baby.

 

But eventually people dispersed and we cleaned up and got ready to leave.  All in all, a successful event.

 

The Dance

 

On the way out of the university it was very evident that a singles dance was going on.  All I did was walk in the halls as many guys walked by, their hair greasier than a basket of fries, their clothes ironed so much that they look like their poor iron is probably crying from overuse, and the cologne!

 

Wow, I’ve smelled cologne before, but this was more than cologne, it was as if the guys at this dance found a fountain of cologne, and each bathed in it for 40 days in preparation for this big event, and then they washed their clothes in the cologne fountain, and then, after getting dressed, sprayed bottles of cologne on themselves.  I thought I was going to pass out into a coma.  Luckily I made it home, safe and sound.

 

EDIT –> I am sorry for the Google Ads that are being displayed for this article.  I am going to have to tweak this article to get some better, less crude ads to display.

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