This post is starting out a little different from all of the others. I wrote about the "flashes of light" that nudge me to write daily. They usually come around 4:30 in the morning. Last night it was around 2:00 am and it was more like a "bolt of lightning".
Before I share the message, let me give you some background....it is important for you to know that I was raised in a family of "believers". We went to church every Sunday but we did not read the Bible. This had to do with leaders who were afraid church followers would misinterpret something if they tried to read the Bible alone. This thinking has been changed and today all of us are encouraged to take Bible study classes and read the Bible often.
When I went to Christian camp for the first time, my neighbor encouraged me to buy a Bible so I could follow some of the speakers. I felt strange because all the other Christians were quick to find a passage while I fumbled. Many had tabs to divide the sections but my Bible was like brand new. I pretty much used it during vacations to camp and it sat in a drawer the rest of the year.
The first time I recall getting a flash of light it was like a strange dream. A close family member was changing churches and another family member felt there was some mis-information that needed to be challenged so this relative could have the facts. I was told that our faith needed to be defended by showing our history. Since I did not know much history other than stories about Adam and Eve, Moses, Abraham and Noah, I prayed to God for help learning about the early history of the church. That night I had a dream but I did not think it had anything to do with my prayer request. Here is the dream...
I saw a bunch of people wearing white outfits. They were in pairs and they were each in deep discussion. Some guy was there and his outfit was red in color. Somehow, I knew his name and I knew he was not the leader but he kind of stood out. His name was John. The place looked similar to the dry wash my family went to for picnics in Arizona where I grew up.
When I woke up, I asked my wife what was going on in Antioch. I knew that these people wearing strange clothes were in Antioch. My wife recognized the name but told me nothing was going on that she was aware of. I searched the newspaper and checked the news on tv...nothing.
While serving customers, I kept asking if anyone was aware of Antioch. Finally, at the end of the day, my future business partner disclosed that Antioch was in the Bible. He told me it was the first place that followers of Christ were called Christians. At that very moment I connected the dream to my prayer request for knowledge of the early church. I was stunned and could not wait to open my unused Bible when I got home from work.
It turns out that the place I saw in my dream was a real place. It is also the only place I know of in the Bible where someone was called by their first and last name. This person is named John Mark and he was in Antioch at the time that "teaching" was going on. That is probably what I witnessed when these Christians were in pairs.
Tomorrow I will publish what happened when I prayed for God to show me who I am. My past, present and future were all revealed to me with one Bible passage. As for my future, if you are reading these posts, you are part of it. Tune in tomorrow for more.
Happy Labor Day weekend! I am off to the beach with my mother and my brother's family. My brother is younger than me and he is already a grandpa! We met his grandson for the first time last night. Now it is time for me to be a good host. It feels so good to have three days off!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Hood Security
Labor Day weekend marks the official end of summer and more Holidays are right around the corner. It is also a time when all of us unknowingly do things that attract burglars. Here are some security tips to protect you, your family, and your possessions:
1. The easiest way for a burglar to break in to your home is to get to your car first. If you are equipped with a built-in garage door opener, disable it and go back to the old-fashioned opener that you can remove when you are not in the car. Treat the garage door opener like a credit card.
2. Your navigation system probably has a "home" and "work" button. This is the first thing the burglar uses when he steals your car while you are at work or away shopping. Once you come out of the mall and notice that your car has been stolen, you may not be aware that the bad guy used your navigation (or vehicle registration) to go to your home and clean you out.
You were probably car jacked the moment you entered the mall and your possessions fenced before you discovered your car was missing. Your neighbors did not see anything strange since your burglar parked your car in your garage while he stole everything.
3. In my state, it is ok to photo copy your registration and then black out your address. If the police pull you over, they can access your info if they need to. Also, keep your insurance info with you and don't leave it or anything else in the car that reveals your address.
4. In the blink of an eye, you may be picking out a Christmas tree. While you are putting your presents under the tree, your burglar is watching you. You make it so easy because most of the year you keep the blinds shut but during Christmas the windows are wide open so you can proudly display your tree. Why not just put a big sign in your front yard that says "come get your big screen tv here"? You are probably doing that after you celebrate Christmas because you put all the boxes in the front yard for the garbage man. If your new home computer is on your thief's "shopping list" keep him from knowing you just bought it... make sure you take the box to another dumpster away from your home. Chances are the the burglar may just wait a few weeks until you load up your computer with some important data. Then he gets a new computer and your identity that is stored. Password protection? His jail buddy probably did time for hacking into computers. He will find a way around your passwords to get what he wants.
5. Don't put your trash out early if you are going out of town. Most people don't put the trash bins out until the night before unless they are going out of town. Arrange for a trusted neighbor to move your trash bins for you.
6. Don't cancel your paper. Burglars refer their buddies to circulation departments so they can be "notified" when your home is available. Make sure your neighbor picks it up every day. If any brochures are left on your door, make sure your neighbor removes them daily.
7. Many burglars work in teams or in families. The kids crawl through the pet doors to unlock the front door for mom and dad. If your items are not needed, your burglar may be in his own bad guy network. They have a party and trade your stolen stuff for other stolen stuff.
8. If you have moved in recently to a new home, you are the most vulnerable. Your burglar may have already visited your home while it was on the market. He located his favorite target, the master bedroom and wants to see if there is a security system in place. He also wants to know if any doors or windows are not protected. If you live in subdivision where the homes have the same floor plans, the burglar already visited the model and knows everything.
9. If your burglar did prison time, he networked with other burglars to further his "education". You see, burglars treat their jobs like a profession. They plan, they observe, and they prepare. As technology improves, they find more efficient ways to do their jobs. They use cell phones to communicate and they know where you hide the valuables.
10. Consider a home security system. The technology has come a long way and systems are more affordable than ever. Security cameras are great, especially when tied to an alarm system. If your alarm goes off, you can log in to your laptop or blackberry and see what is going on. If you are on the phone with the police during a burglary and you can describe the bad guys, they will have a better chance of catching them. If you decide to add a DVR to your camera system, make sure it is hidden and only use something that cannot be changed once it is recorded. ADT is one of the only companies that use some kind of watermarking on the recordings. The courts allow these types of recordings because the images cannot be modified. Set your DVR on a "loop" so you never miss recording. After a period of time with no problems, the oldest recordings will be erased and recorded over and over with no degrading.
11. If you decide to put in a home security system, you can use my friends and family promo code to get a $200 rebate (call 1-800-699-9238 and use promo code A39289). The only catch is that ADT requires you to spend at least $299 to get the $200 rebate. You may see some mailers from other companies that have "free" offers. If you go with one of these companies, read the fine print first and make sure you will get a fast response time. Also, if you have a service issue, make sure the company you choose is local and has enough service techs in case your system fails.
In closing, I hope all of you have a very happy and safe Labor Day. Be careful when you are using the new technology that is designed to make our lives better. The social web sites can bring families closer together but they can also advertise your vacation schedule to the burglars. Show off your vacation pics after you have returned home safely. It is tempting to post the pics in real time but your burglar may be watching and you don't want to come home and deal with a break-in.
Please share this with your loved ones and email me if you need advice. I give credit for this post to my ADT trainer, Susan, who spent time in prison ministry. I will post more about security down the road but now I need to go to work.
Feel free to comment on this post. Maybe you have an idea about home security that you would like to share. Just post your comment and we will all be safer. God Bless!
1. The easiest way for a burglar to break in to your home is to get to your car first. If you are equipped with a built-in garage door opener, disable it and go back to the old-fashioned opener that you can remove when you are not in the car. Treat the garage door opener like a credit card.
2. Your navigation system probably has a "home" and "work" button. This is the first thing the burglar uses when he steals your car while you are at work or away shopping. Once you come out of the mall and notice that your car has been stolen, you may not be aware that the bad guy used your navigation (or vehicle registration) to go to your home and clean you out.
You were probably car jacked the moment you entered the mall and your possessions fenced before you discovered your car was missing. Your neighbors did not see anything strange since your burglar parked your car in your garage while he stole everything.
3. In my state, it is ok to photo copy your registration and then black out your address. If the police pull you over, they can access your info if they need to. Also, keep your insurance info with you and don't leave it or anything else in the car that reveals your address.
4. In the blink of an eye, you may be picking out a Christmas tree. While you are putting your presents under the tree, your burglar is watching you. You make it so easy because most of the year you keep the blinds shut but during Christmas the windows are wide open so you can proudly display your tree. Why not just put a big sign in your front yard that says "come get your big screen tv here"? You are probably doing that after you celebrate Christmas because you put all the boxes in the front yard for the garbage man. If your new home computer is on your thief's "shopping list" keep him from knowing you just bought it... make sure you take the box to another dumpster away from your home. Chances are the the burglar may just wait a few weeks until you load up your computer with some important data. Then he gets a new computer and your identity that is stored. Password protection? His jail buddy probably did time for hacking into computers. He will find a way around your passwords to get what he wants.
5. Don't put your trash out early if you are going out of town. Most people don't put the trash bins out until the night before unless they are going out of town. Arrange for a trusted neighbor to move your trash bins for you.
6. Don't cancel your paper. Burglars refer their buddies to circulation departments so they can be "notified" when your home is available. Make sure your neighbor picks it up every day. If any brochures are left on your door, make sure your neighbor removes them daily.
7. Many burglars work in teams or in families. The kids crawl through the pet doors to unlock the front door for mom and dad. If your items are not needed, your burglar may be in his own bad guy network. They have a party and trade your stolen stuff for other stolen stuff.
8. If you have moved in recently to a new home, you are the most vulnerable. Your burglar may have already visited your home while it was on the market. He located his favorite target, the master bedroom and wants to see if there is a security system in place. He also wants to know if any doors or windows are not protected. If you live in subdivision where the homes have the same floor plans, the burglar already visited the model and knows everything.
9. If your burglar did prison time, he networked with other burglars to further his "education". You see, burglars treat their jobs like a profession. They plan, they observe, and they prepare. As technology improves, they find more efficient ways to do their jobs. They use cell phones to communicate and they know where you hide the valuables.
10. Consider a home security system. The technology has come a long way and systems are more affordable than ever. Security cameras are great, especially when tied to an alarm system. If your alarm goes off, you can log in to your laptop or blackberry and see what is going on. If you are on the phone with the police during a burglary and you can describe the bad guys, they will have a better chance of catching them. If you decide to add a DVR to your camera system, make sure it is hidden and only use something that cannot be changed once it is recorded. ADT is one of the only companies that use some kind of watermarking on the recordings. The courts allow these types of recordings because the images cannot be modified. Set your DVR on a "loop" so you never miss recording. After a period of time with no problems, the oldest recordings will be erased and recorded over and over with no degrading.
11. If you decide to put in a home security system, you can use my friends and family promo code to get a $200 rebate (call 1-800-699-9238 and use promo code A39289). The only catch is that ADT requires you to spend at least $299 to get the $200 rebate. You may see some mailers from other companies that have "free" offers. If you go with one of these companies, read the fine print first and make sure you will get a fast response time. Also, if you have a service issue, make sure the company you choose is local and has enough service techs in case your system fails.
In closing, I hope all of you have a very happy and safe Labor Day. Be careful when you are using the new technology that is designed to make our lives better. The social web sites can bring families closer together but they can also advertise your vacation schedule to the burglars. Show off your vacation pics after you have returned home safely. It is tempting to post the pics in real time but your burglar may be watching and you don't want to come home and deal with a break-in.
Please share this with your loved ones and email me if you need advice. I give credit for this post to my ADT trainer, Susan, who spent time in prison ministry. I will post more about security down the road but now I need to go to work.
Feel free to comment on this post. Maybe you have an idea about home security that you would like to share. Just post your comment and we will all be safer. God Bless!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Keep the Burglars Out of Your Home
When the first wildfire came through our town we had to evacuate for a few days. The cell phone towers were out and we had limited ways to communicate with our friends and family. My wife has a cousin that lives about 30 minutes away and she was very concerned about us because she had no way of knowing if we were ok. She was the first person to call when the second wildfire started less than ten miles from our home. We told her we were packing and watching the winds but did not know where we would stay if we evacuated. She invited us to stay at her place. I told her I could not leave my sister.
This cousin is extraordinary. Not only did she open her home to my family, she made room for my sister's family and a couple of other people that had no place to go. In addition to the families staying with her, there were about five dogs.
I felt at home in her hood. One of her neighbors brought over air mattresses and others cooked for us. Tough times bring out the best in people and we felt very comfortable during the week our town was shut down.
One day, my wife's cousin called to tell me a bad thing happened in her hood. She had lived in the same home for many years and for the most part, the hood was safe. That all changed when a group of burglars came through her street. They were brazen. The people in the car drove slowly down the street while the intruder broke in from the back yard. This happened in the middle of the day in front of neighbors. One of the neighbors walked up to the car and confronted these strangers (not recommended). They left the hood but took some things with them that did not belong to them.
After the event, I was contacted to protect the hood. My wife's cousin organized the hood and now everyone is safe. I visited the last installation in the hood before leaving ADT and the boy across the street recognized me. He yelled out, "I know what your job is...it is to protect me!"
After I returned to Zoom, I needed to figure out a way to help my sister who also wants to protect her home. I signed up for a "friends and family" program that will give her a $200 rebate and she will be taken care of by one of my friends who I trust to do the job right. Since many friends and family are reading this blog, I wanted to make sure you know I can still help you with safety tips and home security even though I am no longer an employee at ADT. Usually, people don't put systems in until there is a problem in their hood. It does not matter where your hood is, if you want a friends and family rebate on a security system, just call 1-800-699-9238 and give them the code "A39289". This will work no matter what state your hood is in.
I am putting a list of pointers together to help make your hood safer. These are all lessons I learned during my time in the cave. I promise to post these tips here on this blog within the next few days.
One of my family members asked if it was OK to share this blog with others. You have my permission. You are also invited to become a "follower" of this blog. I am honored that a couple of you have already done so. It feels so good to be re-connecting.
The pointers on protecting your home from burglars will be titled "Hood Security". When I am done writing it, I plan to give a copy to my ex-boss as a gift. These pointers are too valuable to be kept a secret and I hope they make you feel safer in your hood.
Just like the little boy said a couple of weeks ago, my job is to protect him. Now my friends and family can also benefit.
Stay safe and have a great day!
This cousin is extraordinary. Not only did she open her home to my family, she made room for my sister's family and a couple of other people that had no place to go. In addition to the families staying with her, there were about five dogs.
I felt at home in her hood. One of her neighbors brought over air mattresses and others cooked for us. Tough times bring out the best in people and we felt very comfortable during the week our town was shut down.
One day, my wife's cousin called to tell me a bad thing happened in her hood. She had lived in the same home for many years and for the most part, the hood was safe. That all changed when a group of burglars came through her street. They were brazen. The people in the car drove slowly down the street while the intruder broke in from the back yard. This happened in the middle of the day in front of neighbors. One of the neighbors walked up to the car and confronted these strangers (not recommended). They left the hood but took some things with them that did not belong to them.
After the event, I was contacted to protect the hood. My wife's cousin organized the hood and now everyone is safe. I visited the last installation in the hood before leaving ADT and the boy across the street recognized me. He yelled out, "I know what your job is...it is to protect me!"
After I returned to Zoom, I needed to figure out a way to help my sister who also wants to protect her home. I signed up for a "friends and family" program that will give her a $200 rebate and she will be taken care of by one of my friends who I trust to do the job right. Since many friends and family are reading this blog, I wanted to make sure you know I can still help you with safety tips and home security even though I am no longer an employee at ADT. Usually, people don't put systems in until there is a problem in their hood. It does not matter where your hood is, if you want a friends and family rebate on a security system, just call 1-800-699-9238 and give them the code "A39289". This will work no matter what state your hood is in.
I am putting a list of pointers together to help make your hood safer. These are all lessons I learned during my time in the cave. I promise to post these tips here on this blog within the next few days.
One of my family members asked if it was OK to share this blog with others. You have my permission. You are also invited to become a "follower" of this blog. I am honored that a couple of you have already done so. It feels so good to be re-connecting.
The pointers on protecting your home from burglars will be titled "Hood Security". When I am done writing it, I plan to give a copy to my ex-boss as a gift. These pointers are too valuable to be kept a secret and I hope they make you feel safer in your hood.
Just like the little boy said a couple of weeks ago, my job is to protect him. Now my friends and family can also benefit.
Stay safe and have a great day!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Come Sail Away
I am stunned by the responses to this new blog. I told my wife that I will write about "the flashes of light" I keep getting every day. That means these posts may appear at times to be very random. I thought I would be updating you on the Zoom story but something else popped into my head this morning, so here goes......
When I was a teenager, I listened to "Styx" on a daily basis. There were two songs that I listened to over and over, "Come Sail Away" and "You're Fooling Yourself". One song was about escaping and the other about overcoming anger and getting back on your feet. This group is still around today. A few years ago, my wife took me to see them live. It is one of the best birthday presents she has ever given me.
As I reflect on my life, the best way to describe it is to imagine that I am in a boat with my wife and we are sailing away. There is no motor in the boat and we need to rely on the wind to get to our destination. Sometimes the winds blow with hurricane force and other times we are just sitting there in this large body of water with not even a breeze to move us along.
If you are a type A personality, sitting in a sail boat with no wind can sometimes be very annoying. A couple of times my wife told me she was jumping out of the boat. Did you ever see the movie, "Overboard" with Goldie Hawn? When she jumps out of the boat, her true love jumps in to rescue her. I told my wife that if she ever jumps ship, I will be right behind her with a life preserver. The truth is that I need her in the boat with me to complete the journey we are on.
I will never forget how this boat idea started....I was on vacation at Christian camp (see earlier post) with my family and friends from the hood. My wife and I thought we were moving along at a good pace with our lives but we both felt we were not doing everything God was asking of us. We asked the camp director to pray with us after telling him that we were a little bit afraid about letting God have complete control of our lives. In our prayer, we asked for our "sails" to be at full mast and for our fears to be taken away (half mast is when you let God be in charge of part of your life while you have control of other parts).
When we got home, there was this letter waiting for me from our pastor. He was asking me to join this small group of people tasked with raising money for a new church. I laughed to myself because I knew this was going to be one long boat ride.
Whether you find yourself in a boat with no wind in your sails or in a dark cave with no light, there are lessons to be learned. The wind will blow when the time is right to sail and you will find a way out of the cave when the conditions outside are in alignment with the Creator's master plan.
Have a great day and come sail away.
When I was a teenager, I listened to "Styx" on a daily basis. There were two songs that I listened to over and over, "Come Sail Away" and "You're Fooling Yourself". One song was about escaping and the other about overcoming anger and getting back on your feet. This group is still around today. A few years ago, my wife took me to see them live. It is one of the best birthday presents she has ever given me.
As I reflect on my life, the best way to describe it is to imagine that I am in a boat with my wife and we are sailing away. There is no motor in the boat and we need to rely on the wind to get to our destination. Sometimes the winds blow with hurricane force and other times we are just sitting there in this large body of water with not even a breeze to move us along.
If you are a type A personality, sitting in a sail boat with no wind can sometimes be very annoying. A couple of times my wife told me she was jumping out of the boat. Did you ever see the movie, "Overboard" with Goldie Hawn? When she jumps out of the boat, her true love jumps in to rescue her. I told my wife that if she ever jumps ship, I will be right behind her with a life preserver. The truth is that I need her in the boat with me to complete the journey we are on.
I will never forget how this boat idea started....I was on vacation at Christian camp (see earlier post) with my family and friends from the hood. My wife and I thought we were moving along at a good pace with our lives but we both felt we were not doing everything God was asking of us. We asked the camp director to pray with us after telling him that we were a little bit afraid about letting God have complete control of our lives. In our prayer, we asked for our "sails" to be at full mast and for our fears to be taken away (half mast is when you let God be in charge of part of your life while you have control of other parts).
When we got home, there was this letter waiting for me from our pastor. He was asking me to join this small group of people tasked with raising money for a new church. I laughed to myself because I knew this was going to be one long boat ride.
Whether you find yourself in a boat with no wind in your sails or in a dark cave with no light, there are lessons to be learned. The wind will blow when the time is right to sail and you will find a way out of the cave when the conditions outside are in alignment with the Creator's master plan.
Have a great day and come sail away.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Accountability
As I was driving to work this morning I was thinking about all of the encouraging responses I have received since starting this blog. It was difficult for me to be so disconnected from everyone while I was in the cave and now that I am out, I am getting to see great pics from friends and relatives all over the country.
Even though this will be the toughest day of my work week (15 hours starting in about 20 minutes and finishing at midnight), I have made a commitment to stay on top of my love letters to my wife and to contribute to this blog. My wife also writes me daily and it helps to keep me going. Your responses to my blog give me encouragement. I like writing to my wife as soon as I wake up because she is the love of my life and she deserves to know that she is always my first priority. Even though we are up to about 1,700 letters in a row, there is always something to write about. Writing this blog comes after the love letter and my promise is to post daily before I go to bed.
As for this blog, I believe it will help me to remain accountable. Yesterday was my first day back at Zoom. I spent the day reconnecting with past customers. Many are on the edge of survival and Zoom can make a difference. There is so much to do. For now, my job is to focus on getting more customers in our magazine.
The theme for today's post is accountability. I am asking those of you who are following this blog to hold me accountable. That means keeping in touch with you daily and following through on my promises to you.
Have a great day today and thanks for holding me accountable.
Even though this will be the toughest day of my work week (15 hours starting in about 20 minutes and finishing at midnight), I have made a commitment to stay on top of my love letters to my wife and to contribute to this blog. My wife also writes me daily and it helps to keep me going. Your responses to my blog give me encouragement. I like writing to my wife as soon as I wake up because she is the love of my life and she deserves to know that she is always my first priority. Even though we are up to about 1,700 letters in a row, there is always something to write about. Writing this blog comes after the love letter and my promise is to post daily before I go to bed.
As for this blog, I believe it will help me to remain accountable. Yesterday was my first day back at Zoom. I spent the day reconnecting with past customers. Many are on the edge of survival and Zoom can make a difference. There is so much to do. For now, my job is to focus on getting more customers in our magazine.
The theme for today's post is accountability. I am asking those of you who are following this blog to hold me accountable. That means keeping in touch with you daily and following through on my promises to you.
Have a great day today and thanks for holding me accountable.
Monday, August 31, 2009
The story of Zoom (Day 3)
Wow! What an awesome reunion with my neighbors from the hood yesterday (see my post from day 2). I really appreciate the emails from all of you regarding this blog. It looks like you want to know more about what I've been up to, so here is the story I promised to share about starting up ZoomAutos.com:
I was very fortunate to be surrounded by a super talented group of people who were passionate about work and life. Many of us were married and raising families. We loved serving our customers and we were well rewarded for our contributions. We always pushed ourselves to go to seminars and learn how to do our jobs better. Our city was known as the flag ship of the company.
The local owner of the company we worked for was being challenged by a multi-billion dollar corporation. This corporation purchased the national name from the original founder. Our boss was licensed to publish a magazine called Auto Trader in San Diego county. Apparently, this corporation felt that my boss's internet site went beyond the boundaries of his licensing agreement. Long story short, my boss sold out and we got a new boss. Let's just say that the new boss was owned by two companies that didn't really like each other and many of us struggled to figure out how we fit in.
One day, a few of us decided we needed to move on or start our own company and compete. We learned that a secret deal had been made behind closed doors. This secret deal black-balled us from joining the internet division that had been separated from our print jobs. This made some of us very angry because it seemed so wrong. For me, it gave me a burning desire to compete with this Goliath.
The first thing we did was consult with an attorney. We hired him about one year before we actually launched ZoomAutos.com. His job was to prepare us for the war that would eventually be declared on our start-up company. He was certain that we were too much of a threat to be left alone and he was regarded as one of the best in the country. We made a lot of mistakes when we launched but not hiring an attorney would have destroyed us.
The first lesson he taught us was about the two types of business interference, lawful and unlawful. Another name for lawful interference is competition. We learned exactly how to move forward without getting into hot water and we were ready when our ex-bosses tried to intimidate us.
Preparing to compete while you are still employed is legal in our state. You just have to be careful not to invent anything because, legally, your boss can claim ownership. The next step for us was to make a plan and then follow the plan. We spent months meeting in secret to prepare defenses for every possible attack.
For me, I kept visualizing the scene from "King Arthur" where the small group of knights are on their horses as they survey the enemy below. The enemy is massive. The year of preparation is what made the difference between success and failure. We swore to 100% secrecy. None of our co-workers, friends or even parents could be told until launch. One slip and we were doomed. We even used code names to keep our plans under wraps.
My next post will talk about the final days leading up to our launch and how we defended ourselves once war was declared by "Goliath". I will never forget the text messages we got in real time as war was being declared. Our attorney was already writing the response before the meeting was over. The head hunt for insiders was relentless but our "helpers" were never discovered.
As I share more of our story, you need to understand that there are certain things that all of us at Zoom are forever bound to never disclose. Let me state up front that we know many trade secrets as a result of our twenty years working for "Goliath". We cannot ever share those trade secrets. These posts are for the benefit of those who may want to go out on their own and are not meant to berate my ex-boss. As a matter of fact, I owe my last boss a big thank you because I am now living the dream.
For now, it is time to take a shower and get ready for my first day back with my Zoom partners.
Please keep up your comments. This whole blog thing is like writing a book and publishing it in real time. I will attempt to write a little bit each day and your comments will help me decide what to share. For now, I want to make sure my friends and relatives know that I am out of the cave. Goliath already knows I am back. I learned some new ways to use my slingshot and can't wait to get back on the battlefield.
Your prayers are much appreciated. God Bless!
P.S. The following video was recommended by a family member. It was made by some high school students and fits into the "David vs. Goliath" story...
I was very fortunate to be surrounded by a super talented group of people who were passionate about work and life. Many of us were married and raising families. We loved serving our customers and we were well rewarded for our contributions. We always pushed ourselves to go to seminars and learn how to do our jobs better. Our city was known as the flag ship of the company.
The local owner of the company we worked for was being challenged by a multi-billion dollar corporation. This corporation purchased the national name from the original founder. Our boss was licensed to publish a magazine called Auto Trader in San Diego county. Apparently, this corporation felt that my boss's internet site went beyond the boundaries of his licensing agreement. Long story short, my boss sold out and we got a new boss. Let's just say that the new boss was owned by two companies that didn't really like each other and many of us struggled to figure out how we fit in.
One day, a few of us decided we needed to move on or start our own company and compete. We learned that a secret deal had been made behind closed doors. This secret deal black-balled us from joining the internet division that had been separated from our print jobs. This made some of us very angry because it seemed so wrong. For me, it gave me a burning desire to compete with this Goliath.
The first thing we did was consult with an attorney. We hired him about one year before we actually launched ZoomAutos.com. His job was to prepare us for the war that would eventually be declared on our start-up company. He was certain that we were too much of a threat to be left alone and he was regarded as one of the best in the country. We made a lot of mistakes when we launched but not hiring an attorney would have destroyed us.
The first lesson he taught us was about the two types of business interference, lawful and unlawful. Another name for lawful interference is competition. We learned exactly how to move forward without getting into hot water and we were ready when our ex-bosses tried to intimidate us.
Preparing to compete while you are still employed is legal in our state. You just have to be careful not to invent anything because, legally, your boss can claim ownership. The next step for us was to make a plan and then follow the plan. We spent months meeting in secret to prepare defenses for every possible attack.
For me, I kept visualizing the scene from "King Arthur" where the small group of knights are on their horses as they survey the enemy below. The enemy is massive. The year of preparation is what made the difference between success and failure. We swore to 100% secrecy. None of our co-workers, friends or even parents could be told until launch. One slip and we were doomed. We even used code names to keep our plans under wraps.
My next post will talk about the final days leading up to our launch and how we defended ourselves once war was declared by "Goliath". I will never forget the text messages we got in real time as war was being declared. Our attorney was already writing the response before the meeting was over. The head hunt for insiders was relentless but our "helpers" were never discovered.
As I share more of our story, you need to understand that there are certain things that all of us at Zoom are forever bound to never disclose. Let me state up front that we know many trade secrets as a result of our twenty years working for "Goliath". We cannot ever share those trade secrets. These posts are for the benefit of those who may want to go out on their own and are not meant to berate my ex-boss. As a matter of fact, I owe my last boss a big thank you because I am now living the dream.
For now, it is time to take a shower and get ready for my first day back with my Zoom partners.
Please keep up your comments. This whole blog thing is like writing a book and publishing it in real time. I will attempt to write a little bit each day and your comments will help me decide what to share. For now, I want to make sure my friends and relatives know that I am out of the cave. Goliath already knows I am back. I learned some new ways to use my slingshot and can't wait to get back on the battlefield.
Your prayers are much appreciated. God Bless!
P.S. The following video was recommended by a family member. It was made by some high school students and fits into the "David vs. Goliath" story...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Hood (day 2 outside of the cave)
Happy Sunday to my friends and family members. I wrote yesterday that the next post would be about how ZoomAutos.com started. It is an amazing story that has never been told before but I got another flash of light about thirty minutes ago and decided I better write about that first. It is about the original hood I moved into twenty years ago when my wife and I were just married. There are no names in this post out of respect for privacy but these people were put in my life to help me achieve the impossible and the Zoom story may not have happened without these incredible neighbors who continue to touch my life in a very deep way.
After Church this morning we are having a reunion with the original neighbors that were here when we moved in twenty years ago. My wife and I are the last of the originals to be living on the street but we have kept in touch with each of these special people. Each member of the hood will have access to this blog and day 2 of my new life is dedicated to them.
When we first moved in, we were the youngest in the hood. The average age was late 30's. One couple was older with grown kids. Everyone in the hood went to them for advice and they had the best Halloween candy for our kids. It was a sad day when they moved out but the wife needed to be close to a hospital and we live in a remote area. Thanks to a donor, the wife has been able to live a very full life and we can't wait to see her today. The husband got a post-retirement job at a store that we patronize and every time we see him he is surrounded by people and he is the life of the party. He was the same way in the hood.
We have now been through two wildfires that started not too far from the hood. The first one turned out to be the biggest in our state's history. My next door neighbor had to leave the hood because her house burned down in that fire.
Another family moved in a few years after us and what they did for the hood during the first wildfire can never be repaid. The husband had special credentials that he used to get back to the hood during the fire. He hooked up all of our the garden hoses to put out spot fires that kept flaring up after the main firestorm came through. We had railroad ties all around our home and this neighbor made sure that every time they re-ignited, the spot fires were eliminated.
Usually, when you take a vacation, you leave your hood and get far away. Well, this hood was different. A couple of the neighbors were getting together every summer at this really awesome Christian camp. Year after year they would invite us but we thought our kids were too small so we waited until we they were older. Once we joined our neighbors for vacations we got even closer to them.
One family moved away but we would continue to organize our vacations at camp to get together with them. The husband canceled his vacation because he was in the hospital in dire need of a liver transplant. While we were at camp, we got the entire place to pray for him. The regulars from prior years remembered him as the crazy one who organized pool polo games at 7:00 am where you had to play using inner tubes (they found out our neighbor was the ring leader when they questioned all the kids during their daily activities). We were NOT popular!
Within hours of certain death, a liver became available and our neighbor was granted new life. The hospital was on the way home from camp so we delivered cards from all the people that prayed for our neighbor. He was too sick to see us but the cards touched him. Later we learned that most people don't live long enough to get a transplant. You have to be the sickest on the list (near death) to qualify and the day he got the liver he was #2 on the list. #1 died hours before the liver became available.
As I close this post, I would like to ask two things. First, please pray that good health returns to my ex-neighbor that we will nickname "the candy lady". Second, please consider becoming an organ or blood donor. Two people from my hood are alive today because of the kindness of others. The water polo ring leader dedicated his life to serving others once he got his transplant. He is now a full-time deacon. Their family adopted four more kids and now total 8 children. You never know what your generosity can do to make our world better.
Wherever your hood is, may you be Blessed with good neighbors. I promise to write about Zoom soon unless I get another flash of light that inspires me to write about something else first. Happy Sunday!
After Church this morning we are having a reunion with the original neighbors that were here when we moved in twenty years ago. My wife and I are the last of the originals to be living on the street but we have kept in touch with each of these special people. Each member of the hood will have access to this blog and day 2 of my new life is dedicated to them.
When we first moved in, we were the youngest in the hood. The average age was late 30's. One couple was older with grown kids. Everyone in the hood went to them for advice and they had the best Halloween candy for our kids. It was a sad day when they moved out but the wife needed to be close to a hospital and we live in a remote area. Thanks to a donor, the wife has been able to live a very full life and we can't wait to see her today. The husband got a post-retirement job at a store that we patronize and every time we see him he is surrounded by people and he is the life of the party. He was the same way in the hood.
We have now been through two wildfires that started not too far from the hood. The first one turned out to be the biggest in our state's history. My next door neighbor had to leave the hood because her house burned down in that fire.
Another family moved in a few years after us and what they did for the hood during the first wildfire can never be repaid. The husband had special credentials that he used to get back to the hood during the fire. He hooked up all of our the garden hoses to put out spot fires that kept flaring up after the main firestorm came through. We had railroad ties all around our home and this neighbor made sure that every time they re-ignited, the spot fires were eliminated.
Usually, when you take a vacation, you leave your hood and get far away. Well, this hood was different. A couple of the neighbors were getting together every summer at this really awesome Christian camp. Year after year they would invite us but we thought our kids were too small so we waited until we they were older. Once we joined our neighbors for vacations we got even closer to them.
One family moved away but we would continue to organize our vacations at camp to get together with them. The husband canceled his vacation because he was in the hospital in dire need of a liver transplant. While we were at camp, we got the entire place to pray for him. The regulars from prior years remembered him as the crazy one who organized pool polo games at 7:00 am where you had to play using inner tubes (they found out our neighbor was the ring leader when they questioned all the kids during their daily activities). We were NOT popular!
Within hours of certain death, a liver became available and our neighbor was granted new life. The hospital was on the way home from camp so we delivered cards from all the people that prayed for our neighbor. He was too sick to see us but the cards touched him. Later we learned that most people don't live long enough to get a transplant. You have to be the sickest on the list (near death) to qualify and the day he got the liver he was #2 on the list. #1 died hours before the liver became available.
As I close this post, I would like to ask two things. First, please pray that good health returns to my ex-neighbor that we will nickname "the candy lady". Second, please consider becoming an organ or blood donor. Two people from my hood are alive today because of the kindness of others. The water polo ring leader dedicated his life to serving others once he got his transplant. He is now a full-time deacon. Their family adopted four more kids and now total 8 children. You never know what your generosity can do to make our world better.
Wherever your hood is, may you be Blessed with good neighbors. I promise to write about Zoom soon unless I get another flash of light that inspires me to write about something else first. Happy Sunday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)