Japi's Blog

Plane crashes on golf course

A few weeks ago (July 10, 2007) I read about a small plane crash landing on the golf course (Houston National Golf) where we live.  Thank goodness nobody was hurt and the pilot walked away from the crash scene. 

Originally I saw it on HCOnline and immediately called home to make sure things were ok.  My kids were both at work, so I didn't talk to them.

I didn't think much about the crash after that day.... until earlier this week I received an e-newsletter from Houston National Golf Club.  In the email, there were specials and the typical announcements, the subject caught my eye - Drop in and See Us at Houston National!

As I scrolled through the content, I came across a picture of the plane crash (it looks more like a bad landing) and a caption that read:

Everyone's dropping in!
This plane made an emergency landing on the South course, when the pilot began experiencing technical difficulties.  He was unharmed and was able to walk away from the plane.

I was floored! 

I seriously doubt that they would have put this on the newsletter if someone had been hurt.  I was pleased to see a company have a playful attitude with a potentially negative P.R. situation.  Ignoring it would have been silly since it was everywhere... so it was a nice moment for me.

Here's the picture that showed up on the email:

How A Paradigm Is Formed

Growing up, I heard the word "New Paradigm" (El Nuevo Paradigma) many times from my father.  He continues to use the word as a hope for a better present and future.  I agree with his optimistic view as the world around us has dramatically shrunk due to our new virtual interconnectivity.

However, the creation of a Paradigm, doesn't always mean something positive... as you can see below.

I received the following story from our CEO, Ed Schipul, to keep our minds open to ideas outside the norm.

A group of scientists placed 5 monkeys in a cage and in the middle, a ladder with bananas on the top.

Every time a monkey went up the ladder, the scientists soaked the rest of the monkeys with cold water.

After a while, every time a monkey went up the ladder, the others beat up the one on the ladder. After some time, no monkey dare to go up the ladder regardless of the temptation.

Scientists then decided to substitute one of the monkeys. The 1st thing this new monkey did was to go up the ladder. Immediately the other monkeys beat him up. After several beatings, the new member learned not to climb the ladder even though never knew why.

A 2nd monkey was substituted and the same occurred. The 1st monkey participated on the beating for the 2nd monkey. A 3rd monkey was changed and the same was repeated (beating). The 4th was substituted and the beating was repeated and finally the 5th monkey was replaced.

What was left was a group of 5 monkeys that even though never received a cold shower, continued to beat up any monkey who attempted to climb the ladder.

If it was possible to ask the monkeys why they would beat up all those who attempted to go up the ladder. I bet you the answer would be..."I don't know - that's how things are done around here."

Does it sound familiar?

I found this humorous and sad at the same time... first, imagining the monkeys not knowing any better and beating each other to a pulp and then I thought of how this can be so true in life. 

We keep going round and round thinking we will get different results as we do the same thing.... it seems silly and dumb from an outsider's view, but it happens to all of us.

Are we all monkeys?

Master Cleanser Experience

For the last 8 days I've been on a lemonade fast.... and it's been amazing!

Turn the clock back 4 weeks, I woke up one Saturday morning and felt a sharp pain in my neck that ran down my arm.  My initial assumption was that I had slept badly and had stretched my muscle or ligament too far to one side and it would be ok in a few days.

The pain did not get worse, but it would not go away.  It was maddening!  I could not think, I slept very little.  Anti-inflamatory pills (alleve, advil, etc) did nothing to help the pain.  I was sleeping with an ice pack on my arm and when it would get warm, the pain would wake me up and I'd have to get another one.  I was miserable!

So I went to my doctor and their initial diagnosis was a pinched nerve.  They took about 10 x-rays of my neck and upper back.  They also gave me a prescription for a nerve pain killer.  I took the pain killer but it did very little.  I was able to sleep some, but not a whole lot.

A few days later, I spoke with the doctor and was told that the problem was arthritis in my neck.  The pain on my arm was being caused by an arthritis flare-up and pinching a nerve.  So they gave me another prescription to lower the swelling that was causing the pinched nerve.  But my arthritis was never going to go away.

I felt somewhat depressed by these news (those who know me know that it's pretty rare).

The anti-inflamatory that was prescribed did nothing to lessen the pain or my level of madness... I felt like my arm was on fire and I was losing my mind.

So after about 2 weeks of this, I decided to contact my older brother Joaquin.  He lives in Austin and has lived a very healthy lifestyle for many years.

When I explained to him what was going on, he immediately recommended two books and told me what I needed to do.  He suggested I begin a lemonade fast as it's described in the book The Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs.  He also recommended the book Acid and Alkaline by Herman Aihara.

Joaquin provided some instruction on how I can start the lemonade fast and I started it last Friday.  The reason I started it on Friday was that I expected to be miserable during the weekend because of how hungry I would feel... but I figured, I'd be ok by Monday.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I was not hungry at all and haven't been in 8 days.  Yes, I've had cravings when I smell or see something that I like to eat, but I've been focused on the task and so far it's been successful.

Within 3 days of begining the fast, I stopped feeling the constant pain that had driven me nuts for several weeks.  I was so happy to be able to think clearly again!

I am almost finished with this fast (Sunday is my last day). I will come back to eating normal foods slowly, starting with soup and fruits the first couple of days.  Joaquin is also teaching me how to make Miso soup from scratch and recommending I eat seaweed salad often, as well as Miso soup and organic green tea.  All these things will help lower the acidity levels in my body which will make me feel better and pain free.

I have lived my life eating pretty much anything that crosses my path.  I love food and enjoy good food.  But this experience is opening my eyes to being healthier and living better.

Gracias Hermano por ayudarme con esto... te quiero mucho!  Japi.

8 Year Old Football Prodigy

My son showed me this video of an 8-year old kid.  I'm amazed by his vision on the Football field.  I hope he grows some and does not get hurt, because I really want to see him when he gets older.

His name is Cody Paul and the video clip is from the Pop Warner Pee Wee Football championship game in Florida, December 2006.  His team is Los Alamitos Griffins from California.  This video is amazing!