Our life span is increasing quickly because with new technology we are developing many exciting new medicines and treatments. However, at the same time, our health and quality of life is getting worse more quickly than ever. What is wrong and how can we fix it?

There is a huge health problem facing people in the United States and it is getting worse every day! I am determined to spend the remainder of my life doing whatever I can to help solve this problem. I’m hopeful after reading this some of you will join me in this endeavor. Following is the experience that brought me to this decision.

Fifteen years ago I woke up one morning and could not get out of bed. I could not sit up and had great difficulty moving my body. I could not figure out what was wrong with me. With a lot of effort I finally rolled over and fell out of bed onto the floor. When my wife, Becky Sharon, found me lying on the floor trying to move she wanted to call an ambulance but I convinced her not to. I told her I would be fine soon. I was just having a dizzy spell and lost my balance. After several minutes of this I realized I was not going to be able to stand up or “shake if off” so I agreed to let her and my son take me to the hospital.

The first doctor I saw at the emergency room told me to take an aspirin per day and was ready to send me home. Lucky for me Becky was with me because she insisted on a second opinion; all I wanted to do was get out of there and go home. Unfortunately, the next doctor we saw was not that great either, however, he did tell me I was suffering from a stroke. I spent the day there getting tests. The second doctor could not find the cause of my stroke and even after a third opinion still no cause was discovered. 

Becky was determined to find a doctor that would find the cause of my stroke.  Luckily, a family friend gave us a referral to a great doctor who found the cause of the stroke.  It was caused by a perfect storm; a long airplane flight, a hole in my heart that did not close at adulthood as it should have and a blood clot that developed on the plane because of a genetic protein in my blood that made it clot too easily. The third doctor said we had to find out what caused the stroke ASAP or I could have another stroke with much worse results. He had some tests done and I was put on a blood thinner that night. Thank God I had Becky with me or who knows what would have happened.

I completed a few months of physical therapy and learned how to get around better but I could not walk without holding onto something. The hospital sent a walker home with me, but I refused to use it. I wanted it out of the house. My doctors told me it was very likely I would never walk again without assistance, most likely a wheelchair or maybe, if I was lucky, crutches. I refused to accept that. I did not want to live like that for the remainder of my life so I worked and pushed myself really hard. I eventually learned to walk again and even progressed to the point where I could run. Physically, I recovered 100% in less than a year. However, I did not know it at the time but my brain function did not fully recover. Part of my brain died from the stroke and other events in my life. It was also determined that I had two smaller strokes earlier in my life I knew nothing about.

Several months after my stroke I had a meeting scheduled in Miami with The Coca-Cola Company and Burger King to work out the details of a very large project I had been working on before the stroke. I went back to work about three weeks after the stroke, which in retrospect was way too early.  I had to go to the meeting because it was my project and it was a huge deal for my company.  No one else could do it. I assured everyone I was capable of attending the meeting.  I flew to Miami early the morning of the meeting. When I got off the plane in Miami I could not remember where I was or why I was there. Later I asked someone and they told me I was in the Miami airport.

I remained in the airport several hours trying to figure out why I was there. I eventually found something in my briefcase with Becky’s name and number on it so I called her. She told me why I was there and then it all came back to me. I immediately called someone at Burger King and was told the meeting was over but everyone was going to meet later in a hotel for dinner and they wanted me there. The hotel was one I stayed in many times before, but I could not figure out where the hotel was or how to get there. With some help from a friend at Burger King I eventually found the hotel and made the meeting.  

I thought the problems I was having were due to the shock of the stroke and it would eventually get better but it was worse than I thought. Often I would not remember where I was, what I was doing or where I needed to be. Many times I would have a conversation with a customer and not remember the conversation or what I was supposed to do the next day. I was not used to taking notes because before the stroke I had a great memory and never forgot anything. At times I would have problems finding my way to familiar places such as my office. Some of my memory problems improved but my sense of direction did not. It got to the point where I could not find the local grocery store we shopped in for years, just one mile from home, without GPS. I was very angry and frustrated most of the time. It seemed every time I drove somewhere I got lost.  Becky and my family knew something was wrong but I would not admit it to myself, or them, and I hid it well from everyone.

A couple years after the stroke we moved to Naples and I got to know several highly recommended doctors there because I had to visit one every month to have my blood checked so I would not have another stroke. I eventually met Dr. Jacqueline Romero. She has been by far the best doctor I have ever had the privilege of knowing. During one of my first visits I was giving her some advice on marketing and she made the following statement I will never forget. “Scott, you are a very intelligent guy but something is wrong with you”. I was shocked but started asking her questions. I did not want to admit I still had problems with my brain.

My wife, Becky and Dr. Romero studied brain health, functional medicine, nutrition and several other forms of brain science which I found very interesting. Luckily I was fortunate enough to learn by also being a patient. They studied together and separately. They became certified in Dr. Daniel Amen’s brain health coaching course that focuses on brain functions, brain scanning and repairing. This certification led to all three of us going to one of Dr. Amen’s clinics in Atlanta where we all had our brains scanned.

My scan showed the part of my brain that was damaged from the stroke(s) and from several other events in my past. I had consumed many bad foods and drinks with lots of sugar and artificial sweeteners. I started boxing when I was ten and did a lot of it, all without protective headgear. I was knocked out the first time when I was twelve years old. I had several concussions from playing football in school. I had two bad falls and hit my head very hard while running. I also had damage from Agent Orange and PTSD from Vietnam. Also, I hate to admit it but I smoked at a very young age but quit at about age 15. Smoking causes stress on the brain and uses up reserve brain cells.  I did not understand at the time that I had been depleting my brain cell reserves.  Stress on our brain compounds and at some point, someday, it starts depleting reserves instead of building them to deal with stress.  It does not matter if it is self-imposed or not.

When I saw the scan of my brain at Dr. Amen’s clinic I was shocked and extremely upset. So much of it was damaged or simply missing! However, Becky said I got the largest smile on my face she had ever seen when they told me my brain could be grown back with certain treatments and nutrients. That was a lifesaver!   

The protocol Dr. Amen’s team gave me was to have 40 one hour sessions in a hyperbaric chamber and 20 sessions of neurofeedback. The hyperbaric chamber promotes the growth of new capillaries (small blood vessels) so the neurons in my brain could grow back. Neurofeedback will rewirethe brain so it will function properly again.

The hyperbaric chamber treatments were very expensive in Naples so in June of 2017 I went to Cincinnati where the sessions were much less expensive. I lived most of my life in the Cincinnati area and I knew how to get everywhere. When I arrived I could not find my son’s or daughter’s house without using GPS, even though I had been to both many times.I took two sessions per day in the chamber or ten per week for two weeks. Nothing happened the first week but I wasn’t worried because I expected it to be a very gradual process. After my 15th session I had a very dramatic experience. I felt as if I just woke up from a 15 year nap. A flood of memories rushed back, even memories from as far back as my Vietnam experience and

my childhood. It was so emotional I just sat there and cried with happiness for a few minutes. When that session was over I ran out to my car and drove around the remainder of the day to many of my favorite places and all the places I had lived. I had no trouble at all finding my way around without GPS.

I completed the remainder of those sessions in Cincinnati and came home. Becky and Dr. Romero purchased a hyperbaric chamber for use in their practice and I did the remaining 20 sessions in it. I continued to get better. My memory was fully restored.  I also did more Neurofeedback in their Brain Health practice.   

I may be biased but I believe Dr. Romero and Becky are brilliant. Dr. Romero is a great functional medicine doctor who sincerely cares about all her patients and is always searching and teaching me what I need to do to live my optimal life. I am amazed at all the things Becky has done and the people she has helped.  She received a Master’s degree in mental health counseling and will soon have her Doctorate. She is now a trained Hypnotherapist and does RTT (Rapid Transformational Therapy). She’s also a certified functional medicine health coach and a neurofeedback clinician. She completed Dr. Amen’s course on his work and has studied with Dr. Romero on Functional Medicine. Her passion and ability to help so many people has been so gratifying it has motivated me to make a difference in people’s lives also.

One of my daughters has been traveling around the world for a year with a program called Remote year. She is traveling with a group of 33 other people, spending a month each in 12 different countries. One of her stops was in Vietnam and she asked me to join her there for 10 days. She asked me to visit the country and speak to her group about the differences between Vietnam today and what it was like when I was there in the war in 1968.

Vietnam was the last place in this world I wanted to be. I never even wanted to talk about my Vietnam experiences, let alone be there! When I was there in 1968 during the war I had many horrible experiences and I never wanted to go back. I did not want to hurt my daughter’s feelings so I came up with several excuses why I could not go. She resolved every issue I came up with so I finally agreed to go.

I flew into Hanoi in February of this year (2019). I was a little nervous but the trip was very easy. Vietnam was not anything like what I was expecting. The people were all happy, courteous and friendly. The food was great and I had some of the best coffee I’ve had in my life. I did something with my daughter and her group every day. We traveled around the country most of the ten days I was there. I gave a ninety-minute presentation (telling my story) to her group.

The things I saw in Vietnam made me realize how much trouble we are in here in the US. The things I mention may not accurately describe the whole country but it’s what I observed. I did not see any overweight people, old people or handicapped people. Everyone appeared happy, healthy and in good shape. In the cities people mostly rode motor bikes or bicycles and in the country, they walk. I spoke to the grandson of a lady I thought was in her 50”s, or maybe her 60’s. She was in a tree picking fruit and he told me she was in her 90’s.  

All photos are © Barbara Cameron Pix

When I returned home in the Ft. Myers, FL, airport I looked around and what I saw made me very sad. I saw many old people in very bad shape. There were wheelchairs, crutches and canes everywhere. Many of the people were overweight, some were hugely overweight. Many had large stomachs and were hunched over. I could tell that many had brains that did not work properly. I couldn’t stop thinking “What have we done to ourselves in this country?” That’s when I decided I wanted to do my part to solve this problem and help as many people as I can.

I will also admit I have been a large contributor to this problem in the past 35 to 40 years. In my career I have helped many companies sell more of their unhealthy food and drinks. However, we can’t blame all these companies because they simply produce and sell what we as customers demand. For example, many years ago Taco Bell switched to a healthy menu and it really hurt them because it did not sell. They had to return to their popular but unhealthy food. Several other chains have tried the same thing with mostly the same results. All these chains can and will provide much healthier and good tasting food if we demand it. Even fried chicken can be healthier by simply using healthier fats.

Following are several major problems that need to be resolved quickly:

Food Supply: The fresh food we grow today is not nearly as healthy as it used to be. A great example is corn. It has been so genetically modified it is not close to what it used to be. What makes it worse is corn and its byproducts are used in a huge amount of our processed foods. It was healthy at one time but is no longer. As an example, about 55 years ago when I was a child on the farm we grew corn to feed our pigs, dairy and beef cattle. We also grew some in our garden for the family. Back then our yield per acre of corn was from 30 to 50 bushels. Today the average yield per acre is 170 bushels. Experts say 28 nutrients are taken from the soil when corn is grown. When farmers fertilize the soil they use over and over again to grow the corn, they only add back three of the ingredients that make it grow faster and larger. When the other 25 nutrients are depleted many of the healthy nutrients in the corn are missing. This is only one of many examples.

The Food Supply Industry: Most of the processed food we find in a grocery or convenient store is unhealthy. I just read something today that stated cereal is mostly sugar and that’s what many parents feed their children. No wonder so many children are obese! Another problem is many foods, such as fruits, are picked before they ripen so they will last longer on the shelves. If they don’t ripen on the tree or vine before they are picked many of the healthy nutrients our bodies need are missing.

Food labeling is such a mess it has become a huge joke! Most people have no idea what’s in the food they buy, even if they bother to read the labels. Although there is government control we have to understand the rules for what’s put on the labels in order to fully understand them. Many of the terms are simply marketing terms and very confusing.

Sugar: Sugar is a huge contributor to our poor health and it is put in an incredible number of processed foods, in one form or another. It’s even in such foods as French Fries. To combat the weight gain problem sugar substitutes were developed. However recent studies have found these sugar substitutes to be harmful to our bodies.

Fat: Our government and many other organizations have told us for years that fat is bad so we have gone through a long fat free or low fat diet craze. However, recent research has found many fats to be very healthy and needed by our bodies, especially from grass fed meat. Recently I have been hearing from some diet organizations such as the Keto diet that eating more fat may actually aid in loosing body fat.

Exercise: Today many adults and children do not get enough exercise. Many seem to be spending more time watching TV, playing games and reading messages on their cell phones or sitting behind a desk all day. We all need a minimum amount of exercise in order for our bodies to perform the way they should and stay healthy.

Alcohol Consumption: Drinking alcoholic beverages has become the primary way we socialize. Today most social events and meals include some form of alcohol. Research has found alcohol to be harmful, especially to the brain.

Drugs: “Big Pharma” has become a huge health problem in the United States. Even though they are developing more and more super drugs that are helpful to treat illnesses, many of these drugs are causing other serious health problems. Today the major motivation for developing a drug is much more for profit than for what it will do to help cure illnesses. Also, there is a growing financial pressure on doctors, if they want to earn an income, to stop the symptoms with drugs rather than cure the problem.

Our Government: Following is one example you can research but there are many more. I’m not saying every politician does this but many do. Our politicians require money to win elections. Some companies and wealthy individuals give them money but they usually expect favors in return. The politicians need for money continues if they stay in office so the favors have to continue.

One example you can research: Many of you may remember Donald Rumsfeld. He was a congressman and held several high government positions. He was the Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford in 1974-1975. Before he was in that position the artificial sweetener, NutraSweet, was not approved by the FDA because it is a very unhealthy product. While he was in that office NutraSweet was approved. In 1977 he became CEO of the company that made NutraSweet with a huge stock option. Many will say that does not prove anything but if you do your research you will find many examples of similar situations.  

Just so this article is not all negative following are some good things to talk about:

Longevity: Because of developing science we are now adding 3 months to our average life span every year. By the year 2030 that number is predicted to go up to adding one year every year.     

Treatments: Science has been developing new effective treatments for many illnesses and finding cures for many. This is predicted to continue at a faster rate.

Science: Science is developing many new and useful products at an ever increasing rate that will make our lives easier. New technology is being developed at an exponentially faster rate. These technologies are decreasing the amount of work we all have to do and making our lives easier.

I decided the best way I can start making a difference quickly is to become a certified personal trainer. I have lots of experience in that and it’s something I will enjoy. I will concentrate on people 65 and older because the need there is growing quickly. I will also continue working to be an example of brain health for Becky and Dr. Romero in Regain the Brain and The Plenary Mind Institute.

I have recently completed my training through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) and have received a certification from them as a certified personal trainer. I will start training people in some of the local gyms and build a group for certain group exercises and special care. I have a passion for working with the aging population, teaching them they are not stuck with the life they have now. I want to help them live their best life.

If we continue to live longer and growing more unhealthy at the same time, while life gets easier, what will our lives be like when we reach 100 years of age and older? Will it be worth living? I keep getting this image of Jabba The Hut! It does not have to be that way!!!

Our life span is increasing quickly, our technology is developing exciting new medicines and treatments, but our health is worse than it’s ever been and getting worse quickly. What is wrong and how can we fix it?

There is a huge problem facing people in the United States and it is getting worse quickly! I am now determined to spend the remainder of my life doing whatever I can to help solve this problem. I’m hopeful after reading this some of you will join me in this endeavor. Following is what happened that brought me to this decision.

Fifteen years ago I woke up one morning and could not get out of bed. I kept trying and eventually rolled over and fell out of bed onto the floor. When my wife, Becky Sharon, found me lying on the floor trying to move she wanted to call an ambulance but I convinced her not to. I told her I would be fine soon. I was just having a dizzy spell and lost my balance. When I finally realized I could not stand up or “shake if off”, I agreed to let her and my son take me to a local hospital.

The first doctor I saw at the emergency room told me to take an aspirin per day and was ready to send me home. Lucky for me Becky was with me because she insisted on a second opinion; all I wanted to do was get out of there and go home. Unfortunately, the next doctor we saw was not that great either, however, he did tell me I was suffering from a stroke. I spent the day there getting tests. The second doctor could not find the cause of my stroke and even after a third opinion still no cause was discovered. 

Becky was determined to find a doctor that would find the cause of my stroke.  Luckily, a family friend gave us a referral to a great doctor who found the cause of the stroke.  It was caused by a perfect storm; a long airplane flight, a hole in my heart that did not close at adulthood as it should have and a blood clot that developed on the plane because of a genetic protein in my blood that made it clot too easily. The third doctor said we had to find out what caused the stroke ASAP or I could have another stroke with much worse results. He had some tests done and I was put on a blood thinner that night. Thank God I had Becky with me or who knows what would have happened.

I completed a few months of physical therapy and learned how to get around better but I could not walk without holding onto something. The hospital sent a walker home with me, but I refused to use it. I wanted it out of the house. My doctors told me it was very likely I would never walk again without assistance, most likely a wheelchair or maybe crutches. I refused to accept that. I did not want to live like that for the remainder of my life so I worked and pushed myself really hard. I eventually learned to walk again and even progressed to the point where I could run. Physically, I recovered 100% in less than a year. However, I did not know it at the time but my brain function did not fully recover. Part of my brain died from the stroke and other events in my life. It was also determined that I had two smaller strokes earlier in my life I knew nothing about.

Several months after my stroke I had a meeting scheduled in Miami with The Coca-Cola Company and Burger King to work out the details of a very large project I had been working on before the stroke. I went back to work about three weeks after my stroke, which in retrospect was way too early.  I had to go to the meeting because it was my project and it was a huge deal for my company.  I assured everyone I could do it.  I flew to Miami early the morning of the meeting. When I got off the plane in Miami I could not remember where I was or why I was there. Later I asked someone and they told me I was in the Miami airport.

I remained in the airport several hours trying to figure out why I was there. I eventually found something in my briefcase with Becky’s name and number on it so I called her. She told me why I was there and then it all came back to me. I immediately called someone at Burger King and was told the meeting was over but everyone was going to meet later in a hotel for dinner and they wanted me there. The hotel was one I stayed in many times before, but I could not figure out where the hotel was or how to get there. With some help from a friend at Burger King I eventually found the hotel and made the meeting.

My brain was healing but I had no idea of the extent of damage to it until I was in the middle of a situation and became confused. Often I would not remember where I was, what I was doing or where I needed to be. Many times I would have a conversation with a customer and not remember the conversation or what I was supposed to do the next day. I was not used to taking notes because before the stroke I had a great memory and never forgot anything. At times I would have problems finding my way to familiar places such as my office. Some of my memory problems improved but my sense of direction did not. It got to the point where I could not find the local grocery store we shopped in for years, just one mile from home, without GPS. I was very angry and frustrated most of the time. It seemed every time I drove somewhere I got lost.  Becky and my family knew something was wrong but I would not admit it to myself, or them, and I hid it well from everyone.

A couple years after the stroke we moved to Naples and I got to know several highly recommended doctors there because I had to visit one every month to have my blood checked so I would not have another stroke. I eventually met Dr. Jacqueline Romero. She has been by far the best doctor I have ever had the privilege of knowing. During one of my first visits I was giving her some advice on marketing and she made the following statement I will never forget. “Scott, you are a very intelligent guy but something is wrong with you”. I was shocked but started asking her questions. I did not want to admit I still had problems with my brain.

My wife, Becky and Dr. Romero studied brain health, functional medicine, nutrition and several other forms of brain science which I found very interesting. Luckily I was fortunate enough to learn by also being a patient. They studied together and separately. They became certified in Dr. Daniel Amen’s brain health coaching course that focuses on brain functions and brain scanning and repairing. This certification led to all three of us going to one of Dr. Amen’s clinics in Atlanta where we all had our brains scanned.

My scan showed the part of my brain that was damaged from the stroke(s) and from several other events in my past. I had consumed many bad foods and drinks with lots of sugar and artificial sweeteners. I started boxing when I was ten and did a lot of it, all without protective headgear. I was knocked out the first time when I was twelve years old. I had several concussions from playing football in school. I had two serious falls while running and hit my head very hard. I also had damage from Agent Orange and PTSD from Vietnam. Also, I hate to admit it but I smoked at a very young age but quit at about age 15. Smoking causes stress on the brain and uses up reserve brain cells.  I did not understand that I had been depleting my brain cell reserves.  Stress on our brain compounds and at some point, someday, it starts depleting reserves instead of building them to deal with stress.  It does not matter if it is self-imposed or not.

When I saw the scan of my brain at Dr. Amen’s clinic I was shocked and extremely upset. So much of it was damaged or simply missing! However, Becky said I got the largest smile on my face she had ever seen when they told me my brain could be grown back with certain treatments and nutrients. To me that was a lifesaver!   

The protocol Dr. Amen’s team gave me was to have 40 one hour sessions in a hyperbaric chamber and 20 sessions of neurofeedback. The hyperbaric chamber promotes the growth of new capillaries (small blood vessels) so the neurons in my brain could grow back. Neurofeedback will unstick neurons in the brain so it will function properly again.

The hyperbaric chamber treatments were very expensive in Naples so in June of 2017 I went to Cincinnati where the sessions were much less expensive. I lived most of my life in the Cincinnati area and I knew how to get everywhere there. When I arrived I could not find my son’s or daughter’s house without using GPS, even though I had been to both many times.

I took two sessions per day or ten per week for two weeks. Nothing happened the first week but I wasn’t worried because I expected it to be a very gradual process. After my 15th session I had a very dramatic experience. I felt as if I just woke up from a 15 year nap. A flood of memories rushed back, even memories from as far back as my Vietnam experience and my childhood. It was so emotional I just sat there and cried with happiness for a few minutes. When that session was over I ran out to my car and drove around the remainder of the day to many of my favorite places and all the places I had lived. I had no trouble at all finding my way around without GPS.

I completed the remainder of those sessions in Cincinnati and came home. Becky and Dr. Romero purchased a hyperbaric chamber for use in their practice and I did the remaining 20 sessions in it. I continued to get better. My memory did restore, and I now know where to turn into the grocery store.  I also did more Neurofeedback in their Brain Health practice.   

I may be biased but I believe Dr. Romero and Becky are brilliant. Dr. Romero is a great functional medicine doctor who sincerely cares about all her patients and is always searching and teaching me what I need to do to live my optimal life. I am amazed at all the things Becky has done and the people she has helped.  She received a Master’s degree in mental health counseling and will soon have her Doctorate. She is now a trained Hypnotherapist and does RTT (Rapid Transformational Therapy). She’s a certified functional medicine health coach, trained neurofeedback clinician, completed Dr. Amen’s course on his work and has studied with Dr. Romero on Functional Medicine. Her passion and ability to help so many people is so gratifying it has made me want to make a difference in people’s lives also.

One of my daughters has been traveling around the world for a year with a program called Remote year. She is traveling with a group of 33 other people, spending a month each in 12 different countries. One of her stops was in Vietnam and she asked me to join her there for 10 days. She asked me to visit the country and speak to her group about the differences between Vietnam today and what it was like when I was there in the war in 1968.

Vietnam was the last place in this world I wanted to be. When I was there in 1968 during the war it was horrible and I never wanted to go back. I did not want to hurt my daughter’s feelings so I came up with several excuses why I could not go. She resolved every issue I came up with so I finally agreed to go. I never even wanted to talk about my Vietnam experiences, let alone be there! However, A few years before, I wrote a book about some of the unusual things I did in my life and I included several of my Vietnam experiences in it. Writing about some of my Vietnam experiences made me feel better about talking about it so I thought being there may make me feel even better.

I flew into Hanoi in February of this year (2019). I was a little nervous but the trip was very easy. The country was not anything like what I was expecting. The people were all happy, courteous and friendly. The food was great and I had some of the best coffee I’ve had in my life. I did something with my daughter and her group every day. We traveled around the country most of the ten days I was there. I gave a ninety-minute presentation (telling my story) to her group.

The things I saw in Vietnam made me realize how much trouble we are in here in the US. The things I mention may not accurately describe the whole country but it’s what I observed. I did not see any overweight people, old people or handicapped people. Everyone appeared happy, healthy and in good shape. In the cities people mostly rode motor bikes or bicycles and in the countryside, they walk. I spoke to the grandson of a lady I thought was in her 50”s, or maybe her 60’s. She was in a tree picking fruit and he told me she was in her 90’s.  

All photos are © Barbara Cameron Pix

All the food I saw was freshly caught or slaughtered meat and fresh fruit and vegetables.  The people pick up their fresh food from a market daily. I saw very little refrigeration. I did not see any grocery stores or convenient stores where they sold processed food as we do here. At first I did not want to eat any of the food because in the cities much of it was cooked on the sidewalk, plus, I remembered how bad it was 51 years before. When I tried it I loved it. We even took cooking lessons on how to prepare some of the most popular dishes.

You will see by the following photographs the food did not look appetizing but it was great! The 10 days I was there I ate about 5 meals per day because I loved the food so much. However, I lost 5 pounds.

When I returned home at the Ft. Myers airport I looked around and what I saw made me very sad. I saw many old people in very bad shape. There were wheelchairs, crutches and canes everywhere. Many of the people were overweight, some were hugely overweight. Many had large stomachs and were hunched over. I could tell that many had brains that did not work properly. I kept thinking “What have we done to ourselves in this country?” That’s when I decided I wanted to do my part to solve this problem and help as many people as I could.

I also have to admit I have been a large contributor to this problem in the past 35 to 40 years. In my career I have helped many companies sell more of their unhealthy food and drinks. However, we can’t blame all these companies because they simply produce and sell what we as customers demand. For example, many years ago Taco Bell switched to a healthy menu and it really hurt them because it did not sell. They had to return to their popular but unhealthy food. Several other chains have tried the same thing with mostly the same results. All these chains can and will provide much healthier and good tasting food if we demand it. Even fried chicken can be healthier by simply using healthier fats.

Following are several major problems that should be resolved quickly:

Food Supply: The fresh food we grow today is not nearly as healthy as it used to be. A great example is corn. It has been so genetically modified it is not close to what it used to be. What makes it worse is corn and its byproducts are used in a huge amount of our processed foods. It was healthy at one time but is no longer. As an example, about 50-60 years ago when I was a child on the farm we grew corn to feed our pigs, dairy and beef cattle. We also grew some in our garden for the family. Back then our yield per acre of corn was from 30 to 50 bushels. Today the average yield per acre is 170 bushels. Experts say 28 nutrients are taken from the soil when corn is grown. When farmers fertilize the soil they use over and over again to grow the corn, they only add back three of the ingredients that make it grow faster and larger. When the other 25 nutrients are depleted many of the healthy nutrients in the corn are missing. This is only one of many examples.

The Food Supply Industry: Most of the processed food we find in a grocery or convenient store is unhealthy. I just read something today that stated cereal is mostly sugar and that’s what many parents feed their children. No wonder so many children are obese! Another problem is many foods, such as fruits, are picked before they ripen so they will last longer on the shelves. If they don’t ripen on the tree or vine before they are picked many of the healthy nutrients our bodies need will be missing.

Food labeling is such a mess it has become a huge joke! Most people have no idea what’s in the food they buy, even if they bother to read the labels. Although there is government control we have to understand the rules for what’s put on the labels in order to fully understand them. Many of the terms are simply marketing terms and very confusing.

Sugar: Sugar is a huge contributor to our poor health and it is put in an incredible number of processed foods, in one form or another. It’s even in such foods as French Fries. To combat the weight gain problem sugar substitutes were developed. However recent studies have found these sugar substitutes to be harmful to our bodies.

Fat: Our government and many other organizations have told us for years that fat is bad so we have gone through a long fat free or low fat diet craze. However, recent research has found many fats to be very healthy and needed by our bodies, especially from grass fed meat. Recently I have been hearing from some diet organizations such as the Keto diet that eating more fat may actually aid in loosing body fat.

Exercise: Today many adults and children do not get enough exercise. Many seem to be spending more time watching TV, playing games and reading messages on their cell phones or sitting behind a desk all day. We all need a minimum amount of exercise in order for our bodies to perform the way they should and stay healthy.

Alcohol Consumption: Drinking alcoholic beverages has become the primary way we socialize. Today most social events and meals include some form of alcohol. Research has found alcohol to be harmful, especially to the brain.

Drugs: “Big Pharma” has become a huge health problem in the United States. Even though they are developing more and more super drugs that are helpful to treat illnesses, many of these drugs are causing other serious health problems. Today the major motivation for developing a drug is much more for profit than for what it will do to help cure illnesses. Also, there is a growing financial pressure on doctors, if they want to earn an income, to stop the symptoms with drugs rather than cure the problem.

Just so this article is not all negative following are some good things to talk about:

Longevity: Because of developing science we are now adding 3 months to our average life span every year. By the year 2030 that number is predicted to go up to adding one year every year.     

Treatments: Science has been developing new effective treatments for many illnesses and finding cures for many. This is predicted to continue at a faster rate.

Science: Science is developing many new and useful products at an ever increasing rate that will make our lives easier. New technology is being developed at an exponentially faster rate. These technologies are decreasing the amount of work we all have to do and making our lives easier.

I decided the best way I can start making a difference quickly is to become a certified personal trainer. I have lots of experience in that and it’s something I will enjoy. I will concentrate on people 65 and older because the need there is growing quickly. I will also continue working to be an example of brain health for Becky and Dr. Romero in Regain the Brain and The Plenary Mind Institute.

I am halfway through my NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) training and will soon be a certified personal trainer. I will start training people in some of the local gyms and build a group for certain group exercises and special care. I have a passion for working with the aging population, teaching them they are not stuck with the life they have now. I want to help them live their best life.

If we continue to live longer and growing more unhealthy at the same time, while life gets easier, what will our lives be like when we reach 100 years of age and older? Will it be worth living? I keep getting this image of Jabba The Hud! It does not have to be that way!!!

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Seven years ago I wrote a blog titled “Will the Digital Menuboard VARs Disappear? I wrote a volume 2 with the same title in 2018. I asked that question and wrote the blogs because seven years ago one of the LCD display companies had been selling digital menu boards (DMB’s) directly to the end users, while telling their resellers (VARs) they would not do that. On a couple large projects they set up “dummy resellers” to cover it up. They did not want the VARs to know this because almost all their sales went through resellers and they could not afford to upset them.

I respected this LCD company’s sales ability because they were selling more than any other company at that time. However, as it turned out, they really didn’t have much effect on how the DMB’s went to market because they screwed up most of the projects they sold and eventually lost them. I can provide a list of several major QSR chains where this happened. Their primary problem was they only had a sales and marketing team. They did not have the knowledgeable people required to manage the projects and keep up with the day to day issues. Issues such as; “what happens when a new restaurant opens?” or “what happens when the designed DMB won’t fit in a restaurant?” These types off issues are common in a roll-out.

We’ve have all seen the same thing happen in other industries where middlemen are cut out to eliminate markups. A classic example of this working well is Sam Walton and Walmart. There are situations where a middleman is not adding enough value and should be eliminated, however, you have to make sure the needed functions are not eliminated with them. Many times these functions are added back to the process by adding employees at the end user or supplier at a higher cost than what they thought they would save.

We may be seeing this happen with two recent huge projects at McDonald’s and Burger King where they went direct to Samsung . Although I hear they are having lots of problems with the big DMB roll-out at McDonald’s I don’t know the facts so I won’t comment on that project. I am much more familiar with the Burger King/RBI project because I worked on it for more than two years. Also, the company I started, LSI Images, has been their old style menu board supplier for about 15 years.

The short story is, I (START) had been working on the Burger King project for over two years and we were going to be awarded the project until they decided to go to their parent company (RBI) to finance the project. RBI then met with Samsung and decided to go direct with Samsung on the project. It’s ironic because they did what I was teaching Burger king so you could say I eliminated myself.

I think with these two large chains doing this it will change the industry regardless of how many problems they have and how much it costs them. All the major chains will follow suit and all that will be left for the VARs will be the small chains. If you are a VAR you may be wasting your time working on the large projects. In today’s business world you can never be sure you won’t be eliminated by a new technology or process.

I’ve had a long and enjoyable career as a marketer, engineer and product developer in the graphics, sign, display and menu board industry. During my career one of the things I’ve enjoyed most, and been best at, is developing new products or systems that solve my customer’s problems, cuts cost and/or increases sales. This has allowed me to develop many new products and several are significant in my industry and are still being used.

I have never enjoyed going to a customer with a product already developed and trying to show them why they need it. That was too much like being a salesman pushing a product and less like the useful problem solver I wanted to be. I’ve always believed it was best to meet with the customer to learn their problems and see the actual situation for myself. That made it much easier to provide them with the best product for solving the problem. If the product did not exist I would do my best to develop it. I can give you many examples of that.

As a result of the many years of work I have put into the development of digital menu boards, displays and new technology communication tools I now consider myself an expert in that field. As a result I started relying too much on telling my customers what they needed because I knew they didn’t know. I recently learned the best product is not always the best for their situation.

Recently someone came to me and told me they were opening a new concept restaurant/game-room type of establishment and were planning on opening several more. They said they wanted digital menu boards and displays but knew very little about them. After gathering information on what they would display on them I visited the site and determined they needed three 48″ and one 55″ display mounted on two different walls with simple copy, mostly menu items.

I met the operations manager at the site and he asked me many questions about digital menu boards and how to use them. I also spoke to the owner on the phone and he had several questions. I would normally recommend a fully functional digital system with all the latest capabilities; something they could learn and grow into as they added more sites. However, after learning as much as I did about the company and their lack of knowledge and experience in that area I recommended something very simple. Also, they wanted to do everything themselves.

The system I recommended and sold them was something I would have laughed at years ago. It was what experts used to refer to as a “Sneaker-net” system. It was very simple and easy for them to use. They put their simple content on a USB drive and plugged it into the displays. They even used PowerPoint software to lay out the menu.

I have learned that when most customers first start using digital menu boards they tend to be very uneasy with them and think they are complicated and difficult to use. As they get more familiar with them and learn their capabilities they start doing more with them and begin to learn and use their full capabilities.

I am happy I sold my customer the simple system because they were very happy with it. It was easy for them to use and in the middle of trying to open a new concept site they had many other important issues to resolve. As they start using and getting more comfortable with it all they have to do is add media players and software to make it a full capability system. These new capabilities were planned for.

Hello everyone. I returned from an 11 day/10 night trip to Vietnam last Thursday evening (Feb 14). I spent 8 of the nights in a hotel and 2 on a plane). It’s now Monday and I’ve recuperated, gotten back into my routine and ready to write about the trip. It was an amazing experience for me so I wanted to tell my story.

This all started several months ago when my daughter Jennifer told me she was going to travel around the world for 12 months with an organization called Remote Work. She would spend one month in each of 12 different countries around the world. I did not understand why or how she could just up and leave all her family and friends for one whole year. Now that I have met most of the 33 people she is traveling with and understand what they are doing I think it was one of the best things she has done in her life. All the people are great and it has been an incredible experience for her.

When Jennifer first told me about this she said she wanted me to come to visit her in one of the countries in South America. I’m not that excited about traveling to foreign countries any more so I convinced her it would be more worthwhile to invite her mother to two of the countries instead of each of us to one. She said she would do that but later she invited me to visit her in Vietnam. She wanted to pay my expenses as a gift. As soon as she said that I got nervous and started thinking of excuses why I could not go without hurting her feelings. I was in the Vietnam War 50 years ago and could not imagine ever going back there again. All I could think of was “Why would anyone want to go there? They don’t even have toilets! And it smells bad there” That was the last place in the world I wanted to visit. I had lost many friends there that were as close as brothers, plus saw many horrible things.

When I started thinking about it I remembered that when I wrote a book about some of my life experiences I included several stories about my year in the Vietnam War. Telling those stories made me feel better. Also, I recently attended a celebration here in Ft, Myers where they honored the 50 year anniversary for the veterans of the Vietnam War and that made me feel better. I felt very bad for 50 years about the way we left Vietnam and the way our soldiers were treated when we returned. I thought a trip back to Vietnam may make me feel even better so I agreed to do it. Jennifer also asked me to give a presentation to her group on my experience of the Vietnam War.

When I received my travel itinerary I saw I would fly from Ft. Myers to Detroit then to Seoul, Korea and then to Hanoi, North Vietnam, right into the heart of enemy territory! That made me very nervous. Later when I arrived there every time I saw someone in uniform I was totally on guard. I was amazed at the modern and efficient airports in Seoul and Hanoi. It was easier traveling there than in the US. I received my visa in Vietnam and made it through customs almost nonstop. In comparison, my last trip to Canada took me hours to clear customs! I picked up my checked bag and a car was waiting for me outside that took me to my hotel. My hotel was great and only a block from Jennifer’s office and living quarters.

Following are some notes to recap my experience there, plus some of my observations:

On my way to the hotel, I thought all the drivers were rude because they kept honking their horns. I later learned that they weren’t being rude like the drivers in the US but were being polite by letting the other drivers know they were passing. I later learned how important this was in the heavy traffic there. I found all the people I interacted with there were friendly, polite and respectful.

I stayed in two different hotels the 8 nights I was there. They both were great hotels with large rooms and luxury amenities. They also included a large buffet breakfast and the cost was only $45 per night.

Jennifer and I, plus some of her group members, were very busy and went on tours every day. We flew to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and spent 3 days there taking tours also. I could not believe how much that city had changed. It now looks similar to Las Vegas. Following are highlights of the things we did in Vietnam:

We visited the Mekong Delta, took 3 boat rides/tours, visited a couple war museums, visited a military camp to see caves the Viet Cong used and heard stories about how their soldiers fought the war, I fired an M-60 machine gun on a firing range (I had my choice of most of the weapons used in the Vietnam War), we visited a candy factory, we took cooking lessons and ate the food we cooked, we visited a place where handicapped people made pieces of art and souvenirs, we visited several beautiful parks and took naps in hammocks in one park. We took an exciting tour on motorbikes through the streets and narrow alleys of Hanoi. We also ate out in all kinds of interesting restaurants ranging from fancy and beautiful rooftop restaurants to sitting on the sidewalk in tiny little plastic chairs with tiny plastic tables like those small children would use as toys in the US.

FOOD: They had several different kinds of coffee there and I loved them all. After returning home the first cup of coffee I had here tasted like crap. I’m gradually getting used to my coffee again.

The food there was great. We ate constantly and I actually lost weight while there. I now know why there are no overweight people in Vietnam, at least I saw none. I also did not see any sick people, doctor’s offices, drug stores, hospitals or grocery stores (although I was told there were some) Their food supply is very healthy and fresh. For the most part, it’s actually gathered, prepared and eaten daily. I saw none of the processed food we have in abundance here in the US that is making us overweight and very unhealthy.

I had a very different impression of the food when I first arrived there because most of it is processed, cooked and eaten on the sidewalks. Sort of like when we are camping out in the woods in the US. It seemed dirty and unsanitary. I heard the same comments from other people from the US. After a few days, I realized that was not true.

Motorbikes, scooters, cars, and traffic: The traffic in the cities there is unbelievable. Their primary source of transportation is motorbikes and scooters, with a few small cars, bicycles, buses and trucks sprinkled in. We saw as many as a family of 6 on one small motor scooter or motorbike and few wear helmets. They have streets and sidewalks that are similar to ours except parked cars and motorbikes fill up the sidewalks, plus people eat and sell their products on the sidewalks. When you walk around town you mostly have to walk in the streets with the traffic because the sidewalks are full.

It’s very difficult to describe how traffic moves there. It’s similar to how your blood cells move through your body. The motorbikes and scooters simply flow through the streets weaving in and out of traffic and around the pedestrians. When you have to cross a street or make a turn you simply make your intentions known and make your move. They all anticipate your moves and flow around you. You don’t want to hesitate or make any sudden unanticipated moves. It’s incredible there are no accidents. I saw none the 11 days I was there. If people tried that in the US there would be accidents everywhere and we would have total gridlock.

Needless to say, the tour we took through Hanoi on the back of motorbikes was very exciting. We traveled the streets and also the small very narrow alleys with only a couple inches of free space on each side of the handlebars. It was e3xciting when we met someone else coming in our direction.

My Feeling about my return to Vietnam: As I have stated before I was very upset about how we left Vietnam. I heard many stories about how our South Vietnamese allies were tortured and killed for helping us after we left. I expected the killing to continue, even now, but what I saw was quite different. All the people there seem quite happy and they don’t care what type of government they have as long as they can continue to live their lives as they have for years. I got that impression from talking to several of the village chiefs 51 years ago. They didn’t know what the war was about. All they were concerned about was living in their villages. Their communist government is not oppressive to them and commerce is flourishing. It was amazing to see how the two major cities have grown and how the modern buildings blend in with the old traditional homes. There is also lots of new major construction going on. In one of the modern rooftop restaurants, I could see 4 large construction cranes where new major buildings were being constructed.

My trip turned out to be amazing! I met some great people, had fun with my daughter, ate lots of great food, drank lots of great coffee and had a great time. Finally, after 51 years I’m no longer worried about the people of Vietnam. They’re very capable of taking care of themselves and doing very well. Hopefully, I’ll get to return someday.

I’m sure everyone has heard about the self-order kiosks in 2 restaurants in a major chain that were found to have human feces on the screens. I have heard they may have found the same in ten more restaurants.

That is a PR nightmare for the restaurant chain and for the touch screen industry. I don’t know what their plans are but this needs to be resolved quickly in a way that will give their customers confidence it has been resolved and won’t happen again. They may have had a cleaning process in place but it has to be changed and the changes advertised quickly.

There are amazing new technologies already developed that will solve this problem. There are new films and cleaning compounds that will kill all the germs, bacteria and harmful organisms and keep the screens clean. The compounds will last from a day up to more than a year. There is also a new LED lighting system available that will do the same that may be used to illuminate the displays. I have to believe there are people working on this problem now that know about these new technologies.

If this causes a serious enough problem that end users are afraid to use kiosks that large numbers of customers touch, an alternative is to switch to the self-order kiosk everyone carries with them. The cell phone. I also read a recent study that determined a significant number of cell phones were found to have human feces on them also. However, that is not a problem for the restaurant.

I spent a good part of last week filling out and submitting an RFP for digital menu boards for a major QSR chain. I have worked on several of these recently and they all seem to me to be lacking in a major area. 

I have been in this industry since well before it started and in all that time the experts (including me) have said “content is king”, “content is the most important component of a digital menu board” and made similar statements. However, in most of the RFP’s I have seen by major chains content and content supplier qualifications seem to be at the bottom of the list. 

I’ll use the RFP I did last week as an example. Like most, the RFP was huge. It had 11 sections and each section had from 5 to 35 questions, but most had well over 20 questions per section. Guess which one had 5? You’re right, the section on content. Even the section on media players had 28 questions.

I think this happens because most chains let their technical people work on their RFP’s. I understand this because I’m an engineer and it’s easy for me to think of many technical questions about displays and media players.  But, I don’t understand why the marketing and merchandising people don’t have more input. What you say to your customers and how you say it is much more important than the hardware specifications

Hardware is also much easier to specify and quote than content. Most people quote the development of content at an hourly rate but an hourly rate doesn’t tell you anything because you don’t know how much they can do in an hour. There are what some would call sweat shops that have low paid people that can crank out large amounts of simple content and others that have talented highly paid people that can put out incredible content but how do you quote it?

I think it is much more important to check out the work your prospective content providers have generated than to judge it on an hourly rate. I would even have them generate some sample content to compare before a decision is made.  

I have seen at least on of the top QSR chains go through the process of selecting digital menu board hardware that had all the latest capabilities and after they are installed they look exactly like the old boards because they don’t use all the capabilities properly. Why waste your time and money?