Translator

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Greatest Tool for the "How-To" Writer


I love writing "how-to" articles. When one of my friends taught me how to use "screen-shoots" on the Mac . . . I was truly in love. Now, I have a new love (well it's a potential love - for reasons I will explain later).

QlipBoard

I'm tempted to just leave it at the above linked word and tell you to "just click it man, just click it." The website demonstrates this tool wonderfully. Basically, using QlipBoard (which is free by the way) you can quickly and easily make mini how-to movies and share them in your blog, myspace, craigslist and everywhere using this wonderful new web-tool!

Seriously, mini presentations with audio, text, pointer, highlighting . . . all in mere minutes.

My goodness, the possibilities boggle the mind. I can't wait to create on-line instruction manuals on how to get a telecommuting job. Or how I successfully sold designer jeans on E-bay or . . . (okay, I digress).

Here is the thing, my blog-site is about money management and and working from home. I usually don't put information about PRODUCTS or WEB TOOLS on my website, but dog-gone it this is just to "kwel" to exclude. QlipBoard is da bomb, man! You've GOT to check it out.

The downside (that's why I said it had potential above)-- you know there always has to be a downside -- QlipBoard doesn't have a tool for the Mac OS system yet. But, I checked out their jobs page and they have a listing for a Mac Developer there, so I’m sure the Mac version will come out very, very soon. Meanwhile, if you only have a Mac, grab a friend’s PC or get a Windows Emulator and try this puppy out!

Man, Chris Beal and his crew at QlipBoard thought of an excellent web-tool (and writer) solution. Kudos!

Click here to see a great demo!

Tele-Job: Unlimited Transcription


This company provides medical transcription services to the health care industry. They usually transcribe .wav files (sound files with the extension .wav). You are required to have a wave foot pedal attached to your computer to stop, slowdown and play the .wave file for proper transcription speed.

(Note: if you don't know what I'm talking about then you should not apply for this position because this is elementary transcription stuff.)

They also require 2 years of previous transcription experience, medical terminology knowledge, PC system and the use of MS Word.

If you think you have what it takes, go to: Unlimited Transcription and Choose "Go to Prospective MT" in the menu bar. Read the qualifications page carefully before you apply.

Good luck!

Unlimited Transcription
http://www.unlimitedtranscription.net



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************************************************************************
Please remember, dear job hunter, if your qualifications and experience do not fit the position, do us all a favor and refrain from applying. Employers do not want to be bombarded with resumes of people who can not do the job.

Telecommuting Jobs, Work at home jobs, telework, hom

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Site Review: Freelance Writing Jobs

I simply love Freelance Writing Jobs Blog because it combines what I like most. Working from home and freelance writing (my two favorite subjects besides wealth and money). This site has given me much insight in successful freelance writing and I've even gained a contract job or two from her listings. This website is packed full of information for the writer and the blogger -- yes, two variances of the same species; sort of like jaguar and leopard (if you don't understand look it up on wikipedia).

Deborah Ng (the author of the blog) describes the website best:

Freelance Writing Jobs began in May 2005 as a way to help other writers, especially Work at Home Moms, find decent paying jobs.

I got sick and tired of seeing writers settle for $2 or “exposure” gigs because they felt they had no other choice. Thanks to FWJ, hundreds of writers have found gigs. While I never expected FWJ to achieve this type of success, I’m so proud of what it’s become.

If you are a writer (or an aspiring writer) bookmark this puppy!

Freelance Writing Jobs
http://www.writersrow.com/deborahng/

Monday, August 27, 2007

Opportunity vs. Money

"I never understand the idea of limited scarcity of money."
I Will Teach You to Be Rich


In a previous post, I talked about living with the mind-set of "scarcity of money." Let's expand on that further and look at how we give up opportunity for money, when in fact, it should be the other way around. We should be giving up money for opportunities. But for some strange reason, we think that money is more valuable. Why?

Is it because we use money every day? Basically, money affords us the things we like, when we have money, we have options . . . some would say we have guarantees.

If I have money it's a guarantee that I can do this or that. But is it? Is it a guarantee?

We can lose money, money can be stolen from us, money can lose its value. People can change their price on objects we want and we can find that we "don't" have the guarantee we thought. The IRS can tax our money, banks can place "fees" on our money, governments can regulate how quickly we can get our money (Ever try to pull out over $20,000 from your bank account? It's not as easy as you think.) No, having money is not a guarantee.

But opportunity, it's so iffy. It feels like a 50/50 chance that you will be successful. Yeah, but when opportunities do bear fruit, when it is successful, opportunities afford us much bigger rewards than mere cash ever could.

So, do we disregard opportunity because we deal with money on a daily basis and are thus much more familiar with it? No, like money, the common man deals with opportunity and gain from opportunity just as much. But, for some reason banking on opportunities just feels like . . . a gamble.

Why? Why does opportunity feel like such a gamble?

Maybe because opportunity is a concept. It's not concrete. You can't hold it in your hands, you can't manufacture it . . . like money. Your opportunity (for the most part) is yours and no one else's. You can't usually trade an opportunity for something else you want -- not as easily as you can with money. Other people can not share the value of your opportunity. The advantages of an opportunity may not be clear to someone else; but everyone understands what they can do with $10,000. See?

And then there is the possibility of failure. Opportunities often produce the result of failure, and in this culture "failure" is worse than losing money. If we had a healthy view of failure, I think we could more easily see the problem with trading money for opportunity. Essentially, we should view failure as a learning process. We should expect failure and celebrate the opportunity to learn from that failure. In our minds, failure should an inevitable thing that does not stop us from trying again and this time getting it right with a large amount of success.

So, here's the question -- we know that those with wealth value opportunities over cold-hard cash. So, if we were more open to gaining more opportunities than cash, would the globs of dollars and the abundance of wealth soon follow?

Friday, August 24, 2007

Tele-Jobs: Smarthinking.com

Is an online tutoring and writing service for students. They are currently working with the big 4 educational publishers: Pearson Education, Thomson Learning, Houghton Mifflin and Bedford, Freeman & Worth -- partnering with them and using their materials to help over 1000 colleges and high schools with their online tutoring needs. Pretty impressive huh?

Smart Thinking lists administrative positions that are "online" or "remote" positions; or click on "Tutoring Positions" to work one-on-one with students (most tutoring positions are telecommuting/online positions).

Smart Thinking
http://www.smarthinking.com/static/aboutUs/careers/


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************************************************************************
Please remember, dear job hunter, if your qualifications and experience do not fit the position, do us all a favor and refrain from applying. Employers do not want to be bombarded with resumes of people who can not do the job.

Telecommuting Jobs, Work at home jobs, telework, hom

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Tele-Jobs: Nestle

Nestle USA Professional Job Search is very nice and user-friendly. Most of their telecommuting jobs are located in their Sales Department. That's the bad news, the good news is that there are a lot of them. The search page has convenient scrolling boxes that allow the job hunter to indicate the state, region, division and the job function. It then has a Key Search box -- but, forget the search box -- it doesn't provide reliable results when you are looking for "work at home" jobs.

Instead, select the REGION you wish to work in and click the "Perform Search" button.

You will find a nice list of jobs in a easy to read table. Look under the LOCATION column. The jobs with "Office in Home" in the box are the telecommuting jobs.



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************************************************************************
Please remember, dear job hunter, if your qualifications and experience do not fit the position, do us all a favor and refrain from applying. Employers do not want to be bombarded with resumes of people who can not do the job.

Telecommuting Jobs, Work at home jobs, telework, hom

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Update: I'm $27 dollars closer to my goal


If you've been following along on my adventure, you know that I'd even use a penny to get closer to my goal. I even pointed out some people that were tallying their daily finds in coins as they went about their lives.

Well, I'm happy to say that I've cleaned my entire house -- well, not the entire house - 3 rooms -- but it felt like the entire house. Anyway, I did some deep cleaning (I'm proud of myself) and I found a total of $27 in coins!

Well, I found more than that but I'm not counting the quarters because I need those for parking and bridge tolls; so, those are sitting in my car ashtray.

Anyway, I have $27.00 in dimes, nickels and pennies and I am going to take them to my bank, deposit them and put them in my millionaire account. Aren't you proud of me?

What? Yeah, okay, I may have 4 more rooms to clean up . . . and the garage . . . but, dang can ya' give a girl a break? I did clean up (and I mean DEEP CLEAN here) three rooms and gained a nice sum of change.

Gosh, there's just no satisfying some people!

Photo by: Seg Fault

Tele-Jobs: Arise






The provide virtual call-systems.

However you define this growing trend, Arise has set the standard providing thousands of home based businesses with the freedom to answer calls, e-mail and chat requests for prestigious U.S. and global companies. This company provides Customer Service, Sales and Technical Support.

This a legitimate company. The downside of using this company for employment, you have to become incorporated to participate in this opportunity. Why? Because they hire you as an independent contractor and they want to make sure the IRS does not come to them and accuse them of having you as an employee. So, to cover their bee-hinds, they make you spend money to incorporate your new home-based business. Not a bad thing actually, but it can get very involved.

Go to their website and make sure you read all about it before applying.

Arise Virtual Solutions Inc.
http://www.arise.com


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Monday, August 20, 2007

The Lazy Investor (that would be me) & Generation X Finance



I stumbled upon this really great website called Generation X Finance today. Great postings and I invite you to go there and read everything. But what caught my eye was the recent post of Jeremy's called "Add More Tools to Your Arsenal to Help Solve Your Financial Problems." It was so good that I couldn't help commenting. But my comment quickly moved into a whole article that I think you (my readers) would enjoy, so I'm including it here.

Basically Jeremy's article said that we -- the people that are struggling to gain financial independence -- should constantly look for new investment tools to help us deal with life's new challenges. Read the article for a full understanding.

However, I had to point out in my comment that what he's asking me to do -- makes me groan in protest. Simply because . . . I hate investing.

Okay, I don't hate investing because I love reading and learning about investments and investing, I just hate doing it. When you invest, you have to: (1) analyze your financial situation, (2)analyze the investment tool, (3) figure out if it will really work in your portfolio, (4) you have to fill out paper work, (5) you have monitor the new investment, (6) you stay up all night worrying about this new "thing" you don't quite understand . . . look dude, I am too lazy for all of this and frankly I don't want to do it. I have a butt-load of other things I want to do and think about and new investment tools are the last thing on my list I want to spend energy on.

So basically, I told the author of the above article, why I don't like looking for new investment tools to put in my arsenal, why I am content to use the same tools (even if they are not very efficient):

1. Lazy Investors don't want to go shopping for new tools they know nothing about.
Lazy investors want to go into our own garage, shuffle through the tool box and pull out a tool, do the job and get on with life. They DO NOT want to take a trip to the home improvement store, ask pimply-faced kid what's the best tool to use for the project, come back home and read the instructions and take all their Saturday to figure out how to use said tool.

Seriously, looking for a new tool takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and a huge learning curve. A lot of people don't feel that they have the time to learn what tool would work, how it works, and who is selling the tool. Yes, if they take the time they may benefit from it. But what if they take the time and realize that one of their tools in the garage could already take care of that task? Wouldn't that be time wasted?

2. Lazy Investors don't like to feel anxious -- it disrupts the mood.
Investors feel . . . and usually, we feel much more confident if we've dealt with that tool before and know we can depend on it. If we get a new tool we have to deal with the unease of FEELING, TESTING or trying out that tool until we feel comfortable using it. Who wants to deal with the worry?

3. Makes Lazy Investors ask "what did I get myself into?"
We are basically lazy investors (not all of us, but many of us). We didn't really want to invest anyway -- it's just a fundamental requirement to get us to financial freedom. What you are asking (look for new tools) feels like school again where we have to learn about new things.

It's like when I realized after ALGEBRA, I had to register into GEOMETRY and when I successfully passed geometry I had to register for TRIGONOMETRY and then my instructors expected me to learn CALCULUS . . . it was like someone duped me into Algebra and I was in the Math Mafia . . . I had to die just to get out of it.

That's how investments seem to be to the new investor - once you get in it grows into a life of its own. The expectations just never stop.

I know that all my readers aren't lazy investors, but what do you think about this? Am I being particularly "lazy" about this?


Photo by: Carol's Photos


Friday, August 17, 2007

Tele-Jobs: Sun Microsystems


Sun Microsystems Job Page is a tough nut to crack. They don't use the usual terms like "Telecommuting" and "working from your home," no way - they are too damn special for that.

Instead they use the term "ANY CITY" in their location box. Don't be fooled though, because they also have an "ANY SUN LOCATION" signifier. Don't fall for that, that means that you are allowed to go to any SUN Microsystems office, but you still have to commute to that office. The "any city" signifier means that anywhere you are, is where you work . . . so only go for that key word when searching for a job.

Still, even with the jobs that have the keyword "ANY CITY," they don't specify in the job description that it is a telecommuting job. So be very cautious and ask lots of questions when applying for these jobs.

You may come across some descriptions that give you a slight clue -- it might say, "working remotely" or "geographically distributed team" . . . but that is rare. Actually, this company is open to telecommuting for their veteran employees that have shown prior responsibility. So understand that you may have to commute for a while until they feel they can trust you.

Check them out at:
http://www.sun.com/corp_emp/index.html

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Should you work for free?

I ask this question because I find myself doing work for my church. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that God looks down and smiles on me and stuff because I'm devoting time to His cause and everything . . . but really, is it smart to work for free?

Currently, I'm doing publicity work for my church. In the past, we did a particular fund-raiser that has been pretty successful. But to be successful it needs a person to contact a long list of media and websites and announce the event (through press releases and PSAs) which hopefully brings us an audience.

It's something I've volunteered to do for my church. However, to do this job correctly it takes almost 24 hours (3 days work). Three days that I have to set aside my paying work . . . because "of course" they want it done immediately.

But here is the rub, I really should be working those three days and making money to off-set some of my bills. And it looks like, my church is making a habit of asking me to sacrifice "paid work time" to give them "free work time."

So, I ask the question again: "Should we work for free?" My answer: Yes. If you want to make a difference in your world. If you feel the cause is just, yes. If you are a member of something and want to see it grow and flourish . . . yes.

But the key is to make sure you communicate to others (especially those who ask you to volunteer your time) exactly what you are giving. Because, though they are getting it for free, it does have some worth.

I think the best way to do that is to submit invoices for your work. The invoices bottom line can say $0.00 - but it should outline all the work you have done, how much time it took, how much it would usually cost to spend your time on the project -- just so everyone understands just what they are getting -- just so you understand "what" and how much you are giving away.

So, the next time you (or I) volunteer to do a job. Submit an invoice with a big RED STAMP -- "DONATED SERVICES, PAYMENT NOT REQUIRED." That way you and others understand, just because it's free don't mean it's not valuable.


Photo by nyanna

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Tele-Jobs: Omnidirective LLC

An IT firm with a few high-tech positions that can be done remotely.


Solutions service company providing professional network support and staffing services for LAN, WAN, Voice, Data, Video, Wireless and Security Networks. At OmniDirective LLC, we realize how mission critical communication networks are in today's fast paced business environment. We support our customers with the most flexible, dynamic, and competitive service solutions available today.
Check out their jobs available.



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************************************************************************
Please remember, dear job hunter, if your qualifications and experience do not fit the position, do us all a favor and refrain from applying. Employers do not want to be bombarded with resumes of people who can not do the job.

Telecommuting Jobs, Work at home jobs, telework, hom

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Lesson learned: Don't buy stuff you can't afford.


When reading the news today, I came across this article about the people at the Florida Trailer Park who were promised between $500K to $1Mill by a development company for waterfront, trailer-home property. Yes, trailer-home lots were being sold for up to $1,000,000 a piece. But the deal fell through and the people there have found themselves in financial trouble. Why? Because in anticipation of getting that "promised" money, many of them bought boats and cars and houses. Someone should have shown them the SNL Skit: Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford.

I really enjoyed that Saturday Night Live skit with Steve Martin called Saturday Night Live: Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford






Here's an excerpt from the article:

Millionaire hopefuls' cash gone with breeze
BRINY BREEZES, Fla. — Who wants to be a millionaire?
Never mind.
That's the come-on, and ultimate torment, recently served up to Briny Breezes, a 43-acre mobile home community on Florida's Gold Coast.
In January, Ocean Land Investments of Boca Raton agreed to pay Briny trailer owners $510 million for their oceanfront property, a defiantly unpretentious middle-class oasis wedged amid mansions, high-priced condominiums and opulent hotels.
Ocean Land planned a development featuring 900 condos, a 349-room hotel, a marina and 300 time shares, including several 15-story buildings. Owners of each of the 488 trailers, many of whom paid less than $50,000 for their units and the lots they occupy, stood to make an average of slightly more than $1 million. Briny's 1,100 inhabitants were instant celebrities. Trailer park millionaires.
But two weeks ago, Ocean Land, facing an Aug. 10 deadline to pay the rest of a $5 million non-refundable deposit (it had put down $500,000) asked for a 45-day extension to talk to nearby towns opposed to the project.
Briny's board of directors refused, and the deal is off.
Okay, here is what I've learned:

1. Credit is really not your friend. It's a great tool when you can guarantee future earnings -- which really most people can not.

2. Don't spend money you don't have.

3. If someone wants to make an outrageous deal with you, do it quickly, take the money and run.

4. Don't buy trucks, cars, boats and other depreciating objects unless you have the million dollars in an interest bearing account or investments that allow you buy such objects with the interest not the actual principal.

5. Rule 3 and 4 is moot if you follow rule 2! Don't spend money you don't have.

Sigh


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Monday, August 13, 2007

Tele-Jobs: Perkett PR


This is a PR company that uses Virtual Office Technology to get the job done!
I like . . . I like very much. But be warned, they are looking for fast-paced, experienced professionals. Beginners and the inexperienced need not apply.

Visit their website and read everything before you apply.

Perkett PR
http://www.perkettpr.com/careers.htm

************************************************************************
Please remember, dear job hunter, if your qualifications and experience do not fit the position, do us all a favor and refrain from applying. Employers do not want to be bombarded with resumes of people who can not do the job.

Telecommuting Jobs, Work at home jobs, telework, hom

Friday, August 10, 2007

Buyers of million dollar homes

You probably thought I was crazy when I announced in a previous post that one of my goals were to buy a house in California out-right. Okay, yes, it might sound like a crazy goal (that I may never achieve) but I'm in good company. Did you know that 32% of "million-dollar" home buyers did not have outstanding mortgages? A survey by the US Census said that just under one-third (32%) of million dollar home buyers bought their homes paying cold-hard cash!

Can you tell that I'm very proud of myself?

Yes, indeed, I may not have the resources to meet my goal today . . . but my mind and my goals are in the right spot. Hey guys, I think like a millionaire!

Here is what I found out about the typical million-dollar home buyer . . .

1. That the author's of The Millionaire Next Door were right and I just have to concede to increase "my game" where income is concerned - see my post "Millionaire Next Door's Advice to Buying a Home." Because the average income of those who own million-dollar houses in 2001 was $900,000 in household income (according to 2001 SCF data).

So basically, typical millionaires pay slightly below two times their annual income for their home and if I want to establish my millionaire-mind, I must think along those lines. Either look at properties that are two times my household income in a serious light or bring up my income to accommodate what I think I should have in a home. A hard concept to swallow, but one I must face.

2. That 17% of million-dollar home buyers paid 50% or more up front (the majority of luxury home buyers pay 25-30% down payment as a customary practice.) So in this scenario a buyer wishing to purchase a million dollar home would pay $250,000. So, all these people with no down-payment or low-down-payment are not being millionaire-minded (oh-oh).

3. The two biggest groups who bought million-dollar houses were entrepreneurs and corporate executives. So if I wish to reach my goal of buying a house out-right (I'm not looking in the million-dollar range by the way - $750,000 will do just find thanks), then my ideas of entrepreneurial-ship are exactly the correct path to take.

4. The survey indicated that only 6% actually paid over the asking price. See that? Millionaires are not suckers. The last few years of people buying over the asking price just didn't feel "right" to me. It's nice to know that it didn't seem right to people with globs of money either.

5. Sixty-six percent (66%) of million dollar home buyers are between 35 and 55 (where the majority of 35-45 inherited some of the money to purchase the home). While 28% of million dollar home buyers were 56+ in age. So, for all you 35 and under . . . you still have some time, get to work!

I better get to work too. I only have 2 years and 300 days to achieve my goal.

Information found at:
Joint Center for Housing Studies - Harvard University
"Million-Dollar" Homes and Wealth in the US (.pdf file)Zhu Xiao Di. - January 2004

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

This is NOT going to be me!

Okay, I discovered this article at Fiat Lux, a really entertaining blog discussing things on Silicon Valley. Her post entry directed me to this article in the New York Times called:

"In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich" I read the article eagerly, wanting to know what millionaire DO feel then . . . and learned that some of these folks in Silicon Valley must be out of their ever-loving minds.

FROM THE ARTICLE:
No one knows for certain how many single-digit millionaires live in Silicon Valley. Yet nearly all of them still have all-consuming jobs, not only because the work gives them a sense of achievement and satisfaction but also because they think they must work so much to afford their gilded neighborhoods.

That certainly describes Tony Barbagallo, 44, who over the last two decades has collected around $3.6 million in stock and options from companies he has worked for.

Taxes have devoured about 40 percent of his stash, Mr. Barbagallo said, knocking that figure down to $2.2 million. Over the years, he has tried to live off his salary, but not always successfully. To limit their monthly expenses, he and his wife Catherine bought a ranch house far from Silicon Valley, in the town of Moraga, for $750,000 — by Valley standards a modest sum. But they spent $350,000 on extensive remodeling — causing them, not for the first time, to dip deeply into their nest egg.


MY COMMENTS:
What da' . . . . I'm sorry, but this is fully ridiculous.
1. You have several millionaire dollars and you can not find ways to live within your means?

2. To live within your means you decide to buy a modest house in . . . in Moraga?
Moraga, though not as expensive as Los Altos, is still kind of up there. I mean, if you really wanted to live modestly, there is Berkeley, there is the Oakland Hills (Piedmont, Montclair), there is El Cerrito . . . there are sooo many other places in the Bay Area that you could live well and modestly. Moraga would not top that list.

Okay, 3. You buy a $750,000 house and THEN spend $350,000 on renovations? Why didn't you just buy a $1,000,000 house in Silicon Valley in the first place? And what type of renovations did you make, 18-Karet gold renovations? Using 18-karet gold contractors? I mean, I personally know people who have built a 1,500 square foot house -- yes, in the Bay Area -- for that amount. Did ya try to cut costs in anything you did? My god!

Note to self: Become a general contractor (it's not difficult - I've researched it thoroughly because I want to build a home myself one day) and look for Silicon Valley millionaires that just bought a house. Damn, I wish someone had told me about this earlier!


ANOTHER QUOTE FROM THE ARTICLE:

Umberto Milletti has fantasized about downsizing his life to ease the financial pressures he feels despite a net worth around $5 million. In 2000, when his stake in DigitalThink, the online learning company he co-founded in 1996, was worth around $50 million, he bought his family of four a five-bedroom house in Hillsborough, an upscale suburb south of San Francisco. After his net worth fell 90 percent, though, he found the house more of an albatross than a dream.

“We could move,” Mr. Milletti said. “But if you do that, then you’re admitting defeat. No one wants to go backwards.”

So he works 60 to 70 hours a week at InsideView, an online sales intelligence company he co-founded in 2005, in part to prove that his first success was not a fluke — but also to meet his monthly nut, which includes payments on a seven-figure mortgage.


MY COMMENTS: Admitting defeat? This is not Monopoly, this is LIFE (okay, there is a game called LIFE , I know, don't leave comments about this). I think Robin Leach did us a miss-service because these people are acting ridiculous.

  • What is wrong with living a middle-class life and having hunks of cash in the bank?
  • What's wrong with telling your neighbors to mind their own freakin' business and NO you like your Toyota Camry just fine, thank you.
  • What's wrong with telling your kids that NO they can't have the latest and greastest, even if their friends parents let them do it . . . tough nuggy. Life ain't fair - live with it.
  • What's wrong with telling people NO. No, I don't want to donate to your cause. No, I don't want to get a six-figure car - yours is nice, I'm happy for you. No, I'm not buying you that crazy expensive gift - you better be glad with my congratulations and warm blessings and be done with it. Just plain "No" to everything. What's wrong with that?

HERE'S MY TAKE ON THIS:

I don't feel insignificant . . . hell, even when I had two nickels to my name I didn't feel insignificant. I think that these people have issues with their self-worth. I think that even if they made $30 million tomorrow, they would still feel unworthy and needed to keep up with their buddies.

Their gauge of success is how they can one-up their neighbors and friends. Not how happy their family is, how much time they can spend with their family, how comfortable their home is for them (instead of being a showcase to make friends envious of them).

Truly, this is a sad state of affairs we are witnessing.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

I Can't Sell My House

Photojouralism at it's best! About people that can no longer sell their house.

You may not know this but I've been following the "housing market" situation very closely for over 5 years now . . . it is one of my very guilty pleasures. To me it's an economics class come alive.

I predicted over 5 years ago that this housing market was a bubble and was bubbly as Glenda the Good Witch (you'd have to have watched Wizard of Oz to get that one). This just one of the websites that is proving that I (and others that saw it coming) were right.

It's a good website that gives an example of what can happen if you follow the "neighbors" (the sheeple) and not your own good financial sense.

http://www.icantsellmyhouse.blogspot.com/

Monday, August 6, 2007

Tele-Jobs: GE (General Electric)





Okay, these guys are sweet! They make it fairly easy to find the jobs that are offering telecommuting right off the bat. I like that.

Anyway, you want to go to GEcareers.com. Click on EXPAND SEARCH. In keyword box type in "home office."

Now read the descriptions very, very carefully. GE has a "Home Office" project/division that they talk about a lot and it does not mean that the job is offering telecommuting options, so you really have to read the description to make sure you are applying for the right job. Fair warning.

Also, the work-at-home jobs are listed in a specific locations (usually by state, but sometimes a metro area). They will allow you to work from home but you must be in that specific location, so make sure you are a resident of that location before applying for that job.

Check them out.



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Please remember, dear job hunter, if your qualifications and experience do not fit the position, do us all a favor and refrain from applying. Employers do not want to be bombarded with resumes of people who can not do the job.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Tele-Jobs: Net Transcripts

Net Transcripts

Provides transcription services to city governments and police enforcement divisions (primarily) across the United States. They do have other clients in the corporate field that use their transcription services. However, this company wants "experienced" transcribers (no entry-level opportunities here). Their minimum requirement is 80+ WPM, full office set-up and several years of law enforcement experience. If you have all those things then you are good to go.

At this time they are really looking for those with Spanish translation experience (or Spanish as first language transcribers).

Check them out.



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Please remember, dear job hunter, if your qualifications and experience do not fit the position, do us all a favor and refrain from applying. Employers do not want to be bombarded with resumes of people who can not do the job.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Money and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory



Last week, my kids and I decided to have "movie night" and we picked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory featuring Johnny Depp. I didn't think I would really enjoy it but, I ended up really loving that goofy movie.

If you've been reading this blog so far, you will know that I struggle with many concepts and ideas on money.

But in this silly little movie, I found the answer to all my money questions, problems and struggles . . . it was when Charlie finally finds a "golden ticket" and contemplates selling the ticket to make money for his poor family. When he announced that this was an option for his family, his Grandpa George took him aside and said:

"There's plenty of money out there. They print more and more everyday. But that ticket? There are only five of them in the whole world, and that's all there's ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?"

Grandpa George Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Wow. I sat on the couch while my kids happily munch on M&Ms and Popcorn and tried not to drop tears, because I felt like such a . . . dummy.

I mean, how clear could that be? We -- the American Culture -- clamor for, turn tricks for, give up half our lives and nearly KILL each other for something as common and plentiful . . .as money.

We have fallen for the hokey-doke, people. We live with the mind-set that money is scarce when in fact, it's the opposite. And because of this mind set we give up the very thing that could allow us to live the lives we want . . . opportunity. We give up our opportunities -- the thing that could give us the very things we want in abundance -- for money. Think about it . . .

  • We give up jobs that have "fun" working environments and opportunity to advance because the salary is too low and the other "dull" job offered to us gives us $10,000 a year more.
  • We commute over 90 minutes one-way -- losing 3 hours of our lives each day -- in a car because the salaries are much bigger in the city.
  • We don't take the sabbatical from our jobs to take that dream trip to Europe because we're afraid our current job won't be there when we come back.
  • We won't take that great new idea and make a business from it because it would take too much time away from our job, or the boss doesn't like us moonlighting, or we may be fired once the boss finds out we are working on something else.
  • Or even more simply, we don't endeavor in our own business because everyone knows that a job with benefits is where the real security lies. And everyone will think you're crazy to give up your job.

All those lost opportunities, just because we think money is "scarce." Just because we are dummies. Thank you Grandpa George.


I am often awed by how I find wisdom (answers to life's little questions) in small, unassuming little bits like one scene in a goofy movie. If you want to check out the movie buy it here.