It Has Been Awhile!!!

“It has been awhile! Where the h*ll have you been!” was the remarks that I received when I went to an end of the school year party! The other comments were “You brought your spicy chicken didnt you!!…No…. I can not believe you made it past the door go home!” 

Well it has been awhile for me to post on this site as well. The last time I was here I was learning about blogging and thinking about which webhost to go with. 

This is what has happened since my last post.

• I choose Lunarpages as my hosting company.
• I started a webpage called Hipbuddah.com (yes I know it is spelled wrong)
• I started a couple of other blogs that are attached to the hipbuddah site 
• I started a Zencart for Camo gear
• I started a BANs affiliate site (two actually and a third is on the way)
• I began playing with google adwords.
• I also began to build an adult toys site (I lost steam on that on but it is started).

If you read my profile page you would know already that I am a teacher.  I just got out of work on Wednesday June 18th and am getting ready for summer break.

What have I learned so far? Does any of these things work? What does it take to start to make money online?

Well it is alot of time, work and research lots of research. You do meet alot of interesting people along the way which make you either more interested or just plan confused/angry/ticked/happy….well you get my drift.

First let me start off talking about my Zencart store. www.camomax.com

1. Time to set up 5 days (roughly 3 hours a day)
2. Cost - $19 domain name (two years), Zen cart (free), merchant account (paypal free), Secured Certificate (free with paypal)
3. Money made so far - $400

BANs (eBay affiliate site)

1. Cost - $140 (lifetime)
2. Domain $19 (two years)
3. SEO Elite $167 (lifetime)
4. Amount made ($135 so far .5 monthes and growing)

I would say the the BANs (Build a Niche) site right now is more reliable for income. Yet I have not added Camomax.com to a SEO firm.

I will link  BANS for you if want to check it out I recommend it. Im still learning and am not in the position to tell you everything to make a buck all I can say it is time consuming, fun and frustrating.

 

My Wonderful Flu Bug!

Today will be the 7th day that I have the flu bug and I have to say I love it as much as I love changing a tire on a hill in the snow (without gloves on… of course).

It all started last Thursday when I had a cough. “I feel great besides this hack that I have” I rambled, as I swigged down my beverage of choice at the local cave. People grinned and even laughed but I should have known better. You see I am the type of person that gets pneumonia at a drop of the hat. I don’t know why really but I am cursed. Any cough or nasal drip can turn into a cough and will blow up in my face. 

I was an athlete most of my life until recently anyway. The truth is I got addicted to selling things on ebay, taking vacations and watching my debt soar along with my cholesterol, man there are some good memories. BUT now that I am getting to the magical age of 40, Ive been reflecting a lot about my life. I wouldn’t call it a mid-life-crisis, it is more like a pre-mid-life-realization, and I am trying to come to grips with.

Lately, I have been working on getting a web host and setting up my own site, which in all aspects is a good thing. I have been wanting to get into web design for years. My sisters was in it, my friends were in it and so the only right choice is I jump in too! My problem lies at the base of my foundation. Monetary foundation that is! I look at how things are progressing on the web and I know that I can shine in time! I understand what is going on with blogs and tags and other little things but I have little knowledge on how to create the site that will be “me”.  It is a great undertaking indeed.

I have taken only one day off of work this week because of my wonderful flu bug, but let me tell you how nice it was to sleep in.  I took a Friday off and because of MLK jr. day I had an extra day on Monday as well. It was my poor assumption that let me believe a 4 day weekend would kill this creeping crude inside of me. I went to bed on Saturday night at 10:30pm and woke up on Sunday at 4pm! No this is not a typo! I could not believe my eyes  when I rolled over to look at the alarm clock. First thing to my mind, “Crap I missed the New England-Charger game”, second thing was “What is for dinner!” and back to bed I went!

I went to work on Tuesday with the best intentions, after all I could not miss this day, I was in-charge of testing the whole school on the computers. (this happens 3 times a year.)  My voice was cracked, eyelids drooping and a cough that I thought would blow my head right off.  It was a tough day but I made it home.

The next day turned out to be worse but in a good way. If that makes any sense.

I made it to school set up the computers and was able to keep my eyes open (barely) sweating because the heater was on 86 degrees. This was the first time as a teacher that I almost fell asleep in class. As a kid I remember that it was ok for a teacher to fall asleep in the newspaper but now it is a “no-no”, a definite “meet me in my office”. As soon as I made it in my front door I was laid out on the couch, an ugly site for sure! I did get some sleep last night and it did help. But I am way behind on everything. Maybe tonight or this weekend will be better.

I do have to mention one of the strangest thing that happened with this fight with the flu. (I hope it is over soon). I woke up on Sunday night with a cough, but I swore it was not me doing it. I felt it and I heard it but the two did not match up at all in my head. Maybe it is my fever playing tricks on me. I would hack but the sound was reflecting in the room or in the back of my throat some strange way. Do it sounded deferent then my own cough. Really freaky! It happened again last night then went away. In my pool of sweat I must say having the flu is always a life experience and one which we need to acknowledge as being life changing in many ways. After all it is a great way to kick start your diet and get your clothes/sheets washed sooner.

If you are like me with the bug. Good luck and I hope you like hot tea, this years flu is a doosey!!  I even with the flu shot, I wonder sometimes.

What have I done! Looking for a webhost!

Have you ever noticed that every time you try to save money you spend more? Every time that you think about going on a diet you eat more? Every-time you try to party less….well you get the picture.

Im in the middle of trying to do all three things and Im already failing miserably. It is like trying to hold you breath in the bath tub. You know you can do it but it still freaks you out a little.

So here is my dilemma! I have found 2 webhosts, both were fairly the same with a few differences. Bluehost (which is recommended by WordPress) and Lunarpages (which is recommended by WordPress as well but not as highly). To figure out which one would be better for me I decided to email them with questions about blogging and having an e-commerence site. Here is what conspired:

• email to Bluehost about what I needed for e-com answer-”We have several different Shopping Carts and Merchant accounts” 
• email back to Bluehost, “Which one do you recommend for a new store owner?” answer-”We recommend all of the sites that we carry” (4 by the way). Well that didn’t really answer my question.

So… It was back to researching what I needed for my store. It would be nice to have an all-in-one shopping cart for my store but if you haven’t noticed all-in-one shopping carts can get pricey. I came across a couple sites that looked promising. Volusion and ShopSite Pro, both have nice looking sites and both have an all-in-one cart yet starting at 29.99 per month for 20 items (volusion) and more for Shopsite pro seemed a bit much for me starting out. Last year I started an yahoo store and never published it because of my drop-ship service was not keeping up with my orders in January and February (another story). After looking over these and emailing some questions to both I would have to say Volusion is the better of the two, especially in costumer service response.

A funny thing happened when I was looking at these sites and the Review sites that are out there (and there are a ton of them all saying they know best) Affiliate sites I will call them. Some were helpful others  had to say huh especially when they compare different sites on their own site. None of them were up to date on what the Webhosts had to offer and this told me the world of webhosting is very competitive right now.

On my search a familiar name kept popping up and that was Lunarpages. They rated in the top 10 of most all review. So, I decided to test them out with a few email that were similar to Bluehost. Here is what conspired:

• Question: I am looking at your basic webhosting plan and it looks pretty good. What type of Shopping carts do you have and what type of site builder do you suggest? Answer: We have some of the best shopping carts available including ZenCarts and Ocommerence and a few more. When it comes time to begin your site let us know and we will suggest the best for you. As far as site builders we have partnered up with CoffeeCup, one of the highest rating site builders in the industry. (This answer came back to me within 30 minutes of asking!)
• I also asked them about their free web site hosting for public schools (since I am a teacher) and received a wonderful response. But again that is a different story.

Being extremely happy with Lunarpages customer service (not as a costumer) has led my business their way. On-top of everything they just added more memory and transfer amounts to their basic package AND they have a coupon available for $28 off and 2 months free! (28offplus2) Check them out you might be surprised. PS I am not an affiliate yet! So, Im not selling you anything here!

All I need to do now is just figure out a Domain Name. 

Oh my where has the time gone!!!

I can’t believe it is almost 2008! It seems like just yesterday it was 1999 and the end was near! Since graduating college and getting married, I have noticed one thing. Time moves way to fast when you stay in one spot for more then 5 years.

While in College, I bounced from university to university until finally settling down to get a degree at Cal State Sacramento, Sac State as we called it. There I met my best friends Scott and Steve. I still know them today but have not been able to see in quite some time. Finally went to see Steve and Scott together this last October, it was great. I just wish I could stay longer. You see in addition to seeing them both to celebrete Steve’s 40th b-day that weekend was my 20th year reunion for San Ramon High School. I was able to see my high school buddies that I have not seen in about 15 plus years, play golf and get hammered. That was my 2 day trip! It was absolutely crazy, I drove about 6 hours and partied about 30 and remember only the flight home. Boy time flies!

Observation: 

Working at schools as a teacher I see and hear the same type of things I said when I was in High School, “Ill keep in-touch” and “ohhhh… we will be friends forever”. The truth is only a few of us stayed as friends and while we still “keep in-touch” it usually takes a few years to reconnect. We all grow and We all grow apart. Lets face it not all loved ones like our friends. In fact most hate each other and think they are trying to take us away. To where I dont know.

Feelings: 

I don’t feel old but there are signs every year that Im getting old. I think it is because I work with children that helps me feel young most of the time. Sometimes my wife will say, “Grow up! Stop acting like an 8th grader.” I usually reply by sticking out my tongue or making fart noises. I think it keeps her feeling young as well having to deal with me.

One sign that Im getting old is the term “Classic Rock”. When I was growing up, in high school anyway, the term Classic Rock meant bands like Frampton, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin and Hendrix (just to name a few). Now ”Classic Rock” includes: Nirvana, Green Day, U2, Pearl Jam and Sherryl Crow. The fact is, I love all those bands so I don’t care if its classic or new as long as they keep playing the music.

Another sign that time is moving too fast is the amount of doctor’s appointments you have. As a kid I remember going to the doctor only if I’m hurt or sick as a dog. Know they call you in for annual check-ups and any time your prescription is due. Let me be the first to say, “They suck!” and spendy too! Yes, I do have insurance but few insurance policies that are affordable pay for everything. It might sound like I’m complaining, but who isn’t when it comes to health insurance. Did my dad have to pay this much when he was older? I don’t remember. And that is just another sign of getting older, besides my complaining! 

One day Ill get old and admit it. Until then I wont wait, Ill continue to have the time of my life and hope the money outlasts me.

Yet Another Holiday Observation

What is going on with people this time of the year!

I work at a school that has been around for over 150 years. One main building and several newer wings surrounding it. The roads surrounding the school are all newer streets and have been placed way to close. The back of our school has a main road (2way) about 6 feet away. Teachers park along the back of the building as well because we have no parking lot.

People have been flying down this road more then normal. I have almost been hit 3 times this week alone and I am in the cross walk. Did these people forget that we are in a school zone? Did they forget that pedestrians have the right away as soon as they are in the crosswalk area? My guess is that they are in such a rush that they dont care about anyone but themselves.

In another instance, I was going home from work about 4:30 ish and was stuck at a red light. To the right of me was a Fire Engine waiting to cross the intersection, waiting for people to leave a space for them to pull out. Well, people did not let them pull out. Instead a lady in a large SUV with a handicap sticker pulled infront of it and would not move until we got a red light. The nerve….

Have you noticed this? The selfish behavior? The rude tones we go through and feel this time of the year? I do! And I must say it carries it on to the kids…they feel it too! They feel their surroundings more than adults do. You can see it in their school work, their social environment and their personal attitude.

We tend to blame it on them because…lets face it….it is the easiest explaination. We get them to go to doctors to give them labels that prove that we are right, its completely their fault. Hell, we are paying the medical bill so we must be their customers and the customers are always right. The truth of the matter is we are the ones with the problems and our children are reacting to them.

Just watch the TV show the Nanny to prove this. Or even better yet watch the Dog Wisperer. Im not saying every parent has the problem and the child is just reacting or children are like dogs. Im saying that in over 90% of the issues children have can be followed back to the parent or problems stemming from home.

How do we correct this as a society? I have no answer but I do believe that less stress on the parents would help. We need to help the foundations of our familys as a country. Basic necessities need to be made available.

President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” is an absolute joke if the we can’t help the child have a safe home! It must be the schools fault if the child doesnt succeed or is a complete slacker. Point fingers, point them all over the place but until we point them at ourselves we will never see impovement in our own lives or our childrens.   

Holly Cr@p it must be xmas!!

Lets face it the holiday season is here!

One way to tell is how full the parking lot is at Target (pronounce it the way you want). Another way to tell is how stupid people are that work at Target. I’m not talking about the regular Target employees, I’m talking about the holiday staff! One can the difference by their disrespect for customers and their lack of general common sense. They will hire just about anyone who breathes!

Let me start by what I saw as I was walking from our Jeep to the store.

The weather here in Washington is changing once again to the warmer rain, the heavier rain, the gloom and doom rain, the 3pm dark as 7pm rain. A lady from Target with a fresh red vest on was steering her cattle of about 35 carts towards the front door with one of those marvelous electric cart collectors, all you need to do is steer it to the door push it inside and hit the red button before it crashes into the customers. She was creeping across the parking lot in extra slow speed, it was like watching the little engine that could. For some reason she starts talking to a costumer who is leaving the store with a handful of packages and forgets why she is out in the parking lot in the first place!

 Oh what a No-No! Instead of guiding them into the store the carts slowly went towards a mother and child, I thought I was watching the “Matrix” it all happened in super slow motion. In addition, the mother and child were not looking where they were walking, they were staring down a car that almost hit them. 3 seconds probably passed (if not more) and everything sped up in time. The employee figured out her carts were still moving, the mother figured out she were not looking where they should be and BAM, Boom SCRAAAAPE….the carts crashed into the “Do Not Enter Door”, the child stumbled right into the red carts and the car that almost hit the mother and child hit the electric cart pusher. Well it did not stop there! The electric cart pusher tipped over and started to move on its side. The carts looked and act like a giant scarlet snake and began to move towards the car that hit it.  It reminded me of a Boa Constrictor slowly wrapping around its prey. OH it didn’t stop there!

Instead of hitting the Large red button, “The Big Shinny Red Button”, the employee tried to right the cart pusher which resulted in what looked like a strange rain dance. Finally someone from inside, with a blinking Rudoff the Red Nosed Reindeer Button, came out to help and hit the shinny red button. The rain came down hard at point. Proving that the rain dancer truely understood what she was doing. Unfortunately we don’t need anymore rain. 

I must say it put a smile on my face watching the whole ordeal evolve into a mess of twisted plastic, a screaming child and a wild out of control electric cart machine reeking havoc in the Target parking lot. Ah what a sight to see. But I couldn’t wait any longer and see how the whole story unfolded. I had a mission, buy a candle, some red socks and a few calendars.

Why do we stress so much this time of the year? Next week I think Ill pour myself a special coffee (wink wink) and sit in the coffee shop and watch it all unfold again and again.

Happy Holidays and may Peace find your heart.

Round and Round I go! It must be Holiday time!

I won’t deny it, I won’t forgive it, I won’t understand it. Every year we do this and I’m getting sick of it.

It is that time again and I’m trying to focus on the important things but this year seems a bit more crazy then the past.

 I am a teacher, one who believes in high expectations but not at the cost of youth and the experience it should pertain. This holiday is like all the ones for the past decade or so. “DO NOT SAY CHRISTMAS, DO NOT PUT UP A CHRISTMAS TREE, DO NOT… DO NOT…DO NOT… and if makes the students happy stop it!” The Grinches are winning and teachers have learned to ignore them. Who the Grinches are and how they came to have such great power is still a mystery but I’m sure they sued someone and the rumor mill begain.

As a teacher this time of the year becomes so over whelming that the students do suffer! Teachers tend to have a meeting everyday for everything. I can’t even remember what this mornings meeting was about. But I’m sure it had to do with the Holiday concert or how the staff Holiday party is a potluck… oh yeah and not to put up Christmas lights in your classroom. The one thing I do remember was good news! A 3rd grade teacher found her lost hamster after emailing the whole staff of the tragedy 2 days ago and again yesterday.

It also seems that all my paperwork is due right before our break. Checklists, observations, grading, reports to the administration, not to mention the W-4 and Q19 (made up forms) for Billies learning requirments! Why do we bang our collective heads soooo much?

I bet you didn’t know that most school districts have a minimum of 6 different types of Unions working at each school everyday?!? Now you know why there are so many meetings and so many lists and so much red tape. Don’t get me wrong I love my Union. But please tell me why teachers have to plan their day around the Transportation union or the Food Services union. Even worse you cant have your students paint a the bathroom door which is full of graffiti with out the Maintenance and Costodial unions getting angry at you and filing a grievence against you. (true story). 

One thing that is not apparent to most is what the kids go through when teachers are stressed out. I’m a pretty laid back person but I even have my moments. Each year I hear more and more about teachers that scream at their students (I gave this up years ago, it just doesn’t work). I have also seen an increase of parents emailing or calling me on why their children can’t sleep at night or why they are so bogged down with work. It is a vicious circle that many schools see this time of the year. Stressed teachers leads to stressed children.

This usually lasts for 2 weeks before break and ends as soon as we are back in school only to resurface before summer.

I always wonder what else I can do for a job this time of the year. I also wonder why we get paid so little. When I talk about it I hear, “Well you get holidays off and 2.5 months and Summer.”  I will always reply,”How much do you pay your babysitter per hour now multiply that by 28 or 30 and you get what we should get paid” or worse yet how much do you pay your daycare? I do think Teaching is a fun gig but you need to be patient to survive. I’m not just talking about with the students either, everything, especially during holiday seasons.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Soon I will learn how to enter pictures and Gifs and fun things to my blogs for now I hope you enjoy my 3rd posting.

Hello world!

Hello!

Welcome to my first posting ever and hopefully the start of my blogging empire (you never know). This blog will be dedicated to my learning of wordpress and other instruments I need to….well learn.

In addition, I hope to keep those who read this blog informed of my progress in blogging and how life’s little insights can change the way we view our existence. Such a big order, so little time, and thus the name of my blog readysetwait. In the next few months I will be banging my head against the wall and researching a ton (literally and figuratively) of information on the World Wide Wave-maker.

OK I just noticed my spell checker isn’t working.

“Could not execute Ajax call” Who is Ajax and why am I calling him?

Wikipedia says “AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), or Ajax, is a web development technique used for creating interactive web applications. The main intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is intended to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, functionality, and usability.” (Hey I can paste from Wikipedia in wordpress, I think).

Ill learn more about Ajax later, Im sure.

By the way do you know Ajax died with Achillies in the Trojan war?

My goals in the future besides posting every other day is to get a domain of my own and begin an ad campain. So If you have any links, insights, pros and cons please let me know. 

Currently I am a computer teacher and I hope to teach my students about blogging, pod casting and web design in the future (next year when we open up a new school).  Later you will hear me comment on the burrocracy that is our educational system. Sometimes it makes my head expload!

I am going to post this now and see how it comes out.

See ya soon

“Another day, Another way”