Munchies nugget #514 The week that would never end has (almost) ended! See you after Memorial Day!  Munchies nugget #513 It's difficult to explain exactly how I've been feeling in the past week or so. But, the best way I can describe it is with a cliché: a rollercoaster of emotions. One second I'm worrying about every aspect of my life. The next, I'm celebrating them. The whole thing is pretty annoying actually, and that's my main reason for posting about it right now. I'm all scatter-brained and stressed lately and I really don't know why, other than the fact that work has been pounding me into the ground pretty hard these last few weeks. Today was the first time in a long while that I felt I was about to crack. Vacation in 4 days.  Just because.  Some quick things ... 1. I'm going to Tivoli this weekend, after all. 2. I've decided The Big Lebowski isn't all that great. 3. Deal or No Deal: Who the hell are these people? 4. My coworkers kinda go insane when they leave their jobs. 5. English breakfast tea: my new crack. 6. I am slightly embarrassed about #5 ... but not really. 7. Happy Cinco de Mayo ... those poor people on the Titanic. No line breaks allowed. I spent last weekend in NYC with Sara. It was our first time back in the city together since we became a couple last December. The weekend was fast and incredibly tiring, so already I feel like my memory of it is becoming a big mushy mix of fruits, vegetables, and salted peanuts. The weekend contained none of that. More clear in my memory is beer, Japanese zombies, cheap wine, beer, karaoke, waking up next to Sara Sunday morning and spending the best 3 hours of the trip alone with her in Penn Station as we waited for our trains. We'll see each other one more time before our big vacation in two weeks ... but it has yet to be decided whether that will be this weekend or next. If it's this weekend, it means I'll be skipping out on a trip with my boss to Ocean City, Maryland, and I'll be taking Monday off to extend my stay in Tivoli. If it's next weekend, it means I'll be leaving work right after our a company-wide scavenger hunt throughout town next Friday. To be honest, I no longer have any interest in going to Ocean City this weekend, mainly because all the people that were originally supposed to go are no longer going. And, well, as much as I like most of my coworkers, I'd still much rather be going up to Tiv for the weekend. It's all very complicated though, and this is neither the time nor the place to get into any of that. But I do rather enjoy rambling on and on like this at the moment, even though I have nothing particularly interesting to say. It's makes me feel less guilty about not posting very much recently, and that's all that really matters. Good news and a long rant... We've finally hired a copywriter at work! And guess what. It's my friend Melanie! I have to say work has been going pretty damn well recently, despite how busy I've been since the other copywriter left. First, I get a promotion, and now I get to work with one of my best friends. I've pretty much decided that we're going to conquer the entire company with this mini-department. Give it a couple months and we're going to own that place! I've been thinking a lot recently about how my attitude toward this line of work has changed over the past year. And by 'this line of work' I mean advertising home-based businesses that promise fortune and freedom that 90% of those who get started will never see. When I first started this job, I wasn't as comfortable writing ads that claim exorbitant amounts of income for people who do little work from their homes. It was basically like telling lies to the people who are most likely to believe them and least in need of more debt. But, a year or so later, my opinions have changed pretty dramatically, and here's why ... The reason why so many people fail at these home businesses is because they simply get lazy and don't feel like doing any work. Sure, some of the ads out there claim to involve little work... but how much different is that from an ad that claims a car can reach 60 mph in 6 seconds? It's so rare that you'd ever use the car for that purpose, because if you did, you'd either get arrested or possibly die in a car accident. And yet, people buy fast cars all the time even when they can't use them for that reason. The thing about these home businesses is ... people can actually make full-time income from their homes if only that put in the effort. And, unlike every other type of business, these don't cost half a million dollars to start. In fact, most of the companies we advertise offer businesses that can be started for under $100. $100! I've spent more at the bar in just a couple days. I spend more on DVDs and clothes! All you have to do is work hard for about one year, non-stop, or even just SOMEWHAT hard for a couple years, and you're pretty much guaranteed to earn residual income for life, even if you decide to quit the business a year later. Most of these businesses pay high, but the high pay only goes to those who work for it. I could start a McDonald's franchise and work my ass off for 20 years and still not make back the hundreds of thousands of dollars I spent to cover the lease, the employee salaries, the utilities. And yet, I could start a XanGo business for about $100, work my ass off for 20 years and have enough to retire early and still have money coming until the day I die. Literally thousands of people start home-based businesses like XanGo, Pre-Paid Legal, or Herbalife every day. And most of those people give up as soon as they realize there is work involved. So, what do they get after spending $100 to start this business and then quit soon after? A lesson learned: You can't make money for doing nothing. People waste thousands of dollars on things they don't need every year. Fast food. Cars that lose thousands in value after only a couple years. All the material possessions that we all buy. At least, with these businesses, the people who quit actually learn something about responsibility and diligence. So what if someone is in debt $100 to $1,000 trying to make $10,000/month from home? If they only treated it like a real business, they could actually make that money in just a few years. Most people don't have the patience for that. They want to get rich quick, and by "quick" they mean the next couple months. Little do they understand they can get rich VERY quick ... in about five years. In that time, they actually can make the amount of money that the ads they answered claim. Unfortunately, most people aren't willing to wait that long. And, even if they are, they're too lazy to work that hard in the meantime. It's been a while. Okay, so where was I? Oh, right ... I haven't posted in about 3 years. A few weeks ago I finally figured out what I was going to get Sara for her birthday, though I was a bit disappointed in my final selection of gifts. To compensate, I decided I would try something a little different when actually giving her the gifts. The plan: turn her birthday into a homemade game show. The goal: make a fool out of myself for her amusement. So, last weekend when Sara came to visit, we finished our take-out dinners and birthday cake, I ran upstairs, threw on a suit jacket, grabbed her gifts and came back down with the theme of The Price is Right playing on my stereo. "It's Sara's birthday!" I yelled in my charismatic game-show-host voice. "And you're about to play Presents of the Past, Present, & Future!" And that's when Sara ran upstairs and threw up in my bathroom. Game over. Big whammy. Lose your turn and go home empty-handed with your pets un-spayed. I felt really bad about the whole thing. When she came down a bit later, I turned off the music and handed her the gifts like a normal person. She had already been feeling a bit nauseated earlier in the evening, so I suppose I can't really blame myself. (She certainly doesn't. Though, she's likely plotting my death for posting about this.) Still, it'll probably be a very long time before I try my game show host impersonation again. --- More current events later! |
Late night snacks. Bite-sized ramblings. Old-fashioned eats, served fresh daily. Open 24-7.  Other blogs Fireballs and Tsunami JeffreyDavis.net Mismatched Parentheses NimbleSixpence One Tortured Soul Palpably Inadequate Picnic, Lightning Pony Legs, Temporarily Supernouveau Wander Lust In my DVD player Archives June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 Other stuff Homestarrunner One Slime DeepDiscountDVD Olde English Sketch Comedy Live Music Archive Copy Army Copywriting Service Love & Radio This One Time Email me mmjunior / at / hotmail   
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