The WAHumorous World Of DanReinhold.com

A while back I told about a friend who started The Ultimate Time Tested Work At Home Business.

He delivers newspapers.

“Oh boy,” you’re probably thinking, “What a great way to make money from home! Just like being a postal employee, except without the juicy salary and benefits!!”

He didn’t settle for just delivering them. He added something extra - something everyone with a list of people should have. Namely a newsletter.

It’s nothing impressive or lengthy. He grabs a couple of funny news stories online, pastes them into Word and prints. That’s it. He distributes them every Wednesday as a way for people to get over the mid-week hump with a smile or a chuckle.

There aren’t many people on his list, but his tips have increased 400% in less than six months. All he does is keep in touch. He does OK for the amount of hours and effort involved. For that matter, he does better than most others with bigger lists.

Are you keeping in touch?

There was some very shocking news on TV this morning.

After extensive and exhaustive study, a full report has been released that states that global warming is a man-made phenomenon…and irreversible to boot.

I don’t know how that could be, considering mankind has only been polluting the planet since the Industrial Revolution. How could a worldwide population approaching, what, 8 or 10 billion make such a mess in 150 years?

I blame the cows.

It’s that methane gas they…ummm…produce. After all, lately there’s been lots of talk about harnessing it as an alternative energy source. There’s gotta be an awful lot of it for anyone to consider that seriously.

All those acres they’re slashing and burning in the rainforest every minute of every day aren’t for new tennis courts. They’re being used for cattle grazing.

More cattle, more land. More gas, more pollution.

Let’s stop blaming poor innocent mankind for this catastrophe. The dinosaurs lasted for !50 million years for one reason…no cows.

Last week, a 16 year old boy stabbed another boy fatally at their high school in eastern Massachusetts. By itself, it’s not terribly memorable given the amount of vicious attacks in the greater Boston area.

So why do I care?

This 16 year old boy was described to be just like my younger son, who’s nine.

Both have Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. They have exhibited violent outbursts and difficulty with social situations. There’s more, but I feel as though I’ve been thinking about it more than long enough.

My son’s undergoing treatment with medications and therapy. He’s shown improvement in many areas, but he’s still who he is. He presents and acts in many ways as a typical kid and that’s where the worry comes in. The teenage years are full of plenty of raging hormones and simmering emotions. Will the day come when he has full self-control and can be everything we hope he will be?

Is there really anything we can do about it?

I have the great good fortune to be a subscriber to Michel Fortin’s blog, where he recently took Wordpress to task for persecuting two popular tutorial sites offering first-rate video tutorials about Wordpress.

Their initial complaint concerned the use of the word “Wordpress” in the domain names of the sites, WordpressTutorials.com and WordpressVideos.com. Pardon me for being so presumptuous as to say something, but isn’t that actually a descriptive term rather than a trademark infringement?

There’s a very interesting twist to all this too. Wordpress, by its own admission, sent only two notices to cease and desist , even though they admitted being aware that scammy spammy sites legitimately abusing Wordpress’ good name existed?

Guess who received those notices?

One more thing…Wordpress also admitted that they plan to launch a set of their own video tutorials shortly. Hmmmm. Can you say “preemptive restraint of trade”??

This is a Wordpress blog. I like having a Worpress blog. I also plan to subscribe to WordpressTutorials.com based on several recommendations from persons I trust and respect.

As for Wordpress themselves, I prescribe a chill pill.

Tommorow’s the day of my wife’s award luncheon. The state of Massachusetts is too miserly to pay for a banquet. The food’s just as bad anyway.

As a matter of fact, they’ve been cheap for years. Once upon a time, there was a monetary award also, which was given the ax by Future President Wannabe Mitt. It’s the highest possible award for a state employee, but it’s been reduced to a handshake and a plaque. Whoopee.

This sort of thing is popular with companies these days too. They give you a token instead of a raise and honestly expect you to feel thrilled and honored.

Give me the money instead.

In an earlier post, I reported my fervent drooling over an expensive home office makeover I saw in Working Mother magazine. (Yeah, I read that - what’s it to ya??)

It was the grand prize in a contest that requested descriptions of home offices and reasons why they’d need a makeover. For that, the big winner got a pro makeover by IKEA, that Swedish-owned furniture company taking over America and the runner-ups got some cool stuff too.

Here’s a new twist on this theme: a contest whose grand prize is getting out of your home office and setting up shop in a real live away-from-home office totally rentless for a year. It’s called the “Home Office From Hell” contest. Oh, one more thing - the winner also gets a lunch meeting with…The Donald himself.

So why the heck would independent, self-actualizing home business folks want to even enter such a contest? What would be the point to moving to an office in an office building, rent free or not, when you probably work at home because you wanted to get away from that kind of situation??

I don’t see a huge line forming for this one. Unless the kids, the pets and the friends and relatives come too.

Technorati Tags: home office, Working Mother, home business, work at home

This year I helped to create the “I Cut The Corporate Noose” award for those who achieved full-time home business status. It’s catching on quickly, and just named the first recipient outside the North American continent.

Sure, there was Rosalind Gardner of The Super Affiliate Handbook fame and Alice Seba of InternetBasedMoms who both hail from Canada a.k.a. The Great White North, but there were the exceptions.

Our international awardwinner is Iszuddin Ismail or as he prefers, Kidino. He’s a super-bright guy from Malaysia who recently left his full-time job and took the plunge. He was just a liiiiitle bit nervous because he had a new family with the arrival of his very cute daughter, Iman. Still, he felt the time was right and he was prepared and he did it!

Know anyone who’s made the life-changing move to full-time home business or employment? Nominate them as a special surprise for the “I Cut The Corporate Noose” award today!!

P.S. I almost forgot…Kidino has displayed his prestigious award on his blog. Take a peek!

Technorati Tags: home business, Rosalind Gardner, The Super Affiliate Handbook, Alice Seba, InternetBasedMoms, Kidino

No, I don’t mean their allowance, if you give one.

I’m talking about paying your kids to work for you in your home business.

I give my oldest son a little something for helping with paperwork and odds and ends, which provides pocket money for him and extra help for me.

But the best thing - oh boy, the best thing - is that it’s tax deductible.

Keep track of what you pay them, preferably by writing a check which they’ll love cashing with you. If that’s not the way you want to go, check www.irs.gov the rules for paying with cash.

It doesn’t stop there. If you need a hand with some things, consider hiring your wife, your brother-in-law (well, maybe not), or another relative.

It’s all good!

Technorati Tags: home business, tax deductible

My wife is darn good at her job. She loves what she does and does it extremely well.

She’s a state employee and was just notified that she’d won the highest award given to a state employee in the great state of Massachusetts.

For 10 years outstanding service to her agency ( and over 20 years total in her field), she gets the award, a luncheon and a handshake from a gubernatorial candidate otherwise known as the lieutenant governor.

She also gets one free ticket to this little get-together and is expected to pay $75.00 each for any additional tickets. Some deal, huh?

Once upon a time, there was also a $2000 cash award, but Mitt Romney, the governor who would be President decided that was just too much to give someone who deserved this award.

Now it’s basically a photo opp for another politician.

Keep working hard at those jobs and you will be…rewarded??

Technorati Tags: state employee, highest award, Mitt Romney

As I was browsing some forums the other day, I noticed some irritated and irritating people who kept shoving unwanted comments in the other posters’ faces. Their overwhelming self-importance, arrogance and scorn for everyone else wasn’t winning them any brownie points. I’ve even been attacked for no apparent reason by someone on one of my favorite forums, although I did nothing at all to trigger that reaction.

You’ve probably known one or two (hopefully not more) people like that in your own life. They just keep pushing their luck.

It reminded me of an incident that occured last year. A young woman known for having such a temperment and sharing it openly with everyone was at a convenience store with a friend. How these people can have friends is beyond me, but I have noticed that the friends they have act exactly the same way.

Anyhow, there they were at a convenience store when a man with a gun burst in and demanded all the money in the register. She immediately began to belittle and insult the guy, while her companion begged her to stop inciting him.

Obviously ignorant or uncaring of the fact that they were in the presence of a very nervous and agitated individual with a loaded firearm, she turned on her buddy and said,
“What’s he gonna do? Shoot us?!?”

So he shot her. Very dead.

Be nice. It could save your life.