I remember when I first became interested in computers. I had worked in the Navy as a SINS (Ships Inertial Navigation Systems) tech and we had these old Univac computers. They were taller than I was and wouldn’t do what any modern computer would do now but they were neat. A few years after I got out of the service I became acquainted with a couple and we became very good friends. Herman, the husband, owned several computers including a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model III which I bought from him. This thing had no hard drive and no floppy either. It had a whopping 48K of memory. I was in hog heaven.
I remember I bought a cassette player that I plugged into the computer via a cable and bought programs on cassette that could be loaded into memory and executed. Data could be loaded or saved from or to the cassette player. I remember buying a little program that told a story and I would read to my daughter from the computer. We could make decisions at various points that would then affect the story. We had an absolute ball with that computer and it was so primitive and only displayed black and white.
I also started college shortly after buying that computer. I had a word processor and wrote many a paper on that old thing and printed them out on a dot matrix printer I bought for that purpose. I remember writing one paper and after spending most of the night I went to save the paper. Silly me typed in the load command instead of the save command and the computer would not budge until I loaded something. The instructions said I could hit escape and get out of the problem but that would not work. I ended up losing that paper and had to rewrite it. But all in all I loved that old computer. It saved me from having to fight the crowds at the computer lab for computer time.
I also had a course in basic and was able to use the computer for that class as well. That was what caused me to change my major. I was originally an Engineering major but after that class in basic I was hooked and changed my major to Computer Science. Over the years computers have amazed me and as I have watched them evolve I have never been sorry about my involvement with them. I found an old picture online where you can see what this old beast looked like. Of course the one pictured here had disk drives that mine never had. They were the bigger truly floppy disk drives but that is another story. Thanks for listening.
At some point my footer got cut off as did my wife’s and some others I have seen. This video will show you how to fix this problem. It is mainly directed at the John Thornhill classmates using Planet Divinity graphics but should be able to be adapted to other wordpress blogs if they have the same problems.
The credit card companies hurt us but we should bear at least some of the responsibility when we find ourselves deep in debt. One of the ways we get into trouble financially is chasing technology. I have certainly been guilty of this. I always want what is on the horizon. I am actually typing this post on a phone that cost better than $400.00 and if I am not using that phone I have the choice of a couple of laptops. One of them has a touch screen I can write on. I can certainly make up excuses as to why I need each of these devices. From time to time I have to remind myself to be careful what I am doing.
I remember a time before I had credit cards. That was a time before digital photography as well. I used to develop my own film and had an old contact printer my Great Uncle had built. ( I still have that old contact printer). I didn’t, however, have an enlarger and I wanted one desperately. One day I had an idea. I took a Quaker Oatmeal box and cut a hole in the bottom. I put this round box over the white bulb. There are two bulbs in a contact printer and one of them is a “safe light” while the other one is a white light used to expose the film. I taped the negative I wanted to enlarge into the back of my 35 mm camera and with the back open I placed the camera on top of the oatmeal box. I placed washrags around the back of the camera to keep stray light out. I had the lid to the contact printer open and I added a support to the other side opposite the lid. I put a piece of wax paper between the support and the lid to the contact printer. I taped a piece of photographic paper up to the wax paper and I exposed that paper to the light through the negative. I had made a homemade enlarger. It was by no means a high quality printer but I had done something that cost me nearly nothing. I still have the image in my mind of that first print… It was a picture of my late brother sleeping.
Why do we have to spend so much money on things that bring us little or no pleasure? If we can just get back to the basics and do without for a short period of time we could command a salary that would support us without paying thousands of dollars in interest that could be used for our own benefit. I have a lot of ideas that could be used to keep us out of trouble but we have to be involved in our own destiny and we have to want to improve our lives. There is no magic bullet. Lets do what is necessary to free ourselves from this debt slavery. Thanks for listening.
Do you have a credit card? If you do then you are probably a victim. Have you ever made a contract with anyone? You talk about the terms and you write them down on paper, sometimes with an attorney, and you have a contract that will last until the end of your business relationship. (In the old days we had a handshake) If you have ever read the fine print on a contract with a credit card company you know that they are above the law. They may change the terms of the contract at any time and you cannot do anything about it. They have special status and may change terms at any time regardless of whether or not it is fair or subject to any rules. Why can any industry stand above the law or make their own rules? These people are RAPING us by changing the rules at will. This can result is literally thousands of dollars being taken from our pockets with little more than a cursory notification that may or may not be “up front” with us. Sometimes they bury this notification in a monthly bill that we have been getting for years. We may only find out when we look at our bill only to find out that it is $100 higher or more per month in payments. This is enough to make a dent in my pocket book and has happened to me.
I challenge you to take any credit card offer you find in your mailbox and read the fine print. Find out what the company is really contracting with you to do and then think about the offer. I will be willing to bet you that they have an open ended contract that allows them to hold all the cards and change the offer at will to virtually anything. We have to combat this threat to our livihood… Look for more information from me about this subject. Thanks for listening.
I have dreamed so often about flying that I tend to think differently than many do. I remember the first time I took off on a solo cross country flight. My flight instructor was not there to make the judgment and I was excited. I took off and a few miles north of the airport I started to realize I was being pushed down by the clouds. At first I thought I would be alright and just fly lower. Being inexperienced I thought this was a perfectly reasonable plan. It wasn’t long before I was IN the bottom of the clouds where no VFR pilot should ever be. A VFR pilot is one that flys by visual flight rules. I could see the ground but was in the clouds to the point that my vision was affected. I soon got a kind of vertigo that is caused by watching the clouds go by at one speed and the ground go by at almost no speed at all. You can’t imagine how that messes with your brain and your orientation. I thought I knew about that kind of stuff but soon found out what vertigo meant. I remembered my flight training and turned around to go back to the airport watching the instruments instead of listening to my instincts. I had decided to take my first cross country on another day when I would be more able to fly in my element and not at the mercy of THE elements. I feel that my instructor had done his job by teaching me to do the right thing in the face of danger.
This is the same idea that can mess with you when you are being pushed down by the clouds of doubt when it comes to the finance industry. I have done battle with the credit industry before and have come out in charge. These people are deadly. The credit industry is ruthless and is able to raise interest rates legally. They can and do place you in the line of fire when you have done nothing. They may raise your interest rate simply because they want to. This can cause you to pay thousands more in interest than you might have to pay otherwise. You have to stay the course and make sure you are watching the instruments. You have the right to call them and ask that they lower your rates. I know because I have done this and they eventually complied. I am planning to write an ebook that will help all of you with my experience on this subject. Look for this ebook in the near future. Thanks for listening.
Well things have been moving along right smartly. My wife, Marianna, and I have been working on the website but she has felt left out somewhat and wanted to be able to do something. We decided that she needs a website as well and so I have spent some time this week building one for her. It has been interesting and I have learned a lot. It has accentuated what John Thornhill has really done for us because while his lessons are a pretty good road map I am now in uncharted waters to a degree.
I had no idea what to expect from the various vendors that we have been using but was pleasantly surprised. We had bought her name early on in this process so that was already taken care of. D9, our Hosting company was the next stop and I was fully expecting to pay for hosting another domain. By the way I highly recommend them. They informed me that I could simply add my wife’s domain to my current account for no additional charge aside from the cost of the domain itself. At the same time I was also able to point two additional domain names at my current site, also for no additional charge. They emailed me the relevant video links to show me how to do this. I have previously asked for support from these people and they have responded promptly both times and solved my problems. WOW!
Next were the graphics for her website. We had decided to use the same graphics but to change the name to hers in the header. I went to planet-divinity where I bought the initial graphics and submitted a request for another set of graphics with my wife’s name instead of mine. I was again pleasantly surprised when I received the graphics along with a refund and an explanation that I could have simply asked for a change of text. WOW again!
Finally I went to Aweber and by this time I knew the drill. I simply went back into my account and discovered that I could simply add my wife’s domain to my account and set up a list for her website. This time I was using John Thornhill’s video to guide me through the process. I also used his video’s for a variety of other tasks on her page. I cannot tell you what a relief it is to find people like these. I have been used to being fleeced for every single thing and getting no support at all. This alone is worth the price of admission!
While I had to figure out how to upload files to her website since this was not exactly covered it wasn’t too difficult to figure out. There was a folder buried inside my domain with her site and inside that folder was where I had to place everything. So for essentially nothing extra I have built her site and she is up and running here at Marianna Turner and learning right along with me. Since I had ordered her graphics and done some of the simple things earlier this week I was able to build this site in one day. Before I signed up for John Thornhill’s Master Class I would not have believed this possible and I have actually had classes in HTML… Until next time.
Well I am amazed. I have tried many times to find myself on Google and have never found even a scrap of evidence that they have ever heard of me. Since I have been doing John Thornhill’s Master Class and posting to this blog I went on Google and ran a search on my name and lo and behold there at the top of the page was a link to two of my posts here. Of course the next day it was gone for the same search but I have been able to find every one of my posts on google in one search or another. This inspires me that John knows what he is talking about. In all of the many “opportunities I have tried before I have not seen this. In addition someone has added a link to their site linking back to my Dream of Flying post which is another amazing event. I haven’t even got the web site off the ground so to speak and things are already happening. I guess this will just light a fire under me to get a move on with my work. If this is possible without even trying I can’t wait to see what is possible with some real effort. Thanks for listening.
Aside from my efforts to make a business online I have long wanted to be a pilot. It started when I was a very young boy and has been a desire for all my life. A few years ago I found that I was getting older and was diagnosed with high blood pressure. I began taking medicine for this and I also began to think about the fact that someday I might not be able to pass the physical exam required to be a pilot. I also have diabetes in my family and while I am not diabetic at this time, it worries me. At about the same time the FAA started to asses a new class of pilots license called a sport class license. This is a step up from the ultralights that require no license but the planes in the sport class are still lighter and generally slower than a full fledged general class airplane. I found someone who said they could get me licensed for around $1800. I started the program but he ended up moving and there were no other instructors for such a new class of license. At this point I was hooked to the point of no return and ended up going whole hog. When I did my solo I was both terrified and elated at the same time. I went on to fly about 100 hours with my new license but lately have not had the time to continue this hobby that has been such a huge part of my life lately. I am hoping that with a business that will make me a decent living and at the same time give me more free time I can continue to enjoy something which fills my heart with joy every time I lift into the sky. This is one of the many reasons I want to pursue this online business. Thanks for listening and I will see you next time.
OK, I have been doing John Thornhill’s Master class now for about 3 weeks. I am very pleased so far. In ALL cases before, with the notable exception of Worldwide Brands, I have paid my money and been left essentially on my own and unable to continue without extensive research on my part. Of course I have no problem with this except I don’t have time. I am working a full time job for not only the money but for the insurance and all the other benefits that go with that job. I am working on my MBA degree and trying to take care of my family. These things all take time and when I have to spend huge amounts of time on this business everything else suffers. With John’s course I have been able to follow the numbers so to speak and the research has already been done. Of course this course is not the same price as many other “Internet business opportunities” but when I think of the vast amount of time I am saving and what my time is worth the price is very reasonable. Of course this is not to mention what it traditionally costs to start a business either. Wow!
I am a little behind because I changed my direction in mid stream, changing my domain name on John’s and my wife’s urging and advice and this took a little time and some learning about working with the tools needed to make that change. I have just been extremely happy that John has been there to answer such questions. In the past this has not been true with other “opportunities”. I don’t feel like I am completely alone and exposed. I am working on getting some posting done and going on with the next week 3 step and I am definitely excited each week to get my lessons for the week and see what is in store for me next. My wife and I head for the inbox Monday afternoon with anticipation so even though I am still working on week 3 I am looking forward to peeking at week 4 tomorrow!!! Until next time…
My wife and I have tried a lot of different ways to start a job on the Internet and have found little real results. My last foray into the unknown of the Internet was a site that was supposed to be evaluating all the different offers and to recommend the top 5 sites. We took the bait and were immediately thrust into a page that began to fleece us as we clicked through. We were offered a free website already set up for us and ready to make money. We soon found out we had to pay a variety of fees and that website was not really free. We had to make decisions on the spot or forgo what we couldn’t buy later at the same “incredible price”. We further found out that the site was pointing back at the original job site and finally that we had to do our own advertising costing much more money. (This was great for the guy who was fleecing us but did little for us other than teaching us a lesson.) We poured a lot of money into that website with no real results.
I woke up this evening to get ready to go to work and found that my wife was again researching other jobs with the idea in mind to find something to make money a little more immediate than the course we have chosen. When looking at the ideas she had found while I slept I was immediately confronted with several sites that were reminiscent of past fleecings. We have discussed these and decided that anything that touts immediate profits is probably not really what it seems and definitely not for us. We decided to concentrate on one idea, build this website and stay the course no matter how enticing many of the offers are on the Internet. As always I will keep you posted as to how things are going. Thanks for listening.