My first job

My first job experience was as an entrepreneur in a home-based business, cleaning homes after school. Once I got my first house cleaning job, then word spread and I started getting calls for more homes to clean. Granted, there were some interesting experiences cleaning some of these homes. One woman in particular was not happy with anything I did, her house was OK, but she expected it to be ready for a Home and Gardens photo shoot within two hours of my arriving.

Had that house been one of my first homes to clean, I would never have considered being my own boss ever again. Luckily, I had one bad experience and many good experiences. What I learned being in business for myself is that no matter how hard you work, there will be some people out there that you can never satisfy. I did learn that being in business for yourself was empowering. After college, I put my plans for being my own boss on the back burner and started working for others.

My logic for working for other people is that I wanted to learn what they did and did not do correctly. I always had the dream to become my own boss, but once I got into the regular "job" market and discovered how lucrative it was, it took a lot for me to take that jump away from standard income and start up my own business again.

It was frightening, changing from a steady income to something that could change at the slightest provocation. The fright soon turned to excitement when I discovered the immense freedom from working on your own. I was correct though. Working for someone else for years did teach discipline and organization skills, both of which are necessary for owning your own business. Currently I am happily working for myself, actually, I am working for my customers, but they do not define when I work or don't work. I would not change this current situation for the world and only see my business continue to grow.

If you are interested in starting up a home-based business (not necessarily in house cleaning), please check out our website. We may have something that will interest you, or awaken that sleeping giant that once upon a time wanted to be it's own boss.

Until tomorrow...

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Another Installment of Fun Facts

It is Monday, and time for another installment of fun facts. Tonight we are not going to focus on 1910 and just wander off onto some other fun factoids that you can amaze your friends with.

How many times in your past (and even in your present for some of you) have you held a seashell up to your ear to hear the "waves" of the ocean? I know my parents tried to convince me that the ocean can always be heard in the seashell, and I knew they were pulling my leg (they did that a lot). I figured that the sound I heard was an echo of some sorts, but now I know, the "roar" we hear when we place the seashell next to our ear is actually the sound of our blood surging through our veins and not the ocean. I guess those of you with high blood pressure hear some serious waves and figured the shells were from Hawaii.... Those of us with low blood pressure probably just heard the lapping of the water from a lake shore....

How many of you like honey? Have you noticed that it can be settling to your stomach. I use honey a lot in cooking and as a natural sweetener for my drinks. What I did not know is that honey is easy to digest because it has already been digested by a bee. Does that mean I am eating bee urrp??? Ewwww....

For those of you who were exposed to farm life and roosters, did you know that roosters cannot crow unless they extended their neck? So, I guess when you hear a rooster crow, instead of wishing to wring it's neck, all you have to do is to keep it from extending it's neck. Wringing a rooster's neck would in effect extend it, and therefore make it crow more...hmmmm... not...

Staying on the bird theme for another moment, did you ever notice how a bird closes it's eye? For those of us who have birds, the birds eyelids close from the bottom to the top, not like the human eye, where ours close from top to bottom.. Well, now to throw a wrinkle into this whole thing, the owl is the only bird to drop it's upper eyelid in order to wink.

Have you ever watched bats exit a cave? We don't all get to see that awesome sight, but if you do get the opportunity, you will notice that the bats always turn left when exiting a cave. Not sure why, but that is what the scientists tell me.... I didn't ask if it was based on what part of the hemisphere they lived in (like water...never mind, that is another topic for discussion at another time)

This piece of information can be disturbing for those of us with seasonal allergies. Every time you sneeze, some of your brain cells die. Great, when I have a sneezing fit, how may brain cells do I lose? Perhaps I should take up drinking, at least I know I am intentionally killing brain cells...

Thinking about our bodies, I am sure you noticed that when people blush sometimes more than their face turns red? I have seen people blush where not only their face turns red, but their ears and neck turn red too. What I didn't know is that when you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red. Now why would scientists have ever figured that out? Did they stuff a camera down someones throat, and then embarrass that person? Why would they even want to know if your stomach blushes? That fact is weird on so many different levels...

Lastly (for tonight) finishing off on bizarre facts of the human body, did you know that the attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples? So, be careful next time you compliment someone on their dimples.... you may be criticizing how their skin is attached...

Now you have another set of useless pieces of information to clutter your brain and take up space so you can't remember where you last placed your car keys...

Until tomorrow...

One Sick Bird

Well, some of you may have wondered where I wandered off these last 48 hours. My bird seems to have had some type of stroke and I have been trying to nurse her to some version of health these last 48 hours. Currently she is one sick bird. I have a Double-Yellow Headed Amazon, subspecies Tres Marie and we have been together over 28 years. She has had some health issues in the past, but has been healthy these last two years. Three years ago I finally discovered her true gender, she laid an egg for the first time since we were together, even the various vets believed her to be a male...

Anyway, you may have noticed that I don't use the term "own" this bird. We have been together so long that there is no real way that I own her anymore than I own the air I breathe. I may have owned her the first few weeks, but after that, whatever she needed or wanted, she usually got. Not much different than having children. Actually, many people teased me that she was essentially my child. We have had many adventures together, she has been through a lot of moving, she has been through a marriage and a divorce, and most recently, she has been on the road whenever we travel. I do not leave her or board her if it is at all possible, especially as she has gotten older.

When I first encountered her, she was a pretty sick little bird too, and it took the vets and I about a year to clear all her respiratory problems up. We discovered in that year that she had allergies and a light form of asthma. We were able to create allergy shots for her, and I learned to clean out her nose when she got too congested. You could say that our relationship developed quickly due to her need for medical care, but even though I was giving her shots several times a day, she quickly learned to trust me in all that I did. She did also learn to hate one particular towel (which I always used to wrap her up prior to giving her a shot or flush out her nose...) but after all was said and done, she did trust me to help her feel better.

Two years ago, she seemed to have had some sort of mini-stroke (my observations, not the vet's), not sure what it was, but she lost some movement in one of her feet. She seemed to be in a lot of pain when she put weight on her foot, so we assumed she wrenched it somehow. We took her to the vet and he provided her some pain medication and some antibiotics, but she quickly got worse. At one point, she had lost so much weight that we thought for sure she was not going to survive, but once I discarded the medications and just gave her protein drinks, she rallied and became healthy again.

A year after that episode is when she started laying eggs, which is very odd for a bird as old as she was. (BTW - she was estimated to be around 7(ish) years old when I found her, don't know where she was for her first years..) She stopped laying eggs last year for which I was very grateful, since I didn't want to cook the ones she laid and I was also told that a bird in her mid-30's laying eggs was hazardous to her health. She still seemed fine, with some bouts of depression when we were not on the road.

She loves traveling more than any animal or person I know. If we don't drive around with her after a month or so, she gets depressed and then sick...

Well, late this last Friday evening, I heard some scrabbling on the bottom of her cage and knew something was not right. After 10pm she is usually on her night-perch and doesn't move around until dawn the next day. When I covered her that night, she seemed fine, but when I uncovered her around 11:30 that evening, she was on the floor of her cage with her wings spread out. When I reached into the cage to see what was up, she just fussed at me, but couldn't move. I thought she had somehow tangled her foot on the floor of the cage, so promptly went underneath to see if I could help.

What I discovered was that she was unable to move either of her legs or feet. Her right foot was curled up, and her left foot was open, but would not close. The only thing that moved on her was her beak and her wings. I picked her out of the cage and tried to see if anything was broken. I discovered that she had lost a frightening amount of weight, but could not find anything else wrong. Since then, I have spent all my waking hours with her, trying to entice her to eat and drink and hopefully regain the use of her legs and feet.

Today she is looking perkier, but is still unable to move either of her feet. She is learning to move around by dragging her body with her beak and with her wings. I continue to spend the majority of my time with her on either my lap or chest, or on a pillow right next to me. She is more alert today and not sleeping as much, but I am not sure she is out of the woods yet. What she is eating today is a protein drink (ST-5) and that does seem to be giving her extra energy. She doesn't seem to be in any significant pain, but seems to go through bouts of extreme frustration because she cannot climb onto her perch, nor can she sit on my shoulder, which she loves to do.

I will continue to work with her, hoping that she will rally, but if you do not see me online much, please realize that I am not ignoring you, but focusing on helping my bird recover. I was forewarned that due to her earlier respiratory illness, she may have a shortened life expectancy (this species lives to be about 50 years old), but she is still relatively young for her species and I am hoping that she will recover fully, like the last time. I am even hoping that the ST-5 combined with a little bit of our StemEnhance product from StemTech will help her to recover. The ST-5 has done wonders so far this weekend, and I will start her on the StemEnhance first thing tomorrow. (The StemPet product does not seem to appeal to her since it was designed as a chewable pill for dogs and she doesn't want to chew anything right now. The good news is that she really likes the ST-5 in both juice and plain water.)

I will keep you all posted, sorry this was a long rant, but I am very worried about my companion, and anyone who has had the privilege of being owned by a dog, cat, or any type of pet, most likely understands the worry and pain I am going through. I admit, I am greedy, 28 years has been great, I would like another 10 more years with her. She has done a lot to improve my quality of life.

Until tomorrow...

There is no magic bullet

Tonight's topic is regarding the myriad of e-mails I have been receiving about the latest and greatest "magic bullet" that will make all of my financial woes go away. Personally, how did they know I had any financial woes, and really, it is none of their business if I did have any woes at all. My woes are my problem unless I consult someone else and these people are complete strangers to me. Even still, I am compelled to read some of these messages, not because I am looking for that magic bullet, but because I am curious as to what the particular company/person is trying to get me to purchase. Another reason I like reading these messages is that it gives me ideas about what not to do. Sometimes you really have to wonder about people, and how many would really purchase the latest and greatest system to do all the work for them and the money just rolls in.

Honestly, who in their right mind really and truly believes that there is a magic bullet system out there that can resolve all their financial woes? Really... Guess what folks, there is no magic bullet. The only 'magic bullet' I have ever know is good, hard, honest work. That's it. If you want something done, you have to work at it in order to get it done. You cannot think it done. You may believe you can think things done, but there has to be some exchange of energy to get other things done. It is the law of physics. Money does not just roll in your door just because you purchased this nifty computer program and it is doing all your selling for you. Come on, do you really believe that?

Granted systems do work, but not the way most of them are promoted. Systems work because somebody did the work and figured out a way to streamline a process. Purchasing a system may be helpful to your small business because is streamlines a process, but you need to look critically at what you are being offered. Will it resolve some problem that you have been struggling with? Will it do a particular task that you have been manually doing? The bigger question is, what does the person selling the program get out of this? If it is just money for the program, and the program works for what you need, great, it's not a magic bullet, but a solution to a particular problem you are having. Otherwise, if this 'system' is going to generate leads for you to sell someone else's stuff, how can that really help you? You may read about how Joe Blow earned a six-figure income in the first 4 weeks of using the system, but Joe Blow may have been the first person to use the program.

The minute this program is offered to the world for sale, do you really think that it is going to work for everyone? It MAY work for the first few who use it, but my bet is that it will not work for everyone. If it did, you wouldn't see any other offers out there, would you? If one system worked as well as it is promoted to, and generated as much money as they claim for EVERYONE, then EVERYONE would have gotten on the bus and there would be no more competition. But you are probably seeing at least 2 or 3 offers for the latest and greatest magic bullet that will solve all of your financial worries on a daily basis. If they discovered the one solution to all your problems, why are there so many other "solutions" out there?

What I find interesting is that I am receiving the same offer for a particular software solution from several different people (none of whom I know). The wording is slightly different, but they are all hawking the exact same system just adding different bonus packages to it. If it works so well, why is everyone selling it? Would you give away your company secret because you have already made all the money you possibly want? Come on now...really? I believe there are people out there who have made as much money as they want, and that is fine. Those people also most likely give back to their community by helping others. I just seriously doubt that those same people would tell you that they purchased this one program that solved all of their problems and they want to sell that system to YOU. It's just not there.

We have been doing a weekly series on modern millionaires and the common theme within this series is that the particular person worked their tail off getting to where they are today. There was no magic bullet, there was no working 2-3 hours a day to make their millions. They worked hard, they put in long days for YEARS to get to where they are now. They also had bumps in the road, there were failures, but then as they worked, there were also fabulous successes. But the common thread to all of those millionaires is that they WORKED for what they have today.

Some of them were lucky, found a niche that worked well for them, found a need that had been previously untapped, but even with that luck there was a lot of good-old fashioned work (sweat equity) involved to making those millions. I have not met or read about one modern millionaire who just waved their hands in the air, purchased one 'magic bullet' software program and "POOF" all the money they could ever want came rolling into their life. There is no magic bullet, no matter how much you wish there was. Heck I really wish there was a magic bullet that would solve all of my financial woes.

When you see offers for systems that will make you a six-figure income in a short period of time, take a step back and really look at what they are offering. Is it something that you could really and honestly use? We have talked about additional income streams, and having more than one income stream is important, but take a good hard look at what is being offered. I have seen a frightening number of people get bamboozled into purchasing programs that they don't need, won't use, or don't understand and then wonder where the money is. Do not lose your head when you read these offers.

Keep in mind, if you expect to make money, there will be a large amount of work involved. It will not be easy, but in the end, you will be able to look back on it all with pride and see that you earned every penny you have. There are good, legitimate business opportunities out there, but as in any opportunity, there will be work of some type involved. The key is to find the business opportunity that suits your personality, your work ethic, your passion. If you are doing something you are passionate about (we have covered this before too...), then it won't feel much like work, but there will be (should be) some version of sweat equity in any business opportunity you enter into.

There is no magic bullet. Do not expect to purchase one thing that will solve all of your problems. How do they know what your problems are? How do they know how much money you want to make? And again, how do they know that this will work all the time, every time.

In a nutshell, when presented with other opportunities or solutions, look carefully at what is offered. Focus on what they are selling, do not get lost in all the wonderful stories they will tell you about how Joe Blow and Jane Doe made so much money while they slept. Look at what is being offered, how it works, and then ask yourself, if it is so great, why are they selling it to everyone? A bigger question to ask is, "Will it blend well with what I am currently doing?" Don't lose sight of your core competency. If you wander out of what you are good at, you will probably not do well in the new endeavor. Even if you are told this is an "Exclusive Offer", do you personally know the person who is making this offer to you? If not, then odds are that same message is being sent to thousands of people at the same time. Look before you jump.

If you are looking for second income streams, we do have some different ones that may interest you. Not all business opportunities are for everyone, so look carefully and ask a lot of questions. If we do not have anything that is interesting to you, send us an e-mail, even though we may not offer a solution, we may know someone, somewhere that may have what you are looking for. We are here to help, and if we refer you to someone else, we do not get compensated for the referral, nor would we want to be compensated. It is not our style. Happy hunting, feel free to shoot us an e-mail if you have questions, we may be able to assist. If not, we will tell you that too..

Until tomorrow...

I'm not motivated

Tonight's topic is on motivation. It is tough many days to stay motivated. It is even tougher to stay motivated when you are a small business owner. There will be days for all of us when we don't want to get up out of bed. You just don't feel motivated to do anything. We all experience that lack of motivation, but, if you are doing what you love, those non-motivated moments will be few and very far between.

For those of us who may be MOSTLY doing what we love, there are days or parts of the day when you just look around and realize, "I'm not motivated to do ANYTHING". This may become especially apparent on days that you may have been running around like crazy, had tons of things go wrong, or just had no sleep the night before. Then the tasks that are yet to be done seem insurmountable and you lack the proper motivation to tackle those jobs.

We are going to review a few tips that might help generate those motivational juices when you encounter those low motivational times. When you are motivated, you feel like everything is in balance, you can climb any mountain, and no problem is an obstacle. The key here is to recapture that feeling so you can get the work done that needs to get done...even if you are a procrastinator...

Have you noticed on days or hours within the day when you are feeling particularly unmotivated, that you are also not feeling particularly happy? I do not know of a single day when I was happy and laughing that I was not motivated to accomplish tasks. But I can easily remember my non-motivated days usually because I was not in one of my more light-hearted moments. So, if you are not feeling any motivation to do squat, take some time out of your day and find something to do that will make you laugh. It is amazing how much more you can get done, and how much smaller problems become after you have had a good laugh. I look for comics, (which may not work all the time), funny TV shows (if you are not at work) or look for something to laugh at (hopefully not a co-worker...that may not help either of you in the long run...). Laughing relieves stress and allows the blood to start flowing freely through your body again. When you laugh, you are forced to take deeper breaths and if you breath deeply, you will also find your tension levels will decrease.

Laughing has been attributed to increased health, less wrinkled faces (in my humble opinion) and an overall better attitude. Granted there are days when you really don't feel like laughing, but those are the days where it is most important to find something to laugh at or with. Find a funny movie, have on-hand a book of silly jokes or go to a pet store and watch puppies play. There is always something that you can look at that should lighten your mood and at least make you smile for a few minutes. Make a list of things that make you laugh, keep it close for those days when you can't find it in yourself to laugh. This will help with motivation.

Along the lines of keeping a list of things (or stories) that make you laugh, you may also want to keep a log of the times you overcame obstacles or had major breakthroughs. Think back on times when you overcame problems that at the time you believed could not be beat. Remember how good you felt when you beat the problem, or won the game they said you couldn't win? Keeping a log of those can be very motivating. You may even find a situation that you had been in some time in the past that is very similar to your current situation. That in itself is very motivating because you now have written proof that you overcame the obstacle before, so obviously you can do it again. Also, by reading all the times you had breakthroughs, it makes you feel better, knowing that you are very capable of beating the odds. The log of all your successes will help keep you motivated, especially if you have just been dealt a blow.

No matter how bad things may appear at the time, remember there will always be failures. The trick is to be able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and to keep on going. Sometimes I have found the biggest demotivator is my fear of failing. Once I have dealt with the fear, I am no longer worried about what will happen and I have the energy and drive to get the project done. Even if your project died, at least you are done with it and can move onto the next task at hand. Do not wallow in the failures, don't keep a log of them, but if you end up overcoming a failure and becoming wildly successful, then that is something you will keep in your log-book. It is sometimes through failure that you really succeed. If you did your best, performed your best to the absolute best of your abilities, then be happy with that, even if you did fail at the particular task. Heck, I know I will never, ever play golf like Tiger Woods, but that won't stop me from playing Golf... Be happy doing the best you can with what you have. Beyond that, don't worry about it.

If you are currently in a situation you do not like to be in, if you do not like the job you are currently working at, perhaps now is the time to look into a second income stream. Do not quit your current paying job for a second income stream, but if you begin working an additional income, you may become more motivated at your current job. That motivation could be due to the knowledge that you are doing something proactive about your current work situation. Being proactive can also provide a very motivating feeling. So, on those days when you just don't feel motivated, look for something that will make you laugh (or at least smile) or look to your list of breakthroughs and remember that feeling of success.

Until tomorrow...

Interesting Trivia from 1910

Tonight we are continuing our trivia facts from 1910. These things occurred 100 years ago and it is interesting to see what life was like then versus now.




Regarding medicines in 1910, marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. I bet there are a bunch of people today that would LOVE to have that available to them now...



The pharmacists claimed that heroin cleared the complexion (to say nothing of the brain..), it gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is a "perfect guardian of health". Really? They must have been partaking of the heroin too...



Did you know in 1910 18% of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help?





There were about 230 reported murders in the entire United States. That would be really nice now.





Traveling medicine shows were becoming a spectacle and making their way westward. It was the only entertainment one could get living in a rural part of the United States. These medicine show quacks would do anything to sell cocaine filled snake oils, useless liniments, beer-filled Kickapoo cures and the most exciting part of the show...Painless Tooth Extractions!! Yeah, right, the only painless tooth extraction was the one where you were unconscious...





Lastly, on May 18, 1910 Halley's Comet was visible. At the time, thousands took to their roofs huddling for comfort and praying for salvation. Many people believed that the end of the world was near. The tabloids discussed the catastrophic effects that Halley's Comet would have on the earth's atmosphere which is what caused many people to panic.





Many scientists were excited about this opportunity to improve their study of astronomy. By late 1909, several of the world's major observatories were preparing for the appearance of Halley's Comet.





Aren't you glad you don't have these things to worry about now?

If you are looking for additional income to purchase a new electronic gizmo, check out our website for second income opportunities. We have business opportunities that can be a whole lot of fun to do.

Until tomorrow...

Adventures in Cooking

Tonight we are supposed to cover more fun historical facts, but we are going to put that blog off for tomorrow. Tonight we are going to cover adventures in cooking. For those of you who know me, I can cook, but I am nothing close to being called an inspired cook. I can follow directions, usually, and the food does come out tasting OK...but...you know, it is not visually stimulating.

I don't know what has gotten into me, but lately, I have had these strange cravings to cook and have been getting braver in my cooking adventures. I have been trying new recipes, which is highly unusual for me (and dangerous). I have several dishes that I have gotten pretty good at cooking, but you can count the number of dishes I do well on one hand... So, in some strange twist of fate, I have been breaking out the cookbook and wandering into the unknown world of cooking.

My latest phase has been cooking with a pressure cooker. Since using an oven in the summer is insanity, and there really is no other way to cook whole chickens or roasts (unless you use a crock pot - which I have, but again, I am good at pot roast...you get tired of that pretty quickly). I have had this pressure cooker for over 15 years and have probably used it about 3 or 4 times prior to now. The reason I never considered using the pressure cooker much is due to my earliest recollection of pressure cooking was when my mother tried to do something with the cooker and the whole thing exploded all over the ceiling. I think she also burned herself pretty good.

For some strange reason about 15 years ago, I saw this really cool pressure cooker at a Home and Garden show. They showed me how safe it was to use and how hard it was for anyone to burn themselves, and how much healthier it is to cook with a pressure cooker, so I bought it. It came with a cookbook which I needed, so I happily went home and tried my first meal with the pressure cooker. I didn't really burn the chicken, but I did almost puree the chicken. I didn't get my timing right and seriously overcooked the bird. The good news was that you could take all the bones out and then had the meat left in the pot. It was funny, but embarrassing, because it looked like mush when served on plates...especially since it wasn't supposed to be a soup.

I was teased so badly about that mess, that it took me a while to screw up the courage to try again. This time I cooked chicken and rice. Great idea, except this time I scorched the rice and the house stank for days. The food tasted OK, if you avoided the scorched stuff... we won't even talk about how hard it is to clean the bottom of a scorched pot. So, back on the shelf the pressure cooker went until I got brave again. Several years later, I tried to broast a chicken. This time, again I seriously overcooked the chicken. It tasted great, but you couldn't get the whole bird out of the pot...

This last month I have been playing with the pressure cooker yet again. I have refined my cooking style some more and have managed not to scorch the food, but I still tend to overcook the food. I am getting better, some of the beef roasts I cooked actually came out great. So, tonight, I tried cooking a whole chicken again...bad idea. The bird wasn't scorched, but for some stupid reason, I didn't check to be sure I had the lid of the pressure cooker on properly. It leaked water and steam, so my timing was way off. (for timing a pressure cooker meal, you start the clock when the little jiggler valve starts making noise...if the pressure is leaking out elsewhere, you are late in starting the timer).

By the time I realized that the pressure cooker was leaking pressure, it was too late to start the whole mess over, so I guessed on how much time was left. I should know better, leaving cooking up to inspiration for me is a disaster waiting to happen. So, again, the chicken tasted great, it was just a matter of peeling the chicken off the bottom of the pot and trying to keep it from falling apart as you lifted it from the pot. I was marginally successful. The good news is that the chicken pieces, (for the most part) looked like chicken pieces and some of the bones stayed where they were supposed to go. The bad news is that the bird pretty much self-destructed before I could put it on a plate to serve. Thankfully I did not have guests, but I couldn't stop laughing at the chicken mess I made.

So, if anyone ever comes over and I cook, you can expect good tasting food, but you will probably have to close your eyes to enjoy the food (or I should use a very dimly lit room) so you don't giggle at the mess I made. Now I remember why I don't cook much. The food tastes good, it just doesn't present well... I guess I should practice more to refine my cooking style, but at this late a date... I probably won't get much better. My mother sighs every time I tell her of my latest cooking escapade. She is an excellent cook, and could have been a great chef. Her presentations are great, the food looks and tastes wonderful, and she doesn't even use recipes much. Actually she does use recipes, but she can look at a recipe and tell you what needs to be changed. I can only look at a recipe and follow it. Then I can tell you that it was a stupid recipe to follow because it was so bad.

My mother has taken to sending me recipes, but again, she doesn't really follow them to the letter, so she doesn't understand why my food from the same recipe card doesn't taste the same. She is a natural cook, I am naturally not a cook, but I do keep trying. Perhaps one day I can cook something that not only tastes good but is presentable too. So goes my adventures in cooking. If I am successful in creating both a tasty and presentable dish, I will be the first to take pictures and let you all know.

We won't even talk about my bread hockey pucks.....

If you are looking for an additional income to supplement what you currently have, check out our website for some ideas. It is always a good idea to have more than one source of income, especially in these tough economic times and a home based business is one where you cannot get fired, not matter how bad the economy gets.

Until tomorrow...

The role of stem cells in exercise

This weekend I have been more active than I have been in a while. Thanks to my continued use of the StemTech products, I did not feel the pain as much as I expected. Actually, I had felt my muscles get really tired after my work-outs, but by the next day, I had no discomfort, and was very pleased. I truly believe that the additional release of stem cells in my system allowed me to feel minimal pain after some pretty good work-outs. I would like to briefly review the role of stem cells in exercise.

Thanks to years of research, science has now established that the efficiency of your body's renewal system depends upon your body's ability to release adult stem cells. In a nutshell, the greater your ability to release adult stem cells, the more efficient your renewal system and the better your body's ability to sustain good health.

For those of us "weekend athletes", after a weekend of exercise, we have all most likely felt muscle soreness. That soreness has been thought to be a result of microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers. The amount of tearing (and soreness) depends on how hard and how long you exercise and what type of exercise you do. As your body repairs (in us older people, that can be a slow process..) these microscopic tears, we ultimately become stronger.

By giving extra support to the body's natural renewal system with StemEnhance and StemFLO, we can support this natural process of recovery from exercise in order to build strength and stamina. The advantage of having your body more rapidly repair and renew itself could cause you to ultimately want to exercise more, since it doesn't hurt as bad for as long.

I have found that I am much more willing to work out, even if it is just on weekends, because I do not get as sore for nearly as long as I used to. I feel stronger faster, and am not groaning to get out of bed the next day. That allows me not to dread the next work out session. Since I know I won't hurt so much, I am more willing to work out more often, and subsequently am getting in better shape than I have in a long time.

If you are interested in obtaining more information on the StemTech products, please check out our website. Otherwise, please feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have.

Until tomorrow...

Why look at millionaires

Over the past several weeks, we have been spot-lighting several modern millionaires. I wanted to pause and point out why we are looking at these various millionaires. We are not doing this to make others feel bad, but I am choosing millionaires who, in general, came from humble beginnings, like most of us. Some of these millionaires have higher educations, but many did not have advanced degrees from prestigious colleges. So, why look at millionaires?

I am choosing to spotlight various millionaires to see what we can learn from them. Sometimes it may feel demoralizing to read about self-made millionaires, but these types of people are made every day. They are not born into the money, they find something and make the most out of what they have discovered. The concept of our millionaire spotlights is to hopefully provide some inspiration for you and perhaps there will be something that they do which you can do that may make you into the next millionaire.

Keep in mind, the modern millionaire is not necessarily the person who fly around in their own jets and sports all kinds of expensive clothing and jewelry. Those types of millionaires are not that common anymore. You may be surprised, but many of the modern millionaires may be living in your neighborhood. These people may still live in middle-class neighborhoods, work full-time and shop at the local Wal-Marts.

Currently, the modern rich are not as willing to flaunt their wealth, but are more inclined to reinvest it for future growth. These are the people who work because they love what they do, not because they have to work. They are able to educate their children the way they wish, and are not limited to just the public school systems. Despite this recession, there are still millionaires among us. Did you know that in order to be listed in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, a Billionaire no longer qualifies? Now, (in 2010) you have to have a net worth of at least $1.3 billion before you can be listed in the Forbes 400. So, the rich may still be getting richer, they are just more quiet about it.

OK, so now we know why we are looking at millionaires weekly. If they live among us, what really makes them different from us? Some of the millionaires say that it is critical to set your goals and stick with them. Do not lose sight of where you want to be, despite the obstacles that may crop up. Defining your goals and sticking to them are what will help you to become wealthy.

Another important point is to continue your education. Even if you think you know everything about your area of "expertise", there is always more to learn. Keep reading, asking questions, and looking for others who are in the same field that you are focused on. Education does not necessarily mean you have to continue to spend time in classrooms. You can attend one day seminars, subscribe to magazines and talk to other experts in the field. No matter where you look, there is always an opportunity to continue to learn. If you are the ultimate expert in your field, then perhaps you should go out and start learning something new that may be somewhat related to your area of expertise. The key is to continue learning. Learning is what will keep your mind sharp, and learning will allow you to find other ways to improve current situations.

We will continue talking about what else the millionaires next door do next week. We could learn a lot from these self made millionaires, perhaps one day one of those millionaires will be us.

If you are interested in adding to your current income stream, or looking for a second income stream, check out our website for additional ideas. We have several business opportunities that may help to supplement your income. We always welcome questions, so feel free to either leave a comment or e-mail us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.

Until tomorrow (actually, since tomorrow is my day off, Until Sunday...)...

What happens when you lose a word?

Today's blog is about losing words. I bet you all have experienced that problem. I also suspect you are not entirely sure what I am talking about. OK, let's get down to basics. There are a few ways you can "lose" words. One is that when you are trying to convey an idea, the word you are looking for just runs from your head and you are left with that blank stare, stuttering... You wave your arms around, snap your fingers, possibly even say, "the word is on the tip of my tongue", and eventually you remember the word, or someone takes pity on you and provides the missing word. I don't refer to this problem as old age, it is just what happens when you lose a word.

Another way you can lose words is in writing. Sometimes I would swear I typed in a particular word, and lo and behold, that word is completely missing from your written missive. Other times, the computer is completely innocent of wrong doing. Sometimes, you may have been thinking so hard about a particular word, that when you are writing, you believe EVERYONE already knows the word you are thinking so hard about. Problem is, people are not always on the same wavelength that you are, and if you leave out a word, it changes the context of your letter, and wrong assumptions are drawn. Today's story is about a little word that was unintentionally left out of a message. It is a true and funny story about what happens when you lose a word.

The day started off quietly enough. The evening before we had called a sick friend to find out how they were doing. We then relayed that health information to others so that their whole circle of friends were updated and the immediate family did not have to call everyone to report the same news. Our group of friends really care about each other, so if news is received by one, it is relayed to everyone. The joys of e-mails... Sometimes though, those e-mails will bite you in the butt...

So, this morning, as we open our messages, we start getting condolence e-mails, and friends contacting us personally upset because we didn't tell them of our current dire health circumstances. Now, the last thing I know, is that we are all relatively healthy (the term "healthy" depends on your definition of health...physically OK, mentally...well, that's another issue...) so when I get a message from friends saying they are so sorry about Hawgwash's failing health, I am concerned. Needless to say, our response was "HUH?"

We then read more of the message, where Hawgwash had to take a chemo shot in order to relieve some of pain from his cancer... and now I know exactly what is going on. What was thought was associated with Hawgwash was actually what Hawgwash TOLD others about our common friend. The person who so kindly sent a blanket e-mail out (again in an effort to be helpful) lost one critical word, the name of the person who actually is very ill. This was a situation where the third party (you know who you are...hehehehe) was relaying to the group what Hawgwash said, but forgot to add "what Hawgwash said about ______'s condition". Ooopps.

It took us some time to get to the bottom of this though because everyone is in different time zones and we all work in some form or another. It is such an easy thing to forget, especially since this one friend of ours has been uppermost in many of our hearts and minds. So, after much giggling, once we discovered why Hawgwash was receiving condolence messages, the person who LOST that one little, bitty, super critical word sent out a follow-up e-mail blast clarifying the fact that Hawgwash is currently hale and hearty and the report was in regards to the other friend we all have in common.

I am glad we got condolences so quickly. You can really see who your friends are, but this is not something I would want to continually test. It is funny to realize though, how critical the dropping of one word can completely change the meaning of a well-intended e-mail.

So, the lesson here is to be careful what you type, don't lose your words, and if you do, which we all will at some point or another in our life, then admit and correct the error, have a good laugh, and move on.

Until ...... (ooops, did I lose another word???)...

Stem Cell Enhancers are the next wave of nutritional supplements

Driven by rising consumer demand and a growing body of supporting research, the nutrition industry has evolved to considerably more advanced levels in recent years. If you don't believe me, just walk down the aisles of your nearest health food store. Stem Cell Enhancers are the next wave of nutritional supplements.

Once limited to a few basic vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin C and Calcium, their shelves now boast literally hundreds of different nutritional supplements - all the way from your age-old basics to a whole plethora of exotic-sounding antioxidants and super juices.

But no matter how different all these products may seem at first glance, they all have one common purpose: to provide extra nourishment or protection to existing, already-functioning cells within the body's tissues.

Enter "stem cell enhancers" - a powerful new category of nutritional supplements. If initial results are anything to go by, this category is not only here to stay, it could literally turn the entire nutrition industry on its ear!

Rather than simply nourishing or protecting existing tissue cells, stem cell enhancers do something completely different, they support the release of "non-tissue" adult stem cells into the bloodstream.

The significance of this is huge, because adult stem cells are at the very core of the body's natural renewal process! Because they can take on the characteristics of many different types of tissue cells in times of need, recent scientific data shows that larger numbers of circulating adult stem cells equate to greater health and wellness.

The way adult stem cells function is that they are continually released by the bone marrow into the bloodstream, where they circulate until being chemically signaled by tissues in need. Following the chemical signal, they flow to the tissue in need and migrate into it. It is here that the "magic" happens. The stem cells take on the same characteristics as the existing cells and initiate the growth process, thereby naturally "renewing" the tissue.

The first clinically proven stem cell enhancer on the market is a patented concentrate of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA), an aqua-botanical, and its results are impressive to say the least. Not surprising, because a recently published study showed an increase of circulating stem cells of 25% with just 2 capsules of the AFA concentrate daily.

Whether you're an entrepreneur wanting to capitalize on the massive stem cell tidal wave, or a health-conscious consumer wanting to get to a whole new level of health, you owe it to yourself to check out this patented AFA concentrate.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author (me) and any products mentioned, while supported by science, are not intended to diagnose, mitigate, or treat any disease or illness.

You can read more on our Stem Cell Enhancers at my website, or feel free to contact me directly at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.

Until tomorrow...

What I'm Avoiding

Today was the first day in a while I wandered out into the front yard...Yikes, I didn't realize how much I had avoided weeding that part of the yard... I guess I was aware the weeding needed to be done, but out of sight, out of mind... Tomorrow morning will get past the weed avoidance issue in the front... I am sure the neighbors will be grateful...

Sunset through the Weeds

I am avoiding that very large elephant in the middle of the room... If I really told you what I was avoiding, I would have to kill you... We will discuss other things I have been avoiding..



I am avoiding weeding the front yard. I continuously weed the back yard (let's be clear, I weed the enclosed part of the back yard...the rest of the yard is "wild") but keep avoiding weeding the front yard. Why, you ask? Well, I am in the back yard loads more time than when I am in the front yard. I am in the back yard letting the dogs do their business at least 5 times a day. Then we won't even discuss how many times I go out there to swim either.



There is not as much of a call to go hang out in the front yard. One reason to avoid the front yard is that there is not enough shade. It gets really hot, and with minimal shade, you end up wilting quickly. The key to weeding the front yard is to get up right after dawn and get cracking, and I don't want to be out front right after dawn, hence, I am avoiding weeding the front yard.



The biggest problem with avoiding the front yard is that the house looks a tad abandoned, at least if you come to the front door. It is funny, where ever I usually tread, I weed, but I don't come in or out my front door, so that part of the house definitely looks neglected. The garage area, (where I park cars, bikes, etc., and where I take the trash out) is kept weed free, it is only the "official" front of the house that really looks bad.



I didn't realize how bad the front of the house looked until this morning, when I took a wander out there. Had a package delivered for my neighbor, and walked over to her house via the front yard...YIKES it looks really bad. Guess I will have to start facing the front yard before someone complains... The wild critters really like how I have let the front go though. Because of all the stuff growing now, there seem to be a lot of birds out front. Still, will have to get cracking on that weeding...anyone interested in helping when it gets over 110 here??? NO??? Hmmm, wonder why... ;-)



Since trash goes out in a day, I will get some weeding done tomorrow morning so that I have something to put in the trash can. Good reason to get some weeding done..oh well, so much for avoiding weeding...

Continuing our Fun Facts

Well, all right, so today is Tuesday, not Monday, but we are continuing our fun fact tidbits today. Usually this section occurs on Mondays because many people have Monday blues. Unfortunately, my laptop had the Monday Blues yesterday, and it didn't want to stay connected to the network. I was unable to post anything significant yesterday. Today is slightly better, but I don't think the problem is in the laptop this time, more due to weather (since I am using a wireless network device).

Last Monday, we were talking about what life was like 100 years ago, in 1910. We will continue looking at life 100 years ago so you can appreciate your current living situation (no matter how bad you feel about your current situation right now...).

In 1910 the American flag had only 45 stars on it. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30 people.

Crossword puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.

Have you gone shopping for sugar lately? Just the plain white granulated sugar? Did you notice how much it costs? I was able to find a 4 pound bag for $4.39, which equates to around $1.10 per pound. In 1910 sugar cost $0.04 a pound. Yep, just four cents a pound. Wow, can you imagine how fat we would be if we could get sugar now for about four cents a pound?

Eggs were $0.14 per dozen. Eggs are on sale here, 18 for 1.79 which equates to about $1.19 per dozen. Not as bad, but still kinda scary... Here is another fun fact, coffee was $0.15 a pound. I am lucky if I can find cheap coffee at $6.99 a pound. If coffee has gone up so much in price, why do more people drink it now than before? Also, how many of you will go to a Starbucks and actually spend $5.00 for a cup of coffee? Come on guys, that's a lot of money for a cup of coffee...no matter how good it is. That reminds me, how many of you saw the movie, "The Bucket List"? Do you remember the segment in there when Jack Nicholson was going on about how great this one coffee bean was? Do you remember how they collected those beans? And he wanted to pay HOW MUCH for that coffee??? Do you remember why Morgan Freeman's character would not drink that particular coffee?

On to different items, in 1910, most women only washed their hair once a month. Guess what they used to wash their hair? Borax or egg yolks were used for shampoo. Does egg yolks start smelling after a few weeks???

At one point in 1910, Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. Wonder why... ;-)

In 1910, the five leading causes of death were: Pneumonia and influenza (the flu); Tuberculosis, Diarrhea (didn't know that, will have to give that issue more respect..); Heart disease; and Stroke.

Neither Mother's Day nor Father's Day had been created yet.

Two out of every ten adults could not read or write and only six percent of all Americans had graduated from High School.

Really makes you a little happier to be living in this day and time. Next week we will be continuing our fun facts segment so that you can continue to amaze and frustrate your friends and family.

If you are looking for some form of second income or something to supplement your current income (so you can buy that sugar and coffee), check out our website, we may have something that would interest you.

Until tomorrow...

You are not fogotten

Hi guys, no, I didn't forget to post tonight, just flat-out ran out of time. Tomorrow's post will be fun facts, what should have been today. Unfortunately, I have been experiencing major laptop and then connectivity problems today, and need to do more work on the laptop before I feel comfortable posting. I am on borrowed time right now. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I will be posting a full fun blog tomorrow...

Until tomorrow...

A mini vacation

Today was an absolutely wonderful day. Let me back up a minute. As many of you may know, I have been going non-stop for months now, and have not had a "down" day in a very long time. The downside to having your own business is you do fall into the trap of working around the clock. Even though I choose not to post blogs on Saturday nights, doesn't mean that I am not doing something work-related. I also am aware that I have been advising others to remember to take time out of their day for themselves. Something like, do as I say, not as I do. I finally took a mini vacation.

Well today, I worked, which I am still doing, but I took the PERFECT 3 hour break which ended up feeling like I had taken the whole day off from work. I realize that sounds very strange, but it is true. I am back at work, refreshed, feeling like I am finally rested up and ready to tackle the upcoming week. For the first time in a long time, those 3 hours I took off, I didn't worry about anything, I just enjoyed. The best part is that I didn't even leave the house. I even spent the majority of those 3 hours outside, and in Arizona right now, that is very unusual.

Now you all are probably thinking I am totally off my rocker. I probably had too much heat, so I am not thinking clearly. The truth is that I spent probably about 2.5 hours sitting in the pool finishing up reading a really good murder mystery. It is not the book that made the day so great though. The book started off very slowly, and it has taken me a long time to finally get to the end, but more importantly, it was how I spent the day that is important. This is critical for anyone and everyone. Especially those of us with small businesses, those of us with many obligations. We all need a mini vacation more than once a year.

As I have talked about in the past, it is critical to take time out from your normal routine and give both your brain and body a rest. Sleep is not necessarily the right thing for rest because your mind is still processing experiences, thoughts, impressions and worries while you are sleeping. What works for one will not necessarily work for everyone, but for me, reading a book, even remotely engrossing, in a very comfortable location will give both my mind and body the rest it so desperately craves. For me, half-way decent books keep my mind from wandering towards work, and keep me from worrying about everything else in the world. The trick for me is to find a nice, quiet place in which to read that book.

It has been excessively hot here in Arizona (actually in many parts of the country) so I have been pretty much stuck indoors when I wanted to get some reading done. Unless you live alone, and even then it may not work, it is hard to find a quiet place in the house to read. There is always something around you that is needing attention, be it dogs, other people, or chores that you have taken a break from. I discovered that I could sit in the pool, up to my neck in water, and read a book. The water in the pool is almost 90 degrees, so you don't get cold too quickly. I balanced on the seat in the deep end of the pool, kept my hands (and the book) and my toes out of the water.

Granted, this balancing act probably looked pretty silly, but it accomplished four things at the same time. I stayed cool because there was very little of me exposed to the 110 degree temperatures, my book stayed dry, I got some isometric exercises done, and I managed to relax. Once I finished reading, my eyes, may be tired, but I got my exercise, and I got a much needed mental break from work. I feel refreshed, more than even a good night's sleep would have been.

So, the lesson here is find what really makes you happy and be sure to take a few hours out of your hectic week (strive for doing this at least once EVERY week) for yourself and do what you really, really like to do. Do not think about all the things you SHOULD do, or the things that NEED to be done. Those things will be there after you "come back" from your mini-vacation. The difference is that you will be in a much better mental state to deal with those issues if you take the time to rest. You will find your work will get done more efficiently, your thought processes won't feel so bunched up and confused, and you feel like you have a renewed purpose to your life.

There are a million and one things that will always have to be done, and they will always be there. If you don't take care of yourself, even by just taking a few hours off, nobody else will be there to take care of you. If you don't treat yourself right and don't respect yourself enough to take care of yourself, you are in no position at all to help others. I have put back into practice what I preach, and it works, really.

If you have questions about how to take a mini vacation from your busy life, please feel free to contact me at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. I will be more than willing to offer suggestions on how to take a mini vacation without going anywhere, or breaking the bank. If you are looking to find a second income source, please check out our website. We may have something you have been looking for, or we may trigger some additional ideas for what you can do.

Until tomorrow...

What's More Important

It really isn't what you do or where you live that is as important as who you are and what you plan on doing.

Mother-Teresa-collage

Neither where you live or what you do for a living is as important as who you are. Why would it matter where you live, if you are able to assist the people you come in contact with. Can you tell me that Mother Theresa lived in great conditions? Her only concern about where she lived was if she was living near enough to the people in need.



In terms of what you do for a living, the key here is to not make your identity your job. I was personally at fault for that for many, many years. My work became my identity and that became a very unhealthy combination. What you do for a living should be something you enjoy, but also something that will allow you to help others one way or another. There is too much emphasis put on titles, that really is not deserving. Titles are cheap, what is more important is who you are as a person and then what you do with those talents you personally have.



You should allow your own abilities and talents to be used in whatever you do for a living. By doing that, you allow yourself to grow and you are using what gifts you have been given. You will feel more satisfied with yourself, with your work, and where you live. The key is to work with the talents you have and live within your means. If you live in a large luxurious home, but can't afford it, would you be happy? If you lived in a much smaller home, but had all the amenities you needed (notice I said needed, not wanted) and didn't have the worry about paying for everything, don't you believe that you would be much happier with your living conditions?



So, as you can probably guess, where you live or what you do for a living is not nearly as important as who you are and how you contribute to your community. If what you do and where you live compliments your contributions, then you are wealthy beyond all others.

Millionaire Focus on Theo Albrecht

Our millionaire focus on Theo Albrecht was more challenging than I had originally thought it would be. He was notoriously shy, and stayed away from publicity as much as possible. Both he and his older brother, Karl, are self-made millionaires, building their empire from their mother's corner grocery store in Essen.

Their company's focus was on spending almost nothing on advertising and by simplifying their inventory. They stocked only a fraction of the products that would usually be found in a standard grocery store. Their motto was: "concentrating on the basics: a limited selection of goods for daily needs." This is a concept that we as small business owners should take to heart. I have found that we have been pressured to carry a larger variety of products to appeal to a broader audience. The real key is to carry a limited selection of fast-selling products so that you can increase order volume and reduce handling costs. The Albrecht family purchased the U.S. chain, Trader Joe's in 1979.

Theo was such a thrifty person, that when he was kidnapped in 1971, he negotiated with his captors and was able to reduce his own ransom down to 7 million Deutsche marks (about $2 million dollars). Not only did he reduce his own ransom, but he was able to win a tax dispute with the German government over whether the ransom was a business expense.

Theo was the epitome of thrifty, a lesson we can all learn from. With the internet, we can do a lot of advertising for minimal or no money. This current economy has taught us that we are all able to become more frugal and get as much work done with less money. With luck, as the economy improves (hopefully sometime this century...) we will not forget the lessons we have learned about being frugal and continue to grow our businesses smarter.

If you are looking for a small, home based business opportunity, please check out our website. We may have something that would interest you. As always, we would love to talk with you if you have questions or want guidance.

Until tomorrow...

The One Who Got Away

There are days that I feel inspired to talk about business, and then there are the days where it is just more fun to talk about personal experiences that makes us who we are. Today is one of THOSE days. This is a story about the one who got away...

Aaahhh, I have a good story about the one who got away, especially for the fishermen (of either gender) out there. Last year, we were taken deep sea fishing with a dear friend. Not only does he have a very fast boat (no, I do not remember the type of boat, but it was big, it was very fast and I could have spent DAYS on it) but he does competitive fishing.

Needless to say, he wanted to take a group of out to catch some fish. We all show up at the boat early in the morning in anticipation of catching some great fish. We all pile into the boat, we are shown where everything is, and we settle down to watch the land fall away as we wander off into the deep blue ocean. The air was cool, the sun was hot, it was a magnificent day to go fishing. Once we are away from the harbor and traffic lanes, our friend just opens up the boat and we are just flying across the water. Luckily I had strings to tie my hat on my head because otherwise, I would have lost my hat, so that is not what got away that day...

We stop at locations that only our friend understands, his sonar fish detector indicated there would be fish...so we kept loading up the hooks with cut up fish and tossing our hooks and bait overboard. We ended up feeding a lot of fish in the ocean and did not catch fish on those first few stops.

Eventually, as we stop and start all over the ocean, we start catching fish, granted there were small, and not legal to keep, but at least we started catching fish. Finally, after I started beliving that I had lost my fishing touch (I loved fishing with my father when I was a kid), my line gets hit and I actually hook a fish. Boy, these ocean fish are really strong.

Enthusiastically, I pull in the fish, thinking I must have a giant of a fish, but alas, it was not as big as the fight it put up. But, it was of LEGAL size. So, here I am, getting help unhooking this fish and proud that I finally caught a very good looking fish (it was colorful and had nice shape...I notice things like that...). I am happy, our friend is happy because I caught a good sized fish, so he goes walking along the side of the boat to put the fish in the cooler and wouldn't you know it, the fish twitched, and our friend DROPPED the fish overboard.

He was mortified and I couldn't stop laughing. I really didn't mind losing the fish, but he was so distraught and kept apologizing for essentially throwing my fish overboard. The fish did manage to swim away from what I saw, so I don't feel bad that it received it's freedom from the frying pan.

We spent the rest of the day looking for more fish, and ended up only catching small fish that we used to chum the water. Even though we didn't have a successful fishing trip, we had a fantastic time and developed stronger friendships from that boat trip. By the end of the day, my face was plastered in a continuous smile, that smile didn't go away until the next day and comes back very quickly every time I remember that great time we had on the boat..

So, that is the story of the one (fish) who got away, but I am glad the fish got away. Then I didn't have to clean and gut the fish, and honestly, I am not very good at cooking fish...so, it was best all around that the fish did get away. The picture on this blog is of the Sun Fish we did encounter while we were out fishing. This guy just kept swimming around the boat checking us out. We didn't hook it, but we did have loads of fun photographing it.

Because of the business we have created, we were able to take time out during the week and go fishing with our friends. Can you do that with your business and still earn an income? If you are interested in earning an extra income, check out our website for more ideas.

Until tomorrow...

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Here it is Wednesday night, and I don't have anything specific to cover. Actually, that is not a true statement, I have a lot to talk about, just no specific topic tonight. Tonight we go into miscellaneous ramblings.

Received my new STEMTech product, ST5 with MigraStem and had my first glass of the new product. I really liked it, put it in 8 ounces of water and added some blueberries. The mild vanilla taste complemented the blueberries very nicely. Looking back, I did notice a slow, but steady increase in energy, especially since I had a particularly bad night's sleep last night. Hopefully, this product will allow me to be more active during the day so that I can sleep better at night. Looking forward to playing with different recipes for this drink. What is really cool is that you can put ST5 in a warm liquid (not boiling, but warm) so in the winter time, you can have a nice warm drink with ST5, you are not stuck only drinking it cold. I will keep you posted on my personal progress with ST5.

On another subject, have been busier than a one-armed paper-hanger here in the office. I have promised getting a new website up and active over 2 weeks ago, and have not gotten very far with it. I continue to work on that, but other chores and tasks have been rearing their ugly heads...

Looking forward to getting back on the road again. Really sad that we were unable to make it to Sturgis motorcycle rally this year, really miss everyone there. We are looking forward to being there next year. Family issues and concerns took priority, so we opted at the last minute not to attend this year. The decision not to go to Sturgis was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever made. We haven't missed a Sturgis motorcycle rally in over 10 years. We are missing our Sturgis family and assuming all goes well next year, we will definitely be there.

Lastly, we are looking a a new start-up company that will have an awesome new product available by the end of September 2010. Since we have been close to home this last month (again due to family concerns) we have been doing a lot of research and work with this new company. Keep your eyes on this blog by the end of August for major announcements that you don't want to miss.

If you are looking for a second income to supplement your current income, please feel free to check out our website. If you have questions, you can e-mail us at hawgwash1@yahoo,com or leave a comment on this blog.

Have a wonderful evening. This ends my miscellaneous ramblings for the month...really...

Until tomorrow...

Business Opportunity in Stem Cell Nutrition

We have talked on several other occasions about a company that we work with, STEMTech. This company's primary focus is on Stem Cell Nutrition products. In prior blogs, we talked about the differences between Embryonic Stem Cells and Adult Stem Cells. STEMTech products allow your body to naturally release it's own adult stem cells, so there is no moral or ethical dilemma involved.

What hasn't really been talked about was the business opportunity involved with STEMTech. Especially now, after their 4th Annual Convention. At the recent Convention, STEMTech announced enhancements to their compensation plan that makes it much easier for everyone to earn more money faster. The best part is that the hurdles are not any more difficult to achieve.

Let's start at the beginning, why would you want to start a home based business with STEMTech? For starters, they are the only company in the world that has a scientifically proven Stem Cell Enhancer, StemEnhance. This makes the company unique and therefore less competition for you. The only disadvantage is that Stem Cell Nutrition is a relatively new concept. Most people, when you mention Stem Cells, immediately think you are referring to the embryonic stem cell research that is so controversial. STEMTech's StemEnhance product uses all natural botanicals. The most important of those is an aquatic botanical called Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (don't worry, I can't say the word either...we all just use the abbreviation AFA). AFA has been safely consumed for 3 decades. The difference is the patented concentrate that STEMTech uses. The concentrate of AFA in StemEnhance has been proven to release about 25% more of your own adult stem cells into your blood stream. This is not just a claim, but it has been documented in a double blind, placebo controlled cross-over study which was published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

So, this company has a unique, patented product, great. Why else should you consider this as a business opportunity instead of just getting the products for your personal use? Golly, if you think about it, haven't people become millionaires with just one, unique product? STEMTech offers a family of products that are focused on your overall health and on promoting stem cell nutrition. You have StemEnhance, which allows your body to release 25% more of it's own adult stem cells naturally, StemFLO which improves your circulatory system so that those adult stem cells can get to where they need to go, and now the new, ST5 with MigraStem which allows your adult stem cells to more effectively migrate into the tissues in need. STEMTech has proven that they know where their core competency is and is not wavering from it. All of their products help you to naturally utilize your own adult stem cells.

On top of the originality and timeliness of the products, STEMTech's compensation plan is absolutely wonderful. It is not a binary plan, so you don't have to worry about getting a certain number of people on either your right or left side (that always got me confused). It is a simple, step-up compensation plan. You can earn profits on personally enrolled retail-direct customer orders (basically anyone can order retail products through your website without signing up for anything), you can earn rebates up to 20% on all personal wholesale orders and you can easily earn commissions up to 20% on all non-autoship orders within your downline.

The step-up portion is that as you earn points, you can move up the compensation plan. The points are not cumulative, but once you get people ordering regularly from you, or you get people interested in becoming distributors, your points pretty naturally grow each month. What is really cool is the new bonuses that were announced at the conference. There is a one-time FastStart Bonus that is available each time you enroll a new Distributor who purchases a FastStart Pack. The FastStart bonuses are paid weekly if you choose to have direct deposit (which I think is the coolest thing since sliced bread - no more waiting for a check to show up in your mailbox). This is super easy money for you to earn.

There are also three more new bonus pools that were announced this convention also: the FastStart Turbo Pool, the New Director Pacesetter Pool and the Incentive Contest Pool. I will not bore you with the details of these pools, but if you are interested in more details, I can send a copy of the overview to you for review.

As you can see, the STEMTech business opportunity could be very lucrative. What is also great is if you know people who will move heaven and earth for their pets. STEMTech also has their stem cell enhancement products for dogs and horses too. So as you can see, STEMTech has managed to expand your ability to touch many people, but still stay within their core competency, and not get distracted by selling dozens upon dozens of products that you can't keep track of.

If you are interested in learning more about this business opportunity please feel free to contact us with your questions (e-mail - hawgwash1@yahoo.com). If this business opportunity does not really interest you bur you are still looking for something to do, please check out our website for other ideas.

Until tomorrow...

Fun Historical Facts

Wahoo, tonight is Monday, which is another installment on Fun Historical Facts. As you may know, last month, I started posting some fun historical facts on Mondays, just to help relieve the Monday doldrums. I have a blast looking up these facts, and hopefully you all have fun reading these fun historical facts. Perhaps, even some day they will help you win at some trivia game or something... You never know. These fun facts tend to get stuck in my brain, and come out of my mouth at some of the most inopportune times. But they are fun, even though I do get some pretty odd looks from people...

Do you know what life was like on hundred years ago (for those of you math challenged - 1910)? My guess is that most of us may have heard something, but let's have some fun with 1910, shall we?

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years old. (was that because they married so early and the women wore them out???).

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. Now that would be FUN.

The downside to that is the maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 miles per hour. Most likely so that you wouldn't frighten the horses, which were still prevalent.

This next one I get a real kick out of - fuel for the car was sold in drug stores only. So, you can go into the drug store, get your thimbles, other supplies, and oh, yes, can I get some fuel for my car? Just don't mix the fuel up with the tonic you are to drink in the evening.... Obviously, because there were so few of those "horseless carriages" there was no need for fuel to be carried elsewhere.

Only 14% of the homes had a bathtub. Now if only 14% of the homes had a bathtub, where did people go to get bathed??? Now I know why they didn't bathe much...

Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. That is something I wouldn't mind being without all the time now... Do you know anybody who doesn't have a cell phone?

In 1910, the tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average US Wage in 1910 was 22 cents an hour. Now you have no reason to complain about your wages. The average US worker in 1910 made between $200 and $400 per year. Heck, that wouldn't even pay rent for a storage unit around here..

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year (I knew I liked that profession, except women were not accountants [officially] in 1910) a dentist earned $2,500 per year, a veterinarian earned between $1,500 and $4,000 per year. Lastly, a mechanical engineer earned about $5,000 per year.

Let's chat about doctors in 1910, since more than 95% of all births took place at home, we had more of a need for mid-wives than Doctors. Also, 90% of all doctors had no college education. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were contemned in the press and the government as "substandard".

Looking at all of these things, aren't you glad you live in 2010 instead?

If you are looking for second income opportunities, please take a look at our website. We have some wonderful home based business opportunities with a very low cost of entry. If you have any questions, we would love to hear from you, please e-mail us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.

Until tomorrow...