New York Renovator

Golly, where could she be??

This is her new favorite place, now. We have heaters installed for the winter (yay!!) and the house gets horribly warm. (I like it cool in the house, everyone else likes it warm). The ceilings here are over 9 feet, so the top of the room is roasting. Of course, Livvy being the true feline that she is, hops up to the tallest heights of the room to bask in the warmth.

Photo taken on Thanksgiving Day. Boy, what a great day that was, probably my best Thanksgiving, ever. The husband was home ALL DAY, since the post office was closed that day. What a treat. The next day, of course, the mailmen were clobbered with mail, frantically stuffing two days’ worth of mail and packages into mailboxes. Yunno, I read all this hype in the news about the USPS needing to end delivery on Saturdays, how they are losing money due to less mail…. based on our experiences here, all that is false. My hubs delivers mail for three small towns, and we are CLOBBERED with mail, especially parcels. Because parcels won’t fit on those smaller mailboxes (except for those mammoth whitehall mailboxes that some of the residents have around here), the mailmen are in and out of the vehicles constantly. The volume of mail has risen exponentially. And it’s been this way all year, not just for this holiday season. People may be using the USPS less for first class mail, but people are ordering items online much, much more. These online products must be delivered, and most companies use either UPS or the USPS. So the amount of parcel delivery has increased a lot– and delivering parcels takes up way more time and manpower than merely dumping envelopes into mailboxes and various pretty whitehall products.

Part of the reason that the post office is having financial trouble is because the USPS is required by law to fund it’s business by profits ALONE. It’s the only government department to do this. Other government departments take taxpayer money, or borrow. The USPS must operate by profits.

Additionally, the USPS has a lot of older (Baby Boomer aged) employees who make a TON of money and get a TON of perks/vacation time/pension money/sick pay. And there are some bureaucrats who game the system. I think if the USPS slashed waste and removed the luxurious pension perks, they’d quickly go into the black again.

Also, the USPS should increase the rates for sending junk mail. If they raised the rate by ONE PENNY per piece of junk mail sent, they’d make millions. And magazines should be forced to have covers on them. Pornography, by law, must be covered. But some of the magazines and racy catalogs are just as pornographic as the sleazy mags. If the USPS required that slime-mail be covered up, they’d make even more money.

See? The USPS should just read my blog! Problems solved!

Anyway, it was nice to have my mailman home for a while. A WHOLE DAY. Too short, it was.

Oh my word. I was researching PDA gadgets recently, and lookie what I found!

It’s an HP iPaq 210 Enterprise Handheld. A mini-mini computer! I love it!

The hardest part about being a technology researcher and writer is seeing ALL these delicious gadgets. I DO SO want to try them out! I love this thing!

It’s a PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant. Kind of like a mini “home away from home” gadget. I like those. I am joined at the hip to the Internet (it’s my career). When I travel or am away from the computer, I have to be able to check in on my email and assignments. I have my iPod (which I adore), and I can connect to wireless hotspots, where available. I have no desire to find a replacement for my iPod just yet. I’m very happy with it. But I think eventually I will upgrade to something more. The iPaq is nice because it’s Windows-based (has Windows Mail, Windows Mobile Office Outlook, MSN Messenger, etc). And it takes an SD card for adding more memory (something the iPod seriously lacks). If I ever want to upgrade to something like an iPaq, I can give my iPod away to one of the kids (oh wouldn’t they love that! They love my iPod!) and get an iPaq and claim in for my business. That’s the nice thing about being self-employed– you can get gadgets and claim them for the business. Tax deductible.

Buy.com has the best price I’ve seen on these babies– under $400. That’s still a very very pretty penny. Not in my immediate future, that’s for sure. But it’s nice to know that there’s something out there waiting for me. See more deals and super sale at Buy.com. They are magnificent!

I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for some work-at-home jobs. So far, I haven’t found anything besides paid blogging. Blogging for pay is an ups and downs kind of career, with dry spells from time to time. Perks can be very nice, from a promotional free hotel stay as payment, or cash payment, or keeping the items that your review. I just love blogging, and it seems to like me as well. Nonetheless, work is not always consistent, and it helps to have a different job to rely upon.

I thought I’d share my little resource list in case you are looking for some work, too. Jobs ARE out there, you just have to be the right person in the right place at the right time. Here are some places that may help you:

Tutor.com
You have to be certified to be a tutor. Check the site for more details.

WriterAccess
Writing jobs, essays. This looks like a great job, but it seems that the pay is rather low for all the work involved. Might be good for a teen who shows proficiency in writing.

Kelly At Home
I’ve applied and sent my resume weeks ago, and haven’t heard a peep.

About.com
They are always looking for people who specialize in quirky things, like beadwork or sailing or urology. They have little About.com blogs, and these kinds of jobs look terrific! But so far, none of their specialities are my specialities.

Finally, there are two blogs I enjoy visiting every day, checking for various openings and jobs. They are the Work At Home Mom Revolution and the Work From Home Mother. They also have tips and other helpful posts about working at home. I’ve applied to a few of the places they’ve posted about, but nothing yet. Maybe you can find something helpful!

more animals

You know it’s going to be “one of those days” when you’re on the phone, making a VERY IMPORTANT phone call looking for employment, and the cat decides to choose THIS moment and THIS room to hack up her hairball. Yep.

So I’m on the phone, exchanging pleasantries with the secretary, and Livvy saunters in. Suddenly and without warning, she starts that HORRID retching sound. I’m trying to remain cool on the phone, but am franctically signalling for my son to GET THAT CAT OUTTA THE ROOM. His eyes grow big as he realizes what’s going on, then starts calling loudly, “Livvy! LIVVY! You got a hairball? Come here!! Come on!”

I finish the call and hang up the phone (seems that the only jobs available around here are sales and franchise) and all is quiet. Preoccupied, I call the next telephone number in my list. Lo and behold, the cat walks back into the room and STARTS UP again! GAH!

And I don’t know if it is the bizarreness (is that a word?) of the moment, but my cockatiel then starts a huge commotion, squeaking and clacking in his cage…. ????

I’m doomed to be unemployed… the animals are against me….