Musings of a Crafty 30-Something

Business Conference??

So the other day my best friend got an invitation in the mail to attend a free business conference. She called about the conference but decided not to go after finding out that it appeared to be just another one of those franchise affiliate program things that want you to create either brick & mortar or online stores for them, but the stuff you need to do so will cost you thousands of dollars that most people just don't have lying around.

We had another one we were going to attend on St. Patrick's day but my best friend had been through that one before and we decided not to go as I didn't want to waste time or money on the conference. The conference was free, but you had to pay $50 for a package that got you into the 2nd conference, where they'd push you to pay them thousands of dollars (like they managed to get the best friend to do) for their package of stuff to start your own online stores. I don't know, I know they say you have to spend money to make money, but really? Thousands of dollars to start an online store?

I started my own store, with my own products for nothing more than the cost of the products and the listing fees at Etsy. I don't need to start a store using their software and their business model. My business model is what works for me - and if it doesn't I'll make changes to get it working for me. That's what businesses do. They adapt their business model so it works for them. But I sure don't need a conference to tell me I need to spend thousands of dollars on a product I don't need!

Dear People

It is not funny to walk through the mall or into a store and find people selling things like natural weight loss products and having them harass me and my friend because we are overweight. We realize we may need to lose weight but we'd like to try and do so without resorting to using any sort of pills to do so.

Also, do not rag on someone just because they say they are unemployed. You could find yourself in the same boat because regardless of the fact that we are in a recovery, we are still finding employers laying people off left and right. A recovery does not mean the unemployment rate is going to magically get better and that everyone will have a job right away. Plus, you have no idea why someone isn't employed. Some of us can't work due to severe back problems or other medical reasons but cannot afford to see a doctor about it and therefore can't at very least get a job.

And finally - don't push your religion on other people. Yes, I know that we are to pray for the "lost souls" and that we should witness to them. However, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar and the more you pester people the more you make them determined to stay far far away from a church.

Waiting

I'm sitting at home, working on my blogs, while my roommates are out taking the neighbors to the grocery store and the pharmacy for a few things. We're all rather big with the exception of Mom and W, so I tend to stay at home when they go out. Of course, the neighbors usually feed us when we take them somewhere, but since I didn't go, I already know that Mom will tell BFL to order off the dollar menu and that she'll take us out for a "real meal" when we get back so that I can have something to eat too. LOL

So I'm just chilling here at the house, working on my blogs, and being amazed that the dog hasn't barked to be let back in since someone is home. Then again, it's nice outside, so he's probably pretty happy out there on his tie-out. :) He loves to be outside in the spring, summer, and fall. Winter he'd rather be indoors and I don't blame him! LOL

And Even More Research

I have spent the last few hours doing even more research on medical things for various reasons. Part of it is because, as some of you may already know, the House passed the Health Care bill and plans are for the bill to be on President Obama's desk by the end of this week, from what I've read. I have no problem with health care reform in and of itself. I mean, if it means I don't have to go through and start looking at dermitage reviews and the like before deciding whether or not to have it done, I am all for it. However, I *do* have a problem with the bill that was passed.

You see, I have a big problem with requiring Americans to purchase health care coverage. It is *unaffordable* for those of us who are unemployed, and those "government subsidies" for those financially unable to purchase it will *not* help those who are unemployed because you know it will be like everything else - you have to get a job within X amount of days, which is *not* always possible.

Don't tell me it *is* always possible because I've been putting in applications left and right since July when I lost my last job and have had exactly *two* interviews. Yes, you read that correctly. *Two* interviews. That was at Target & Kohl's. Kohl's was in August & Target was in October. Both times I was told that I was not what they were looking for. Both jobs chose people who had never worked in  retail but just told the interviewer that they "liked to shop there." Yeah. Oh and both places hired teenagers, not an adult who *needs* a job. Go figure. :(

Anyways....time to get off the soap box. I don't want this to turn into a political rant. :D

Research for the Doctor

I've spent a lot of time with some friends of mine doing a bunch of research online for diets that work. The reason we've been doing this is so that if/when we are able to actually speak to our doctors about gastric bypass surgery, we want to be sure that they know we've tried diets and what we've tried.

Personally I've tried eDiets, SlimFast, Atkins, just plain cutting back on calories/sweets, added more exercise, SparkPeople, you name it, I've probably tried it. I've tried the Special K diet even. None of it worked - or if it did (such as eDiets did) - it only worked for a month or so and then the weight started to come back on. Seriously - I did eDiets, had great results, and was still ON the diet, with the eDiets system adjusting my calorie and fat intakes as well as my exercise output for the fact that I was GAINING weight, and STILL ended up gaining all I'd lost PLUS more back - while still on the diet!

Yet when I speak with my doctor, all he says is to lose weight - a pound or two a week - and I'll be fine. He doesn't listen when I try to tell him that diets don't work for me. *sigh*

On that note - I'm applying for a job at  Red Lobster. But don't worry, working there wouldn't make me gain any weight. I hate seafood! LOL

Please Take Off

I keep saying that to my little Etsy shop. Please take off. Please take off. I'd really like it if the shop would take off. But you know, it is a possibility that the shop will never take off. It is a possibility that the shop will flop and that nothing in the shop will ever sell. And that is a reality that I am going to have to face one of these days.

That is not to say that I want to face that reality. It is just saying that it is a reality I am going to have to face at some point - the fact that my shop may never take off. Several of the girls on my Etsy team have said that it will take some time (my shop has been open since December 20, 2008 with no sales at all) and that eventually someone will buy something. 

The problem is that I've looked at the active Etsy team members and all of them have sales. I seem to be the only active team member without any sales. It's kind of disheartening, especially when I've had team members come to the shop and tell me that my stuff looks great and is well priced, but that it's probably my photos that are keeping me from selling the items. Well excuse me for not having the resources to have professional looking photos. That's a gripe that I made on another blog and so I won't blog about it here, but let's just say that the professional looking (and in some cases, obviously professionally taken) photos some shops have are killing those of us without the resources to do the same thing.

Oh well, I've had some people tell me that my photos are looking better now that I have a decent camera and so I'm hoping that at some point I will be able to say I've made my first sale. :)

I Don't Need Diet Pills

Right now, I'm so stressed, I think the weight is going to just melt off me in my frustration. I may not need to worry about using products like Fastin if this stuff keeps up. Here, I'll explain.

The first issue I am having is that I have just NOW found out a bunch of stuff regarding my business that I have on Etsy (link in sidebar). Namely the fact that after being told I did *NOT* have to apply for the Iowa Sales Tax Permit or register my business becuase it is online only and through Etsy, I found out that I *do* have to apply for the Iowa State Sales Tax Permit. The information on whether or not I have to register my business is conflicting though because one source says that I don't need to because I am a sole proprietorship, and another source says that because my trade name for my business is not the same as my personal name, I do have to register it. Then add to this the fact that the form I use to register the name states that the registration is only for 120 days AND that registering my business name does NOT give me sole rights to use my business name in Iowa. But yet, if my business name is already registered in Iowa, I have to choose another one?? Huh??

Now, add to that issue the fact that now it appears that when one particular website tries to automatically access my servers for my blogs in order to verify blog post existence, it says that it can't get the contents of the supplied URL because my server is timing out. That's great, but I can't ask my host about it because I already know the answer - no one else is having problems. And besides, what's the point? The only people having problems is that website. I can trace-route and ping the website fine from both my computer and Central Ops. UGH

Plus BFL and her mom are at the repair shop with the car for the second time in less than a week. We noticed the car was "smoking" a lot and so when we had the oil changed, we had them look at it. They told us that it was an oil leak that was dripping on the exhaust manifold (yeah, because we know what that is, not) and causing the smoke. They scheduled an appointment for the next day and we had it fixed. Or so we thought. That was Thursday. On Friday we went to Walmart to pick up a couple of things and lo and behold, the car started smoking again. But this time we also got the check engine soon light on the dashboard. So Saturday we stopped by the repair place and they said they didn't have time to look at it but to bring it in today at 9AM and they'd find out what was going on with it. 

I will say this - they'd better NOT try making Mom pay for repairs because frankly, they did NOT fix the problem correctly the first time. I don't care if it was defective parts (which wouldn't be their fault) or not, there is no excuse for having a car repaired and the next day having it start acting up again!

So is it any wonder I am stressed and don't need diet pills?? UGH!

This Is Me

DSC00006

Yes, this is me. With my new haircut. Yes, the haircut is a week or two old now - 2 weeks tomorrow actually. Yes, I'm in my bathroom, taking a picture in the mirror. Yes, I am in my night gown. So sue me. :D

I just thought that for once it might be nice to have an updated picture of me here. And yes, that is my new Sony Cyber-Shot camera in the picture. :D

So yes, this is me. I've been hanging out trying to find jobs to apply for (I've put in more applications than I can count and have had ONE interview since last July), trying to keep up with assignments for paid blogging, trying to find other outlets for freelance writing, and trying to get my jewelry business (link in the sidebar) up and running and get it running properly. As in legally. As in getting a Sales Tax permit for Iowa among other things. :D

I do not have a brick & mortar store, nor do I plan on having one any time soon. I do plan on trying to sell at craft shows & fairs though, so I need the sales tax permit for that as well as for my online store. I am also trying to put together a website for my business. That part is going a tad slow, but it'll get there eventually. :)

In other news, I'm changing my blog themes around. I've changed this one, Charity Lynn, and Gothic Peach so far. All pre-mades, which is unusual for me on my WordPress blogs. But I found some pre-mades I liked and so I gave them a whirl for the time being. We'll see how long they last. :D

All right, I'm starting to get sleepy and I have some work to do regarding the website competitions. TTYL!

Entirely Ready for Spring

I am telling you, I am so ready for Spring to get here. This past Winter has been horrible - just horrible. I have dealt with more snow and ice this past Winter than I have during any other Winter I've been here in Iowa. And let me tell you, although most people think I've only been in Iowa for 4 years, I lived here for 14 years before I moved to Texas. So I know a thing or two about Iowa Winters.

Right now the temperatures have been fairly good. They've been in the upper 30s to low 40s. This is good because it melts the snow away. This is bad because it melts the snow away. Now you're confused aren't you? I can see it. You're scratching your head asking your computer screen how it can be good that the snow is melting away and bad that the snow is melting away. I'll explain for you.

You see, we received at least 51" of snow this year. Fifty. One. Five - One. Yeah. That's a LOT of snow. Some people think we may have actually received more than that, and honestly it would not surprise me if we did. We had snow drifts up to my rear-end for months!

Now think about this - that snow is covering grass and dirt. When snow melts, it creates water. What happens when grass & dirt get wet?? That's right - MUD! There are dirt roads IN TOWN here. (Please don't ask me why, because I honestly do not know.) So there are mud trails coming off those roads onto the paved roads. Yards are so full of mud that mowing the lawns will be downright impossible for a couple of weeks at least after all the snow is gone. Now take into account that a lot of people around here also have dogs.

Dogs love to walk through mud and track it all over creation. So there will be a lot of mopping and carpet cleaning. Maybe I'm not so ready for Spring after all. ;)

It's Not MY Wedding

I am so glad that none of my friends are getting married anytime soon. I know that sounds horrible but I just don't feel like getting asked what I think of this or that all the time. I had a friend who did that when she got married and it got to the point I told her that if she's that unsure about everything, she should just hire a wedding planner. She wasn't happy about that. But really, I'm not the one getting married. The guests aren't the ones getting married. The decorations, the flowers, even the wedding napkins should be about the bride and groom and what they want. Just because I don't like it or someone else doesn't like it is irrelevant. It is the bride and groom's day, everything should be what they like. I don't know what you like, don't ask me! LOL