Owner: OperationBob URL:http://www.operationbob.com Join Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:09:30 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Chronicles of a work at home dad with an overactive brain and a short attention span. On this blog, I share information on working at home, reviews of income opportunities, my experiences parenting, and the occasional rant about whatever seems rant-worthy Site statistics:Click here
Loves Me. Loves Me Not. 2007-11-12 23:57:53 My love/hate relationship with Associated Content carries on. Some days I send a few articles for up front payment and they’re all accepted, I get some cash, and it’s love at first sight all over again. Other days, like today, I get 4 rejections. The reasons I get are usually either “content is too common” or “content doesn’t have broad enough appeal”. Grrr - I keep missing the happy middle ground where people want to read it, but not everyone and their brother has written about it. I see where they’re coming from, but I hate rejection!
Sometimes I get vindicated though, like the article that didn’t have broad enough appeal to recieve an up-front payment. I went ahead and submitted it for performance bonus only and, ironically, it’s been viewed more times than any other article I’ve done for them.
But, that’s just today’s rant. Overall - I still like the site and will continue to use it&hellip
What is it about my lap? 2007-11-12 09:28:39 I have some help writing this post. The baby is on my lap “helping.” He refuses to sit in the carrier, on the couch, in the playpen, or in the swing. Even though any one of them might have the same view it’s just not good enough. He screamed his little head off, until i picked him up and sat him on my lap and now, 20 minutes without a peep. Just watching everything and looking around the room.
I don’t know, but i guess being 3 or 4 feet away makes the little guy lonely. At least he’s happy! Now according to my schedule it’s bedtime, but according to his agenda - that doesn’t matter. He always wins. Oh well, gotta love ‘em.
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Where Does the Time Go? 2007-11-09 22:14:48 Last time I checked, I had 24 hours in my day just like everyone else. But lately, it seems like someone is stealing some of my hours because I’m definitely not seeing the product of 24 of them every day.
I guess that’s one of the trade-offs for working at home. Although I do remember plenty of distractions in the office as well. I guess at home they are just different distractions. Here’s how it goes… I wake up ready to tackle all the projects on my desk. Eyes open - check. Teeth brushed - check. Caffiene - check. Computer on - check.
Ok, so far so good. Then the baby decides it’s time to play, eat, etc. or scream until I agree to play, eat, or whatever is on his agenda that I can’t figure out. An hour later with this crisis settled, I’m trying to get my head back in the game. Yes, peek-a-boo tends to shift my creative energy into a place that does’t do much for my work. Settled down, focused, and ready to go I
Tis The Season…. Already! 2007-11-07 22:07:26 I’m not sure why this still surprises me, it happens every year. One minute it’s spring and with the blink of an eye it’s cold and dark outside and those so-many shopping days left signs start popping up in the stores.
I suppose I tend to ignore the first few hundred signs since the commercials and such seem to begin while I’m still sweating in front of the air conditioner or a little later, in mid october, when I can’t find halloween stuff in the mega-center because it’s already been cleared out to make room for Christmas goodies.
Not that I’m complaining about Christmas, it’s a great time of year and a wonderful holiday. It just seems like all the holidays and occassions seem to sneak up on me nowadays.
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Review: CafePress 2007-11-05 22:06:13 Overall: Thumbs UP
At CafePress a shopkeeper, as they are called, creates a design and then offers that design for sale on a variety of product of their choosing. Products range from mugs and t-shirts to calendars and other clothing and housewares. When a customer chooses to have your design printed on one of the products the shopkeeper offers, the shopkeeper gets a cut.
CafePress takes the money, prints the product, ships the product, and handles customer service. All you do is upload your design, choose the products you want to offer it on and then wait to (hopefully) collect your cut of the money.
I stumbled on this site a few times and never gave it any serious thought. But one time I thought it was worth a trying and I’m glad I did. My first fear was that the design requirements would be too strict. I figured you’d need some degree in graphic design or know the inner workings of some special software to do this kind of thing.
I was quite surprised to find
He’s Getting Mobile 2007-11-04 16:27:21
Our soon to be 3 month old, anthony, has decided he’s no longer content relying on me and mommy to get around. Normally, we could plop him in his carrier (his personal, go everywhere recliner) and be assured he’d stay put. Lately his figured out how to wiggle on out with a little arching of the back and scooting of his feet. He’s also starting to figure out how to get his arms out of the way, and better yet use them, so he can roll over.
I know it sounds minor, but it’s a reminder that he’s not going to stay tiny and dependent forever. Now it’s scritching and rolling, soon it will be crawling and walking, and then look out terrible-twos!
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Review: Associated Content 2007-11-01 23:28:48 Overall: Thumbs Up
Associated Content
is an online content publisher. Here’s how it works: you write an article about whatever you like and submit it to Associated Content
. You can submit as an exclusive (just to Associated Content) or Non-exclusive, which means you can publish it elsewhere also.
You can submit your article for up-front payment and if it’s accepted they will pay you for it - anywhere from $3-$20. Whether you get an up-front payment or not, you will still get paid based on page views. The current rate is $1.50 for every 1,000 page views. My first impression was that it would take forever to make a few bucks, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the page views rack up. Associated Content has the juice when it comes to Google and other search engines, so if your has decent keyword saturation it will be seen.
You don’t have to be a literary genius or grammar teacher to write for Associated Content. There are articles from authors
What’s OperationBob mean? 2007-10-31 22:33:47 Sorry to disappoint those looking for a complex meaning behind the domain name - but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a domain I happened to have leftover from a project long ago. It was just sitting there - available and free so that’s what I used for this blog.
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Review: MyLot 2007-10-31 19:23:18 Overall: Thumbs Up
A few days ago I decided to check out MyLot, a site where you supposedly earn money for making forum posts and interacting with others. After my experience with Yuwie I wasn’t very optimistic. But, to my surprise there’s something different going on at MyLot. First, you can fill in an extensive, yet easy to use, profile which is just a list of things in certain categories that interest you. Then based on your interests, certain threads are featured for you.
Within a few minutes I found myself having a conversation about one of my very favorite subjects - making pizza. OK, so making might not be my favorite, but eating it certainly is. I had no idea there were others on this planet on the quest for the perfect straight-from-the-kitchen-oven pizza.
The moral of the story isn’t so much about pizza - it’s that the community at MyLot isn’t there solely to make a few bucks, they are real people sharing and exchanging thoughts a
Yuwie Update 2007-10-31 19:12:37 I just spent a little time on Yuwie again, optimistically hoping for good things but realistically knowing better. I think the site is actually getting worse! I got a popup on almost every single page I visited and between every about 3-5 pages there was one of those detour ads… the kind where you have to click ’skip this’ or ‘continue’ to get where you intended to go. That combined with the ton of text and banner ads makes the whole thing a real drag. Argh. They say you aren’t allowed to advertise on there and I don’t know if that includes a link to your own blog, but we’re about to find out because I put the link up just for fun. Despite the promise to pay pennies a month for “doing what you do” on Yuwie, I think I get more to the gallon with other non-paying social networking sites like MySpace.
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Sesame Street - Not For Kids? 2007-11-22 02:49:37 I saw a report on the news about the early seasons of SesameStreet
coming out on DVD. According to the report, the videos contain a warning that they are intended for adults and not suitable for children. What? The news report went on to detail the possible bad influences on children like; Oscar the grouch suffering from untreated depression, the Cookie Monster being on the fast track to diabetes, and the poor living conditions of Bert and Ernie’s basement apartment. I haven’t seen the label myself, this is just what I saw on the segment.
What is the world coming to!
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I Bark, He Laughs 2007-11-22 02:42:02 At 3 months old Anthony is starting to do new and interesting things every day. One of his newest and most exciting talents is laughing. It’s a goofy little laugh, so adorable you can’t help but laugh with him. It used to be that Mommy could make him smile very easily, but it took a lot of work for him to smile for me. I tried whistling, zerberting, and every other noise and facial expression imaginable. I’ve been constantly making myself look like an idiot, which isn’t hard, in attempt to get him to smile. Well, today I tried barking (like a dog) and Bingo! That must be the trick because it makes him smile ear to ear and even let out his goofy little giggle.
Mommy is a bit jealous though, because she can get a smile but can’t get a laugh for anything. Finally, the tables have turned! Most of the day she refused to attempt a bark because she didn’t want to “look like an idiot” and just have him give her the “what
On the Move 2007-11-21 02:24:18 As if there isn’t enough going on, we’ll be moving in the next week or so. I don’t mind the change of space or getting used to a new place - actually, that part is pretty neat. But the chaos of the whole ordeal isn’t my most favorite thing. It sounds pretty simple; take everything we own, put it in some boxes, move it to the new place, then take it out of the boxes. Once you add in the reality of a back-breaking sleeper sofa, furniture wider than doors, more stuff than we realized we owned, inevitably uncooperative weather, keeping up with baby, keeping up with work while it’s all going on, and the fact that my wife and I have the combined patience of a hungry tiger in a meat market — well, that’s where it becomes reality. Oh well. This too shall pass.
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FusionCash Update 2007-11-19 00:19:19 FusionCash was scheduled to pay out on the 20th. They sent me an e-mail on the 14th notifying me of a pending payout and said it would be there in a couple of days. I didn’t check right away, but sure enough it landed in my PayPal on the 14th. So, I’m happy report that they not only pay as they promise they paid earlier than promised. You should know by now that if a program is garbage or doesn’t keep there word, I’ll be the first to tell you. So, I figure it’s only fair to applaud the programs who do it right.
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Cashin’ in on CafePress 2007-11-17 08:12:19 Almost everyday I get at least one “you’ve made a sale” e-mail from CafePress. I just gotta say it’s the coolest thing to earn cash from something I forget about. When I get an e-mail that I’ve made some money it’s a pleasant reminder of the few hours I spent a couple months ago creating some designs and putting together a little shop on CafePress. I’m sure things will slow down a bit after Christmas, but so far it’s been a steady stream of commissions with no work on my part after uploading the designs I created. I really need to do some more… I could be making more sales!
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Back on the Upside 2007-11-16 02:51:22 As predicted, I’m back in the saddle with Associated Content. Sure enough, after 4 rejections all at once I hit on a good news story and they quickly bought it. They published it on the front page of the news section, so it’s getting a lot of views and comments. Glad I didn’t give up in the middle of my temper tantrum over being rejected.
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A Boat for 30 Mil? 2007-11-15 02:06:12 I was watchint the travel channel today, don’t ask me why - I don’t travel. The show was about super luxury Yachts, one in particular was thirty million dollars. If you had an extra 30 mil laying around, couldn’t you find a better use for it than a boat? You could buy your 30 closest friends a million dollar house, which in most parts of the country would be a mansion. You could send a bunch of kids to college, buy tons of prescriptions for some seniors, or a whole bunch of other cool things that would benefit a lot of people. Heck, you could feed a small country for a long time with that kind of cash. Well, to each his own. But for me, if I had that kind of money I couldn’t imagine spending it on one single material possession. Maybe I’m nuts.
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Rolling Over… and other tricks. 2007-12-05 21:22:46 At just under 4 months old, it’s clear that Anthony hasn’t read Dr. Spock’s book - nor does he follow the pediatrician’s timeline of how he should be developing. Ever visit to the Dr. brings announcements of what we should expect to see him start doing in the next month or, all things which has already done in the previous month or so.
We’ve been trying to get him to roll over on his own, but the arms have always gotten in the way. Tonight he was determined, arms or not, to get from his back to his belly and sure enough he did! Simple as it sounds, I couldn’t have been more excited if I won the lottery - and that’s saying alot because I don’t even play the lottery.
Once he rolled over he wasn’t quite sure what to do. Especially since he had is right arm still pretty well pinned under his chest. But, he raised his head up and started to draw his legs up and got on his knees very breifly. For a second I thougt he might Read more:Rolling
, tricks
What’s in That Box? 2007-12-05 03:20:58 We’re finally settling in the new place after several days of opening mystery boxes and searching for things in the cardboard maze. There are still a few things to be done — some trim, painting, and hanging a few pictures. But all in all it’s starting to feel like home. If nothing else, it’s a relief to have the heavy lifting of the actual move behind us.
The pic below is obviously Anthony and no, we didn’t pack him in the box to move him. Actually he really enjoys sitting in there and absolutely loves it if you push him around in his cardboard chariot.
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Life is Precious 2007-12-03 06:01:57 I ran a bad call this morning. I’ve been on many and seen a lot of bad stuff but this one really struck a nerve and weighed heavy on my heart. A mother went to check on her baby who was less than a month old and found her not breathing and without a pulse. I was on the ambulance returning from another call when this call came out and we happened to practically in front of the residence so we go there pretty quick.
As I carrried this lifeless little angel to the rig in my arms, doing compressions all the way and trying to bring her back, I couldn’t help but see my own little guy who not long ago was this age. Everyone I’ve met in this field agrees that calls involving children are the hardest. They stick with you, these innocent little babies. I’ll never forget this baby girl, or the cry of the mother who lost her after only a few weeks together.
Life is precious. When I got home I watched my little guy sleep and waited for him to wake up and ga
Moving Day 2007-12-01 17:54:06 Moving day finally arrived and believe it or not the remodeling chores were all complete. Well, complete enough to move in. There are still a few finishing touches to be added, but nothing major. The move went very well with good weather and plenty of help from mom, dad, and my brother and a friend. The baby was so awesome today! He wasn’t fussy at all, he just went along with the flow and had a good time.
Now we just have to tackle a house full of boxes and figuring out where everything is and where it needs to go. Tiffany (the wife) is even more impatient than I am (which is saying something) and thinks we can’t go to bed until everything is unpacked. I don’t really see that happening without huge quantites of caffeine and adding another 100 hours into the day, but I appreciate her spunk.
Either way I can live with some unpacked boxes for awhile now that the pressure is off to meet the deadline for finishing the build and getting moved. whew!
bookmar Read more:Moving
This Week I am “Bob the Builder” 2007-11-29 03:43:18 Moving day is fast approaching. Since our new place required some serious remodeling (at least for me) that means this week I’m spending more time with a hammer and saw than I am with a mouse and monitor. It’s a fun switch and I enjoy the satisfaction of looking at something and knowing I built it with my own two hands. But, crunching all this work into a short period of time is leaving me tired and sore at the end of the day. I have muscles aching that I didn’t even know I had!
My brother has been a big help. He comes over after work and lends a hand driving some nails and whatever else needs to be done. Thank goodness – or I would never meet the deadline. My dad on the other hand is another story. He’s far more experienced than I. In fact, he spent many years in the contracting and building trade and really knows his stuff. On this project he’s been kind enough to stop by every day and offer his advice, opinion, suggestions, an Read more:Builder
Make My Toys Unleaded Please 2007-11-27 06:32:46 Christmas is fast approaching and lots of friends and family want to give cool gifts to the baby. As a freelance writer, I’ve done more than one story on the lead paint issue with imported toys and seen almost daily recalls from the CPSC for one toy or another being recalled for containing excessive lead levels. Having this knowledge we’ve been trying to help everyone figure out what toys are safe, and what is off limits.
It seems the vast majority of the recalls are for toys manufactured in China. The CPSC restricts the use of lead paint on toys and other things produced in the USA, so our best advice has been to make sure whatever they buy is made in the USA - not just imported by a US company. The other, but more tricky, way to stay safe is to avoid toys that may have any paint used on them. When you start to look closely it’s surprising just how many toys have some paint somewhere on them.
In the midst of all this safety screening, I have to wonder jus Read more:Please
I Hate Weddings. But… 2007-11-25 05:17:30
Yesterday my little brother got married in formal splendor to a great gal. As a rule, I hate weddings. In fact, I’m not a big fan of any type of ceremonial event. My first and second marriages were both officiated in a courthouse by a judge - and I don’t have any regrets, well except that I wish the first marriage had never happened at all.
Anyway, Will (my brother) and his wife opted for the exact extreme opposite of a courthouse wedding with a full on uber-formal gala event. The night of the rehersal we in the wedding party received our “packets” which included a minute by minute itenerary of where we were supposed to be and what we were to do. The first thing I noticed was that my involvement was going to begin at 12:30 and I wouldn’t be off the hook until 10:00 pm. I was a bit disgruntled, although I have to admit my new sister-in-law did an awesome job of coordinating and scheduling the impending events. I had no idea she was super- Read more:Weddings
Getting Noticed 2007-11-23 03:07:35 After being online for about a month now, the blog is starting to get noticed… YEAH! Thanks to all of you who have been checking in and checking it out. Google is picking it up and some of the many directories have added a listing for me. There are about a zillion blog directories, so I don’t know if I’ll ever be ‘finished’ submitting to them, but obviously at least some of them carry some weight with Google to do what they have for my search engine performance.
My only regret about blogging is that I didn’t do it years ago. The community is awesome and it’s pretty cool getting to ramble about anything without being super-gramatical about it. It sure helps clear the cobwebs, and from the feedback it appears to be helping some other folks in various ways. I love a win-win!
Soon I plan to do a post on getting your blog noticed, for other new bloggers which will include some of those directories and some other useful info.
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Socialize for Fun, and Profit? 2007-12-14 05:25:52 The latest marketing angle to leverage online advertising is a crop of sites that pay you to socialize - post in a forum, use a social networking site, etc.
As they explain it, they are making money from the ads that display on all those pages and, as a member, they share that ad revenue with [...]
Writing Content for Cash 2007-12-14 05:17:02 If you have a flair for the written word, or maybe just enjoy writing, you can make money online without publishing a book and you don’t even have to have a website.
Ready to go there now… here’s a list of links to content publishers and brokers.
Online writing opportunities come by way of either brokers or [...] Read more:Content
The Scoop on Paid Surveys 2007-12-14 05:06:57 I can’t stress this enough, DO NOT pay for online survey opportunities. Those memberships will get you nothing more than a list of survey sites that are freely available on the internet.
That being said, the search for online paid surveys is very popular. I have worked with many of the survey companies and [...] Read more:Scoop
Paid to Read (PTR) Sites Explained 2007-12-14 04:49:58 PTR sites pay their members to read e-mails. To ensure that you’re spending some time actually reading the e-mail, many of them do this in a special window on their site that will not credit you until it has been opened for 15-30 seconds or more, depending on what the advertiser has paid for.
Signing [...] Read more:Sites
What's a Get Paid To(GPT) Site? 2007-12-14 04:35:00 A GPT site offers to pay members for doing certain things like completing offers, shopping, entering sweepstakes, buying or trying subscriptions, etc. Often they are called rewards sites.
Here’s how it works: you sign up with a GPT site (for free, of course) and view the list of offers such as:
Credit report subscription (you’ll pay if [...]
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