A New Take on “Day” Trip

In most day trips the objective is to go out and come back in a single day. In this version the objective is travel some where to stay 1 whole day and then return. This would actually take the better part of two or three days depending on the travel time and method. My was by car and, due to traffic, both outbound and return legs cost me ten plus hours of drive time. Was it worth it?

For me the answer is a resounding, yes! I travelled to visit visit family camping in the central panhandle of Florida. Despite being surrounded by impending storms and cold layers around the fringes of my travel envelope the day I spent in “sunny” FLA could not have been more pleasant.

The trip started, naturaaly at home in Greensboro, North Carolina. The weather at my departure was cold wet and rainy. The driving conditions did not improve until I was almost to South Carolina. The majority of the trip was along I-95 which as many already know is the most heavily traveled road in the US. Traveling SC on I-95 can be challenging because the highway never expands beyond four lanes so when any minor slowdown occurs it has repercussions for several miles behind the cause. By the time I reached Georgia I was seriously considering returning via Tennessee, if not for doubling the drive time I might have done just that. The remainder of the trip went smooth and quick despite one final small back-up west of Jax due to rush-hour traffic. I made my destination right at sunset.

The endpoint of this journey was a small RV park north of Lake City aptly named Lake City Campground. It could retain the name campground because they can and will accommodate tenters but they have year round RV's park there courtesy of some Canadian Snow Birds who like to travel south for the winter. Most of the occupancy was RV trailers and motor homes.

My arrival started an evening of festivities that included dinner, a campfire, some adult aperitifs and hours of catching up on family gossip. My wife and I had missed out on the trip to Hawaii to witness the marriage of my oldest niece. And though she could not be there herself my wife joined in for a shortspel via the wonder of modern technology that we still incorrectly refer to as a phone. It is unlikely the reader would find the conversation as scintillating as I, not necesarily being part of the family, suffice it to say we had our share of laughs and a few solemn moments as well missing those who are no longer with us.

The one full day I spent with la familia, a nod to my other niece's husband and his Hispanic heritage, was spent at Ichetucknee State Park. Ichetucknee is a summer haven for tubers, rafters and canoers. Though it lacks the adrenaline rush of white water Colorado or even Natahalla NC it makes up for it in unspoiled nature and peaceful relaxation. I imagine after a strong rain it stream might reach speeds of three of four knots it never moves faster than a comfortable summer nap. Even so, this trip took place at the end of December and despite Florida warm climate the water is piped directly from deep springs and is quite chilly year round, never getting above 72 ^oF. To some that may sound balmy but not to this old Florida Native.

We walked several of the trails, saw the Ichetucknee head springs, an abandoned phosphate mine and another river spring called the Blue Hole. You can see the opening of the spring through the clear blueish water and an informative sign board tells of the caverns beneath your feet. The caverns are open to divers to do some scuba spelunking but with a simple snorkle you can visit the upper chamber of the cavern. The understanding is that it takes a strong swimmer to battle the pressure of the outflow from the spring to get down that far. On a warmer summer day sometime in the future I would like to return and check out the underwater view.

The waters of the springs are crystal clear but favor a blue-green hue that borders on turquoises, even on the cloudiest day, so it is not reflecting scattered sunlight. The color comes from the diversity of algae living in the water fed by the nutrient rich minerals burbling up from deep under Florida's Karst topography. As the water moves out into the river the blue fades becoming mixed and trapped in other sediments stirred up by natural river current. The winter season is one of the best times to visit Ichetucknee as the tourist traffic is much lighter. In spite of Florida's warm climate it can still get cold enough to spawn hypothermia therefore swimming is not the most popular thing to do in December, but I saw several brave souls wade in and swim the 72^o water during this trip. Once in your body adapts quickly. Those who did swim said it was beautiful.

The second night at camp was much like the first except that the depression of departure was looming in the morning light. I was concerned about possible inclement weather on the return trip but that was over shadowed but the disappointment of having to leave my family behind and return home. Yet for a short 1 day vacation it was all it could be. I would do again without hesitation, maybe next time my wife will be able to join me. Though we both want to eventually be living in the mountains, nothing beats spending quality time with family, no matter where it is.

The Capatilist Ethic

I am going to try to stand on the fence for this but in the end I will fall in only one direction. There is a recent (maybe not so recent) thrust at corporate America for their intrusion into politics, education, and our personal lives.

See Richard Wolff's rant “ Can We Afford Capitalism?” Or an even more blatant attack in a blog I've seen by the same name . Despite Mitt Romney's assertion to the contrary Corporations are not people and they have but one goal...to make money. The rules of Corporate Capitalism are something akin to Issac Asimov's rules for robots.

1. A Corporation may not be unprofitable or, through inaction, allow its profits to decline.

2. A Corporation must work for the benefit of its shareholders except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A Corporation must protect national interest as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

And so these are the laws that corporations live by. Now they have a new weapon to keep their interests protected through more political lobbies in an organization called ALEC. ALEC is the conservative answer to the ACLU. All hail the mighty dollar, long live a profitable capitalistic society. I feel ya'!

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness … but only on these specific terms:

you must-	you must not-
speak English,	be gay,
want to carry a gun,	come from another country,
wear what every other person in the country wears,	complain about the people who have too much,
live for money,	want a better life,
believe in the christian “God”,
happily pay taxes,
learn only what we want you to learn.

Others stipulations will be added as the Corporations see fit, because, you see, the Corporations have 99% of the money, THAT's THEIR JOB-make and control the money. It is written into the Corporation rules of existence.

So why are we so upset that the Corporations have done EXACTLY what they were designed to do! It's the proven American WAY!

I have a conservative side of me that wants to see a smaller government, spending less and letting the nation grow. But I do not see how, legislating educational agenda, inhibiting personal liberties, fighting foreign integration and demanding a purely christian viewpoint achieves that end. The battles being fought in the political arena are light years from being cost effective and government reducing. What difference does it make if people of the same sex get married to the economy or jobs market? How can requiring teachers to teach that evolution and global warming are “unproven” theories make them more competitive in the global economy. What ever happened to “....land of the free and home of the brave”? Have we become so afraid of our original constitutional rights that we must pigeon hole them in to a list of dos and don'ts?

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Five Easy Steps to Making Money at Home Through the Internet

If you have spent any real time on the internet you have seen the ads for the surplus of work at home offers. The ads all promise the same set of benefits. “Make thousands of dollars, work part time, from your computer automatically!” They all sound great don't they. If you go to these websites you will get somebody's life story in a long full page article usually starting something like... “Hi, My name is John Doe and six months ago I was as broke as you are. My cat was going to be repossessed, my car left me for another man, and my wife laughed at me openly in public. I was a miserable wretch of a man. But then I discovered a powerful way to tap into outrageous fortunes through the internet. I want to share that secret with you, FREE!!!.”

The article continues on ad-nauseum telling how John turned his life around and now lives in the lap of luxury and only works three or four hours a week maintaining his automatic wealth building system. “You can do it too! Let me tell you how.” Then there is another twelve paragraphs of intimation about simple tools available to you on the internet that John has gathered together for you to use. Use these tools and you can find your wealthy little niche and he will guarantee you will make $2000 your first six months or your money back. Who else but everyone offers you that kind of guarantee? You will also see pictures of people who have echoed Johns success story holding “actual” checks of the money they made...$1200, $2500, even $10,000 in one month just by using John's simple automatic internet wealth building system. Wow, sign me up today! At least, that's what it says on the link button at the bottom of the the story. And underneath is a slightly smaller link that says, “No Thanks”, which if you click on, will take you through the “Are you sure?” pages and threatened that you will never make anything out of your life if you don't act NOW! But If you've gone this far you don't want to stop and miss out on the amazing, “Free” offer, no, you press ahead. Tell me more John! Enter your e-mail address and keep going!

The next page is much shorter. There are “real” testimonials here from more customers making from $400 to $5000 a month with John's system, Babs in Houston, texas, Carl in Minot, Minnesota, Gustavo, who was a Cuban boat person, now wealthy as wealthy can be all with John's simple help. Amazing!

You have patiently scrolled through two web pages of bragging and promise with out a single concrete piece of advise. Some wonderful innuendo, but, come on John, you promised to help with out any cost what so ever. You've been hooked, so you read on because on the next page he is going to tell you “exactly” what you need to do!

“I will send you my....

• 60 page manual on internet success... a $497 value
• access to my website building online software... a $250 value
• set you up with advertising … a $130 value
• 90 days of phone technical support … a $748 value
• my webinar series … a $369 value...”

This “basic package a $1994 value, for just $600!!!” Whoa!! You say to yourself. Whoa indeed! “But wait, order now and for just $200 dollars more you can get the Professional package which includes....”

Whoa!! Let's step back here just a few lines.

“No, don't think about it, for only $1200 you can get the Super Platinum package and get...”

STOP!!... Go back....What did that say?

A 60 page internet success manual is a $497 value? By whose standards? Web site building online for $250? I can get it for zip, $0, nothing, advertising is $130? Google's Ad Sense is also free. John is doing nothing more than pointing you to web tools and tips that are FREE for the taking to begin with!

Let's consider how John is really making his internet millions, by selling the secret to making internet millions, which is no secret at all. You can use John's secret to make money if you have no scruples, too. Just set up a simple, free website, write your life story and offer access to dozen's of free websites and help them sign up and collect $600 a pop for doing so! As P.T Barnum said, “There is a sucker born every minute.” Get them to send you money! At $600 a piece you just need to get 10 people to respond and you've made $6000 get 100 people to respond and you have $60,000, that is a huge chunk of change. There is the secret in a nutshell! For free!

Consider the the TV ads for all of these amazing new products you can buy, by phone, online are through the mail. The snuggle blanket with arms that allows you to talk on the phone and read and...heck, school kids will be wearing them to school next year. 0ne is a $19.95 value, but call now and you'll get two for the same price, just pay separate shipping and processing. Look out, shipping and processing is $7.95, do the math, two snuggle blankets will cost you $35.85! What a deal!

Don't misunderstand me what all of these vendors and entrepreneurs are doing is perfectly legal and, if you think about it, brilliant! You can do it too. The solution is so simple that it seems to good to be true. It is and it isn't. The internet is such a powerful tool that all you need is a little time and research and you can find everything you need, by yourself, with no capital outlay at all, initially. Let me tell you what you need, send me $4.95 and I can get you started on your way to making money on the internet. Is there a catch? Yes, you will have to apply yourself and focus on what exactly you want to sell. But it is not entirely free. Here are the five steps:

Step 1:

Find, make or develop a product. It can be anything you are interested in from ascot knitting to zipper repair, but you have to have something to sell. John is selling you the promise of success and if he is actually being successful then someone is buying it. What do you have? Ideas are a profitable commodity, too! You just need to find a buyer for them.

Step 2:

How much do you want to make? $400 a month? $1200? $10,000? Break it down. You wan to make an extra $1000 per month, then you need to sell your product to 1000 people per month for $1 each or 100 people per month at $10 each or 10 people per month at $100 each. To find out a base price for your product go to a website that tabulates web search data. How many people are looking for your product online? At least ten percent of them are looking to buy, right now. People will believe that the value of something is what you tell them it is, make your product sound really valuable and they will buy at the discount rate you are selling it for.

Step 3:

Make a web site. There are dozens of free on line places to make websites for commercial purpose. They will give you basic web building tools and ready made sites to start. They hope that when you start making money you will buy upgrades, and then they make money too. They have lots of online help to make it simple and you can be up and running in matter of hours. Your product, your website, your way. You will probably want to get a domain name for your website but these can be registered for as little as $4.95 per year.

Step 4:

Advertise. This is a little trickier. Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines provide simple free tools to make your weblink pop-up during searches, exactly where depends on how you set up the account, and you can pay them to make your web site pop-up more frequently. Start with the free stuff and try to get your friends and relatives to push your web site. An excellent place to advertise is on Facebook, You Tube, Twitter and My Space. Especially if you have a lot of “friends” connected to you. All of the social networking sites will shortly become advertising havens anyway, get in early to avoid the rush.

Step 5:

Collect you profits, This is the one that is the most costly. If you want to collect money on line for your sales and services you will need a POS (Point Of Sale) system. Some thing that will take credit and debit card information securely and deposit money in your account. PayPal has been around for quite a while but both buyer and seller need to have accounts to use it. Accounts are free to set up and Paypal only charges when you transfer money out of their system to your bank. Regular processing of bank cards can be more costly but it's worth looking into...if you are serious.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of drop ship companies that will ship their products to your customers and pay you a commission on every sale. Using affiliate ads to link to other vendors for their products can pay you when some one buys from them through your link. And most search engines have click through ads that can pay you when some one clicks on their ad link from your website. Yes, it can all happen “automatically” if you take the time to set yourself up and do the homework.

You want to be an internet mogul. Do it. But do it on your terms and get the services you need from directly from the providers that offer them. You don't need to pay John Doe $600 for it, unless you want to. His offer is not a scam, he can give you exactly what he says he will, but it is available to you without going through him. The money is out there go and get your share. Is there a guarantee you will make $100,000 over night night? No, but with patience and perseverance you can become your own boss with your own business and start making money the old fashioned way, sell something. All of the experts say that if you want to be successful, find the thing that you are passionate about and sell it to someone. There IS a market out there for you and your idea, explore and find it. Believe in yourself and good things will come. This is the best advice I can give. If you think you're ready, grab the brass ring.