Squidoo

For those of you who have never heard of Squidoo let me tell you a little about it.  Squidoo is a website for writers, bloggers, or other people interested in making extra income while having fun at the same time.  They have a pretty good deal going because they realize that without all of us who are using the site to write or do our thing, whatever that may be, they would not have a site at all and would make no money themselves.  So they have a deal set up so that people who create lenses on Squidoo will earn a good sized percentage of all the income generated off that specific page through various ads and modules we put on our lens.  Squidoo also puts advertising on our lenses and we earn from those as well.

My lenses that I have been working on so far are listed on the sidebar but I wanted to list them here and give a brief overview of what each one is about.

By far my longest and most involved lens is one I have done on movie musicals.  I've probably gone way overboard on this one but I do love movie musicals a lot and it was very hard to not include all my favorites.  Probably I will end up adding more to this one as I think of any I might have forgotten to include. 

The next lens I have been doing the most work on is about my new adventure into extreme couponing.  I've been learning how to take advantage of the "money" that we all throw away every week or every month in the way of coupons. I'm not exactly going to the huge extremes that have become so talked about, but I have realized that coupons are another form of money and that if I can get products for free, or for whatever amount (even double or triple the amount of the coupon) it saves that much in my shopping budget.  This lens is all about my trip into learning just how to make the most of the coupons I get.


When I got Jonah  for Christmas from my daughter, I decided I needed to find a way to make some extra money to help take care of him.  So I created a lens all about him.  He's my cute little Shih Tsu if you haven't already seen pictures of him here in the blog or on my Facebook profile.  Jonah's lens is for information about Shih Tsu dogs and other house pets as well as specifically about Jonah himself.  He's such a little cutie.  He's a rescue dog and has had a lot of medical expenses so far, all of which my daughter has been taking care of.  I'd like to be able to start contributing back to her and I'm hoping that this lens will soon take off and start making enough to do that.


How To Care For Cast Iron Skillets, I've Lost My Marbles, A Puzzling Situation--Jigsaw Puzzles That Is, and Indoor Grilling   are the other lenses I have created so far.  They have not received all the attention that the first ones listed have yet, but they are ready for anyone to check out.   So if any of these topics are of interest to you, I would love to have you visit any or all of my Squidoo lenses and see what it is all about.  Remember, if any of the products listed on the lenses are of interest to you and you might want to purchase something, it helps if you can do so there on the page rather than going elsewhere.  There are Amazon, eBay, Esty, and maybe some other locations available.  There are also polls and discussion modules that you can participate in.


One special lens I would like to mention here is one I have been working on for many months.  It is part of a place I volunteer my time to online called Scams of the Heart.  This is an information sister site to the Scams of the Heart Chat Room.  This organization was created to help people who have in one way or another become involved in a relationship online that turns out to be false.  Usually Ghanan or Nigerian, and part of the 419 email scams, romance scams have become big business over the past 5-10 years and the results can have a devastating effect on the victims. Most of the victims are hit up at online dating websites, all of which have scammers listed as members.  Among the many real people who are members, these scammers create fake profiles using stolen photographs and sometimes stolen identities as well as created fake identities to lead unsuspecting singles into emotional relationships that these singles believe is with someone real.  Many thousands of people have suffered financial loss and loss of trust because of these scammers.  Scams of the Heart is there to provide a listening ear, a shoulder to lean on, and friendship that is real to help victims of romance scams heal.  The Squidoo lens was created not only to put educational information out there to help prevent further scams, but also as a means to raise a little money to help defray the costs of keeping the chat room in operation.


There you have it.  These are just some of the things keeping me occupied this past fall into this winter.  Squidoo lenses are fun to make, and might make me a little extra income to help out with my budget that is just a bit too tight.  It is a slow process since promotion of the lenses to gain traffic is up to the lens creators.  But then, that is how it works for any website anyone creates.  If we want it seen, we have to promote it.  I hope you enjoy my lenses.  I've enjoyed working on them.

Need You Now

It's just after 3:30 a.m. and I'm still awake. Not a little drunk, but very tired and unable to sleep. This song always feels just right on nights like this. I'm glad I'm not keeping someone else awake by my not sleeping, but it sure would be nice on these long nights just to have someone to talk to. Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube only go so far for entertainment and Facebook friends are mostly all asleep, or pretending to be.

Outside the wind is whistling and blowing the falling snow around, making the trees and shrubbery look alive as it glows softly in what little light is outside. The wind when it is like this makes such a forlorn and lonely sound whistling like it is calling for someone who isn't answering.

So now it's 3:45 and I am all alone and I need someone now. There just is no someone. Long lonely nights like this then call for sleeping whatever amount I can during the day when I am left alone to sleep. It seems like those days when I really need the sleep are the same days the phone rings constantly, and yes I do shut it off many times. It's those days that people need me to help them with something, especially babysitting. Unfortunately, the older I get the less able I am to keep a cheerful countenance during all these sleep depriving activities.

So, tonight enjoy the song with me if you are awake at this lonely hour too. This snow storm is supposed to be over at 4 so hopefully nothing has changed and it will all die down. I know the wind is part of the reason I am awake. It's messing with the temperature of the room quite badly. There is a lot of draftiness in this room with so many windows. I don't mind the chill for sleeping. But when it is this cold outside I can't afford to turn the furnace down as much as I would prefer, so the furnace kicks in and I go from cold to hot in seconds, then when the furnace stops I go back to cold again. It's pretty disagreeable for trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. Blanket on, blanket off, blanket on, blanket off, and so on through the night while I just wait for things to adjust by the time daylight starts to show it's face. That's when I usually can sleep. Please everyone...don't feel bad if you find my phone not being answered later. I need to sleep.