Monthly Archives: April 2013

Are UFO’s Really for Real?

by

????M???????????????????????????????

Is that a flying saucer?! No, it’s only the moon by a tree. It looks strange and distorted because the picture was stretched for this site. Every so often there will be a news story about a UFO sighting and invariably, various questions come up, including, ‘Have you seen them?’, and, ‘Do you believe in UFO’s?’, among others.

UFO’s are certainly a mystery and invite all kinds of theories. Perhaps the  real question that should be asked is, ‘Are any of them alien spacecraft from other worlds?’.

I’ve always been interested in astronomy, science fiction, and the possibility of intelligent alien beings. If intelligent life is out there in the universe, what are they like? Are they confined to their home world, or have they been able to reach the worlds of other stars, and could they be visiting us now, or in our past or both? Like many people, I’ve read and have seen documentaries about the possibility of alien visitations and UFO’s and here’s what I think based on what I’ve seen, read, and heard.

The pictures in the UFO books that I’ve read are often not real clear and it’s possible that some are hoaxes and some could definitely be real. Many can be duplicated, especially today with photo editing software. Many of these pictures look as if someone threw something round, such as a hub cap, plate, or frisbee, into the air, and just got a good shot of it with a camera. Others are often pictures of rounded clouds, particularly lenticular clouds, which can really look like flying saucers.

Most of these are probably not UFO’s or specifically, alien spacecraft, BUT, considering the technology required for an interstellar journey, if any aliens are visiting us, they could have the technology that can make their spacecraft look like an ordinary cloud.

Speaking of clouds, one picture that I’ve seen in a number of UFO books is one taken in October of 1957, of a very white, ‘too bright‘, cloud over the Sacramento Mountains in New Mexico. According to experts, the ‘cloud’, is too bright to be a normal cloud. It may or may not be an alien craft, but it is unusual enough to be noted.

There appears to be two extreme camps regarding the subject of UFO’s. One consists of people who believe that anything, especially anything in the sky, that cannot be immediately explained, is automatically an alien visitation. All UFO’s are alien spacecraft, and all pictures in UFO books are real alien craft. And the Roswell incident is absolute proof that an alien craft crashed there and that the government, at the very least, has possession of both the craft and the alien corpses. Some believe that the government has live aliens in custody as well.

The other camp consists of people who not only don’t believe that UFO’s could be alien spacecraft, but refuse to believe that aliens could exist and that everything has a human or Earth-based explanation. Many believe that UFO’s simply don’t exist, and that anyone who even mildly believes some UFO”s could be alien craft, are absolutely crazy.

What do I think? Firstly, I do think that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, that we could have been visited, and could still be visited now, by alien beings. Do I know for sure? No, of course not.

So far, all of the evidence I’ve seen, heard of, or read, has been through others’ accounts, pictures that were not clear, and my own few sightings. As for my own sightings, while I absolutely know I saw something unusual, I cannot rule out other reasons for them any more than I can rule out the possibility of what I saw to be alien craft. But I definitely do keep an open mind, especially when the universe is so large and we only have partial knowledge of our own planet! I would find it to be incredibly profound if we did find that we were all alone in this vast universe!

Twice, I’ve seen what I could call ‘true’ UFO’s. One night, in a suburb of Los Angeles, me and my cousin were outside. He said, “Look at that!” I looked up and, being a hazy night, As is often the case in Los Angeles, I couldn’t see what he was looking at. Then, I made it out. It looked like a hazy or fuzzy ‘V’ shaped cloud, moving very slowly southward. It didn’t change shape, and it wasn’t very prominent. It eventually moved on and disappeared, but not like a cloud that would change shape as it did so.

Later, I thought that this could have been a flock of birds migrating south, but some things I remembered about this sighting and experience later, told me that this wasn’t so. First, Los Angeles is too far south to be along the migration routes of most birds, and those that do pass Los Angeles’ latitude are more likely to do so out over the ocean. More likely, Los Angeles’ latitude would be the destination of most migrating birds. Also, while the ‘V’ shape formation of migrating birds is what is often depicted in pictures and books, the fact is that migrating birds are rarely in this exact formation, and the formation often changes as they fly. Having moved to the Pacific Northwest, I’ve noticed this when the Canada Geese migrate in the Fall. Also, they often honk as they fly, so you hear them, even if they are high in the sky. I heard no honking when I saw this UFO,and, as I mentioned earlier, it never changed shape.

The other ‘true’ UFO I saw, was when I was stargazing with another of my cousins. It was a brilliantly clear night. Again, my cousin saw it first and pointed to it. I saw it, too. It looked to be twirling and was luminous, but didn’t leave a trail as a meteor would, nor did it look to be on fire or have a glare to it or around it as a meteor or falling space debris from a satellite or rocket might. It was ‘lower’ than the stars and moved quickly from northeast to southwest and abruptly disappeared in the constellation of Cygnus, never reaching the horizon. All this in the space of 3 seconds. It made no sound and was not a plane or helicopter flying normally nor in distress and crashing.

Other times, I’ve seen things that I thought to be UFO’s, only to find that they were planes or other things recognizable to any of us. Sometimes it was a small plane of such color and at such an angle that it’s wings resembled a flying saucer. Then it would turn and the sunlight would show the wings attached to the fuselage, which would now be visible as well, and I would see that it was a plane. From things like this, I can see how people can mistakenly claim to have seen a UFO, that really wasn’t, and this could be true of some of the accounts in UFO books and reports as well.

But, if some of the accounts I’ve read are true, then these people certainly did see something that cannot be explained, and quite possibly, they did see an alien spacecraft.

And Roswell? I read a book by Kevin D. Randle, a science fiction author who was also in the Air Force Reserve and is an authority on alien abduction. In the book, “Operation Roswell“, he includes an ‘author’s note’, in which what he says gives credence to the idea that an alien craft was indeed recovered during the Roswell incident.

As for myself, I do not believe that ‘it was just a weather balloon.‘ I do have two theories. One, that an alien craft did crash there, possibly yielding alien corpses as well as alien technology. My other theory was that an alien craft crashed somewhere else, and that Roswell was indeed set up as a diversion, so that the authorities could be sure that Roswell would draw all the attention to a place where no answer could be found. In either case, this would mean that an alien craft did reach our planet and that there is conclusive evidence and the officials who know are keeping it under wraps.

As for the possibility of old and even ancient art and structures being evidence of alien visitations? Such as the Pyramids, Nazca Lines, and petroglyphs around the world? And strange paintings and stories from ancient times through the Renaissance? I truly am not sure. I’ve heard arguments on both sides that sound reasonable. I truly wish I could have been there to see the art created, structures constructed, and the sources of the stories to find out for sure if any of them were indeed influenced or created with alien help.

So for now, while there is much evidence, it seems to be more of a circumstantial nature. But, if there are aliens, and they are visiting, I’m sure that someday, we’ll have ‘it‘, the evidence that cannot be ignored, denied, nor hidden from the population at large. In the meantime, keep watching the skies.

If you like what you’ve read, please comment and let others know of this site!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Working: What I’ve Gotten Distributing Fliers and Route Distribution

by

Not In Cubicle Land: Priceless!

I currently work distributing fliers door to door, and also driving a distribution route. I also am self-employed making resumes for people on the side, from home.

You may have seen people like me distributing fliers, business cards, circulars, etc to homes, or, when shopping, you may have seen someone dropping off publications at the store’s publication rack. These don’t usually pay much money, unless you co-ordinate them right and market yourself well, which I am still learning to do, and they certainly don’t fit the image of what most people think a dream job would be, or should be.

However, pay and prestige aren’t the only things a job can give you, and, some of the benefits of a ‘less than traditional’ job aren’t always apparent.

What many think a dream job is: When the question of what a dream job is, many, if not most, will think that the dream job is being the high-end big executive or corporate lawyer in the big fancy downtown office of a large and prestigious corporation. In addition, they will think that the way to this job is to go get an office job where you start out in a cubicle and slowly work your way up to ‘Assistant Senior Clerk’, then ‘Senior Clerk’, then ‘Supervisor’, then ‘Assistant Manager’, and so on. Before this, many feel that you should have gone to a very prestigious and expensive university beforehand.

The reality: The reality is that many people never escape ‘cubicle land’, and, many of those who did go to that expensive university have tons of student loan debt and have found that their degree doesn’t even guarantee a job anymore, let alone a guaranteed path to the executive corner office!

Of course, some do manage to gain those ‘dream jobs’, after much time and work, only to find that, despite the big salary, title, and perks, that they often have to put in more hours than ever, to the point that some almost forget who their families are or that there is an outside world! They are stuck, and almost ‘married’ to their offices! There’s an Elton John song called, “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters“, where one line talks about “Sons of lawyers, sons of bankers…..don’t even know if it’s day or night”, or words to that effect. And, it’s often true for many executives and lawyers, as well as for many of those trying to come up in cubicle land.

What I thought and found: I was often told as a kid, both personally, and reinforced by media images, that jobs such as car washers, delivery people, meter readers, and even taxi drivers, bus drivers, and small store and food cart owners, were ‘dead-end’ jobs and occupations that went nowhere.

But, I always had the feeling that they were more ‘into’ the world, because they either involved personal movement within the world, or had a much greater view and connection to the outside world.

Car washers, small store and cart owners are all outside or have close access to the outside and people at large. They see and hear all kinds of things, including people’s stories, the weather, the seasons, and events.

The taxi driver, bus driver, route driver, flier distributor, the meter reader, and delivery people of all kinds are moving from place to place and have a constant change of people and scenery every day!

Oftentimes, these people have greater freedom on the job as well.

And, I was right. I had a job in the office of a large corporation for 13 years, and always had  a yearning to see what was going on outside and, while the job paid well and I had good co-workers, I eventually saw that this working environment was not really for me as much as I’d once thought. So, when an offer for a voluntary separation package was offered to the employees, I took the package and left.

After leaving and moving to a new location, I tried a number of office type jobs, still thinking that maybe a ‘change of office’ was all I really needed for a work environment, but I was wrong again, as I found I just didn’t want to be stuck inside any longer.

So, I looked for an outdoor job, either driving or walking, and found a flyer distribution job. Later, I found another, which became my main job, and now also drive a route as well. I’ve never looked back and have realized that what many people think of as a ‘dream job’, is based on what society wants all people to think!

What I like: Yes, the jobs I’ve had since leaving my last office job have paid less than some (but not all!) jobs in cubicle land, and I do have to put up with weather extremes at times, but I do get benefits that I do like with the jobs I have now.

I see much that many in cubicle land just never see! I’ve seen the seasons change, wildlife, which in my area has included many squirrels, birds of prey, migrating geese, occasional raccoons, deer, tree frogs, and even garter snakes.

Weather has included beautiful displays of clouds and sun, and falling snow.

I mentioned the seasons above. With this comes the changing colors of the trees in the fall as well as in the spring, when the flowers come out, followed by the light green of the first leaves.

And, when I’m in hilly areas, I am often treated to spectacular views. Plus, walking has helped keep me fit without having to take extra time to go to a gym or exercise after work.

In addition, I go through different neighborhoods and can often really feel and see their uniqueness first hand.

On my driving route, and sometimes even when I’m distributing fliers, I will pass by all kinds of interesting shops and eating places. Carrying my camera with me, I can often get great pictures on the spot as well.

Lastly, no office politics and greater work freedom. Working on resumes at home, I can work completely how I want and when. As for my employers, they are the greatest, and very rare in this world where so many employers and bosses want to own you, my employers allow me a great deal of freedom in how I work and even when I can take time off.

So, in my own way, I do have my ‘dream job’.

Please be sure to check out my services page, especially if you, or someone you know, needs a resume!

If you like what you’ve read, please comment and let others know of this site!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Help! How do I Price the Items I Want to Sell at My Garage Sale?

by

Making Sure The Price Is Right.

During the warmer months, I often sell items at a flea market near my home, and, I’ve also sold things from my home as well. Usually, I do this once I gather enough things I no longer want, to make renting a space profitable. Being a casual seller, I usually have all kinds of different items, rather than just one or two kinds. Along the way, through talking with other sellers, reading articles on the internet, and through my own experience selling items, I’ve learned a few things.

1. Trying to sell large ticket items can be tough to do.

I once sold a stereo system at a flea market. It wasn’t a high-end system, but still high enough in price that it took awhile and many “lookers” before I sold it. When selling big-ticket items, you run into several problems.

One is that most people in general don’t carry much cash, and most sellers at flea markets and garage sales can’t take  credit cards, so, people who may be interested will tell you that they don’t have the money on them and so they don’t buy the item. Then, if the item is very large, they may not be ready to handle or transport the item if they were to buy it.

And, many people who go to flea markets and garage sales are often not looking to spend a lot of money and are looking mainly for low-cost items, usually for less than $20. While selling higher priced items can certainly be done, it is tough to do so, and you’ll have better luck selling items that can be priced for $20 or less, and especially $10 or less. So, it’s a good idea to have many lower priced items on display in addition to your big-ticket item.

2. Never, never hold an item!

Never do this! If someone comes along and asks you to hold an item for them, because they don’t have the money now but can quickly run home to get the money , or for some other reason with a promise to come back and actually buy the item, don’t hold the item! Just don’t! If a second person comes and wants to buy the item right then and there, especially if they want to give you your asking price, sell it to them! Don’t hold it for that first person who promised to come back and hasn’t yet!

The first time I sold items at a flea market, someone did promise me they’d come back to buy the item, they just had to get the money, which their spouse was holding. So, I agreed and turned down two other offers to buy the item. Well, the person never came back! Lesson learned.

Since then, I’ve had people ask me numerous times to hold items and I’ve turned them all down. And many others simply told me they’d come back to buy items, easily more than 20 times since, and growing! Well, out of all those who swore they’d come back only one person did come back to buy the item she said she’d buy from me. Luckily, no one else had come to buy the item, so she was able to buy it from me. I even gave her a discount and told her why.

It’s my belief that, within  10 seconds of someone swearing to you that they will come back to buy your item if you would please, please, just hold it for them, they will have forgotten that you or the item even exists!

Also, should they pay you right then and there for the item, have them take it with them, don’t hold it! They will forget the item and you may feel like you have to find them to give them their item, or worse, they’ll come back some other time and want their money back! So, if they buy it, it’s theirs! Have them take the item with them. It’s their responsibility!

3. Accept the fact that your items are no longer worth what you paid for them in most cases.

You may feel that the small wooden chest or that great radio that you’re selling is as good as new and worth the money you paid for them. But to a shopper, these are still used items! After all, if you are buying a used car, no matter how good that car looked and ran, you probably would still balk at paying the same price you would have paid had you bought it new, wouldn’t you? I know I would! So, you shouldn’t expect other shoppers to think differently, nor to have or understand the sentiment you may have regarding your items.

4. Note the condition of your item and compare what the same item is being sold for.

Know the condition of your items. The better the item’s condition, the higher price you can charge. Also, if the item is part of a set, the more complete the set, the higher price you can charge.

It’s also important to do research if possible. Checking sites like Ebay, Amazon, and Craigslist, you may see what prices are being asked for the item and in what condition. Also, see if other sellers at the flea market or at other garage sales are selling it for  if they have the same or similar items.

5. Try to sell complete items if possible.

Related to #4 above, try to sell items with all of their components and any manuals if possible. If you’ve ever bought something used that is without  some component or the manual, especially like that dish set that just looks incomplete without the serving tray, or that electronic gizmo that you’ve found you really can’t figure out without the manual, then you know what I mean.

So, do try to find those manuals and components! You’ll be able to get more money for your items.

6. Be prepared to haggle and negotiate!

Sometimes shoppers will simply pay the marked price for your item. But oftentimes, they will suggest a lower price. While you should never accept a ridiculously low-ball offer, you should also not be too rigid. Best thing is to have a range or lowest price you would accept for each item and, when presented with an offer below the marked price, don’t drop down to your lowest accepted price too fast! And, if you’re having a particularly rough time trying to sell an item, be prepared to give your lowest acceptable price some leeway downward. Not a lot, but some.

Also, especially for higher priced items, have prices marked with your price, plus “OBO”, which stands for “Or Best Offer”. This tells people, that you’re willing to negotiate, and those who would automatically balk at your marked price and walk away, may yet make a still reasonable offer for that item that you’ve been trying to sell for a long time.

When I sold the stereo system, I had it priced as “$70 OBO”. Seeing that it was hard to sell, I would tell prospective buyers that I’d come down to $60 or even $50, which was my lowest price. Finally, a couple showed much interest, then said they’d think about it after I told them $50 was my lowest limit.  By the way, $50 was the limit I set after a pawn shop had offered me $30 for the stereo. I’d declined that offer, feeling I should give selling it myself at the flea market a really good try first.

The couple came back and offered me $45. I thought about it, seeing that no one else had come back to buy the stereo, even at $50, and with one of my really low-priced items thrown in, the $45 offer was only $5 below my lowest limit, I accepted the $45 offer and sold the stereo.

So, don’t be too rigid in your pricing and know how low you should go, do your research, and see and hear what potential buyers are offering, and you’ll more likely get a decent deal.

7. BE HONEST!

This cannot be emphasized enough! Be Honest! If that radio you’re selling is missing a small antenna, so that it’s reception is even more dependent on how the radio is placed, tell the buyer before he or she buys it! Same if that game is missing a game piece, or that power drill quits more than it should, or if the alarm on that clock radio doesn’t work! This is just the honorable way to do things, period!

Even if you don’t care about your honor, think of this: if you’re a casual seller and think a customer won’t see you again, they could still tell others about being given a raw deal and they could remember what you look like and what you’re selling, and, if word gets out, your selling days could be over, and rightfully so!

Being honest can pay off, as well. I was selling a CD/DVD writer that had come from a computer that went bad on me. The CD/DVD writer was still good and could be installed into another computer and would work. I was selling it for $7. A man showed interest and I told him all about the item, and its history, but, since the CD/DVD writer couldn’t be tested there, he was only willing to give me $5 for it. So, I accepted the offer.

The following week, when I was again selling at the flea market, he showed up with $2 extra that he gave me, and told me that the item worked like I said it would, so because I was so honest with him, he was willing to pay me the full price I’d been asking! So, Honesty does pay!

I don’t know everything about selling at flea markets and garage sales, and I do learn more each time. But I do hope that these tips will help your next selling experience to be more profitable.

If you like what you’ve read, please comment and let others know of this site!

Good luck, and thanks for reading! 🙂

FAIR TAX! IT’S WAY PAST TIME!

by

What is the Fair Tax and Why We Should Support It.

You work and work to make a living, support your family, etc. Either as an employee, independent contractor, or business owner. You work quite hard, 100% for what you earn. You do 100% of the work, right?

But, you have a portion of your pay withheld, or you make quarterly tax payments, or both, and you have to file every year, and probably have to pay to have it done as well! You have to pay to pay your taxes!

On top of this, when a person dies, their heirs are responsible for death, inheritance, and estate taxes, despite the fact that the money in the bank and the money used to buy the estate and it’s effects has already been taxed!

This is wrong, especially in a country where the virtue of hard work is supposedly celebrated. There is a way to correct this. It’s called the Fair Tax.

The Fair Tax was originally proposed by former Congressman John Linder of Georgia, and has been publicized greatly by Atlanta radio commentator Neal Boortz.

They’ve also co-authored two books about the Fair Tax, “The Fair Tax Book”, and “Fair Tax: The Truth”. These two books are ones that every American should read.

First, here’s what the Fair Tax would do and how it would work:

  • It repeals the 16th amendment and eliminates the current income tax and death taxes.
  • it replaces the embedded taxes in everything we buy. Currently these make up 22% of the total price that we pay for all goods we buy. The Fair Tax would make up roughly this same percentage. NOTE!: Contrary to what critics say, the Fair Tax is NOT a tax on top of the price of the item as a sales tax would be! This means that the prices we pay would not change much if at all with the implementation of the Fair Tax!
  • You would not need to file taxes anymore and April 15th would be just another spring day! This includes those who are self-employed. And those who use paid help such as a CPA or Attorney to file taxes, would save at least $100-$500 a year, and for many people, more than that! Currently the cost of compliance alone is staggering, approximately $400 billion yearly! And remember, for businesses, this cost is huge, and is passed on to you, the consumer.
  • No More Audits! Yea!
  • Everyone who works, regardless of income, will get a ‘prebate’,   This will protect the poor as they can use this for necessities. To those of you who believe this to be another handout, this can actually replace, yes, replace, the current welfare state. And it will actually cost less, as there is less room for fraud and the poverty line is the limit as to how much a person would get! Also, since everyone is getting a prebate check, they’ll be no need to determine what it can be spent on and no one can get upset if someone uses it to buy some toy. No one will even know that the money is coming out of a person’s prebate check.
  • Businesses will flock to the USA to do business and even to relocate their headquarters here since there would no longer be an income tax or the massive cost of compliance that goes with it! And domestic businesses will want to stay here instead of relocating overseas! And, outsourcing jobs overseas will be reduced, perhaps greatly, and with foreign companies wanting to relocate here, jobs may be coming, too!
  • Related to above, our economy may boom like it never has before! With the money saved from not having to pay income tax or compliance costs, businesses will have more money to spend on hiring, expansion, and development of new products. This means cheaper goods, more jobs, more goods being available, and people with more money to spend and feeling economically secure enough to spend it and boost the economy further!
  • Bigger savings than from deductions and credits under the current system! No one would need deductions and credits under the Fair Tax, and they will save more money! Everyone will save by not having to pay their CPA or attorney at tax time, everyone will get an automatic raise since nothing would have to be withheld from their paychecks, at the same time their employers, for the same reason, would be making more money, too! The self-employed and independent contractors would not have to file quarterly taxes, everyone would get the prebate check up to the poverty level to cover basic necessities! And no one would be hit with audits, which almost always results in more taxes, fees, and penalties on top of penalties, and the joy of dealing with the IRS, whose employees and agents often can’t even give you a correct answer to your tax questions! This would all end under the Fair Tax!

I have known people who have worked two jobs to supplement their income and one person I know for sure wouldn’t need to do that if the Fair Tax were implemented!

One last thing. While more republicans than Democrats support the Fair Tax currently, this is neither a Democratic nor a Republican cause, it is an American cause for freedom! And it is a plan that will help Americans at all economic levels!

Now, what I’ve written is just a very concise description. There is more information out there and the best place to look on the internet is http://www.fairtax.org. There is much better information here that is better explained than what I’ve written here. It is very informative and I urge everyone to visit this site.

If you like what you’ve read, please comment and let others know of this blog!

Thank you for reading! 🙂

Pop-Ups: Don’t You Just Hate Them!?

by

Do I hate pop-ups in websites? Well, for the most part, yes, though sometimes I know that they may contain something important. It really depends on a few things, mostly on how they are set up to work.

What pop-ups do I approve of? If they contain must have info and are the logical next step in a process, such as when you place an online order, say, for a t-shirt with your favorite team or celebrity on it, and a pop-up comes up asking you to choose between several background colors, after you click on “Buy It!”, that’s fine. The online store does need to know which color you want, and so on, and the pop-up allows you to decide.

Which pop-ups do I really hate? There are two websites that I visit from time to time, through e-mail newsletters that I subscribe to. When I click on a story that interests me, I start reading, only to have the pop-up appear, not right away when the story opens, but after just enough time for me to get into the story, when the pop up appears, interrupting my reading! Imagine you’re at a movie theater or show or play and it has just started and enough time has passed so that you’re getting into it, when some guy stands yup, jumps in front of you and starts telling you to join the theater’s club for discount tickets! Right in the middle of the show, play, or movie that you’re watching!

But it get’s worse. You see, the pop-ups are inviting me to get my free subscription to the newsletter that I’m already subscribed to! So, in the theater scenario I described above, this guy who has jumped in front of you and is messing up your enjoyment of the show, is pitching to you when you are already joined up as a customer, and you know that you are already in this guy’s records as having joined! Don’t you just want to really smash this guy in the face?

That is what these types of pop-ups are like.

I do have to admit, though, that they still arent as bad as they once were. In 1998, with a windows 98 computer, some pop-ups would appear, not go away, and they often didn’t fit the page, so that, on some websites, if there was a way to close them, such as the “X” in the upper right corner, this was blocked from view because the website “spilled” off the screen! Thank goodness website construction and Windows have both improved greatly since then!

If you like what you’ve read, please comment and let others know of this site!

But pop-ups can still be annoying at times. Have a good day, and don’t let the pop-ups bite! 🙂