To all your work at home moms and dad, to everybody who has a job that wants to work at home, take some time this weekend with your family, as this is the last hooray of the season!
Kids go back to school, we pack up the beach wear and camping gear. Weather starts to turn colder and we start to hunker down in our houses for the winter. Do something fun, enjoy and be safe. It is at least 6 months till we get back into warm weather mentality.... enjoy what is left of this summer.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sell Advertising Space On Your Ezine
Continuing with our lesson on why you should have your own ezine for your business.
For a moment I would like you to imagine a newspaper business. This business delivers the daily paper to your doorstep everyday. How is the newspaper able to do this day in and day out? First the newspaper publisher hires reporters, writers and other important staff to create the contents and deliver the papers to their readers.
In addition to the above mention, the publisher has to invest regularly in heavy duty machineries and tons of paper in printing the thousands or of newspapers they print on a daily basis.
So, how does the newspaper company make money? It is obvious that selling a copy of the paper at less than a dollar, they would not even be able to break even in their operation.
The answer? Simply, they sell advertising spaces! You have definitely seen lots of advertisements in the newspaper. The publisher simply sells advertising space in the papers to advertisers who want to leverage their advertising efforts on the paper’s high readership.
In the same way a newspaper makes its money, you can make money the exact same way from your newsletter: simply by selling advertising space to prospective advertisers!
If your mailing list size exceeds 1,000 (5,000 is recommended) subscribers and beyond, you can start selling advertising space for say, $10 per sponsor ad.
In other words, you turn every issue you send out to your subscribers into a profit-pulling device. And since there is virtually no end to the stream of new businesses cropping up everyday on the internet, so are your money making opportunities.
For more information on running your own home business, please visit my website at www.pinkrenegade.com
For a moment I would like you to imagine a newspaper business. This business delivers the daily paper to your doorstep everyday. How is the newspaper able to do this day in and day out? First the newspaper publisher hires reporters, writers and other important staff to create the contents and deliver the papers to their readers.
In addition to the above mention, the publisher has to invest regularly in heavy duty machineries and tons of paper in printing the thousands or of newspapers they print on a daily basis.
So, how does the newspaper company make money? It is obvious that selling a copy of the paper at less than a dollar, they would not even be able to break even in their operation.
The answer? Simply, they sell advertising spaces! You have definitely seen lots of advertisements in the newspaper. The publisher simply sells advertising space in the papers to advertisers who want to leverage their advertising efforts on the paper’s high readership.
In the same way a newspaper makes its money, you can make money the exact same way from your newsletter: simply by selling advertising space to prospective advertisers!
If your mailing list size exceeds 1,000 (5,000 is recommended) subscribers and beyond, you can start selling advertising space for say, $10 per sponsor ad.
In other words, you turn every issue you send out to your subscribers into a profit-pulling device. And since there is virtually no end to the stream of new businesses cropping up everyday on the internet, so are your money making opportunities.
For more information on running your own home business, please visit my website at www.pinkrenegade.com
Monday, August 25, 2008
Why You Should Publish A Ezine
Why you should publish an ezine on the internet is simple. It is very possible for you to make money on the internet without selling any product. One way of doing so is through starting your own eZine.
Basically, you send out your eZine issues on a periodical basis to your subscribers. The best way for you to send out a regular ezine is with an autoresponder. An autoresponder, simply sends out your eamils, ezines, reports when ever you schedule them to go out. You can manually send them on a periodical basis but this requires a whole lot more work.
As an eZine publisher, not only can you easily achieve the benefits a conventional newsletter publisher enjoys without having to chop down several trees in the process. Sending an ezine over the Internet is convenient and can be delivered exactly when you want it to show up in your customers email box.
Ezines are rather inexpensive to run as you don't have to purchase any expensive printing equipment, brick and mortar business, and no staff to hire just to run your newsletter publication, resulting in a lot of time, money and effort saved.
Basically, all you need to start your own eZine are an auto responder and a computer. Enabling you to reach out to your subscribers whom you can regard as your prospects, too.
All in all, if you do not have the desire or knowledge how to create your own product for sale, then publishing your own online newsletter can be one of the wisest decisions you will ever make, given the benefits of impressive marketing power and influence it can offer to you.
If you don't have materials to publish an ezine you can always buy it. This is a common practice for the big time marketers. A coupld of places that I can recommend to buy your articles from and won't cost you an arm and a leg are EasyPLR.com, and Allprivatelabelcontent.com. Both have great stuff, you don't have buy a membership (big savings) and they have well written material. Check them out when you need new materials for you website or blog.
Remember, keeping your name in front of your customer and prospects is huge. Publishing an ezine will help you to do that. If you would like more information on running a home party plan busines, or starting your own business, visit my website at www.pinkrenegade.com
Basically, you send out your eZine issues on a periodical basis to your subscribers. The best way for you to send out a regular ezine is with an autoresponder. An autoresponder, simply sends out your eamils, ezines, reports when ever you schedule them to go out. You can manually send them on a periodical basis but this requires a whole lot more work.
As an eZine publisher, not only can you easily achieve the benefits a conventional newsletter publisher enjoys without having to chop down several trees in the process. Sending an ezine over the Internet is convenient and can be delivered exactly when you want it to show up in your customers email box.
Ezines are rather inexpensive to run as you don't have to purchase any expensive printing equipment, brick and mortar business, and no staff to hire just to run your newsletter publication, resulting in a lot of time, money and effort saved.
Basically, all you need to start your own eZine are an auto responder and a computer. Enabling you to reach out to your subscribers whom you can regard as your prospects, too.
All in all, if you do not have the desire or knowledge how to create your own product for sale, then publishing your own online newsletter can be one of the wisest decisions you will ever make, given the benefits of impressive marketing power and influence it can offer to you.
If you don't have materials to publish an ezine you can always buy it. This is a common practice for the big time marketers. A coupld of places that I can recommend to buy your articles from and won't cost you an arm and a leg are EasyPLR.com, and Allprivatelabelcontent.com. Both have great stuff, you don't have buy a membership (big savings) and they have well written material. Check them out when you need new materials for you website or blog.
Remember, keeping your name in front of your customer and prospects is huge. Publishing an ezine will help you to do that. If you would like more information on running a home party plan busines, or starting your own business, visit my website at www.pinkrenegade.com
Sunday, August 24, 2008
How To Make Money With Your Blog
Blogging for Profit
Blogging is becoming an increasingly popular way for entrepreneurs to earn a living online while doing something they really enjoy. In many cases bloggers can profit with very little effort. There may be quite a bit of work involved in the beginning with designing a method of gaining revenue and promoting the website but once this is established simply maintaining the blog with regular postings may be enough to keep the revenue rolling in. Two of the most popular methods for generating a profit from blogging include advertising methods. This includes advertising with AdSense and securing independent advertisers. This article will discuss these two methods of advertising on a blog.
Using AdSense to Generate Revenue
Using AdSense is one of the most popular ways for bloggers to generate revenue from their blog. This method is so popular because it is also very simple. AdSense is a program offered by Google where bloggers agree to have advertisements on their website and are compensated when users click on these advertisements.
Bloggers simply have to create a blog and submit the website address of the blog as well as some other information to apply for participation in AdSense. Once a blog is approved the owner is given code they can simply copy and paste to have advertisements displayed on their blog. Google then serves appropriate advertisements each time the blog is accessed.
Whenever possible, the advertisements served on the blog are closely related to the content of the blog because Google crawls the website ahead of time to determine which advertisements are relevant to the content. Blog owners do have some ability to place restrictions on the types of advertisements which may appear on the blog. For example the blog owner can specify adult advertisements are not to appear on the blog and Google will filter these out.
How Advertisements on a Blog Generates Revenue
Many bloggers use advertisements on their blogs to generate a profit. This method of advertising is more difficult than using AdSense but it can be significantly more financially beneficial to the blogger. This method of advertising is similar to the type of targeted advertising often seen in magazines. For example magazines for parents often feature advertisements which will appeal to parents such as advertisements for toys, children’s clothing or foods popular with children.
Likewise a magazine for runners may feature advertisements for shoes, athletic clothing, races or training equipment. In these cases the advertisers pay for advertising space in the magazine in the hopes that the magazine’s audience will be enticed to purchase products or services after seeing these advertisements.
Blog owners can use this type of advertising but it can be hard to find willing advertisers. However, there are some factors which may make an advertiser more willing to have an advertisement appear on a blog. One of the most important factors for advertisers is the amount of traffic the blog receives. This is important because advertisers who are paying for ad space are more likely to invest in a blog with high traffic than one with very little traffic.
Another important factor for advertisers is the focus of the blog. Advertisers are more likely to purchase advertising space from a blog with a specific focus of interest to the advertiser’s target audience. Like the examples listed previously of magazines for parents and runners, advertisers want to advertise on a blog which is already reaching the same target audience.
Bloggers who utilize advertising on their website may be compensated in a number of different ways. Some advertisers may pay a set fee for the advertisement to run on the website for either a set amount of time or for a set number of page views. This means the advertiser may purchase space for a set number of days, weeks or months or may purchase space for a set number of times the advertisement is served to website visitors.
Alternately the advertiser may choose to compensate the blogger according to the number of times specific actions occur. This may include users clicking through the advertisement or users making a purchase after clicking through the advertisement. The type of compensation offered will have to be worked out between the blogger and advertiser beforehand to determine a fair method of payment.
Blogging is becoming an increasingly popular way for entrepreneurs to earn a living online while doing something they really enjoy. In many cases bloggers can profit with very little effort. There may be quite a bit of work involved in the beginning with designing a method of gaining revenue and promoting the website but once this is established simply maintaining the blog with regular postings may be enough to keep the revenue rolling in. Two of the most popular methods for generating a profit from blogging include advertising methods. This includes advertising with AdSense and securing independent advertisers. This article will discuss these two methods of advertising on a blog.
Using AdSense to Generate Revenue
Using AdSense is one of the most popular ways for bloggers to generate revenue from their blog. This method is so popular because it is also very simple. AdSense is a program offered by Google where bloggers agree to have advertisements on their website and are compensated when users click on these advertisements.
Bloggers simply have to create a blog and submit the website address of the blog as well as some other information to apply for participation in AdSense. Once a blog is approved the owner is given code they can simply copy and paste to have advertisements displayed on their blog. Google then serves appropriate advertisements each time the blog is accessed.
Whenever possible, the advertisements served on the blog are closely related to the content of the blog because Google crawls the website ahead of time to determine which advertisements are relevant to the content. Blog owners do have some ability to place restrictions on the types of advertisements which may appear on the blog. For example the blog owner can specify adult advertisements are not to appear on the blog and Google will filter these out.
How Advertisements on a Blog Generates Revenue
Many bloggers use advertisements on their blogs to generate a profit. This method of advertising is more difficult than using AdSense but it can be significantly more financially beneficial to the blogger. This method of advertising is similar to the type of targeted advertising often seen in magazines. For example magazines for parents often feature advertisements which will appeal to parents such as advertisements for toys, children’s clothing or foods popular with children.
Likewise a magazine for runners may feature advertisements for shoes, athletic clothing, races or training equipment. In these cases the advertisers pay for advertising space in the magazine in the hopes that the magazine’s audience will be enticed to purchase products or services after seeing these advertisements.
Blog owners can use this type of advertising but it can be hard to find willing advertisers. However, there are some factors which may make an advertiser more willing to have an advertisement appear on a blog. One of the most important factors for advertisers is the amount of traffic the blog receives. This is important because advertisers who are paying for ad space are more likely to invest in a blog with high traffic than one with very little traffic.
Another important factor for advertisers is the focus of the blog. Advertisers are more likely to purchase advertising space from a blog with a specific focus of interest to the advertiser’s target audience. Like the examples listed previously of magazines for parents and runners, advertisers want to advertise on a blog which is already reaching the same target audience.
Bloggers who utilize advertising on their website may be compensated in a number of different ways. Some advertisers may pay a set fee for the advertisement to run on the website for either a set amount of time or for a set number of page views. This means the advertiser may purchase space for a set number of days, weeks or months or may purchase space for a set number of times the advertisement is served to website visitors.
Alternately the advertiser may choose to compensate the blogger according to the number of times specific actions occur. This may include users clicking through the advertisement or users making a purchase after clicking through the advertisement. The type of compensation offered will have to be worked out between the blogger and advertiser beforehand to determine a fair method of payment.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
An Interesting Report You Have To Read
There is an interesting report out called “The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing” and it is ruffling a few feathers in the network marketing business world and for very good reason. Ann Sieg has put together a short easy to read 35 page report aimed at the 95% of MLM’ers struggling to build their businesses. I would have to say that I was a little turned off by her title, and almost did not read the report, The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing. I thought for sure this has to be an attack on or slam on my network marketing business.
Network marketing is a tough business and as with any other business, it has it’s flaws but it is hard to argue with the fact it is still one of the best avenues for many to build a home based business and be able to work for themselves.
Now, that I have read the report I know that I was completely wrong, this was not a slam on Network Marketing, it was in fact a “right on the mark” report on why so many do fail in the business and how to fix that problem. In the opening section of Ann’s report “The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing” she mentions how she too had attended countless meetings, setting up appointment after appointment, following the advice of her upline and still being in debt after two years and how all of that made her think there had to be a better way. She knew too many others just like herself in the business also.
You know, many of us know some thing is not working yet we continue to listen to our uplines in hopes of finally figuring out what “we” are doing wrong. We certainly don’t want to admit that we are just spinning our wheels doing the same thing over and over again and still failing. There is an old saying that the definition of insanity, is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. Hmm, do you think most MLMer’s are insane?
No, I don’t think most MLMer’s are not insane but as Ann finally also figured out, there definitely is a better way to run your Network Marketing businesses. Most of what we are taught on how to run our businesses is way off the mark.
Your upline keeps telling you to do things the way she or he has been doing it. It has been working for years, why reinvent the wheel? Seems most uplines are still riding around with stone wheels!
Here are some interesting stats that you might to know about your network marketing business opportunity: - between 80-90% of distributors will “give up on their dream” in the first three months
- over 95% never make it past the 12 month mark
- almost 80% will never sponsor anyone into their business
With statistics like this, why would anyone consider MLM? Are we being lied too, who is telling us the truth?
I got my answers by reading Ann Sieg’s great report “The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing”. There definitely where things I needed to do differently if I wanted to be successful in my Network Marketing business.
If you want to learn more about running your own home party plan business, or running any network marketing business please visit my website at www.pinkrenegade.com
Network marketing is a tough business and as with any other business, it has it’s flaws but it is hard to argue with the fact it is still one of the best avenues for many to build a home based business and be able to work for themselves.
Now, that I have read the report I know that I was completely wrong, this was not a slam on Network Marketing, it was in fact a “right on the mark” report on why so many do fail in the business and how to fix that problem. In the opening section of Ann’s report “The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing” she mentions how she too had attended countless meetings, setting up appointment after appointment, following the advice of her upline and still being in debt after two years and how all of that made her think there had to be a better way. She knew too many others just like herself in the business also.
You know, many of us know some thing is not working yet we continue to listen to our uplines in hopes of finally figuring out what “we” are doing wrong. We certainly don’t want to admit that we are just spinning our wheels doing the same thing over and over again and still failing. There is an old saying that the definition of insanity, is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. Hmm, do you think most MLMer’s are insane?
No, I don’t think most MLMer’s are not insane but as Ann finally also figured out, there definitely is a better way to run your Network Marketing businesses. Most of what we are taught on how to run our businesses is way off the mark.
Your upline keeps telling you to do things the way she or he has been doing it. It has been working for years, why reinvent the wheel? Seems most uplines are still riding around with stone wheels!
Here are some interesting stats that you might to know about your network marketing business opportunity: - between 80-90% of distributors will “give up on their dream” in the first three months
- over 95% never make it past the 12 month mark
- almost 80% will never sponsor anyone into their business
With statistics like this, why would anyone consider MLM? Are we being lied too, who is telling us the truth?
I got my answers by reading Ann Sieg’s great report “The 7 Great Lies Of Network Marketing”. There definitely where things I needed to do differently if I wanted to be successful in my Network Marketing business.
If you want to learn more about running your own home party plan business, or running any network marketing business please visit my website at www.pinkrenegade.com
Friday, August 22, 2008
Marketing Your Small Home Business
Marketing a Small Home Business
By: Zach Thompson |
Operating and owning a small home business web skin care store can be extremely profitable. The key to a successful web store in the wellness industry is to market your entire web store. Knowing the tricks and tips for marketing will help you be the most successful that you can with your new small home business web skin care store. Here are a few tips to get you started with successful marketing.
One factor that many entrepreneurs overlook is marketing. Make certain you write your business plan and do your business budget that you allow weekly and monthly money in the budget for marketing and advertising. Locating funds to market and advertise will help you in the long run. Additionally, if you don’t use all of the funds set aside each week and month, you can roll them over to the following month for when you are ready to launch a large marketing and advertising campaign.
No-one can buy your skin care products if they have no idea that you have a web store on the Internet. It is imperative to get the word out. One way that is relatively inexpensive to market and advertise your new web store is through links on the Internet. The more large sites on the Internet that are linked to your web store will help your over-all listing in search engine rankings. Basically, the search engines pick up that a ton of sites have linked to you and this tells the search engines that your site is good and popular. Go to people’s blogs, internet forums, chat rooms and even guest books and leave a non-spam message and link back to your small home business web store.
Sub-domains are counted as regular domains in the search engines. A sub-domain is a like a branch on a tree. You want to be certain to add links back to your web store from sub-domains as well. This will further ensure that the search engines think that your site is popular. Not only that but with sub-domains and domain linking, it lets others know that you are on the Internet and that you have a popular product that is in high demand.
Offer rebates for your products with a rebate code. You can have people put in the code and automatically take off the amount that they’re getting for a discount. Another method is to have a rebate coupon they can snail mail to you. The money will already have been made when they purchase the product. People love sales and rebates and this is a very effective marketing tool.
Advertise with an inexpensive paid to click email company. You can reach a lot of real people that could potentially buy from your small home business web skin care store. These are people that are interested in your products and will more than likely buy. Skin care is unisex and men are as likely to purchase as women if your product line is extremely varied.
Purchase Google Awards and market your new web store through them. Google has a strong reputation for helping companies market and advertise. There is also a company called Bidvertiser that operates similar to Google and you can make money through advertising with them as well. Plus, you can really market your profit if you set up your web store to accept affiliates through a program such as Click Bank or through a good programmer to set up the store for direct affiliates.
About the Author:
Zach Thompson is a 23 year-old network marketer & marketing consultant. Why Starting a Small Home Business?
By: Zach Thompson |
Operating and owning a small home business web skin care store can be extremely profitable. The key to a successful web store in the wellness industry is to market your entire web store. Knowing the tricks and tips for marketing will help you be the most successful that you can with your new small home business web skin care store. Here are a few tips to get you started with successful marketing.
One factor that many entrepreneurs overlook is marketing. Make certain you write your business plan and do your business budget that you allow weekly and monthly money in the budget for marketing and advertising. Locating funds to market and advertise will help you in the long run. Additionally, if you don’t use all of the funds set aside each week and month, you can roll them over to the following month for when you are ready to launch a large marketing and advertising campaign.
No-one can buy your skin care products if they have no idea that you have a web store on the Internet. It is imperative to get the word out. One way that is relatively inexpensive to market and advertise your new web store is through links on the Internet. The more large sites on the Internet that are linked to your web store will help your over-all listing in search engine rankings. Basically, the search engines pick up that a ton of sites have linked to you and this tells the search engines that your site is good and popular. Go to people’s blogs, internet forums, chat rooms and even guest books and leave a non-spam message and link back to your small home business web store.
Sub-domains are counted as regular domains in the search engines. A sub-domain is a like a branch on a tree. You want to be certain to add links back to your web store from sub-domains as well. This will further ensure that the search engines think that your site is popular. Not only that but with sub-domains and domain linking, it lets others know that you are on the Internet and that you have a popular product that is in high demand.
Offer rebates for your products with a rebate code. You can have people put in the code and automatically take off the amount that they’re getting for a discount. Another method is to have a rebate coupon they can snail mail to you. The money will already have been made when they purchase the product. People love sales and rebates and this is a very effective marketing tool.
Advertise with an inexpensive paid to click email company. You can reach a lot of real people that could potentially buy from your small home business web skin care store. These are people that are interested in your products and will more than likely buy. Skin care is unisex and men are as likely to purchase as women if your product line is extremely varied.
Purchase Google Awards and market your new web store through them. Google has a strong reputation for helping companies market and advertise. There is also a company called Bidvertiser that operates similar to Google and you can make money through advertising with them as well. Plus, you can really market your profit if you set up your web store to accept affiliates through a program such as Click Bank or through a good programmer to set up the store for direct affiliates.
About the Author:
Zach Thompson is a 23 year-old network marketer & marketing consultant. Why Starting a Small Home Business?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
What is RSS?
Are you still wondering what RSS feeders are all about? Here is a short explaination of what RSS is and why you might want to sign up for an RSS Feed.
What is RSS?
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.
Why RSS?
Benefits and reasons for using RSS. RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You automatically have information from your favorite sites sent to you.
You also ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site’s email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News.
What do I need to do to read an RSS Feed?
RSS Feed Readers and News Aggregators Feed Reader or News Aggregator software allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various sites and display them for you to read and use.
A variety of RSS Readers are available for different platforms. Some popular feed readers include Amphetadesk (Windows, Linux, Mac), FeedReader (Windows), and NewsGator (Windows - integrates with Outlook). There are also a number of web-based feed readers available. My Yahoo, Bloglines, and Google Reader are popular web-based feed
readers.
Once you have your Feed Reader, it is a matter of finding sites that syndicate content and adding their RSS feed to the list of feeds your Feed Reader checks. Many sites display a small icon with the acronyms RSS, XML, or RDF to let you know a feed is available.
I hope this has given you a little bit of insite into what RSS feeds are and how they can really expand your online business by having one.
For more information on running your own business or even starting a homebased internet business, please visit my website at http://www.pinkrenegade.com or email me if you have questions you would like me to answer, at pinkrenegade@pinkrenegade.com
What is RSS?
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.
Why RSS?
Benefits and reasons for using RSS. RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You automatically have information from your favorite sites sent to you.
You also ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site’s email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News.
What do I need to do to read an RSS Feed?
RSS Feed Readers and News Aggregators Feed Reader or News Aggregator software allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various sites and display them for you to read and use.
A variety of RSS Readers are available for different platforms. Some popular feed readers include Amphetadesk (Windows, Linux, Mac), FeedReader (Windows), and NewsGator (Windows - integrates with Outlook). There are also a number of web-based feed readers available. My Yahoo, Bloglines, and Google Reader are popular web-based feed
readers.
Once you have your Feed Reader, it is a matter of finding sites that syndicate content and adding their RSS feed to the list of feeds your Feed Reader checks. Many sites display a small icon with the acronyms RSS, XML, or RDF to let you know a feed is available.
I hope this has given you a little bit of insite into what RSS feeds are and how they can really expand your online business by having one.
For more information on running your own business or even starting a homebased internet business, please visit my website at http://www.pinkrenegade.com or email me if you have questions you would like me to answer, at pinkrenegade@pinkrenegade.com
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Trip From Hell Part 3, You Won't Believe This..
I told you last time, this story could only get better, I knew it wasn’t over and there had to be more fun in store for me. I was right again. Hang on, this part of the Trip From Hell is going to be unbelievable.
When we last looked, our heroine was still looking for a way to get home from AR to WA. Was she going to have drive 7 hours to Illinois to catch a flight to Chicago and then on to Seattle or pay a huge amount of money to change her flight and fly out of another city then where she was supposed to take off from?
Here is how my day started, looking for a way home because I was not of right body and mind when I purchased my airline tickets to what I thought was Springfield MO, and turned out I bought tickets to Springfield IL. Now I need to find an easier way to get home, then what it took me to get here, which turned out to be a 25 hour trip from Seattle WA to Mountain Home, AR.
First, I tried clicking my heels together and repeating “There’s no place like home, etc” that did not go well for me. So, I decided to try and change my airline ticket online to fly out of Springfield MO, instead of Springfield IL. They won’t let you do that online. Okay, next, I call United Airlines and talk to a young man who’s name I could not understand or even pronounce. I explain that I want to change my airline ticket. He says no problem how would I like to change it?
I tell him I want to change the city I am flying out of from Springfield IL, to Springfield MO. He says he will look up flights and see what he can do. He comes back on the line and tells me he can do it, no problem, there are three flights I can choose from. I say great, how much will it cost? Now, I know there is going to be at least a $150 change of ticket fee, I am prepared for that, now I just need to see what the difference will be flying out of Springfield MO is. It is a 45 minute flight difference from Springfield IL, you wouldn’t think it could be that big a deal right? He puts me on hold and tells me will be a minute or two.
After about 6 minutes he comes back and tells me no problem he can book me a flight from Springfield MO to Chicago and then on to Seattle and it would only be $925! No problem for him I am sure! I tell him, he has to be kidding me, I have already paid for part of this trip and you want 925 dollars MORE for me to fly an extra 200 miles from where I was originally supposed to fly from? He says yes. I say “NO”, of course.
He says, he will see if he can find a lower a fair. I am not holding my breath at this point. He leaves me on hold for another 10 minutes. They play that stupid little clip of United’s Theme song over and over and over while you are hold, again another little Chinese water torture tactic that I have learned all airlines try on you to see if they can break you down to a quivering ball of mush. (they know you will not be able to yell at them after you are turn into a bowl of oatmeal!)
He comes back several times to tell me it will be another minute, then another minute. I now find myself talking to myself and repeating what I believe he will say next when he gets back on the line, “please bare with me as this will take another minute while I wait for the computer.” I have guessed very close this time, when he comes back on the phone.
Suddenly he comes back and tells me he has a flight out of Springfield MO at 6 am that will only cost me the $150 change of flight fee! “What? Say it again;” I am sure I heard him wrong. He says that it is correct, if he can book a flight under the same booking number then the only cost is the penalty fee they charged for changing a flight. I say, great I will take it, even if it means I will have to start my trip at about 3am to drive to Springfield MO and get there for a 6 am flight, at this point that seems like an easy sacrifice!
I check with him to make sure the flight he is talking about, is in fact leaving from Springfield MO not Illinois, he says yes, it is leaving from Missouri. He asks me if I booked through a travel agency, I say I did book through Expedia and he says, “oh, oh”! I of course stop breathing. He tells me it will cost me another $25 for Expedia’s fee for re-booking. Phew! Fine book it I said. He repeats everything, what the flight is, when it leaves, cities it will stop in, and that it will now cost me $175 for the change. I say yes I agree to everything and he asks me if I want to book the flight. I tell him yes I do and now I finally breath a sigh of relief, this is finally done and over with. I am once again on hold while he finalizes everything.
I am on hold for another 10 minutes at least, listening to the Chinese water torture theme song! It is okay, I have finally taken care of my trip home and it is all going to be okay. You can’t believe how relieved I am at this point. I start to hum the theme song from the Chinese water torture tactic!
The young man comes back on the phone and says, “I am so sorry.” My stomach hits the floor and my head starts to spin. What could he possibly tell me now? He says, “I am so sorry, I made a small mistake.” He tells me some how he didn’t remember that I was changing the airport I was going to be flying out of. He says matter of factly, “So, there will be an add on cost of $925.” I tell him “No there will not!” He says, “Well, that is the problem, I have already booked your flight and so you will have to pay the $925!”
It is a really good thing that man is on the other end of the world and I am sure he is glad he was on the other side of the world. I laid into that young man like a 350 lb southern boy on a slab of ribs! After several expletives (okay, there might have been more then several %%*$*#^%&##) I told him to get me a supervisor immediately, he stumbled over his words and said , “please hold, I will get supervisor.”
I think my phone call just became a test of my will power. He put me on hold with the wonderful Chinese torture music, now after 10 minutes on hold this really does become a torture tactic, but after 20 minutes of Chinese torture music and your own thoughts of what I am going to say to this supervisor the minute he comes on the phone, it really is a maddening experience.
Mom now says dinner is ready, I tell everybody to go eat I am going to stay on the phone. Another 5 minutes and I figure why don’t I just eat dinner while I am on hold. So, I eat dinner with a phone attached to my head and the Chinese torture music still playing.
I have now finished dinner and am still on the phone. Shortly after dinner the superviser does pick up the phone, he has me tell him what the problem is, “like he doesn’t know what it was?” I am calm now, probably numb from listening to the same little ditty playing over and over and over again on the stupid phone that is now grown roots and is holding itself to my ear.
I tell the superviser the whole story again, he says, “Well, there really is nothing he can do, If I want the flight I will have to pay the $925!” I tell him of course I do not want the flight for $925, and I want him to cancel it and make sure I am not charged. He says he can do that and I will have to stick with my original flight then, I say fine! I want to make sure I have a flight at this point and I ask him to tell me what flight I will be taken, he is able to tell me that I will be flying out of Springfield IL and going to Chicago and then on to Seattle. Okay fine then, good bye and good ridance!
Back to square one and it only took me about 6 hours to get back to where I started with my travel plans! Not bad considering the rest of the trips timing.
Stay tuned as our heroine receives an email from Expedia and “The Trip From Hell” continues.
When we last looked, our heroine was still looking for a way to get home from AR to WA. Was she going to have drive 7 hours to Illinois to catch a flight to Chicago and then on to Seattle or pay a huge amount of money to change her flight and fly out of another city then where she was supposed to take off from?
Here is how my day started, looking for a way home because I was not of right body and mind when I purchased my airline tickets to what I thought was Springfield MO, and turned out I bought tickets to Springfield IL. Now I need to find an easier way to get home, then what it took me to get here, which turned out to be a 25 hour trip from Seattle WA to Mountain Home, AR.
First, I tried clicking my heels together and repeating “There’s no place like home, etc” that did not go well for me. So, I decided to try and change my airline ticket online to fly out of Springfield MO, instead of Springfield IL. They won’t let you do that online. Okay, next, I call United Airlines and talk to a young man who’s name I could not understand or even pronounce. I explain that I want to change my airline ticket. He says no problem how would I like to change it?
I tell him I want to change the city I am flying out of from Springfield IL, to Springfield MO. He says he will look up flights and see what he can do. He comes back on the line and tells me he can do it, no problem, there are three flights I can choose from. I say great, how much will it cost? Now, I know there is going to be at least a $150 change of ticket fee, I am prepared for that, now I just need to see what the difference will be flying out of Springfield MO is. It is a 45 minute flight difference from Springfield IL, you wouldn’t think it could be that big a deal right? He puts me on hold and tells me will be a minute or two.
After about 6 minutes he comes back and tells me no problem he can book me a flight from Springfield MO to Chicago and then on to Seattle and it would only be $925! No problem for him I am sure! I tell him, he has to be kidding me, I have already paid for part of this trip and you want 925 dollars MORE for me to fly an extra 200 miles from where I was originally supposed to fly from? He says yes. I say “NO”, of course.
He says, he will see if he can find a lower a fair. I am not holding my breath at this point. He leaves me on hold for another 10 minutes. They play that stupid little clip of United’s Theme song over and over and over while you are hold, again another little Chinese water torture tactic that I have learned all airlines try on you to see if they can break you down to a quivering ball of mush. (they know you will not be able to yell at them after you are turn into a bowl of oatmeal!)
He comes back several times to tell me it will be another minute, then another minute. I now find myself talking to myself and repeating what I believe he will say next when he gets back on the line, “please bare with me as this will take another minute while I wait for the computer.” I have guessed very close this time, when he comes back on the phone.
Suddenly he comes back and tells me he has a flight out of Springfield MO at 6 am that will only cost me the $150 change of flight fee! “What? Say it again;” I am sure I heard him wrong. He says that it is correct, if he can book a flight under the same booking number then the only cost is the penalty fee they charged for changing a flight. I say, great I will take it, even if it means I will have to start my trip at about 3am to drive to Springfield MO and get there for a 6 am flight, at this point that seems like an easy sacrifice!
I check with him to make sure the flight he is talking about, is in fact leaving from Springfield MO not Illinois, he says yes, it is leaving from Missouri. He asks me if I booked through a travel agency, I say I did book through Expedia and he says, “oh, oh”! I of course stop breathing. He tells me it will cost me another $25 for Expedia’s fee for re-booking. Phew! Fine book it I said. He repeats everything, what the flight is, when it leaves, cities it will stop in, and that it will now cost me $175 for the change. I say yes I agree to everything and he asks me if I want to book the flight. I tell him yes I do and now I finally breath a sigh of relief, this is finally done and over with. I am once again on hold while he finalizes everything.
I am on hold for another 10 minutes at least, listening to the Chinese water torture theme song! It is okay, I have finally taken care of my trip home and it is all going to be okay. You can’t believe how relieved I am at this point. I start to hum the theme song from the Chinese water torture tactic!
The young man comes back on the phone and says, “I am so sorry.” My stomach hits the floor and my head starts to spin. What could he possibly tell me now? He says, “I am so sorry, I made a small mistake.” He tells me some how he didn’t remember that I was changing the airport I was going to be flying out of. He says matter of factly, “So, there will be an add on cost of $925.” I tell him “No there will not!” He says, “Well, that is the problem, I have already booked your flight and so you will have to pay the $925!”
It is a really good thing that man is on the other end of the world and I am sure he is glad he was on the other side of the world. I laid into that young man like a 350 lb southern boy on a slab of ribs! After several expletives (okay, there might have been more then several %%*$*#^%&##) I told him to get me a supervisor immediately, he stumbled over his words and said , “please hold, I will get supervisor.”
I think my phone call just became a test of my will power. He put me on hold with the wonderful Chinese torture music, now after 10 minutes on hold this really does become a torture tactic, but after 20 minutes of Chinese torture music and your own thoughts of what I am going to say to this supervisor the minute he comes on the phone, it really is a maddening experience.
Mom now says dinner is ready, I tell everybody to go eat I am going to stay on the phone. Another 5 minutes and I figure why don’t I just eat dinner while I am on hold. So, I eat dinner with a phone attached to my head and the Chinese torture music still playing.
I have now finished dinner and am still on the phone. Shortly after dinner the superviser does pick up the phone, he has me tell him what the problem is, “like he doesn’t know what it was?” I am calm now, probably numb from listening to the same little ditty playing over and over and over again on the stupid phone that is now grown roots and is holding itself to my ear.
I tell the superviser the whole story again, he says, “Well, there really is nothing he can do, If I want the flight I will have to pay the $925!” I tell him of course I do not want the flight for $925, and I want him to cancel it and make sure I am not charged. He says he can do that and I will have to stick with my original flight then, I say fine! I want to make sure I have a flight at this point and I ask him to tell me what flight I will be taken, he is able to tell me that I will be flying out of Springfield IL and going to Chicago and then on to Seattle. Okay fine then, good bye and good ridance!
Back to square one and it only took me about 6 hours to get back to where I started with my travel plans! Not bad considering the rest of the trips timing.
Stay tuned as our heroine receives an email from Expedia and “The Trip From Hell” continues.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Trip From Hell Just Won't End
Things here at my parents house are going very well. Both at getting better everyday and it is time for me to start thinking about how I going to get back home. As you all very well know by now, I am a goof and actually booked my flight down to my parents by flying into the wrong Springfield. There is one in Illinois and one in Missouri…… I was supposed to be going to Missouri, guess which one I went too?
Okay, so, all of that is over with but, how do I get back home. The trip down here ended up taking me 25 hours!! That is from Seattle WA to Mountain Home, AR. I can fly to Europe faster! The big question is, how many hours will it take for me to get back home? Can I break a new record for the longest trip between the two states? I am pretty certain I must be the record holder at this time as it is. Can I break my own record? (I surely hope not!)
It doesn’t look good for me though and I haven’t even started the trip yet. My family thought I should just drive up to Springfield MO airport (2 hours away), catch a flight to Springfield IL where my flight is leaving from and everything would be okay. So, I called the airlines to see what a flight would cost, $825! What?! I didn’t ask for a flight to Italy, I just want to fly the 1 hour from one Springfield to the other. Okay, now I am not making enough money on the Internet yet to think nothing of paying $825 for a one-way trip to Springfield IL.
I called the rental car company to rent a car and make the one way 7 hour drive to Springfield IL, the first company told me they would not rent to me because they would have to go up to Springfield to get the car back and it wasn’t worth it to them. The next company Hertz, told me they would rent to me but it would cost me $350 to drive their car up their. Hmm.. I see a new business don’t you. Rent your car to me for $350 dollars, I have to do all the driving. This is a great business, even with cost of car care…. I am pretty sure I am not going to put $350 worth of maintenance work on that car for this one trip.
So, at this point it looks like getting home is going to be another adventure. Stay tuned, I am sure there is a story waiting to be written.
Okay, so, all of that is over with but, how do I get back home. The trip down here ended up taking me 25 hours!! That is from Seattle WA to Mountain Home, AR. I can fly to Europe faster! The big question is, how many hours will it take for me to get back home? Can I break a new record for the longest trip between the two states? I am pretty certain I must be the record holder at this time as it is. Can I break my own record? (I surely hope not!)
It doesn’t look good for me though and I haven’t even started the trip yet. My family thought I should just drive up to Springfield MO airport (2 hours away), catch a flight to Springfield IL where my flight is leaving from and everything would be okay. So, I called the airlines to see what a flight would cost, $825! What?! I didn’t ask for a flight to Italy, I just want to fly the 1 hour from one Springfield to the other. Okay, now I am not making enough money on the Internet yet to think nothing of paying $825 for a one-way trip to Springfield IL.
I called the rental car company to rent a car and make the one way 7 hour drive to Springfield IL, the first company told me they would not rent to me because they would have to go up to Springfield to get the car back and it wasn’t worth it to them. The next company Hertz, told me they would rent to me but it would cost me $350 to drive their car up their. Hmm.. I see a new business don’t you. Rent your car to me for $350 dollars, I have to do all the driving. This is a great business, even with cost of car care…. I am pretty sure I am not going to put $350 worth of maintenance work on that car for this one trip.
So, at this point it looks like getting home is going to be another adventure. Stay tuned, I am sure there is a story waiting to be written.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Maximizing Affiliate Marketing Opportunities
Once blog owners have selected affiliate marketing opportunities it is time to consider how they can maximize the profit generated by these links. There are a couple of critical factors which blog owners should carefully consider to help maximize their profit from affiliate marketing. This includes regularly evaluating the effectiveness of the affiliate links and promoting the blog to maximize traffic.
Blog owners who incorporate affiliate marketing into their blog should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the affiliate links. This can be done by comparing the percentage of blog visitors who click on the affiliate links to the overall blog traffic. A blog which has high traffic but a relatively small percentage of visitors who click on the affiliate links should consider making changes to attempt to entice more blog visitors to click on the links. These changes can involve the aesthetics, size or location of the advertisements. Making only one change at a time is recommended because it makes it easier for the blog owner to evaluate which changes are most beneficial.
Blog owners can also help to maximize the profit from their affiliate marketing opportunities by doing self promotion to drive additional website to the blog. This will likely be beneficial because higher website traffic will generally translate to greater profit from affiliate marketing. Additionally, the blog owner may want to occasionally mention companies for which they are an affiliate to generate interest in the advertisements on the website.
Understanding Affiliate Marketing Requirements
Finally, blog owners should pay careful attention to the affiliate marketing agreements they enter. This is important because some companies may place restrictions on the usage of a link to their website. This may include restrictions such as avoiding objectionable content, not including links or advertisements for direct competitors or restrictions on the appearance of the affiliate links. Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in the blog losing affiliate privileges and the blog owner being denied compensation.
Blog owners who incorporate affiliate marketing into their blog should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the affiliate links. This can be done by comparing the percentage of blog visitors who click on the affiliate links to the overall blog traffic. A blog which has high traffic but a relatively small percentage of visitors who click on the affiliate links should consider making changes to attempt to entice more blog visitors to click on the links. These changes can involve the aesthetics, size or location of the advertisements. Making only one change at a time is recommended because it makes it easier for the blog owner to evaluate which changes are most beneficial.
Blog owners can also help to maximize the profit from their affiliate marketing opportunities by doing self promotion to drive additional website to the blog. This will likely be beneficial because higher website traffic will generally translate to greater profit from affiliate marketing. Additionally, the blog owner may want to occasionally mention companies for which they are an affiliate to generate interest in the advertisements on the website.
Understanding Affiliate Marketing Requirements
Finally, blog owners should pay careful attention to the affiliate marketing agreements they enter. This is important because some companies may place restrictions on the usage of a link to their website. This may include restrictions such as avoiding objectionable content, not including links or advertisements for direct competitors or restrictions on the appearance of the affiliate links. Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in the blog losing affiliate privileges and the blog owner being denied compensation.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Trip From Hell Part 2- Luggage Held Hostage
As we left our heroine yesterday she was stuck in Springfield IL. with her luggage being held hostage behind the United Airlines Ticket Counter and no one around to release said hostages.
The reason we are told that no one is working the ticket counter is because they are out unloading the next plane that came in and landed! Where am I? Is this the smallest town on the face of the earth? The ticket people also have to unload the planes. If you know anything about geography Springfield IL is the capital city of Illinois. You would think they would have a big enough airport that the ticket people could just work the ticket counter etc… Apparently not so!
So, we wait and we wait and we wait. Of course my family has called 500 times and want to know when I will be getting on the road for my long ride to Springfield MO. My nephew who is coming to pick me up, needs to know what time he needs to leave from Mountain Home Arkansas to pick me up, remember he only has a 2 hour drive and I have a 5 hour drive.
I have now been on this trip for about 15 hours and I am past being over it. I am ready to drive back to Seattle, but, the thought of my dad in the hospital keeps me going. I have to get there to see him for myself and know that he is going to be okay.
FINALLY, the ticket counter people come back. They announce immediately that anyone waiting for a connecting flight can forget about it. All planes are delayed and they would probably not get out till early tomorrow morning, collective groaning everywhere.
Two couples in front of me are told their luggage has been lost and when they find it they will send it to them by courier. Of course my head races now, what if they lost my luggage? I am not even supposed to be in Illinois and would they actually send a courier to Mountain Home, AR?
I need my luggage, that is all that is going through my head now, I am in no mood at this point to hear, Sorry we lost your luggage! I make my way to the ticket counter, I tell them I need to see if my bag is there she takes my luggage claim ticket and says, “I think I have seen this back there”, whew! She comes back with my bag in tow and suddenly, this trip isn’t so bad, all is good!
I have my luggage, I have my rental car, I have a map of how to get out of Springfield IL and get to Springfield MO. I am now on the road for my 5 hour drive.
Of course the minute I start driving I realize that I have to go to the bathroom! Forget about it, I’m not stopping till I am exploding! And so I drive, and I drive and I drive.
Let me tell you, the bladder is an amazing organ. That little sucker obviously can expand rather well. I bet I get a good 2 hours out of Springfield IL almost to the MO border before I can’t take it any more and have to stop.
Now, some of you are saying, “That’s no good for you to do that to your bladder.” Yeah, well, I have now been on this trip for about 17 hours, I have been awake for 36 hours…. I am both ready to fall asleep driving and I am over this trip. The full bladder kept me awake and alive (this is good right?) and I will be damned if I am going to make this trip any longer then it needs to be, so I drive.
The rest of the ride to Springfield Mo is very uneventful (thank heavens, I can’t take any more events or excitement).
I arrive at the Springfield Mo airport where I was supposed to land. Drop of the rental car there and call my nephew to find out where he is. He says, he is kind of lost, his girlfriend is in the background yelling how he should have listened to her, she knew what exit he was supposed to take. And so I wait!
They are not lost long and soon we are on our way. I meet my nephews girlfriend for the first time, seems very nice just very quiet. Poor girl doesn’t stand a chance in our family, we are all loud and definitely not shy about saying anything. Good luck to her!
It is now, oh maybe about 10:30pm and I have not eaten since 8 am the morning before, I am almost to the point of not even being hungry again but my nephew and girlfriend say they did not get dinner and would like to stop somewhere.
Okay, we are in Springfield MO at 10:30pm, not the hub of excitement and night life. And none of us really know our way around the town either. So, we drive and drive and drive, make some calls home to see if my sister can tell us any place that might be open to eat at (she knows Springfield rather well, but not about what is open at 10:30 at night).
We get several ideas where to go from my sister, we try them, all are closed, we are now driving down roads we have already driven, going “I think we have been here before!”
We decide it is no use trying to find something open, we are just going to drive the 2 hours back home and forget about food. As we get on to the express way we see a sign for a truck stop Waffle House, what the heck, we are all nearly asleep anyway, maybe we won’t notice what we are eating.
The clientele are all interesting folks, hey it is now probably 11:30pm, you have to expect some interesting folks right? My big thing is, they still allow smoking in public place down here. In Seattle you can’t smoke in any public place any more except Tribal Casinos. So, I am used to eating without that smoked flavor.
We have a pretty decent breakfast, don’t even get me started on the fact that we had a good laugh over the fact that they (Waffle House) put bacon on everything on the menu. I think if they had a PBJ sandwich on the menu it would have had bacon on
it too!
On the road again, it is after midnight we still have a 2 hour drive through no mans land into Arkansas in the middle of the night or should I say the early morning?
There is some confusion now though on how we actually get home! Remember none of us really know Springfield MO very well. My nephew says we need to be on I44, his girlfriend says no we don’t go that way. I chime in like I know anything, saying, well I came in on I44 wouldn’t that take us back to where we want to go.
Remember here, that my nephews girlfriend was right about what exit he was supposed to take to get to the airport earlier today, who do you think we probably should have listened too? NAH!
We get on I44 and start driving, my nephews girlfriend decides she needs some sleep as she has to get up in a few hours to go to work. So, she goes to sleep in the back seat.
About an hour after we start our trip on I44 my nephews girlfriend wakes up and says, “our we still on I44?” “Yeah”, we say. She points out, that if we were going the right way, we would already be off the express way and onto the side roads that go into Arkansas. Wow, she is 2 for 2 today! (I can’t decide if I am liking her more now that she has been right twice and told my nephew so, or if I hate her now because she was right once when I chimed up and said something and was obviously wrong! Nah, I like her)
We finally pull off at a truck stop and ask for direction, which in Mo or AR is a dangerous thing to do. Sure enough, go right at the first stop sign, go over the train tracks, go to Bob’s hardware, make a left, the road curves….. well you get the idea. I know this trip probably just got longer then anyone could ever imagine (oh wait, I think we hit that time along time ago!)
So, we are now following the direction of some guy at a truck stop, who had no teeth, and smelled like he hadn’t showered in several days! Anyone see Deliverance? I am worried!
Strangely enough the route this guy gave us does get us back to where we are supposed to be which is Route 60, once we get there about an hour and half after we left Springfield originally my nephews girlfriend pipes up again and says “oh look, we are about 10 minutes out of Springfield on the right road!” (maybe I am not liking her so much any more…. we STILL have a 2 hour drive back to Mountain Home AR.)
The rest of drive is okay, except of course that every night time creature tried to commit suicide in front of us. The bat actually did, crashing into the windshield. Other then that one little incident no other animal was successful in ending its life in front of us.
We finally arrived at my mother’s house at 3:30am, 25 1/2 hours after I had started my trip from Seattle, WA to Mountain Home, AR. Next time I might just drive to AR myself, I think it is faster.
The good news, dad is getting better. He left the hospital after two days, he is home recuperating and getting stronger every day. My mom’s knee is getting better everyday, she got rid of the cane yesterday and is able to walk further and further each day.
All in all, the trip was well worth it. I get to spend time with my family and I get to help out with my folks and chores they need done around the house. I am happy to help and glad I get to watch them get better everyday.
Cross country travel is like pregnancy, once the baby arrives you forget all about the pain. (sort of)
The reason we are told that no one is working the ticket counter is because they are out unloading the next plane that came in and landed! Where am I? Is this the smallest town on the face of the earth? The ticket people also have to unload the planes. If you know anything about geography Springfield IL is the capital city of Illinois. You would think they would have a big enough airport that the ticket people could just work the ticket counter etc… Apparently not so!
So, we wait and we wait and we wait. Of course my family has called 500 times and want to know when I will be getting on the road for my long ride to Springfield MO. My nephew who is coming to pick me up, needs to know what time he needs to leave from Mountain Home Arkansas to pick me up, remember he only has a 2 hour drive and I have a 5 hour drive.
I have now been on this trip for about 15 hours and I am past being over it. I am ready to drive back to Seattle, but, the thought of my dad in the hospital keeps me going. I have to get there to see him for myself and know that he is going to be okay.
FINALLY, the ticket counter people come back. They announce immediately that anyone waiting for a connecting flight can forget about it. All planes are delayed and they would probably not get out till early tomorrow morning, collective groaning everywhere.
Two couples in front of me are told their luggage has been lost and when they find it they will send it to them by courier. Of course my head races now, what if they lost my luggage? I am not even supposed to be in Illinois and would they actually send a courier to Mountain Home, AR?
I need my luggage, that is all that is going through my head now, I am in no mood at this point to hear, Sorry we lost your luggage! I make my way to the ticket counter, I tell them I need to see if my bag is there she takes my luggage claim ticket and says, “I think I have seen this back there”, whew! She comes back with my bag in tow and suddenly, this trip isn’t so bad, all is good!
I have my luggage, I have my rental car, I have a map of how to get out of Springfield IL and get to Springfield MO. I am now on the road for my 5 hour drive.
Of course the minute I start driving I realize that I have to go to the bathroom! Forget about it, I’m not stopping till I am exploding! And so I drive, and I drive and I drive.
Let me tell you, the bladder is an amazing organ. That little sucker obviously can expand rather well. I bet I get a good 2 hours out of Springfield IL almost to the MO border before I can’t take it any more and have to stop.
Now, some of you are saying, “That’s no good for you to do that to your bladder.” Yeah, well, I have now been on this trip for about 17 hours, I have been awake for 36 hours…. I am both ready to fall asleep driving and I am over this trip. The full bladder kept me awake and alive (this is good right?) and I will be damned if I am going to make this trip any longer then it needs to be, so I drive.
The rest of the ride to Springfield Mo is very uneventful (thank heavens, I can’t take any more events or excitement).
I arrive at the Springfield Mo airport where I was supposed to land. Drop of the rental car there and call my nephew to find out where he is. He says, he is kind of lost, his girlfriend is in the background yelling how he should have listened to her, she knew what exit he was supposed to take. And so I wait!
They are not lost long and soon we are on our way. I meet my nephews girlfriend for the first time, seems very nice just very quiet. Poor girl doesn’t stand a chance in our family, we are all loud and definitely not shy about saying anything. Good luck to her!
It is now, oh maybe about 10:30pm and I have not eaten since 8 am the morning before, I am almost to the point of not even being hungry again but my nephew and girlfriend say they did not get dinner and would like to stop somewhere.
Okay, we are in Springfield MO at 10:30pm, not the hub of excitement and night life. And none of us really know our way around the town either. So, we drive and drive and drive, make some calls home to see if my sister can tell us any place that might be open to eat at (she knows Springfield rather well, but not about what is open at 10:30 at night).
We get several ideas where to go from my sister, we try them, all are closed, we are now driving down roads we have already driven, going “I think we have been here before!”
We decide it is no use trying to find something open, we are just going to drive the 2 hours back home and forget about food. As we get on to the express way we see a sign for a truck stop Waffle House, what the heck, we are all nearly asleep anyway, maybe we won’t notice what we are eating.
The clientele are all interesting folks, hey it is now probably 11:30pm, you have to expect some interesting folks right? My big thing is, they still allow smoking in public place down here. In Seattle you can’t smoke in any public place any more except Tribal Casinos. So, I am used to eating without that smoked flavor.
We have a pretty decent breakfast, don’t even get me started on the fact that we had a good laugh over the fact that they (Waffle House) put bacon on everything on the menu. I think if they had a PBJ sandwich on the menu it would have had bacon on
it too!
On the road again, it is after midnight we still have a 2 hour drive through no mans land into Arkansas in the middle of the night or should I say the early morning?
There is some confusion now though on how we actually get home! Remember none of us really know Springfield MO very well. My nephew says we need to be on I44, his girlfriend says no we don’t go that way. I chime in like I know anything, saying, well I came in on I44 wouldn’t that take us back to where we want to go.
Remember here, that my nephews girlfriend was right about what exit he was supposed to take to get to the airport earlier today, who do you think we probably should have listened too? NAH!
We get on I44 and start driving, my nephews girlfriend decides she needs some sleep as she has to get up in a few hours to go to work. So, she goes to sleep in the back seat.
About an hour after we start our trip on I44 my nephews girlfriend wakes up and says, “our we still on I44?” “Yeah”, we say. She points out, that if we were going the right way, we would already be off the express way and onto the side roads that go into Arkansas. Wow, she is 2 for 2 today! (I can’t decide if I am liking her more now that she has been right twice and told my nephew so, or if I hate her now because she was right once when I chimed up and said something and was obviously wrong! Nah, I like her)
We finally pull off at a truck stop and ask for direction, which in Mo or AR is a dangerous thing to do. Sure enough, go right at the first stop sign, go over the train tracks, go to Bob’s hardware, make a left, the road curves….. well you get the idea. I know this trip probably just got longer then anyone could ever imagine (oh wait, I think we hit that time along time ago!)
So, we are now following the direction of some guy at a truck stop, who had no teeth, and smelled like he hadn’t showered in several days! Anyone see Deliverance? I am worried!
Strangely enough the route this guy gave us does get us back to where we are supposed to be which is Route 60, once we get there about an hour and half after we left Springfield originally my nephews girlfriend pipes up again and says “oh look, we are about 10 minutes out of Springfield on the right road!” (maybe I am not liking her so much any more…. we STILL have a 2 hour drive back to Mountain Home AR.)
The rest of drive is okay, except of course that every night time creature tried to commit suicide in front of us. The bat actually did, crashing into the windshield. Other then that one little incident no other animal was successful in ending its life in front of us.
We finally arrived at my mother’s house at 3:30am, 25 1/2 hours after I had started my trip from Seattle, WA to Mountain Home, AR. Next time I might just drive to AR myself, I think it is faster.
The good news, dad is getting better. He left the hospital after two days, he is home recuperating and getting stronger every day. My mom’s knee is getting better everyday, she got rid of the cane yesterday and is able to walk further and further each day.
All in all, the trip was well worth it. I get to spend time with my family and I get to help out with my folks and chores they need done around the house. I am happy to help and glad I get to watch them get better everyday.
Cross country travel is like pregnancy, once the baby arrives you forget all about the pain. (sort of)
Trip From Hell
Lucky enough to be working from home when something drastic happens, is only one of the benefits of having a homebased business. So, when my family called and said my dad was in the hospital again, I did not have to worry about getting time off from work, I just made my airline reservation and was gone in a day.
But, planning a trip when you are under pressure is not always the best way to plan. Some interesting things happened on my trip back home to help my parents out. So, here is the very long story of my trip to Arkansas from Seattle WA.
It started at 2 am when I had to catch a cab to take me to the bus stop to catch a shuttle to the airport. No problems there except for the fact that I did not sleep at all because I was afraid I would not wake up in time. Okay no big deal.
I get on the shuttle at 2:30 am and think this will be a good time to catch a couple of winks, as the ride to the airport is about an hour. No such luck, the driver is practicing to be a stand up comic or something like that (stick to bus driving buddy) any way he won’t shut up! Okay, no big deal, I will sleep in the airport.
I get to the airport at about 3:40 am, check in, go through screening, of course it is now 4 am and I have had no sleep so, One I have a bottle of Gatorade in my bag (bozo no no) they yell at me for that, fine! Then my back pack has my laptop in it, apparently you are supposed to take the laptops out of the bag, again I get a scolding for not doing things the right way. It is only 4 am how am I supposed to be able to function like a human being?
Alright, I finally get let loose from the detainees. On to the loading area where I have about an hour and half till the plane loads maybe I could get some sleep? NOPE, they have a very loud announcement every 3- 5 minutes, welcoming everyone to the Port Of Seattle! At this point, It is like the Chinese Water Torture. I am ready to hurt someone now, turn the damn speaker off and stop welcoming me to the Port of Seattle and letting me know that every day they recycle 4 tons of plastic bottles at the airport. Come on….. 4 tons? I think they are making that up? 4 tons? Yes, it is permanently etched in my brain this figure of theirs!
No harm done, I hurt no one so far, but am definitely sleep deprived at this point and feeling it. Can’t wait to get on the plane and take off. We board the plane no problem, all is good. We do take a few really good hits on some air pockets when we get close to Chicago where I have to change planes to go to Springfield MO.
Did I tell you I hate flying? Hmm.. forgot to let you know that one. Well, I hate flying and I usually take a pill to put me to sleep, I think my pills may be too old because they did nothing and I was wide awake through the whole bouncing around in the air pocket things, boy was I happy about that!
Okay, so we get to Chicago alive, I am happy about that! I have a connecting flight now to Springfield MO, so I look for a departure board to see where my connecting flight is going to be leaving from.
Hmmm…. something isn’t right? Nothing seems to make any sense. The time the Springfield Mo, flight is leaving is not right? The flight numbers don’t match? What the heck is going on?
Ohhhh…. I see. Hmmm…. So, I am flying to Springfield Illinois huh?!?! Well, that is horse of different color!! How the… what the… I booked my flight to the wrong Springfield!!! CRAP!!
I run to a ticket counter, “can you help me?” No, not really, and if we do help you it will cost you one arm, one leg and well we see you are too old for your first born child, so, how about you also giving us the keys to your car!!! Besides that, your luggage will be going to Springfield IL, anyway. You do want your luggage don’t you? ARRRGGHHHH!!!!!
Okay, now what do I do? I am flying into Springfield IL which just happens to be about 5 hours away from where I actually wanted to be.
I figure I have a car waiting for me in Springfield IL so I will just drive the rest of the way to my parents house, which is about a 6 hour drive from there. I have now been on this trip for approximately 10 hours. I am over this trip already.
I am in constant contact with my family, who after laughing their butts off at my stupidity are actually trying to figure out how they are going to get me to Mountain Home, Arkansas without having to drive for ever. Not to mention they don’t want me to keep the rental car for 2 weeks, so, they want to pick me up somewhere where we can drop off the rental car.
In the mean time, they are wheeling my dad into the operating room to start the angioplasty, he is feeling okay and is ready to find out just what is wrong and why he is having so much chest pain as of late. Bye dad, talk to you later!
Back at the Chicago airport, my family and I hatch a plan. I am going to take the plane to Springfield IL and try to change my rental car to a one way trip to Springfield MO, drop the car off their and my nephew will drive the 2 hours to Springfield MO and pick me up, then drive me back the 2 hours to Mountain Home AR.
We’ll see, we know how accommodating the airlines were, we will see how bad the rental car place will be. Have I told you my flight to Springfield has been delayed? No, well that is okay, because by now, it has been delayed again, and then again! It ends up being delayed for 2 hours.
We are now boarding the plane to go to…. yep, you got it now Springfield IL not MO. Okay, we board all is good no problems, wait….. oooppps, small problem, the tower has just called and told the pilot they can not go anywhere as there is a storm rolling through and there is lightening! We are going to have to sit on the plane in the 95 degree heat of Chicago till the storm goes away! Ah, this day just keeps getting better!
We are literally sitting on the plane long enough for my father to get out of surgery and my sister to call and tell me everything went perfect. They found an artery that was 99% closed! Good gracious how was this man even alive? Plus no signs up till this last week, he has been in perfect shape and no signs that anyone really knew was signs.
Now, everybody says, well he has been looking tired, heat affected him very badly, he had a pain in his shoulder for quite awhile. Just little things everybody thinks were signs they never suspected. Men, pay attention to the signs, don’t let things go till it is too late! (women too, but men are terrible about going to the doctors!)
So, sitting on the tarmac the gentelman next to me hears all my conversations with my family, wishes me the best and tells me he will give me directions how to drive from Springfield IL to Springfield MO, no problems.
We finally, get cleared to take off from Chicago, I have now been on the trip for 14 hours and I am soooooo…. over this trip!!
We fly into Springfield IL and I go to the car rental place first to see if they will change my rental from a 2 week, both way rental to a one way, one day rental with out the need for one arm, one leg and the keys to my car!
The car rental place is great! They don’t give me any hassles, they are more then happy to change my rental. Of course, the young man I pick to help me, has no idea how to change the agreement and spends all of his time asking the girl next to him what to do, she has processed 3 people already and he is still asking her what buttons to push. That is okay, I am going to get out of here soon and on my way.
They finally get the paperwork done, give me the keys, all I have to do is get my bag and get out of here. Where is my luggage? No, I am not kidding, where is my luggage? I have been on the ground now for probably an hour, everybody else is gone, but there is no luggage on the turnstyle!
I ask the car rental people if they do something with the luggage and they say, yeah, now you have to back to the other side of terminal and they will have it locked up behind the counter of the United Airlines Ticket counter.
Okay, I can walk all the way back to where I first came from and get my bag and get out of here and on my way to see my dad.
I go to the ticket counter where no one is working and 10 other people are standing in line. I ask them if they are also looking for their luggage 6 say yes, 4 others have missed their connecting flight because our flight was 3 hours late. Okay, no problem, where are the desk people?
We wait, we wait, we wait, nobody. I ask a security guard where the ticket counter people are, he says they do double duty and also have to unload the planes as they come in! WHAT?
Tommorrow, the continuation of the story….. Luggage Held Hostage! (you are hating me now huh?)
But, planning a trip when you are under pressure is not always the best way to plan. Some interesting things happened on my trip back home to help my parents out. So, here is the very long story of my trip to Arkansas from Seattle WA.
It started at 2 am when I had to catch a cab to take me to the bus stop to catch a shuttle to the airport. No problems there except for the fact that I did not sleep at all because I was afraid I would not wake up in time. Okay no big deal.
I get on the shuttle at 2:30 am and think this will be a good time to catch a couple of winks, as the ride to the airport is about an hour. No such luck, the driver is practicing to be a stand up comic or something like that (stick to bus driving buddy) any way he won’t shut up! Okay, no big deal, I will sleep in the airport.
I get to the airport at about 3:40 am, check in, go through screening, of course it is now 4 am and I have had no sleep so, One I have a bottle of Gatorade in my bag (bozo no no) they yell at me for that, fine! Then my back pack has my laptop in it, apparently you are supposed to take the laptops out of the bag, again I get a scolding for not doing things the right way. It is only 4 am how am I supposed to be able to function like a human being?
Alright, I finally get let loose from the detainees. On to the loading area where I have about an hour and half till the plane loads maybe I could get some sleep? NOPE, they have a very loud announcement every 3- 5 minutes, welcoming everyone to the Port Of Seattle! At this point, It is like the Chinese Water Torture. I am ready to hurt someone now, turn the damn speaker off and stop welcoming me to the Port of Seattle and letting me know that every day they recycle 4 tons of plastic bottles at the airport. Come on….. 4 tons? I think they are making that up? 4 tons? Yes, it is permanently etched in my brain this figure of theirs!
No harm done, I hurt no one so far, but am definitely sleep deprived at this point and feeling it. Can’t wait to get on the plane and take off. We board the plane no problem, all is good. We do take a few really good hits on some air pockets when we get close to Chicago where I have to change planes to go to Springfield MO.
Did I tell you I hate flying? Hmm.. forgot to let you know that one. Well, I hate flying and I usually take a pill to put me to sleep, I think my pills may be too old because they did nothing and I was wide awake through the whole bouncing around in the air pocket things, boy was I happy about that!
Okay, so we get to Chicago alive, I am happy about that! I have a connecting flight now to Springfield MO, so I look for a departure board to see where my connecting flight is going to be leaving from.
Hmmm…. something isn’t right? Nothing seems to make any sense. The time the Springfield Mo, flight is leaving is not right? The flight numbers don’t match? What the heck is going on?
Ohhhh…. I see. Hmmm…. So, I am flying to Springfield Illinois huh?!?! Well, that is horse of different color!! How the… what the… I booked my flight to the wrong Springfield!!! CRAP!!
I run to a ticket counter, “can you help me?” No, not really, and if we do help you it will cost you one arm, one leg and well we see you are too old for your first born child, so, how about you also giving us the keys to your car!!! Besides that, your luggage will be going to Springfield IL, anyway. You do want your luggage don’t you? ARRRGGHHHH!!!!!
Okay, now what do I do? I am flying into Springfield IL which just happens to be about 5 hours away from where I actually wanted to be.
I figure I have a car waiting for me in Springfield IL so I will just drive the rest of the way to my parents house, which is about a 6 hour drive from there. I have now been on this trip for approximately 10 hours. I am over this trip already.
I am in constant contact with my family, who after laughing their butts off at my stupidity are actually trying to figure out how they are going to get me to Mountain Home, Arkansas without having to drive for ever. Not to mention they don’t want me to keep the rental car for 2 weeks, so, they want to pick me up somewhere where we can drop off the rental car.
In the mean time, they are wheeling my dad into the operating room to start the angioplasty, he is feeling okay and is ready to find out just what is wrong and why he is having so much chest pain as of late. Bye dad, talk to you later!
Back at the Chicago airport, my family and I hatch a plan. I am going to take the plane to Springfield IL and try to change my rental car to a one way trip to Springfield MO, drop the car off their and my nephew will drive the 2 hours to Springfield MO and pick me up, then drive me back the 2 hours to Mountain Home AR.
We’ll see, we know how accommodating the airlines were, we will see how bad the rental car place will be. Have I told you my flight to Springfield has been delayed? No, well that is okay, because by now, it has been delayed again, and then again! It ends up being delayed for 2 hours.
We are now boarding the plane to go to…. yep, you got it now Springfield IL not MO. Okay, we board all is good no problems, wait….. oooppps, small problem, the tower has just called and told the pilot they can not go anywhere as there is a storm rolling through and there is lightening! We are going to have to sit on the plane in the 95 degree heat of Chicago till the storm goes away! Ah, this day just keeps getting better!
We are literally sitting on the plane long enough for my father to get out of surgery and my sister to call and tell me everything went perfect. They found an artery that was 99% closed! Good gracious how was this man even alive? Plus no signs up till this last week, he has been in perfect shape and no signs that anyone really knew was signs.
Now, everybody says, well he has been looking tired, heat affected him very badly, he had a pain in his shoulder for quite awhile. Just little things everybody thinks were signs they never suspected. Men, pay attention to the signs, don’t let things go till it is too late! (women too, but men are terrible about going to the doctors!)
So, sitting on the tarmac the gentelman next to me hears all my conversations with my family, wishes me the best and tells me he will give me directions how to drive from Springfield IL to Springfield MO, no problems.
We finally, get cleared to take off from Chicago, I have now been on the trip for 14 hours and I am soooooo…. over this trip!!
We fly into Springfield IL and I go to the car rental place first to see if they will change my rental from a 2 week, both way rental to a one way, one day rental with out the need for one arm, one leg and the keys to my car!
The car rental place is great! They don’t give me any hassles, they are more then happy to change my rental. Of course, the young man I pick to help me, has no idea how to change the agreement and spends all of his time asking the girl next to him what to do, she has processed 3 people already and he is still asking her what buttons to push. That is okay, I am going to get out of here soon and on my way.
They finally get the paperwork done, give me the keys, all I have to do is get my bag and get out of here. Where is my luggage? No, I am not kidding, where is my luggage? I have been on the ground now for probably an hour, everybody else is gone, but there is no luggage on the turnstyle!
I ask the car rental people if they do something with the luggage and they say, yeah, now you have to back to the other side of terminal and they will have it locked up behind the counter of the United Airlines Ticket counter.
Okay, I can walk all the way back to where I first came from and get my bag and get out of here and on my way to see my dad.
I go to the ticket counter where no one is working and 10 other people are standing in line. I ask them if they are also looking for their luggage 6 say yes, 4 others have missed their connecting flight because our flight was 3 hours late. Okay, no problem, where are the desk people?
We wait, we wait, we wait, nobody. I ask a security guard where the ticket counter people are, he says they do double duty and also have to unload the planes as they come in! WHAT?
Tommorrow, the continuation of the story….. Luggage Held Hostage! (you are hating me now huh?)
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