Fools and fanatics

A normal Saturday morning at a government service centre. Was waiting for my turn to be served, I was lured to a particular direction where a continuous stream of quacking sound was coming from.

It was from a pair of shoes. A kid was entertaining himself by running around the centre just so the “melody” can be heard. His mother was being served at a counter. There were a few faces of disgust amongst the crowd and there were also others who seemed oblivious to it, probably occupied by other things. After what seemed to be eternity, the mother finally got up and left the counter. To the disappointment of some hopefuls that the kid will soon be gone, bringing his noisy shoes somewhere else to continue the thrill, the mother, seeing the enjoyment of her boy, joined in by letting him continue his merry-making behavior!

Then a saviour appeared. He brought the kid over to his mum and politely asked that the fun be continued somewhere else. To the shock of him and others that were watching, the mother “fought back” in defence. “Don’t you run around when you were a boy? Nobody else is saying anything except you. Even the management does not think running is not allowed here because there’s no sign. You should get the management to put up a sign and I will stop my son from running”

I just thought :

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Get Paid, Get Paid, Get Paid

How many different things can I do and get paid at the same time. I’m already doing this, doing that and I get paid at the same time, quite a fairly good use of time, is it not?

That’s what I thought, so I went around “shopping”. Not finished my quest yet but these are what I've seen around….shopping, blogging, clicking, signing, eating, viewing, advertising, trying….I wonder how many more...

The first thing I check is of course, is it free? Never take things for granted, you know. Still, there are some things that are “hidden” which I only realized when I went in.

1. I love to shop and I can’t wait to have a channel to voice my opinions so when I find a mystery shopping website, I jumped into it. I waited and waited. To my disappointment, many stores already have their own list of “top shoppers” and it is hard to get them to give you a chance to shop. I’ve been waiting for 2 months and there’s still not a single opportunity for me to complain or complement.

2. I started to blog and love it. Isn’t it sweet to get paid for it? But what I did not know is that I need to submit and compete with a good deal of others for that one position and if mine is chosen, then I will get paid else there goes my time and my brain juice. I’m just a mediocre writer, I don’t think my creativity level is natural enough to earn me a dime.

3. Just answering questions, checking radio buttons, aren’t so hard, isn’t it? Every survey you completed can give a payout of $1, $2, $5, $10. If you complete 100 surveys at $10, that’s $1000, simply by giving your opinions. Cool. But the surveys take their time to creep to my mailbox and after submitting the answers, either I am screened out or the payout is peanuts. I then realize that they usually use the highest possible paid survey that comes once in a very very blue moon to calculate the earnings. Most survey sites also require a certain amount of points before they can be converted to cash. With the speed of the surveys offered, it will take ages for me to see my clicks get rewarded.

So the “dream” of a little additional income steadily every month (that’s what the stay home mums featured in the websites said) stays a dream, which of course, I should not be so naïve in the first place. But that’s alright. It may not be a money source but it is still fun and informative as well. Which ones did I really really get money for? So far, ashopfor and LightSpeed Survey. My top favourite? Emailcash.com.au

With these toys for company, I’m never alone now.

EmailCash.com.au – My #1 Australia virtual playground

Hmmm… keep thinking…should I publish my review for EmailCash here. Ya.. I know I’ve talked about it previously but I really enjoy the site and I just want to talk about it again….

I wonder...
do you read promotional emails that come into your inbox of interest?
do you search in the net to do research for something you are planning to buy?
do you place an ad in the Classifieds when you have something to sell?
do you like to get paid by participating in surveys?
do you shop and purchase things online?
do you get into the mood of writing at times and feel like sharing your thoughts?
do you sometimes play games offered at a website?

I can do all of these at one place! Convenient, fun and I get something back.

Here’s more (EmailCash just have that little something extra)

1. ebank
A virtual bank that you can deposit points and earn interest such that at maturity, your points are increased.

2. Free guessing game
They host a free number guessing game and it is like lottery. Your points jump greatly when you “strike” lottery.

3. Daily points earner
Most sites do not have offers everyday so that you can earn something everyday. After a while, you lost interest in these sites. But EmailCash keeps your “morale” high with two simple tasks that you can do everyday earning you points. Though they are simple, it is quite effective in “reminding” members to return for a visit with the mentality that even if there’s nothing, they can still earn some points.

Yet more there is, auctions, charity…. Registration is free but ummm....it is currently available to Australian residents only

My shop is earning money !

First dollar I made with all the "Get Paid" things I did. Started for fun. Nothing to lose, I thought, just do some free trials and complete some offers. I've got free music to download, know more survey companies, receive more information useful to me...ya, it's much but it's easy money. And it feels real good to get some easy money =)

Every dollar is real cash, straight into your paypal account

Click here if you want to create one for yourself and Collect Your Shop Opening Bonus

Marriage is jus US

Heard some stories recently about young families' problems with their parents/parents-in-laws and they are all similar.However, the differences in the reactions of the inolved parties lead to different consequences at the end.

A mother who has never taken a liking towards daughter-in-law. With an attitude of "She made my son turn against me; My son changed his attitude towards me because of her; She snatched my son away", she cannot see anything good about her. She bad-mouthed her daughter-in-law to anybody she meets, even to acquaintances whom she first met.Anybody whom she came across gets a share of what she perceived as problems. Most of the "problems" are trivial matters that she brought upon herself from distorted thoughts.She never try to listen to people who helps to analyse things for her. She remains unhappy, grumpy and fills the young family with stress and rips the family of warmth.

Old folks were angry when all their children(all with new families) did not "come together" as frequent as they want them to.They refused to talk to them. Children migrated quietly to avoid the stress. Old folks end up alone. Siblings dispersed all over the world. Their idea of wanting their children to always be together, their fear of their children not in union, their insecurity of their own original family "breaking up" caused things to turn up in the opposite way.

Another mother too wants her two children with their families to go out and have fun every week.The problem is the structure of both families and life-styles are so different that neither can find weekly activities that fit both.Mother very unhappy.Again felt that it was "outsiders" who are destroying her "family".Her unhappiness caused rifts between her children's families. Then again, her children refused to give up and kept explaining to her.She now realised that her family ideas are not all correct. She changed her perspectives. Both families are very at ease with each other and with her, enjoying the co-existence of individual families and the original one. They got together more often naturally and relationships have improved.

Those who think that marriage concerns "just the two of us", think again.

Emailcash - mega virtual playground

I've been visiting this website EmailCash almost any other day. Quite surprised myself, knowing i'm not to much of a "loyalty", plus not a really great internet fan. but this site is quite fun, not as boring as others I came across (oops, sorry). Useful and relevant. Things I do get myself with or without a rewarding program - mobile phones, insurances, groceries etc...so i thought why not check in and see what offers there are, I can have additional bonuses on top of what I need to get. It's like asking for a free gift when I buy a TV.That makes me drop by every now and then. Even if there's nothing to buy, i can play a game, get some points,do my "talking"there (magazine with article submission option)..

sharing the simple things with simple rewards that adds to my simple life

Age of information

One day, I was at my brother’s place. My niece and nephew, ages 8 and 5, were watching YouTube in the internet. Geez, I have heard about that highly popular thingy but have never seen one myself. Sometimes, less information = less problem. I shudder at the thought of all that’s interacting with them.

My, the information age is expanding so fast that it is hard for parents to catch up with their kids sometimes. With so many controversial ideas and value systems from so many different sources so easily accessed, information sometimes confuses rather than provide a clear guidance. How do you bring up children with the right values, attitudes, perspectives and character? When you yourself are relatively confuse sometimes, how do you instill the "right" ones? Isn’t it amazing that the little bits and bytes can become such lethal weapons.

Having the "right" values, by itself, is questionable. What is "right? Why does it matter, whether right or wrong, when in this world, many things that were wrong are now "right". And what’s behind you when you think that your children need to be “right”?

Afraid of how people will look at you?
Seek acceptance by people for them as well as for yourself?
Does this seem that the “right” thing is just for the sake of others rather than themselves?

I think being “right” is for myself. How do you achieve happiness and peace? One must first have the “right” values, perspectives, attitudes and characters. How many people you know are unhappy because of some perspectives that they have? Take simply the perspective of an old lady who thinks that hospital is a scary place where people never come out again after entering. She will be suffering when she has an ailment that can easily be cured – all because of a distorted perspective.

I wish my children can be happy and at peace always so I wish they can learn to have the “right” values – values that will make them happy and peaceful. When they are “right” with themselves, they will be “right” with others.