From The Front Lines of Life

I've noticed some new blogs out there recently that you state folks will probably like.
I'll be posting them shortly.

Musings and rambles

I've gotten in to a couple of more on-line partnerships this past week. I've got a couple of online gigs that basically make me a commission only sales person for them, my territory being the web and my products vary from t-shirts, to duck & deer calls to corporate gifts.

I sometimes worry about the future of the internet (web desing / hosting) as a business. Software could take the place of web design, but commerce and information dispensing is the driving force behind many web sites. I've even got a sports related venture on the table. I have to be careful, there are some people that think they can get a web site and that automatically the world is going to show up and need what they have and they will do hundreds of dollars in sales every day. That's just not the case, people don't just show up at web sites. It takes "buzz" that marketing excitement to get people talking about and using the products and then, guess what -- you really have to have a good product, and more than that -- you have to have a better product in order to really succeed.
I hope some of my new ventures are this way, I'm sure some will do well, some will flounder, but I know some of these ideas are bound to make their way to the winners circle. I just want to get about 5 G's in recurring monthly income (profit) so that I can do some of the other things that I'd really like to do. I'm not terribly far from that, and I've wondered what will be the thing to push me over the top.

Another fun thing that we've been doing is eBay. Big River Sells is our eBay branch of the Big River Companies. We have had pretty good success selling things on eBay. We are doing school fundraisers, church fundraisers, selling cars, travel-trailers, baseball cards, books, fishing lures (old ones) and a bunch of other stuff. I'm trying to keep 400 bucks a day on there of inventory, and I think we can do that. It has a real potential, but most of the sales we've gotten have been through networking with existing customers and friends. Those of you who know me know that that's about all I'm good at. Ideas, networking and sales, those are my strengths.

We have some other news about Big River coming soon. Probably Tuesday we will have an official announcement on our latest endeavor. We'll make a big announcement.

Speaking of announcements, Kate had us thinking for a while that she might be coming last week. She was having contractions and we were wondering what was going on. It turned out to be Braxton Hicks or something like that but anyhow, not real contractions, but it was exciting none the less. I felt her move soo much last night. I could feel her hard foot poked against C's tummy. I poked back and she'd move, and then put her foot up, and I'd poke back... Unbelievable stuff really. I can't believe she's in there... I can't wait for her to come. We have to go to the Dr's office every week now. That car ride to Jackson and back is REALLY fun for C. She's so miserable in the car... It's hot as fire here... but not inside, inside it's a frigid 55 degrees. Well more like 65. Our AC bill is going to be more than our house note this month. I'm hoping we can sell some good web sites!

Ok... Remember what J. Lake says. "Reading a blog and not commenting is like going to someones home -- and not speaking to them!"

Crackin' heads

Did ya'll see those guy's almost kill each other last night??? There were two outfielders diving for the same ball, that apparently hit each other in the head, and knocked each other out.

I can't tell you how awful that looked on TV. I wanted to see it slow motion, but somehow, they didn't play it. I think I only saw the clip during the Packers game. Wow. Pain like you would never imagine.


So, C. hasn't been making purses, but she's still got her design flare, look at this beauty that she dreamed up. She took it to a lady to make it with her design in mind and viola! It's a baby bag. (How many baby bags do you have?) We have a Kate Spade, this one, another cloth one, a polkadot plasticy one (which is cute), a black and white one with flowers on it and I think that is it. But I could be wrong. Sometimes they appear later on without warning.

How much would you pay for a bag like this one? Wide straps for comfort, hand made, comes with BABYswanky label on it... They'd have to sell for at least $60 to make it worth our while, but I'm slowly learning from owning my own business, that it's good to make a good profit on things. That's what people do. It's a healthy activity. People don't need to price gouge, but a healthy profit is a good thing for the economy.

Speaking of the economy, who wants a flat tax? A sales tax, get rid of income tax... I've talked to some people who say it would kill our economy, I've talked to others who say that it would kill charitable organizations. I've talked to some who say taxing isn't about anything other than a social agenda, of making people equal. I think that if you don't pay taxes you shouldn't get to vote. Man, I'm radical. Doesn't that make more sense, if you are on the dole, (sp?) you shouldn't be able to vote your self more money? If you are paying taxes, shouldn't you have a pretty good say in how your money is spent?

Mississippi got $2.51 Billion dollars in this highway (pork) bill... Does anyone think that those contracts for doing those roads could be done cheaper and faster if they were done with private contractors? I think the state has moved somewhat to that, but there is plenty of MDOT pork barrel money getting filtered out, out of the pockets of citizens.

the idea...

As a child, I was always encouraged to journal. I did a pretty good job of it really, I have one journal that covers from the time that I was 13 or so, until I was a freshman in college. I then started emailing more, and writing less.

I've since gotten another journal, written some in there, but started blogging. It's easier to blog than it is to journal. (I don't know why other than the fact that I can type much faster than I can write.)

Anyone who has a blog on a blog service knows that they are ultimately at the mercy of the hosting provider. Whomever that might be. So here's the idea. Take blogs, using a software programm, and archive them on to a single document that can be printed and bound nicely. Charge by the page, and simply format and have the books printed (I already have that part figured out).

I'd pay 100 bucks to have my journal published if only for my kids and grandkids. If I had years of them on there like some folks, I think it would be well worth it to get it done, and maybe even get a couple of copies, for mom and dad or something... Would comments show up? Maybe? I guess so... Also, another version would put it on a CD that would come with something like an etch-a-sketch device that would play the CD and be an intereactive device like an Ipod, but that would basically play CD's that were documents and photos, replacing the traditional photo album.

Ok, i said it. I'm sure one of you punks will rip off my idea, and i'll be broke... But who thinks thats a good idea? Who would want to insure that their great grand kids knew what we were dealing with?

Did I mention how much fun traffic is?

I can't believe the weekend is already over and it's Monday AM. Time to get back to work.
I've been in Atlanta, and I'm actually still here. It's not fun thinking about leaving because of the traffic... and the rain.

I have really gotten used to the 7000 people in my town, and I'm not really fond of the millions over here.

Time to go.

9:10 CST UPDATE

Back in MS... We made nice time. We had a couple of hairy rain storm events that were a major slowing factor, but we didn't get down below 20 MPH the whole time. (except for meal stops)

We had a great time over there, there were the typical family dynamics involved. The estranged spouse, the dueling grandmothers, siblings, and some grown-ups pouting... We had a pleasant time. Got some good loot for Kate, I can't believe how well we racked up. We are sooo blessed to have so many people that had to come because they were related.


Anyhow, I also had an idea, for making some extra money. I'll elaborate more later... Let me know what you think about it.

Man I hate to see this

They say that Raffy Palmeiro tested positive for the juice. You hate to see that happen to anyone, esp a guy who went to state and has done so well. Has he been cheating this whole time??? I hope not. Some say that it might have been an accidental ingestion. As my friend Adam says "you don't trip and fall and get pregnant!" I think that same logic must hold true here. You can't really accidentally put something bad in your body like that can you? Can you accidentally fail a drug test? Maybe some poppy seed chicken....
Not trying to rail on Raffy.... But how does that happen? Hey buddy, you are headed to the Hall of Fame... Don't screw it up!!!
ok got that off my chest.
I know I haven't been here in a while... I've been recovering for 2 weeks from a day with Batch on the golf course. His liver emailed me and thanked me for the beer. I didn't get to go to the fair. It really wasn't fair... But that stuff happens... Maybe next year we can take Kate to the fair... Speaking of we have three showers for her this week. We really racked up sunday down in jackson... over 30 presents... I can't believe that many people like us. (maybe they feel sorry for K.T. having parents like this.)