RV Living Magazine -- RVing Blog

Just A Short Note

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:33:00 +0000

Well, the motorhome has been out of commission now for over two years. Our dreams of fulltiming are on hold for the foreseeable future.

This is all part of life, our economy and what happens as we travel along life's path.

Sharon and I are working hard to make our Ebay business pay the bills, but it is not as easy as it was years ago. The rules have changed and there are new players leading Ebay. We are not getting new inventory regularly. The money goes to bills instead of new things to sell.

HOWEVER, as always we are the eternal optimists and believe things will turn around tomorrow. We get down at times, but overall we are fairly positive about our prospects.

Both of us are healthy and only have a few aches and pains that developed over the years. Luckily we are able to keep working and not have illness related downtime.

All of our animals are doing well. Poky The Dog, Ally The Dog, Spunkie The Cat and Tuxedo (Tux) The Cat.

This is just a short personal note to let those who check once in a while know that we are alive and well and looking forward to better things.

Working Harder

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:18:00 +0000

It has been a while since I posted. Our motorhome is not running and a RVing blog without RVing is a challenge.

Sharon and I are doing well health wise, but we are working harder than we would like at this time in our lives.

We are still trying to figure out how to get out of this warehouse. It is a real "Catch 22". We make our income from the inventory we own, but we want to get rid of it. One of these days we will figure it out

The problem is to dump the warehouse we would have to stop working for 1-3 months. If we stop working, we can't pay the bills. If we don't stop working and clear out things we can't get out of this 6000 square feet of "junque".

Right now we work 7 days a week from 10 to 14 hours a day. We have not taken a full day off since...........last October. REALLY. We took off a part day Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and Easter.

Bob & Sharon Are Alive And Well

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:09:00 +0000

OK, Bob and Sharon are alive and well. Things are very slow in our business. We are working hard to recover from all that is going on in our lives.

It does not seem like I should be writing a blog about RV camping when we have not moved the Bounder in over a year.

Like many problems in life, this one revolves around money or should I say lack of money. Once we had to move out of the warehouse and rent a place to live our expenses went up of $9,600 a year. This has made our budget a non-budget. Stress is a big part of our monthly lives.

So, the blog is going to lie mainly dormant. Once in a while I may post to it, but it will not be very often.

Roller Coaster Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:39:00 +0000

We make some good sales on Ebay and then we do nothing. Our business is like a roller coaster ride. Scary at times and thrilling at other times. I really need to get this situation leveled out and constant.

Yesterday we made almost a week’s income. Today we may make nothing. This is not the way to run a railroad. However in the last couple weeks or so we have been doing things slightly differently, so maybe we will get a small change and then build on that.

Our rental house has been up for sale since January. It started at $635,000 on the internet. The first flyer the owner put on the for sale sign said $625,000. This week the price is down to $575,00. No one has made an appointment to see the house yet. Well, one person did, but they never showed up. If this house sells this year, the owner will be lucky. She is having another open house on the 22nd of this month. More strangers walking through our home. I love it -- NOT!

I still think housing prices are outrageous. Rents are ridiculous. It is amazing what drives prices to the point that the typical worker has a very hard time affording a place to work. In our area, even doctors have a hard time buying a house and if they find it difficult on their income, what does the blue collar worker do?

When I bought brand new my house in 1968 it cost less than 3 time my yearly salary. My Salary then was only $8500 a year and my home cost $21,100 for a nice 3 bedroom home. In our current area that means an equivalent salary would be about $200,000 a year to afford our median priced house that is over $600,000. Wages sure do not match property price increases.

At those kinds of prices for housing it makes sense to buy a nice big 5th wheel RV, park it in a year round residence RV park for $250 to $500 a month rent and live there. I think RVs are a very good idea for homes for many people in the future.

Ebay Sales Are Up

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:54:00 +0000

Sharon and I are really doing much better in our Ebay sales and getting our prospects of being more organized up. If we were organized in our efforts, we could do a lot more than we are doing now. It is amazing how at times we can really be on track and then be off of it again.

I am mystified by the all we go through to get our act together and get back to income producing activity that will get us back to camping again. I hope we can get this put together soon. I need a camping fix.

We went to the Pt Mugu Air Show this past weekend. The Thunderbirds were great, but I was really impressed by the new F22 Raptor fighter jet. That is one amazing airplane. I would sure hate to be on the receiving end of that one.

Our landlord is having another open house at our place. I really do not like strangers going through my home checking out the place. This is a major reason Sharon and I need to get our finances up. We need to get in control of where we live and where we work. As a renter without a lot of cash to back us up, we are at the mercy of any landlord and anything they do.

Very Expensive Housing

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:09:00 +0000

Housing is outrageous in our area. Today's paper talked about low income housing for the poor. There are some new apartments available. A one bedroom apartment for low and very low income individuals is $803 a month. A three bedroom apartment for low income people is $1114. We sure have very expensive housing costs here.

YIKES! These are the rents being offered to the poor. Sharon and I are very lucky to be paying $750 for our 600+ square foot home. It was $800 but the landlord lowered the rent when it was put up for sale. That was an incentive to stay until it sold.

This level of rent really emphasizes how much sense it make for many people to full time in an RV. Some parks charge under $300 a month for space rental to park your RV. If the weather changes or you do not like the neighbors, just move your home somewhere else.

Retired people would especially be good candidates for full time RVing. If Social Security was the sole income of an individual or couple it might just be possible to live better in a RV than in a brick and mortar home.

It is really sad how high housing costs have risen. When Sharon and I were married 1/4 of MY salary paid our two bedroom apartment rent in a nice area in a nice apartment. That was 40 years ago and rent was $125 a month. I made about $3.80 to $4.25 an hour (I do not remember exactly) Sharon had the privilege of NOT having to work. We made it on one salary.

What do young people need to do today to survive? It is hard to imagine their situation. Many people do not earn $38 an hour or more. That is 10 times what I earned. Rents are up, but salaries are not. Retired folks may have it better is they have prepared over their working lives. It is really crazy.

The more I see of the housing market in California and across the country, the more I think RVing full time make sense.

Travasaks and Flameless Candles

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:24:00 +0000

I have decided that until I have more to say about RVing or making money online or some aspect of interest to RVers, I am only going to publish this blog once a week. It is meant as a journal of what I am doing relating to RVing. I am doing nothing. My Bounder has a problem and I am not driving it. I have not been camping in a year. It is hard to write an RVing blog when I am not RVing.

One thing I hope to do in the near future is add more pages to the website, RV Living Magazine. I just added a couple pages. One is on Travasak sleep systems Travasak It is like a sleeping bag and would make bed making in a RV a lot easier. I really like the idea.

Another article I added was about Flameless Candles. As you you know if you have follow us or even read our web pages, Sharon and I like candlelight dinners in the motorhome. A safe way to have candles in your RV is to use ones with no flame. Modern lighting methods make candles flicker and glow, even though they are battery powered.

So, until I begin adding pages to the site or get inspired to write about more interesting things, this journal will come out each Wednesday or occasionally in between times if I have something to say more than just rambling.

Ebay Discount Listing Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:54:00 +0000

Today is 20 cent listing day on Ebay. I am trying to get a few more than usual auctions listed and save a little money. Usually I save a few dollars on discount days like this. It is enough for dinner for two at McDonald's, but not much more. The people who make out on days like this are the ones who have a lot of high dollar items they normally list. Most of my items are fairly low dollar.

After our hot weather, the fog is coming in. Fog is our summer weather and keeps the area cool while the rest of the country is sweltering. We really have had strange weather this year. We have not even had much rain.

For the last week or so we have been doing better with our business. Changing to working in the warehouse in the morning has helped. For whatever reason, that small change has increased our income. It is 24 days until the business rent is due and we should have the money within the week. That puts us ahead more than we have been for a while.

If Sharon and I can work smarter for a month and get ahead a month, we would be in a position to make some better decisions. It is hard to plan when you work and live week to week. It can get really crazy at times.

Anyway, back to listing on Ebay.

Ebay Sales Picking Up

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 03:07:00 +0000

Since we changed our work pattern, our Ebay sales have been picking up. We are ahead of where we normally need to be at this time of month. If we can maintain this level of sales we will have an excellent month. More than that if we maintain the level of work, we will get into a better financial situation.

All we need to do is keep working while we are at work. Actually it feels good to work. As the sales pick up, it feels even better.

WOW! Talk about camping weather. Yesterday was over 90 degrees here and today is another warm one. Normally it does not get over 90 during the summer here on the coast. We get some over 90 days, but not many. This is really warm weather for us. I really need to get ahead a little and get that shimmy in the Bounder fixed so we can go camping again.

The shimmy problem is so bad, I do not even want to drive the motorhome up to the propane place to fill the tank. If I hit about 50 it really starts to shake to the point of being dangerous.

Tomorrow we are going to take off and go to the movies, for free. More tickets Sharon won on the radio. We go to the movies fairly often, but never pay to go. I love it.

Have you tried the new McDonald's Deluxe Angus Burger? That is one very tasty hamburger. We had a coupon to buy one, get one free, so that was dinner last night. DELICIOUS! 1/3 pound of beef, so not something I need regularly. Tonight we bought another. This time the Swiss and mushroom. It tasted good, but not like the Deluxe version. Deluxe is burger, cheese lettuce and tomato with mayonnaise. It tastes almost like a homemade burger.

Running Late Again

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 02:56:00 +0000

I am running late again today. I had good plans to get this done after 10 o'clock when I quit working out in the warehouse. Then I got started getting things ready to list on Ebay and then and then.... Now it is 6:15 in the evening.

From 10 o'clock on I did not get much of anything accomplished. Sharon and I went to Costco to get a case of paper for the laser printer. We ate lunch, their famous $1.50 hot dog and drink plus a slice of their delicious combo pizza. When we got back from lunch I took a nap. Later I took another nap.

The good thing about working for yourself and the bad thing about working for yourself is that you can do what you want when you want. To work for yourself, you need discipline to work. I am often lacking that discipline.

HOWEVER, in the last week, I have been doing much better by changing my routine. By working in the office until 10 a.m. I am getting a lot accomplished that I did not get done in the past.

OH, maybe my napping today could have been escaping from the $2191 dollars I refunded this morning. The printer sale did not go through. The guy who said I could have to 4 printers I needed for this sale never returned my phone calls, not even to tell me no. I hate giving back money.

Actually, I made the money I wanted on the deal and the $2000+ was just gravy that would have made it all sweeter. Oh well. Time to come up with my day to day deals that pay the bills and enhance them.

Working Harder -- Paying Off

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:37:00 +0000

Sharon and I are working harder and accomplishing more in the last few days. We have changed our way of doing things slightly and it is paying off. We start the day working in the warehouse. In the past we started on our computers and never seemed to get much done.

Making a change in our habits seems to be working. I am game for anything that moves us closer to our goals. We want to go camping. We would like a livable income. Our needs are simple, but they still take dedication and effort.

I am not sure why, but doing things a little differently than normal is leading to bigger changes than we have had in the recent past. I am pleased with the direction we are going. They key to this is to keep making small changes that lead to even greater change.

Remember the car that was recently given too us. I was tuning it up and replacing vacuum hoses etc. and today I had it smogged. It passed. It still runs a little rough, but California says it is legal to drive. Now, I will take it to a mechanic, get rid of the rough idle and sell it. With only the two of us, we do not need 4 vehicles and a motorhome.

Working Smarter This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 01:32:00 +0000

Sharon and I are working a little smarter this week. We are changing how we operate slightly. We are not turning on our computers until after 10 o'clock. Instead, we are going into the warehouse and find things to sell. Cleaning them up, testing them and taking their pictures Hopefully changing our operation some will freshen our attitudes

UPDATE: So far the guy has not gotten back to me on the printers I am trying to buy back. I left two phone messages and even had the operator page him at the company. This is a $2191 sale that is slowly going bad. I have already been paid and may have to refund the money.

Actually that would be OK. We sold 9 printers and go the price we wanted for the lot, $250. The buyer only wanted 5 of them and another buyer contacted us saying they wanted the other 4. The first buyer decided he may want the other 4 also. BUT, at first he agreed to sell the 4 back to me, so I put together the other sale.

OH WELL, like I said, I got what I originally wanted.

March and we are going to miss another RV rally. That is really sad. This same rally last year was the last rally we attended. It has almost been a year since we have been camping.

There are more things than our business that need to change.

Selling Woes -- The Good & Bad

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 23:31:00 +0000

Life is complicated. I had an offer for $1000 to sell 4 of nine items I had listed on eBay for only $250. The $250 price was pickup only, the $1000 offer was if I shipped 4 pieces to Missouri. I said OK but before they responded, someone bought the 9 pieces, paid for them and picked them up.

A day later the original buyer wanted the 4 pieces. I negotiated with the original buyer for 4 of the 9 pieces and he agreed. The $1000 buyer paid $2191 including shipping and my two hour drive to pick up the 4 pieces. Now the actual buyer is holding back on letting those 4 go. YIKES! What a quandary.

This is my problem with selling on Ebay. Nothing is guaranteed. I do not have repeatable inventory. Things like this complicate my life. I am still waiting on a call to pick up the 4 if they will let them go. It is 3:20 p.m. and I promised to ship the 4 tomorrow as they are in desperate need of this printer. Still no call and I am getting worried.

This will work out regardless. I got what I wanted for the nine printers. This other thing is just gravy. I love gravy, however, if the whole thing falls through I will still be where I wanted to be with this sale.

Does any of that make sense? Anyway, I really need to get a different line of stuff to sell on Ebay. I need to increase my internet marketing income and I need to get a better work ethic. I sure need a lot.

The weather here is ideal for camping. We had frost on top of the car this morning, but not on roof tops and grass. It is clear and nice during the day. I really need to bust my butt and get some extra cash to repair the Bounder. It is a shame to see it sitting out back all the time.

I will update this when I get an answer on what happens.

UPDATED Saturday:
Nothing yet. The printer sale is still in limbo. The buyer said they may let 3 of them go, but they will have to get their project going first.

I have CRS -- Can't Remember Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:49:00 +0000

Forgetting What I Am Doing is getting to be a habit. I get going on something, get distracted and that is it. It takes me forever to get back to what I was doing. I was about to write the blog this morning and then got sidetracked and forgot.

It is 7:35 p.m. and here I am. This seem to be happening too often.

I really need to focus on a project and not move onto something else until what I am doing at the moment is finished.

Today we were given four tickets to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. I know we cannot go, so we will sell the tickets on Ebay. They get $50 to $80 for 4 tickets.

We have been to the movies a few time lately. We got compliments of the local radio station. We win them on the radio and we win them at "road shows" or events the station is a sponsor at. I think I have told you in the past that we love radio contests. We win quite a bit on them. We do not win at the lottery, but then we do not play it either.

That reminds me of the young woman who was so broke she would pray each night to win the lottery. As here finances got worse and she lost her job, she prayed more fervently to win the lottery. One night after her prayer to win, a boom voice came out of nowhere saying, "Girl, you have to buy a ticket".

Ha Ha! With that I think I will post this then head for home.

On Track

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:21:00 +0000

Getting back on track takes concentrated effort. We were going to move out of our rental house. We had given our 30 day notice. We changed our mind and decided to stay. The landlord is OK with that and wants us there to pay the rent until the place sells.

Camping is still a ways off as we have to get the shimmy in the motorhome repaired. Not a shimmy, but a violent and dangerous shaking. That has to be looked into, but is not in our current budget.

Working has been on a hold for over a week. Not intentional hold, but induced by lethargy and.......??? TODAY, Sharon and I have decided it is time to get back on track and get on with our lives.

It would not be all that hard to turn everything around so we are on top of the world again. It is a matter of attitude. Change our attitudes and change our lives. It sounds too simple and really it is, but at the same time a real challenge. We have always been up to challenges, so we need to focus and work our way through this one. So far so good,starting today, "we will.....until............"

Real Life Problems And Solutions

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:52:00 +0000

Sharon and I are working through a number of situations that have come up in our lives. These are real life problems and solutions are part of what this blog is about.

I know this is an RV site, but have have not been out in our RV for almost a year. There is not a lot to write about in RVing.

We are looking for alternative income opportunities on the internet. This is more about what this blog has become. I am looking for answers for Sharon and I, but if we find answers, you may see answers in what we are doing also.

How many of you have at least looked into selling on Ebay? Have any of you created a website, just to see how to do it?

Maybe something I have said has inspired you to take some action in your life that helps you change in some small or even major way.

Writing about our situations may give hope to someone else struggling to overcome something in their life. I hope so. I am candid about our lives, our problems and our successes. I hope that opens Sharon's and my eyes more by seeing our life in print. I hope it helps you too.

Reasons Why NOT

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:05:00 +0000

If you are not where you want to be, what are the reasons why not? There are a lot of excuses that come to mind; no time, no money, no knowledge and so many more.

Last night I may have discovered my "reason" for not reaching the levels of success I really desire, DEPRESSION.

I do not feel depressed. I am not down all the time. I do not feel despondent or suicidal. Actually I consider myself a fairly positive person. However, I am tired all the time, but have no health problems. I do not do anything, but I am capable. I look at a 6000 square foot warehouse of stuff and cannot find anything to sell on Ebay. I am listless and unproductive.

My wife and I have a 1988 motorhome with a mechanical problem, so we have not been camping in almost a year. Last night Sharon announced that we would miss an upcoming RV get together. Someone sent her an email saying the let him know if he could help in any way.

Sharon read me that email. I felt teary. Normally I'd say I was touched by their friendship, but this went beyond touched when tears rolled down my cheeks.

I do not cry over nothing. I am not prone to overly emotional response to things that occur. I felt down for about an hour or more.

After I got home I was thinking about my emotional response to a simple email. It occurred to me that what I was displaying were symptoms of depression. Other things in my life indicate possible depression.

This is an, "AH HA" moment. Depression is a state of mind and like any state of mind can be changed. I am not talking about someone who is severely depressed and needs medial or psychological help. I am talking about people like Sharon and I who normally function fairly well and suddenly do not seem to be doing so well.

What is the answer? It is consciously deciding not to die a thousand deaths. If you were to discover you were going to die and everyday you worried about death, you would die a thousand deaths before you actually died. If you focused on life instead, you would only die once. No, neither of us are dying.

The solution is to focus on things that are good about our situation instead of what is bad. We tried that in the past, but not strongly enough.

Our rental house is for sale and we will have to move. Our landlord held an open house and we had strangers walking through our home. Add that on top of our other life situations and it apparently became more than we could handle without some change of attitude.

As of today Sharon and I are concentrating on the good in our lives instead of the bad. We are standing taller and looking for positive answers where we did not see them yesterday.

If we stay focused on living life to the fullest with what we have, I think we will be back on track toward working effectively again. More that that I think we will be on the way to getting our lives back.

If life overwhelms you at times, remember that there are others who experience the same thing. It is not what overwhelms us, but what we do about it that matters.

There was a time in my life when I would have given anything to be where I am today. Years ago, I had a job I hated. I never liked Monday, Hump Day (Wednesday) meant the week was half over and Friday was TGIF. The weekends were never long enough. I did not like my boss and dreamed of freedom.

Years ago I dreamed of having my own business and now I do. Back then I would have given or given up anything to have my own warehouse full of junk to sell. I have it today and am having difficulty with the concept.

My problem is a problem of perception. Although I consider myself a positive person, my glass was half empty. If I will adjust my thinking just a little my glass will be half full again.

Watch for changes in the days ahead.

Shucks! Missed Another Camping Rally

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:19:00 +0000

I sure wish we could have been at the SAL rally this weekend. Sharon and I really need to get our acts together, increase our income and get back to camping.

Regardless we have to increase our income. We need a new place to live. With our rental house for sale, we have given our landlord 30 days notice and will be out of the house by March 26.

We were going to stay until the house sold, but Sunday the landlord held an open house. I do not want strangers roaming through my house. Lucky only four showed up Sunday, but anyone wanting to look at the house just needs to make an appointment and I get strangers walking through my living room and bedroom.

Rentals in our area are high. They typically start at $900 for very little space in the more undesirable neighborhoods. There was a 465 square foot place a block from the beach for $950. Once in a while you can find a real deal, but the are few and far between.

So, here we sit needing more income to be able to go camping, but each time we generate more income someone has their hand out taking it away. Life sure gets in the way of a lot of plans and dreams.

Bob & Sharon Saga Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:44:00 +0000

OH MY! This weekend is the SAL rally at Lake San Antonio. We are missing it. Things need to radically change in our lives so we can get back to camping on a regular basis.

The "Bob& Sharon Saga" continues. Life sure can get in the way of plans. As you know our landlord is selling our rental house. Tuesday night she called and said that she is having an open house this Sunday. That is very upsetting. We live in a good to fair all the way down to poor neighbor hood. I do not want the gang bangers and druggies in the apartments at the end of the block to have free access to my home. An open house means anyone in the neighborhood can come check out what we have in our house.

I was going to stay in the house until it sold. Today I am going to give the landlord our 30 day notice. I will not stay there to have people regularly come into my home and check out my cupboards and closets and see what I have. The owner selling it herself. They say FOR SALE BY OWNER means most lookers are just that, "lookers".With a "for sale by owner" home the prospective buyers are in no way prescreened as a Realtor usually does.

This is so upsetting that I arranged a loan on our 2004 Nissan truck. We do not have credit and it surprised me that we qualified. The money will be our first and last on a new place to live. This will be our first new credit since 1995. I do not want it, but I want out of that house even more.

A good thing is that we will begin establishing credit again. People do credit checks for rentals or many other things, so credit is slightly important in this day and age. I think we will get a secured credit card in a month or so and use it to develop more credit.

"Every adversity brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage." Napoleon Hill. All we have to do is look for that benefit. I think this latest situation will ultimately work for our good.

Stay Ahead To Relax More

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 18:44:00 +0000

Time is on our side this month. Because we had to hustle so hard at the end of last month, we are already ahead for this month. Sharon and I are doing our best to get ahead and STAY AHEAD so we can relax at the end of the month.

Well, we do not want to relax at the end of the month, but we want to be in that position. We would like to quit sweating payments and get back on track.

Finances are keeping us away from a lot of camping, rallies and fun. It is really time to change that scenario and WE ARE! For the first time in a long time we actually have a plan of action.

OH, we have had a lot of plans and dreams and written plans and dreams, but we have never had a plan to put the plans in action.

Sharon and I both have rewards for reaching goals of the week. This weeks plans include breakfast out and a movie if we do a minimum amount each day. The rewards come during the week, not after the week is over. Sharon even gets $100 in extra clothing budget if we do this simple plan for a week.

The plan? Very simple. Write one article or webpage a day and create 5 new Ebay auctions a day. We have been in a rut, not doing this bare minimum. The idea of this is not really to make money, but to become reactivated. Ultimately we will be doing more if we meet this simple goal.

Once we get a little ahead we will get the motorhome MAJOR shimmy problem fixed and we will be back to camping. WOW! That is an exciting prospect.

What challenge could you give yourself that would move you toward something you would like to have in your life. What rewards along the way would be an incentive to help move you along? Think about it.

Cancer Checkup

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:54:00 +0000

I had a doctor's appointment with the VA yesterday. This was for a look at all my little skin blemishes. The dermatologist looked me over and only found two places that I told her about to be suspicious.

Cancer is a scary word. Over ten yeas ago I had some skin cancer removed from my nose. The young doctor brought in her boss and he checked me out too. He said nothing really looked cancerous, but the flaky growth on my nose should have a biopsy to be sure. He also recommended that a large flat mole on my back be removed.

The young doctor cut a little piece from my nose, the biopsy. It will be tested for cancer and I will get a report back in a week or two. The mole will be removed at an appointment in March.

As I said, they do not think either is cancerous, but they will make sure.

So, have you got any suspicious moles, spots or growths? If so take a trip to you local doctor and get them looked at. It is better to have a spot removed than to have it turn into cancer at a later time.

I would guess, but have no data, that RVers might be outdoors more than other people. RVers are outside enjoying nature more. Full time RVers in particular would be spending more time outside. Be sure you are using a SPF 30 or high sun screen when you are outside. Protect yourself from any further damage by harmful rays from the sun.

My "after shave lotion" has been SPF 30 sunscreen for years.

Sweating Bullets To Pay The Rent

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:37:00 +0000

My income is up and I can breath easier. The rent is paid, but we sweated bullets to get it paid this week. I am so tired of this monthly struggle to get things done. Most of it is my fault for not working hard enough at the beginning of each month.

It is almost as if I get pleasure out of working under pressure, but I can tell you that it sure does not feel like pleasure.

When the rent, bills are paid and the needed packing materials for out business purchased we should be $1000 ahead for the coming month. $400 of that will go to our California sales tax bill that is now overdue and will require a 10% penalty. It was due January 31 and at that time I did not have the money, and now I am ahead.

What is it that makes us work better under pressure than when the pressure is off. I did that in school. Left reports until the last minute to write them and worried about how well I would do. I always squeaked in under the wire and came out OK.

There are too many things I put off until the very last moment and rush like crazy to get it done.

I am working on motivation and moving in a direction that helps fix this ongoing RUSH problem. I am looking forward to working continuously during the month instead of mainly a spurt when the bills are due.

Hustling Pays Off -- Rent Paid

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:51:00 +0000

Well, we got to hustling and came up with the rent. This past mont has been a trying month. However each time Sharon and I get up against a wall we pull ourselves out from it.

This is not a fun way of living. Week to week, month to month. It is really time we got our act together and started creating new web content on a daily basis. Each time we ad a page of content to the internet that is another opportunity to earn a few cents or a few dollars a month from that page.

The secret is to keep creating content up to the point that all of those small amounts add up to a large amount. Instead of hitting home runs and making big money, the average internet marketer needs to concentrate on generating ongoing small amounts.

Sharon and I are targeting this idea right now. Generate small amounts that add up.

It has worked for us with Ebay. Most of our sales are small and pay the bills. Once in a while we hit a home run and make more. We did that this week and guaranteed paying the rent and bills.

Seeking Success -- Looking For Answers

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 16:36:00 +0000

Do I sound confused? I am at times, most of the times. I am seeking success, looking for answers to what I can do to secure Sharon's and my future. HEY! I am 64 and still do not know exactly where I am going.

I cannot imagine retiring with nothing to do. That is one thing about internet marketing that is so appealing. It is a job you can do from anywhere and one that does not demand a specific amount of time. You can work at it 5 hours a week or over 100 hours a week. I like that aspect of IM.

The "work from anywhere" aspect of interntet marketing is also an important feature. You can do IM from any place you can connect to the internet. You can work from an office or from home. You can work from the library or internet cafe. You can work in you RV or on a beach in Hawaii.

Do you see why internet marketing is what Sharon and I are trying to get good at? IM is not just one thing. I guess technically selling on Ebay is "internet marketing" The definition most people think of is making money from digital products, not physical products. Digital products include website, ebooks, software programs people can download from the internet. However, any internet marketing including selling physical products falls into the category of INTERNET MARKETING.

We have a number of old quilts I plan to sell on Ebay. I was researching quilts on Ebay and found someone who makes their money finding quilts traveling all over Texas. They go to swapmeets, antique stores and anywhere they might find quilts. Old quilts typically sell for over $100 and often more.

Right now there are completed auctions on Ebay where quilts sold for $810, $500, $400 etc.

If you are full timing in an RV and travel all over the country, could you possible supplement your income selling quilts? A few quilts would take up space, but vacuum pack them in those AS SEEN ON TV sealing bags and they would take up a lot less space.

Type VINTAGE QUILTS into this search box (do not worry about category) and see what is being offered on Ebay today. Maybe you will get some ideas for earning an income online.

OH, Sunday the 4th is Sharon’s birthay. If you see her in the RV.net forum, you might wish her a Happy Birthday.

noreply@blogger.com (Bob) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:01:00 +0000

I am too focused on the new car. It still is not running right. The idle is rough and at idle it sometime surges. I watch the tachometer for from about 800 to 1200 in a surge. The problem is I am working on it instead of selling on Ebay.

So far I have changed the air filter, changed the oil and filter, replaced cracked and rotten rubber vacuum lines. I am not a mechanic and only work on simple things on a vehicle. My next plan is to replace the ignition cables and check to see that I did not miss any vacuum lines that may still be leaking air.

Sharon bought a fuel filter yesterday, the one recommended by the "clerk". I do not see anywhere an inline filter goes. I am thinking the filter is one that screws into the side of the carburetor.

The car really needs to go on the back burner. I thought selling the car would get us caught up. We are way behind in our Ebay sales this month and will really to to hustle to pay the bills. I am not paying our sales tax bill that is due today. I will pay the penalty for paying it late.