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My not so “quick” “quick post” about good stuff that is happening!
Random bits of “good news“
OK folks, I have NOT had my morning coffee so this may end up being a bit of “free association”
HOWEVER… I wanted to share a random assortment of things that have happened in the past little while that are AWESOME.
So in no particular order…
My blood glucose number was 119 this morning…
…well below the 130 max my doctor has set for my “fasting” level. “Fasting” means “just before breakfast” YAY!
I woke up this morning at a teeny tiny bit just past 9 am.
Yes, you read that correctly. OMG! Of course it probably helped that I went to bed last night around 11-ish. But this is unusual for me. My normal range is 2am – 10/11 am.
And recently, over the past month and a half, I’ve not been able to get to sleep until 4 or 5 or 6 am after which I sleep 8-10 hours and wake up waaaaaaaayyyy after the “day” has started for most folks,
So… getting up at 9am where I’d really LIKE my wake up time to be so this is great. YAY!
And this has been the case now for almost an entire week! So my sleep patters may be shifting back to the “typical norm” YAY!
I went to my doctor yesterday…
…and I had dropped 8 lbs from my last visit to her office. YAY!
I had gone to her because I have ringing in my ears. She is trying a couple of things and said she’ll send me to a specialist if the stuff she is trying doesn’t work and stop the ringing within a couple of weeks. YAY!
Since I was there anyway, she went ahead and did the “follow up” stuff — monitoring my diabetes and high blood pressure and weight management stuff.
I showed her my chart from the blood glucose testing meter and I’ve been 95% within the target range that she has set for my blood sugar. She was all happy about that! Woot!
And the reason this “doctor stuff” is unqualified “good news” is because thanks to President Obama and thousands of people who worked very hard to pass and protect the ACA, I am under medical care. Before qualifying for the ACA subsidiy I would have just ignored the ringing in my ears, and my diabetes and … well you get the picture. Health insurance is good. YAY!
Not having health insurance. BAD. – not “yay”
AND this is “good news” because when I called up to make the appointment, she said that she would bill me for the $20 copay. She said I could pay it after the first of the month when I get my pension check. Which is awesome because if she had not said that I would have not been able to go.
My checking balance, the day before yesterday, on Monday, when I called her to make the appointment, was sitting at 67 cents. Yes, under a dollar. So having a doctor who cares more about getting me in to see her when I need care than about making me wait to get that $20 copay is a good thing! A very good thing.
YAY!!! in fact DOUBLE YAY!
Slllluuuurrrrppppp…… Ahhhhhhhhhhh — first sip of coffee.
You know that you are officially a caffeine addict when you whole body gives this little shudder of anticipation as soon as you have that first sip.
There is no way the caffeine can have hit your system yet, but the taste buds let the rest of the body know that the fix is on its way…
Oh-so-YAY!
By the way, the cute cat clutching a mug of coffee over to the right is one of my designs from my store: TxCowboyDancer Designs (yes this is a shameless plug) — but check it out when you get a chance. 🙂
My doctor also ordered a standard 3 month blood work panel…
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Tony’s Take on: The Perfect Survey Site
What should you look for in an
Online Survey or a MicroTasking Site?
When I first started doing “online surveys” to make a little bit of money, I didn’t know much of anything — about anything, so I had pretty low expectations. Actually, I had no expectations — I didn’t know enough to have expectations.
After doing this for over two years, thus having learned “in the school of hard knocks” as it were, there are certain things which I look for in a “good” survey site. And things which you should look for too.
Ahhhhh, Grasshoppah, you seek and you shall receive the wisdom of Master Yoda, ahem “Mastah Tony.” Yessssss, Grasshoppah, Master Tony will reveal all…
— and you folks in the back can stop sniggering like, uhmmm now! 😉 And yes, I know I was mixing up my movies. I can do that… it is called creative license.. grin
Show me the CASH!
Let’s face it. I’m doing online surveys for the money. Not for fun. Not to “improve products.” Not to further academic research. Not to better mankind.
I live on a very small monthly pension plus whatever I can scrape together through half-a-dozen different means, including taking online surveys.
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not cheating. I am not trying to scam the system. I am not just randomly clicking answers.
I actually do read the questions. I try to do a “good job” by answering honestly. But when all is said and done, I would not be answering all those surveys IF I wasn’t PAID for my time!
So, like any other “job” that is “just a job” — I’m in it for the money.
I am not asking for much — Read the rest of this entry
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My Top Ten “Make Money Online” sites
The back story…
I live on a pension. A very small pension. A pension I get for 20+ years of service working in city governments as a Public Librarian. I had to “retire early” during the Great Recession because after loosing my job, I went through all my savings, my 401k, my 429 plan and pretty much sold everything I had of any value. After those accounts went down to zero, retiring early was the only option left to have money coming in on a regular basis.
So, I get a little over $800 a month from the Texas Municipal Retirement System. And while that amount keeps me from standing on a street corner holding a cardboard sign, it isn’t really enough to cover all my monthly expenses. So, I pick up the odd temp job here and there, and I do online surveys to pull in a few extra dollars.
Doing online surveys will not buy you a Yacht nor will it provide Instant Gratification
But if you do it regularly, it will make you enough to pay the occasional monthly bill or buy a pizza or two each month. And for me it makes the difference between making ends meet and not making ends meet. Full disclosure, given the amount of time it takes, it doesn’t add up to minimum wage.
But for me, it has meant the difference many times between having money for food at the end of the month or not having money for food. Between being able to pay that $10 copay for my prescription or not having the $10 to buy the meds.
So… if you have a few minutes to spare, and there’s nothing else you want to do at that moment, then you can turn that “down time” into real money.
This is the “quick & dirty” Top Ten List
I’ve started reviewing Read the rest of this entry
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Tony’s Take on: Mintvine.com – an update
MintVine is still my #1 pick
Mintvine is head and shoulders above the rest. And they are growing. It is my hope that they will make it through their growing pains with the things that make them awesome completely intact.
And, because they are growing, that means they are changing some things around. So I thought that an update to my original review which you can read here: “Tony’s Take on: MintVine”
You can keep reading if you want but things will make a lot more sense if you read “Tony’s Take on: MintVine” first then come back here and read the “update”
Tony’s Cowboy Star Rating for MintVine:
Only two things keep them from getting a 5 star rating from lil ole me: Read the rest of this entry
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Tony’s Take on: MintVine
MintVine – How ALL Survey Sites should work!
First the “Cowboy Star” Rating:
I know that I’m wordy… …so if all you need is the stars
then here’s the link to sign up with MintVine
However, if you want more info then keep reading. 🙂
Fair warning: this review is long because
(1) it is my first review of a survey site and I wanted to talk about “what makes a good survey site” and
(2) I’ve never said anything in all my life using five words when five hundred would do. So brace yerself Effie, it’s gonna be a bumpy (but fun and weird) ride! LOL
MintVine is almost The “Gold Standard”
in “What I want in a Survey Site”
Let’s face it. I’m doing online surveys for the money. Not for fun. Not to “improve products” not to better mankind… I live on a small pension plus whatever I can scrape together through half-a-dozen different means, including taking online surveys.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not just randomly clicking answers, I actually do read the questions and try to do a “good job” by answering honestly, but when all is said and done, I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t PAID for my time.
So, like any other “job” that is “just a job” — I’m in it for the money so just give me the CASH
When I first started doing “surveys” online to make a little bit of money, I didn’t know much of anything about anything so I had pretty low expectations.
But now, after doing it for a while, and having learned “in the school of hard knocks” as it were, there are certain things that I look for in a “good” survey site. And things which you should look for too. So, pull up a chair grasshopper and learn from Master Yoda, ahem Tony. “Master Tony” — and you folks in the back can stop laughing like, uhm now!
For the record: MintVine does almost ALL of the things on my “Ideal Survey Site Checklist”! And they do them well.
I know that I’m wordy… …so if you’ve got enough info already
then here’s the link to sign up with MintVine
Low Payout Threshold
This is why MintVine gets 4.5 stars instead of 5 stars. The MintVine payout threshold is $10.
Which is pretty darn good when Read the rest of this entry
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 