Getting a Second Chance on the Road

 This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine. 

I have previously worked as a home care aid for a month and my experiences were really interesting. As a home care aid I actually do home visits to help clients with their daily living activities like personal care, nutrition, and at times mobility. My clients are mostly the elderly, the handicapped, or the people recovering from accidents.

Most of the clients I work with lived alone and are unable to travel outside their homes on their own. My clients would confide with me that they are bored and would love to go outside especially when the weather is great.

On the other hand, I have encountered clients who are wheel-chair bound but could actually drive! So these clients have all the freedom to go to the mall and shop, meet friends, and just go outside and have fun. These clients are more active and more energetic as I have observed.

We have all seen parking lots with handicapped signs right? I have always wondered how on earth people in wheel chairs could drive. The answer was simple: NMEDA. NMEDA, or National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association, is a non-profit organization that helps educate consumers and help them find the right mobility solution that is best for them. Please take note that NMEDA doesn't sell the products and they only help you find the situation-specific mobility situation for the consumer.

Let’s face it. There is no off-the-shelf mobility product that one could buy that would fit every single car on the market and would be appropriate for the client’s condition and lifestyle at the same time. The thing I love about NMEDA is that they help consumers in every step of the way from contacting a Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist to make sure that the client is fit to drive alone in different scenarios, performing a personal evaluation on the appropriate mobility solution, training, and they could also help you get reimbursement if appropriate from your vehicle manufacturer.

There are so many different dealers around that would claim to offer the similar services but only NMEDA dealers belong to the Quality Assurance Program (QAP), a nationally accreditation program that makes sure that consumers are satisfied with their purchases.

I actually checked the nearest NMEDA dealer in my area and it is:

Shoppers Home Healthcare 8303-Gold Care Med
4619 - 91 Ave. N.W.
Edmonton, AB
Phone: 780-468-4002

Web Site: http://www.goldcare.com 

I suggest that those with family or friends who are disabled, to check the NMEDA website out. You have absolutely nothing to lose. In fact you'll be giving your loved once a second chance to get back on the road and get their freedom back.

 

How to Earn Money through Blogging

I am not a problogger earning hundreds to thousands of dollars per month but I do earn money every month, like $50/month. It all depends upon three factors: the amount of visitors I get, the number of clicks on my Adsense Ads, and the opportunities I get to write a sponsored post.

So if you want to earn money during your spare time and you enjoy expressing yourself through blogging then this is a perfect combination. I will show you some simple steps that I have taken myself to earn bucks. You should follow these simple steps:

1. Of course you actually would need a blog to place your posts and ads. So if you're new to blogging and have absolutely no idea about internet and website jargons, Blogger is the best way to go! With blogger, they offer an easy to use blogging interface, they host your pictures for free, they give you a free blog domain (with the yourname.blogspot.com), and just for $10/year you can easily transfer your yourname.blogspot.com blog to a yourname.com blog which is REALLY RECOMMENDED if you want to earn more money and have better opportunities. Other blogging interfaces that I have heard of were good but I didn't try them myself would be WordPress.

2. So in the process of creating your very own blog you are stuck with the dilema of choosing your Blog Title. Well first of all, your blog title should be interesting, short but catchy, and plainly point blank gives the readers an idea of what you are writing about. I will give you a shameless plug, take for example my very own My Nurses Notes. Sure the name is not that catchy but it's short and it summarizes my entire content which is my clinical experiences and thoughts as a student nurse.

3. So your blog is ready but you have to customize it first. I'm no techy but you could do what I did for my Angel in the Sickroom, another shameless plug. Although I got my blog template from searching the web, I personalized it by changing the banner using Photoshop. It's better to use a three column blog as it allows you more space for chatboxes, links to other bloggers, ads, and other stuff so that your blog won't look ordinary, plain, and boring.

4. So everything is set in your blog layout. So if you're using Blogger, lucky you! You can just simply add Adsense ads into your blog template and also in between your posts if you'd like (Layout->Blog Posts->Edit->Configure In-line ads). It's best if you have a Google Account so that you can link your blog and Google Adsense easier.

5. Once all your ads are set, you would actually want to attract readers too so that they could click on your ads and so that you can earn money faster. The best way to get your blog known and discovered on the internet is to join the blogging community. You can add your blog to blog directories (like the ones at my 1st column under blog directories), joining and installing EntreCard on your blog for instant traffic, submitting your blog to search engines like:

• Google
• Yahoo! Search
• Microsoft Live Search
• Alexa Web Search
• Baidu (Chinese search engine)
• ExactSeek
• SearchSight
• Scrub the Web
• EntireWeb
• Gigablast
• Exalead
• SearchKing
• whatUseek
• AnooX
• Splat Search
• Walhello
• SearchIt
• email Mozdex
• Jayde
• Infotiger
• Abacho (European search engine)
• Submit-one
• TowerSearch
• HotLaunch
• Shoula
• The-search-site
• Websquash
• Unasked
• eVisum (educational resource)
• DinoSearch
• SearchRamp
• SearchtheWeb
• SearchWarp
• Mixcat
• BestYellow
• Beamed

Or if you don't have the time, you can use these free services to submit your website to the other hundreds of search engines:

• FastSubmit
• Submit Express
• AddMe
• Freesubmissionweb
• ineedhits
• Submitshop
• Searchengineoptimising
• AddPro
• Pageranklist
• Freewebsubmission
• Amfibi
• Burf
• Jerkasmarknad
• LocalSubmit
• SrSubmit

Of course, you could also do the traditional way and even the most effective way of getting readers: visit other blogs and interact with the blog owner. Make friends and exchange links.

6. So you have introduced your blog to the blogosphere and now have daily visits from other people. Just keep your posts interesting and unique and maybe in a matter of weeks or months you will get a PageRank. PageRank ranges from 0 to 10 with 10 as the highest. Mind you, if you want to earn money your blog's worth is measured by the PR. If you have a higher PR like my Angel in the Sickroom (which has a PR 4) you can be eligible to make paid posts. Right now I can get sponsored posts for $20 per 200 word post. You may want to join these:






So there you go! Hope these tips and referrals will help you in your path to earning money through blogging!

Philippines: The World's Texting Capital

There is no denying it the Philippines is the texting capital of the world! Why? Well the Philippines is the only country where:

1. Almost everyone has a cellphone (It's like a part of a Filipino's hand).
2. Cellphones are considered a need and not a want. A Filipino who could barely have food to eat would still have a cellphone and money for air time credits.
3. The Philippine market for cellphones is HUGE! Offering different kinds of cellphone models which are renewed every month.

I only realized this because here in Canada the cellphones are well old... they don't have the latest Nokia phones that we have back in the Philippines. The high end phones here are mostly Blackberry's and Iphones but the selection is very limited.

That's why when I use my Sony Ericsson W960i touchscreen phone someone would compliment my phone and ask where I got it. And I always answer that I got it from the Philippines and it always raises eyebrows. Like how can a third world country have such hitech phones right? Well that is also a mystery to me.

The Filipino Channel

I have been surfing through my TV and from the 999 channels I couldn't find The Filipino Channel on it. I tried the channels with Pay Per View and searched the ones I need to subscribe to and I still don't see The Filipino Channel anywhere.

Oh well... but I sometimes ask myself why I want to have a subscription to the Filipino channel when I don't even watch Philippine shows even when I was back home at the Philippines. Well, maybe I'm getting a little bit of homesick. But I'm already home here. I'm an Edmontonian and a Canadian...

...but I am also a Filipino...

Library In a Mall?!

Yup I'm in a library right now and guess where it is located. The Mill Woods Town Center. It's a mall. But having a library in a mall is quite convenient really. So if you want to go to the mall you just tell your parents, "Mom, Dad... I'm going to the library!"

Well the library here has a huge collection of books, CD's, DVD's, magazines, and the sort. I haven't really browsed because I'm only here for the internet hehehe. Evil little me. Well this is just temporary though. I won't be visiting the library anytime again soon because this Monday we will finally have our internet connected. Well we still don't have our own phone and cable TV services connected yet but we already have access to the telephone and cable TV since the previous owner didn't have his utilities disconnected. If we were evil we could have called our friends over the Philippines and the cost would all go to him because his account is set to automatically deduct his fees from his bank account. How convenient (for us) right? But I'm going out of my topic right now.

Well I have ot go home and call my bank. I can't seem to enter my bank account through the internet.... I wonder if someone hacked my account already... oh no... That's why I have to hurry home.

I Hate Telus

Yup this is another episode of my rantings so you better stop reading right now but if you are intersted and want to hear (or read) my ranting then read on ahead.

Well I was so excited yesterday because Telus was supposedly scheduled to arrive at our apartment yesterday to install our Cable Tv, internet, and phone but they didn't come. it seems that they called us up at the lobby and since no one answered they just left with out even checking with the main office of our building to perfom the other installations outside our apartment. The thing is calling us would really not work because we first of all don't have a telephone line yet so the one they were calling was the previous owner. You see the door phone was programmed to call the previous owner and not us. My mom informed Telus about this and even gave her phone number so that we could let them in the building if they arrive but they didn't have the initiative to call 0r what so ever.

My mom called Telus today and they said that they were sorry and they would come again next week. NEXT WEEK??? We've been waiting for 2 weeks now and they want us to wait next week? The operator was not that even nice when we called the other day asking why the Telus installers weren't around.

So my mom terminated our account with Telus and set-up a new bundle with Shaw. Shaw is better indeed as it would only take them 1-3 days to set-up everything. It seems that the stupid previous owner didn't bother disconnecting his utilities so we used it for a while hehehe. Shaw said that they will contact the said owner and will take care of disconnecting and transfer of ownership or what so ever. I'm really impressed with Shaw.

And you kniw what Telus said when my mom said that she'll look for another service provider? "Customers always come back to us..." How cocky can you get?

Google Adsense Move

I'm glad that my Google Adsense has earned me around $80 now and I am going to cash this out as soon as I reach the $100 mark. But I still have some issues regarding the payee address (my address) because I can't seem to change my Country in the Payee Information. But I've already sent a request form to Google about the change in address so I guess that everything will be ok for now.

I've been a very bad blogger these days since I'm always out of the house and all but once we get the internet connected I guess that everything will work out. I'm actually using the library public pc right now since my brother wanted to use my laptop instead and I wonder why...

Anyway, I'll leave blogging for another day.

My First Pay Check

Canada Day was very memorable to me indeed. It was not only the very first Canadian Holiday that I have experienced but it was also the day that I received my very first paycheck! Yup all my hard work was finally paid off.

Although I still have thoughts of quiting my job, getting that paycheck is like a motivation to me. Besides, what else would I do at home? I'm an Out of School Youth so I'd rather do something more productive right?

Oh yeah, I also have my own debit card which I already used by the way. I used it to pay for the electronic key cards for our apartment. You see our money is still frozen as the bank is still waiting for the banks in the Philippines to clear our bank draft.

I just hate having no money. I feel so low that's why I'm working to supplement our income. Although my parents have jobs already it would take a while for them to get their paychecks so my brother and I are kind of the bread winners for now. We do have money that my mom brought but it's not that much because she didn't expect our bank drafts to clear that long.

Maximizing Web Advertising

I am a consumer, just like all of us are, and what makes a great business bloom and expand is if a website has it's own website. Yup! A business should definitely have it's own website so that a business list of clients can expand.

Like me for example, when I bought my Sony Ericsson W960i, I searched on the internet for a cellphone shop with the lowest price. And I did find a shop that meets my needs and because the cellphone shop had a website I was able to tract that store and buy my phone.

But before you think that making a professional looking website is enough you also have to find a way to drive potential customers to your website. This is where ppc advertising comes into the picture. This form of advertising is also called paid search advertising because as you search for a product, Google or Yahoo will provide "sponsored links" and these links will have your website and a short description of your website and your product.

But how do you do all of this? Well I have absolutely no idea too because I am a novice when it comes to these stuff. That is why you need the services of NetworkSolution's ppc advertising.

With NetworkSolutions does all the work for you from analyzing your website, purchase keywords, and create ads. In other words you just have to sit and relax and wait for reports on your campaign. And if you're thinking that you need hundreds of dollars per day for advertisement well that's where you're even more wrong. Because NetworkSolutions provides affordable plans for you. And guess what? You only pay when someone clicks your ads!

So if you want your business to bloom and reap more profits then ppc advertising is the way to do it!

Suicide

There are times when I would wish that I could just give in to my weakness and just jump from a tall building to end everything... end my pain... end my suffering... end my hardship... end my loneliness...

I just want to cease existing. You see I see no point in living because we are all slowly dying anyway. Why live when people are killing other people anyway. Why live to repeat each day doing the same routine over and over again.

I walk home each night wishing I would just drop down on my knees and just disappear. You know the feeling when you're asleep. For a while you disappear from the world and you are at peace. No one is there to hurt you and you can be anywhere and be anyone you wish to be.

How easy life could be if that's the case... but there's much more to life really. Each day has its own unexpected happenings even if they are that minute. It is sad that because we live in such a fast-paced world that we fail to appreciate the simple things in life that makes living worthwhile...

Yup... even if my life is crappy and that there are some rough edges... I still continue and go on... Why? Because there is always something beautiful that I can look forward too.