Blogging For Freedom

Freedom from Stress with On-Line Auctions

You’ve heard the horror stories, no doubt. “I was scammed!” “My ID was stolen!” “Nasty seller (buyer) sending me obscene e-mail!” On and on. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Be not afraid. I firmly believe it doesn’t have to be that way and after 5+ years experience buying and selling on e-Bay I believe there is a “key” to having pleasant, successful auction transactions, be ye a buyer, seller or both. At any rate, this works for me and I believe it will work for you. Attitude, Attitude, Attitude!!! Attitude reflects impression like a prism. Treat your potential buying/selling partners as you would like to be treated and wonderful things will happen.
I am dealing here with eBay Auctions, a name that has become synonymous with on line auctions. This is what I am most familiar with, but know that there are others out there for you to explore, if you are so inclined. Just to name a few: Yahoo, Amazon, uBid, bid-alot, and while the formats may vary, the principles remain constant.

SO LET’S GET STARTED!

First, let’s just familiarize ourselves with this auction venue by simply “going to” ebay.com. Don’t be concerned about the “how to’s” and “rules and regulations” now, just begin by looking at a number of auctions and getting a “feel” for what it’s all about. (For the time being, avoid “live auctions.”) On the eBay “home page” look at the column on the left. Click on categories. Do you have a particular area of interest? Browse through the many categories, zero in on a few, looking at some of the auctions along the way. Become comfortable with all the information on each auction page. You can also narrow down your hunt by typing in something more specific in the “search” window (upper right). e.g. green Indiana depression glass.
Read everything, paying particular attention to the auction description and the Terms of Sale (TOS). How does it sound to you? What kind of a feeling do you get about this seller? Don’t worry…. you can’t “accidently” bid, in fact you can’t bid at all until you have set up your eBay account. BTW, this account can be used for both buying and selling, but ultimately it’s a good idea to have an account for each.
Beginning to feel comfortable? Let’s set up that account. First, you will need to choose an eBay User ID or nom de auction…..something like an individualized license plate, only you’re not limited in length. This can be creative and fun ……want2haveit, oldcowboyrick, ugottabidda for example, or my personal favorite 1tequila-2tequila-3tequila-floor…… but anything will do. My only suggestion… keep it upbeat! Something that says something about the terrific, super person you are! In other words, “skankyone” would be a no, while “happyhannah” has a more positive ring to it. Have several in mind before you arrive at that part of the sign up procedure, in case your clever idea has been taken.
Meanwhile, back on the Home Page, near the top, look for - Hello! Sign in or register …..from there it’s a matter of filling in the blanks. All the usual stuff that you’ve been through many times if you’ve set up different accounts on the internet. I would advise creating a password that you use just for this eBay account, if you haven’t already thought of that. Oh, by the way, it’s FREE to register. Pretty simple, huh?
At this point, it is probably a good idea to set up a PAYPAL account. If you’ve done your homework thus far, you will have noticed the Paypal logo on most auctions. It’s a simple, fast way to pay for your winnings, as well as to accept payments when you become a seller. (note: eBay is not the only place you can use your PP funds). There will be seller fees, but this will be offset somewhat by the small amount of interest earned. All in all, Paypal means transactions are quicker, payment is assured, AND it’s easy!

HOW TO BE A HAPPY BUYER

You’ve been looking at and have found just the widget you want. You’ve looked at similar auctions (don’t forget to look at “completed listings,” too) and know what it ’s selling (or not) for. Which one looks like a “good bet?”
The first thing to check out is the seller’s reputation by looking at their feedback. Feedback is a voluntary evaluation that can be left by buyer & seller at the completion of each transaction and is indicated (on any auction page) by the number in parenthesis after the seller’s ID (your’s will be (0) at this point) and the % underneath. That number indicates the FB left for that seller. (not everyone chooses to leave FB, so therefore there usually have been more transactions). Click on this #. Here you will be able to see all the Seller’s FB and get an idea of how he/she performs.
The % tells you this seller’s positive FB score. Hopefully, it’s 100%! If not, you need to know why? Use and bookmark this invaluable free tool: toolhaus.org. Here you will enter in the seller’s ID and be able to see all their negative and neutral FB at a glance. Also important…. what kind of responses seller has made…. sometimes it gets pretty nasty. Depending on what you find, you may want to hit the back button on this auction right now! Remember, the % is not like a test score you receive in school….. 97% here on eBay is the pits! I’ve seen too many “deals gone bad” simply because a buyer didn’t do his/her homework and check out this first indicator. To the immediate right of the (FB#) there may be a red and blue ME. This says this user has created an “About Me” page. By clicking on it you may find out more about this seller and their attitudes.
O.K. let’s say everything checks out to this point with your desired widget. Proceed down the auction page to the item description. How does this “read” to you? Seem friendly? Is it complete? Does it tell you everything you need to know about this item?
On down to what’s known as TOS, Terms of Sale. This includes end of auction requirements by the seller, e.g. payment, shipping. Are these well organized, short and to the point, or do they go on and on with a plethora (I’ve always wanted to use that word :0) of no-nos and even sometimes, threats. Again, hit the back button, fast.
Auction Turn-offs or when to hit the back button. These are some of the things that will stop me from pursuing an auction further, depending on how rare the item and how much I want it. This is a very subjective area, however, and you may see things from an entirely different perspective. Here’s my list:
1. Too much to read. While I like a complete description/history of the item, sometimes seller gets carried away. (I have been guilty of this :0( on a piece I particularly like).
2. Too hard to read. May be disorganized, i.e. paragraphing would help, and/or types ALL IN CAPS! As you may well be aware, in computerland, all caps is synonymous with SHOUTING and considered rude. It is also very difficult to read if more than 4 or 5 lines.
3. Poor or not enough photos. This is probably the most difficult part of listing an auction, getting good pictures. I have seen pictures that are so bad that you aren’t even sure of what it is. Why even post a photo?
4. Don’t take Paypal. This is definitely personal. I am just too lazy to go out, buy a money order or wait for a check to clear. Plus I have $$ burning a hole in my PP account and it’s soooo much easier and safer.
5. Disclaimers. Down at the bottom of the TOS it might read “item as is. Not responsible once package leaves my hands. Insurance advised.” Legally they ARE responsible! If your item arrives broken you can file with PP “item not as described” and get a refund. If it is insured but not well packaged, the PO probably will not refund.
6. Feedback mentioned in TOS. e.g. Feedback will be left for buyer after buyer has done so. I don’t want to see feedback “attitude” in any shape or form in the auction.
7. TOS goes on and on with too many “thou shalt nots.” Too much negative energy.
If you have any questions at all, now is the time to get them answered! EMAIL SELLER! There is a place to do this near top/right of the page, reads: question for seller. How (and if) the seller answers will be another clue to their integrity. Remember, when you place a bid you enter into a contract and are agreeing to adhere to seller’s Terms of Sale, should you win.

READY*SET*GO

Placing those first couple of bids can be exciting….a bit of an adrenaline rush even. First, decide what is the most you would pay for this item, being sure to figure in the shipping/handing charges which the buyer is ALWAYS responsible for. If these charges are not mentioned in the listing or not automatically calculated for you, ask the seller what it would be to your zip? If you get no answer, pass. Some sellers have been known to make their money on inflated shipping charges. You don’t want surprises like this, should you win the auction.
Scrolling down to the bottom of the auction page you will see a space where you can enter your bid. It will give you the next bid increment, but entering that is basically a waste of your time. Enter in your MAX BID, i.e. the most you are willing to pay. Hit “continue” and you will confirm on the next page. Your bid will then register as the next increment unless someone else has a higher max bid. Clear as mud? Let me try an example: The gorgeous widget I want for my collection is there for a starting bid of $5.00. There are no bids so far. To my zip the postage would be $6. I do not want to spend more than $20, total, therefore I will enter a max bid of $14 (6+14=20). Once I enter that bid, the auction will show 1 bid at $5, next increment, $5.25. The next bidder, if there is one, will have to bid over my $14 to outbid me. I will receive an email from eBay advising me of this. I then have the choice of stopping right there or can place another bid.
Many seasoned bidders do what is called “Snipe” bidding. This can be done in one of two ways. 1) wait until the last few minutes of the auction. Have the auction page open to the BID window. Enter in your max bid, continue, and hit the final button in the last 10 SECONDS. If you have a slow connection this may not work for you. OR..2) Use a snipe tool. I use JustSnipe.com, a FREE (up to a certain number a week) and easy way to go. Especially handy if you are not able to be at your computer when the auction ends.
How exciting! You have won your widget. Now what? Almost immediately (usually) you will receive an eBay email advising you that you have won this auction. It will have all the particulars in it, including the shipping charges (which hopefully match what you figured before bidding). If the seller takes Paypal and that is your choice of payment, click on the very visible yellow PAY NOW button. Otherwise, wait for the seller to send you an invoice.
Once the seller has acknowledged your payment received, they may or may not let you know that they’ve shipped your item. Do not be in a hurry, sometimes things move more slowly than we’ed like on eBay, but if you haven’t heard anything from your seller in say, a week, email them with a polite “have you shipped” question. Paying via Paypal definitely speeds things up to the point where you may have your “win” 5-7 days after the end of auction.
Your treasure arrives. You examine it carefully. Is it as described and pictured? Was it well packaged? Have you had pleasant communication with this seller. Let your seller know by posting POSITIVE FEEDBACK for them to this effect. (it’s also a nice gesture to send an email, if you have the time). Feedback will help other buyers evaluate this seller, so be specific, e.g. fast shipping.item as described.good communication. eBay has recently added (5/07) the “star system” for the buyer to evaluate the seller in specific areas. You don’t have to participate in this in order to leave the FB. In my personal opinion, it’s a waste of time.
If, by chance, things are not as they should be….item does not arrive, or arrives broken, is not as described or there are any other problems, what to do? DO NOT PANIC! Notify your seller immediately. See what he suggests as a solution. Assuming you’ve chosen your seller wisely, he will respond with something reasonable that you can both live with. Do NOT even think about feedback at this point. Wait until all is resolved to your satisfaction before doing so. There is no rush…you have 90 days.
Worst case scenario, your seller does not respond and offer solutions. You can pull his contact info and give him a call and/or file a report with PayPal to retrieve your money.
As far as feedback for you from the seller, and I know you are anxious to receive those first numbers, be patient. Some sellers leave FB immediately at payment (not a good idea, but some do, nonetheless), some at end of the transaction (after all is said and done), some in batches at the end of the month, and some not at all. It is a voluntary tool. Do not worry about it….it will come in good time. Whatever you do, DO NOT ASK FOR FB! It is considered poor etiquette at best, rude by many and may earn you FB you do not want.
That’s about all I have for the BUYERS, at this point. Stay tuned for HOW TO BE A HAPPY SELLER.

******this is a work in progress. Please check back for updates, Have fun, Lisa.

Howdy all, My wife Lisa and I, began to explore “outside of the box” in the early 1970’s unknown to each other until the summer of 1975 when Lisa answered an ad that I placed in the local Thousand Oaks, CA newspaper. “KNOW YOURSELF THROUGH ASTROLOGY” was the subject and since she was a Professional Astrologer we had a wonderful 1 hour conversation. We never met or spoke to each other again until ……….

SEPT 11, 1976

I opened a Metaphysical Bookstore called The AKASHIC RECORD BOOKSHOP, in Thousand Oaks, CA on 9/11/76. Lisa was my very first customer on that day. Lisa said, “I know you, we talked about Astrology last year when I called you concerning your ad in the paper.” “Yes, I remember you well as you were the ONLY one that answered that ad!”, I replied. Shortly after that she began working part time at the bookstore and before 1977 was finished she was my business partner and manager at the bookshop. We were the best of friends and our two families often had dinners and parties together.

AUGUST 7, 1984

August 7, 1984 changed our lives and consciousness in a twinkling of an eye. We were called to the back of the bookshop that afternoon for an urgent message from our in-shop channeler who had just finished a reading for a customer. It was truly a beautiful message to both of us indicating that from this time forward we were to continue our work as “ONE” Our energies were being blended into a harmonious vibration in what was called a “SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE” At the end of the channeling, Lisa and I looked at each other and our individuality seemingly merged together as ONE being in two physical bodies.

Things were never the same for us after that moment. The energy to be together in physical, not just the spiritual was too overpowering for us. The next several months, until the end of 1984, would be a most challenging period for both of us with our traditional family relationships. Lisa’s 28 year marriage and my 25 year marriage both ended in 1985 to the total dismay of ALL of our friends, ex-spouses and 6 grown children (ages 18 to 25 at that time). Lisa and I were “PHYSICALLY MARRIED” on 8/7/86, two years after our “SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE”.

1987

This year would turn out to be a real turning point in our life (like none of the prior ones were?) as we purchased the WHOLE LIFE EXPO along with a partner and in February 1987 we co-produced the largest METAPHYSICAL gathering (up until that time anyway) at the Pasadena, CA Exposition Hall. We had many well known channelers giving workshops and the main event that filled the auditorium on Sat night was Jach Purcell channeling Lazarus along with Kevin Ryerson (made famous by Shirley MacClaine). What an outstanding experience we had with that Saturday Night event.

However, the WOLE LIFE EXPO left us in total shock about the attitudes of the majority of the NEW AGE promoters, marketers & channelers. Their messages were about LOVE but their actions were NOT. One of the exceptions was Jach Purcell, he and his people were absolutely marvelous to work with. Most of the others were demanding and totally unreasonable at the smallest of things. We simply did not want to continue dealing with people that did not have integrity. We sold our share of the WHOLE LIFE EXPO to our partner within a month of the end of the expo. Several months later we sold “THE AKASHIC RECORD BOOKSHOP” to a marvelous lady that still operates it today. That marked the end of our spiritual work as our source of income.

Of course at that point we could not see that our entire experiences are but a mirror of who we are. It was not until many years later that we were able to look back on that time and realize how valuable the experience was in order to know more about ourselves. The ones that gave us the most difficulties were truly our teachers!

August of 1987 was the Harmonic Convergence and we went with a group to Hawaii. We celebrated on top of Mt. Haleakela, a very spiritual place indeed. That event was to be our last major experience in the metaphysical/spiritual world for 10 years. We decided to explore life with more FREEDOM by traveling in an RV fulltime to enjoy NATURE.

SEPT 11, 1989 - WE TAKE IT ON THE ROAD

September 11, 1989 found us on a Greyhound bus heading to Oregon. We had ordered a 40 ft Teton 5th wheel trailer and Chevy Pickup to tow it. Our entire material world had been sold, business, cars, home, everything except our kids. We traveled and explored the Western half of the US for 15 months before we ran out of money! This period turns out to be one of greatest life experiences in the NOW. Instead of settling down in a small community like our original plan, we went to work for a company called American Guide Services December 1990. This allowed us to go where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go and earn a full time income selling advertising for visitor guides.

1997 - A SECOND AWAKENING

While we were enjoying our FREEDOM LIFESTYLE, it seemed that something was missing only we could not quite put our finger on it. We saw the movie CONTACT in the summer of 1997 and were reawakened again, Bryce more-so than Lisa. The scene that did it for me was when the scientists that were working on the ET messages and just could not figure out the 2D diagrams. Suddenly the idea came to morph the 2D images into a 3D image and the picture became perfectly clear. When I viewed this morphing my body was immediately filled with an energy that created a tingling vibration from my head to my toes. This feeling lasted a full 6 months and never dissapated regardless of what I was doing.

In retrospect, this was the time that we began to look for other alternatives than selling advertising for our income. It was a gradual change and by early 2000 we had done our last visitors guide for AGS. We have been traveling on the road, working and playing ever since and incorporating spiritual solutions to everyday events (except for the times that we didn’t).

SEPT 11, 2001 - OUR THIRD AWAKENING

Our most recent re-awakening was 9/11/01. Have you noticed how many important things have happened in our lives on 9/11? We are also noticing how often the number 11 keeps showing up in our lives starting back when we were involved for 11 years with the AKASHIC RECORD BOOKSHOP. We often look at the clock when it is exactly at 11:11.

Since 9/11 we have done nothing except go within to remember who we truly are …Co-Creators with GOD. We send our LOVE, JOY & COMPASSION to ALL beings, knowing that everything is ALWAYS perfect as it is. ACCEPT WHAT IS AS IS!

2003 - YET ANOTHER SHIFT IN OUR ENERGIES

We know that we are here to help others in their relationships with each other and with the God within as these new energies continue to explode on us. Our early contract was to balance energy and transmute the polarities into the unity of oneness with love, joy and compassion. Our new contract is to be a Way-Shower to assist all who are in transition from the old energies to the new energies. In November 2003, we started a book called, “OUTPOST ROAD, A TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO THE 5TH DIMENSION” based upon our personal experiences. As of Jan 2007 we have not progressed passed chapter 1 due to Lisa’s pain. In December 2005 she had a hip replacement and is just now becoming a normal human being, able to do everything for herself now.

2004 - IT JUST KEEPS CHANGING

Bryce went through a six month period from Dec 2003 to May 2004 where nothing seemed to matter anymore. He had no ambition to do anything. During this period he was introduced to the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and the “Power of Now” Eckhart presents the material in such a way that one can begin experiencing the NOW MOMENT immediately while reading or listening to his sessions. Recently Bryce has resumed his interest in the quest for TRUTH and to assist all others that ask for his help. However by the end of the year, yet another period of absolutely NO ambition to do anything set in.

2005 … ACCEPTING WHAT IS

Finally, Bryce was introduced to Tony Parsons and two of his books… “AS IT IS” and “INVITATION TO AWAKEN” These books have explained the experiences of NOT CARING about anything. Awakening to enlightenment can not occur while one is SEEKING! While I am still DOING NOTHING, I am much more understanding that this is just part of the program. The mind/ego can only take us to edge of the river but can never allow us to awaken until we accept that we can not DO ANYTHING to awaken as it will occur when we are ready.

JUNE 21, 2005 … Bryce discovered SimDynasty.com, an online simulated baseball site that allows one to create a team by drafting fictional simulated baseball players, then manage them against 15 other baseball teams. What makes this so enjoyable is the complete CREATIVE process and the ability to change nothing into something, just by the mind intending what to do. Sim Baseball is the perfect thing to do while in the overall 3D mode of “doing nothing”. It keeps Bryce totally in the NOW moment and continues the process of “NOT SEEKING” enlightenment… What fun it is to revisit childhood dreams of being a professional baseball player by employing all of Bryce’s baseball knowledge into a real time simulated baseball game along with thousands of other sim baseball owners.

AUGUST, 2005 … Lisa got her MRI results for her right hip and finally accepted the fact that she needed her hip replaced ASAP. She has been in much pain for years and it finally got to the point that she could barely walk.

DECEMBER, 2005 … Lisa’s long awaited hip surgery occurred in Springfield IL. The fun of recuperation now begins…

2006 - RECUPERATION

Lisa is now recuperating from her hip replacement done in Dec 2005, Her pain from the surgery was nothing compared to her pain before surgery, just different.

MAY, 2006 … Bryce discovered another online simulated baseball system, Mogul Simulated Baseball , a site that allows one to choose a real professional baseball team, then manage them against 29 other real MLB teams. The teams are based upon the MLB rosters that are in place as of April 1st each year. The MLB players stats are incorporated into their ratings when you obtain the team but it is up to you as the GM and Manager to make the necessary changes to compete in the leagues. There is Finances for Scouting, Farm Systems, and Medical, Trades, Free Agent Bidding. Mogul is much more comprehensive that SimDynasty but both have their pros and cons and Bryce participates in both sim games.

2007 - CURRENT

JANUARY 2007,

Bryce has exited all but 3 online simulated baseball team. The activity of simply “playing” is being replaced with a new website “Consciousness of Truth” which presents our concept of living in TRUTH while most are living in CHAOS all around us. More about this later this year.

SPRING 2007

We have created 2 FREE ARTICLE DIRECTORIES called OUTPOST ROAD, “Outside the Box” & MacMERLIN UNLIMITED. The intent of OUTPOST ROAD is to offer free article content with categories that are not within mainstream concepts. Metaphysics, Spirituality (NOT Religious), Consciousness, UFOs, Inner Earth, Cosmic Awareness, 5th dimensional experiences, are just a small example of what can be found there. The intent of MacMERLIN UNLIMITED blog  is to present the “MAGIC OF LIFE” content for every part of our existence.

Thank you ALL for being here and know that you are ALL making an outstanding impact on the consciousness of the world just by being yourself and experiencing life in the NOW MOMENT!

We continue to live our life “Outside the Box”

Howdy all, to me this simply means freedom from working for others. I have been self employed since 1978 and now live basically on Social Security plus my internet marketing income.

I know that over the years I have put in probably twice as much time doing my own thing than if I worked for an employer. The experience of freedom however is far greater when you know you have the final decision on what you do.

Sept 11, 1989 we took our freedom from employment one step further. We sold everything, business, home, cars, furniture, etc and hit the road. Our first taste of travel freedom came when we boarded a greyhound with 16 packages of all that remained of “our stuff”. 24 hours later we arrived in Junction City, OR to take possession of our new RV that would start our 18 year RVing freedom to travel experience.

However, we still had to earn an income on the road as we had no retirement funds and at age 50 no social security. Our money ran out after 15 months so our permanent vacation ended when we went to work for AGS, selling advertising for RV Resorts across the western U.S. This was a great job as we travelled where we wanted to go, when we wanted to go and stayed as long as we wanted. Since we were independent contractors, we controlled how much we wanted to work. This we did for 10 years and experienced much of the Western U.S.

We now spend most of our time on our Reno Sagebrush Ranch where we have high speed wifi and continue to earn our income from the internet. My wife Lisa buys and sells depression glass on eBay and I am an internet marketer exploring all the possibilities available to me.

What fun we are having with our FREEDOM FROM EMPLOYMENT. If you want to find out more about Fulltime RVing you visit our website that has our RV experiences since 1989.

Freedom is one of my life’s passions. Freedom to be able to live life “Outside the Box”. Freedom to have religious, spiritual, and political opinions. Freedom to live life as I choose and not what others would chose for me. Freedom to experience nature and the wonderful outdoors. Freedom to eat what I want. Freedom to enjoy the internet and all of its flaws. Freedom to Love. Freedom to know that “WE ARE ALL ONE”

Politicians however have a different view of freedom as they have one thing on their mind…getting reelected. Now I know there are actually a few that really do care for the people but they get completely lost in the overwhelming political dogma. Many congressman come to DC with all of the good intent to do their thing but soon learn the ropes and just fade into the woodwork. This article is about the vast majority of politicians that are basically service to self souls and not service to others.

The fact of the matter is that both parites go through the motions of pretending to do their job while all the while behind the scenes carrying out the orders of those that have put them there. They are very clever at creating illusions that to the casual observer seem to be good for the people, until one digs into the buried details. For instance look at the boondoggle Prescription Drug Program that was promoted as a great savings for the elderly. It is now apparent that the confusion and complexity is so great that it is almost impossible to figure it all out. So the elderly wind up paying more money than they used to pay. The drug companies and insurance companies meanwhile are benefiting.

Politicians have the ability to smile and say they are going to do this or that just to get the people to vote for them so that they can continue their stay in office. Once elected however they have no loyalty to the people that put them there. They are loyal only to the path of money, greed and fear. They fear for their lives if they waiver from the script so always they are giving the illusion of working for the people while Take the recent Iraq Troop withdrawal fiasco where the people overwhelmingly voted Democratic to get their loved ones home. Lots of talk but in the end they just caved in to Bush and so nothing is changed as the war continues with deaths continuing daily.

Meanwhile I must live my life with as much freedom as I can legally experience, knowing that someday there will be a change to how things are done in D.C. The way we are continually controlled by the powers that be is by FEAR of course. As long as we buy into what they are selling, nothing will change, just more of the same.

I must continue to ignore the politicians and what comes out of their mouth and always focus on raising the consciousness of myself and mother earth and all of her people.

Howdy all, The following are all websites that I developed since 1996.

WEBWORKER, internet marketing site for beginners.

FULL TIME RVING, our life on the road since 1989.

REFERRAL INCOME TOOLS, internet marketing tool site for webmasters.

CO-CREATIONS UNLIMITED, our spiritual life and perspective on “we are all one”.

MACMERLIN UNLIMITED, our spiritual blog.

BLOGGING FOR FREEDOM, our perspective on the FREEDOMS we enjoy

BLOGGING FOR PROFIT, our free step by step on how we earn income via blogging

COCREATIONS UNLIMITED SPIRITUAL BLOG, our spiritual blog

Howdy all and welcome to how you too can learn to experience the freedom of escaping from the rat race called urban America. First of all let me say that virtually anyone can do what my wife Lisa and I have done. In 1989 at the age of 49 and 55 we sold everything, our business, our two cars, our furniture, other household items, sold a few things, and put the rest in storage. It was a Sept 11, 1989 morning that we boarded a Greyhound bus in Southern Calif to begin our life on the road in an RV. I know I said a bus, but we were headed for Oregon to pick up our RV in Junction City that we had ordered over the phone with a $1000 deposit using our credit card.

There we were in the wee hours of the morning with our 16 boxes of stuff we just could not do without, waiting for our RV salesman to pick us up. Our 24 hour ride was quite an experience in itself so we knew that we were in for the challenge of a lifetime with this adventure. We were excited about seeing our new home, a 40 ft Teton 5th wheel trailer. Let the adventure of freedom begin.

We travelled basically only in the Western United States and were neither retired or had any retirement funds. Our basic plan was to travel for 2-3 years, “smelling the daisies along the way”. Our motto became “No Matter Where We Go There We Are”! Which means you can’t run away from the challenges of life, we just chose to experience them on the road, enjoying this outstanding country. Originally our plan was to settle down in a small community of 10,000 somewhere in the west! 18 years later we are still looking for that community.

We loved the FREEDOM and the FLEXIBILITY to be able to go where we want to, when we want to for as long as we want to. Our only problem was just how to make enough money to sustain this lifestyle. Well we made it for 15 months before we ran out of money! We had no intention of settling down yet as we were having too much fun! What to do? Fortunately we had met some baby-boomer rvers the second month out. They were members of the ESCAPEES RV CLUB which is an outstanding organization that is a must for all RVers on the road.

We soon met others that also were working on the road and quickly discovered a company called American Guide Services (AGS) which produces RV Resort Visitor Guides. These guides are handed out to each RV visitor that registers and are paid for by local advertisers that wish to promote their products or services to the RVers. Our job was to sell advertising space on these visitor guides and earn commissions from the sale of each ad.

While still traveling the west and producing RV Resort Visitor Guides for AGS, a little item called the Internet was discovered in Jan 1996! Bryce has been in computers since the early days of computers (1959) working for Lockheed Calif Co in Burbank, CA as Computer Programmer, (no one ever heard of computer programmers until the late 60’s)!

Finding out about the WEB, well that was it, he has never been the same since! 1996 saw him spend over 3000 man hours developing WebWorker.com web site. WebWorker’s concept was to help everyone learn how to develope their own web site and promote it in such a manner as to create their own home-based business. WebWorker has literally thousands of web pages filled with FREE information to help anyone do what Bryce has done!

This has complicated our traveling flexibility. We now had to plan ahead of time where we are going, order a local phone connection ahead of time, so that when we pull in, Bryce can hook up and be online that same day. We also stayed 1 to 2 months at a time instead of 1 to 2 weeks like we used to!

July 1998 found us with a revolutionary new discovery! The way we communicate with the world changed our life experience once again. The cell phone was introduced by AT&T with their One Rate plan and we had access with NO roaming charges and NO long distance charges! It is AWESOME! We opted for the 600 minutes per month for $89.99. In addition to the incredible access to our family at all times, this service also has a Voice Mail System that the caller is defaulted to when the Cellular Phone is turned off or is out of a cell service area. Our NOKIA cell phone can also be used to get your email although it was very slow at 9600!

Once again our lives changed dramatically in 1999 when we discovered eBAY. We figured out how to earn an income from online auctions and even could do this while still traveling and living in our RV. We created an online auction business and finally resigned from AGS after 10 wonderful years selling advertising. We would travel about the country, visiting antique stores and discovered that many of them did not sell their treasures on the internet (this is not true today however). This knowledge enabled us to help other people sell their trash to people that perceived it as treasure. Today their are thousands of Auction Helper businesses throughout the nation.

Freedom called once again in 2003 as a new energy entired into our RV Lifestyle. Bryce at the time was heavily involved in Web Site Development and Internet Marketing Services. New clients were continually referred to us from our happy customer base. However a transformative change was begtinning to take hold for Bryce as he lost interest in “working”. He still held onto a few clients that were not very demanding and has not taken on any new ones since then.

Freedom from working allowed the passion of GeoCaching to enter our lives followed very closely with online simulation fantasy baseball. Since we are both receiving Social Security which covers most of our basic expenses, we have no motivation to do any kind of work at all, just playing 24/7. Lisa is still hard at play doing her buying and selling of green depression glass utilizing eBay auction services. In addition we go to many live auctions, swap meets, garage sales, and flea markets …. looking for that elusive item to sell. It is much more challenging today as the “good ‘ol days” of finding great buys are rare, everyone knows about eBay now!

FREEDOM to SETTLE DOWN. We are for the most part bi-rving. I mean that we basically spend the spring, summer and fall at our Reno, NV ranch and winter in Ventura county, CA. We are never more than a few hours offline as we now have Verizon’s internet access through our cell phone when we are on the road.

See you on down the road.. y’here!… Bryce and Lisa

Article Source is http://www.bloggingforfreedom.com

I will dedicate this blog to my perspective of what FREEDOM is! It is made up of many aspects like freedom to travel, freedom to chose what I want to do, financial freedoms, freedom of where I want to live, and many more. Since I have lived most of my life from “Outside the Box”, you may guess that this blog will come from a drastically different perspective from “Main Stream” life. Freedom is just a state of mind anyway, so enjoy looking at life from a different perspective… thanks for being here..Bryce

Howdy all, today I decided to pursue creating a forum about INTERNET MARKETING INTEGRITY. I have been involved with internet marketing on and off since 1996. Only recently this year have I actively been involved in earning internet income to supplement my Social Security check. I have no other retirement funds and have always enjoyed whatever I was making at the time. Now it is time to again to use my internet abilities to bring in some cash.

In the past 4 months I have been researching and exploring ALL types of internet marketing programs and boy are there a lot! Years ago when I did quite well with affiliate marketing there were only a fraction available compared to today. It is extremely challenging to know what to get involved with today, mainly due to the HYPE that each promotion is throwing at you. It goes something like this… the first intro ALWAYS gives you something for FREE, just give them your email address and get this free download. Sounds good, until you get to the next page and WHAMMO.. you get hit with this unbelievable offer but only if accept it RIGHT NOW. Supposedly you will not ever be able to get this offer again! Well at least not until you have joined for free and get into the membership area where you are bombarded with upgrade offers.

Now the autoresponder emails begin to show up daily or even hourly about this promotion or that one, “you just cant live without this product” click here. “Joe has just released this membership and only 100 spots are available! Don’t miss out on this one!” Of course all of these are money makers for the owners of whatever product/membership you just joined.. so they are not looking out after you at all, just how much can they make from you as soon as they can. They realize you probably wont be around long, so they have to strike while the iron is hot..so to speak.

I am in research mode so I join a lot of these to see what is going on today in the internet marketing world. I am truly shocked at the HYPE! There is not always a lot of content about what they are promoting, just the HYPE at how much money you can make but hurry as it may all go away if you don’t. What I do to insure my FREEDOM from spam whenever I give away my email address is ALWAYS create a new one just for this particular product. If I don’t want to continue past the refund stage, I simply delete this email address and the endless emails STOP.

Speaking of refunds, this is also a challenging area! Even though they all say 30 day refund, some are really very difficult to get. Particularly those based outside the USA. One major tip… keep a printed record of every payment transaction. Many use 3rd party payment processors and in some cases you will have to go to them to get your refund as the original marketer’s email address is not valid. Another major tip is DO NOT use a debit card to purchase items as you can not do a charge back from a debit card, only a credit card. I just had this happen to me over the last 2 weeks. I purchased a program from a marketer in Germany and the program did not work for me on my Macintosh. Nowhere in the sales HYPE did it mention it only worked on PCs, so when I downloaded it and saw that .exe suffix I immediately started my refund. It has taken 2 weeks and just today the marketer grudgingly granted my refund but only after I went through his 3rd party payment processor.

Refund tip… The easiest refunds I have discovered come from CLICKBANK. Marketers that are promoting their programs and are using CLICKBANK must agree to a 56 day (8 weeks) no questions asked refund policy. I have never had a problem obtaining a refund from any promotion using CLICKBANK.

Summing up.. Freedom from Internet Marketers Hype.. 1. New email address dedicated only to this offer, 2. Print payment transaction, 3. Use Credit Card or Paypal to pay with…. thanks for listening Bryce