Blog ads, Realtor appointment tomorrow

Some of my readers made good points regarding having ads on my blog, and I'm taking it to heart.  You are right, I think, and for now I'm abandoning the idea of having ads on my posts to generate income. I don't really mind them on other people's blogs.  I just ignore them unless they catch my eye and I'm interested in the content, then I'll click on them.  I dont' mind generating a little income for you guys!  : )

One of my future plans is to add a second tab to the blog.  The address of this blog site is dewelldesigns.blogspot.com.  The Dewell Designs part is the name of my company.  I've used that name on and off for a few years when making cards, digital scrapbook pages, etc., and it will be the name of my company if I decide to have an Internet site for resumes, word processing, editing, etc. I had a business for 15 years, and supported myself quite well from my home part of the time, and from an off-site office about half the time.  I love working on the computer, have good skills in the word processing area, love the English language, and edit other people's work and websites.  I'm really looking forward to doing that again if it works out, and I can work from anywhere my RV home is parked.

So, if I do add that tab, I may put ads there, since it will be about a business.  It won't be the business website, but will be an overview with the link to my website. 

I can just picture myself sitting at the kitchen table with Katie by my side, in the middle of a beautiful forest (or maybe by the ocean) creating resumes and documents for my customers.  That's usually how I picture my future full-timing life.  Either that, or cooking in my little kitchen.  ONE MORE YEAR!

By the way, I have a Realtor coming tomorrow at 2:00 to take a look at my condo and see what it might be worth now, or in the coming months.  If the number is too low, I also want to know what he could lease it for.  I want him to see the bedroom before the leak is repaired and all the painting, etc., is done and it's back to normal so he won't have any questions about what he's selling or leasing and that the repairs were done correctly.

This Realtor sold the condo across the lawn from me.  The original owner, who was in her 90's, was moved to a care home, and it had no updates since it was built in the 60's.  The front was overgrown somewhat with bushes.  The Realtor, Doug, trimmed the bushes, removed some, and planted flowers.  When he was done, and he did the work himself and paid for it himself, the place looked 100 percent better from the outside. It sold quickly. 

The current owner has an out-of-town job and leased it a year ago. The tenant moved out after a year and it is now leased to the nice young couple I've mentioned before.  So, I'm thinking if I did want to purchase my RV sooner than planned, I could lease the condo and move into an RV park locally pretty inexpensively, and keep working and get used to the full-timing life.  IF the numbers work.

I'm excited about my appointment with Doug tomorrow - I'll let you know what happens.  Keep your fingers crossed!

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a wonderful Thursday, everyone!  : )

Jerry Brown, blog ads, and weight gain : (

WELCOME to Cindi and Stumpy at RVly Every After!  Thanks for following along with Katie and me. I love your puppy photos, and am enjoying your new blog - especially your blogs about the RVs you're thinking about.  Maybe the same Small Class C type I'm going to be looking for.  Good luck to both of us - hope to see you both down the road. 

WELCOME to Wil Mosher - our new Follower!  Thanks for joining us, Will.  I hope you enjoy reading along as we prepare to sell everything this year, and hopefully purchase an RV to full-time in early 2012.  If you have a blog, let me know so I can follow along with you, too!

WELCOME also to the GYPSY G-MAS, Life on the Road!  I've followed your blog from the beginning and have always looked for your posts to pop up on my Blog List (no pressure!).  I really enjoy reading about your adventures.  I hope we meet up on the road some day; we can exchange "tree through the roof" stories. : )

We have a new Governor, Mr. Jerry Brown, in California.  I didn't vote for him, but have to admit I liked him the first time around, and have high hopes that he will do his best to fix all the problems in California.  I think that's how it should be:  no matter who you vote for or support, when the election is over, stand behind the winner.  I think we'd all benefit from that.  Especially at the national level.

  Governor and Mrs. Jerry Brown
39th Governor of California

Speaking of Jerry Brown, who ran against Meg Whitman, I did find out what happened to my Ad-Sense ads, and I think I know why I was dumped.  A reader who doesn't like Meg Whitman saw her ad on my blog and multiple clicked it a bunch of times, which was apparently picked up by Ad-Sense who investigated and canceled my account FOREVER.  Apparently if you are canceled due to invalid ad clicking, you can NEVER have an Ad-Sense account again.  That doesn't seem fair.  I didn't do anything wrong, and I am the one penalized.

I know that this person, who feels awful about the account being canceled, also made purchases by clicking on ads on my blog, and was just exercising a political opinion against Meg, who I actually supported.  This reader had no idea what the result of her clicking would be.  I was surprised to see a political ad on my blog, Meg Whitman was the only politician I saw advertising, but I guess she had so much money she was appearing everywhere.  Little good it did her, or me.

After seeing Tioga George's Income/Expense sheet, and seeing how much you can actually earn through blog ads, I may do some research to see if I can place ads another way. I know they can be a nuisance for my readers and apologize in advance if I do find a way.  I'd never earn what George earns, he has a HUGE following, but any extra income would be a help next year when I'm living on Social Security and probably little else. I just ignore the ads on blogs, unless it's for something of interest, then I do click. We'll see...

On that depressing note, I'll add another.  In 2010 I gained 8 pounds.  Ouch!  There was some discussion in the office today about weight gain last year.  There were four of us there, and we all gained from 8 to 20 pounds.  I know the fifth person in the next office, who remained silent on the subject, gained 15 pounds in the last months of 2010.  So, 5 for 5.  I sure hope 2011 is a year of better self control, less candy, and more exercising for me.

When Katie and I gained some weight three years ago, I put us both on a better eating plan, and we were walking a lot.  I lost my 20 pounds and she lost her 3 pounds.  Well, Katie is still thin and energetic and I'm not.  She gets two treats a day, maybe that would work for me?

Kind of a mish-mash blog today.  But, as I seem to be saying a lot lately, "It is what it is."

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a great Monday evening, everyone! : )