The Poddyland News

I was all set to write my next post on The Poddyland News Wednesday morning when I got called into the boss’s office, and here I am unemployed again.

The company had been trying to cut costs, since sales have slowed down, and the biggest customer, Walmart, had been squeezing profit margins.

So here I am, one of 60 people who lost their jobs in Boca Raton on Wednesday, not a lot of hope to get another one in the field I have worked in for the last 20 years, since nobody is hiring.  In fact it doesn’t look like there is a single job advertised for what I do in the swole state of Florida.

Well I wrote a post about this on my blog and hope that you will pay a visit if you haven’t already to read more.

I think my only hope for now lies in trying to boost my earnings online, so any visits to my blog, shares, Thumbs Up, Diggs etc would be much appreciated.  Hopefully if I can get some increased traffic and exposure to more visitors, I might get some more Adsense Clicks or Affiliate Sales, and that could help to bring in some more revenue in the coming months.

I know that most of you reading this post are my friends on here, although I hope that word about Squidtop manages to spread to a wider audience.  I truly appreciate all the help you have given and can give.   People from Squidoo have proven to be very generous with advice and help, and I feel like we have some groups of people who are becoming really good friends.

I spent almost 2 hours on the phone with a lensmaster in California on Friday for example, who gave me lots of ideas about ways to potentially earn some good money, and having chatted with people on the forums over the last year, you already feel that you are like old friends, even before you chat on the phone or meet.

Well wish me luck in my endeavours.  I will be working on my lenses, but firstly I have to get my paperwork in order, tax return done while I have the time, medical work done while I still have insurance, and a couple of new internet projects off the ground.

I was wondering about our blogs at Squidtop lately.  Just how many people actually visit and look at our postings?  Is it just the small group of us that have blogs, or do other people actually visit at all?

There are often very few comments on not only my postings, but others here too, and they are usually by the same people – US!

I wondered what you do to promote your Squidtop blog, and does it seem to do any good?

South Florida has cooled off again this week, and the temperatures for the last 3 nights were down in the low 30’s, which is decidedly cool for here.   It’s funny to see people in thick winter coats, but I have to admit that although I have a good tolerance for cold, and I can stand being outside when it’s cold as long as the sun is shining and it’s not windy, once the sun goes in and that icy wind gets up, it starts to cut right through me.

This week has seen me making a few tweaks to our Off The Record blog, mostly tidying up the code on the Wordpress Theme.  Debbie also put out a wonderfully funny post about the shopping trip she took last weekend with her daughter.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you could be missing out on a good laugh.

I also worked on another site that I have been desperate to get off the ground this past week, The Laughline.  This is the place where I will be copying all the jokes and funny pictures from my original web site The Poddys Directory, plus I will be using it as the archive repository for all my postings from my Yahoo Group.  So if you get a chance and are in the mood for something funny, please drop by The Laughline.

Well the deadline has now passed for Debbie to get her visa approved, so there is not enough time now before Valentines Day to get her passport sent off the the US Embassy in London and returned before she was due to fly, even if she heard today.  So, our hopes of spending half term together for Valentines Day and Presidents Day have been dashed.  I have Presidents Day off and she has the whole week off, but now we have to spend them alone, 4,500 miles apart.  The next opportunity for her to come over is Easter, which is another 2 months away.  Of course we still have to wait for her visa to be approved to know if she can come over.  The waiting, since the end of October is so frustrating.  Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

Well have a good weekend everybody, stay warm, or cool if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, and if you get a chance, I have 3 lenses listed below that are in need of some love.  Please visit if you can and leave a comment to let me know that you were there.

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW BLOG

Debbie (better know to some of you as Debnet) have a new blog, and we both invite you to join in the conversations there and to see what we are up to.   We plan to cover just about anything, from what each of us is doing while we are stuck 4,500 miles apart, to news, updates and information on trendy new items or web sites / software that we like.  So please if you have time drop in to see us at Off The Record.  Be sure to leave us a comment to let us know you were there. 

My SQUIDOO LENSES

My lens status as of today is as below:

LENS STATUS

Top 100: 0
Top 2,000: 3
Top 10,000: 8
Lenses: 74

NEW LENSES

The Best Breakfast Food
The Daily Joke January 2009

MY TOP 5 LENSES

1. My Pet Peeves
2. The Best Breakfast Food
3. Bournemouth
4. The Daily Joke Index
5. Religious Jokes

LENSES IN NEED OF LOVE – I AM LONELY – PLEASE VISIT ME

• Song Lyrics Baggy Trousers by Madness
• Song Lyrics Walking On The Moon by The Police
• Song Lyrics Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen