I have started a new website for the fun of it called drawinz.com. It is a work in progress at the moment (maybe forever). I intend to create instructions on how to draw cartoons, put up some puzzles and games that can be printed out and illustrations that can be downloaded and used. Anyone can use the artwork if they want. It is free. If you want something for a newsletter or country paper etc you are most welcome. It is all original artwork so there are no copyright issues. If you do use anything it would be nice if you could acknowledge me as the artist with a link to my site www.drawinz.com.
I don’t know how Rupert Murdoch is doing with his bid to get us to pay for news content on the internet but I think its’ success will depend on a little thing called quality. Most news sites churn up the most trite, poor quality articles that I would rather do without than pay for. But if paying meant that they could afford to produce high quality material I would consider a subscription. You can view my site for free. I would expect something a little better before I started paying.
We have been going through the process of buying bikes for everyone in the family lately and up until yesterday I was the only one without one. I had bolted the child seat onto Melissa’s bike and have been using her bike to get about. Now I don’t mind riding about on a ladies bike. It’s just a men’s bike with the bar moved down, and it’s not like I care what anyone else thinks of me.
Up until yesterday when I caved in and got a men’s bike I was seriously thinking of buying a ladies bike for myself. Here’s why. I am the one who rides Ash to pre-school so I have the child seat on my bike. On a men’s bike you generally dismount by swinging your leg over the back, but with the child seat on the back I am likely to kick my 3 year old in the face. I am going to have to lift my leg awkwardly over the bar in the front. All because I am cowered by social convention and because I don’t want people I don’t know to think I am too girly. I just hope they don’t catch me skipping.
We have been in Rangiora for nearly 2 months now. And so far I love it. Small towns are great. I now take my 3 year old to pre-school on the bike. People are friendly. Cars drive slower. They angle park in the main street of town. It’s quaint, it’s comfortable and it is 20 minutes from the city.
Rangiora is like a black hole. People seem to move here and never leave. It’s quite the opposite to Westport, where I lived for a while as a kid. That’s more like a catapult. People start there and then fly off as soon as they are released never to return. Having said that I have to admit that I love Westport and would defend it against anyone who would dare to criticise it. I am just not likely to move back there.
I have been watching a show on TV 7 called Beyond The Recession. A lot of smart people saying smart things I have heard before about how to grow the economy. I am not going to disparage any of them because they are all more successful than me and I can see how most of what they said is right. They spoke of investment in technology, investment in small business, economic literacy, improved saving habits, lower debt, better education et cetera. They are all good points but I personally would like to see something else.
As a small sole provider with some skills in my chosen profession but none in business except what I have picked up along the way what I would like to see is a local small business center. Somewhere I could sign up to and attend once a week or fortnight where I could go to seminars, talk to financial advisors and business mentors, meet other people like myself, thrash out ideas, brain-storm so to speak and support one another.
Maybe this already exists. Maybe this is what the Chamber Of Commerce does or incubators do. Maybe I just need to go to the pub more. I don’t know. Maybe I have become so isolated working from home that I can’t see ll the hands stretched out offering help. Maybe the same affliction that prevents my son finding his socks in his draws afflicts me. Maybe I just need to learn how to look for things better.
Obviously this would cost money and this is a problem. I can’t afford this with my hand to mouth business model but struggle to get beyond this model without some assistance.
If I found something that I had faith would assist me I would scrounge around and find the money but I have seen a lot of support businesses promoted that are based more on wishful thinking than real results.
Am I the only person who thinks like this?
So where do I go from here? Probably in the same direction I have always gone.
I read an article recently about a German idea to put natural gas generators into homes for heat and power and to send it’s excess power back into the grid. This is a great idea. Check out the article.
OMG! I hate that acronym most of the time. The phrase it represents is pretty naff too. I didn’t think I would use it in public until now. I have just watched the winner of Ukraine Got Talent 2009. She was amazing! Here’s the link if you want to check it out yourself.
As I mentioned earlier, we have moved. Contact details have been updated on the contact page but here they are again.
3 Taunton Place. Rangiora, 7400.
03 313 2209 and 022 624 0647
Google has unveiled some new technology they have been working on called Wave and I have to say I like it. It’s billed as taking over from email and it may actually do it. The video on their site is pretty big (nearly 400 megs) but very interesting.
After 4 days of packing, shifting and unpacking we settled in to our new house enough to leave the kids with grand parents and shoot down to Dunedin and watch Mel compete in a moot competition over the weekend. Despite it being a rush the weekend was great. Mel did really well and Dunedin was terrific.
I feel so ragged today. I must try that thing called sleep. 1 month ago
@NadineIsler A friend had chicken pox at the same time as my kids. They hardly noticed but he had a bad case of it. Sucks when you are older 1 month ago
