.: Bill Thomas Profile and Articles
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1). How to Get Tons of Free Stuff to SellThis simple method of getting free stuff works. Although I'm no longer doing this, I'm sure that if you follow these simple steps, you'll wind up with so much stuff that you might have to get someone to take some of your stuff.
It works like this, grab the weekend papers, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Go to the classified section where it lists 'Moving Sales'.
2). Would You Please Put Your Butt Somewhere Else?
Let me just say right off that even though I'm not a smoker, and never have been unless you count the illegal stuff back when I was younger, I have no desire to see smoking banned everywhere just because I don't do it. However, something that really frosts my cake is the inconsiderate slobs that empty their ashtrays at the intersection. It's really rather disgusting I believe to pull up to a red light, glance out the window and see a pile of butts staring back at you.
3). Dog Days of Summer and Swimming with Boots
August is the hottest month in this part of the world. Trying to stay cool can be a challenge when you grow up without access to a swimming pool or clean river. Being young and therefore enterprising and stupid, my brother Rick and I decided one HOT day that we were going swimming even if it meant we had to walk five miles to Keyser's, an old quarry that had evolved into a series of large ponds.
4). Expressing Your Thoughts Through Blogging
Growing up as a socially withdrawn child with virtually no self esteem, writing was one of the few outlets I had to express myself. I spent many hours writing along with my brother Rick, about neighborhood happenings and immortalizing the many neighborhood characters through our publication 'Burn'. I also would write scripts of some of the popular T.
5). Dogs..What's In a Name?
We grew up with dogs. Four legged ones. There was always one coming or going. I was reflecting on that, and the different names they had and how that reflected upon the nature of the dog. The first one that I remember was named 'lady' and looking back that just doesn't seem to fit since every time you turned around she was getting out ho'ing and producing another litter.
6). Fitness.. Ten Minutes at a Time
At some point in our life, just about all of us realize we need to start exercising. We need to think about Fitness. Sometimes it's when we glance in the mirror for more than a few seconds, or oftentimes it's at the urging of our doctor. It may be just a few pounds that we've picked up from too many nights chomping down on pizza and pasta, or maybe it's that we look pregnant and we happen to be 40, male and celibate.
7). Best Walking Shoes
Would you pay $200 for a pair of athletic shoes because some star athlete endorses them? Well, maybe not you, but there are many people that obviously will and do.
Athletic shoes have become a huge business in the last couple of decades, with superstar athletes getting multi-million dollar contracts to add their name to the shoe. In my opinion, oftentimes the price paid is not worthy of the quality of shoe.
8). Chicken Stealing Cheasapeake Bay Retriever
During the summers in Maryland, one of the favorite pastimes of many people is 'fishin' and 'crabbin'. On the weekends, you have literally hundreds of thousands of people heading towards the Eastern Shore of Maryland, most heading for Ocean City but many heading down to the 'sho' for some 'crabbin'.
On many weekends, I was one of those looking to go down and do some recreational crabbing.
9). Television Stations and Freedom of Expression
Thank goodness for the Internet. The best thing to happen to freedom of expression in a long time allows for voices to be heard, and necessary voices of dissent. You'll no longer here it on commercial T.V. You won't get it from the major news channels, and you certainly won't get it from that 'fair and balanced' channel otherwise known as Fox.
It seems that since a few of the intellectual elites gobbled up all the remaining independent stations and turned them into government lap-dogs, that you hardly hear a voice of dissent anymore.
10). Crime Prevention..Car Safety Tips
I once did something stupid(imagine that) to prove a point to a girl that worked with me a few years back. We both worked night shift then, and she was a rather young headstrong girl who liked to always come out on top of an argument. Several of us somewhat older guys used to like to give her a hard time and to get a rise out of her, which didn't take much effort.
11). Security at Home...Great Tip
I cannot take credit for the following idea, but since it is a great one, I wanted to pass it along. Most of the new cars are equipped with a panic alarm that will sound when pressed. When you come home at night instead of hanging the keys up on the key rack or some other place, put them on the stand next to your bed. If while you're lying in bed some night, you hear someone trying to get in your door, or maybe you hear someone outside, push the panic alarm button, and odds are, you'll scare the intruder away.
12). Flea Markets... Beats Taking it to the Dump
The first time I tried my hand at selling at Flea Markets, I was about 20. A friend and I decided that we were going to make a bunch of money doing this. By the way, I was Bill and he was Zill, so we called ourselves Bill and Zill. This is before we realized there was such a thing as imagination.
Anyhow, we went to one of the local wholesalers, and proceeded to spend about $500 loading up on flashing caps, lighters, cheap knives, etc.
13). Train Travel....Across Country on the Southwest Chief
We were both looking forward to the trip. My sister had flown in from Washington State. We were going to travel across country by train on Amtrak's Southwest Chief, a train that winds Southwest from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, the edge of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and through the Mojave Desert to California.
After spending a few days with family, we departed early one afternoon from Penn Central station in Baltimore.
14). Health and Fitness After 50 or so
My slightly younger brother likes to remind me that I've reached the mountaintop and sliding down the other side headfirst with arms outstretched. It's a nice little visual way for him to remind me that I'm 'over the hill' now that I'm on the other side of 50. But if this is true I'm not feeling it, in fact I'm feeling as good as I have in quite a while.
15). Internet Marketing 001
Let me say right off, that I'm not a marketing 'guru'. In fact, I'm not sure what a 'guru' is other than it sounds like a big hairy beast. Come to think of it, I guess I am a 'guru'.
But back to the issue, when you first go online and start checking out some sites, possibly some affiliate programs, most will say 'we have an automated marketing system that will do 99.
16). Airline Flight...3000 Miles With A Squalling Brat
I've just completed another one of those cross country flights from Seattle to Baltimore that I've come to 'love' so well. The flight itself was uneventful, good weather for flying and the dining fare of peanuts and soda was delightful. But seriously the folks at United were very nice, and all and all it wouldn't have been a bad flight except for a 'little' problem that we had for the whole trip from Denver to Baltimore.
17). Positive Addiction
We have a fellow back here who has got to be one of the most dedicated runners I've ever seen. He looks to be a Jamaican fellow, he has long dreadlocks, and is probably on the other side of 50. I live here in Baltimore which is a fairly large city. You have the city and surrounding suburbs on all sides of the city. I was out the other day and happened to see 'hey mon' on the Northern side of town running strongly in this 100+ heat wave that we've had back here on the East Coast.
18). Summer Income Earner
Off for the summer, and looking to earn some money? You could flip hamburgers at your local Mickey D's, or you could do your own thing, and make some decent money providing a service that everyone needs and few like to do. What am I speaking of? We're talking about starting your own grass cutting business! Don't laugh, I've done this for the past few summers and have made great money doing it.
19). Make Money Painting...Excellent Income Earner
Being a student, summer can be a great time to take a break from school and studies. However, it's usually a time to make some necessary money for the following school year. One way that I've used to earn some great money, and which still allows for a good bit of freedom and time off is doing some painting. No, I'm not talking about painting a masterpiece, I'm referring to doing some painting for people who just don't have the time or inclination to do it.
20). Affiliate Programs... Making Any Money Yet?
I was thinking that there must be a million affiliate programs out there. In fact, if you do a Google Search you'll find that there are 121 MILLION links for affiliate programs. From Art to Webhosting and everything in between there's most likely an affiliate program out there for just about anything that you could possibly think of. It's probaby one of the first things that most people look at when deciding to try and earn some money online.
21). Weight Loss... The Low Carb Way
In the past, I've dabbled around with low carb eating to lose weight, with some success. When you do the induction phase, the weight will come off like clothes at a nudist camp. Of course, you can't or won't continue eating that way, and you'll gradually or quickly add the carbs back into your diet. In fact, you're supposed to do this by adding fruit, and other 'good' carbs, and by good carbs we're not talking pizza, pasta, beer, cake, etc.
22). Buck..Boxer Dog on Steroids
I was sitting on the bench down at Lake Wilderness after having taken my morning walk just enjoying the view of the lake when around the corner comes a happy smiley Boxer dog with a young lady following behind him. She shouted out, "do you mind him being off the lease"? Trail regulations state that all dogs must be on a leash, but not everyone follows that, and really that doesn't bother me.
23). Humane Society in an In-Humane World
As wars rage around the globe, it seems the nature of man has changed little since Stone Age times. Although technological advances has made man's lot in civilized countries much more comfortable, the basic drives behind man's actions seem to have changed little. It's sobering to observe man's inhumanity toward's fellow man. I've noticed the same disregard for life in how many people treat animals.
24). NCAA Football...The Rich Get Richer
Fall is my favorite time of year. It's a combination of things; the cool crisp days, the beauty of Fall foliage, camping, and NCAA Football. For a sports fan, it's hard to match the excitement of college football. You won't find more rabid fans anywhere than you will at the college level. Tens of thousands of fans jam stadiums to watch their favorite team.
25). Baltimore..Red Light Camera Capital of the World
With an estimated 50,000 heroin addicts and a dwindling population, Baltimore City uses various revenue raising schemes to reach into it's remaining citizen's pockets to try and pay for it's large non productive population. Things such as doubling the tolls on the bridges, implementing new taxes such as the 'cell phone' tax, jacking up the sewage and water fees, etc.
26). Low Carb Diet and Weight Loss
When I first started doing the Low Carb way of eating, I was following the Atkin's low carb diet. It worked to take the weight off, but I quickly tired of eating meat, cheese, fish, eggs. The next time I tried the low carb diet, the South Beach Diet had just come out, and it was much less restrictive in that after the 14 day induction phase, it allowed a good bit more of carbs, mainly in the way of fruits and salads.
27). Mel Gibson.. Another Hollywood Cop Out
Well, well, poor Mel Gibson. Went out to have a few drinks and winds up with his pretty face all over the news. Seems he made an a... of himself. Most of us have been there, and I can't condemn him for that. What does bother me is how he comes out afterwards pleading and begging for forgiveness about remarks he made while he was 'drunk'. Well, you know what they say, a person always speaks the truth when they're drinking, it's the original truth serum.
28). Dogs..What Breed of Dog Would I Be?
I've always liked dogs. Unlike people they're eternally loyal, love to see you no matter what your lot in life. You could be the President or driving a trash truck, it doesn't matter to them, they'll love you just the same. Dogs are always ready for a good time. A walk around the block is like being a kid going to an amusement park, and they never tire of it.
29). Enjoying the Fruits of Summer
Time passes quickly, and for some reason summer seems to be the fastest season of them all. Maybe it's because we're so busy doing things that we don't always realize how quickly it is passing until another season of long days and inactivity descend upon us and give us reason to pause. Whatever the case there are many summer delights that one can overlook along the way.
30). Wild Animals and Zoo's
I've always been ambivalent about zoo's. Over the years, I've enjoyed going to many of them and seeing animals that I would never see otherwise. I've been to some nice ones such as Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Baltimore, Catoctin Mountains, and a few not so nice ones. Although I've enjoyed seeing animals such as Lions, and Tigers and.
31). Boating Adventures With Captain Bob
The following is a true story and the names have not been changed because there are no innocent, we were all guilty of stupidity. This happened quite a few summers ago, but is as clear today as back then. After reading, you'll understand why.
We all started out bright and early for a day out on the water. The five of us; my brothers Rick and Dave, myself and two Bob's, Bob P.
32). Camping and Coconut Trees
Fall is a great time for camping. It's much more enjoyable and tolerable this time of year especially if you're doing it the old fashioned way with tent as opposed to R.V., cabin or some other method. Sleeping in a tent becomes a pleasure again as the nights become cooler, the bugs less irritating, and the evening campfire one of those primordial pleasures that entices you to sit and watch for hours on end.
33). Football...Let the Games Begin
Another Football season is about to descend upon us. The time of the year that football fans across the nation live for. In millions of homes, fans will grab their NFL teams jersey and cap and favorite brew and plop down on the sofa with friends for another exciting afternoon of Sunday football. Or for those who can actually afford the ticket prices, it's another season of tailgating parties, hanging out with 60,000 other screaming fans cheering on the hometown team, and Monday morning hangovers.
34). One Day Vacations...Just Get Up and Go
I recently took a day trip with a childhood friend of mine. It was sort of a bon voyage kind of thing in that he's getting married in a few weeks, and I'm going back to Baltimore. We've been friends since childhood, one of those rare relationships that span a lifetime. We both came out here in March for different reasons, and have been sharing an apartment out here in Maple Valley, Washington, since arriving.
35). Ted Nugent...Stick to the Music..Great White Hunter
Growing up on Rock and Roll, one is certainly aware of Ted Nugent, and his wild guitar work, and hard charging music. He has produced several Rock classics such as 'Cat Scratch Fever', 'Stranglehold', etc. Lately however, he's become a spokesperson for the joys of hunting, and especially the kill. I happened upon his show on 'OLN' while watching the hockey playoffs, and all I could take was about 10 mintes of it.
36). Weight Loss.. Ten Minutes At a Time
At some point in our life, just about all of us struggle with weight loss. It may be just a few pounds that we're carrying around, or the equivalent of another person. But it affects just about all of us in one way or another.
That's why when I find a tip that helps with this, I like to pass it on. A friend of mine recently told me that he was talking to his doctor and the doctor informed him that he needed to start exercising, to start walking, to get some of the weight off.
37). Earning Income from the Internet
It seems that everyone today is trying to earn a little money on the Internet. Yet, time after time, statistics show that the majority of people fail to earn any substantial income.
Why is this?
When getting started on any Internet venture, I believe it would help for people to decide on what their goal or reason for starting is? Do they want to make a little money, or start an Internet 'business'.
38). Walking.. Perfect exercise for mind and body
Out here in Maple Valley, Wa. we are fortunate to have an abundance of walking trails. The one I use most often is the Lake Wilderness trail. It runs around Lake Wildnerness up to the Cedar River Trail and really offers a beautiful view of the lake. But you can find a place to walk no matter where you live. Whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, you can always find a place to walk, and find your own enjoyment.
39). Dog Walking for Fun and Profit
Let me say right off, that this isn't for everyone. You see when you walk your own dog, you tend to take him someplace near woods, where he/she can do their business. When you're walking someone else's dog or usually dogs, you don't have that luxury. If you have a problem going around with baggies gathering up dog excrement then you might not want to do this.
40). Sports Hero...Little League Parades and Stocking Shelves
I'm long past the point of idolizing sports celebrities with over-sized egos and paychecks to match. I stopped paying attention to professional sports about the time the power and greed took the 'sport' out of sports and turned it into strictly a business. Owners of sport franchises today are lawyers and businessmen who have made their fortune in other fields and buy sport teams because they have an abundance of money and ego, and not necessarily the skill to run a sports franchise.
41). Coping With Aging...Sort of
I've reached the point in my life where things are supposed to go downhill from here biologically speaking. It's this aging thing. Apparantly, it also affects your thoughts and conversation. Instead of talking about what kind of crazy stuff I'm going to get into this weekend, I believe the conversation is supposed to center around what hurts the most today, or how many medications I'm taking or how the grandkids are doing.
42). Getting Rich at $5 a Pop
If you've lived or visited the Eastern part of the country, you've seen them in all the big cities, standing there stoically on the corners waiting for the next batch of cars to pull up so they can offer you a bunch of roses for $5. I would like to know who's behind it, who is Mr. Big with this army of young flower hawkers out there in all kinds of weather selling his wares?
Even though the majority can't speak any English, they seem polite and not at all pushy.
43). Making Money With Self Storage Auctions
The first time I happened upon this somewhat unknown way of getting some really nice stuff, and sometimes real 'treasures' was when I stopped in at my local self storage unit to pay my bill, and happened to see an auction sign posted. I asked the lady what that was about and she told me that after a period of time they auction off the unit's contents for non payment of rent.
44). Dogs, Cats and Other Pets
I've decided to get a pet. A real pet, like a dog or cat. I've had plenty of those fabricated kind like fish, snakes and turtles. Don't get me wrong, I like those kind too, but they really don't qualify as legitimate pets.
For example, I once had some goldfish, even had names for two of them, George and Herm. I used to think that George, the bigger one, sort of liked me because everytime I walked by the tank he would get all excited and swim back and forth and up to the top of the tank.