This is the latest article that I have written.

“Give Me 3!!!”

This is truly the case of where the “squeaky wheel gets the grease.” On September 16, a new law will come into effect which requires automobile drivers to give bicyclists a three foot clearance on the road. “Give Me 3” was the term adopted by the California Bicyclists Coalition. The official title is Assembly Bill 1371 which was originated in the City of Los Angeles because of the numerous difficulties bicyclists were having traversing the roads as well as the countless number of bicycle-related accidents and fatalities that have occurred. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, The estimated number of bicyclist injuries, in 2012, was 49,000, nationwide. An estimated one-third of cyclist-related injuries are due to being hit by a car.

Assemblyman Steven Bradford, from Gardena, authored this bill which is now labeled the “Three Feet For Safety Act.” The City of Los Angeles started the “Give Me 3” campaign in 2010. When the bill was initially submitted, Governor Brown vetoed it due to concerns generated from Cal Trans and the California Highway Patrol. After submitting the bill in 2011 and in 2012. a huge breakthrough was made in 2014. Governor Brown finally agreed to sign the bill.

Currently, the law states that drivers should maintain a safe distance when passing bicyclists on the road. The language in the new law says that drivers, who are passing cyclists from behind, need to keep their vehicles at a three feet distance. If traffic and road conditions prevent the driver from giving the bicyclist a 3 feet clearance, drivers are required to slow down to a speed that is “reasonable and prudent,” and only pass when the cyclist is out of harm's way. Drivers who violate this law will be fined up to $154, and, if the cyclist is injured, the motorist will be fined $220.

Defining the distance between drivers and bicyclists is encouraging, and hopefully the fines imposed will deter drivers from doing the tango with bicyclists. In this writer's humble opinion, the fines should have been significantly more than what the new law dictates. Also,there should have been a defined speed limit for drivers who pass bicyclists on roads that do not allow for a three feet clearance.

This article was submitted by me on behalf of Dynamic Electric Vehicles in San Luis Obispo, California.

Here is a link to their site: Dynamic Electric Vehicles

Halloween Project is Ready to Take OFF!!!

This is one of the latest and greatest projects that

 I have conjured up in my cute little head. 

Below is the short poem that I wrote in order to attract prospective customers. 

I am looking forward to exercising my imagination and creativity to the fullest extent possible.

I know that last part sounded a bit dramatic, but that's OK. 

Twas the night before Halloween
Creatures were stirring, especially the counts
They sharpened their fangs and ironed their capes
Anticipating the gala that would soon elapse
Ghosts, goblins, witches, and ghouls  form the ends of the world will gather around
The wolf-men will howl an eerie tune
While the witches stir up their frog's breath stew



This is the sales pitch:
Hello fellow Halloween lovers. That time of year is quickly approaching. 

If you are looking for a spooky or kid-friendly Halloween poem or short story,  Halloween themed brain teaser puzzles, fun games, trivia questions, ice breakers, spooky party invitations and riddles, then you have come to the right person. 




My rates are the following: 

• Creative poems are $5
• Short stories are $10
• Games, puzzles, party invitations etc...range from $5 to $10 depending on the quantity ordered

Making Connections to Grow an Online Business

Making Connections (Networking) is imperative when starting an online business.

 

So far I am doing assignments on Fiverr. It's ok, but I would rather make more money for the time that I have invested for each assignment.

I'm on level two training with Wealthy Affiliate. My website via Wordpress is up. It still needs some content to be added and photos too. I am learning about keywords. WA recommended using Jaaxy to look for keywords that do not have much competition (other businesses using the same key words), and you want to find keywords that have a bit of traffic. You can get 30 searches free before you have to pay for their services.

oDesk was recommended to me by a fellow WA member. I'm in the beginning stages of getting my profile completed. 

My mom told me about Job Quote. I am also in the beginning stages with building my profile. 

 One of the big advantages for subscribing with Wealthy Affiliates, oDesk, and Job Quote is that you can set your rates. oDesk does take 10% of what you earn for each assignment. In order to receive more support and perks, Wealthy Affiliate members need to become Premium members which costs $47/mo. The big allure for Wealthy Affiliate is the awesome video tutorials. They offer the best tutorials I have seen thus far. Also, they have a strong community which provides members the opportunity to  make connections and receive support, if needed.

I don't know enough about Job Quote yet, so I will share more info as I become more involved with them.

Oh, I forgot to mention Linkedin. I have been becoming more involved with the groups that are relevant to my occupational interests. I find that there is more activity there than posting on my home page. 

Top Ten Jobs In Danger Of Becoming Obsolete

My dad came home this afternoon and said that he heard on the Jillian Barberie and John Philips show that journalism was one of the top 10 jobs to become obsolete in the near future. Immediately, I went to the computer and listened to the podcast of today's talk show.

The gentleman they were interviewing said that people who are employed by the newspaper industry are in danger of losing their jobs because a lot of people are reading magazines and newspapers online. I don't feel threatened by this since most of my work is done online. I'd like to see a robot write as well as I do And with my personality and life experience HAHA!

What a busy day I had yesterday

Boy, I was really hustling and bustling yesterday. I had three assignments to complete on Fiverr. One was web content for a roofing company. Another one was entering 25 points of interest on guidelet.com, and last one was editing a manuscript. With the manuscript, I learned a great lesson. Always do a word count before you get started. I assumed the people who ordered the assignment knew my rates. They were expecting me to edit over 4,000 words for $5. So I was concerned about how to approach the buyer about the subject. I didn't want them to get upset with me and give me a bad review. So I delivered a portion, 1,300, words that I edited for them, and left them a message about my rates. I wrote please do a word count of your manuscript, and pay accordingly. Thank goodness they seemed to be ok with this. They added four additional assignments to complete the editing process. Whew! That went well.

Now I have eight assignments to complete, so back to work I go. Also, I am writing a tour guide of Santa Barbara. I love going to that train station because it's near the beach.

How do I create a story?

I am in the process of writing two books. One is for children and the other is science fiction. When I am conjuring up a story, I think of it as watching a movie. I see my characters become 3 dimensional..  Their physical features and personality come alive in my mind. I see them interacting with people and their environment. For example, in my science fiction novel, I developed a male librarian within a few minutes. I saw him as a well-dressed man in his forties. He is calm and composed and detail oriented. Also, I envisioned him walking around in the library and interacting with customers. Maybe some of the ideas about his character stem from watching Giles, the librarian, on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. My librarian is not an exact replica of Giles. For instance, my guy is Hispanic; however, he does reflect the conservative and professional image of Giles.

The development of my story line came from an article that a gentleman posted on Craigslist. He was looking for someone to help him develop a fiction book in which the main character would be a middle aged male who becomes an amateur detective. He decided that he wanted to go in a different direction with his story, so I decided to keep working on my story. As I continue to write this story, my mind constantly conjures the content for me to write down. One of the areas that I need to improve upon is pulling out the three dimensional story from my mind onto paper. Sometimes I struggle with describing the scenes in my head. 

That is where reading other books come into the picture. The author's setting descriptions help trigger my creativity in using the best adjectives to incorporate into my story.

Exploring Wealthy Affiliates

A member from one of the groups I belong to on linked-in recommended that I check out Wealthy Affiliates. I have only been a member for a couple of days, so I am still learning about all the services that are available. It is free to become a "starter member." For the first seven days, you have all the privileges that a "Premium" member has. The one thing that I really like about this company so far is the step by step training videos that they provide. First, you start off with creating a profile, and then you learn how to create your own website by using Word Press. That is where I am right now. There is also an option for blogging, and they encourage you to interact with other members in the Wealthy Affiliate Community. I asked Kyle, on the owners, a question, and he responded to it almost immediately. I will keep my blogger fans posted as I continue to go through this process. Oh! The most important component is that the goal is to make money from your website. They call it finding your niche. I am planning to advertise my freelance writing and editing business on this site.