I’ve been on a short vacation visiting family the past two weeks. I left by plane just one day before the “terrorists carrying water bottles” threat, so my trip west was uneventful.

Ten fun-filled days later, I once again found myself at an airport.

To give credit to the airport workers, things went about as smoothly as you could expect given the new regulations they have to enforce, but the whole process was far more painful than before the new rules.

To start with, some people don’t watch the news or read the paper, I suppose, because they end up moving half their carry-on bag contents into their checked baggage at the check-in counter. It took the couple in line in front of me about 30 minutes to get through.

Then at the security gate things were slowed down again (though not as badly as at the checkin) as the really, really dense people who didn’t pay attention to the news OR the person at the checkin counter OR the big display in front of the security area STILL had lighters, lotions and water bottles in their bags.

Those complaints don’t reflect too badly on the airlines or the airport, since those of us who took a little time to sort through purses and carry on bags still pretty much whizzed through check-in and security at normal speed.

But what really irked me was that, once past security, you still couldn’t buy a coke from a vending machine or bottled water.

I know those are the new rules, but if (as I was) you’re travelling with a young child or if the flight is delayed (as ours was), it is a major pain in the butt. As I stood in line at a Starbucks half way across the airport from our gate to buy a way too expensive smoothie for my thirsty son (since it was either that or a beer a lounge), I thought  that a smart airline would serve complementary beverages in the waiting area for anyone who has a valid boarding pass with their airline.

I know it would have been appreciated by many by our gate waiting for our late-to-arrive aircraft. And it would make me far more likely to use the airline that adapted to serve the needs of its customers in inconvenient circumstances in the future.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I renewed my Private Label Monthly subscription after the Instant Adsense Templates fiasco brought it back under my radar. I figured, even if it hadn’t improved, getting the IAT stuff for less than half the price of the package would be worthwhile.

But now, as I go through the rest of what’s new on Private Label Monthly, I find myself disappointed once again with the quality of the reports.

I mean, they’ve improved from their first month’s offering, but how could you get worse than this:

“I am a hundred percent sure that most of you always look for some home improvements. In fact, this idea occurs every day. However, most of us seldom focus our home improvements outside the home but rather inside, and the usual spot for such activity by most people is the bathroom.”

Now, I have to give PLM a bit of credit. The quality of their articles has improved a bit. As has the quality of SOME of the reports. In fact, the diabetes reports seemed quite cogent, and the golf ones were well written, if a bit goofy:

Love the intense focus and concentration of golf? Golf is a game that is all about passion, vision, and patience. But all that passion, all that vision, all that patience would not matter much if you are not dressed to win.

But the quality is not consistent. Take for example this nonsense about car seats:

Car seats, as far as I know, are highly considered for babies in the United States for a number of safety reasons. Numerous reports have noted that thousands of babies and young children are injured and killed due to car accidents, the reason that car seats are designed and required to prevent further injuries and deaths from happening. Given this fact, car seats are then worth buying. Although it is painful just like going to a dentist for the fact that car seats, because of its high demand, cost much, the benefits it can provide outshine its high price.

And there is no chance on earth I would add my name to a report called, “Hair Loss in Women: Are Women Big Losers?”

So that’s said. Hair loss in women must not be a matter of shame. It should not be a basis for us to say that women are losers when they get bald. There are a lot of women out there who were elected to be bald at one time or another. The well-known names in record are celebrities like Demi Moore, Sigourney Weaver, and Sinead O’Connor. They are the ones who got the guts to thumb their nose and walked in the aisle of fame with strong sense of self-esteem despite their being bald.

So, once again I want to cancel my PLM account… but can I find a place to do it? Nope.

That’ll teach me to subscribe to anything that doesn’t accept Paypal.

By wendy in General  .::. Read Comments (3)

Today, as I was trying to impress upon my son that it’s irresponsible for him to just expect his mom to replace every toy he loses or disassembles, I realized that my kid has everything. I mean everything.

And that made me feel a little guilty for not helping those with nothing.

So, I decided that the proceeds of this blog will go to sponsoring children who have far less than my very fortunate son.

I went to World Vision’s site, and saw Milton from Bolivia.

Bolivia is the poorest south american country, and one with a very corrupt bureaucracy and a government enamoured with socialism, which means it’s a really lousy place to be poor.

If $35 bucks each month will make his life better, I am glad. And if sponsoring Milton helps me teach my son how very fortunate he is, that’s good too.

Milton is the first Child of the Surf.

And if I start squeaking more revenue from this site, I’ll just sponsor more. And more.

I’m looking forward to this…

(Incidentally, I’m only about $10 shy of another child of the surf this month… anyone care to pick up a copy of GoTryThis or WP Themerator before you go?)

I got an email today with the headline:

Wendy, Could You Use 1,000 PLR Articles?

And without even opening it to see what it was promoting, my brain said,

“mmmm, nope”

and I hit the delete button.

I’ve been hearing a lot of marketers wail and moan about one thing or another lately.

“Google’s new AdWords rules are going to put me out of business!”

or

“Microsoft’s new office suite will make my PDF software obsolete!”

and all manner of other complaints and predictions of doom.

I read in an old newspaper once an anecdote about a town that passed an ordinance stating that if the home owner had a sign stating “No Solicitors”, that  door to door salesmen would be fined if they disregarded it.

The next day, a large group of salesmen met and bemoaned their fate.

All except one. He was loading his truck with merchandise he planned to sell that day.

His compatriots asked him, “Didn’t you hear about the  new law?”

“You bet,” he said as he held up a no solicitation sign with a price tag dangling down.

He was going to make a killing that day.

Mark H. McCormack, in his book What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School wrote:

It is still amazing to me  how the simple passing of time can totally alter a situation, solve problems, render other problems meaningless, cool down confrontations, and add a whole new perspective….

Part of being opportunistic is waiting, like a cat in a forest, for an opportunity to come along…. in our twenty-odd years in business, 90 percent of our successes have involved in some way the need for patience, and 90 percent of our failures have been caused in part by lack of it.

I guess what I’m getting at is that things are rarely as catastrophic  as they seem. If you’re overwhelmed by the new rules Google’s  put in place, cut down on your spending and stick to lower cost keywords for a while as you feel your way around the new landscape.  Watch what other people are doing too, because what is bad news to one is opportunity to the person who can see the different angles.