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Theecarey's Journal

theecarey
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10/09/2008 18:06 #46027

update: small business adventures
Category: life
so I'm looking into small business stuff. Such as what steps need to be done to make it "real". I have thought about it on and off (and off and off) again for too long now. Being the master procrastinator that I can be (procrastinate now, don't put it off, I say!), it is time that I carve out some self imposed deadlines and go to it. When outside forces dictate a deadline, I work magic in the wee moments leading up to it. I thrive on it actually. However, left to my own, I get easily side tracked into an ADD-like train of thought. I end up starting millions of projects, start a few more while doing them, branch off into a forest of other distractions and then find myself at Starbucks (or some other coffee joint). Really, I am pretty organized and focus when I want, but when I'm not compelled, it can be chaos.

But all in all its not such a bad thing. I just am feeling the need to have more structure and results in my going-ons, and to be 'legit'. Building my little empire, gradually take over the world. The usual.

I'm gathering that the local small business association might be a good place to start? what are your thoughts my business minded friends?

and probably a few tax courses or something might be a good idea?

other directives?

classes in general are good for me. I tend to follow through when in a class environment. Not that I want to go back to school, i just mean, a few seminars or something might be beneficial.

I'll expand more later.. I need to get back to work.
(e:strip) related procrastinations are genuinely permissible.

update: I just found a few upcoming seminars being held at NCCC Summit Extension located at 6929 Williams Rd, Niagara Falls. (Near or at Summit Park Mall, I think?)

They are free:

1. Thursday October 23 1:30-3:30
"Financing Sources and Business Plan Development"

2. Thursday October 30th 1:30-3:30
"Developing a Marketing Plan"

3. Thursday November 6th 1:30-3:30
"Business Organizational Forms: Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporations and LLC's"

4. Thursday November 13th 1:30-3:30
"Record Keeping for Small Business"

to register: call 434-3815 or email: sbdc@niagaracc.suny.edu

If I keep looking, maybe I will find other stuff going on.
theecarey - 10/10/08 13:06
Glad to hear that the NCCC workshops are worth going to. I am officially registered to attend now. Now I will go check out the Buff State link and see what I can find there. I've taken business courses, but they were general, and I want something specific to NY. Also, classes are a nice kick in the butt too. I've dabbled in various self employed activities my whole life, and even more so these past few years. I want to make sure that I am organized in terms of tax time etc.
heidi - 10/10/08 00:51
Yes, do the courses, make a business plan - be brutally honest about your goals and detail the steps you need to take to get there. As you work through the business plan, you'll also help yourself figure out if you really want to take the leap into self-employment and all its attendant risks and responsibilities (and rewards!). The short-term steps will be readily identifiable, and there will be holes, but you'll know where the holes are and what information you need to fill them in. The bizplan will probably include a market survey, financial plan, marketing plan, organizational structure (type of business structure), etc. NCCC may be affiliated with a state-sponsored small business development center... here's the one at Buff State: :::link::: These people get paid to help you one-on-one and in small classes. take advantage of it.

Second piece of advice: get QuickBooks as soon as you open your small business checking account, unless your line of business is a bad fit for QB such as (specifically) a restaurant or car dealership. QB does great for just about everyone else and is very flexible to meet your particular needs and keep everything straight for taxes, and has an optional payroll service. There's a beautiful point-of-sale companion software, and you can set up a website that integrates QB or QB point-of-sale data with a shopping cart and ecommerce.

(I am a certified QuickBooks consultant and I help people set up their filing systems and accounting systems.)
gardenmama - 10/09/08 23:58
I have a couple of friends who were interested in starting small businesses over the last 10 years. Both attended some of the NCCC related courses (one about 8 years ago, one just a couple of years ago) and they both said the experience was very helpful to them and that they got a lot of really good information from them.
tinypliny - 10/09/08 22:00
What kind of business are you thinking of starting? :)

10/07/2008 14:36 #45978

dentist options?
Category: potpourri
I'm looking for a new dentist. My all time favorite dentist has left the association he was with and ventured off to open his own. He is very talented and I was wondering when that time would come, so good for him. He is super amazing awesome and I will eventually follow him to his new place (depending on what insurance he takes) but for a few related reasons, I am not ready to do that. So in the mean time, I will find another, simply for cleanings, and "just in case" I need someone suddenly. I could continue to go to where I am (Aesthetic Associate Center in Buffalo), but I never cared for anyone but the dentist I just mentioned, anyone else, as incredibly qualified and innovative as they are, just no longer sits well with me; and since a recent severe allergic reaction occurred under their watch (ok, not their fault, neither one of us knew I am terribly allergic to penicillin-- blog to come w/ pics soon), I feel somehow displaced. Dr. Ben YOU LEFT AND DIDNT TELL MEEEEEEE!

So before I choose someone at random, my question that I am throwing out there is: Is there anyone I should stay away from??

(or definitely go to?)

Location isn't a factor, really. Anywhere from the city of Buffalo and North. I'm rarely ever in the Southtowns.

Thanks :)


gardenmama - 10/07/08 19:24
I recommend staying away from a Dr. Melman (sp?) from Barzman, Kazimov & Vieth (I believe they've merged with and are now part of WNY Dental Group. The Group has some decent dentists but I have not been happy with her work. She gave me a crown that has caused me grief since I got it. Also, I would say she represents the antithesis of gentle dentistry. I quit going there but haven't found anyone else yet.
tiburon1724 - 10/07/08 17:56
i recently went to the dentist on Hertel next to Jenny's Clay House. It's close to Starin in an old house tucked next to the relatively new mid-rise senior living center. Best dentist's office I've ever been to. They were great and he's now my dentist for life!

10/06/2008 17:21 #45966

Sydney Australia zoo killing spree
Category: news
Did anyone read about this since Friday? I read a blurb on it Saturday, but had been curious if there were any updates available. I haven't found any, or likely I haven't looked in the right places.

A seven (7!) year old child went on a 'killing spree' in a zoo. He is under ten years old so he can not be held liable, therefor his parents are.




A variety of sources say the exact same thing, so I'm linking to msnbc, as it includes a video. unreal.

He went at it for thirty minutes. I have so many questions and curiosities. When was the first time he displayed aggression, annihilation of living things? It was observed that he was acting like it was a game, I wonder what his thoughts and actions were before and after, and so on..

theecarey - 10/07/08 00:38
I'm with ya on that, (e:metalpeter). However it sounds, the kid needs to be eaten. It is a problem bigger than parental involvement.
metalpeter - 10/06/08 19:19
That is crazy. Am I sick for thinking it would have been funny (funny strange) if he would have fallen in and got eaten, if there was any balance left in this world it would have happened. I wonder what will happen to the parents. I know that can be a crazy country in some ways from what I have heard. But see the problem is how to you really punish the parents? The Money might make them strighten out their kid but it might not. I wonder if the kid had been to that zoo before. If you get an update let us know. I say the kids punishment is that he enters the tigers or lions cage and feeds them yeah that sounds kinda cool but maybe they are tired of the same food everyday and a running boy is fun to chase.

10/02/2008 16:35 #45899

itsy bitsy MONSTER (pt 2)
Category: silliness
This itty bitty monster has been harassing me for about a year, maybe longer now. Maybe it's the grown version of this one: (itsy bitsy monster part 1) (e:theecarey,35925)

I hold back all intelligence and assert my belief that it it the same hairy, googly-eyed, fang-baring, snickering beast that has been lurking in my basement, creeping out of dark places purposely within my view (and within my reach) on several occasions this year. It makes an appearance and disappears all within the short time frame that includes, "gasp", "panic", "full-body sense of terror", "disgust" idling down to "why don't I have something in reach to kill it with", to "it likely has something within ITS reach to clobber me over the head with".. to "run Carey run, don't stop, don't turn around just get the hell out of the basement" and about an hours worth of "shivers" ewwww!

And so that whole line of action/inaction/psychological break-down works for the interim, until hygiene etiquette reminds me that I must go and do more laundry. No wonders that over time I have accumulated what seems like 397 pairs of socks, and about an equal amount of underwear and bras. Why subject myself to the beasts lair any more than absolutely necessary, right? eekkkk!

I don't like to kill spiders/bugs etc in general, and yes, I am rather apprehensive to scoop (shovel, forklift?) this one up into a bucket, or try to suck its massive body through a vacuum hose. I can just envision its fat yet muscular body getting jammed followed by getting pissed, followed retaliation, followed by my (fat but muscular, ha) body being jammed into the same said vacuum hose.Although this recent encounter led to the same pathetic reaction from me, this time, after my breathing returned, I ran and grabbed my camera. I needed proof. (proof of sanity, insanity?)

image


image

notice how the pholcidae, "daddy long-legs" dangling immediately in the background is dwarfed by comparison!
image


As I write, it continues to live, breath and eat small mammals while waiting my return...


my boyfriend claims it is a wolf spider. What is your guess?


paul - 10/11/08 19:56
It reminds me of that crazy one we found on my garage that one night (e:paul,32722)
theecarey - 10/07/08 00:34
sorry for the delay!

(e:mike), He needs someone to snuggle up to during these cold nights. I bet he'd keep your toes warm while in bed(now that thought makes me shudder, I'd die instantly if it was in my bed.
I'm all for making cash off this little frightfest, (e:mrmike). A percentage of that $9.50 would make me feel a little less traumatized!
(e:libertad), haha, I wonder what kind of response I would get if I called to inquire about a 'humane trap for a spider'..would be funny to try it. I think it will be easier to just move. Somehow I think burning the house down would end up very much like what (e:metelpeter) described as a cartoon. As for my cats, I couldn't put them at the risk of being that spiders snack!
(e:tinypliny) I cant fathom the thought of there being more than one of these things lurking anywhere, especially in my vicinity, but if it is a wolf spider, they are indeed native. I'm trying to be nice to it, I cant have its large extended family knocking on my door!

ew ew ew

metalpeter - 10/02/08 19:24
That Reminds me of this great cartoon (think it was what lead into roger rabbit ) Called in incy wincy spider. The exterminators trying to kill a spider (think I have the right name and story it was so long ago) wind up destroying the entire house and at the very end the spider is still alive. I do have a maybe practical Idea let your cats follow you into the basement and see what they do to it, assuming they don't run the other way from it, ha.
tinypliny - 10/02/08 18:00
And yikers. I am freaked out. This thing is in Buffalo along with its chums and family.. EEKS.
tinypliny - 10/02/08 17:59
That thing looks like a rainforest specimen!! Did you go on a trip to a tropical forest recently? It could have traveled in your luggage then! Trap it and donate it to the zoology/Entomology department at UB or somewhere!
libertad - 10/02/08 17:44
absolutely horrifying! I think you should burn your house down to make sure it is gone for sure and just rebuild from there. ;) I wonder if there are humane traps for spiders?

hodown - 10/02/08 17:12
Holy shit- that thing is insane!!
mrmike - 10/02/08 16:51
get it behind glass and I can get people to pay 9.50 to see it.
mike - 10/02/08 16:44
OMG i would die

10/01/2008 11:52 #45879

Yearbook Yourself
Category: silliness
Like it wasn't bad enough all those years prior,right? but the end results of these options, are entertaining. A good time waster for both the men and ladies. 1930's through current...



Just find a pretty straight on face pic of yourself, and have some fun!


"1968"
image

"1978"
image


or go ahead and use some random picture of anything; possibilities are endless
heidi - 10/02/08 20:23
If I want a picture of what I'd have looked like in 1968, I just look at my mom's yearbook picture. Actually, my 9th grade school picture looks eerily like her graduation photo.
theecarey - 10/02/08 16:09
yes, the fro, uh hem, "careyfro" had provided me endless entertainment so far.
tinypliny - 10/01/08 18:41
Cool 'fro! :)
mrmike - 10/01/08 12:04
I was going to comment on how you rocked the Mary Tyler Moore look above, but the careyfro! That's entertainment.