Since the last time I was here, Harborside has discontinued any free wireless.  They now charge $15 per day for Internet use, either wireless or through a LAN line with a discount for multiple days.  There were several things I wanted to do online:

1. Start setting up a new blog for an Internet store that I recently started.
2. Communicate with my husband via e-mail
3. Keep up with the Atlanta flood situation via Twitter and Facebook

So, since I don’t drink or gamble and didn’t have my handsome husband to take me out to a fancy dinner, I paid my money, logged onto the Internet and immediately had some problems: I could receive incoming email through Outlook but could not send; I tried to send from my Yahoo account and that didn’t work either; I could not log into Facebook and Twitter thought I was a robot.  So I called IT for help .

You Know You’re In Trouble When . . .

You know you’re in trouble when you explain your problems to the IT person and they ask “What’s Twitter?”  This is why I pointed out where I am staying.  Atlantis is one of, if not THE premiere hotel/resort properties in the Bahamas.  How can they have IT people who don’t know what Twitter is?  I was aghast, and literally sitting on the phone with my mouth open.  I told the person, “If you don’t know what it is, I can’t explain it.”

Long story short, I am able to receive incoming email through Outlook, I can log onto Facebook and Twitter but I still cannot send email through Outlook.  To communicate with my husband, I send a direct message through Facebook.  I’ve been communicating with my daughter via Twitter.

Why Is It Important for Me To Use the Internet?

1. International phone calls are very expensive
2. I am a caregiver for my god-sister.  She is 82 years old and has dementia and limited physical abilities.  I NEED a vacation from the stress and emotional drain from caregiving.  My husband stayed at home to take care of Gladys, my oldest daughter flew to Atlanta to help out the first 3 days (bathing and dressing); I hired a caregiver to bathe and dress Gladys for the next 4 days and my youngest daughter will go to the house to get her ready for bed.  But I still needed a way to communicate with them just in case.
3. I live the the Atlanta area that was most affected by the recent floods and a lot of my friends were affected.  I want to keep up with what’s going on.
4. AND It’s just hard for me to disconnect from my computer

All that said, I still can’t receive e-mail and at least one of their IT people still doesn’t know what Twitter is – INcredible.  BTW, the IT people came to my room to try to get my email straightened out – TWO of them.  Still not working.

If you vacation at Atlantis and bring your lap top, I hope you have a back-up plan.

16 Twitter Tips for Small Business Owners (from ploked.com)

Whether you love the concept of Twitter, or hate the idea of Twitter, if your business is not taking advantage of this opportunity, you are only hurting yourself.  Yes, Twitter may not be a marketing method right for every type of business, but at the very least you should explore the potential Twitter opportunity.

Twitter is a great resource for smaller or sole proprietorship businesses to get exposure on a world-wide level with a minimal investment (time).  While you may be timid to jump into Twitter pool with your business, don’t worry, everything will be ok…there are lifeguards nearby to help you out should you get in trouble.

Follow these steps and you will be well on your way to establishing your business brand on Twitter.

1. Complete your Twitter profile by filling out the various information it asks for.  It can help give a good overview to your followers of what you and your company is about.  (more . . . )

Now THAT’S a bag of candy! (from bloggerdad.com)

As you might recall, I declared Monday that M&M’s are evil because of their influence on my son.

Following that post, I decided that after the final snack-sized bag was gone, NO MORE M&M’s!

Yes, I was exercising my parental right to ban them until my son is over his chocolate-induced temper tantrums.

So, of course, the VERY DAY that we ran out of candy, my wife and son visited our elderly neighbor and brought him some birthday cake. The man gave my son what I can only describe as

THE BIGGEST F-ING  BAG OF M&M’s EVER! (more . . . )

14 Ways to Write a Press Release for Search Engine Marketing (from e power marketing)

Press releases have long been used to distribute news to media outlets. As technology and businesses have evolved, so has the role of the press release. With the increased popularity of online media, it is important to understand that Search Engines use press releases differently than traditional media outlets do. How do you go about creating a press release that is worth your time and money?

• Research your keywords and include them in all aspects of your press release, from headlines and body to links and beyond.
• Write short, descriptive headlines with your keywords included. Keep headlines to 80 characters or less.  (more . . . )

about a year ago to document and share my family’s caregiving experiences.  Several month’s later I started a ministry blog that I had been sitting on for four years. I enjoy blogging and reading blogs.  To me it is much more interesting than watching CNN or network news and more entertaining than Entertainment Tonight or Jay Leno.

I enjoy reading blogs because

they are written by individuals who share their own viewpoints on a variety of topics.  If I choose, I can comment or ask  questions.  When I find something particularly interesting that I’ve been discussing with friends I can forward the link so they can enjoy it too.  It doesn’t matter if they missed it on TV or on the radio, because the blog will be there whenever they decide to visit.  Even if the blog disappears, the cache can still be found on the Internet.

My eclectic taste in blogs

Ministry Blogs:

• http://anthonycoppedge.com/blogs – Church Technology – Anthony writes about maximizing media and communication in ministry
• www.churchmarketingsucks.com – Need I say more?
• http://www.copyrightsolver.com/dn2/pt/blog/ – Copyright Queen Blog – Focuses on copyright rules and infringements that pertain to churches
• www.shauninthecity.com – Young pastor in Atlanta with a different approach to ministry (today’s post is Weed Smoking Volunteers)

Caregivers Blogs

• www.AlzheimersReadingRoom.com – Information and research into Alzheimer’s
• www.tangledneuron.info – A layperson’s perspective on memory loss. dementia and Alzheimer’s
• www.elderexperts.blogspot.com – Mimi’s Place – a blog for caregivers of elderly parents

Blogs on Blogging

• www.MichaelMartine.com – Remarkablogger, blog consulting and coaching
• www.Problogger.com – A blog to help bloggers add income streams to their blogs
• www.VirtualImpax.com – A blog about social media marketing

Miscellaneous Blogs

• http://cathlawson.com – tips for success in business and life
• http://theblackcritic.com – hard to define, you just have to read it (not for the faint of heart)
• http://thinkingoutloudblog.com – humor and random thoughts

Blogging “Friends”

is one of the curious things about blogs.  Friendships develop by visiting and commenting on each other’s blogs.  Regular commenter’s often visit each other and develop relationships as well. I’ve met people around the country and outside the U.S. We may never meet personally, but I feel like I know them.

The main thing I like about blogs

is my blog, my rules.  If you like what I do, hopefully you’ll come back.  If you don’t like it, oh well!  Y’all come back now, you hear