Find a Way, or Make One

Sorry that I’ve been out of the loop since my mad road trip that ended as the heat wave began, and a trip to the dentist. A week after the tornado struck Joplin, MO the damage can still be seen. Cars in trees, cars twisted into lumps of metal, buildings shredded, trees stripped of branches and leaves. The devastation will take months to clean up, and now the heat becomes a factor. It’s too hot around here to even mow the grass, so the jungle grows taller. Even my crazy neighbors, one on either side, both have this mad mission in life. When they think my grass is too tall, they mow the two sides along the streets, (we’re on a corner lot). These two neighbors, I’ve seen both of them do it, blatantly mow my grass, but do you think either would show up with a tractor to plow snow out of the driveway in winter? No! These two make as much sense as an article I read.

Now as I’ve mentioned, I’m a retired police officer, and I’ve dealt with city and county courts and prosecutors. This article showed the extremes that can occur, that government officals and politicians can convince themselves are justified. I mean, crazy is as crazy does. Council Bluffs, IA has joined my neighbors in going crazy over grass. Not that kind! Grass as in the lawn around a sports complex they have. They have a major problem there, an infestation even, that has infuriated the city officals. People have been parking their cars on the grass. The city decided that $15 parking tickets were not able to solve the problem, and raised the fine to $750 plus $85 court fee for a parking ticket fine of $835. Say what? The city says it’s not about the money, yeah right! They say it’s about having signs, and wanting people to respect the signs. The city and state governments are so broke right now after years of politicians of all parties playing with the projected income numbers, that they are now creating insane income streams. I think some of these politicians, elected to represent the people of a community or state, have at one time or another read a quote from Hannibal, as in the Carthaginian general from BC 247-182: “We will either find a way, or make one”.

Now what I really like about this quote is not the crazy politicians, but what it can mean to individuals who work from home. The benefits of training and mentoring, makes a huge difference in being successful working from home. Many people are looking to supplement their income these days. And no, they don’t want the crazy politicians taking their hard to come by income. Jobs are scarce, money is hard to find, and feeding your family can be difficult. Even people living on pensions or social security are having trouble. The first clue about a work from home opportunity is to check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Is this home business opportunity accredited by the BBB? If they’re not, that should raise a red flag. And for the people who see scams behind every home business concept or company, if a business is accredited, it is not a scam. The BBB is very good at investigating businesses and they know what is legal and what is not.
So, check the BBB, ask about training materials on their website or recorded phone calls, who’s going to mentor you, then start earning that income you want. Remember, if the concept or opportunity is legit, you will have to work to earn that income. No one is going to work for you. Together we will either find a way to be successful, or make one. And speaking of making something, here’s another recipe to try.

Cowboy Cookies:

Recipe from “For the Love of Cooking.net”

Original recipe from Martha Stewart

.       1 cup of flour

.       ½ tsp baking soda

.       ½ tsp salt

.       ¼ tsp baking powder

.       ½ cup butter, softened

.       ¼ cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar

.       ¼ cup + 2 tbsp white sugar

.       1 egg

.       ½ tsp vanilla

.       ¾ cup of oats

.       ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

.       ½ cup white chocolate chips

.       ½ cup of sweetened shredded coconut

.       ¼ cup of pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder until well mixed. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until well combined.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until well mixed. Add the oats, chocolate chips, white chocolate chip, coconut and pecans until just combined.

Spoon the dough onto a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Place into the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to continue cooling. Enjoy.