My modest upstart in the world of Internet marketing has been interesting, frustrating and so far bears little fruit! Why on Earth would I thoroughly enjoy Blogging?

One of my first topics “Amid Northern Lights, A Rising Star” was about my amazing daughter, her chosen degree / profession and passion. Blogging is a great way to express your feelings, tell your story, and establish trust among other likely subjects of an article or podcast. Emelie; my mothers namesake, is pictured above, with me at Cracker Barrel the week of her 21st birthday. I have no shortage, as you will find in future articles, of fascinating people to feature. Once I tasted the sauce of knowing that anyone in the world may see whats written I respect and appreciate the medium, the opportunity and the humility required to be accurate, honest and appreciative of anyone willing to permit me to publish their story! As of today 03/16/19 this will be the only food at this feast. I will continue this writing soon. I will publish today so this modest beginning is visible. More later, chow! OR Going for chow now C U LATER.

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Harry Shawn Watson

Medic retired

This angel has barely left her teens behind, traveled in two hemispheres, doing charity work for orphaned children, vocalized many genres of music since learning to walk! Emelie Watson: A voice of clarity, purity and passion, a winning, even disarming smile, that draws friends and strangers near, a face that invites conversation and conquers concerns and fears!

To her music she brings an impressive toolbox of range and vocal skills, a singing ethic and energy that current stars possess and an apparent joy in sharing her gift!

In Minneapolis she has been inspired by the Northern Lights, the winter weather since learning to ski in Indiana and Michigan and her pursuit of a degree in Music Production! A proud Father recalls an emotional moment in church one spring day :

Em was already up by the alter. The congregation was silent. As the piano began I was drawn into a pleasant place. My Em was about to sing. I was calm. I had heard her sing before and even though time had passed I was expecting her sweet voice to add her unique sound to the song to be played.So many pleasant feelings were rushing around in my head.

It was a gorgeous spring day and the suns brilliance was streaming through the stained glass. The breeze was moving a shadow of  branches and leaves of over the beautiful colors. I was in the company of church friends and my precious three youngest children.

The piano intro was indicating that I would soon hear Emelie. As I focused only on her I was proud to see how calm she was. The Very first note was a vocal lightning strike, a loud crack of thunder that brought my prideful emotions to a boil. Church is one of the few places that I can let emotions show. I felt as if that lightning went straight down my spine!

My eyes puddled with tears, I’m sure I blushed as I suddenly felt very warm. I bowed my head to thank God for such a joyful creature as my oldest daughter and for music, a gift for the soul!

These reactions were spread over an entire millisecond. I sat down to wipe my eyes and with each successive note I was filled with pride for the clarity, confidence and strength in Emelie’ voice! I don’t recall the name of the song. I know i will react when I hear it again!

I sincerely hope that Emelie’ gift brings joy to others in the same measure I received that day!

And I declare that her talent and natural ability did not begin with me. Her love of music and resulting mastery is to the credit of her Mother, Grandmother, Grandfather and aunts Lindsay and Katie. God is smiling on all of you!

Love,

Daddy aka Harry Shawn Watson. Medic retired

author: hswatson

 

 

 

 

Our employer, the co owner of AID Ambulance in Indianapolis, created a behavior mod program offering the use of a motor home as incentive. The objective: improve our paperwork and our adherence to company policies. The plan worked well. Every employee suddenly improved their attitude toward the complex pile of paper that accompanied each patient transport. We all wanted to have the intended reward; the use of the motor home for three days. What we failed to realize was that our part of the process was only the beginning. The staff of five ladies in the front office, including the bosses wife, did the remainder of the hard work to turn our paperwork into a payable claim, long before computer processing was available.

Ten seconds after the offer was made I knew we had to make a customized plan. I knew that we did not want to be the second (group) to claim the prize. The first group might spoil it for everyone, if they did something weird (like we were about to do) But no one had yet mentioned a group using the GMC.  I’m sure the boss thought that someone with a small family would pick a weekend and go to a state park 50 miles away, park in a campsite and the Contest prize would get a weekend of gentle use. Well……Everyone had waited for the good behavior period to pass. We had all anticipated the calendar to be posted for everyone to reserve their three days. The great news was the incentive motivated the EMT and Paramedic crews to accurately complete their paperwork which improved processing and reimbursement times. For that we were thanked and congratulated and it improved the temperament of the front office personnel. Everybody wins! However, skulduggery was afoot! And I was the perpetrator!

Our secretly planned nine day trip! Nobody suspected what we had conspired to do! We simply stacked our names on consecutive days on the calendar.

Gently driving the GMC did not exclude switching drivers while on the highway. It felt so natural to us to do something that most people would consider risky.  While traveling we cooked, used the restroom and switched drivers at our leisure. And it was one of the keys to our quick drive time there and back. Nineteen hours from Indy to Fort Lauderdale a motor home with five friends, eighty gallons of gas, no reason to stop to eat, food was prepared on the way and no rest stops needed!

Changing drivers while moving to expedite the trip! 

We all worked in EMS. We were all Paramedics and began as EMT’s and as such did a lot of emergency driving. Every month there were dozens, sometimes  hundreds of runs per week, many of which were emergencies that required us to “Expedite”!  (Lights and siren) In addition we worked in a GMC motor home that had been expertly converted to an ambulance. So even though we had driven that special ambulance as if it was a giant Go- Cart, we knew we had to be gentle with this vehicle.  

Few people we worked with knew that we were combining our days, including management and owners. On departure day we all stepped into the GMC. We drove out of the garage into the alley that lead to Meridian Street. There stood the owner who generously offered the incentive program. No matter what he was about to feel, the incentive worked and accomplished the goal. He was likely, not prepared for what he saw next. He knew that someone was leaving with the G.M.C Motor home. He may have intended to say a few words of caution and urge kind and careful driving for his “baby”. He just didn’t know ALL of us were leaving at the same time. He gets credit for being intelligent. He recognized our plan as soon as he saw us, all five of us departing, his eyes dropped , his shoulders slumped. He asked where we were going. After a noticeable silence someone blurted out “FLORIDA!” It was difficult to gauge his reaction as a break in traffic gave us immediate access to a right turn onto Meridian Street! POOF we were GONE before any further questions.  We went straight to Mike’s house first for the dive gear.  Mike had a box of 8 track tapes, 96 to be exact, that would serve as our; “in flight entertainment.”

As we left Mike’s driveway he was at the wheel, he lit a cigarette and shoved “Born to be wild” in the 8 track! That set the tone for the entire trip! The music made the trip fly by! Some of those days the music was on 24 hours! Driving to Florida was a thrill knowing we didn’t have to hurry, we didn’t need to stop and that meant plenty of time to enjoy The Sunshine State!

When we reached Fort Lauderdale, in a little over 19 hours, I felt we were obligated to go to a great “sports bar” that I had visited with a friend ( Joe Humkey) the previous year. “It’s on the causeway”, a stranger told us. It’s full of beautiful girls and two for one drinks. As it turns out there are a thousand things that can be described as “On the Causeway”  Even from a distance though “Buttons” bar seemed to scream to men ; “Here’s Da Girls!” it was easy to find !

But that was last year! It didn’t look right!

I was in the drivers seat when we arrived at “The Button” bar was the new name. It was immediately apparent that the bar had changed hands and was a “Gentlemens Club” now! I immediately tossed the GMC into REVERSE!! The back up alarm sounded, as it should. The sound attracted an employee, seen bursting out of the nearest door. As I started cranking the wheel to back around and to my  right a car pulled in behind us . Someone in the car behind us began honking just as “Martin” stuck his head through the tiny sliding window of the GMC! ” HI GUYS, THIS IS SOO BIG”; referring to the Jimmy! In a flash my friends on this years trip began questioning ; “I thought you said this was a strip bar !” ” What did you and Joe REALLY do on your trip last year?” ” Yeah, I bet you went diving!” ” Did you go to Largo or just stay here?” “The truth was going to come out sooner or later!” “Congratulations to you and Joe, much happiness!” So I whipped the wheel to the left and moved my foot from the brake while Martin was still welcoming us to “The Button” and the car behind us was still honking! We are now inching forward and left with Martin’ head still in a window small enough to be a “noose”! One more cut right and in reverse! Martin is suggesting we come back soon and I was wishing we had a siren to make some space to continue on our trip to Key Largo. We got right back on the road. We slept in a parking lot by Air Force Beach arriving at 02:30 end of day one!  This will be completed sometime after 03/16/19 publish date.

A tool, for everyone, to share over the Earth  

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When I was first introduced to ecom I was instructed to subscribe to services that I did not know existed. Like the majority of newbies, I have made mistakes. I haven’t made all the mistakes yet, many more lie ahead. However, I’m happy I subscribed to WordPress.com for all of it’s amazing potential, capacity, and versatility! I have discovered not only the awesome power, flexibility and utility offered, but an abiding respect and positive reputation among authors who use WordPress.com as a powerful technical bridge. A bridge to all people and global audiences! WordPress.com  is an instrument of ideas, thought, and solutions for every inhabitant of earth. 

Invite the world to share your thoughts!  Give your loved ones an author for 2019!

According to codeinwp, almost 31% of all websites, worldwide, were built on WordPress. Why? WordPress is packed full of easy to use features and functionality. And, we will help you leverage it – all without having to learn code! Bring your real-world website needs and we’ll start building it together with your desire to write and lend your voice to issues and events! You will be armed with hundreds of PLUGINS, each with its own technical mission to allow you to specialize your authorship for any purpose!

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Harry Shawn Watson

Medic retired

Way back then…..;

When I discovered an internet add describing “affiliate marketing” ; as receiving links to post from a marketing type person I was intrigued!

Ad copy: I make an extra $47.00 a day posting links. Even then the bait ended in seven!

The Links were to be copied and pasted where the instructions indicated. I really can’t recall what year that was. I was still quite busy as a Paramedic in Indianapolis, Indiana. It seemed as I read about this alternative income that it might be a nice relaxing way to make extra money on a day off ! After all I was heavily obligated to a brand new three bedroom, two car garage, bi-level house! This newly constructed home; I watched them build it!, cost me a whopping $36,000 with a “salty” payment of $368.00 per month! With what I now know I suspect the “Posting links  ad was designed to build an email list. I discovered this add several years after the house was built. By then the payment was quite manageable as I had gained a promotion and greater income and the internet was still  a new baby!

 

I remember visualizing myself casually looking through MSN, Yahoo and AOL for people who would be receptive to me leaving an email that contained a link. Then I visualized getting nasty returns from those same people. When I added up the people and multiplied by the proposed fee, dependent on if people accepted the offer, I decided to just take my days off, OFF!

That was, I guess, the infancy of affiliate marketing along with the infancy of the Internet. I have wanted to blog for a long time. I won’t profess expertise just desire. When I started my blog last year I felt nostalgic. Thoughts of my train trip to Seattle years ago gave me even more warm and fuzzy feelings. My first blog post above was entitled “Making a living by breathing” While I was writing about this walk down memory lane of mine I naturally included my trip(s) to Skaneateles in upstate New York!

So, by combining all those wonderful memories of time, place ,and wonderful persons I assumed that Internet Marketing was still a small quiet and peaceful endeavor for a young person to make an extra $47.00 a day! Could I have been more wrong? Not in a lifetime. Since the fall of 2017 I have seen the amazingly complex phrenetic and competitive world of affiliate marketing There are far more companies and entrepreneurs in this space known as Affiliate Marketing than ever before. Because of shortcuts and cheating each other out of business, every aspect of this army of computer experts has been a blur of change,innovation and growth
OK the only accurate thing to say is they were stealing each other blind. For more on this I turn to the expertise of a pioneer in affiliate sales,  Marcus Campbell. Many of you know his prolific marketing tools as well as frequent webinars. Marcus is well known for his marketing success, his creative search methods and his downhome presentation style broadcast from his backyard studio/ office.

His mission : 1. To inform new marketers of the components of a market opportunity.

2. To show new marketers how to maximize ROI

A Semantic search, different words better results

1. back doors, backlinks, back rubs, big cigars!

From Marcus I learned that affiliate marketing now is more competitive and cut throat than ever before! Why? They were all fighting over a billion dollar pie. New methods, new software, which is developed everyday, help newcomers and experts alike. And the experts sell their creations to the newcomers along with informative webinars and web courses.

So despite the similarities, the differences from “posting links” to “How to make $1000,000 a year” are drastic. Gone is the trust. Posted links could be stolen, deleted, replaced or used to divert fees to another marketer.

So I will never see that ad copy again. I can still work on my ecommerce pursuits on the train but with the knowledge that ecommerce will continue to evolve. What the public may not realize is that marketers now are fighting over a multi-billion dollar pie. More importantly a marketer can sell thousands of a given item while sleeping. The same number of sales of that given item by sales associates who have benefits and  a breakroom could take months at a much greater cost. Since brick and mortar stores still need salespersons there will still be jobs. Marketers

This post is a milestone. My ecom journey is in it’s infancy. I will continue to post about ecom. So at some point my experience may be useful to someone else.

 

Harry Shawn Watson

08/01/2018

Sadly in my home state of Indiana 10% of drowning deaths are people who are trapped in the deadly negative current of a “Low head dam”. Nationwide 340 people have fallen victim to the drowning machine since 1980. Low head dams are designed to maintain the water levels during the dry months so that fish and plants are not trapped in dry sections of a river. The construction of one of these dams is simply a large concrete barrier stretching from one bank to the other. The height of this wall of concrete is essential for the average annual water level. When the water level is low there may be absolutely no water flowing over the concrete. Or there may be a few inches of water flow. Once someone has seen the dam in this non threatening state, it’s easy to conclude that there is no danger.

On another occasion this same person without knowledge of the mechanism that is; “The drowning machine”, may fall victim to its awesome power. It’s important to know that most explanations given to the public, in the media, and on the warning signs posted near these dams, are wholly inadequate. There is mention of circular currents and a graphic of a swimmer being tumbled around in the swirling water in the “boil”. It almost looks like fun. It almost seems that the wrong mentality could dismiss these imprecise depictions as a challenge. It may even be a coming of age moment for some, a time to rise to the challenge and prove to all those overly cautious adults that this can be conquered!

Here’s how it works! 

Water weighs about 8.6 pounds per gallon. That’s about 62.2 pounds per cubic ft. The water spilling over that concrete dam is falling as fast as the water at the surface above the dam. It’s falling almost as fast as gravity would take it toward earth. No human can oppose the weight, speed and force of that falling water. Objects at the surface of the boil can stay afloat only if they have enough buoyancy and if they are not submerged far enough for the force of the falling water to act on them. A boater may actually pass the bow of a boat over the spill and into the boil. There may be a short time where it seems like the boat will simply drift over the boil. The falling water creates a negative force on the surface downstream from the dam. This negative force draws a boat or a boater back to the boil to be forcefully swamped and or submerged. A boat trapped in the boil may stay on the surface for a short time. Eventually the boat’s long axis becomes parallel to the boil. The boat is unavoidably drawn sideways into the boil where the falling water can easily swamp the boat. The boaters then are at the mercy of the drowning machine. Even with a life preserver, it’s possible to be submerged and taken to the bottom of the river. From there if you have your wits about you, you might find that the water has fallen as far as it will. As the water falls to the bottom it then flows downstream. It may be possible to push downstream and maybe even surface. Then as you surface you realize that the boil is again pulling you back toward the spill. And this will repeat as long as you are in the water. Moving water possesses no heat energy so you would be cold and getting colder and more susceptible to hypothermia. Without a flotation device you would be circulated in the boil for longer periods of time and more likely to inhale water, causing drowning immediately. Drowning occurs if you inhale water. You may be conscious or unconscious it matters not. The water in your lungs goes rapidly into your bloodstream, engorging blood cells causing them to burst by the millions. Blood continues to circulate widening the range of damaged cells. The ruptured blood cells don’t carry oxygen anymore so your body and brain suffocate. And you will have spent the last moments of your life in unimaginable fear.

Of all the water craft I’ve seen in photographs caught at a low head dam. Pontoon boats seem to stay afloat in the boil. That doesn’t mean that the boaters weren’t thrown into the boil by the violent rocking near the spill. V-hull speed boats tend to be stuck or damaged above the boil. If they get in the boil they too can be swamped. Canoes and kayaks are the most common on the small rivers where low head dams would be. Portage around the drowning machine is always the best course of action.

The video below was chosen because it only shows a log in the perilous boil. See how the log even though buoyant gets circulated by the current as if it’s a toy.