Nobody knows the trouble I've seen... nobody knows my sorrows

Sorry about the delay in posting, but given that so far I don't think anybody has seen my blog, I am basically writing to myself here. But perhaps later when I am in a better situation I will look back on this whole period and laugh about it. So, spoke to my attorney today, and the situation looks quite bleak. Liquidation might not work because I have signed so many personal sureties that at the end of the day liquidating the company would not really help me at all. Unless I get personally sequestrated as well, which could mean that I won't be able to get a job for the next year at least.... yep it's very bleak :/  If you knew me, you would realise that I am the last guy that deserves this sort of stress, but it's precisely my trusting and generous nature that has been partially to blame for my situation.  If I can find a job in the next week or so, I could possibly speak to my creditors and make some sort of arrangements regarding the debts that I owe, because in this climate nobody really wants to take you to court, especially if they can see that you don't really have anything for them to take.  Well I am hoping that's the case for most of my creditors.  I have had long relationships with most of these companies, and sincerely hope that I will be appeal to their good nature... which is hard to do sometimes when you deal with corporates and the lack of sympathy that they sometimes display.  You are after all just a number... and you did sign a contract after all :(

Wabbit..I mean Job Hunting

Well.... I have started looking for new employment. Not entirely sure what I would like to do though...so that's my first problem, second major problem is that most of the recruiters are telling me that it's still recession time and jobs are scarce. I figured that would be the case, but I thought that after 10 years I would get at least 1 or 2 bites. Anyways, got a call today about a job which has no real connection to what I do, or what I put in my CV. I guess that some people believe that if you can program in one language you can program in another... luckily though I am one of those people. I have generally had a flair for programming logic, and could always understand code even if I had never looked at the specific coding language before. Hopefully I should be able to demonstrate that in my interview (hold thumbs)..
Would be good to have a change and finally start earning a proper salary :)

Number Three and I must confess...

OK, I must confess .. the main reason I started blogging was to make money...  just a few dollars here and there to keep me amused... a dollar might not seem like much but here in South Africa it's like a gazillion rands (I'm exaggerating of course...just in case some rednecks decide to hop in an airplane to SA hoping to live the high life)...

These days, you have to use any avenue you can find to generate some extra cash, especially if you are facing liquidation and all the nastiness that comes with it (damn those personal sureties)...  I considered quite a few different online money making options...things like affiliate marketing, pay per click and reseller agreements.  So if you see an ad or plug for some affiliate site, don't hesitate to click... you would have my undying gratitude and once I am rolling in the extra hundreds of rands, I will repay your kind gesture by buying myself something nice and thinking of you all fondly when I use it.

As I was saying before I rudely interrupted myself, there are various ways to make money online ... some require lots of time and some are downright scams.  One in particular comes to mind... the infamous work from home scam.. I was tempted to try it out, but then when I sent my details through to them, I received a nice e-mail stating that if I purchased their starter pack I would then be able to start making thousands of rands working from home.  I smelled something fishy and I was right.. apparently what these con artists were doing is creating a pyramid scheme of sorts.  The starter pack you received would basically show you how to advertise your own "Work from Home" scam and you would make money by getting some other poor sob to buy the starter pack from you, thus creating a new generation of people placing adverts advertising the scam.  It's clever but a definite con.  If you were considering signing up for one of these and my post has made you think otherwise, then my job is done. That said though, there are quite a few legitimate ways to make money online, and I will be trying these out and will endeavour to let you know how you could do the same.  Just my way of paying it forward...

2nd post...and still going strong

Ok, I have taken my own advice and googled "magnanimous"... freedictionary.com states that it also means "generous in forgiving" so I will try to keep my rants and raves to a minimum, although there are several unscrupulous organizations that I would like to take a baseball bat to (oops... slipping out of character there a bit)...

Anyways... the Soccer World Cup is almost upon us.. many people are counting on this to bring business into South Africa, and although I have always been a proponent of optimism, I seriously doubt that the World Cup will bring any sort of lasting benefit to South Africa as a whole.  I understand the sentiments of the workers who don't forsee any change in their personal circumstances... when you live that close to the breadline it is difficult to get caught up in the "hype".  Everyday I hear of more and more small businesses having to file for liquidation.  They say that the recession is over but I don't agree.  Most businesses thought we were through the worst and tried to hang on for as long as possible, hoping that things would change, hoping that the World Cup would increase confidence in business, but eventually realised that it was all a pipedream.  Some may succeed, and some may reap huge rewards from the next few months, but for most.. it is a dismal outlook indeed.

Some of you might be thinking that "magnanimous" must also mean "morose" by my tone and outlook on things at the moment, but I believe in honesty and not the rose tinted picture that is portrayed by the media to the outside world.

And so it begins...

I am sincerely hoping that this will not be one of those projects that I excitedly start, and then eventually lose steam and abandon.  I have been planning to start a blog for a long time now and I guess that my current situation has finally given me the motivation to get my ass into gear and do something about it.

This blog for all intents and purposes will be incredibly exciting, titillating and will have you on the edge of your seat.  Some of you may laugh, some may cry, but in the end you may decide that you either love it, hate it or think that it was OK.. (Mitch Hedburg was frikken funny...RIP :( )

Let me introduce myself (in the interest of maintaining some semblance of anonymity, I won't be divulging too much..).  I am a 30 something entrepreneur, trying hard to make it in the very fickle economy during a recession, but finding it very hard at times.  I'm a single guy (there are no other guy's attached to me...Jerry Seinfeld is also frikken funny)... honest and hardworking, always willing to help others, often to my own detriment.  The last few years have made me believe in the old adage, "Nice Guys finish last".. but before I start to sound too whiny.. lemme end this post and start thinking about the exciting topic for my next post.