The Isolated Entrepreneur

Anti-Phishing Phil is a free, interactive game that teaches users:

• What phishing is.
• How to determine if an email/website is legitimate.

It is geared towards people who are just beginning to use the computer.  The software is still under development, but you can  try it out.

Self had a wonderful article written by Andrea Todd.  “My husband is a better mother” talks about one mom’s guilty feelings.  It just goes to show we can be our own worst critiques.

In this week’s RealAge Tips, it was mentioned that eating some good fats a half an hour before dinner can help curb your appetite and keep you from overeating.

Some good fats include:

• 6 walnuts, 12 almonds, or 20 peanuts
• olive oil for dipping bread into
  

Part of my summers are spent in Oscoda, Michigan in our home. It is a great place for the kids because of the beach, the hiking, and change of pace. =-)

However, it is a difficult place to work out of. Cell phone coverage is non-existent at our house. The only option for high-speed Internet is cable which is expensive.

NetZero

Instead, for the past two weeks, I have been using NetZero’s Accelerated Dial-Up Connection. It worked pretty well. The websites were accelerated when you use NetZero software in conjunction with Internet Explorer. They are able to speed up web browsing by reducing the clarity of images and caching popular sites.

It’s slower than my home connection, but it gets the job done. There were two disadvantages for me.

• I had to use Internet Explorer in order to get the maximum web acceleration.
• I could not send email until I changed my email client to send outgoing mail through mail.netzero.net.
• I could not use XAMPP, an application that allows me to have my business website locally on my computer so I could make changes.

Free Wireless Internet Sites

I also have been able to go to several franchises that have free Wireless Internet connections including the library, McDonalds, and Subway.

Working Offline

Overall, I have gotten better at working offline.

• Used web-based email clients instead of your computer’s email client.  Yahoo and other web-based email services allow you to check any POP3 email account.
• For Outlook and other email clients, change your settings to set a maximum message size to download and not to download attachments.  You can download the attachments/emails when you need to view them.
• For Outlook and other email clients, setup a scheduled time in the evening for your computer to automatically log in and check your mail. By reading/writing email offline, it will queue messages I want to send for the next time I am on line.
• In Internet Explorer, use Synchronize (under Tools menu) to log onto the Internet at a scheduled time and cache (or save) selected websites for viewing offline. I used this feature to save weather, and online news sites locally.
• If you plan on working on website revisions, save your website to your computer prior to your vacation. Make the changes locally and when you get back home, use ftp to synchronize your web content.
• If your blog provider has it, submit new blog postings by email so you don’t have to wait for the site to load.
• Have business calls forwarded to the house phone and train your family how to handle incoming calls. With RingCentral, I am able to change the phone number that my business line rings to. An introductory message is played so family members can just hang up the phone in order for it to go to voice mail.

A great article was passed to me by a wonderful VA, Kristi of Adonai Business Solutions, about how stressful it is to run a business for moms with small kids.

The article, “Stress makeover for mom at-home business“, mentions that us work-at-home moms (and dads) are trying to do to much and, therefore, we feel guilty because we aren’t spending enough times with our kids - even though we are at home.  =-)

The article goes on about how making a definitive “line in the sand” that separates your work from your family can help alleviate some of the stress.

Personal Experience 

As someone with two kids under 5, it can be shear craziness.  What worked when I had just my son, does not work anymore now that I have two children.

It is a trapeze walk.  One gust of wind (moving to a new house, family illness, kids changing sleeping habit, etc) and you fall off.

In the past few months, I have eased back on my virtual assistance business.  I was just too burnt out and could no longer relax.

Looking back, I wonder if I would have been better off tightening the money belt (one less car, more budgeting) would have been easier.

On the other hand, I learned a lot about my self.  =-)

A new book has come out about work/life balance.

The book by Tom Stern uses humor to describe the issue.

Read an interview with Tom Stern conducted by Shari Lifland.

NPR reported yesterday that only 72 percent of domestic flights were on time in the first four months of 2007. This is the lowest percentage in the 12 years this statistic was tracked.

Of the delayed flights only 3.6% were due to weather. 2.8% of all flights were canceled.

The number of flights and passengers are back to pre 9/11 and dot.com bust levels. But is this the cause of most of the delays?
25.8% of the delays were due to the airlines. 29.8% were due to planes arriving late. Common practices such as overbooking passengers, scheduling more flights than an airport can handle and reducing their workforce contribute to this problem.

Airlines are not changing because the demand is out there. Even though airlines are increasing the prices, people are still purchasing tickets. There is no reason for airlines to change how they do business.

Are Any Airlines Better Than Others?

Delays by major airlines for the past 12 months ending April 30, 2007.

• Southwest 84.1%
• Delta 81.1%
• Skywest 81.6%
• Northwest 73.8%
• Continental 72.7%
• United 72.7%
• American 69.8%
• JetBlue 64.2%
• USAir 63.1%

Sources:

• NPR, “Flight Delays in Early 2007 Are the Worst in 12 Years“.
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics, “Airline On-Time Statistics“
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics, “Air Travel Consumer Reports for 2007“

RealAge has these tips for eating better while traveling.

•  Order a special meal when purchasing a ticket.  Most airlines allow you to select a specific type of meal: low-cal, vegetarian, kosher, etc.
  
• Eat a protein meal prior to travelling.  This keeps you satisfied longer.
• Avoid salty and sweet foods when purchasing items at the airport.  Grab chewing gum and water instead.

Source: “3Tips for Better Plane Food“, RealAge, May 10, 2007.

TabletHotels.com is a website that recommends hotels and destinations for those who like to travel in style.  They now have a section specially dedicated to luxury hotels and destinations for families with kids.

This is a great source for VAs and entrepreneurs.

I have tried many different diets and they all say drink 8 glasses a day or more.  However, it is not necessarily true.

The amount of water you need depends on the weather, the amount of exercise, and your body makeup.  Some people need less water than others.

So why, are diets gun ho about 8 glasses a day?  They are simply trying to change your habits.  They want you reaching for water first before you reach for food.

Source: “Breaking the 8-Glass Myth,” RealAge Diet and Nutrition Center. November 2004.