Random thoughts on a Tuesday (June 27, 2017)

in #personal7 years ago

#payitforward - helpful tips - giveaways... There are so many things floating around in my brain that I don't even know where to begin so I'm going to call this post

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Prepare your index finger for scrolling

What's on my mind?

In alphabetical order:

That's a lot on the brain, right? So I guess I'll just work my way down the list with these random thoughts and see how many of you make it to the end.


#hamburgersaintproject

As one of the first gift recipients of the #hamburgersaintproject it is my responsibility to carry on the legacy of Sgt. Michael Barkey through a Pay It Forward initiative based in love, giving, and a bit of fun.

I NEED TWO VOLUNTEERS!

It's kind of simple and kind of not. Volunteers agree to accept the gift, write a Steemit post about it.
Find 2 of volunteers and gift them with something meaningful...and maybe include a snack bag of Cheetos.

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@lexikon082 is the amazing veteran and friend who launched this initiative. He wrote a call out for volunteers to move this forward. Will it be you? I'm selecting names on Friday, June 30 and I'm extending this to my Facebook following as well.

So far the names I have to pick from a hat are: @jdawg, @gay123 and possibly @inkbeard

For updates on the project please also follow @hamburger-saint and keep an eye out for the # veterans and #hamburgersaintproject tags.

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#payitforward

This is my Steemit passion project. If you've been following me for the better part of a year you know that I love outreach and helping Steemians get over the hump.

What hump?

Any hump! Could be a tiny financial boost because I donate the liquid funds; could be putting their # nameinlights as a way to highlight a fellow who could use a boost in morale or followers.

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These calls to action are so important. When you participate you are telling the world that you care because WE ARE COMMUNITY.

Just in the last 28 days I've managed to create 9 blog posts and donated liquid funds from three of them.

Note to self: Write more often!

#hamburgersaintproject received a total of 134 SBD
@thecrazygm received 175 SBD to after he fell, further injuring his back and finding himself facing medical expenses and possible eviction. His post is here

To Pay It Forward does not mean strictly financial giving. If you see a worthy cause, give it a 100% upvote. Resteem them. Write a post a dedicate the liquid funds...or don't. The simple fact of sharing a Steemian's story with a broader audience is usually enough to bring organic traffic to them.

It's not hard to do!
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Helpful tips for Steemit newbies

Strangely enough, some of the posts I've created 8 to 11 months ago are starting to gain traction. I have every intention of updating them; clean them up and maybe omit some of my anecdotes but here's a short list of the ones I feel are most valuable.

Something to think about

STEEM and SBD are the two liquid currencies that you can easily trade on the exchanges. The past few weeks have been great with both trading well over $1. These are amazing times for me because it wasn't that long ago when STEEM was down to EIGHT CENTS.

My estimated account value was crap. I stayed anyway.

Sure, now the money is pretty great. The potential to earn has no limits - but bad times happen. I want you to really think about what brings you here to Steemit and then ask yourself what is it going to take make stay if/when the price tanks again?

In order to stay a happy Steemian, I've always maintained that I have no expectations of earnings, which makes a payout that much sweeter. Whether or not STEEM or SBD is $10+ or $0.02 I'm going to continue holding the torch because it's still 100% more than what I'm making on Facebook.

Think about it.

!!! IMPORTANT !!!

Listen up, newbies...
You have a very important responsibility that you may not even be aware of:

STEEMIT WITNESS VOTING

Your homework is to read @pfunk's User's Guide to Steem Witnesses then place your educated votes here

Your Steemit future lies in their hands. Vote wisely.

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My boys in bootcamp

Jeremy (3050) is my middle child and he's got one month left of bootcamp.
He's managed to survive the gas chamber, Swim Week, Grass Week, and he's getting ready for Team Week and Table 2 firing.
Joshua (2061) is my youngest and he's just finished up Swim Week and the gas chamber.
I'm still waiting to see how his platoon did for Initial Drill! He's three weeks behind Jeremy but so far he's hanging in there.

I try not to worry about the future and where they may go once they've been assigned a permanent duty station - or if they're deployed. I focus on their achievements and the steps they are taking in becoming fine, young men. I am so proud of my boys.

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Steemfest 2

I want to go.

There, I said it.

I. Want. To. Go.

It's nice to wish something. It's entirely different to see if it's even remotely possible! And I couldn't just buy one ticket. This would be a trip for two and it's been hell trying to convince my husband that traipsing around Europe is a good idea. He's very security-conscious and doesn't like what he's reading in the news. Traveling abroad is not on his list of "good ideas."

But it's not FOMO that's making me anxious about going but rather a feeling that I should be there. I love Steemit and its people with all my heart. As an early adopter I feel like it's calling to me. I want to break bread with you in the worst way.

I mentioned possibly traveling by myself and he gave me the look. Well, I certainly wouldn't be alone; I have my Steemit family! Ideally, I want my husband with me. He's my partner in all things. It's going to take a lot of convincing and a lot of saving to make the trip.

I could shoot for the moon and try.

Worst case scenario, I've got a war chest to attend Steemfest3.

What do you think?

Is it worth powering down for airfare and accommodations?

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SteemGnome

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This guy is still waiting to travel!

If you're interested in hosting SteemGnome, please leave a comment. I'd like to pull a name out of a hat and send him on his way. He's getting cabin fever.

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ONE MORE THING...

I'd like to close with one more #payitforward mention.
@girlbeforemirror is going through some tough times with her health. Her husband @azurejasper wrote an amazing piece about what they are going through.

About four months ago, @girlbeforemirror posted this doodle; something she drew while in the hospital. The image has stayed with me and I want to share it with you.

Here is her original post

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I purposefully kept the image large in case you wanted to download and save it. You see, one of the things that I do on occasion is fill the window with something goofy and leave it as a comment on her posts.

This is the last one I sent with the crazy thing from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In other words...

DON'T PANIC!

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@girlbeforemirror and @azurejasper need us. Remember what I said about #payitforward - it's not just a monetary donation. Give them your time and attention. Upvote their content and comments.

Read their story and give them your support - however you see fit.

I intend to write a #payitforward post for them tomorrow. Stay tuned...

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- End of Splatter -

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Of course I would be beyond excited to see you in Lisbon.

Seems to me there are two issues, the cashola and the worry of international travel.

The money first - this is totally no sweat for you. With your reputation here, you could make it happen with a few posts. Look, I crowdfunded a trip to the USA in 2010 when barely anyone had even heard of crowdfunding let alone crypto-currency. I think you should set your sights high and make it a trip to remember for both of you. I'm sure you've seen the Atlantic Ocean before, right? Well get this, in Portugal, it's the same ocean, just that the sun sets over it instead of rising. How neat is that?!?

Make a spending plan, make it expansive and luxurious, you both deserve it. Come up with an overall figure and shoot for it, we'll keep voting for your posts till you make it.

Now, to the nasty people who like to frighten us.

I know this is hard. Lots of people are working hard to make it hard, to make it a difficult decision whether to go on a beautiful holiday, to make Americans stay away from Europe, to make Europeans afraid of their own back yard. Those people suck.

But when I first went to the US, there were people around me who genuinely believed that "If you go to America, you will be shot or experience a shooting, because they all have guns there." or "If you go to NYC, even for a week, you will be mugged, at knifepoint if you're lucky"

Of course I can't make promises that nothing will happen in any particular city at any particular time, but most of the time, we're just living out our boring lives, laughing, loving, working away, just ordinary folks like you are.

I'm looking forward to seeing you there x

You're right!

@lloyddavis, I love you. If I say it, I'll do my very best to make it so here it is...
I'm looking forward to a HUG and a duet! Bring your ukulele.

woo hoo! and of course, yes I never go anywhere without my uke!

I still want steem gnome to come to Florida.
I'm about to start filming my steemit series and he could make an appearance on each episode for as long as I have him.

AWESOME! I've got you on my list. If I don't have anyone else's name to draw I will contact you for your address ;)

wow #payitforward seems really promising! ill add it to my daily surfing and make sure to resteem.

There are a lot of initiatives for the #payitforward tag. It's really amazing what a community can do once they put their heart and mind into it. Welcome to Steemit @brains1ck :)

wow!!! Hello!!! You inspire me past the moon!!!
Following !!!

Thank you so much @izabellablue
I'm looking forward to seeing your posts. Welcome to Steemit! :D

Oil painting!!!! dedication, Innovation , focus!!! I can remember some of this words after reading your post. Thanks.

I don't know what this message means @panknil but if you're inspired to
GO - BE - DO - CREATE
then I am totally jived for you. ;)

Yes, probably my message doesn't go with your context, but while i saw the painting equipments, that reminds me my elder brother who is a superb painter and I see his dedication to achieve something. That's the reason I made that comment. I know this is nothing to do with the context of your post. Sorry about this.

No need to apologize! Take inspiration anywhere and everywhere you can get it. That's the beauty of free-flow thinking. If you didn't leave such an interesting comment we would not be having this conversation now! :D

I hope you share some of your brother's art work and check out the link for newbie artists in my post. May it help you in your Steemit journey.

you dont wanna know whats going on in my head lol

LOL @kersmash (btw - I love your username)
I do a bit of fiction writing for fun. There is always a bloodletting and mayhem going on in my head. ;)

then you will do well here :) and thanx btw

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for stopping by @hebro - I hope some of the links are useful to you. :)

thanks :) I hope some of this was helpful.

I like the image and the ideas you presented here. Great, wish you more success

Thank you @charles1 - it's been 11 months of building, growing, learning but well worth it.

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