I had an unfinished idea yesterday. Maybe someone can pick up the ball and figure out how to run it into the end zone.<\/p>\n
It was about 5 PM and I had spent the evening doing stuff related to my professional writing career: learning how to set up an email list, taking notes on the posts of authors on Medium I admire, that kind of thing. I felt like I was getting a little burned out, so I decided to take a quick break.<\/p>\n
I signed into Amazon Mechanical Turk<\/a> as a worker and accepted 14 activities where I would look at two pictures and determine which looked more like a reference picture. Each activity took about a minute to complete and paid 7 cents, so I made 98 cents on my break.<\/p>\n Now, some of you may be wondering: Why in the world would someone with a master’s degree perform rote activities for below minimum wage?<\/p>\n Well, two reasons, really. One is that I never have to pay for books anymore. Every so often, I accumulate enough in my Amazon gift card balance to buy a book. Alternately, I could use the money to buy other writing-related supplies (Pilot G2 blue extra-fine 0.5 mm pens are my jam). Or, since it’s Amazon, I could use the money to buy groceries.<\/p>\n More importantly, though, it’s the reminder to myself that at anytime I want, I can go earn myself a little money. No one has to choose to hire me for a job. It’s all up to me. Now, when my writing is earning me $500 or $1000 a month, Amazon Mturk will not be worth my time anymore. But in the early months of my writing career, it’s reinforcement that I can earn money on my own.<\/p>\n After I logged off Mturk, I looked out the window and saw some of our homeless friends sitting on the benches outside. I thought, how cool would it be if they could log in and earn a few bucks anytime they like? If they could earn 20, 30 bucks a day on Mturk or something similar, that money could be life-changing – not only in terms of spending power, but in the feeling of empowerment it would give them to earn their own money.<\/p>\n But there are reasons why I can earn that 98 cents on Mturk on my break, and they can’t. There are reasons I could earn 30 bucks a day on there if I wanted to, and they can’t.<\/p>\n One, I have a $500 laptop and I pay $100 or so a month for high-speed Internet. If I didn’t have those things, I could still use Mturk on my $650 phone and whatever I pay AT&T for unlimited data.<\/p>\n Two, I have a bank account that I could deposit Mturk earnings into. They don’t.<\/p>\n Third, I have an Amazon account that I alternately divert the earnings into, so I can buy books and groceries. Now, they could set up an Amazon account as well. But what they don’t have is a shipping address.<\/p>\n How cool would it be if they could log onto a site like Amazon Mturk or Microsoft Rewards or Qmee<\/a> (a new site I found recently that pays you to take surveys) and earn a few bucks anytime they liked, and then were able to transfer the earnings onto an electronic gift card they could actually use Downtown – like a Walgreens e-card or a Jimmy John’s e-card?<\/p>\n Or what if they could transfer the earnings into an account that can be spent on nights at the shelter?<\/p>\n Just an idea. Like I say, if anyone wants to take it and run with it, be my guest.<\/p>\n On to the news…<\/p>\n Those of you who live in South Junction apartments, this is another reminder to lock your car doors. A member of Nextdoor observed two males jump the complex’s fence around 9:00 last night and start checking door handles to see if cars are unlocked.<\/p>\n In other news gleaned from Nextdoor, speeding is said to be a problem on Island Place East, the major thoroughfare on the “inland” portion of Mud Island.<\/p>\n Free A. Schwab’s shot glasses when you buy an AM\/PM bourbon shot at the Beale Street dry goods store’s Harvest Fest<\/a> Saturday beginning at 2 PM. While you’re getting liquored up, the kids can enjoy $1 ice cream, $2 hot dogs, balloon “carving,” and a Jones Orchard pumpkin patch.<\/p>\n Slider Inn Downtown weekend entertainment schedule:<\/p>\n\n