Odesk Made me Go Uh-Oh!

You've been emailing me in the thousands, harassing me by phone and text day and night and stopping me on the street to ask:

"Have you made any money Odesk?

Ok,  maybe I am exaggerating a bit- but it is time for an update! Well I haven't made thousands of dollars in my spare time. I have made $23 and spent hours applying for several jobs. The problem with Odesk is that people are looking for cheap labour, and there are lots of people willing to work for next to nothing- like less than a $1 an hour. I try to excuse it by presuming (without actually checking) that   $1 US an hour in the Philippines is a really good wage, and then I came across US Pastors and Churches who hired Odesk workers at a low rate for all manner of administrative tasks. Everything from transcribing an audio recording of a sermon to designing flyers for the upcoming pastors appreciation banquet (the contractor for that current job would have needed to design 6 flyers for to afford a ticket to go to the banquet!). Now I needed to know if these workers were being paid fairly, and seriously resisted the urge to fire off an email to some of these churches.

Even with the internet at my disposal, finding a comparison wage is pretty tricky. I do discover that a young Indian girl picking tea leaves for my morning cuppa makes about 30cents an hour, in which case no wonder those with some computer skills and the equipment are flocking to Odesk (and I resolve to double check all my tea is fair trade).  In the Philippines it's a little different as far as I can tell, but it seems that $5-$7 US dollars an hour would be an average wage, making $1 an hour well below the average.

Before you join with me in fury at these Odesk pastors and Churches I suggest you do what I did- check the label on your clothing. Right now. Go ahead and check. If I am mad at churches for farming out work for cheaper labour, I should be equally mad at myself. I can justify purchasing clothes from companies who favour sweat shops, their workers experiencing both low pay and dangerous working conditions, but I can't justify what happens on O desk? Perhaps because on Odesk I have a name and a face that goes with the low wage. When Nike first offered customized shoes with customers names emblazoned on the side, I heard of a gentlemen who requested the shoe be marked with name of the child sweatshop worker who had made it (I believe Nike declined). I wonder how my shopping habits would change if the tag bearing the cheap price I love also bore the photo of the worker who would never make enough money to buy it.

Do you have any thoughts on clothing and sweat shops? Where can you buy clothes that aren't made in sweat shops? Is a low wage better than no wage? Comment and let me know your thoughts.

Life is like a.....

If you are thinking box of chocolates you would be wrong! You may never know exactly what you're going to get, but what do get is covered in one of the worlds best discoveries- chocolate. I don't know about you, but not everything I've pulled out of my "box" of life  has been as sweet as chocolate. Hubby and I were discussing what we felt were some of the more horrific news stories of the week, we were constantly correcting each other on the facts when we realized we were talking about two different events, the bombing of the church in Pakistan killing and the siege at the mall in Kenya. Life is not like a box of chocolates.

I don't subscribe to Forrest Gump's philosophy on life, but I do subscribe to the Phil Vischer podcast and much prefer his interpretation of life which he shared shortly after the school shootings in Connecticut last year: "Life is like a broken amusement park" . I don't recall everything that Phil said in the podcast, (but I promise it's 41 minutes you won't regret!) but that one quote hasn't left me and whenever I hear of horrific or tragic events my first thought is that the amusement park is still broken. God designed the amusement park. It's designed to bring joy, to be something exciting. And if it wasn't broken, that's exactly what our life and our world would be like- full of joy and happiness.  But it is. It is broken. We are having fun on the roller coaster and without reason or warning we are flung to our death. We experience immense joy followed by horrific and unexplainable events.

Phil goes onto expand the thought but in the light of the horrific incidents such as the ones of this week, it brings comfort to me. It doesn't bring any noble purpose to the horrific events, it doesn't help find a non existent silver lining that God had to allow these tragedies to occur for some good to happen somewhere else, but it comforts me because it reminds me that this is not the way God designed life to be. God didn't design the amusement park to fling us to our death, he designed it so we could be in relationship with Him and have great joy. And though the amusement park is broken, I can still try and enjoy the ride until it get's fixed.

Can You Trust a Guy with a Beard?

My computer screen was a mess of open windows this mornings and as I started closing down windows I came across this. I have no idea what I clicked on to get there but it just had to be shared!! It's by Matt McInerney from pixelspread.com and is eerily accurate. Click on the picture to enlarge and discover if you can trust the bearded men in your life. 

Memory Lane Monday- My First "Taste" of Canada

This is an historic moment- our first ever Memory Lane Monday!  In an attempt to organize my thoughts, every Monday will feature a walk down memory lane and my excuse to adventures from my pre-blog days.

My First "Taste" of Canada
When I first came to Canada back in the summer of 1997 there was a lot to look forward too and the best part of any new culture is the food. Believe it or not my first trip to Canada landed me in Eston, SK and my first taste of Canadian cuisine was courtesy of a bible college cafeteria. To this day a dry, hot, mosquito filled prairie summer day will take me right back to Eston and to my first encounter with Canadian food.  Some of the food was fairly easy to figure out, for example I had no idea what a "taco" was but upon arrival at the food counter it seemed fairly self explanatory (pronouncing it as my friends know is a different story). However there were a few flavours that though obvious to a Canadian, were completely baffling to me as a foreigner.

Ranch Flavour
I had never heard of "Ranch" flavour before coming to Canada. I didn't get it then, and I don't get it now (though I have learned to appreciate it). What is Ranch flavour and why does it go on salad? When I think of a ranch I think of cows and beef- beef flavoured salad dressing?!?!? (actually that's not a bad idea). Though I asked several of the locals no one could explain what it tasted like or explain it's name.

All Dressed Flavour

I love chips- love, love, love. This unique Canadian flavour is baffling but very delicious, delicious enough to make the top 5 best flavours of potato chip (you won't believe what number one is). When asking my lunch line neighbour what all dressed chips tasted like, I got a very inadequate response of "it tastes like everything, like it's all dressed". Our move to Estevan made it even more confusing when the local pizzeria advertised "all dressed pizza", I should hope by pizza doesn't come naked!

To be fair...
When I share British foods with my canadian counter parts I know I get strange looks for the prawn cocktail flavour "crisps" we have. You may think it's weird- but at least I can give you a flavour reference :) What are some foreign foods that are baffling to you?

Top Trip Tips for Flying with Kids and Infants.

Bloggers are supposed to write about what they know- and I know air travel! I didn't take my first flight until I was 17, but since then it's a been a non-stop roller coaster of airports and terminals- and the novelty of flying wore off fast! My oldest son Jack took his first international flight when he was only a few months old. So here are my top trip tips  for airline travel with kids:

1)What to do with kids under 2?
Kids under 2 fly free domestically and at a fraction of the cost internationally as long as they are seated on your lap for the journey. Obviously life is much easier if you can pay for a seat, especially if you are travelling by yourself with an infant. Most international airlines also have a bassinet for very small babies that attaches to the wall, it's usually available free of charge but must be booked beforehand and lots of parents don't know about them. It was a lifesaver for me when I travelled by myself with an infant- I don't know how I would have eaten a meal balancing baby on my lap?!?!

2)CARES harness
I just discovered the CARES harness this summer- and I love it. Airline seat belts never kept my little escape artists in one place and many reports say they won't protect children in case of severe turbulence- enter the CARES harness. I loved it because it was easy to use, small to carry and made life not just safer but much more comfortable for my youngest (she was just over 2). They are pricey but re-sell well and can often be rented.



3)Wheelie luggage
Though my daughter is the proud owner of a hot pink Trunki (which is awesome!) my boys both have cheap backpacks on wheels that we use for travelling. A simple thing but I guarantee if you don't get wheel-able hand luggage you will be carrying that Pokemon backpack through the airport when your little travelling companion gets tired!




5)Luggage allowance and strollers
Check, check and double check you checked baggage allowance. There are huge differences between airlines and the policies often change. Some airlines will give you less luggage with an infant on your lap where as some will allow you to check car seats, playpens and other baby paraphernalia. Even if you can take your stroller straight to the gate I would NOT recommend taking your expensive one as they often get damaged. We purchased a stroller bag for my sit and stand stroller so we could pack it up at the gate and put it in the hold. We bought the summer infant stroller after one airline flight with our eldest and we loved it and it survived almost 15 flights before it broke. It was great because it was folded small enough into it's little bag that you could take it on the plane as hand luggage, so it never left my sight- not all airlines/airports will give you your stroller back at the arrivals gate (Birmingham, UK is bad for that!!!) It doesn't actually look like you can buy the summer infant stroller anymore which is a shame. Let me know if you know of a stroller that's great for travelling!



6)Pack light, pack smart.
Pack less toys, pack more electronics. It's not what you want to hear, but it's true. Toys fall down between the seats and the kids have no space on the airplane. An iPad can provide a couple of movies before the battery dies and leap pads can provide endless hours of video games- again- not what you want to be encouraging your child to do but unless you are flying every week I personally don't think it's a big issue. We started purchasing downloadable games from the leap pad app store instead of physical cartridges which made it even easier :)

Above all flying with kids takes lots of deep breaths, plenty of planning and at least one bar of dairy milk for sanity! What are some of your best tips for travelling with little ones? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Virtual Work, Virtual Pay?

Four months ago I had a thriving music studio and social life in Estevan, SK.  The phone never stopped ringing and dinging, the emails never stopped coming and in typical small town SK style people would often show up on my door unannounced (usually with baking).  Fast forward to the present and our new life in Winnipeg, MB and my week looks very different. I have had exactly 3 texts this week- and one of them was from my phone service provider, whom I actually have the most developed relationship with since moving here. Leaving behind my 50 students and thriving social life in SK  has at least allowed me the time to watch 5 seasons of the Big Bang Theory and the entireMasterpiece: Downton Abbey Complete Seasons 1, 2, & 3 DVD Set (Original U.K. Edition) (and I am still not over Matthews death- when is Lady Mary going to catch a break?). In a nutshell- I am bored and pretty much unemployed.  So what does a 21st century hip brit chick do when she is bored, unemployed and run out of Donwton episodes? She blogs. She drinks tea, she eats chocolate (Cadbury of course) and blogs. First blog topic- income. 

Plan A: Move life to Manitoba
When I started my music business in Estevan I asked schools, daycares and pre schools if I could send home flyers and the answer was always yes. The program I taught, Music For Young Children  was one of the main tables at the citywide registration. I did have to work hard to find and retain my students, but the opportunities were easy to find and just required a bit of effort. I didn't think things could be that different a short drive away in friendly Manitoba! Reality is  things are different in the big city and "free" advertising options aren't so easy. Schools and daycares are inundated with requests to advertise (at least those that would take my call), couple that with a late start (we arrived here in July, about a month after my peak advertising season for the fall), and my class load isn't going to cut it for this year. I need to rethink my marketing strategy but in the meantime I have to make some money, Big Bang Theory season 6 isn't going to buy itself from iTunes. 

Plan B: Get a part time job!
Turns out a Bachelor of church music won't qualify you to do much outside the Church (or that much in the church for that matter). Though I have interviewed for a couple of jobs with three kids and daycare rates what they are I have yet to find a job where I will actually bring home any bacon (real or metaphorical). 

Plan C: Possibly dreaming- make money online!
Can you really make money working from home online? According to some websites I could make thousands of dollars in my spare time only working a few hours a week- totally believable- and apparently I don't need to have any skills or knowledge and Susan who lives in the same city as me already paid off all her debt and is booking her family a cruise. I'm not out to make thousand,  just a couple of hundred a month so this technically I should be able to do this in my sleep. A quick google search came up with a plethora of different ideas I get to try out over the next month or so. So here is the first one:-

Virtual work!

I'd never heard of virtual assistants before I read A J Jacobs "My life as an Experiment" in one particular chapter he tries to outsource as much of his life as possible, and one way to do that is through virtual assistants in countries such as India, who for cheap rates will do everything for you such as researching holiday destinations, ordering groceries online and, in A J Jacobs case, reading bed time stories to your kids. In my google search I came across Odesk, free to join (I always love free) so worth a try. 

Odesk is a website where people can recruit online workers for jobs and online workers can find virtual jobs. The jobs come from all over the world as do the workers, and you will find "contractors" as they are called charging everything from $3- $70 an hour. There is lots of work for web designers, research assistants and technical work as well as some more adventurous and specialized work such as translation, voice overs and artistic endeavours  It works a lot like ebay in that clients and contractors leave feedback for each other and there is some control over situations by Odesk as long as you are getting paid by the hour (fix fee jobs you are taking a risk!). So I create a quick online profile take a few online tests to show my skills and start applying for jobs. I applied for  several different jobs and got an email response known as an interview right away- "yes" (fist punch in air). The client wants me to do a bunch of work for free first to test me out (darn) and he wants me to set up a bunch of email addresses that look suspiciously like the email addresses I receive multiple scams from (double darn) the client also has no verified payment information and no history with Odesk (triple darn). I decide at that point to start looking for jobs related to areas I work in, I search for jobs involving music and apply for a few including transcribing videos of vocal lessons and some voice over work. I try not to get distracted by the contractors who are only charging a $1 an hour and wondering what I could outsource to make my life easier. - can you do virtual laundry? 

Next morning - success! I get an interview from a client asking for a review on a jazz album. I'm a music major, I like music, I have ears- it's a winner! It's a one-two hour job for which I will make about $10 per hour, but considering most of that involves sitting there listening to what turned out to be a not bad jazz album I can't complain. A cup of tea,  a short break while I vacuum up the popcorn my kids spilled all over the floor and presto- done!  We will see how the payment works out but at least I won't be an Odesk newbie anymore. 

What you need to know about Odesk
1) There are lots of people from places such as the Philippines and India that are willing to work for only a couple of dollars per hour doing research work and web programming. Unless you are willing to work for the same price, you will have to find jobs requiring more skills. You are better off to try and specialize in a few areas than be a Jack of all Trades.

2) Fixed price jobs are not as secure as pay by the hour jobs because Odesk will not ensure payment. Personally I wouldn't apply for a fix price job from a client with no history without asking for an upfront payment or deposit.

3) You might have to work for less for a while to build up your Odesk history.

4) Watch out for Clients who interview a high number of applicants and ask you to do some test work for free. They are usually splitting the job into numerous amounts of smaller jobs and will not actually hire anyone.

5) It's hard to make decent money on Odesk, and though I've made $20, I've spent several hours taking tests updating my profile and applying for jobs I'm not getting. I'l report back again in the coming months but as of right now I won't be booking any cruises with my earnings.