Time To Celebrate A New Year

Are you ready for a New Year and a new world?
 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041KL52M

Never Too Old

I just got a great review for my novel Johnny Oops. Makes me feel young again. What about you? Do you feel younger when you achieve success?

Johnny Oops 5 star review from across the pond

5.0 out of 5 stars Full Of Chuckles! Great Fun!, December 5, 2011
By
Bryden "J. Bryden Lloyd" ((Author - UK)) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Johnny Oops (Kindle Edition)
I went into this expecting a diary-type book about the trials and tribulations of a typical growing guy... something that has been "done to death" over the years, since Adrian Mole burst onto the scene many years ago.

... and yes, this WAS the trials and tribulations of a... well, a guy... but that is where any similarity ended.

Levine showed superb style throughout this book, especially with the humorous elements that make this book into the great read it is. There are more than enough twists and turns in this book to keep you reading. Everything from the characters to the places are written so consistently well, the story flows and rolls between superb bouts of apathy and frustration as Johnny paddles his way through life.

It's a while since I bought a book based on just wanting a good laugh, and Johnny Oops delivered on every level, and then a few I had never considered. I have to recommend this purely based on that fact.

The second book is already primed in my Kindle and will be taking a prominent role in my TBR list. So, if you are looking for a genuinely fun read, I recommend this whole-heartedly.

Excellent!

New Start Careers

Are you tired of the corporate rat race, the office politics, and kissing up to superiors that don’t have half your talent? You don’t have to live like this. You are entitled to make a new start where you can dictate the terms and conditions under which you work. You are entitled to be in charge of your own destiny. You are entitled to be in control of your own work environment. You are entitled to be the boss.

How many times have you been passed over for a raise and or a promotion that you knew you were entitled to? How many times have your superiors failed to give you the recognition you deserve? When was the last time your Christmas bonus lived up to your expectations? How long are you going to wait to be properly compensated for your efforts before you decide to start your own business?

You don’t have to be frustrated any more. You can start your own business right from the comfort of your home. You can develop your own potential. The opportunity is yours for the taking.

Let’s put together a list of what your talents and prospects are by answering the following questions:

1.    What do I like to do?

2.    What am I good at?

3.    What has my business background taught me?

4.    What can I do better than the Company I work for?

5.    Do I want to stay in the same field?

6.    Do I want to do something different?

7.    Am I willing to work hard for myself:

8.    Am I prepared to make the effort?

9.     Can I wait six months to start making a good living?

10.   Do I have the working capital I will need to start my business?

Don’t be discouraged if you can’t answer all the questions on this list positively especially if your problems are financial. Maybe your family and friends would like to help you and invest in your new business idea. Some people have even started businesses by tapping their credit cards although this is a high cost way to start. Maybe you might want to start an online Internet business, which can be done using very little capital except for the cost of your time and effort.

Starting your own online business can be done by building your own Web site, having one designed for you (more expensive), or getting an affiliate Web site for free and promoting the sale of other people’s products to start with.

This later way of going into business online by selling products of other people as an affiliate will give you time to learn the business while you decide what you want to do about developing your own products or services. It will also give you the ability to start part time without giving up your day job at first until you are generating a replacement income from your own business.

If you want to be your own boss, starting a new Internet business working from home may be the way to go. Don’t spend the rest of your working life wishing you had gone out on your own. Make the time to be your own boss. You are entitled.

Brain Games For The New Middle Aged Group

I find it hard to believe that some of us as we approach our fifties and sixties are having difficulty engaging our brains. I always thought it was a matter of use it or lose it. Is it possible that some of us have been spending too much time with our brains in a state of disengagement?

Perhaps the problem is that some of us have nothing worthwhile to think about any more. Maybe the difficulty is that we can find almost all the answers to our questions on Google, and there is no longer any need to think independently. Maybe it is because we think that natural supplements will exercise our brains for us without any effort on our part.

I’ve got a great idea, why don’t we invent a game that requires us to think independently again. Let’s start by agreeing to calculate our restaurant tips in our heads without benefit of pocket calculators by doubling the bill and placing a decimal point after the first digit as the tip. An example would be a $40 dining bill doubled would equal $80 or an $8.00 tip. Come on let’s be generous for a change. You can round off if you want.

Now that you have gotten the idea, how about you thinking up all the little daily actions you now do by computer or calculator that you could do in your head. That’s it; you are starting to think again. Isn’t it amazing, you are using your brain? Before you know it you will be remembering your home telephone number without benefit of speed dial. Be sure you have properly trained your brain before you try this last brain game. I wouldn’t want you calling you girlfriend or boyfriend by mistake when you meant to call your wife or your husband. If you are single it really doesn’t matter what you remember. The telephone number of the person you met in the bar last night is probably the hot line number for the IRS. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to play brain games.

I think that some of us in our fifties or sixties have a real advantage when trying to exercise our brains because this is the type of thing we had to do on a regular basis when we were younger, before speed dialing, Google and other mind numbing supports were available.

You remember the days when pulling out a pocket calculator to figure the tip on a dinner bill was considered a no, no, don’t you? We have real life experience training in handling situations like this with nothing but our faith and our own brains to rely on.

Maybe that’s why we are staying younger longer. Maybe that’s why we are part of the new middle-aged group. Maybe having a little more faith in our own abilities and in God, will provide us with the ultimate brain game.
 #####

Arthur Levine is a freelance writer of novels, articles, sales letters, and press releases who usually includes an element of faith in his writing. He specializes in marketing to people over fifty. He is the author of Johnny Oops, Johnny Oops 11 - Timeless and the soon to be released Sequin Boy and Cindy

New Middle Age Group And Their New Careers

There are over 78 million Baby Boomers, and a lot of them are getting ready to start new careers as they enter a new stage in their lives and prepare to reenter the work force.

Many people in their forties, fifties and sixties plus who consider themselves part of the new middle aged group are searching for new careers where they can take advantage of their vast experience and prior successes.

Some have decided to start a second career because they need more money to fund the type of lifestyle they want to continue to enjoy.

Some have decided to start a new career because they feel good and just don’t want to retire.

Some like the sense of accomplishment that comes from working and being creative.

Whatever the reason, there is a large group of people who want to find something to do that can bring them income and or personal satisfaction, and the ability to work at home for as many hours as they wish.

One has to be careful because there are many scam artists out there looking to take advantage of this situation and hawking a variety of get rich quick schemes.

One rule of thumb to follow is if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If it promises instant riches with little or no work it is probably a phony.

There are, however, legitimate opportunities out there in the market place, that depending on your talents, interests, and background, might be worth pursing if you are interested in starting over.

The question is what can you expect when starting a new venture – probably the same type of thing you have been used to in the past in a new Internet based format.

You still have to answer the questions who wants to buy what I will be offering, and are there enough of them to make my venture profitable?

You will have to decide for yourself if the project you are considering offers you a really substantial money making opportunity, or if you are just going to be wasting your time and spinning your wheels.

Whatever you decide to do, please remember the words that God in His infinite wisdom may be whispering in your ear.

“You can do anything you set your mind to. All you need is faith in yourself and in Me.”

*******

Arthur Levine is the author of numerous articles showing people how they can become constructive members of the new middle-aged group (people in their forties, fifties and sixties plus) and learn how to start over. To access his blog go to http://newmiddleagedgroup.blogspot.com

The New Middle Age – Who They Are, What They Want, And How To Market To Them

How people consider what part of the age spectrum they are in is changing rapidly as Baby Boomers start turning sixty. With the advent of new health initiatives and drugs, many people in their fifties, sixties, and even seventies faced with the prospect of living longer healthier lives no longer think of themselves as seniors. They consider themselves part of the new middle age – a group that in their minds spans from fifty to seventy-five plus.

Post Baby Boomers have little interest in full retirement. They want to continue to work, prosper and enjoy themselves. Many of them want a change in career. Their desires vary from wanting to be consultants to owning their own businesses. Some want to work less and have more leisure time. Others are more interested in doing something that they really want to do than how much of their time the new project occupies.

One reason they commonly give for wanting to continue to work is because they have faith that they can be effective. They feel good, have plenty of energy, and believe they have a valid, experience-based reason to be a productive part of our society.

Employers are not fully prepared for this new middle class, but those that are attempting to make the adjustment in corporate thinking are learning how valuable these new middle age employees can be. Many companies now prefer to hire older people on an outsourced, part time, consulting basis, finding their experience and level headed thinking makes them valuable additions to their workforce.

The new middle class is surprising corporate executives with their inquisitiveness and desire to learn new things. They are terrific consumers who know what they want and appreciate a good value. Contrary to current opinion they are likely to switch brands if they perceive a better value. They have a keen interest in health related issues.

This new middle age grouping has substantial funds to invest and to spend. Those interested in marketing to them should be aware that they tend to be interested in holistic, financial, and leisure products and have a short attention span.

They are more responsive to emotional rather than reasoned pitches, and are more prone to make their buying decisions based on instinct. It pays to get right to the point with them, while at the same time employing a soft sell.

This group doesn’t want to be pushed or feel like they are being hustled. Having a sense of humor doesn’t hurt either, that’s how they got to be part of the new middle aged. This group is not prepared to sit back and rely on Medicare and Social Security to protect them as they age.

Arthur Levine is a freelance writer of articles, blogs, sales letters, and press releases who usually

includes an element of faith in his writing. He specializes in marketing to people over fifty.

New Middle Aged Group Wants To Work From Home In Their Fifties And Sixties

People in there fifties and sixties are giving up the corporate rat race to work at home. Many of them are opting to start their own work at home businesses.

A lot of senior executives looking for an alternative to what they consider to be early retirement are starting their own home businesses on the Internet.

Similarly, but for different reasons, many former so called blue collar workers are looking to start their own online businesses as a protection against downsizing, the export of their jobs to foreign markets, and layoffs enabled by productivity increases.

The question is, is their room for everyone on the Internet? The answer is it depends on how well an individual plans for their new business.

These are some of the questions an individual should ask themselves when considering creating an online business:

1. Do I have the temperament to be on my own working on my own schedule?

2. Am I willing to devote the time and effort necessary to start a new business?

3. Do I have sufficient capital to cover myself during the initial period?

4. Are my health insurance needs covered by insurance?

5. Can I learn what I have to about running a Web site?

6. Do I have a worthwhile product or service to offer?

7. How much competition will I face?

8. Can I find a niche market where I can prosper?

9. Will my family and friends be supportive of my new endeavor?

10. Do I have the will and faith in my own abilities to persevere?

If you can answer all these questions positively then you stand a good chance of being successful in your new enterprise, but be aware that there are risks involved

There are ways to minimize your risk. You do not have to be a Web Master, learn html or hire an expensive Web site developer to put up your Web site.

There are many programs out there offering free affiliate type Web sites. The better ones have almost everything you will need to get started programmed in, and will allow you to develop and customize content so that your new Web site will be uniquely yours. It will allow you to develop your own branded identity while minimizing your efforts at Web development leaving you free to develop your product or service while you are selling other people’s products as an affiliate.

Be sure you only consider programs that allow you to have your own domain name otherwise you will be promoting someone else’s program rather than building your own future.

Delivering information on the Internet to the public provides an ever-growing market. You can develop your own info product in the form of E services or information products based on your particular area of expertise, interest, and or ability.

Take some time and analyze what you have to offer. Do you know what you are good at? The world may be waiting to hear from you.

*****

To find out how to start working at home, and to look, feel, and act younger please access http://newmiddleagedgroup.blogspot.com

New Middle Aged Group - Redemption

Excerpt from the novel Johnny Oops

With a feeling of foreboding I looked at myself in the full-length mirror on our closet door in the camper. I’m losing my hair and what remains of it is turning grey. To make matters worse I’ve developed a paunch, probably from all the fast food meals Jody and I were eating on the road. Me with a paunch, I used to be a stud. What happened to my ripped muscles? I think Jody noticed, but she didn’t say anything. I guess you can’t easily tell a Prophet he is getting old and fat, but I have eyes. I can see for myself. This is disgusting. I have to shape up.

One night after a long day’s drive through New England on our way to a camp site in Vermont called the Together Lodge and Camp Grounds, I started to think about the old days when I was a young stud and was passionately in love with Jody and every other beautiful girl that came along. I began to get an old familiar tingle in my private parts: something that hadn’t happened to me in months.

I turned to Jody and said, “We are still man and wife. I love you. I’m a man. I have urges. Would you like to fool around?”

Jody smiled. “I thought you’d never ask. I was afraid you would carry on with this celibacy thing forever.” She turned off the lights, pulled down the camper’s shades, took me gently by the hand, and led me off to bed. Reminded me of that first night with Alice in my bedroom, but it was far from that.

“Sorry honey, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Maybe it’s God’s Will. I don’t know. This never happened to me before. I can’t believe it.” I was so humiliated and embarrassed I was afraid I was going to cry.

“It’s OK darling. You just need to relax. It’s been a long time. Don’t feel guilty, we aren’t doing anything wrong.”

“I know, I know, we’re not doing anything wrong, wait a minute, something is happening, this is great. I’m a man again. I forgot how much fun it was to be a sinner. Oops, sorry honey. I have to learn to slow down. I just got so excited. I was beginning to think I couldn’t do it any more. Please be patient with me. As it says in the good book I will rise again.”

“Johnny don’t be blasphemous.”

“Sorry honey, I forgot, but I’m a sinner. Do you mind if we search for redemption tomorrow?”

Middle aged at Thirty

#SampleSunday excerpt from the novel Johnny Oops - in love again -

http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com.

Venting 101

I need to get this off my chest. I’m really tired of not being able to get a live operator when I call customer service, and this is just the beginning. I’ve tried three things to get to a live person in the United State, not India.

1. Keep hitting zero on the telephone keypad no matter what the canned voice has to say.
2. Call the Presidents office and speak to a third in line junior secretary and work yourself up to a number two administrative assistant.
3. Hit number 2 for speaking Spanish, and keep shouting over the phone ‘No habla English” over and over until an operator comes on. She may only speak Spanish, but at least she will be a real human being. I find this works best.

This is just the beginning. I am only getting warmed up.

I hate it when I am about to miss a bus by about one foot or two seconds, and the bus driver is studiously looking as hard as he can away from you at the traffic in the other lane because he wants to make the light.

This takes guts, but if you’re mad enough it is worth it. Jump out in front of the bus in the middle of the street, take out a pen and piece of paper, and very slowly start to write down the numbers on the bus. Be sure to take long enough for the bus driver to miss the light, and then bang on the door. This time he will open up. Refuse to get on at first. Tell the bus driver you just want his operators number so that you can file a complaint with the Mayor.

I love this one. You will get the bus driver so screwed up he will probably miss the next light trying to convince you to get on. Life can be beautiful.

If you are too old to jump in front of the bus, whack it with you cane on the side as loudly as you can. If you don’t have a cane yet you are probably middle-aged. Just be thankful you got this far and take the next bus. Throwing rocks is forbidden.

How am I doing?

If the check out girl at the local supermarket has just packed your hot barbequed chicken in the same shopping bag with your cold vanilla ice cream stay calm. Quietly ask her if she has a second bag. Remove the hot chicken and repack in the new bag. Then tell her you don’t want the ice cream because it is melting from the hot chicken. The clerk will have to call over the store manager to approve the return. Tell the manager what happened and that if he doesn’t give you the ice cream for free you will return his chicken too because to tell he truth it is not so hot either. This will probably work. If it doesn’t insist on returning both items and repurchasing new items and going to a different clerk. At this point the manager will probably give you both items for free to get rid of you.

This is only the beginning. I am just blowing off steam. I have to vent. If you have suggestions please leave them on the comment section of my blog http://johnnyoops.blogspt.com. Wouldn't you like to feel young again?

Charge IntoYour Future

Charge into the future as you relive those crazy wild days of your youth. Read the novel Johnny Oops and take a virtual reality trip to futures/past.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041KL52M

How To Be Young Again

Remember what it was like to be fourteen and invincible? Relive the experience with Johnny.

Do you remember your first kiss, your first love, your first conquest? You can take a virtual trip with Johnny Oops and be young again.

http://tinyurl.com/67d5hae

Open letter to the Public Advocate of NYC

Hi, I hope I end up with something more than the boilerplate response I got from the MTA. Just was waiting with eighteen other people for the local bus - on 71st and second Ave. Two limited service buses passed empty. I now know why the Mayor loves this new express service program. In one fell swoop he can claim his buses get downtown quicker, so what if they are empty half of the time and especially on Weekends. So what if they leave little local service. Love to know how much these consultants at the MTA and in the Mayor's office get paid to come up with these strokes of genius. I guess they are trying to get older people who can't walk far to leave the city so they won't have to bother dealing with irate customers. Then they can raise the fares again to fewer and fewer users. At least those of us who tough it out will be able to get a seat.

Because, of the construction for the new Second Ave. subway, the buses no longer stop at 72nd street and Second Avenue at all going West and going East you have to go half way down the East side of Second Avenue - might as well walk. They of course have eliminated the bus shelters to expedite construction of the subway. Never be available for use in my lifetime if ever so we can't sit down. And on the East side of the Second Ave. stop you have to run into the middle of the street to flag down a bus, which can't see the temporary sign, which is too short and partially hidden by snow right now. By the way no shoveled path to the street. I don't jump so good any more, but on the bright side if I break my leg I can sue the City - I know, good luck. While we're at it the York and 72nd uptown 31 bus stop shelter is still there and you could sit down and wait for the bus, but it is snowed in - 3 feet. Guess the Mayor only wants us going downtown. What is going

on downtown?

Why can’t they get rid of the ice in front of the 72^nd and York 31 bus stop? Year after year no one clears it. This is right in front of a nursing home and diagonally across from a hospital.

While I'm at it, I would like to know what brain trust came up with these outside bus receipt stations for mandatory use to get on a limited, which are now snowed in and mostly out of paper for the receipts any way. No alert in the machine like I'm running low on paper, but they’re pretty good at eating monthly bus passes. Really speeds things up—not. That would be too sensible, too twenty first century.

If this ever gets anywhere, please tell the Major that a bunch of my friends and I who used to have some respect for the way he was running the City would love to see him avoid term limits again so I could vote for any one running against him.

I think I'll wait a few days for your response, which I probably won't get, and then I'll post this email on line as an open letter to the Public Advocate. I'm a writer, or can't whoever or whatever is reading this tell? Am I dealing with a machine? Am I going to get an automated response?

Thanks in advance for your kind attention, I hope,

Arthur Levine
http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com

Old Enough To Want A New Reality? – Ten Things To Do.

Are you tired of the doing the same things, facing the same problems, and just surviving from one day to another? You are not alone.

There are many of us who are tired of our day-to-day existence. We want something new and exciting—something fulfilling.

Are you tired of the same old relationships, and looking for something new, but afraid to let go of what you have? Join the club.

Do you find yourself getting older, but not wiser? Repetition doesn’t lead to new beginnings. You have to use your imagination.

When was the last time you did something exciting, had some fun, met someone new, or came up with a great idea? Most of us spend our days repeating the same old things and trying to solve the same old problems, and trying to live with the frustration of never feeling like a winner. When is it going to be your turn to get what you want?

Aren’t you tired of just going through the motions? Do you sometimes feel like a zombie walking in place? All the propaganda and feel good slogans can’t do anything to calm your discontent. When you go to sleep at night can you honestly say you’re happy, or are you just relieved to have gotten through another day?

Most of us want more out of life, but are tired of striving and seeing few positive results. but you can change all that.

You can enter into a new reality, a place of your dreams. Yes, your dreams can come true if you have the right attitude and truly believe that things can get better. Here are ten things that can help you find your new reality.

1. Stop looking for solutions in the same old places.

2. Open you mind to the world of the possible. Stop saying no.

3. Get rid of your inhibitions. Everything is possible.

4. Rid yourself of your addictions. Try one step at a time.

5. Develop new plans. Don’t say that’s impossible.

6. Use your imagination. Those crazy thoughts you get.

7. Meet new people. Yes you can.

8. Have new dreams. The ones you can’t remember when you wake.

9. Develop new goals. Nothing is too big.

10. Find a new reality that can make you and those with you find happiness.

Hi this is Arthur Levine, the author of the novel Johnny Oops. Please join Johnny and I as we discover our own new reality. Maybe it will give you some great life changing ideas. http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com or buy on kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041KL52M for only 99 cents.

Rocket Fuel

Johnny Oops - The rocket fuel of captivating fiction.

http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com