Amcrest reached out to me to test and review their AWC201-B Webcam.
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products.
Arrived in a super small package, and inside was the camera and a security cover.
TESTING
Plugged the device into a Dell Latitude E7470 running Windows 10 and it was immediately recognized and the drivers were installed.
Tested the webcam on several different platforms to see how the device would work with each one.
Microsoft Teams
Slack
GoToMeeting
Zoom
Picture
Overall picture quality is good, there is a fishbowl look at the outer edge of the frame and image looks a little distorted. Color is a little dull looking as well, but if you have good lighting that can be compensated some. Below is how the edge is distorted on the image when shown, it is not super bad and depending on the actual background it is not always visible in the video.
Sound
Microphone on the camera is as expected and anyone who would expect good sound quality from something sitting that far away from you and that small has to be crazy. The sound quality is about what you would expect from something directly sitting on your laptop. It was a little better then what I have in laptop but overall it made me sound as if I was talking into a tin can and sitting super far away from the microphone.
PROS:
The price is very good compared to several other brands and the overall quality is good for most business meetings and personal usage to make video calls.
CONS:
Camera needs to have a swivel to allow for adjusting the angle of the camera left to right when sitting on top of a laptop. There are some video quality issues but not a show stopper depending on your need.
Outcome
Overall it is a good product for the price, and compared to some well know brands it works decent enough. Plus as of this writing (2020 Pandemic) they have product in stock as companies like Logitech it is near impossible to find any of their products in stock. If you are looking for a decent low priced camera and are not super worried about the overall picture quality this is the webcam for you.
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products.
I reached out to Amcrest to participate in a product review for some of their products. Actually it was on one of my social media platforms, and I decided to check it out to see what it was all about.
Amcrest reached out to me to test their GPS Tracker (AM-GL300W-4G) and they will reimburse me for the product purchase.
Amazon Listing Information:
COMPACT 4G GPS TRACKER
Perfect for tracking vehicles, loved ones (teens, spouses, children, elderly) or assets. With its sleek and compact design, it easily slips into cars, backpacks, strollers, luggage and is highly concealable. With 2G coverage slowly coming to an end, now is the time to upgrade to 4G.
Monthly subscription required.
No contracts or activation/cancellation fees.
$19.99 – 60 second updates
$24.99 – 30 second updates
$29.99 – 15 second updates
$34.99 – 5 second updates
REAL-TIME SMARTPHONE & PC TRACKING
With lighting fast 4G LTE this GPS tracker offers real-time tracking with up to 5-second updates through Windows and MAC desktop web-access (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox) or through the Amcrest GPS smartphone app (iOS/Android). The intuitive user interface allows you to easily monitor activity, manage alerts and generate custom reports. Create links and share them with your friends, family and co-workers to keep track of cars, children, seniors and assets.
GEO-FENCING, SMART ALERTS & REPORTS
Create custom geo-fencing zones that alert you anytime the GPS tracker enters or exits a zone. Speed limit, harsh breaking, start/stop and proximity alerts allow you to easily track your vehicles and loved ones. Receive text, push and email notifications directly to your smartphone or PC with the Amcrest GPS app and desktop web-access client. Access your data with intelligent reporting directly from your iPhone, Android, Mac or PC.
BUILT TO LAST – EXTENDED BATTERY
This Amcrest 4G GPS Tracker is built to last with heavy-duty materials including an IPX5 water resistant housing as well as extended 2600mah battery which lasts up to 10-14+ days on a full charge with 60sec updates (7-8 days with 30sec updates, 4-5 days with 15sec updates, and 2-3 days with 5sec updates). Utilizes Google Maps for tracking and mapping.
LIFETIME WARRANTY & SUPPORT – IMPORTANT
This device is configured to work in the US, Canada, and Mexico only. Does Not work in Australia. We stand by our products and offer a lifetime warranty and unlimited support. In the event that your device produces undesirable results, we’ll gladly refund 100% of your hardware and subscription charges.
Additional Cases can be purchased from ASIN’s: B07R8WFTG5 & B081TK15YB (GPS Pouch). GPS Pouch included with the purchase of a 4G GPS Tracker.
There were no actual instruction in the box just a Quick start guide that gave you links to look at on the Amcrest website. This made things a little hard to know what to do the first time, and required me to go get my computer to actually read the instructions as they were nearly impossible to see on my mobile phone.
Setting up the account was fairly easy and straight forward.
Ease of Use
Over all it is fairly easy to use once you know what the blinking lights mean on the front of the device and get the account setup on the Amcrest website. Setting up the alerts and Geo Fencing zones took a little bit of time, but was fairly straight forward.
Battery Life
Battery life is not the greatest, and at the highest setting for polling (1 minute) you can get 10 to 14 days of use before needing a recharge. If you use the highest polling (5 seconds) option the device will last about 2 to 3 days. There are plans to have less polling options, and one that is every 24hrs, I was not able to look at those options for some reason.
For me the device should have a longer lasting batter life, closer to like 30 days for general usage, and maybe a full week for the highest usage.
The charging cable is a USB mini, which is strange and makes me believe they went on the cheap for that. The power adapter is an odd size and does not work well on some power outlets especially if space is limited and stacked side by side. The device does not seem to charge by plugging into a computer USB port which is a bummer, and did not seem to get it to work in a vehicle USB charger as well.
Geo Fencing
This is a nice feature, and will allow you to set up to 12 Geo Fence areas to alert on. I have a couple set up to test the device. It will alert me upon leaving my neighborhood and entering back into my neighborhood.
It uses Google Maps, and allows you to drawl an area to create a Zone.
Zone From One City Park to another City Park
Have noticed that if the cell service is not that great you might get an alert as the device thinks it is out side of the zone. I had to adjust the zone area a little wider to accommodate for that to not get bogus alerts.
Alerts
You can setup alerts based on zone exit or entry as well as speed, power, SOS, and Trip
Device Setting to configure main alerts for the device:
You can adjust the speed alert, if the device is on or off, and the low battery level
Recommendation
PROS:
The device is small and portable and is easily stashed in a glove box or in a small pocket.
The alerts and notifications are decent and you can see trip detail information on an actual map.
Speeding alert notifications, it will show you where the speeding was first detected on a map.
The Geo Fencing features is nice to allow for alerting on specific areas for entry and exit of that area.
CONS:
Battery life is not that great (10 – 14 days)
Charging cable is a very old standard, would have been better with a USB micro which has been a standard cable for many products for years. Maybe look into a USB C connector which is becoming the latest standard cable options.
DECISION:
I would recommend this device to people who want to track things, like a kid using a car, or a worker using a company vehicle. It is a decent price for what your getting, and the $20 monthly fee for the monitoring is comparable to a cellular plan.
I have been watching many YouTube videos during the 2020 lock down. Learning how to pick stocks and buy the Dip, how to do Drop Shipping, how to do Print of Demand (POD), as well as how to start utilizing YouTube for a side hustle. While it is interesting to listen to many of these videos telling you how you can make tons of money by doing what they have done. Most of them want you to buy into some membership or program that gives you exclusive access to their content on how to do what they are pushing. I for one am not willing to pay for their expertise on how to do something as that would defeat the purpose I came to watch the videos. I want to learn how to do these things without paying for it, I am willing to put in the time and effort to learn what is needed and not pay some “Guru” on how to do it. First off if they were that successful in a specific area they would spend more time doing the one thing that is making them the most money, and since it takes a lot of time and effort to make videos, my guess is that is where they make the most money.
Andrei Jikh
While I do like most of the people I watch as far as content value goes. Some have a great video presence, like Andrei Jikh, who uses his cardistry and magic to add more to the videos besides just the information they are providing. I also watch Ask Sebby, Wallers Wallet, Brian Jung, JJ Buckner, Jake Broe and The Credit Shifu as I like their content of their videos and I do get great value from them. If I like you content I will give you the Thumbs Up and smash the like button.
There are many others who are decent with the content they provide but are always pushing the other paid features they offer, and never provide the full details to what they are discussing. That drives me crazy, they talk all around what they want you to know, and then try to get you to go to their paid course to get the full details. I for one am not wanting to pay for some extra course to further my possibility to become rich in one area. While I have told people in the past you have to spend money to make money, I do not see the need to pay for specific knowledge when I can learn that by other means. I would prefer to learn with out paying for the knowledge, especially when the information is freely available and I can learn it if I take the time and not just pay someone to give me the cliff notes version.
It seems that everyone is trying to get some kind of side hustle going on theses days, for one reason or another, they want the extra income. Mostly they see people telling them how great it is to have a side hustle and how much money they make from it. I have heard some people say that a side hustle is just a second job, and I started thinking, that is not completely the same things in my opinion. While it is a second job of sorts, it does not have the constraints that a normal second job would have. First you get to set the hours you will work and how long and often you want to work. I guess I would consider it more of a free lancer with no hard commitments.
Side Hustle Ideas:
Uber / Lyft driver
YouTube content creator
Print on Demand products
Drop Shipping products
Real estate investor
Take your hobby and make a business
Have multiple income streams is the new normal for many people, and the side hustle is the way to build that income streams.
Why a Side Hustle:
Salaries are not growing that much
Cost of living is going up faster than wages
Single point of failure in your income
Allow for more savings for retirement
I am probably not going to start a YouTube channel, not something that really interests me and I would not want to keep up with it. I have started a Red Bubble shop, added a few things up there to see how that goes. Working on a few designs and trying to determine a niche that I want to focus on long term. I like traveling so that is my primary focus on the designs, but need to get a little more fine tuned to designs. I kind of like the shop aspect as I am actually learning to use tools I have wanted to learn for a while. Have been learning Inkscape and Gimp by watching videos from another Youtuber Logos by Nick. He has some cool designs and I have been working to incorporate them into my designs, and learning how to use the applications. Do I expect to make a ton of money from this, probably not, but if it takes off that would be nice. In the long run I have learned a few things and that might help me down the road in something.
If the thought of making some extra money then take the leap, I do not believe that it should cost you a bunch of money to start. Start small and work your way up from there, nothing in life is free, you have to work for it, put in the effort and don’t quite. In the long run you might be able to end up leaving your current full time job to make your side hustle into your full time business. As I have always said, if you enjoy your job you will never work again. If you hate your job, then your trading your time for a paycheck. I am in that current situation, I am trading time for a paycheck. I enjoy the work but it is not what I would do if I had a choice, it just allows me to pay the bills, pay for my kids college and save a bunch for my retirement.
I miss traveling, the fun of going new places, seeing new sights, and eating at new restaurants. I get to travel frequently for work, which has it upsides and downsides at times. I am gone a lot, but many times I do get to visit places i like to see and places I have never been before. As well as the perks you can get when your a frequent traveler with some airlines and hotels.
I not sure I want to get on a plane right now due to the current pandemic situations, but I sure do miss the excitement of visiting places. I miss staying at new hotels with different amenities to enjoy, as well as scouting out new places to eat.
I prefer to fly Delta as I have Diamond status with them at this current time and they have always treated me well so far. I do fly AA and United when I have to, as Delta does not always go where I need to travel. I used to be a United person but really began to have issues with them several years back and switched up to Delta, and have not had any major issues since in my travels (besides weather related issues). As for AA, they are not that great out of Knoxville Airport (TYS), not sure if it was from the merger with US Airways a few years back or what, but they seem to have the most delays and cancellations from TYS (In my opinion). I always see them on the status boards with Delayed or Canceled, I am sure some of it is due to TYS being a hub for most airlines, but AA seems to have issues very frequently there.
I also prefer to stay at Hilton Hotels, Marriott Hotels and when possible Hyatt Hotels. I have been loyal to Hilton for several years now, but more and more I am staying with Marriott. I made Lifetime Silver with Marriott and am super close to Lifetime Gold (60 Nights needed).
With Hilton I have several more years (5 years to go) to make Lifetime Diamond as they did not count a couple of years I was Diamond with them before they began the program and getting to 1000 nights will take a few more years. I am over halfway there, but when they do not have decent places to stay or they are too expensive to stay at in some areas, I will pick another brand. With Marriott they have a tier system so you can get to a specific status level sooner. I made their Silver Status late last year, and had been slowly working my way up to Gold Status early this year. However, with not traveling as much lately it has slowed my progress a lot.
For car rental companies I am switching it up to who ever gives me the best options. Have been using Hertz lately as I could do grab and go option similar to National.
However, with National it seems unless you have their higher tier status you do not get the nicer cars to drive as often lately. That was not the case when I first started using National, but had begin to change over time. It is not a big issue most of the time, but I do prefer to get something that is comfortable to drive and not a piece of crap. I do like how Hertz has gone to using Clear (when it really works), I noticed it goes a little quicker at the gates to check out when it works.
So all in all with the pandemic I might be changing up some of my travel preferences. I have got the Amex Platinum and Amex Gold cards, and will be looking to downgrade the Amex Delta Reserve card to the free Amex Delta Blue card. As I might be changing up my flying strategy with one airline due to lack of travel and ability to keep status. I am also looking to get the Chase Hyatt card to help with keep my Discoverist Status with them, as I might not get to stay at they properties much next year. I already have the Amex Hilton Aspire card and Chase Marriott Bonvoy card to help with earning points during my stays at their properties.
Planning to leverage the Amex Platinum card for booking flights and my Amex Gold card for dinning out and groceries, and my specific hotel branded cards for hotel stays. The Amex Platinum gets me Delta Lounge access when flying with Delta, as well Centurion and Priority Pass lounges where available when flying other carriers. With the Amex points I can transfer to partners to book flights with points and am not tied to one specific airline. I will miss the status from Delta, but not sure I will be getting much past Gold status after next year unless things pick up and we start traveling a lot more. We will see how that goes for 2021, and may switch back to some previous strategies in 2022 if the travel gets back to normal.
I decided to get the FoundersCard, as Award Wallet sent me a discount offer to get the membership. I had looked at them before and was interested in getting a membership, but not at the price they were asking originally. So how and what is FoundersCard? Well it is not a credit card, and they describe them self as a membership community. They also provide a brief statement on who and what they are as well as why you might want to join.
About FoundersCard
What?
We are a first-of-a-kind membership community that provides entrepreneurs with access to exclusive networking opportunities and unprecedented benefits.
Who?
Our members range from first-time entrepreneurs to the world’s best-known innovators. We have members in virtually every major city across the globe.
Why?
As the risk-takers and true value-creators, entrepreneurs are the key drivers of today’s global economy and deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.
They send you a metal card for signing up.
The signup was fairly simple, and I used a discount from another company I use. The normal annual fee is $495 per year, but with the discount code I got it for $295 per year. They provide some decent perks from first look, but they are not always easy to use and change often. Some are really worthless in my opinion, as they are limited to specific hotels and require you to go their their site to book a room. Wanted to use the American Air status benefit, but it seems that they currently are not running that one, but do still list it as an option.
As for the status with airlines, hotel brands, and rental card companies; the benefits are not that great, and I can get many of them with a decent travel credit card.
Hotels:
Hilton Honors™:
Complimentary Gold Status (Able to get with a credit card)
Marriott Bonvoy™:
Platinum Elite Status Challenge (Fairly useless as a benefit)
Caesars Rewards:
Diamond Caesars Rewards® Status (Useless to me)
Omni Select Guest:
FC ELITE Membersreceive complimentary Select Guest Platinum
Rental Cars:
Hertz: (Would be decent if I did not already have Presidents Circle. Would not pay the fee to get ELITE to get this benefit as I could just get the Amex Platinum card to get this)
Up to 20% off Hertz Daily, Weekend, Weekly, and Monthly Rates
Complimentary Hertz Gold Plus Rewards or Five Star® membership
Complimentary President’s Circle® Elite Status for FC ELITE Member
Avis Rent A Car: (Applied for this benefit, and will see how they compare to Hertz and National)
Up to 25% off rentals
Complimentary Avis Preferred® Plus Membership
Complimentary Avis President’s Club for FC ELITE Members
Sixt Rent a Car: (Not sure I will ever use this one)
Up to 15% off rental bookings
Complimentary Platinum Sixt Card Membership
Zipcar: (Might be good if I am someplace were they are available)
Up to 20% off standard rates
GroundLink Car Service (Might be good if I am someplace were they are available)
$30 credit for their first ride
15% off all rides thereafter booked via the GroundLink Mobile App
Airlines:
American Airlines Status Challenge AAdvantage®: (Would have used, butno longer available for this year)
American Airlines AAdvantage® Platinum Status Offer
Enroll in Business Extra
Select Status Tier (Platinum/Gold) and Challenge start date on aa.com after enrollment
Earn 12,500 EQMs or 16 EQSs AND $2,000 EQDs*
American Airlines AAdvantage® Gold Status Offer
Enroll in Business Extra
Select Status Tier (Platinum/Gold) and Challenge start date on aa.com after enrollment
Earn 7,000 EQMs or 8 EQSs AND $1,000 EQDs*
United Airlines: (Might be useful when I use them for a flight)
Up to 6% off flights (2% to 6% off selected flights)
Etihad Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
Up to 10% off fares
Cathay Pacific Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
Up to 15% off fares & Silver Status ($815 Average Savings)
British Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
10% off most round trip fares
Business Benefits:
Entrepreneur Magazine (I purchase one or two of their magazines per year so worth about $12 value to me)
A complimentary one-year (10 issue) subscription
Receive 50% off virtual events on entrepreneur.com
ShopRunner (I get this free already with American Express)
Members enjoy complimentary ShopRunner Membership ($79 annual value)
Harry & David (Have purchased gifts at their stores in the past so might use?)
Members receive 20% off most orders from Harry & David
UPS (This could be useful, do not ship too often but do from time to time)
Members receive up to 47% off UPS air, international and ground shipping
Tripit Pro (I currently use Tripit Pro, with a rate of $49 per year, so will get $10 per year savings) (Require that I do not have a current Pro paid versionso will have to let my current one lapse)
Complimentary year of TripIt Pro
Preferred rate of $39 annually for three years (20% off standard rate)
1Password (IUse 1Password, but have no need for the Teams version)
Members receive 40% off 1Password Teams on an ongoing basis
Dell (I might use this one if and when I need something)
Members enjoy savings of up to 40% off the everyday price on their purchase of Dell branded products.
Lenovo (I might use this one if and when I need something)
Members receive up to 40% off select Think and Lenovo products
At&t (Not worth anything to me, as a business account was more expensive per line and I already get a 25% Military Discount for all of my lines)
Members receive 15% off standard rates on all voice plans and data plans greater than $30 in value, excluding unlimited voice and iPad data plans
Clothing:
addias (I might use this one if and when I need something)
Members receive an ongoing discount of 30% on adidas.com
Reebok (I might use this one if and when I need something)
Members receive an ongoing discount of 30% off online purchases
PUMA (I might use this one if and when I need something)
Members receive an ongoing discount of 20% on puma.com
Tommy John (I might use this one if and when I need something)
Members receive an ongoing 20% off all orders
Faherty Brand (I might use this one if and when I need something)
Members receive 25% off online purchases
So, is the FoundersCard worth the $295 I paid for the membership? I know some people will say no, but if I can get at least the amount i paid in value from the membership then I think it will be worth it. I will have to give it the full year to see if I actually get the value from the membership. I know I will use several of the benefits, but without traveling at the current time I might not use some of them at the current time. I can definitely say I would never consider the membership worth it for the listed price of $595 (this may change if they add some better benefits). Also I would never consider getting the ELITE membership for an additional $295 for first year and then $895 annual membership fee.
Will post updates on how I think this Membership card is as the year goes on, I am hoping to get the full benefits from the membership.
Well still dealing with the pandemic, and hanging around the house.
Not much has changed for me, still working form home, and having virtual meetings. At least many people I work with have decided to stop using their web cams for every meeting. Well, except the people in my company, they seem to still want you to see them all the time.
Going to the grocery store wearing a mask, and following the directional signage like I was asked to do. Surprising to see how many people cannot follow simple instructions, or are just being asses. It is not that it is that hard to follow simple things, as going one way on isles, and trying to stay a certain distance from people.
Now we are having protests, riots and looting in a lot of cities, due to a police officer(s) that killed a black/African American gentleman named George Floyd. It is interesting the way this has taken off and the amount of people that are involved in some of the protests, and discussions surrounding the police and brutality against people. However, I think some are just trying to get a few minutes of attention and are not entirely involved with the intent of the protests. There also seem to be some that are using it for other purposes, and to try to cause havoc, those are the ones who are looting stores and damaging property. It is bad when I hear more on the riots and looting in the news, and less about the actual protests and information on the case against the police officer(s).
Now there seems to be more cases of RONA happening lately, most seem to be from the memorial day holiday weekend and people wanting to get out of the house for some fun and enjoyment. Now we might see a larger increase from the protests, and I hope we don’t go backwards on the stay at home orders. Things were just starting to open back up and people were starting to be allowed to get haircuts, eat at an actual restaurant, and get out to the parks and other places.
The Stock markets cannot decide what it wants to do and the US feds are not helping much. People are demanding a second stimulus check, some people don’t want to go back to work as they are making more on unemployment then what they were getting paid. Stocks rose when they announced that unemployment was lower then expected for May. Then it started crashing again after a non-informative a briefing from the US Feds.
All I can say is stay safe, stay healthy, and look out for yourself and family. Do what feels right for you and your family, if you can stay home, then do that. If you have to go to an office to work, stay away from the crazies who think nothing is going on, and it is all a hoax.
Well, had a trip that I had to cancel due to COVID-19. Was planning to go on vacation and on our way back stop in Charlotte to watch a NBA Game with the Horents and La Lakers. The tickets were fairly pricey ($789 for 3 tickets) so I decided to get the Ticket Insurance from Allianz for $53. Thinking that if something happened on our trip and we had to miss the game we would be alright.
Charlotte Hornets
Well I purchased the tickets in December 2019, way before anyone had really heard of the corona-virus issues. Then in early March the NBA decided to postpone the season after several players tested positive to the virus.
Then our vacation was canceled due to other places we were to visit had decided to close as well. So we had no reason to go anywhere for vacation as we could not due anything we had planned. I canceled all the hotels (5 places) I had booked for the trip, with no issues and since I used point to book they were just put back for later use. Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt did not even ask why I was canceling and just said we look forward to you staying at a later date.
Live Nation Owns Ticketmaster
Tried to call Ticketmaster to check on the tickets, their phones were dialing busy for many days. I decided to wait until closer to the game date to check on a refund. Finally got to someone who basically told me sorry, no refund on postponed events. Also Ticketmaster tried to update their policy to address the pandemic, which was caught and they were called out in the news for shady business practices.
Allianz (Will screw you over in a heart beat)
With TicketMaster looking to screw everyone out of money, It came to me that I had purchased the ticket insurance on the website along with the tickets. Looked up my policy on the Allianz website to see what I needed to do, of course they had a banner mentioning they were busy and stuff about the COVID-19 pandemic. I looked to see that for a postponed event I was covered and could get a refund. However, in their policy they also mention an epidemic and that noting was covered due to that. Well I figured I would give it a try, since I was driving and not flying. Read some twitter posts were they specifically said Allianz was denying anything where the Government canceled travel. Submitted all the information they asked for, and waited the 7-10 business days. on the 10th day, and since I had not heard anything I decided to check on the status. Noticed that it had a simple statement saying they had declined my request. Not stating any specifics to why, but did mention they would send a letter or email me on the reason why.
Decided to send them another request to tell me why they had decided to decline my refund request for a postponed event. Will wait to see if I actually get a real reason, or if they just lump it in to the epidemic clause in the policy, so they can keep my money and not have to pay out anything.
American Express
I did decided to call American Express to see if the purchase protection would help me, as it was still withing the 120 day window. But, after speaking to the nice gentleman on the line, their policy specifically identifies that any tickets of any kind are not covered. He basically said it covers physical items and not events, unless you purchase their trip insurance. it was a long shot but figured I would check, but no such luck.
Lessons learned from this event. Never purchases tickets through Ticketmaster or go to events that only sell thorough Ticketmaster (this will be hard as there is a Monopoly in ticket sales). Never get the Allianz insurance and always look for alternatives that will be way better if I am worried about an issue with the event.
Only thing I can do now is to see if and when the event will be rescheduled, and hope we can attend the event. If possible may try to resell the tickets once the event is schedule.
So, we are still hanging out at home due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Things have changed only a little for me during this time, I am still working jsut now at home more often. I was used to traveling to clients sites almost every other week, and now I am doing everything remotely for the most part.
Having meetings via Teams, Webex, and even Zoom has been interesting, especially with all the people who are not used to working remotely. With people demanding everyone use their webcams in meetings we get to see some interesting things, like people’s homes, their family members, and even their pets. This was not a normal thing that would happen several weeks ago on a virtual meeting. Several of the platforms are now allowing for virtual backgrounds, which gives people something to show other than their homes (messy or not).
Been reading some articles from several people (not sure what makes them an expert on this subject) twitter and news articles who want to tell me how to work from home and how I should act in my virtual meetings. I think that giving people a list of things that work well for you in your remote job is stupid, as not everyone is the same or wants to do the same things as you. I have no problems with listing out things to try, and let the person decided what works best for them, but stop telling people how to work remotely. Also, telling people to not mute their microphones during meetings so they can have better interactions with their team is ridiculous as no one would ever get anything accomplished. All you would probably hear is people breathing, eating, typing and other background noises. Making the meeting useless and take for ever to get to what the meeting was intended to cover. People will figure out the flow, just let them work on it, as every meeting has a different focus and drive based on the purpose. Plus half of the people are chatting with each other in the background about most of the topics being discussed.
That cozy work environment we all love
Not everyone is geared to do remote work, and many people like to have that little interaction with an actual person in their work day. Some may even take a little more time to find their groove in this process and it will be a trial for several weeks to get it to their grove. Some people need a routine to get through their day, while others will just wing it everyday. Which scenario works for you just keep dealing with it and keep at it. For the people who are like “see now they (their employer) have no reason to not let us work remote going forward”, you may have to keep dreaming, as it is not that easy for every company to make that an easy decision. Be happy you have an option to work remote, not everyone has that as an option.
We have the people who were terminated or furloughed as the business could not continue making payroll. Then there are the people who are currently identified as essential (Medical staff, grocery store staff and food service staff) and then there is everyone else either working remote or sitting idle collecting some paycheck (either a full or partial payment) waiting for things to start moving again.
What is normal?
Will everything go back to normal? Well you need to define what normal is to start that discussion. I do not believe everything will go back to the way it was before the pandemic, I do see some changes that will last for several years if not permanent. People may get to work remote for some time before getting asked to come back into the office. I do not see that everyone will be required to come back all at once, it will be the people who want to or are able to come into the office to work. Some may not want to come back at first but want the comfort of working at the office with their colleagues. Others will stay remote for as long as they are allowed to, some may be told to come back to the office, while others may be allowed to make that a choice to stay a remote worker. Some peoples positions will be eliminated as there will not be a need for them due to less work overall, less money coming in to support the staff, and possibly the business not getting back to pre-pandemic operations.
Wishing to be heading somewhere nice
Traveling will take a while to get back to any type of normalcy and some airlines may not continue with or may limit some flights to certain cities (less profitable locations). Business travel will change for many, as it will not be justified to fly out to do those meetings onsite. Sales people may not be able to get into meet the people they are trying to sell products to. For many if it can be done remote, then that would be the preferred option, instead of the expense of traveling and the possibility of someone getting sick.
Vacation travel may take a big hit, some will be due to fear of traveling again, and some will be due to financial limitations from layoffs and people having less money. People may just do more driving to nearby areas that are less crowded, and less people flying on crowded planes to large populated areas. Cruising may have some less crowded ships, but not sure if that will be just older people and some families with kids, or if it will be across the board for people. Have read that cruise lines have seen an uptick in people booking trips for 2021, but I think it is people playing the game, and are hoping for a cancellation to get an extra credit fees to book a future trip or are taking the current credits they got for canceled trips to hold their place on the next ship.
Who know what the future will bring, I guess we will find out in the next coming months. One thing I can say is I hope people stop being stupid about this whole situation. Yes it sucks, and maybe could have been handled a lot better by the people in government. But if we all work together we will get through this sooner than later.
“I am no one you should be taking Stock or Financial advice from, I have no real background in this and it is my personal opinion and experience. So now that is out of the way lets begin.”
I have been listening to people on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn on why you should or should not be investing in the Stock market. Also a few talking about prepping, buying Bitcoin, buying Gold for the upcoming future.
Yes this is a good time to buy stocks if you have the extra money, are willing to wait it out for a good return. you do not need the cash in a few months, and cannot actually afford to lose it all.
I started using Robinhood and WeBull for stock trading about a month ago as I was looking to get into individual stocks for some time now. I have owned one share of TMUS for several years as I was given it when signing up for T-Mobile. Have been looking at several stocks where I frequent the the companies, and overall like them as a company.
So this is just some of the stocks I decided to purchase while the market was really down. Most have gone up to above where I have purchased them, and some have dropped back down due to speculations (mostly my airlines). They all have a dividend, even though a couple have postponed their dividends for now until they get back to a stable place.
Prices are my Average Costs per share
SIG and SAN were free stocks I received from the platforms I am using. Used to have GME but already sold it for a little gain. Plus I did not think the company will do well long term.
I am down a little this week on my Robinhood account, but long term I will do good. Was taken on 04/02/2020
I am a little up this week on Webull account. was taken on 04/02/2020
I guess that I am lucky to have cash available to put into this, and am not in need of the money any time soon. Have seen some that are taking all their savings to invest in hopes they get a big payoff. Have heard some that had to sell at a loss or just a little up, which is never a good thing.
Long term I know I will make decent money, even if its just the little off the Dividends that most of these companies will pay out. Some have stomped their dividends due to current situation. My biggest return may be off the EFT I had picked up as it does monthly dividends, and already paid me $2.83 on 18 of the share I had purchased and I currently have 34 now. So I am guessing I will get $5.35 each month, along with whatever my other stocks will be paying out either quarterly or bi-annually.
My recommendation is to find a stock for a company that you like, has been around long term, and do a little research on their overall profitability.
Well we have a full blown pandemic across the world due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), which the first cases of this virus started in December of 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei, China. The World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
People are being forced to self quarantine as employers are going to a work from home model due to pressures to distance people from each other. Many people are happy that they actually get to work from home, while others are not overly ready or prepared to do work from home. It is funny to see all the twitter posts on how to work from home, and what you need to do. Some make sense and other s are just someones personal preferences. Figure out what works best for you, and try different things at first until it works best for you.
My Work From home:
Set a schedule (Wake up the same time every day)
Get ready for the day (Get out of your PJ’s and take a shower)
Have a separate place to work (My Desk is in my bedroom at the current time)
Dedicated work area (My standup desk in a corner of my bedroom)
Quite area for conference calls (No pets, kids, or TV’s)
Take breaks (Get away from things – walk outside, step away for 10 to 15 minutes)
Plan lunch breaks (Meet people, just get out of the house, actually take a break)
Have an end of the day (when does the work day end for you?)
Working from home is not for everyone, no matter what I hear on Twitter. Yes it sounds great for many people to be allowed to work from their house and not to have to drive into an office. While it sounds great to just roll out of bed and be at work, that is not always the case. For those that have kids at home and no real office to separate your self away from everyone else, it is hard to not get distracted. if you do not have a headset with noise canceling microphone, the background noise will be heard by everyone and very distracting. Telling yourself you can multi-task, just stop lying to your self. You are just doing more than one thing half paying attention to one or both of them most of the time.
If it was not for me traveling frequently, working form home would get really boring and monotonous. I like to interact with people, not that I do not like to talk to my wife and kids, but they do not know anything about what I do for work or any of my hobbies. For some people who like to be alone and only want to see their family, that is good if you can work from home, but this is not for everyone.
So, if your getting to work from home or looking to get a job that allows you to work from home. Make sure it will work for you, it is not for everyone all the time.
Some see perceived benefits:
No longer have a commute
Save on gas not commuting (maybe)
Save time not commuting (maybe)
Get to stay home with spouse/pets/kids
More quality time with family
Kids will not have to go to daycare/babysitter
Have more time (not sure on this one)
Able to take care of person things
Dr appointments when I want to go
Go to the store when I want
If you get the opportunity to work from home get a plan to continue to show your value to your manager, otherwise you may have to go back to the office. This is the reason why many people do not get the opportunity to get to work from home is due to some slacker who could not handle it. Yes, your manager will believe you are not doing anything as they never see you. This could also impact promotions, as your not seen you tend to become invisible to people. Keep in contact with co-workers, your manager and show you can be productive no matter where you are.
