Cinco de Mayo 2018

Today is Saturday. Last night we attended a first celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Our apartment complex hosted a margarita and taco evening. It was more like a taco salad.

6 May 2018

The event was very Americanized; at least, we met a neighbor, who is completely Mexican. She actually just got back from a vacation at Thailand, visiting the exact same places that I did two years ago with my family; Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and even Phi Phi Island. She moved up her for work like us in February. I hope that Jessica tries to be her friend because they exchanged phone numbers.

After the party I felt out of it for an odd reason. Jessica and I were going to watch a movie, but I was not feeling it. Jessica actually chose a few movies, which doesn't come easily. One sounded interesting. It was one of Robert Downing Jr's first movies. The film is named "Hearts and Souls". It had an inspiring message, but my theory of how directors add suggestive or perverted scenes, making the film mainstream, applied to this film. It shows the acting skills a Robert Downing Jr. I like films that highlight skill & talent. I did not realize until just before going to sleep why I felt out of it. It is because I am an introvert. The socializing drained my soul's energy.

This week was chill. I did not do start my cycling blog yet because I have a lesson to teach about Jacob and his family.

One thing that I realized lately is that Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob lived pretty normal lives. They did not convert thousands of people unto Christ like the great examples in the Book of Mormon. I want to start the lesson by explaining my realization. Abraham did the works of a normal man, but he was given a unique covenant because he desired it. Abraham had great desires. They were the first thing that he explained in his book, writing:

"In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence; And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.

It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me. I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed."

Ancient prophet's lives were in similitude of God. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac is symbolic of Heavenly Father's sacrifice of his only begotten son Jesus Christ; other than that, Abraham seemed to be a nomad shepherd driven around by famine and lack of food for his livestock.

This week I was trying to develop a passive income business strategy. It is interesting that the YouTube videos don't talk about anything that my father-in-law does. He has a lot of passive income businesses.

I am thinking about making merchandise for the Mormon YSA Blog Spot. I found a way to do it without needing money to manufacture and inventorying products. It is through Teespring. Teespring is a website that will do everything except designing the logos.

I am thinking about making an online business with a theme of a frugal cyclist and my lifestyle. This will include waste free products, selling products that I use with affiliate marketing links with Amazon.

On Thursday I recalled my old sci-fi story to Jessica because Amazon Kindle publishing is a great opportunity. Jessica did not get the vision of the story at first, but she thought it developed into a very interesting story. I can complete this story and sell it.

Clickbank is another opportunity. Clickbank gives you high commission rates to sell educational courses. I always pick on people's running form. This is a hobby of an avid runner. I can sell or make course content that teaches people to run. I am a runner at heart; although, I ride my bike to work. Udemy or Teachable might be better affiliate marketing education websites.

I have a lot of projects that I can do, but I want to develop a wholesome lifestyle about it rather that an overbearing salesman that worships his business. Since I teach every other week, I will try to do one or two projects every other week. I still plan to make the video about my apartment's bike lounge, being a cyclist's treasure in Portland.

My Primary lesson went well; although, the students were a little distracted with stickers. We were moved to another class; plus, Brother Kuhn came late, so my lesson was cut short.

On Saturday the YSA missionaries came over for dinner. We finally got missionaries to come to eat at our residence. Jasmine & Lucas was going to visit, and help us complete assembling our dresser; however, they never came. The missionaries did help me with it until we realized that we were missing parts. We made them surprise sandwiches from last week. They committed me to follow up on a missionary opportunity on Monday.

“I'm trying out passive income opportunities, & @MobileXpression, which was recommended by a YouTuber, disabled my phone from receiving WiFi.” I went all out into passive income apps with my phone about a year ago. A lot of them require a consumerism lifestyle, so you are probably not gaining much from them.

The YouTuber also recommended Slidejoy. The apps that this YouTuber are suggesting are not a meaningful passive income stream; however, I used to use them. I used to use Slidejoy. It is an advertising app, giving you money for using your phone. The advertisements are only on your lock screen not randomly. I used like seven of these apps at once, but it drained my phone battery. My little brother asked me what the best one was, and I said that S'more is. My little brother use to buy toys for himself with this side income. They actually give you a comprehendable amount of money each day. The minimum that they give you is ten cents a day. Other apps give an incomprehendably small amount of money each day. I started using S'more again. You can make more money each day with other opportunities in the app. The following link will take you to the app: https://goo.gl/x7wb8c .

Another app that I found a long time ago that does not disable my phone's Wi-Fi, but does the same thing as MobileXpression is called Mobile Performance Meter. This app also gives ten cents a day. MobileXpression takes your phone anonymous usage data, making business out of it. I obviously don't recommend MobileXpression because it did not work for me. Mobile Performance Meter is better. Go to https://www.embeepay.com/mpm/bin/invite/8312950611/8ea5to check out this opportunity. I use to get ten cents a day, but I get five now.

Another app that I came across randomly is McMoney. The company is trying to upgrade the international texting (SMS) service. They will text you randomly, and you don't have to do anything. I think that it is funny that they said that they can pay me up to six dollars a month, but I only pay three dollars a month for my phone bill. Most of these apps will give you virtual gift cards, and I actually got one when I was into it a while ago. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cmtelecom.texter

7 May 2018

I came into work today, and a guy from BMCW mechanical firm recognized me, asking if I went to Western Oregon University. When I said that I worked at Apollo Mechanical, he realized that I helped him with his tablet at Intel, when he was a foreman there. Our conversation initially started by him, asking me about cycling to work. After our conversation he determined that he was going to ride his bike to work. This was not a spontaneous decision. He had considered it previously, mapping out the path from his residence.

Today I was a little distracted because I am thinking of making a new Twitter account for my new lifestyle passive income blog. I knew that I had an email address with iCloud, and I would rather recover an old email address than make a new one. Apple makes life really difficult, but I figured it out. I created the account, yet I don't know why. Maybe I should just rebrand my Twitter account. I want my new Twitter username to be @alexycles. I deactivated the account, trying to rebrand my Twitter account, but I already made the account. The transition could not be that fast.

8 May 2018

Today I invested more into myself. I even purchased a website domain. I posted an article on the website, but it is not ready yet to share. It is the following essay:

"I have wanted to be an entrepreneur for years; however, I have had a realization recently. If one is going to invest in a company or a startup, one should invest in your own personal business. The yield will be much greater than giving money to a company, and greater control of the decisions in the business will be the owner’s. The risk and the actions of the company are their decision too.

I have made an investment of purchasing a domain name. My first article will be my review of the experience with that. I considered SquareSpace and Wix. I did not visit SquareSpace because I expect their rates of maintaining and establishing their websites are comparable. When I signed up for Wix, my first URL was goofy. (alexnhicken.wixsite.com/alexycles) I didn't want that to me by business website to start.

I wanted a beautiful website with my business name, alexycles. I checked out GoDaddy because I knew that they sold domain names. Their rate was not monthly at first. I saw their affordable rate for a domain name. When I got to the template part of the website development, I was shown the following options for website: Personal Blog (six dollars a month), Business (ten dollars a month), Business plus (probably twelve dollars a month), and Online Store (fourteen dollars a month). This was after purchasing the domain name. I felt like I was stuck in a trap.

Looking back at Wix's rates, I saw that they offered a seven dollars a month rate that would be ideal for my business; plus, the domain name would be free. They also give advertising and SEO features. I tried to get the seven dollar monthly rate, but I was denied the opportunity for an unknown reason. It was a fifty percent off deal for a year.

GoDaddy makes everything too raw, selling you on features that should be a given. I applied for an option with GoDaddy because I was denied service at Wix. They claimed to give a free custom email address with my website, which I found out will be sixty dollars a year after choosing a rate. I called GoDaddy because the email situation with the account was very confusing. The guy on the phone was trying to sell me on a backup service of theirs, which will allow me to recover emails that I accidentally deleted permanently.

My experience was a mess. I wish that I chose Wix. I seem to be making decisions too quickly. I finally got my own domain name!

This website is called alexycles because I bike to work. It is pronounced as ‘Alex cycles.’ That is my main hobby right now. I am trying to make a business based on many passive income ideas, hoping to combine them into my life well. I have a Twitter account @alexycles, but my personal one is @A_NielsonHicken. I post about technology, writing, cycling, running, frugal living, and many other things. I hope to make @alexycles an extension of my lifestyle, applying it to a passive income source.

Last week I told Jessica about a Science Fiction Novel that I am writing. I started writing it years ago, but I was able recite my story to her. Jessica is my wife by the way. I never realized the wisdom of a paperback writer until last week. Free publishing with Amazon Kindle is a great opportunity. I have many ideas and projects to do. Let's get to work."

This morning our rice cooker broke. I realized that I don’t know how to cook rice. Jessica thinks that a pot lid is the key. My rice for lunch and dinner was not normal. The rice cooker only lasted less than six months. It is called Aroma Professional plus.