Dodge Nitro - Test Drive

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was looking for a new car and that the shortlist was a Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler 4 door, VW Golf GT and Subaru Forester. Well I’ve all but dropped the Golf from the list because of it’s size, not the actual car or interior size but it’s driving size. I just dont think I can go that small of a vehicle in traffic.

Anyway, today I started test driving the cars I’ve shortlisted and first up was the Dodge Nitro.

I went on in to Kloster Dodge, who also happen to sell Jeep Wranglers, and booked myself a test drive. We went over all the specifics of the Dodge Nitro specifically the indicators being on the opposite side as it was an American vehicle, apart from that it had all the standard things like electric mirrors, electric windows, etc.

When I first got in the Nitro I found that seating position a little too laid back for a 4WD, however after a bunch of stuffing around with the seat controls I got it all setup right for me.

The interior is quite nice and well laid out, the CD player controls are within easy reach and the stereo has an input jack so I can plug in my iPod Touch without a problem.

The steering column has all the height and reach adjustments that come in most vehicles these days, the instrument panel is large and easy to read and while the indicators are on the wrong side, compared to my Mazda Tribute, I’m sure I’ll get used to them quickly.

Driving wise the Nitro has a very solid stance on the road and to my suprise it actually corners quite well, normally vehicles like this have a load of body roll from being a little top heavy but I must admit it handled a whole lot better than the Tribute.

The other BIG feature for me is that the Nitro is available with a diesel engine. Currently my Mazda Tribute is gulping down petrol and is costing a fortune to run, I get around 400km out of a 60L tank which costs me about $80.00 to fill up, so hopefully moving over to diesel will reduce my weekly running costs by a solid percentage.

After driving the Dodge Nitro I was almost ready to buy one on the spot, till I spoke to the salesman and was informed of the ‘08 price increase of around 10% ie. $4000. They ‘think’ they can get me an ‘07 plated one, but no guarantee that I’ll get one of the colours I prefer.

The other problem is that it does go over my initial budget of $40,000, with an on-road cost of around $44,000. I’ve done some quick price checking and it seems that diesel vehicles do cost more than their petrol version across the board, so now it’s time to work out how much I actually spend on fuel per annum and see if it out-weighs the cost of going diesel from the outset.

Stay tuned for updates!

Back Home

I go away for a long weekend with my fiance and this is what I come back to;

• 300+ rss updates in Google Reader
• 250 actual emails, plus 300 or so spam
• 4 blog posts that didn’t publish
• 30 articles to publish on IWTB blog

I was expecting to come back to a chock-a-block full RSS Reader but 300+ is a bit much, damn all you bloggers for not taking the weekend off as well. So far I’ve made my way through 175 of them, that is to say I skimmed through that many and didn’t find anything that needed more than a ‘glance read’.

One thing that did suprise me a little was that even though nothing was published all weekend I actually gained a couple of RSS subscribers, and stats wise my daily traffic didn’t dip at all. In the past I would’ve expected to lose subscribers and the daily hits to drop next to zero.

Anyway, bear with me for a couple of hours while I try to work out why those articles didn’t get published, and while I edit some photos and write a blog on our long weekend.

In the meantime, why not subscribe to my rss feed so that you get my updates sent straight to you!

On Holidays

On holidays for a few days in Melbourne for the Big Day Out and some relaxation, back home in a couple of days.

Ciao till then.

Working from home - Motivation and Accountability?

While I’ve been on long service leave from my 9-5 job I’ve been putting more and more effort into this blog and trying to grow a steady income from it. So far the success has been small, revenue wise, however there has been a noticeable increase over the past 3 weeks.

I’m not going to bore you with all the details on how I’ve done this, but what I would like to focus on is how I’ve gotten into the frame of mind to do this, because it’s not easy to get up and be motivated to write every day, particularly because I am on holidays.

So here’s a few tips on what I’ve done, hopefully there might be something here that you can use.

Develop A Routine!

Yes I’m on holidays and dont have to strictly follow any set daily format, however to stay on top of what I was trying to achieve I’ve made sure I get up in the morning at the same time I would’ve been if I was going to the office. I made sure I’m eating a good breakfast, showering and dressing as if I was going to work even if I’m only putting on shorts and a t-shirt.

During the day I try to take my normal coffee breaks as I would’ve in the office, and I’ll break the day up into different parts so that I have different tasks to complete for the different projects that I’m doing.

Write To-Do Lists!

Over breakfast, coffee, while stopped at traffic lights, etc. I have little brainstorming sessions to try and come up with new blog articles, photo shoot setups, presentations, marketing ideas, etc. so I carry a notebook on me most of the day now so that I can write these things down. Another thing I use this notebook for is writing To-Do lists of things I need to get done that day, week, or month.

Using this notebook and the To-Do lists means that I dont forget ideas when once I’ve had them, also it means that things that need to get done actually get done!

Set Deadlines!

Ok so you’re carrying around a cool looking moleskin notebook and you’re scribbling in it all the time, but all it amounts to is a notepad full of writing. Chances are you haven’t given yourself a deadline to work toward.

I set deadlines for the littlest things I do, be it as menial as doing the washing up to things like working on a marketing plan or revising a business direction. It’s also important to set realistic deadlines as well, there’s no point in saying that you’ll have a website completely overhauled in 2 days when most likely it will take you that amount of time to work on just the logo.

Make Sure You’re Accountable!

What’s the point in setting the deadline if there’s no one to make sure you’re making them? Not much at all, so what you need to do is find a way of becoming accountable for achieving or not achieving a set deadline. I’ve found in the past that I’d set a deadline, wouldn’t make it so I would either let it slide or just not complete the task at all.

Now days what I’ll do is tell my partner Cath what I’m going to do, or tell the people on my blog what I’m going to do, or even tell my friends on Twitter / Facebook / Myspace what I’m gonig to do. Usually someone will chase me up for not doing it, and often they’ll give you a bit of a stir which in turn motivates me to get the task done.

Reward Yourself!

At the end of the day you’ve wiped your To-Do list clean, everything is done and you’re feeling pretty good for completing it all, well you should reward yourself so that when tomorrow comes you’re going to be motivated again.

I like to reward myself with a trip down to the driving range to hit some golf balls, it’s also stress relieving if you’ve had to work extra hard. If it’s too wet for golf I’ll go grab a movie I’ve been wanting to see, or I’ll watch something I’ve recorded from tv, or if all else fails I’ll go surf through some of my favourite bookmarks in firefox.

Whatever your thing is that you like to do, if you’ve achieved all your goals today then take some ‘relax’ time.

Hopefully there is something in here that will help you work better from home, whether it be your daily chores you have to do through to actually walking away from your 9-5 office job and taking the plunge into running your own business from home.

I’d like to hear from you now, what do you do to get motivate and stay motivated? What drives you and your ambition?

Pay Per Post, pretty stupid?

Recently I applied to Pay Per Post. It seemed like a good idea at the time, I’m a reasonably good writer, and I figured I could make a few extra dollars per month. Anyway, I got their ‘rejection’ letter this morning, but it makes little sense to me.

This is a notification to let you know that your blog, Mathew Packer, has been rejected for the following reason(s):

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Thank you for your blog submission!

Unfortunately, blogs must be at least 90 days old in order to participate, as per our terms of service. Blog age is counted from the blog’s first post. Also, a blog must have at least 20 pre-existing posts prior to using our service. Please re-submit when all requirements are met. In the meantime, feel free to use PPP Direct and Affiliate tools while you work on meeting the requirements of our Marketplace!

Thank you!

P @ IZEA

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Please log into PayPerPost.com (https://payperpost.com/login) to correct this issue and resubmit the blog, or to delete the blog.

Thank you,

The PayPerPost Team

Let’s break this down, and see if I can make sense of this.

• Blog must be over 90 days old. My first entry was on the 24th of January 2007, which is well and truly over 90 days ago.
• Must have 20 pre-existing posts. I have just a shade over 100 posts on my blog, again this is well over the 20 post requirement.

Their decision makes little to no sense to me, however I’m thinking it’s probably for the best as I’ve heard of people losing their Page Rank and seeing as I’ve just been allocated a PR3 I’d hate to drop back down as I’ve seen a little upturn in traffic since I received it.

Anyway, to those of you who have considered Pay Per Post my suggestion would be to avoid it unless you have a PR0 or are really struggling to come up with your own content to write about.

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