Perhaps it’s because it’s “that time of the year” for our household, with a son attaining our local community college, or perhaps my intuition is telling me that many people would appreciate either 1) the information (seen fresh) or 2) a reminder, but during these particularly trying times for many economically, going back to school should be on your radar.

While Nevada’s educational system is nothing to brag about – being 50th in the country is downright shameful from our viewpoint – the fact remains that they do offer Associate programs (and one Bachelors) degrees and certifications. The beauty is many of these courses can be taken directly and completely online.

The benefit to the online course is not only flexibility, but, should money be tight in your family, economical. No gas, no bus tickets, no “extra spending” involved. Just the pursuit of learning.

Which brings me to my purpose for posting today. It’s FAFSA time, and assuming your state has reasonable tuition for its residents, the Pell Grant (in our case) is covering 100% of our son’s pursuit to his (first) Associate’s degree. This means all his credits plus his books (at least here in Nevada) are paid for – and he has the opportunity to advance his learning while not accumulating loans.

If you find yourself and/or family members in a position where pursuing higher education would be most beneficial, be sure to head to FAFSA.ed.gov and get the ball rolling. Cutoff dates for Fall enrollment vary from State to State. Don’t get caught without the potential for assistance with yours or your children’s education.

Throughout the month of May, I’ve been an activist on behalf of the unemployed (primarily) and covering other news stories that just would not make that much sense on OIMS.

Here is a partial list of what I have written, which many visiting now may find useful. Many apply to current economic conditions, again stressing unemployment, unemployment extensions, Congress, job forecasting, and more. In a nutshell, they are:

Job Forecast Outlook Interesting Yet Misleading (May 8th)
DSCC Face Off GOP (May 8th)
Congress silence defeafening (May 10)

In addition I’ve covered 14 additional topics, including a petition drive to Washington on behalf of the unemployed, stories about mortgage fraud and… oh holy Toledo, just too many to list.

If you click here you’ll see the other news stories I’ve covered. Many may pertain to you and yours!

Just this morning there’s a new one up. It is an excellent, easy solution to cleaning up the oil spill environment. That particular one is definitely worth reading and watching. The idiots at BP still haven’t figured out how to shut Deepwater Horizon down, but two ingenious guys have a solution to surface problems.

So, as you will see I’ve been busy! I also highly enjoy writing. When (if) you visit, I have no problem asking you to visit some of the sponsors INSIDE the news articles. With a husband unemployed, it is a small way to help me and my family if you would.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Incendia Health. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever thought of entering a video contest only to question whether you had the “right stuff” to make a potentially winning video? What it takes is a willingness to give it your all, just be yourself, and – of course – fulfill the requirements and/or guidelines of that particular contest.

Recently, Abbott Medical Optics, Inc. (AMO), a business that just happens to be a global leader in laser vision correction, held a contest to see who could make the best video, and their iLASIK Video Contest was a huge success! Sixty (60) participants submitted home videos regarding their experience with Lasik eye surgery. (more…)

Currently, in addition to everything else I do online, I am a journalist and Editor over at WorldNewsVine. And, a while back (in fact almost a year ago, how time flies!) I told you about writing how-to articles for eHow.

I do have to admit that my schedule, after doing five or six pieces, became so crazy it was very hard to get back into the step-by-step method of writing. However, there is money to be made writing for eHow and you do not need a web site or a blog to write for them. In addition, they have recently teamed up with Demand Studios.

If you’ve never heard of Demand Studios there may be a good reason. Typically it is difficult to get accepted by them. A quote from their welcome email states:

You are in good company at Demand Studios. Our writing community is a select group of writers who produce high quality articles for several brand-name websites on the Internet.

Your fellow writers average more than six years’ experience as professional writers and have been published in publications like “The New York Times,” “Rolling Stone, ” “ESPN the Magazine, ” “Runner’s World” and “Reader’s Digest.”

That’s some “resume” and great experience and exposure. I tell you this for the sheer fact that there are numerous ways to make money online. One of them is writing and building a reputation for yourself.

Consider writing for a living as you decide what direction to go or what to select online.