Didn’t get around to this one earlier, but it’s interesting. The FTC released their 2005 statistics on fraud a couple days ago. Would you believe that 46% of all the fraud complaints they got last year were Internet related? The losses from Internet related scams were comparable to those from offline scams; the median loss was a touch lower, in fact.

This kind of statistic is interesting to me. Obviously, internet fraud is a big problem, but it is clear we need to be aware that fraud happens quite a bit offline too. However, of those who reported how initial contact happened, 55% reported the Internet as the initial contact in a fraud case.

Since I work at home, it’s easy to notice the work at home scams, but it was interesting to note that business opportunity and work at home scams were only 2% of the complaints recieved. Obviously, that’s still far too many, but the leading complaint was about internet auctions, with 12% of the complaints.

What caught my eye the most was a chart on the average amount. It covered the years from 2003-2005, and the numbers for 2005 jumped from the previous years. The average amount paid to a scam in 2003 was $1808, 2004 was $1846, but 2005 was $2412! A lower percentage of complaints reported the amount paid, which might have something to do with it, but that’s still quite an increase.

Clearly, it is very important to be careful about scams both online and offline. It is much easier for online scammers to contact a lot of people than it is for offline scammers, which is no doubt why the percentage is so high despite the medium’s relative newness (offline scams have been around a long, long time!). If you do get scammed, make sure you report it appropriately. I give tips on that in the scam section of the main website.

Here’s one of those bills that has just been sitting in Congress too long that really needs to get passed…. hopefully without too much nonsense added to it.

The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act prevents states from charging income tax on people who are telecommuting and living in a different state. These people already pay income tax in their home state, but states such as New York say that if the employer is within their state lines, the employee must pay them income tax too. This is clearly an unfair double taxation on telecommuters.

I have no idea how effective this website is, but you can go to Petition Online and sign a petition encouraging your representatives to pass this Act. It was introduced last May and is still just sitting there, so hopefully a little push will move things along. I have no idea how long these things normally take, but I would guess this is about average.

You can keep an eye on the progress of the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act by visiting THOMAS, which is run by the Library of Congress. Great place to keep an eye on anything going through Congress or the Senate that you find interesting.

I saw a story about a new company, Free Gas Help, on my local news. Sorry folks, so far they’re San Diego only, but they do hope to expand.

Basically, they put advertising on your car and pay you with cards for gas. There are a lot of qualifications, of course, which means this really won’t work for most work at home parents, but maybe your spouse drives enough.

They require you drive at least 1,000 miles per month. Your car must be in good condition. There are a lot of other requirements as well, of course.

I have no idea how these guys compare to those car wrap companies you hear about here and there. What is nice about this program is that you can decide how much advertising to place on your car. They are very upfront about what they will pay you as well.

Will this idea pan out? I have no idea, as they are brand new.

Business Week has a great article up right now called Call Centers in the Rec Room about at home employees. It’s a pretty good look at how businesses are starting to use more at home employees and the advantages to businesses.

I really think it’s wonderful how much easier it is getting to work at home. It’s one of those side benefits of the internet no one really expected. As noted in the article, jobs from home are allowing stay at home moms to reenter the workforce at their convenience, which is bringing a lot of college educated women back into the workforce.

Obviously, there’s far more to work at home jobs than call center positions. My older sister sometimes works at home as a computer programmer. Just about any job that doesn’t need face to face interaction has the possibility of being done at least partially from home, and that’s a wonderful thing for parents or anyone who needs a more flexible schedule than traditional jobs provide.

It’s so nice having a good quality keyboard and mouse rather than the ones that came with my new computer. I’m a big fan of good ergonomics (having had to take regular classes on the topic when I worked at the phone company), and the right equipment really helps.

I can type better too now that I’ve gotten used to my new keyboard. It’s the Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard 4000. I got used to the Natural style keyboards from Microsoft, and honestly it is now hard to use anything else. It puts my hands and wrists in a much more natural position. I took off the front riser because the keyboard barely slides under my desk on my keyboard tray with it on. There are times where I’m typing with my hands under the desk (never long, it isn’t comfortable), such as when Gage is trying to type with me and I can’t let him do that.

The mouse is a Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical. My husband got me hooked on this kind of mouse. Rather than rolling all around your desk, your thumb moves the trackball around. This is very comfortable, although for new users you may find your thumb is sore for a few days as you get used to it. But once you’re used to it you are likely to prefer it.

It’s so nice to have these last little bits of my computer here and set up. It took a couple days to get my speed back on the keyboard, but now that I’m used to the slight changes from this keyboard from my old Natural, I think I prefer it. It’s actually hard for me to type on a plain keyboard these days.

Ok, so he started walking two days after I made that last post. It’s been a busy week. Little rascal is learning fast. He can go halfway across a room if he doesn’t get too excited.

I am enjoying it. Gage is less dependent on me now that he can do a little walking on his own. It really was hard being a major source of entertainment whenever he wanted to walk, which was most of the time he was awake. Now that he can walk he’s starting to play independently again. Still comes over regularly when he wants a long walk around the house, but not nearly so often as before.

I am really enjoying the reading and writing class Ariel and I are attending. It gets a little frustrating sometimes when she just gets into an activity and the 15 minutes allowed in each room is up. She is so excited to go and we have a lot of fun together.

I am very much ready for Gage to start walking. Ever since he discovered that he can walk around holding my fingers, that is what he wants to do with me all day. Playing with his sister doesn’t hold his interest very long, not when he could be walking!

Today I was doing a lot of housecleaning, and he constantly in the middle of things. Fine when it comes to folding laundry, not so good when it comes to sweeping or vaccuuming.

I got a lot done, even so. Even got my quarterly taxes filed, something I have to do now that I earn enough working at home that my husband’s withholding doesn’t cover what I earn. I can think of worse problems to have!

I’ve added about nine new recipes to the recipe section of the site today. Just started going through my cookbook and typing away.

I can never leave a recipe alone, and my cookbook consists of printed pages and lots of notes on each page. People keep giving me cookbooks, but I get a lot more use from the one I’ve made myself. Not every change I make works out, but I do pretty well overall.

Cooking with small children around can get interesting, but this was one I just have to share.

Making homemade pizza tonight. I rolled the dough out on the kitchen table while my daughter was playing with some of her paint pens. Stepped away to cook some chicken for a topping while letting the dough rise. No, I’ve never mastered tossing the dough.

I came back in a few minutes to roll the dough out just a little bit more. Ran the rolling pin over it just one more time and noticed some blue. Yes, you may have guessed it already.

My daughter had put just a little bit of the paint from her pens onto the pizza.

Now, this was just a tiny amount, the pens are nontoxic and I was able to pick it all out of the dough. My daughter was just in tears as I told her she needed to keep her pens out of the food. She just thought it was something fun to do!

Now, my son isn’t making things any easier. Much of the time I was cooking tonight he was practicing his walking by grabbing my pants by my knees and going everywhere I went. I swear I waddle more now than I did when I was pregnant with him! I am going to be so relieved and driven so nuts when he can walk on his own.

Why do those things go so well together?

It feels so good to have Gage taking his nap at last! He’s trying to learn to walk, and his favorite thing to do right now is take my fingers and go wandering around the house. It’s lots of fun, but it sure can cut into my work schedule.

Some of my work, of course, can be done with him on my lap. I don’t do things that require too much typing, however, since he loves to pound on the keyboard. I think when my new one comes in I’ll have to remove the cord from this one and let him have it. We did the same for Ariel when she was a baby with an old keyboard, and Gage is much more into pushing buttons than she was.

Of course, chasing after the kids is one of the great benefits of working at home, even when it makes getting actual work done more challenging. I wouldn’t trade it.