Good News Bad News!

First the good news, I participated in a focus group on corporate travel tonight and they paid me $125 to shoot my mouth off for two hours. Shit, I do it for nothing on this blog every day. What are they thinking? If you don't know about focus groups, I highly recommend that you check them out. Companies set up focus groups through research companies to talk about a myriad of subjects for an hour or two and then pay you, almost always in cash. They pay anywhere from $25 to $300 for the subjects I am qualified to speak on. I am guessing that doctors and lawyers get paid even more. I've done them so many times that I actually consider myself a bit of a focus group snob. If it doesn't pay $75 or more, I am not interested. I've done them on leased cars, office furniture, travel, copiers, and digital cameras. I've heard of people even doing them on window cleaner. If you live in the Chicago area, the one I work with is www.smithresearch.com. They do groups in both the city and suburbs. All you need to do is go to their web site and fill out a form. They'll call you if something fits your profile. Again, shoot your mouth off for two hours and get free money. Win, Win!

Now for the bad news...I was cruising home in a complete zone thinking about a topic for the blog when I look in my rearview and see the ominous flashing lights. Sure enough, I got a fucking $75 speeding ticket for going 70 in a 55. So, net on the focus group after the ticket and $25 for valet parking is $25. Definitely not a win. This was my first ticket in easily 10 years, and probably more like fifteen. I was definitely under 21 when I got the last one and I'll be 36 this year. Christ, I am old. To top it off the cop who pulled me over was nice as pie. Almost made me feel good about being pulled over. A delightful evening suddenly turns to crap.

Oh well, such is life.