A dog's life
May. 6th, 2012 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stgulikMy mother has taken re-gifting to a professional level. But this isn't going to be a complaint post. Far from it.
Mom is in her 70s and lives very competently on a fixed income. But in the last few years, she has actually augmented her monthly income through ad revenues on her blog. She writes a blog all about dogs - historical anecdotes, current events, cartoons and even product reviews. Occasionally, pet product companies will send her products and ask her to write a review if she feels like it. A weird business model, but it seems to suit everyone concerned.
On Saturday, I visited her briefly before going to see The Avengers with my brother.* She gave me a belated birthday gift - a bag of dog grooming products. Hmm! And the packages all said "for demonstration purposes - not for resale." Hmm! I wonder where she got them? But I just laughed and said thank you. I mean, I have dogs, and I will use these. It's not mentally productive to be happy your mother is competent at living on a fixed income, and then throw a snit because she doesn't buy you diamond bracelets or something.
But it got funnier. A few minutes into an unrelated conversation:
Mom: So, do you like your birthday present?
Me: Yes! I'm looking forward to trying them out on the dogs.
Mom: Oh, how nice. And after you try them out ...?
Me: Why, I just might decide to write a product review as a guest post on your blog!
Mom: Oh, how nice!
Then we snickered like cartoon mice. She's transparently using my birthday to achieve her own ends. She's the devil sometimes, but oh, I love her.
*FYI, The Avengers ROCKED. But fair warning: if you're not already into the series, YMMV.
Mom is in her 70s and lives very competently on a fixed income. But in the last few years, she has actually augmented her monthly income through ad revenues on her blog. She writes a blog all about dogs - historical anecdotes, current events, cartoons and even product reviews. Occasionally, pet product companies will send her products and ask her to write a review if she feels like it. A weird business model, but it seems to suit everyone concerned.
On Saturday, I visited her briefly before going to see The Avengers with my brother.* She gave me a belated birthday gift - a bag of dog grooming products. Hmm! And the packages all said "for demonstration purposes - not for resale." Hmm! I wonder where she got them? But I just laughed and said thank you. I mean, I have dogs, and I will use these. It's not mentally productive to be happy your mother is competent at living on a fixed income, and then throw a snit because she doesn't buy you diamond bracelets or something.
But it got funnier. A few minutes into an unrelated conversation:
Mom: So, do you like your birthday present?
Me: Yes! I'm looking forward to trying them out on the dogs.
Mom: Oh, how nice. And after you try them out ...?
Me: Why, I just might decide to write a product review as a guest post on your blog!
Mom: Oh, how nice!
Then we snickered like cartoon mice. She's transparently using my birthday to achieve her own ends. She's the devil sometimes, but oh, I love her.
*FYI, The Avengers ROCKED. But fair warning: if you're not already into the series, YMMV.
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-07 07:29 am (UTC)