Norwalk Chamber of Commerce

Norwalk Rotary Club

Gary North has a business idea.  It's upgrading websites in your business community.

"How to Get a High-Income, Part-Time Post-Retirement Job in a Retirement Town"
by Gary North, July 18, 2015

Maybe you don't want to retire full-time. Maybe you want an upper-middle-class income, but for working only 10 hours a week.

Maybe you want to live in a place like Florida, where there is a lifestyle aimed at retirees. But you don't want to be a Walmart greeter.

Start making your post-retirement plans now.

What can you do that most people can't do or won't do?

Nothing? Change this.

Here is what I would do.

First, I would join the Chamber of Commerce.

Second, I would join Rotary. Locally.  [And] I would attend meetings.

Third, I would look at their websites. Are they top-notch? Is anyone working full time to maintain them? If not, I would volunteer to manage the site of the one that needs the most help. I would use this to meet local businessmen. I would post articles on local businesses. I would use this as a way to get interviews with every CEO in the [Chamber of Commerce & Rotary]. I would do the interviews after work and on Saturdays. These would be puff pieces, of course. My goal: one interview/article a week. I would put my name on them.

Fourth, I would keep improving my skills in web design and interviewing.

Fifth, I would pick my retirement location with this in mind: do the Chamber and Rotary have pathetic websites? Find out if either is run on a volunteer basis. That's what you want: a site run by a volunteer or part-time by someone who hates doing it.

Sixth, finding this, I would create a dummy website for either or both. Once it was ready for prime time, I would offer it free of charge to the local outfit. I would run it part-time: maybe two hours a week. I would post about upcoming events.

Seventh, I would have the local outfit run interference for me -- introducing me to local CEO's who want to be interviewed. I would create an "interview the CEO" section on the site.

Eighth, I would pick CEO's with lousy websites. At the end of the interview, I would offer three tips on how to improve his website, and coordinate it with his Yellow Pages ad. If he shows interest, I would offer to create a sample website for free, using it in conjunction with the company's Yellow Pages ad. I would not close the deal there. I would let him contact me by email. He must identify himself as a hot prospect. I would pick CEO's to interview on this basis: companies with at least a one-eighth page -- the bigger, the better. I would create the sites free . . . with payment only at renewal at the time of Yellow Pages renewal. This is a no-risk offer . . . at first. But the better the site works, the surer the renewal income.

The initial interviews with the distant CEO's can be done by phone. The CEO's will be happy to cooperate. Everyone wants to see his name in print. He also wants his peers to see his name in print.

My strategy rests partially on this fact: Yellow Pages are still used by older people. They still are published in retirement towns. There will be local businesses that are still paying for YP ads. These are my targets.

Once this business model works, I would be ready for retirement in Skin Cancer City, Florida. I would already have steady income from my Florida website business. I would join the Rotary Club and the Chamber there. I would continue to meet the CEO's, but this time face-to-face. I would be able to get into the office of every CEO in the organization.

I would choose them, as always, on this basis: a Yellow Pages ad, plus a rotten website.

The goal: $1,200 a year per site. The goal is to create one site per month. Two would be better.

They would all be hosted on my InMotion server.

Maybe you are thinking this: "But I could apply this model right where I am now. I don't have to move to Florida." Go to the head of the class.

Lands' End Clothing

If you're shopping at Lands' End for any kind of clothing that you're looking for but cannot find online at their website, their customer service guys suggested going to their local brick and mortar stores.  To learn of their local stores, their customer services suggested that I call their Customer Service number, 800-963-4816.  The closest store next to Norwalk is in Brea at the Brea Mall. Land's End is located in Wisconsin.

I drove over to the Brea Mall.  Then I called and found out that the Brea Mall store does not have a Men's wear section.  What!!!  That's right--no men's wear section at the Brea Mall Lands' End.  Live and learn.  Costa Mesa store does have a men's section I was told, so I went down to the Costa Mesa Plaza.  No Lands' End store whatsoever.  Just funny that the store does not keep up with  Pasadena Hasting's Ranch store claims they have a men's section.  So does Long Beach.  

You can follow Lands' End at Instagram.  I was looking for a pair of corduroy pants.

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Protect Yourself: Don't Let an Assailant Get Away With Hurting You

Legal Aid Foundation of LA.  The guy I spoke to was helpful.  He at least knew how to differentiate between civic and criminal law.  My claim against Paco--an assault--is a criminal charge.  This is what makes it so difficult to win.

Neighborhood Legal Services of LA County

Christian Legal Aid Services of LA

This page was a decent place to start.

JUSTIA Lawyers  

Another page to start on criminal advice.

Consumer Affairs: 800-952-5210

BBB: 213-631-3600

Small claims under $10k: 800-593-8222

Civil law and criminal law are two broad and separate entities of law with separate sets of laws and punishments.

According to William Geldart, Introduction to English Law 146 (D.C.M. Yardley ed., 9th ed. 1984), "The difference between civil law and criminal law turns on the difference between two different objects which law seeks to pursue - redress or punishment. The object of civil law is the redress of wrongs by compelling compensation or restitution: the wrongdoer is not punished; he only suffers so much harm as is necessary to make good the wrong he has done. The person who has suffered gets a definite benefit from the law, or at least he avoids a loss. On the other hand, in the case of crimes, the main object of the law is to punish the wrongdoer; to give him and others a strong inducement not to commit same or similar crimes, to reform him if possible and perhaps to satisfy the public sense that wrongdoing ought to meet with retribution.”

Examples of criminal law include cases of burglary, assault, battery and cases of murder. Examples where civil law applies include cases of negligence or malpractice.

Educational Malpractice? 

"On the whole, courts have rejected causes of action for educational malpractice against colleges and universities. However, courts have recognized charges of breach of contract against educational institutions when plaintiffs demonstrate that educational institutions failed to carry out specific promises.

Courts generally reject educational malpractice claims for one of three reasons. First, it is very difficult to define the duty to educate, a necessary predicate for pursuing a cause of action. In general, the courts have not recognized claims of malpractice that rest on an assertion of the general inadequacy in educational programs, although they have recognized charges for breach of contract against educational institutions when claims are pleaded with particularity. Second, causation is also difficult to determine. In fact, it is almost impossible to identify all of the reasons why students fail to achieve specified levels of education; the causes could be “physical, neurological, emotional, cultural [or] environmental (Peter W. v. San Francisco Unified School District, 1976, p. 861). Further, the persons responsible for the failure to educate could include teachers, parents, or students themselves. Thus, the courts have acknowledged the difficulty of determining whether officials or other parties, including the students, may have caused the bad educational outcomes. Third, some courts have indicated a strong reluctance to insert themselves into such a contentious issue of public policy as the quality of education. The courts almost universally express strong public policy concerns as a basis for rejecting causes of action for educational malpractice against colleges and universities. The judiciary has also expressed the fear that recognizing a cause of action for educational malpractice would open a floodgate of litigation, particularly at the level of primary and secondary schools, but also in higher education." 

U.S. Passport

Oh, brother.  A government passport (is there any other kind?) can be a pain in butt to obtain.  So many conditions.  If you lost your previous passport, then a birth certificate is required to obtain a replacement.  But I'm an American citizen!  Doesn't matter.  But I thought that there were privileges that came with being an American citizen . . . . 

Then the woman at the window who processed my forms wore leotards instead of a uniform.  Instead of GI pants or skirt, we got her own personal leotard; this, an official of the federal government.  

While my eyes assessed this performance and perhaps took in too much, another woman behind me in line stepped forward because she heard the news that the forms needed to be filled in with black ink.  A few people in line filled theirs in with blue ink.  

They take 4-6 weeks to process and arrive at your residents.  You can pay extra to expedite it in 2 to 3 weeks.  

The costs, the costs.  Always the costs.  The passport itself costs $135. Processing fee is $1.25  Photographs (two) costs $15.  And then there is .75 for something or other.  Total came to $152.  Incredible what things cost these days.    

Birth Certificates

Birth Certificates are $28.  Plus a $6 Processing fee from VitalChek.com. Shipping is $18. Total cost is $52. Not cheap.  Now I don't know if the birth certificate is required prior to applying for a passport.  The LA County Registrar's Office phone number is 866-212-1045.  

Once you order your birth certificate online, then you have to print out an order confirmation.  Print it out and fill it out.  Before you can fax it back to the LA County Registrar's office, you have to have the confirmation notarized by a Notary Public.  Once you get this, then you can fax it to the LA County Registrar's office.  Their fax number, as of this date, is 866-283-7407.

Imperial Mailbox & Notary Services.  
12325 Imperial Blvd. Norwalk, CA  90650
562-651-1620
8:30-4:30
Notary for this confirmation document was $10.  To print the page out cost me $3.  To fax it cost me $1.  A total of $14.  So for this birth certificate I have spent a total of $66.  And I won't receive it for 7-10 days.  

Social Security Card

Social Security card replacements have to be applied for at a Social Security office.  It doesn't cost anything, except time and enduring a way too friendly receptionist whose questions sounded more like CIA techniques than anything bordering on the friendly. Social Security Card.

But it is important to learn that a replacement card, though free, takes about 7-10 days to be delivered.  It is being sent from Baltimore.  Here is a list of the offices in Southern California.

Alhambra Office
900 S. Garfield Ave.
Alhambra, CA 91801
800-772-1213
800-325-0778

Glendora Office
1165 East Route 66
Glendora, CA  91740
800-772-1213
800-325-0778

Norwalk Office
12440 East Imperial Highway
Norwalk, CA  90650
800-772-1213
800-325-0778


Pasadena Office
104 North Mentor Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
800-772-1213
800-325-0778