Survey All You See

 

                                    The retiring violet above is a star !!!

He is the proud recipient of a prize from Purina Pet Foods.    as you can see he's quite overcome by all the attention.    actually,  i put in all the hard work all he needed to do was be cute and eat.... what a taxing task for a cat.    let me start at the beginning.

As i haven't been able to  get far from my front door for quite a few years, or to earn an income, it's been imperative to find as full a life as possible within my cosy walls, whilst earning a little to supplement my extravagant lifestyle, ergo  feeding selfsame  cat !!! ta..da..... in comes the internet.
    

                                   Don't you just love technology?    

The memory of how it  all started is lost somewhere back when Newcastle was home, the hair had natural colour, and i shared the universe with two cats.   someone, somewhere, somehow must have suggested online surveys and product testing as a way of fulfilling  the above requirements.    for those who have time to spare, and an internet connection, there are myriad survey sites to choose from.     some are a total scam, they  take your details and data and disappear into the mists of cyberspace to regurgitate them, via infuriating cold calls from the far east, at a later date.  BUT.... oooohhh the good ones are VERY, VERY good.  

Nobody makes a fortune from online surveying,  but it's a very real way of topping up a low income via Amazon, PayPal and actual goodies to test run in exchange for feedback and a commitment of a couple of hours daily.    that's how the furry beastie won his prize.    two  months worth of cat food in exchange for photos and chatting on the Purina blog.    i would like to think it's my impeccable penmanship that gained kudos but..............ach i know, who could resist photos like this?

I haven't bought clothes wash for about four years, as soon as one is used  up another  trial  deposits a  giant bottle on my doorstep.    shower gel,  shampoo,  fabric softener,  perfume,  an abundance of crisps and crackers,  aforementioned cat food duplicated many times over,  four HUGE  tubs of  Flora spread,  THREE  MONTHS  WORTH of very  posh facial moisturiser,  cleansing lotion, hand cream, three full bottles of Febreze Sleep Serenity (see, it works i'm advertising) the list is endless.   on top of that there's a payment of between 50p and £3  for each survey filled in.

Unsurprisingly to those of you who know me well, the surveys i enjoy most aren't product based but political and social and, surprisingly, they are the ones that pay most generously.    perhaps there's a belief that  people wouldn't take the time to fill anything in without the possibility of consumables at the end ?   but, believe me,  there's a limit to how many times you want to rate toilet roll.... oh  i forgot to mention the loo roll in the roll call.... when there's a world of fear and famine on our doorstep or just over the ocean that needs us to speak out loud.   it feels fulfilling  to have the opportunity of having an opinion heard on the larger issues of life.    posting inspirationals on Facebook is good, but having your voice counted is better.