Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Gateway problems


I didn't go to Waukon, to see Senator Grassley, this morning. I was running low on money, and I didn't want to spend it all on gas for the trip. Jim called me yesterday, and told me that he couldn't go. Tomorrow Linda Lucy, who is a representative for Senator Harkin, will be in town. I'll try to see her. I want to suggest that they extend the (Cash for Clunkers) program to buying used cars as well as new.
I got a new memory stick, but the Gateway is still acting funny. It has trouble loading at times, and then things bounce around. I'm thinking that it is memory problems, but it might be that Mandriva Linux doesn't work well with the Gateway.
I'm still waiting for the AC adapter from Ebay. It's been over a week since I paid for it. I may have to contact the seller. The new memory stick that I got today is acting like a 64 meg. stick and it should be 128 meg. I'll have to contact that guy as well.
I think I'll wait for the other memory sticks, and see if they make a difference. It will be easier to load a modern linux if I have more memory.
I took some pictures yesterday, but I have to download them to my Windows machine and then to my good laptop. I'm tempted to make my good laptop a dual boot system. That means that I'll be able to choose whether I want to boot to Linux or to Windows. I'll have to lose all of my bookmarks, and the extra programs that is so good to have. I'll have to reload Adobe Acrobat and flashplayer. Also I'll have to find Java Runtime Environment.
On the disability front, Remember to go to Vocational Rehab. if you get into college. They will pay about 1/3 of your tuition. That varies with their funding so don't count on it. That means that if you are going to a junior college, more of your Pell grants can go to your living expenses
Also look into the (Work Study) program. If you are getting student loans, that might not work so well, because what you make there is deducted from the student loans. If you are collecting unemployment and going to school that might be a better fit.
You might think about bonds for investment. I got burned buying individual bonds. I didn't think that GM would go bankrupt, but they did. Also I bought bonds in a company named Rouse. It turned out that they were bought by GGP, a company on the verge of bankruptcy. I also bought bonds on Aventine, and they went bankrupt. I couldn't win.
You can buy funds or ETFs of bonds. A couple of my favorite bond ETFs are TIP and JNK. TIP is an ETF of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. If inflation goes up so will the yield of this fund. Keep in mind that they are U.S. government securities.
JNK is an ETF of Barclays Bank's high yield corporate bonds. At least it's a collection of bonds so if one company goes bankrupt you won't be devastated.
JNK is yielding 13.16%, today. TIP is yielding 5.13%.
I did well with both TIP and JNK.
I uploaded a picture of the Upper Iowa River from a viewpoint at Phelphs park in Decorah.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Still waiting


I got an e-mail from the guy who sold me the AC adapter for the Gateway. He wants me to leave feedback. But I haven't gotten the AC adapter, yet. I don't know what is holding it up. One problem is that Decorah is so out-of-the way. Our mail is always late.
I bought a 40 gig hard drive for the Thinkpad, this morning. I'm thinking of having a dual boot system on it. I'll put Windows 2000 and Suse linux on it. That way I can choose which operating system to run. I was thinking about doing that with my good laptop. It has a 35 gig hard drive and I'm only using 5.
I talked with Jim this morning. I showed him how to leave comments on my blog site. He just told me hi. I asked him if he wanted to go and see Senator Grassley tomorrow. He'll be in Waukon in the morning. Jim said he would get back to me but I doubt that he'll go. The Senator will be there in the early morning and Jim doesn't get up before 10.
On the disability front. If you have low income, don't forget to apply for heating assistance. In Decorah, that is handled by Community Action. Joan Nelson runs that. They are in the basement of the Smith Building on Montgomery. While you are there you might as well get some free food. They have a food bank that you can use for something like 6 times a year. There is also a food band at the 1st Lutheran Church on Broadway ST.
Yesterday I mentioned how ETFs are replacing mutual funds. Some of my favorite ETFs are:
(DTO) Powershares double short crude oil, bets against the price of crude with 2 times leverage
(VDE) Vanguard Energy, a long energy play
(UYG) Proshares ulta-long financials, long financial with 2 times leverage
(SKF) Proshares ultra short financials, short financials with 2 times leverage
(USO) United States Oil, Long US oil
(UGA) United States Gasoline, long US gasoline
(DZZ) Deutsche Bank Short Gold, shorts gold with 2 times leverage
(SGG) Barclays bank sugar fund
This is just a small sampling of ETFs to be found. I invested in all of these and more when I still had money from my Social Security settlement. I did pretty well until I decided to play it safe by investing in General Motors preferred stock, to play it safe.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Gateway problems

I swapped the hard drive from the Gateway to the Thinkpad. Unfortunately it quit booting from the CD. I don't know why. I couldn't load a smaller operating system and it just isn't right, anyhow.
I then went back to the Gateway. I put a PC133 memory stick into the Gateway. It worked good and I got Mandriva Linux working pretty well. Then I took the Gateway to the co-op where I wanted to download the updates. It needed to upload configuration information to Mandriva. The co-op wouldn't let me upload anything. I gave up and went to Magpies.
There it got flaky. It wouldn't even boot right. Apparently the PC133 memory got hot and started to drop bytes. The lesson is to just wait for the right sticks. I've got eleven of the PC100 sticks coming from Ebay, next week. I just have to be patient and bide my time until they get here.

Deer across the street


I included a video I took of a deer that was across the road from where I live, last night. The sun was going down and I used my $20 camera, but at least I got a picture of him. I was about 20 feet away and it's remarkable that he stood still for so long. My neighbor feeds them corn.
I'm at Java Johns and I'm having troubles with the blog, today. Yesterday I clicked on something to translate the blog into Hindi. I didn't realize that, once that was clicked, it would only be in Hindi. I was blogging away and my words came up in another language. I would like to be able to transmit my blog to India in their language but I also need to be able to communicate in English as well. Maybe in the future we'll be able to do this. I would like to have my blog translated to Mandarin in China and Hindi in India. I have the feeling that I have more in common with those people than I do with the majority of people in the US.
On the computer front. I think I'll take the 5 gig. hard drive out of the Gateway and put it into the Thinkpad. I'll load Suse 10.3 and get it running as well as it can. Then I'll give it to Jennell. Local Decorah people will know who I mean. She's been needing a computer for years and she just can't afford one. This should do the job.
I think I'll get a 40 gig hard drive on Ebay for the Gateway. I'll then load a dual boot system. I'll probably go with Windows 2000 and Ubuntu 9.04. I'm still waiting for the AC adapter and memory for the Gateway, but it's on the way.
My tip for the disabled is to go to school while you are waiting for your Social Security to come through. You really have nothing to lose. If you are going to college you can live on student loans and Pell grants. That means you are still elgible for Social Security. If you get a job you can't get Social Security.
A problem might be that they may decide that if you are doing so well at school you aren't really disabled. That could be a problem, but school gets harder the longer you are in it. The stress of school may well cause your symptoms to return. If that causes you to drop out of school, you have a better case for your disability. If you succeed with school you are in a better position to get a better job.
Don't forget to apply for food stamps while in school. Students loans aren't income and Pell grants are usually applied to tuition so you should be eligible.
If you do have to drop out, your student loans may be discharged due to disability.
I missed entirely on the lottery, last night. I don't think I was even close on any of the numbers. I'll keep at it. I need to do something about my spiritual guide misleading me.
On the investment front. Have you looked into ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) rather than mutual funds. The commissions are less, there are fewer fees, you can trade them like stock (minute to minute) and they cover a wide variety of trading options. Look into it, mutual funds are so, yesterday.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

You have to fight for your disability


Not much is happening in Decorah. It's cloudy and not too hot. It's a nice day but it looks like some rain will be here in the next hour or so.
I bought some memory sticks on Ebay. They were cheap and I'll use them on laptops that I refurbish. I'm thinking about getting a larger hard drive for the Thinkpad. It may not be worth it. It is rather slow, anyway. I think I'll just download a form of Linux that will work on an old laptop. There used to be something called (Damn Small Linux). That ought to do the trick. Of course, the problem will be getting both the wifi card and sound card to work at the same time. I'll have to research it.
I'm thinking about having a section devoted to talking about disability, as that is something I'm familiar with.
Today, the topic is applying for Social Security.
They make you wait for six months after you've lost your job to apply. Apparently, you aren't disabled until six months after you've lost your job. You should probably go to their office and fill out forms anyway, since SSI (state supplemental insurance) may cover that six months. They usually won't give you SSI until you are eligible for Social Security (Catch 22). That could take years, but it doesn't hurt to fill out the forms, since the payments will go back to when the forms are filled out.
I don't know if I showed this picture before, but it's a scene on Trout Run Creek, near the fish hatchery.
My lottery picks are: 3,20,42,44,46. The powerball pick is 13. Again I would like to point out that I've never won even $3 on the lottery, but I keep dowsing for the numbers.
I downloaded (Damn Small Linux). It loaded live on the Thinkpad. The problem is that I couldn't check the sound system. It didn't seem to have any applications that I could run. I think I could get the wifi card working but I'm not sure of how I would know. I missed the graphical User Interface. I just couldn't figure out how to get things to work. Maybe I need the manual.

Friday, June 26, 2009


I uploaded a video that I took with my $20 camera, as an experiment. It's a view from the porch of my home. I intend to get some videos of some of the coffee shops I go to soon.
It's another hot day, and I'm hanging out in air-conditioned coffee shops. I'm now at Java Johns. I've already been to Bookends and Beans and the co-op.
There was an explosion in downtown Decorah, last night. Hart's Tea and Tarts blew up. Apparently the daughter of the owner was killed. A friend of mine lost his office, which was above the tea room. I haven't been by there yet, but I'll get some pictures for the blog.
The Thinkpad is working well but I'm running out of hard drive space. There are over 100 updates that need to be uploaded but I have no space. I'm thinking about taking the 5 gig hard drive out of my Gateway and putting it into the Thinkpad. I'm waiting for an ac adapter for the Gateway. It should be here soon. If I have the adapter, I should be able to get the Gateway to work. It would probably be a better machine than the Thinkpad, anyway. We'll see.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Work the System


I was at Barnes and Noble, this morning, and found a book named (Work the System). I came home and ordered it at Bookends and Beans for two reasons. One: I like to support local businesses. Two: It won't get here until after I've been paid for July.
I leafed through it a bit and it seemed like something an employed person might get more from than me. I figured that there might be enough to justify paying for it, though.
While on that topic, I bumped into Dave W. You might remember that he has been unemployed for a few months. He's applying for school and disability from the VA. He's busy filling out forms and finding out what he might be eligible for.
He's hoping to get paid unemployment while he is taking classes at a Junior College. He's also looking into what the VA might do for him. He was discharged back in the 70's with an honorable discharge, but it might have been a section 8. He's sending forms back and forth. I figure that at least he should be able to get some medical care from the VA. At best he could be getting a pension, like I did.
I had 1 number right, on the lottery. That's better than usual, but it still doesn't pay anything.
The Thinkpad is working pretty well, but I couldn't use it for blogging. There was a hangup with the password. I noticed that this computer didn't even require a password to get to my blog. I wonder if this computer somehow conflicted with the other one.
I included a picture of the inside of Bookends and Beans. It's kind of plush and comfortable, here.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

latest lottery picks


My latest lottery picks are: 5,18,28,43,and 53. My powerball pick is 37. The pendulum went in the opposite direction today, so maybe that is a good sign.
I'm sorry that I didn't post anything yesterday. I was busy with my Thinkpad and I forgot.
Yesterday, Alice solved the problem I was having with logging on at Bookends and Beans. She pointed out that the wifi card I was using was so old that it might not work with the password. I didn't see how that could be but I swapped it out, anyway. The problem goes with the card. I learned something.
Now I'm getting the sound card to work with Suse 10.3 and I'll settle on that operating system.
At home, the computer is upgrading to 10.3 from 10. I'm at Bookends, staying out of the heat and talking with Alice.
We're going to a car dealer tomorrow to see if the key they sent me will fit into a car. I'll also see if I can use my GM bonds to exchange for a car.
I would like to get rid of my van for something with better fuel economy.
I'm posting a picture of John at Bookends. He's the barrista at Bookends and Beans.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Hot one in Decorah

It's a hot one in Decorah. I've spent most of the day hanging out in air conditioned coffee houses.
I'm at the co-op now because it's the coolest place in town. They keep it cool to keep food from spoiling.
I'm using the Thinkpad 390 with Suse Linux as the operating system. I got the sound card to working yesterday, but this morning I couldn't get the wifi card to work at Bookends and Beans. They have a password protected wireless network and this form of Linux couldn't handle it. I know that I need something called a WPA network with a shared key. This operating system only has WEP.
I got the updater to working at Magpie. After struggling for hours I finally noticed that by right clicking on the update icon I could configure the updater.
I was blogging away and my computer notified me that 91 updates are available. I decided to do it now, while things are working.
I talked with Jim, this morning. He's having car troubles. His water pump is going bad and it will cost hundreds to repair.
I'm kind of glad that I have an old car. If anything major goes bad, I'll just get another car.
I tried to upload a photo but they are on the other computer. I tried to use the memory stick but this computer ignored it. I'll do it tomorrow.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Rainy Sunday

I just tried to publish a blog but apparently I failed.
I got the Thinkpad's sound card to work with Suze Linux. I'll try on the other one when Alice comes back from Des Moines.
I missed the lottery numbers. I may give up on dowsing
Later

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Still picking lottery numbers


Even though I'm having doubts about dowsing for Lottery numbers, here are my picks: 15,24,41,46,52. The powerball number is 8.
I'm thinking that dowsing may be another form of delusion. I always get 5 numbers and only 5 numbers when I dowse. But they never seem to win. This may be the form of mistake whereby a person sees patterns where there aren't any. Wishing and the thought that you deserve to win may also be part of the delusion. It may also be that the lottery is rigged in such a way that the fewest possible number of people might win. With computers, that wouldn't be too hard to set up. I may quit listing or even dowsing for the lottery.
It seems to me that if you can't dowse with a pendulum for the lottery numbers, what good is dowsing. It seems to me to be the proof in the pudding.
Its warm today in Decorah. I think it's in the mid eighties. I've been hanging out in air-conditioned coffee shops. I spent most of the day at Bookends and Beans. I took a few pictures that I'll post next week.
I posted another picture from the trail near the fish hatchery. I was trying to frame a scene with the trees but it didn't really turn out as well as I thought it would.
I got the memory sticks that I was waiting for. But I'm still disappointed. I loaded a live form of Ubuntu. A live version means that it runs from the cd rather than the hard drive. Linux still doesn't get the sound card on a Thinkpad 390 right. There was no sound. I'll have to either load Windows, which doesn't support anything before XP, or find a form of Linux which sees the sound card. To be legal with Windows might mean spending 80 or 90 dollars. I do have a copy of the XP upgrade that is not on any other computer. Maybe they'll let me put it on this one. I would rather run Linux because there are no legal hassles and nobody attacks it with viruses. It is just a better operating system.
I'll work it out. After all, I'm doing it as a hobby and I have time to work on it.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Waiting for memory


I uploaded another picture of the Upper Iowa River today.
Not much is happening here. I'm waiting for a couple of memory modules for the Thinkpad. I only have 32 meg. that I think is working and that's not enough for a modern Linux operating system. When I boot up, it hangs up. I think more memory is the answer. I waited until 2:30 for the mail and I still haven't seen any. Maybe I just didn't get any mail today and I didn't see the mailman.
It's hot and muggy so I'm hanging out at Bookends and Beans to beat the heat. I had to disconnect my air conditioning because animals had torn apart the ductwork under the trailer. It cost too much to run anyway.
I keep reading more about the wheeling and dealing that GM and the parts suppliers are doing in Washington. Apparently they already have $5 billion that is allocated to the parts suppliers. The debate is over how much they have to pay to use it. It's now set at 3% and the manufacturers want it to be 1%.
GM is trying to get more money to see them through bankruptcy. They have approval of a $33 billion loan. Apparently they already have approval for $15 billion. They are trying for all of it.
I hope that GM and Delphi use some of that money to buy it's own bonds. They are a bargain now. Any money flowing into that market could really drive my bond values up.
I'm thinking about using my $20 camera to take video. It has that capability. I'm afraid that I'll have to be connected to a computer to do that. If I can do it from my laptop I'll get some video of the inside of Bookends and Beans.
It's too hot to go outside, today. I think I'll drink coffee and read (Everyday Greatness) by Steven Covey. It's a compilation of stories from Readers Digest. At least it's uplifting
Later.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Picture of the Co-op


I uploaded a picture of the entrance to the co-op. That is where the screens of laptops are hard to see because of the glare from picture windows. They also have something called a DNS which restricts where you can go on the internet. It makes web surfing there, frustrating. I can't get to Etrade, Ebay, Yahoo mail, AOL mail and to post a blog. I go to the co-op mainly for the food and cheap coffee. If you go after 7:15 in the evening, they'll give you coffee for free rather than pour it out. They close at 8:30 so there is plenty of time.
I was supposed to meet Lula at Bookends and Beans, this morning. I stayed for half an hour, and then I left. I was hoping to help her get her computer working better. It's got Mandriva Linux on it, and it is getting messed up.
I got a Gateway Solo from Ebay yesterday. It didn't have an AC adapter, so I used the one on the Great Quality. The battery doesn't seem to hold a charge. That is important because it uses the main battery for the CMOS information. If you ask me, that is a design failure.
I got the thinkpad 390 to work with an old Ubuntu Linux. It doesn't see the sound card so I may switch to Windows. I'll have to see if I can work around the sound card.
I checked on how some of my old bonds, which I sold, are doing. I'm convinced that I sell too early. Rouse would have tripled over what I sold them for. Aventine would have retained it's value. GMAC would have gone up as well. I think I'm on to something, by buying the out-of-favor bonds.
The dowsing for lottery numbers didn't work. I was close with 2 numbers, but that only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades. I'll keep at it.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

New lottery picks


I've got some new numbers for the lottery. They are: 1,8,12,54,55. The powerball # is 9.
Last Saturday I got 2 numbers right so maybe I'm on the right track. The new pendulum is showing the affirmative answers better than the old pendulum. We'll see.
I'm working on getting Linux on the new, old laptop. It is low in memory so I'll probably have to wait until I can put more memory in it. I upgraded it to Windows 2000. I had troubles with a password when I did that. If I have to, I can get it back to 2000, but then I won't be able to upgrade it. Microsoft no longer supports 2000, so I can't get the service packs. That is what makes it more usable.
I loaded a picture of Trout Run Creek. It is a little north of the fish hatchery.
I'm hanging on to my GM bonds and Delphi bonds. Yesterday I saw an article that said that Obama declined giving the car parts manufacturers $11 billion. On the other hand GM is apparently giving Delphi $112 million. If that shows up in the bonds, it will make a difference. I hope that they come out of bankruptcy. If all of my money wasn't going to fix my teeth, I would invest more in Delphi. I think they could come out of bankruptcy. The federal government doesn't need any more unemployed auto workers right now.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Be it ever so humble


I loaded a picture of my home and van today. It's pretty humble.
I spent most of the morning getting Windows and Ubuntu to work on my good desktop computer. I need Windows because my camera won't work with Ubuntu. I got them to work but I don't have much room for music. Ubuntu didn't carve out enough hard drive space. I'll probably have to erase some music to get the pictures to work. Maybe I should just start over again and reload Windows and then Ubuntu.
I'm at Bookends and Alice is having trouble getting Adobe Acrobat to work. Her Windows 2000 doesn't have the Service Packs and I couldn't get them. I don't think her machine will ever work with Adobe. I would like to load Linux and go from there. It has a problem with the sound card and Linux.
We checked the cost of adding Windows XP and it would cost close to $100. If I can't get her machine to work with Linux, we may be stuck with XP. I'm sure that it would fix her problems. I'm going to get the new Thinkpad 390 to work with Linux then I'll trade her for her old machine and then I'll try to get Linux to work on it.
The Dow is down again but not as bad as yesterday. I think it's a buying opportunity. Apparently Obama decided against giving the car parts manufacturers any money. That's bad for Delphi, but I'm going to hang in with the bonds.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Talked with Jim this morning


I met with Jim this morning. We settled the Mid-East problem and health care. That's what old men do. All kidding aside, we spent about 1 hour talking while I bid on more Delphi bonds. I ended up buying another 13 bonds at $10 each. If you are a bond trader I spent $1 each but when you multiply it by 10 you get what I actually paid. That probably only makes sense to a bond trader. I now have 38 Delphi bonds and 16 GM bonds. If they come out of bankruptcy I could make as much as $54,000. It could happen, but my luck doesn't seem to work that well. I think I'm drawn to investments that have a high potential rate of return. Unfortunately, they tend to not work out. Only time will tell.
I got the Thinkpad 390 today. The battery worked better than I thought it would. I'm letting it charge at home and I think it will take a full charge. I had to buy more memory for it. I'm getting 2 128 meg sticks. I'll probably load Ubuntu. It has Windows 98 and its working so I may leave it. I'll have to find a wifi card for it. Maybe I can get Alice's old card. The big question is: Will it work with the sound card. If I get the wifi card to work with Windows that may be good enough for Dave.
I made an appointment with the dentist for next Tuesday. It'll probably cost $150 but we'll see.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

2 numbers were right


I picked 2 right numbers for the lottery. It still didn't win anything but I'm getting closer. I'll keep trying. I have to get into the zone.
I'm at Java Johns and I have to say that their quiche is quite good. I'm waiting for other people to finish the newspaper so I won't have to spend a couple of dollars and buy one.
I chipped a tooth yesterday. I was eating some garlic bread at the co-op and I noticed that my tooth felt strange. Later examination revealed that some of the tooth broke off. I'll have to get a dental visit arranged tomorrow.
Teeth don't seem to be covered by Medicare and they are such an expense.
Not much happening here. I'll take a few more pictures and maybe mow the lawn today.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Lottery picks


Here are my next picks for the lottery: 16,17,41,55,56. The powerball number is 11. Again I disavow these numbers. I'm trying to dowse the lottery but I've had bad results so far. I'm beginning to think that dowsing is just another form of delusion. But I'll keep trying.
I didn't get the second computer last night. Someone came in at the last minute and outbid me. It didn't have an ac adapter or a hard drive so I didn't want to bid too much on it. It was a make and model that I like so maybe I should have gone higher.
I put up a picture of the back door at Bookends and Beans. It's my favorite coffee shop/ bookstore. The front might be more scenic but everyone comes in and out the back door.
Not much is happening in Decorah, today. I blew off working at the Habitat for Humanity site. I got up late and I'm just too lazy, anyway.
Later

Friday, June 12, 2009

Enron crisis


I've been running around, trying to find out what happened to my Enron puts back in 2001. I received a letter from a lawyer in California informing me that I was owed nothing in the Enron settlement. After calling him, he convinced me that I should talk with my broker. He found the receipts of both the sales and purchases of the puts in question. It looks like I sold them at a profit back in 2001. I just didn't have the receipts before. I guess I need to keep better records, but I rely on my brokers to do that for me. I have no trouble with Etrade. It's just the local broker who misplaces things.
I bought a computer on Ebay this morning. It's going to set me back $35 so its not too bad. I can sell it to Dave as he is looking for one.
I'm bidding on another that will come due in about 1 hour. It's a little nicer but it doesn't have a hard drive or ac adapter.
The Moo Mobile was across the street. It's a promotion for the dairy industry. They give away milk shakes. There was a line of people down the block but it was worth it.
I saw Lula at the co-op. We're meeting again next Thursday at Bookends and Beans.
I sold my Clear Channel bond this morning, and bought 15 more Delphi bonds. If Delphi comes out of bankruptcy I'll clean up.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Lost the lottery again


My new pendulum was no better than the old ones. I was only close on one number. Maybe I have to go through the numbers 10 times and then select the numbers that aren't picked by the pendulum as my lottery picks.
I still want to sell my Clear Channel bond but its marked as unrouted. Apparently it has something to do with my turning down an offer a couple of days ago. As long as it keeps going up I'm not worried.
I bid on a couple of laptops on Ebay. The shipping will cost more than the laptops if I get them. I'll be tempted to run them on the memory card that I got last night. 4 gig. only cost $15. I could run a laptop without a hard drive. I'll have to pick up AC adapters however.
I uploaded a picture of the trail near the fish hatchery, that I call "Summer Snow". The white stuff by the trail isn't snow. It's seeds from the cottonwood trees. That white, fluffy stuff is all over town, but it was really thick on the trail.
I have to remember to go to the WRAP meeting today. It's a support group for the mentally ill.
It stands for Wellness, Recovery, Action, Plan. I promised Dave that I would show up then I forgot for at least 2 weeks. They meet on Thursdays.
Later.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

New lottery picks


Here are the lottery picks using the new pendulum:1,21,30,38,43, powerball 24. The new pendulum acted differently than the old pendulums. It seemed to give me clearer indications for a yes answer. I wouldn't bet the farm, however.
I went to Luther College this morning to pay my annual fee for their community pass to their gym. It has a nice indoor walking track. They also have an indoor swimming pool that I can use. I'm just too lazy to actually use that stuff. I would also have to be there at the hours that its open to the community. That usually means getting up early, around 6 or 7. I also added minutes to my Tracphone. It didn't take, so I'll have to go back to Radio Shack.
I uploaded another picture of the Upper Iowa River, taken during my trek last week.
I'm still trying to sell my Clear Channel bond. I get an indication that it is "unrouted". I don't know what that means and I don't have enough minutes on my phone to call Etrade. I'll probably do that at Java Johns after I get my time accredited to the phone.
That's it for now. On to Radio Shack.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Got the pictures to work


As you can tell I figured out how to upload pictures to my blog. I now have a picture of myself for the profile and I uploaded a picture of the Upper Iowa River.
Today I put a picture of Fluffy the cat up. That is about as close as I can get to fluffy, as she is feral. She and Jill allow me to feed them but they don't let me get close. Having them neutered probably didn't help things.
I'm trying to sell my Clear Channel bond so that I can load up on Delphi bonds. I'm convincing myself that they are bound to go up when Delphi comes out of bankruptcy.
I got a new pendulum at the co-op. It's heavier than the old one and I hope more accurate. I'm charging it, today. I'm going to use it for tomorrow's lottery numbers.
Charging includes soaking it in salt water while making an incantation over it. Then you let it dry in the sunlight. Then you make an incantation while passing it thru fire. Then you set it in candlelight overnight. All I have to do is to win the lottery once and it will be worth it.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Didn't post yesterday


I'm sorry that I didn't get around to posting yesterday. By the time that I had time to post, none of the wifi places were up. The co-op was opened but it wouldn't let me on to blogger. I guess I could have sat on the bench outside of the library but it was a bit cold.
Anyway, I didn't win the lottery. I only had 1 right number, but that is an improvement. I'm having doubts about dowsing for the lottery number. It seems that if it worked, everyone would be doing it. I'm going to keep trying but I may not list my numbers on the blog.
I went to La Crosse with Alice yesterday. I bought a book by Steven Covey named "Everyday Greatness". I told Alice that if I keep reading uplifting books, that I'll break out in a rash of good karma, someday. With all the New Age music and uplifting books that I read it's bound to happen.
I sent off for an old laptop today. It set me back $60, but it'll be a project. I could give it to Dave. He needs one.
I had a conversation with Jim and Alice, this morning. Jim doesn't seem as shaky as usual. He got off of one of his meds and maybe that is making a difference.
I told him about Delphi. It's bonds are selling for $.01 and they are getting money from GM. It would be risky but it might be profitable. I've got 10 bonds that I bought for $10.00 each.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Lottery picks

After much debate, since I have only lost, I decided to post this Saturday's lottery picks again. They are: 14,18,20,42 and 50. The powerplay # is 14. Once again I would like to point out that I have never won. I pick these numbers by dowsing and apparently my spiritual guide feels that winning the lottery would be bad for me. Maybe they'll be luckier for you. You might try them on a different lottery.
I went to the meeting about health care advocacy, this morning. About 30 people showed up. I was surprised at how many horror stories, even the well off, had about the health system. People were paying 4 or 500 a month for supplemental coverage. They were working to supplement their retirement, just to have insurance.
I made the commitment to go to a Habitat for Humanity build to promote the group. That will be next Saturday and the one after that.

Friday, June 5, 2009

bought more bonds

Today, while I had way too much time on my hands, I bought 10 Delphi bonds. It might seem dumb to buy bonds in a company that is bankrupt. Two things influenced me. One was the low price. $10 for a $1000 bond is cheap. Another thing was a news article about General Motors giving Delphi some money. I'm gambling that the government or GM will help Delphi out. We'll see.
It's a nice day here, rather cloudy so its not getting hot. I really have no excuse for not mowing the lawn. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so today is the day.
I bid on a laptop on EBay today. It's another Great Quality. I'm really happy with the one that I have. I only bid $50 so I probably won't get it. If I do I'll have to update my paypal account and add money. I forgot to check that he would take checks or money orders.
I decided to continue to work on old laptops as a hobby. I'll never make any money on them but they are a challenge to get working properly. It's something I can do with my time until I try prospecting for gold, next year.
It looks like I overpaid for the Delphi bonds. Someone else bought them for $1 for $1000 bonds. Well you live and learn. I should have offered less in my bid. I still think they'll go up. I
could have paid a lot less.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Not as bad as I thought

I had figured that today I would be spending close to $600 on dental bills and car repair. The dentist bill was a bit higher than I thought because I opted for the fluoride treatment. That was probably a mistake since I could just use fluoride toothpaste. I spent far less on the car than I thought I would. Dan only charged me $300 for the muffler and tailpipe.
On the old laptop front, Alice got hers to work by taking the USB wifi module back to Wal-Mart. The first one was bad. She has already had it working at Bookends and Beans where they have a password. She's happy. I'm still a bit upset that I couldn't get the soundcard to work with Linux. I just found out about a program (alsaconf) that might make it work. Of course I would have to get it loaded and run it from a terminal. It would be a pain and Alice would have to learn Linux.
I lost the lottery again. Sometimes I have doubts about spiritual guides and dowsing. But I'll keep after it. I did seem to do well with water dowsing so I think there is something to it. Since my purpose is to put the lottery out of business by encouraging winning, I feel that Karma is on my side.
There is no way out of mowing the lawn today.
If anyone is reading this feel free to make comments.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Car troubles

I walked into town and back again for a total of 9 miles. I needed the exercise and it was a nice day. I don't know if I'll have the energy to mow the front lawn.
I got paid by Social Security. Now I have to get the car fixed and get my dental work done. They're both going to get done tomorrow morning.
The car is gaining on me. Not only is the exhaust system failing but it's getting hard to start. I'm afraid that it might be the fuel pressure regulator again. Maybe it's related to the exhaust problem. I might be getting back pressure.
I tried to pay the satellite television bill today. The debit card didn't work and I don't have a check with me that has the routing number of the bank. I'll have to get that tomorrow.
The internet at the Co-op didn't work very well, today. I couldn't get on to half of the sites I wanted to go to. They have something called a DNS that restricts where their users can go. I think they are too restrictive. I'm at Java Johns, now, and it seems just fine.
I took a few pictures during my jaunt, this morning. I'll see about loading them. I also need to pick the lottery numbers. If the car starts and I can get home I'll do that.
Later.
My lottery picks for the Iowa Powerball tonight are: 3,9,15,28,and 56. The powerball number is 28.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Feeling better

I'm feeling better, today. I think the cold has about run it's course. I went to the county health nurse yesterday and she said that it was almost certainly a cold. They are common at this time of year due to the radical changes in temperature.
I slept in this morning and I feel much better.
Alice and I went to Subway sandwiches for a $5 footlong. Its a bargain.
I think I'll go home and mow the lawn. The expected rain went to the south of us. I have no excuse for not mowing. I feel better and there is no rain. I'll just have to do it.
I have no sick computers to work on. Alice was complaining about her slow desktop. I could give her my slow desktop. Since I'll be moving into an apartment in a couple of months I need to get rid of a lot of stuff.
Well, its time to go mow.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Not the flue

I went to the county health nurse because I was concerned about the aches and pains I was having in my chest. She told me that at this time of year a lot of people come down with colds. It makes sense, I had the air conditioner on in the car all the way from Iowa City. I probably got chilled. I had the feeling that I was making a lot to do over nothing, and now it is confirmed. I don't feel good enough to mow the lawn, however. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so it might not get done for a while.
I tried to mount Alice's wifi card on my machine. I found a driver for Windows 95 and I loaded Ndiswrapper on my machine. It didn't work. She'll have to buy a new wifi module. That's $32.00. Too bad.
I didn't get much done today. Just swatted flies and waited for my pension check, which didn't show. Maybe tomorrow I can get the car fixed. It's going to be costly. Dan hasn't even given me an estimate. That's got to be bad.
GM went bankrupt today. So far, the bonds have kept what little value they have. I'm just going to ride it out and hope that the judge sees things in a way that favors the bondholders.
That's it for now.