Sunday, December 29, 2013

Trading PPC

Well I'm back to trading crypto-currencies. This time I decided on something called PPC. It stands for Peer to Peer coin.
I got out of Lite coin because I felt that it would move more as a percentage than the the Lite Coin. I was probably wrong. It bounces around a lot but I feel that the Lite Coin would have been better.
This morning I was watching the currencies and there was a big move up. That was after the bad news from India. I felt that it demonstrated the strength in these coins. So I jumped into Lite Coin. I noticed that PPC moved more on a percentage basis so I got into it instead. PPC has been a disappointment.
I'm going to leave it overnight and I hope it goes up in my sleep.
On a different topic, a guy told me that he knew where I could buy an old van that would be able to tow a trailer for $800. I think I'll put it off until the currency collapses. I might be able to get a trailer and a different van at low prices then. I've just got to be patient. If I can make money on crypto-currencies I'll be able to buy something then.
Something that could help the process is to sell my etchings on this blog for Bit Coins or Lite Coins. I think I'll show some of the etchings here.
These are just three of the etchings that I have by Malcolm Childers. I have around 10 or 12 different etchings. If you are interested in them you can leave a comment and we can arrange payment by bitcoin or litecoin. Malcolm has a website at Roadsongs.com. I have most of his less expensive etchings.
Later

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Don't know why crypto-currencies are as strong as they are.

I'm back to trading crypto-currencies. I'm in NMC now. It's a smaller, more volatile currency. I've been in and out a couple of times this morning. Each time I get in and out I lose money on the spread (the difference between the ask and bid price). That means that it costs me money just getting in and out of a position. I need to stop over trading.
Yesterday I was thinking that the situation in India would drive the crypto-currencies down but I was wrong. They are going up again, So today I'm back in.
On a different topic, I'm thinking about trading my gold for a motor home. I feel that gold will be useless in a real SHTF situation. People may be bartering for ammo and food but I think gold is just too expensive to be a good medium of exchange. Therefore I would be better off trading it for my bugout RV. I could also use the RV to go panning for gold. I hope to do that in a couple of years.
I may have some changes in my employment situation. I still haven't heard about rather I've been re certified as being poor enough for my present job. It looks like I'll be able to stay on for another month if I'm not. Other part time job opportunities are showing up so I'll be OK for now. I'm just concerned about getting enough money to do a good job of preparing for the financial collapse.
Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way of really preparing adequately. It's just too expensive for a poor person and preparing is a bottomless pit for money.
I not only don't have the money to prepare; I also don't have the space to store stuff. I might look into getting a storage space for water, ammo, and food. That will set me back by about $50/month. Maybe I can get Jim and Sherry to go in with me. I talked with Sherry about prepping, last night. She recently read a book about having someone set off an EMP or electro-magnetic-pulse, and taking down the entire grid. I suppose it could happen. I feel that a currency collapse is certain. I don't feel that we'll be at war with anyone else. The public is just sick and tired of wasting money on military spending.
Of course, if a person is preparing for one contingency he is also preparing for others as well. You have to set back the same food and water and stuff for all possible events.
Oh well, I'm going back to watching crypto-currencies. NMC moved down whilest I've been blogging.
Later

Friday, December 27, 2013

Giving up Hope on Bitcoin

Well it looks to me that Bitcoin is a bust. Not only is the Chinese government making it impossible to put money into a Bitcoin account but now the Indian government is arresting people for trading Bitcoins. For over 30% of the world's population it's illegal to trade Bitcoins. The worst  part of this is the precedence that it sets for the rest of the world's repressive governments. It looks like Bitcoins will be made illegal everywhere. Governments just can't have competing currencies. That would upset their ponzi scheme currencies.
I had my hopes up that I would be able to finance my getting off the grid using profits from Bitcoins. Now I have to face reality. I'll be doing good to just maintain my level of income and buy some more gold and silver.
Prepping is so expensive that I'll never be able to do a good job of getting ready for the currency collapse. All I can do is all that I can do.
I had to forget about getting a trailer last week. A mechanic told me that my van was too rusty to pull a trailer. I'm tempted to try to find a cheap old motor home. That would probably be better than a trailer, anyway.
I still want to get out and prospect for gold. Not only would I be off of the grid but I would be accumulating gold.
I feel that gold will retain it's value in currency collapse. Right now gold and silver prices are very manipulated. They are being held down so that the dollar looks better than it is.
I might lose my job at Experience Works. I'm having troubles with the re certifying process. Maybe I can work part time at other places if I lose that job. We'll see.
Later

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Snow Day Sunday

It's a snowy Sunday. I got up at 4:00 an checked my coins. I had an order to buy coins at a low price. I had a surprise when I saw that the coins were "up" strongly.
I decided that I couldn't watch the coins in my sleep so I decided to try a "bot". That is a software robot that trades my currency for me 24 hrs a day. It seemed like a reasonable price. $89 to get started and $9 a month from then on.
It had as free trial so I tried that. It didn't work. It told me that I had an invalid registration #.
I'll have to try to get that straightened out, tomorrow. Anyway, today was another day of over-trading. I probably lost $100 so far today. I now have my money in the US dollar or "fiat" as it's called by the crypto-currency traders. I have an order in to buy at a ridiculously low price. I'm still expecting the weekend crash that seems to happen regularly.
I shoveled a lot of snow, this morning. I doubt that it will make up for my losses in currency, but it's welcomed.
I gave up on buying a trailer. I wouldn't be able to tow it with my van. It's just too rusty underneath to attach a trailer hitch. I'm looking into buy a motor home. I might be able to get a 20 or 30 year old one at a reasonable price. I'm looking to spend less than $1000. I might be able to find something on EBay. I'll have to see if I can find someone who would take gold instead of fiat. I just don't have that kind of money laying around and I over-invested in gold. I've also got a 10 ounce silver bar that I should be able to convert to $200. I don't think gold or a large bar of silver would be much good for barter when the currency collapses.
I found a dating service for preppers. It's named "Survivalists Singles". I registered but then I couldn't get logged into it. It seems hopeful. I gave up on "OK Cupid" because I didn't want to go into detail about why I'm such a doom and gloomer. Everyone there seems to go out of their way to be upbeat whereas I feel that the whole world's economy is on the brink of collapse. I just didn't fit in there.
There was a matching website for the mentally ill that I used to go to as well. I think the name was something like "NoLongerLonely". I came to the conclusion that just because I'm mentally ill doesn't mean that I want to date someone else who is mentally ill as well. I think I would be better off with a reasonably well person. Actually I would prefer another Christian Scientist. My religion is so different from the accepted that I probably would have a hard time relating with someone who isn't a Christian Scientist.
Anyway so much for crypto-currencies, dating, and getting an RV.
Later

Friday, December 20, 2013

The Master Manipulators are at Bitcoin

The manipulators have invaded the trading at Bitcoin. I read a couple of articles on Bloomberg and Yahoo. They were both slamming Bitcoin. It showed me that the same people who manipulate the stock market were pulling their tricks on Bitcoin as well. They play me for the fool that I am, They drive the market up to appeal to our greed and wishful thinking. Then they drive the prices down sharply to scare us out of the market.
Since I'm trying to catch a trend I am a sucker for these moves. I've been on the wrong side except for a few days ago when I caught a nice move up in my sleep.
I bought a coin named NWC last night. I saw the market move up and couldn't stand to miss the move, It's been fluctuating since then. I'll try to stick with it at least until the beginning of the new year, The Chinese ban on transferring money from banks to Bitcoins goes into effect, then. That might drive the market down. The Chinese people might find a way to buy Bitcoins without banks by then. I'll probably be forced out of the market by then.
Without digital currency I feel rather hopeless. Maybe I'll get back to my plan of going prospecting for gold. I can't get a trailer but I have a van that I can load up with camping gear. I could just live out of my van.
I called Paypal last night to see if I could take Bitcoin for payment for my etchtings. They said that they were working on it but they weren't there yet. I think there is a chance to get high prices for art from Chinese people who will be stuck holding Bitcoins and no way to convert them to currency. At least that is my hope.
On a different subject, we had freezing rain last night. All I've been able to do with it is to spead some salt. I can't even get the car running because I can't get the ice off the windows. I had to walk to the home that I shovel snow for.
Well I have to go.
Later          

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Overtrading Litecoin

I've been overtradiing Litecoin, lately.
The night before last night I made a couple of hundred dollars in my sleep. I sold my digital currency before going to be and placed a buy order at half the price that it was when I went to bed. It was filled and the price  of Lite coin went up from there. Yesterday, I tried to catch trends but I was always on the wrong side of the trades. Last night I tried to repeat my move of the previous night, but I just missed out on a nice move up. I'm still ahead but my trading is hurting me.
Maybe I should just buy and hold. I'm worried about how the government might stop sales of digital currency in China. That didn't seem to affect trading last night.
There is always something to worry about and if a person just sits tight and holds his currency he should be able to ride it out. I wish that I didn't do any trading for the last 2 weeks. I would have been in the same position that I am now. I would have saved on commissions.
One thing I noticed is that Bitcoin seems to lead Litecoin by about 20 minutes. That is Bitcoin does something and 20 minutes later Litecoin follows. Anyway it seems to work that way. I might be fooling myself or grabbing at straws.
I had bad news on the van, yesterday. The mechanic who looked at my van to see if I could put on a trailer hitch told me that there was too much rust under my van to attach the hitch. That puts buying a trailer on hold. I won't be able to tow it.
I bought a tent so I'll be able to camp out in a SHTF situation. I just can't afford this prepping bullshit.
I feel like I'm tied to a railroad track and all I can do is to watch the train coming. That's just the way that it is. It reminds me of my time in the Marine Corps where I never knew when some black guy might kill me.
 I did fairly well in my Spanish class. I got a C+ overall. The final test didn't hurt me as much as I feared that it would. I didn't get as much studying in as I should have. I was busy trading currency over the weekend and Monday it snowed and I had to shovel all day. I don't know how bad I did but I was afraid of getting an F, and I didn't.
I'm thinking of selling my etchings for Bitcoins. I figure that there will be a lot of Chinese who will be trying to get rid of their Bitcoins. I'll look into it. It's worth a shot. They don't seem to move, otherwise.
Later

Monday, December 16, 2013

Crypto Currencies Crash

Well the crypto currencies are all collapsing. I got caught and lost about $400. I was shoveling snow when the crash happened.
I guess that the lesson is to not trade when I can't watch what is happening on the exchanges. I have to check what the coins are doing every15 minutes or so. No more sleeping while I have money invested. Now that I think about it I was taking final test in my Spanish class while the market tanked. Between shoveling snow and taking the Spanish test I must have spent 3 or 4 hours without checking the price of my Lite Coins.
At least I did better in my Spanish test than I thought I would. A part of the test was me asking and answering questions of my teacher. She said that I did well in that. Some of the test was a complete blank to me. Most of it went pretty well.
I'll know this Wednesday how well I did. I'll check my grades, then. I can get that online.
Tomorrow I'll find out if I can put a trailer hitch on my van. I bought a hitch at Wal-Mart and I'm having a local mechanic try to put it on. There might be too much rust under the van to safely install a hitch. If that happens I'll take the hitch back to Wal-Mart and see about getting another vehicle.
I sent my brother a silver coin for Christmas, today. I overbid on it on EBay. I thought I was bidding on something that was 5 ounces of silver. Instead it was .5 ounces. I was wondering why it went so cheap. It's a nice Canadian coin. It was graded and everything.
They are predicting more snow for tomorrow. Another busy day ahead. I don't really have much else to say.
Later

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Coins going sideways and I'm out

I got out of Bitcoins andLlitecoins this morning. I had a buy order for some Litecoins but I even canceled that.
I'm thinking that the cryptocurrencies will go down on the weekend. They usually do. This week they didn't even come back from last weekend. They've been rather dissolute. Litecoins are bouncing between $29 and $31.Bitcoins are moving more but they tend to come back to where they were. I'm just going to stay out until after the weekend crash. Then I'll buy Litecoins.
I've got to hit the books this weekend. I've got a big Spanish test next Monday. It's the final and I need to do well to bring my grade up. I was thinking about going to Guttenburg to look at trailers but I think I'll put that off. Guttenburg, IA is near Prairie Du Cien, WS. When I go to Guttenburg I'll swing past the Cabela's at Prairie.
Well, it's Saturday morning at Java John's. I'm shoveling snow, occasionally, and drinking coffee. I'm still out of crypto currencies and into fiat (which means the paper currency that the government palms off on us).
I'm waiting for the regularly scheduled weekend crash in crypto currencies. I think I might get back to bitcoin since it seems to be moving the most. It's going down the hardest so it might go back up more as well.
Tuesday, I'm getting a hitch put on my van. I need that to tow a small trailer that I want to buy. Having a trailer would open up a lot of options for me:

  1. I could buy my own land and live on it.
  2. I could travel anywhere in the country and have a place to live.
  3. I could store water, food and ammo more easily.
  4. I could go to my sister, Faye's place in California and have a place to live.
Well I think I'll go back to shoveling snow.
Later.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Sold Bitcoins, Now in Litecoins

I sold my bitcoins yesterday and bought Russian Rubles. I then bought litecoins after the crash. They seem to be holding up better than bitcoins.
I'm just going to sit on them for a while. I'm doing OK. I doubled my money in a month or so. If I can keep that up I'll run off to Costa Rica in 6 months and live cheaply.
I think the China selling is over. The Chinese government stopped their banks from dealing with bitcoins a day or two ago. It could still be volatile over the weekend. We'll see.
I'm going to Rochester today. Last week I tried to go twice and my car broke down both times. Today the car is working well and I've got gas. So I think i'll go. I have to go to an auction first. They are selling some foreign coins that I might be interested in,
Later
I went to the auction and didn't see anything I would like to buy.
Then I went to Rochester and priced trailers. I couldn't find anything in my price range and weight category. The last trailer salesman that I talked to said that between 1995 and 2009 few small trailers were made.
Therefor, used small trailers are hard to find.  I'll have to be patient and explore all of the options. EBay looked hopeful but I would have to travel across country to pick it up. That means I have to get a hitch on my van before I can haul a trailer.
I'm at Barnes & Noble now.
I just checked the price for litecoins on their wi-fi. I'm down about 10%. That might sound bad but it could have been a lot worse. I'm going to be patient and see if they double in the next month or so.
Later

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Bitcoin Panic

Well, I panicked this morning and sold all of my cryptocurrencies at a low.
The Chinese government made an announcement that trading Bitcoins through banks would be illegal. That caused Bitcoins and all of the other cryptocurrencies to collapse. I sold everything at a bottom. It's going up now so I bought back in. I could have just left it alone and it would have come back on it's own. I over-trade. I always panic and pick bottoms to sell into. Then I don't get back in, in time to make back my losses.
That brings me to a point that I've been thinking about. Does anyone have enough information to actually trade for money?
The individual investor simply doesn't have the information sources that are available to the large investors.
When I watch Jim Cramer on CNBC, people call in with a stock pick. He usually tells them that their stock is not "best of breed" meaning that it's not the best stock in that sector. I don't know how to get the information of what stocks are "best of breed". It seems to be known on Wall Street but not on Main Street.
There are times that I don't think Jim has enough information as well, Yesterday he was complaining that the Dow went down in spite of good news. I feel that he ignored the approval of Detroit's bankruptcy. I think that is what drove everything down yesterday. It portends more state and municipal bankruptcies. That could collapse the whole "house of cards" that is the world economy.
Back in 1989 I got into trading commodities because I felt that stocks were just too hard to understand. Now that I've traded stocks I feel that all the more. But I learned that commodities are too difficult as well. I'm trying cryptocurrencies because I think I'm in ahead of the crowd. Only time will tell.Maybe there is no way that an individual investor can have enough information.
I suppose we are all damned to cleaning toilets or loading trucks for a living. There just doesn't seem to be any way out of the "working class trap". The more I try to get out the deeper I seem to fall.
Enough rambling for now.
Later

Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Coins are Down

My investments in the various digital currencies are all down about 10% today. Everything moved up so strongly last week that this might be expected.
I'm going to move some more money from the bank to invest in Bitcoins tomorrow if it keeps going down. The trouble with that is that it will take 3 days to move money from the bank account. Everything will be different by then. That always happened with trading on E-Trade. Maybe I could use a credit card. We'll see.
I'm tempted to go to Rochester and shop at Barnes & Noble. They sent me 3 coupons that I would have to use by today. I wanted to go Friday but my car broke. I got it fixed yesterday. Nothing is stopping me, today. I think I'll go right away. I'll continue this posting from there.
Well, my car didn't make it to Rochester. There was a loud whining sound (I think it's the serpentine belt) but it could be something worse. I turned back and I'm now having lunch at Culvers.
The prices of digital currency kept going down. I see it as a buying opportunity. I just don't have a way of moving money fast enough to take advantage of it. That's one of the advantages of digital currency. You can move it much faster than the banks can. Instead of 3 days it usually takes me 30 minutes. But to get dollars to the Bitcoin account takes 3 days.
So much for my fantasies of buying a trailer and more silver. I have to face reality and be grateful for the snow next week so I can make money shoveling it. In a year or two I might be able to get out of debt. For now I'm just stuck in poverty and a low paying job.
I was watching G4Title on YouTube, today. He talked about how people get caught up in the negativity surrounding the Prepper movement (especially concerning the financial collapse). His point was to not get caught up in the negative thought that naturally surrounds this stuff.
I think he's right but I feel that I'm being caught between a rock and a hard place. I know that the financial collapse is coming but I don't have the money to take steps to prepare for it.
Digital currencies were giving me some hope but that might be a delusion. I'll know in the next month or so. I'll either be quite well off for me or down about $1000. I know that I'll be pouring more money in if they go down because I see this as an opportunity. Well, at least I have a job and snow shoveling to bring in more income. Later

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Bitcoin and Litecoin success

So far I'm doing well with my Bitcoins and Litecoins. Apparently, I found a way to finance my prepping. I've been wondering how I would get ready for the financial collapse.
Now, it might be possible. I've got most of my money in Litecoins. That's a smaller competitor of Bitcoins. If you've never heard of them, they are digital currencies.
I got tired of watching gold and silver be manipulated by the large traders. It's so obvious but nothing is ever done about it. The dollar and the rest of the "fiat currencies" are about to collapse due to printing to much currency. The stock market is also rigged in the favor of the rich. Poor people just don't have the kind of information to make that at all fair. Bonds are too cheap (due to money printing). And real estate is in a bubble that's about to explode. So I scraped together a little money to invest in Bitcoins.
Now I'm spending my ,hoped, for money in my mind. If Litecoins and Bitcoins keep going up here is a list of things I'll be buying with that money:
  1. A small trailer, something I could tow with my van. 
  2. $100 face value of silver coins. 
  3. $1000 worth of storable food and water. 
  4. Pay off the credit cards and such. 
  5. Camping gear, including solar panels. 
  6. Land for a homestead. 
The trailer comes first because it will open up a lot of options. I'll be able to go anywhere with it and avoid civil strife and starvation. If I lose my job I'll be able to live in a trailer park near the Mississippi and fish for food. That would also be near my church (in Onalaska, WI.). If I wanted to I could hitch it up and go to Texas for a job.
I'm tempted to get a lot more silver to use as a down payment to Jim for his land. I know that he doesn't recognize the need for precious metals like I do but maybe he would take it anyway.
I could use the trailer to store food and water while I work at the Peace Center. It's a job, after all,  and there is no good reason to quit it yet.
It will be great to be debt-free, but I have other needs that take priority. When the currency collapses I might be able to pay off my debts with precious metals. We'll see when the time comes. Otherwise, I'll just pay that off when I get my major needs taken care of.
On a different topic, I was watching the station "RT" today. They had videos of rioting in the streets in Europe. I feel that our time is coming.
The only reason that we haven't curtailed government spending like the Europeans have is that we are printing money like crazy.
We're due for either a hyper-inflation or a depression. I Iean towards the hyper-inflation.
Maybe I can pay my debt with inflated currency or precious metals. Paying my debts are low on my list of priorties. All of my friends think I should pay my debts first, but I think they are just brainwashed by the bankers and "Mainstream Media". I'll get ready for the financial collapse first and then pay my bills.
Well, thanks for reading. I'm surprised by how many readers I'm getting. I'm sorry that I didn't have many posts this week. I'm afraid that I'm obsessing on Bitcoins.
Later

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Back to Trading?

I'm tempted to get back to trading. This time it would be Bitcoins and Litecoins.
On some of my previous posts I've mentioned Bitcoins. Litecoins are a competitor that don't cost as much as Bitcoins.
This weekend, I was watching the price action on both of them.
It looked like there was an inverse relationship. When Bitcoins went up, Litecoins were either stable or they moved down.
If that relationship exists, a person could arbitrage or place each other against each other. Simply buying Litecoins when Bitcoins go up and reversing that when Litecoins go up and Bitcoins go down could be my path to fast wealth.
There are several problems with this form of trading:
  1.  Trading never stops. (I could trade all of the time) When would I sleep?
  2. I could lose everything. It's unlikely, at least it's safer than options. 
  3. I don't know about taxes with this. 
I don't want to mess up my job; I've done this before. I've been known to quit a job because I was making so much money by trading. Then the trading goes bad and I'm without a job. In fact that is a pattern of mine.
This time (as always) is different. At least I won't be dealing with leverage, or margins. That, basically, means using someone else's money to multiply my investments. That tends to turn out badly.
I'm picking up this posting after spending the day in Rochester, MN. I went to look at trailers. Being Sunday and in the middle of Winter, the trailer sales places were closed. I went to Barnes & Noble instead. I bought a book on foraging for food in a suburban environment. It was a wasted day. I should have been studying Spanish. At least my Bitcoins and Litecoins are moving up.
Later

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Gold Manipulation

It seems to me that the price of gold is being manipulated by the New York traders. When I go to EBay and price a 1/10 ounce coin I see that it went up about $30, today. Yesterday they were selling for $154; today the they go for $184.
The New York price went down about $20 for an ounce which means that the 1/10 ounce coins should be selling for $2 less, today.
The guys in New York (who trade virtual gold) seem to be in their own little world. I'm convinced that gold is really going up in price to the people who take actual possession of it. It's only going down for the people who have futures contracts or ETFs. Us people who want the real thing have to pay more, not less.
That shows how corrupt the financial system really is. There was an Internet story about an investigation into distorting the employment numbers, today. I don't feel that we can believe anything that comes out of the "Mainstream Media".
I even have doubts about Jim Cramer. He has a show on CNBC called Mad Money. I've been following him for the last 6 or 7 years. I did well with his advice in 2010 for a period of 6 months, but after that I lost money.
I'm convinced that Wall Street is just another way to transfer wealth from the poor to the rich. I've given up on stocks, bonds, options, and futures.
I now have my money in food, guns, and gold. I'm also getting into digital currency.
I'm still waiting for news from my bitcoin wallet. That's like a bank for bitcoins.
I should have my first bitcoin show up tomorrow morning. I've been quite anxious about it for a week or two, now. I messed up at first by giving them an old routing number. After I got that straightened out it took another week for the transfer to take place.
Now that I've got bitcoins the wait for bank transfers should be over. Bitcoins are supposed to make instantaneous transfers.
I read something today about a bitcoin competitor called litecoin. It's supposed to be to bitcoin as silver is to gold. It's cheaper and will be better supplied. I'm tempted to buy some of those with the money I was going to spend on bitcoins.
Digital currency is confusing so do a Google search on them, yourself. I'm not sure that I can do a good job of explaining them.
I'm concerned that I might be getting back into gambling with bitcoins. They are very volatile. That means I could make a lot of money with them; or lose a lot.
I feel that I'm just protecting myself for the inevitable currency collapse. Digital currency has no backing but that is better than the dollar (which is backed by debt).
Well, enough rambling for now. I'll probably post something after I get my first bitcoin, tomorrow.
Later

Monday, November 18, 2013

More Complaining about the High Cost of Prepping

I just don't know how I'm going to be able to afford prepping. I was watching a YouTube video by the "Modern Survivalist" about having cash in an emergency. He said that his experience in Argentina showed him the importance of having cash for the first month or so of a financial collapse.
Apparently money might not go to the value of toilet paper, immediately. Even though it might lose most of it's value the first few days; it will remain a medium of exchange for a while. You'll still be able to buy things (like food and fuel) with it, for a while.
He recommended having a month's of cash on hand. After that, you'll probably have to sell your gold and silver. Bartering will also be common. So now, I not only have to have gold, silver, food, guns, ammo, but cash, as well.
The people on YouTube don't seem to have any problem telling us what to buy but I just don't know where the damned money is supposed to come from.
I've been cleaned out multiple times on the stock and futures markets. I never had an especially good paying job. And now I'm on Social Security and a part-time minimum wage job.
That job is making it possible for me to attempt getting prepared for the financial collapse.I just hope that I'll be ready for what I know will happen, in time. I feel that I need a trailer and more bitcoins at the least.
I've got enough gold and silver for now. I could use more food, and I could store some water. Cash is the problem. I feel conflicted between bitcoins and cash. I am probably just being greedy when it comes to bitcoins.
They have tripled in value since I started trying to buy one. If they keep going up in value, I could finance everything else with the profit from them.
I felt the same way about futures, real estate stock options, stocks and bonds as well. Nothing has ever worked out and everything has always turned out to be a way to lose money. At least, this time, I only have a little more than $400 invested. Of course, I used a credit card to come up with all of that money. I did that with most of my other investments and it has always been a disaster.
It seems that I'm destined to be poor. Maybe the time-space continuum would be ripped if I made money. Something seems to be keeping me making bad decisions about money. It might be that I still have the thinking that makes for compulsive gambling.
I don't think so. I feel that I've gambled all of my life to break out of the grip of poverty. The poverty led to my gambling not the gambling leading to poverty. Even when I wasn't gambling I've been poor. Other people who quit gambling turned their lives around. I never did.
 Working in electronics was the root of my poverty. And now the currency is collapsing and I'm not able to do much to prepare for it.
Oh well, I just needed to vent a bit. I'll try to get back on track, tomorrow.
Later




Saturday, November 16, 2013

Still don't know if I got a bitcoin.

I still don't know if I've gotten a bitcoin or not. I had an email saying that Coinbase wasn't able to verify my bank account. They had the numbers I gave them originally. They were wrong. I checked my old checks against the new ones and there has been a major change. I originally gave them the numbers off of my old checks.
When I went to the bank and asked about my routing code they gave me the right one. I re-entered  that and bought a coin.
This weekend the bank's website is down for maintenance. I'll get back to them Monday.
I hope the transaction goes through. Every day that passes and I don't have the bitcoin is another day that it goes up in price.
I don't know but it might be that bitcoins are a true indication of the value of the currency. Everything else is so manipulated that they aren't giving us a true idea of what is going on.
Actually, I hope that bitcoins go down so I could buy some more. I feel that way about gold and silver as well.
On a different topic, I found a website that sells surplus, government property.
I found a trailer that will be auctioned off, next week. It's been stripped out down to the carpet.
I would have to find and install everything, like a kitchen and bathroom. Everything was taken out. I have the feeling that drug runners were using it and they removed the furniture to get a bigger load in it. Maybe the DEA agents ripped everything out.
Maybe it will go cheap. The auction starts at $25. I might go up to $100.
It's in a town, not far from here. I still don't have a hitch on my van so if I get it I'll have to have that installed. Without the furniture it might be light enough for my van. Maybe I could get someone else to tow it. At least it's not too far away (only about 100 miles).
I was watching something on YouTube that made me rethink the idea of getting my own land. The commentator said that real estate is in a bubble again and that a person would be foolish to tie up his money in land when it might be better to be more mobile. I have to agree. Getting a trailer makes sense because it opens up options, whereas land ties you down to a location. I went through that about ten years ago, when I couldn't leave Decorah for a better job because my house (such as it was) was here. If I were to start a homestead it might make more sense to rent the land. I don't think I want to get tied down, anywhere, right now.
I'll have to email them with questions about how long I would have to pick it up and licensing to drive it home. I would probably have to have an electric brake controller installed in my van, as well. That's next week's project.
Well, it's almost time for me to go have coffee with Nick at the Co-op. I'll have to ask him if he can bring in a hitch for my van. He was going to do that a month ago. That's just the way that Nick is. When he says he'll do something you have to add at least 6 months to it's completion date. It looks like something might come together faster than I felt it would. Oh well.
Later




Friday, November 15, 2013

Bought my First Bitcoin

Well, I bought my first bitcoin today. It was quite the hassle. I messed up copying my bank account number and routing number the first time I tried to buy one. By the time I got that straightened out the price had doubled.
I bought one anyway. I just feel that I can't trust the currency, any more. I now have gold, silver, and a bitcoin.
I would like to sell my etchtings for bitcoins. I'll try to sell them again after Winter. I make a quite a bit of money, shoveling snow. I don't really need the money until Spring. I'm also hoping that the market will be better for art if the economy picks up. At least we shouldn't have the threat of a government shutdown hanging over us.
I'm wondering if I'm going overboard with the prepping stuff. I was watching a guy who calls himself the "Sensible Prepper" on YouTube, yesterday. He was saying that you should have bunches of magazines for your guns. Magazines, of course, are what hold your ammunition in rifles and hand guns. He had more invested in magazines than I have totally.
I think we live in different worlds. I just don't have the money to do all the things that these people want me to do. I would have to triple my income to come anywhere near the level of investment that those people do. It's obvious that I won't be anywhere near as prepared for the financial collapse as others are.
I wonder about the whole thing. Some of the people I watch on YouTube seem to be afraid of their shadows. Some are concerned about the radiation from the power plant meltdown in Japan. Others talk about the Earth magnetic poles shifting. With some, it's Sunspots.
I don't see how you can be prepared for everything. With me, I'm concerned about the pending financial collapse. I don't see any way around it. That's why I keep buying alternatives to the dollar. Maybe bitcoins or metals will retain their value. At least, that's my hope.
I'll have a slow day at work today so I might continue this posting a little later.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Thanks for coming to my blog.

I wanted to start off by thanking everyone for coming to my blog. For some reason the number of viewers has increased.
Maybe the NSA is reading it. I do get some viewers from Russia. So maybe Vladimir Putin is reading it.
Maybe other preppers are reading it. I have taken an interest in prepping since the economy almost tanked, last Spring.
About bitcoins; I'm still trying to set up an account to trade bitcoins. I have enough money in my checking account to buy one bitcoin. I'm waiting for them to send my bank account some money and then sending it back to them. They have to be sure that the transactions will work before they let me buy a bitcoin.
The price was about $350 each the last time I checked. I'm anxious that it may rise to a price that I can't afford before I can even buy one. Today, I'm going to transfer some money from my Discover card account to my checking account to facilitate the transaction.
You might be wondering about what got me into buying a bitcoin. They sound like one of the flakiest investments that I've ever been involved with. They have no backing; they were started by an anonymous person; and you are trusting that only 21 million of them will ever be made.
The only thing worse is the dollar; which is made out of debt. When a dollar is created it is created by creating debt to the Federal Reserve (which is owned by a bunch of bankers). I have no trust in the Fed, whereas bitcoins might be worth something.
I've been buying gold and silver with borrowed money for the last 6 months or so. I'm getting disillusioned with precious metals.
The market for metals is very manipulated. A couple of weeks ago, somebody sold 5,000 contracts on the futures market. It was worth over half a billion dollars. It crashed the market. They had to stop trading after they sold half of them. For every ounce of metals that really exist there are 100 ounces of paper or virtual metals that are sold. Nobody ever takes possession of these but they move the market for all the real metals. I'm tired of trading something that is so manipulated. No matter what I do I get cleaned out. Every day the price is set by crooks. Of course, the dollar is similar.
Maybe I should concentrate on buying food and supplies for the economic collapse. I need to set aside more food and water at Gary's place. I still need to get a trailer and a hitch for my van. I would like to be able to go prospecting for gold. Well, I'll keep at it.
Later

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Too late to buy Bitcoin?

A couple of weeks ago I was telling people to buy bitcoins. Now I may be too late to buy, even one, myself. They went from $205 to close to $400 each. I'm trying to come up with the money but I'm stymied. I was hoping to sell some gold to buy a bitcoin with but Gary (my best bet for a sale) declined me. Now I'll try to sell some gold to my sister, Faye. I don't think she'll buy. If I sell on EBay it will take too long and the price will move out of my range.
In my opinion, there are two reasons that Bitcoins are moving so much. First, is that the Chinese people (who don't trust their currency) are buying. The second reason is that Brazil's currency is collapsing. People all over the world are buying them and I'm finding myself priced out of the market. Maybe I can transfer money from my Discover account to my bank. That would solve the problem.
On a different topic, I priced trailers at a trailer sales place in Cresco, Iowa yesterday. I wound up talking with the general manager since the sales people weren't there yesterday.
I got information about how sales of small trailers work in Northeast Iowa. Apparently, there is a big demand for trailers of the size that I want. A lot of people have small vans that can only tow a small trailer. Therefore they don't stay on the lot for long.
He also said that there is a seasonal component to trailer sales. People bring in their small trailers in the Spring to trade for a larger, new trailer.
I left him my phone number and name so he can call me if he gets a used trailer to sell.
On an even different topic, I bought another junk drawer on EBay yesterday. I was the only bidder. It was a bunch of foreign coins, mostly Canadian, a baseball card, a couple of South Korean paper currencies, two pair of cuff links, and some stamps.
I bought it for the foreign currency. I hope that Canada's money doesn't collapse when the American dollar collapses. At least I'll have some diversity.
Silver and gold are still selling at a heck of a premium on EBay. I think that shows the real weakness of the dollar. I checked Kitco (an online site for buying and selling gold and silver, as well as showing prices and a discussion site for precious metals) and their prices were lower than EBay's. I'll have to start buying there. I'm tired of watching auctions and paying too much.
Later
  

Monday, November 4, 2013

G4T's Vlog

Another Vlogger that I go to a lot is G4t or G4Title. George has a wife named Perla and several daughters. He's been unemployed for 5 years and living in Southern California. He tends to be rather negative about the way society is collapsing in the Southwest. He interviews homeless people, films drug-addled people, and in general he's been documenting the decline of California.
Recently, he got a job in Texas. His vlogs have gotten a lot more cheerful. He's been showing us Texas. He did a video of a Barbecue place. He showed us oil fields and the trailers of oil field workers. He drove through towns where the average house cost $85,000. Today, his new boss (Paul) was showing him a place that will be developed for prepper homesteaders.
It's like watching a new George. He's remarkably upbeat, for him.
There are two things that this has brought to to my attention. The first is how much better it might be to move to Texas. There are jobs there. The taxes are low. There are places to homestead. Land prices are low.
The second is how we are influenced by the people around us. George is now hanging out with someone who doesn't fixate on the negative things around him. Rather, he keeps busy creating a better reality, like Glendon Cameron (who I've mentioned on previous blogs).
I hope he can get Perla and the kids to come out with him. It's kind of like watching a soap opera. I find myself getting interested in other people's lives.
Another vlog I watch a lot is Network126. It's done by a young man named Brian. He lives in Southern California, and he has been working as a day laborer. I hope that he'll be able to move out of his parent's kitchen and get his own RV. He hopes to be able to document living in an RV, and traveling.
Brian doesn't post as often as George does but I look forward to both of their Vlogs.
On a different topic, I went to Rochester, yesterday. I looked over Costco, I shopped at Harbour Freight, and hung out at Barnes & Noble.
I was a bit disappointed with Costco. That's a discount supermarket. Their prices weren't that much lower than Wal-Mart, and there is an annual membership fee. I didn't think it was worth it to me.
Harbour Freight ( a discount tool store) was a bit better. At least I could buy things without having to pay for a membership. It was rather small but they had a lot of merchandise.
Barnes & Noble wasn't a disappointment. I bought a book on identifying edible, wild food in North America. I drank a lot of coffee and surfed the web whilst there.
Well, it's almost closing time at Culvers (a burger place that I go to for free ice cream and to surf the web.
Later










Saturday, November 2, 2013

Glendon's Vlog

If I have any repeat readers, you may remember me mentioning Glendon Cameron before. He has a video blog (called vlogs) on YouTube. Last night I watched one of his vlogs about the pending collapse and the way he views it.
He has a different view about things. He believes that people make their own economy. He feels that since he is an entrepreneur, that he will rise above whatever the economy does. In fact, he pointed out that the Kennedys made most of their money in a depression. What is bad for most people may end up being great for someone who takes advantage of the situation. He feels that a person's attitude and the willingness to work and take chances is more important than what the economy is doing.
One of the things he pointed out was that his drill instructor in the Army stayed incredibly calm in the midst of chaos. Glendon asked his drill instructor about that, later. It was put down to experience. That is one of the things that experienced people have going for them. They will maintain their calm while others are falling apart.
I think I will do well during the collapse but I will feel better if I have all of the tools to get by without the advantages of civilization.
I'll be going to Rochester, MN tomorrow to pick up some more food and stuff at Costco and Harbour Freight. I need a heater that will run on propane to heat my apartment in case of an ice storm taking down the electricity. Also a financial collapse might do the same. I also need some books on harvesting wild plants during a financial collapse. I'll be spending most of the afternoon at Barnes and Noble in Rochester. I'll also look at trailers.
Maybe I'm spending too much money and time trying to get ready for the collapse. I read something on the Internet, the other day, someone said that the last thing anyone would need in a financial collapse was small pieces of shiny metals like gold and silver. He might be right and I have spent more than $2000 buying gold and silver. I keep buying it on EBay long after I feel that I already have enough. Today I'm bidding on a coin that I intend to give to my sister.
It's the Chinese year of the horse. Some South Pacific nations are making silver coins commemorating this. They have images of horses on them. I found one that seems to be going cheap. My sister has 6 Arabian horses and she's a fanatic about horses. So I'll give her the coin for Christmas if I get it.
Back to prepping, I saw some interesting mining claims on EBay, today. I find myself more interested in the lode claims. I think there is more likely to be larger quantities of gold on a claim that has a lode or hard rock mine on it. The placer mines probably wouldn't be worth my time and effort. Placer means gold that is found on the surface or in streams. Lode mines actually go underground and extracts gold from veins beneath the ground.
I got a letter from the Veterans Administration, today. It looks like I'll owe them some money from 2011. I sold my house and I had some money at that time, so apparently I wasn't eligible for VA benefits. I'll have to make a payment plan with them. I'm concerned but I think it will work out. At least I didn't have any big expenses with them at that time.
Later





Saturday, October 26, 2013

Rant about Wall Street

I've lost so much investing in stocks and options that I feel a rant about Wall Street is in order. Of course, I might not be typical because I am schizophrenic and I have delusions of grandeur. But I feel that Wall Street is such a rigged game that no one has any business investing there.
One of the reasons I used to invest was that I was trying to make money the way the wealthy make it. I felt that making money that way would shield me from taxes and my money would be making me more money.
Of course, being a working class person the only money I had to work with was borrowed money. I always started from a position of weakness. I usually started out well but when things turned against me I would have to sell out of my positions before it would turn around.
 Political decisions have also been disastrous for me. I've lost 100% on my Delphi bonds and I lost thousands on General Motors preferred stock. If I had the inside information about those two things I might be a millionaire now.
When I watch the way that Fannie Mae stock moves it is apparent to me that somebody is trading with inside information on a daily basis. Poor people just don't have access to the information that would really make a lot of money. Hedge fund managers and Pension managers do; and we poor people are betting against them. It's a loser's game. I think I came to that conclusion in 1989; when I lost my shirt, trading commodities. I don't know why I keep getting drawn back in. Maybe I watch Jim Cramer on CNBC too much. There was a time that I doubled my money using his advice. Then I started trading options instead of stocks. I lost everything that I had made in a month. That was what happened to the money from the sale of my house.
I wanted to insert this in here. The information you get on TV or the Internet may be tainted. I was watching CNBC a few week ago and someone was saying that gold could only go down from where it was. I think Goldman-Sachs even said something similar. Then gold went up. I think it was because there are so many people like me who are preparing for the collapse (especially in China and India) that we are driving the prices up. Anyway I have to wonder if people put out lies on CNBC to get better prices to buy at.
The last few years I've been trading on borrowed money. It's been a disaster. I've been trying to pay back what I borrowed a year ago last March. It will take another year to get back to just being broke instead of being in debt. It seems that my whole life has been dedicated to paying off debts.
The last six months or so I've been trying to get ready for the economic collapse. I believe it was last June that I was watching the stock market and the gold market collapse in tandem. The only thing that saved us from a total collapse (in my opinion) was that the news media was distracted by the Boston bombing. It looked to me that the world's economy was collapsing. Since then, I've been buying food, guns, and gold.
I am wondering how much of this is my delusional thinking. Now instead of spending on stock options I'm buying 1/10 ounce gold coins. Is this just my old, sick thinking in a different form?
I don't know but I'm going to keep at it. I've got enough gold for now. In fact I might have too much. I saw something on the Internet where someone said that in a Shit Hits the Fan situation that the last thing people will want is a shiny metal. He might be right. I've spent almost $2000 on gold and silver. Peter Schiff seems to think it will retain it's value but I don't know for certain.
Food, on the other hand will always be needed. I bought a 20# bag of rice last week. I need beans and more rice. If I have a 3 month supply I could survive a pandemic as well as the beginning of a financial collapse.
That's my goal for now. Eventually I would like to have my own trailer and some land to park it on. That will take years to achieve. If I can hang on to my job I should have a trailer in a year or two. A mining claim (where I could park my trailer) might come sooner. Well, it's something to work towards.
Later     


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Am I Basing my Thinking on Fear too Much?

I find myself buying food, guns, and gold in anticipation of the currency collapse. Maybe I'm over doing it.
I was thinking about that, yesterday. I've been reading a book by Napoleon Hill named "Think and Grow Rich". It talks about how your thinking brings what you think about into existence. Maybe I'm thinking too much about the pending collapse.
I also watched a couple of YouTube videos by Alex Ansary and Glendon Cameron. They were on the same topic; how fearful thinking can take you over and mess up your life. My early childhood (which was impaired by an abusive family and poverty) might have set me up for such negative thinking. Also the fact that everything I've ever done to get out of the working class trap has caused me to lose a lot of money. I'm fearful of the future because the past has been so bad.
The only thing that has worked for me has been the welfare system and now both the Democrats and Republicans seem to want to take that away.
They call it cutting out "entitlements". That's just another word for Social Security.
Of course, if the currency collapses, even that won't work. It would be a catastrophe for everyone. I doubt that I can adequately prepare for it. I'll just have to hope that it won't be as bad as I think it will be.
Some things I can do is to get counseling. I was talking with a counselor named Sonja. Maybe I could see if she would take gold coins for counselling.
I also talked with a Christian Science practitioner. I would have to use money for her but it might be worth it.
Of course, I'm thinking that what is in your mind becomes your reality in the external world. This is similar to the "Law of Attraction". I do think the law of attraction works. We bring into our lives what we think about. As Glendon Cameron put it, if our mind is full of fear there is no room for anything else to enter into it.
Anyway, if you are interested in this line of thought go to Glendon Cameron and Alex Ansary on YouTube. They both expressed this thinking better than I do.
Later





Saturday, October 19, 2013

More on buying a Trailer

I priced a couple of small trailers at a local dealer, today. His price was about $2000 lower than the one I priced last week in LaCrosse. They were also lighter; which means more tow able. I really liked them.
They were still $11000. That's several thousand more than what I can afford. I'll wait for a few months and see if the price comes down more. Trailer sales seems to be a seasonal thing around here. I really like the new ones. They are a lot lighter and livable than the older ones. I was troubled by the inside height of the ceiling. I'll be bumping my head all of the time. I'll have to stoop over all of the time.
I'm thinking about trying to enlist Gary T. to help me with my prepping for the currency collapse. He already said that I could keep ammo at his place. He has two houses. Maybe I could keep food there, as well.
If I were to park my trailer there I might be able to justify buying a trailer to my banker who has the final say on my spending because a social worker had me sign over that to him. I figure that I could say I'm saving money. Maybe I could get Gary to let me stay there for free. At least it shouldn't cost more than $100/month. That would save me $185.
I just went to Ebay and priced some mining claims. Somebody is selling a lot of claims in New Mexico at low prices. I'm tempted to buy a mining claim for several reasons:
  1.  Since I believe that the currency is collapsing I want my wealth in gold and silver.
  2.  The temperature should be moderate.
  3.  I'll be quite a distance from large population centers
  4. They are much cheaper than land, especially land in Iowa.
 Of course, there are some disadvantages of moving to New Mexico:
  1.  The weather might not be so nice. Being mountainous, it might be snowy in the winter.
  2.  It would be far from water.
  3. That's why the original miners didn't get all the gold in the first place.
  4. I would miss being around people. 
  5. I wouldn't have Internet access. 
  6. Since it's basically a desert, food might be scarce.
 I'll have to think about this a bit before I bid on one of these claims. Of course, this might be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. I might bid on one or two of these claims.
Another thing that seems to be going cheaply are Chinese gold Pandas. They are a gold coin from China. I look at the 1/10 ounce ones. They sell at a big discount to other gold coins. I don't know why. Maybe it's because there have been a lot of counterfeit Pandas on the market. Anyway, I might buy another one if the price stays low, tonight.
I just noticed that somebody erased a blog posting that I had about "Is the Coming Apocalypse another way to get us to Spend Money". Maybe I'm on to something. I can't remember all that I said in that posting but I remember complaining about how I feel I need to spend an arm and leg to prepare for the certain financial collapse. Maybe that was just too close to the truth and the powers that be took it down. Oh well, it was probably just a glitch but I don't know.
Later





Friday, October 18, 2013

Buying Land for the Currency Collapse

I'm still trying to get ready for the currency collapse.
Lately, I've been pricing land to bug out to. I've found some land in the forest of Minnesota, mining claims in New Mexico and land in Northern California. I've been using Ebay to look for land.
I think I need to broaden my search. Maybe I should restrict my search to somewhere within 100 miles of where I live. I would like to find a place near a large body of water so I could fish for food. That could be important if we are no longer able to buy food.
If the Weidermeyers (who wrote "Aftershock") are right, then real estate prices will come down to 1/3 of what they are now. Maybe I should just wait for the collapse and buy land then. I was watching a YouTube video about someone who moved into a forest, living in a trailer. He had his trailer given to him. That sounds good to me. I could afford a free trailer.
I think I'll concentrate on the trailer, for now. I could probably move my trailer to Holstein, Iowa and live with relatives, if I have to.
I'm getting too scattered in my thinking. I need to concentrate on getting the trailer. After all if I have a trailer I could take it anywhere in the country, if I had to.
It would be good to have land so that I could raise a garden and a few animals, but the important thing for now is mobility. Of course, if we won't be able to buy gas, I won't be going anywhere.
I need to network more and get people to share their resources. I don't feel that I can get adequately prepared for the collapse on my own.
Maybe I'm making too much out of the pending currency collapse. After all, none of my friends seem to be at all concerned about it. Of course, amongst the prepper community we refer to such people as sheeple. That's a combination of the words sheep, and people. You get my meaning.
 I do feel that the politicians, and bankers have messed up the world's economy beyond repair.
On that note, I will leave you for now.
Later


            



Sunday, October 13, 2013

More Preparing for the Financial Collapse

I'm still getting ready for the financial collapse. I had a letter telling me that I'm pre-approved for a loan of $6000. I knew that the interest rate for that loan is 23% so I didn't call them. I did ask for an increase in credit limit from my two credit cards. So far I've gotten an increase of $3500. The other card is making me wait.
 I've been spending that money to buy more silver and camping equipment for the financial collapse. I also priced a trailer. It was only a year old and it's small enough that I could pull it with my van. They are asking $13000. I might offer them $8000 and see if they will take it.
 I'm also looking for another job. The Peace and Justice Center is getting on my nerves. I got into a phone conversation with somebody who, apparently, makes up his own facts about fracking for oil. I don't want to work at a place that is so political.
 Tomorrow I'm applying for a job at the community college that I attend. It's a janitor position but it pays better than what I'm getting now. If it works out I should be able to get my trailer by next year.
Some of the reasons I want a trailer is that I'll be able to live "off the grid" a lot easier. These are self-contained. They have water tanks for water. They can run off of a battery (which could be charged by a solar panel). They use propane to heat with. And they have their own shower and toilet. If I had to, I could just go anywhere and have a place to live.
 Having a trailer would work well with my idea of panning for gold. I could just live on the claims where I'm searching for gold. I don't think I'll make much money doing that but I should be able to live cheaply.
 I'm also thinking about getting my own land. Jim's place comes to mind. It's close to the river so I should be able to catch fish, no matter what the economy is like. I could also use the trees to build a house and garage. I'm afraid that I'm too lazy for that. I could also raise chickens and pigs and rabbits for food. It would also have enough room to grow a garden.
 I bought a lifetime supply of ammo, last week. It came on Friday. I'm going to split it up so I don't lose it all in case of a fire or tornado.
I'm also going to be buying more food. That is probably something I should have bought before the ammo, but I'm male so I don't think that way.
I still need to befriend a farmer for long-term security. I guess, if things really go terribly bad I could haul my trailer to Western Iowa and live with relatives who are farmers.
 Thursday, the debt limit will be reached. We'll find out if the politicians are as evil as everybody knows that they are, by then. Even if they raise the debt limit that won't address the real problem which is over spending. We keep getting into wars which we can't afford and bailing out the rich when they take stupid risks. It will come to a screeching halt at some point. I just hope that I'll have my trailer and land before it happens.
Later
Craig

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Thoughts on the Pending Currency Crisis

Well I'm done trying to get something for nothing on Ebay. Maybe I can find my gold by prospecting for it. It'll be a couple of years before I can give that a shot.
 To get back to title of this posting, I do think that the debt ceiling crisis will be a major event. I expect the currency to take a bad hit because of it. That means gold and silver should go up. Since the stock market will be collapsing, metals might go down a bit in the short term. If they do I'll take that as an opportunity to buy more.
 I bought a lifetime supply of ammo as well as an air rifle, so my prepping buying is pretty much over. I still need camping gear, and of course you can't have too much silver. But I feel that my buying for the collapse is over for now.
 Something I was thinking about today was to go on a primitive camping expedition. I could ask Jim if he would mind if I camped out on his land for a weekend. I could get a tent that attached to my van. I could test out my cooking and sleeping tools. I could also use his place to sight in my rifles and such. Maybe even shoot a rabbit and eat it. I would feel a lot more independent from "the matrix" if I can provide for myself.
 I got another pre-approved loan application for $6000. I think I'll wait for the currency collapse and invest that in silver. I'm tempted to contact Kitco.com and see if I can buy gold or silver on margin. It would be risky but the risk/reward ratio looks good to me. I could also buy gold through Etrade on margin. I hate seeing things happen and not be able to do anything about it.
 Of course, buying on margin is what got me into the hole that I find myself in. It's also why the world's economy took a hit in 2007. It might not be the thing to do.
This is a picture I got off of the internet a couple of years ago. I never get tired of it.
 Later

Friday, October 4, 2013

I can't Seem to Win

It turned out that my hopes of making a lot of money on Ebay, buying gold coins cheaply, was a delusion. Two of the coins I bought were replicas of gold coins, and one was a large, cheap, bronze copy. Apparently it is common to photograph coins next to other, small things to make them look larger. They also reflect gold-colored light off of them to make them look like they are gold. There are even copies of gold coins that look legit on one side; the other side has the word (copy) on it. Sellers are playing on buyer's greed and delusions to get them to spend money that they shouldn't. Today I was bidding on two small coins that I thought would be worth $300 for the pair. It wasn't until I checked the date on them that I realized that they were copies of a gold coin. Fortunately someone else was a bigger fool than I was. The bidding didn't stop until they were over $200. I'm just glad that I wasn't stuck with it. I still have a ring with an apparent gold coin set in it. I have to test the gold on the coin. It might be real but I doubt it since the ring itself is magnetic. I bought a gold and silver testing kit so I'll test it myself. I may be a bit bitter but I feel that the real lesson is that there is no way for a poor person to get ahead in life. The system is just set up to keep us in poverty. I'm really feeling anxious because of the pending currency collapse. I want to be living "off the grid" as much as possible before that happens. The way things are working out, it will take me at least 2 years to get ready.
Of course, nobody is ever really ready for something as major as that. That reminds me, they shut down the government, today. I'm afraid that I might lose my job since it is a grant from the government. I'll send out some Emails tomorrow and try to find out how secure my job is. I might apply for a job at Wal-Mart if it looks bad. On the 17th the government will run into a debt limit. That might trigger the collapse that I've been anticipating. I think Social Security will be alright. At least I live in a cheap apartment; and I found out that I qualify to live there for a while longer. Pretty soon, I'll be shoveling snow for extra income.
I wrote the first part of this post a couple of days ago. Things have only gotten worse, since then.
I found myself bidding on things that I shouldn't have. One auction had a couple of small coins that looked like they were gold. It turned out that they were copies made in 1938. Back then someone made small gold-plated buffalo nickles. Later, in the early 2000's the mint came out with buffalo gold coins. They were identical with the gold plated coins, except for the date. I quit bidding when I saw that they were dated 1938. Someone else paid over $200 for garbage. 
Today, something similar happened. I was bidding on a junk drawer that had a gold coin. This one was a large buffalo. If it was real it would be worth over $1300. There were copies made and sold on television. The only difference was that on one side there was the word "copy". When I saw it I contacted the seller and asked him if the word "copy" was on the other side. He claimed that he didn't know. He had packaged them up for shipment and he wouldn't be able to unwrap it. I quit bidding at $250. Someone else got up to $260 and bought it. later the seller sent me a message saying that the word "copy" was on it. That almost cost me $250. The other stuff was worth about $60.
It turns out that the fraudsters are ahead of the honest people, once again. It reminds me of Wall Street; where the crooks get all the advantages.
One good thing is that I still have a job. I spent 2 hrs. yesterday trying to reach someone at Experience Works. That's the name of the agency that I work for. It's a government grant, and I was worried that it might be shut down. I finally found someone. She said that there is nothing to worry about. We would be notified by mail if there is a shutdown. On the other hand, the place where I actually do the work might shut down. But that is another story.
That's enough rambling for now.
Later




Saturday, September 28, 2013

Gold Coins Out of a Fish's Mouth

I feel that I have finally found out how to pull coins out of a fish's mouth. I'm speaking figuratively, of course. I'm doing something on Ebay that is, apparently, making me a lot of money. I can't talk much about it because others could be doing it as well and that would drive my profits down. Right now, I'm doing great.
 Of course it might be delusions that are setting me up for a fall. I'll know by the end of the week when I get what I've been buying. I'll let you know how it goes, next week.
 On a different topic; George4Title is back on Youtube. Apparently, somebody complained when he showed a video of a meth addict acting strange. He actually does videos of the homeless and addicted that are so common in California, now.
It was good to see him back. It seems that he makes most of his income from youtube videos. I always look forward to his videos; but I think he hangs out with overly negative people. I may be wrong and they are setting up FEMA camps to round up the homeless. Maybe I'm too optimistic because I live in Iowa. Things are going pretty well, here. I'm going to give up stashing ammunition. I need the money for my Ebay thing.
I just don't have the money to do everything. I've got enough guns and ammo for now. After all, I live in Iowa, we should be far away from the riots and craziness that will overtake the large population centers. I think I'll turn my attention to storing food and water. I think the water should be ample during a currency crisis but food might be hard to find, even in Iowa. I should befriend a farmer.
I hope to make enough money to buy Jim's land next year. Of course, I would still have to drill a well and install a septic system. That would cost as much as the land. I also need a trailer to live in. The trailer will come first. I could park it on Jim's land and have a place to "bug out" to.
 Before I get the trailer I have to get a trailer hitch on my van. The hitch is coming together (I'll get one for free from Nick) but the wiring is liable to cost $200. I hope to get that done before the winter. It would be great to just go to a mechanic and pay him to install both the hitch and the wiring, but that isn't happening.
 Well, I've got to hit the books, today. I've got two tests on Monday. One is a vocabulary test for Spanish, and the other has something to do with the unemployment people.
Later, thanks for visiting my blog.
Craig

Saturday, September 21, 2013

George4ttitle was removed from YouTube

One of my favorite sites on YouTube was taken down, today. It was the George4title. He had a stream-of-consciousness blog on the decline of Southern California. I don't know why YouTube removed him as I don't remember any nudity or profanity in his post. Maybe he was telling the truth and the controlled media couldn't handle it. Anyway, I'll miss him.
I've been watching a lot of YouTube, lately. One of my favorites is Peter Schiff. He talks about the end of the dollar and buying gold and silver. I watch Iraqveteran8888 for information on the Mosin-Nagant rifle. He is an expert on modifying those.
The Maineprepper is also interesting. He and the Patriotnurse give advice on getting ready for the coming collapse.
I also like Max Keiser on RT television. That's a Russian station. It's getting to be very popular because people are tiring of the controlled press in the U.S.
Today, Max talked in length about the way the Fed is destroying our currency. I was beginning to think that he just made disparaging remarks about bankers; but he really understands what is going on.
On a slightly different topic, I think I'll talk about how my preparations for the collapse are going.  My big problem is the lack of money. I keep spending what money I have on gold and silver so I don't have much to work with.
My plans involve getting a trailer and prospecting for gold in the West of the U.S.
Getting the trailer is coming along. I'm talking to Nick about installing one of his hitches on my van. I'm concerned about how much weight it can handle. The largest trailer that my van is rated for is about 16 ft. It has to have a tongue weight of less than 350 lb. and a hauling weight of under 3500 lbs. That leaves me with a small trailer. That would work for me. I've lived in a 26 ft. trailer, before. All I need is a place to cook, shower and go to the bathroom. I'll also need a place to sleep.
Being male, I've spent too much on guns and ammo. I do need a rifle for bears if I go prospecting but maybe I don't need that much ammo. After all one of the main advantages of going west is to avoid crowds. I should be able to stay away from large  cities, where society is breaking down.
That reminds me, I was going to speculate on why there have been so many shootings lately. Maybe society is already breaking down and this is just a symptom of that. Maybe poverty is triggering psychosis. That, combined with violent video games might be the underlying cause of the increase in mass shooting. Of course, Chicago has always been violent so that shooting is simply accepted as the norm.
I think I'll sign off for now.
Later

Saturday, September 14, 2013

At least the colonscopy went well.

I only had one polyp. I don't have to go back for  that for 5 years. I was worried about that since the last scan, I had 13 polyps.
The car broke on the way home. First, it conked out about 4 times. I got it started with starting fluid. Then the catalytic converter fell down. I tied it up with a rubber tie strap. I got it home even though it was louder than an diesel truck
I got it fixed at Dan's a couple of days later. I had to drive it to school and hope for the best. I even drove past a highway patrolman, but he didn't stop me. He was waiting at a stop sign as I drove past him. I may have been coasting at the time.
I wanted to mention some of the YouTube channels that I've been watching, lately.
The first one is George4title,or g4t. It's a stream-of-consciousness blog by a guy who lives in Southern California and he discusses the collapse of society, there. I really identify with him since I've been dealing with hopeleness and dispair for some time now. I think he might be bi-polar, but then, everyone seems to be getting that dianosis, anymore. Maybe his real problem is that society is collapsing and he has to deal with it. On a more cheerful note, I also watch Glendon Cameron. He advocates going out and hustling for a living. I'm not talking about selling drugs or anything like that; but going to storage locker auctions and selling the goods on EBay. He's making a ton of money at that and other means of making money. I should tell George to watch Glendon's videos. I think I will.
I've watched a lot of videos on fixing up the Mosin-Nagant. That's an old Russian rifle that I bought for the financial collapse. My favorite site is Iraqveteran8888. He has a lot of videos concerning modifying the Mosin.
The PatriotNurse gets into prepper stuff. I enjoy her videos, since I'm trying to prepare as well.
That leaves Peter Shiff. I watch him for his predictions about silver and the economy. That about covers what I'm doing on the Internet. I've also spent the day pricing small RVs. In California, we called them trailers, but here they are called campers. I'm thinking about getting one to live in whilst I go prospecting for gold, next year. It might take me 2 years.
Well, I've rambled on quite enough for now.
Later

                      



Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Maybe I'm Hallucinating Again

I went to the local VA office and talked with the people there about the letter I got from the Washington VA. They didn't remember me being there last month. I remembered seeing a guy named Jerry who hasn't worked there for years. Maybe I hallucinated that visit. If so, that could explain why the Washington VA is upset with me for not getting back to them.
It looks like everything will work out. I may have to claim a hardship case since I'm broke. I talked with the people who are going to give me a colonoscopy and it looks like I'll be able to get it done. I'm rather glad since I've been feeling something there, lately.
Anyway, things will continue as usual around here. I've been buying things for my guns, like ammunition. I've also been buying gold and silver; all in anticipation of the economic collapse.
I wasn't able to get to my money at the bank. They said that I had to pay down my debt before I could think about buying silver. That exasperated me. I really regret letting the social worker in Iowa City talking me into signing over control of my money to someone else. Never do that, no matter how good of an idea it sounds like.
It looks like I will have to pay my own way, next week to Iowa City. I called the local VA and they said that the amount I make puts me over the limit for getting paid mileage to Iowa City. That means that I'll have to fill up the van and it will cost me about $50 to go. I'll have to tell Randal that I won't be able to pay him for the trip. Oh well.
I'll post an image of an etching I'm trying to sell. This one is getting a lot of interest but no bidders, yet.

I'm asking $100 for it. The auction has about 5 days left.
Later,
Craig

Monday, September 2, 2013

They're Trying to take away my VA Benefits

I got a letter from someone in the VA last Friday. Apparently they are trying to take away my VA medical benefits. I'm afraid that I might have to start paying for Medicare and Obama care. They said that I hadn't replied to a letter I got last month. I remember calling the VA in Iowa City and telling them that the reason I had so much money in 2010 was that I sold my house.
Now they are bringing up some E-trade receipts and they are saying that I made too much money to be getting VA benefits. I'll go to the VA in town, here, and make some more calls, tomorrow.
I've been upset about this all weekend. I hope that I can get it straightened out. If I don't it will mess up my plans to go panning for gold, next year. It might set me back by a year or two.
 I told Gary about this yesterday. He said that I'm making too much out of it. I calmed down a lot when he said that. I was even feeling suicidal. I hate the idea of having another decade of poverty. I was just beginning to see a way out of it in spite of the fact that the US economy is collapsing.
On a brighter note, I went to Onalaska, today. I hung out at Barnes and Noble. For my Russian reader, that is a bookstore chain. I looked at books on homesteading and surfed the Internet. I had a coupon and a membership card so my sandwich didn't cost so much. I'm still buying parts for my Mosin-Nagant. That's a Russian rifle I bought for my gold panning expedition. I might need it for bears. If I'm near a large population center when the economy tanks, I might need it for cannibals. It might get that bad. If nobody takes the dollars, things could get really bad, really fast. Maybe I should ask my Russian reader how bad things got in the nineties. I saw something on YouTube about the collapse of Cuba; and things didn't seem to get that bad.
I'm sorry that I haven't been posting as often as I should. I'll post a picture of one of the etchings I' trying to sell on Ebay. If you think you might be interested in having one, they are on Ebay under Malcolm Childers. He's the artist.



I'll keep you posted on how it goes, tomorrow.
Craig




Saturday, August 24, 2013

Finally some good news on the financial collapse

I'm not saying that the financial collapse won't come, but it might not be as bad as expected.
I found a good You Tube video about the financial collapse of Cuba after the Soviet Union collapsed. It was very similar to what I expect the U.S. and the world to go through when we either run out of oil, or the economy collapses due to printing too much money.
I was surprised that they didn't break out in riots and bloodshed. Maybe I don't need so much ammunition, after all.
People had to ride bicycles and walk. There was no gasoline.
They started growing their own food. The big farmers couldn't operate since they couldn't keep their tractors running. That meant that they broke up the farms and started small farms using oxen. Many had to move out to the country and till the soil.
Urban farming took off. People grew their food in apartments or back yards. Over half of their food was raised this way.
I shared this video on Google+ and Face book. I don't know if it took; I'll go to Facebook, later.
My old desktop died. I replaced it with one from Luther. I had to pay $52, so I'm not out much. I salvaged a hard drive, a DVD player, and some memory modules to use at work. I'll have to pay $20 to recycle the case and such.
I got the fundraising software working at work. I'm having troubles with loading a contact list. We have 454 contacts but so far I've only gotten 176 to load. I'll called the tech support and get it going Monday.
I'm going to show an etching by Malcolm Childers. I haven't decided which one yet. I'll have to see what I can get off of Google.

The name of this is "Lockheed Loadstar". I have it framed and I'm trying to sell it at Java John's.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Chatfield Bust

I went treasure hunting in Chatfield, MN last Sunday. It was a bust. The road that the treasure was buried at had been widened in the 40s or 50s and it was obvious that it had been found by a construction worker if it was there.
That brings me up to another reason that I don't think it was there. I looked up the FBI reports on the Karpis-Barker gang in the thirties. It appeared to me that they had time to get their ill-gotten gains to Cuba where they invested it in casinos and other gangster things. So I doubt that it was buried for more than a few months anyway.
There was only a mile or two of road that hadn't been widened so maybe I'll dowse there if I have the money for the gas. I'm not at all hopeful. Oh Well.
I'm still buying gold and silver. I bought a couple of ounces of silver, yesterday. I'm bidding on some gold today and tomorrow. One of the things I'm bidding on is a combination of 1/10 and 1/4 ounces of gold. For some reason it's not getting much bidding. It's worth over $500 but the bidding is only a little over $200. There is a reserve price that it has to go over for the seller to actually have to sell it. I don't know what that price is. I can only go to $360. Another auction is for a ring with a 1/10 ounce gold coin. It's worth, maybe, $170. I do want some form of gold to wear to bring more my way by way of the "Law of Attraction"


I just thought I would add one of Malcolm Childer's etchings. This one is named "Some with Strong Backs Waning". I'm showing a numbered copy of this at Java John's.
Later
Craig

Thursday, August 15, 2013

I'm Back

I'm sorry that it has been so long since the last time I posted a blog. I have no excuse, I'm just being lazy.
Not too much has been happening. Jim told me how much he wants for his land ($25,000). I would have to come up with $6,000 for a down payment and closing costs. In a year or so I could do it.
I'm just wondering if it's worth it. If the book "Aftershock" is accurate, real estate prices will be down to 30% of what they are now in a year or two. Maybe I should just be patient and wait for the prices to come down. I would like to have a survivalist homestead for the depression or hyper-inflation (whichever we are stuck with).
I'm a bit lazy to really look forward to having my own garden and animals, but if that is what it will take to survive, so be it.
I need to get over to Lansing or Harper's Ferry and price mobile homes on the river. It might be that I could find a reasonably priced house right on the river. That way if I have to fish for food I could throw a line right out of my living room window. I'm thinking that the river would provide plenty of food for a long period of time.
I've been buying a lot of silver and gold. I'm giving up on that for a while. I need my money for buying camping supplies and food. If I don't pay Jim for his land I'll have a lot more money for survivalist things. About all that I really need is a tent and some propane bottles.
Talking about the collapse of the economy, the Dow sold off by over 200 points, today. Gold went up pretty strong. I think others are looking at things like I do. I'm not the only one who expects things to fall apart. Ammunition is still hard to come by, especially .22 long rifle. I go by Wal-Mart looking for ammo every few days. It's getting better but they are still pretty much sold out. Maybe the downturn in the stock market is due to the anticipated "tapering" of quanative easing. In layman's terms that means that they might not be printing as much money to keep interest rates down. Of course, that might be just the thing that starts the collapse. Only time will tell.
Saturday,I'm going treasure hunting. There was a treasure lost, not to far from here in the 1930's. A kidnapping gone bad resulted in the ransom being lost just off of a rural road. I'm going to try dowsing for it. I'll have to walk 10 miles or so but I believe in dowsing so I feel that it's worth a shot.
My keyboard ran out of power so I shut down in the middle of things for a while. I'm back home, using the desktop. That reminds me, the fan on my desktop is starting to make a grinding noise. I'll have to replace the power supply soon. That is a pain in the butt. I might just buy another desktop from Luther and use the old hard drive. I could use the new hard drive as a backup. They are no more than $90 for another desktop, there. I'll have to check their auction webpage.
I'm setting up a fund-raising program at work called Sumac. Today, I started copying contacts from our contact list into it. We're using the free trial version. It turned out that the thing that makes it a trial version is that it only lets you have 100 contacts. Tomorrow we'll see if we spring for the full version and load the rest of the 450 contacts. It's something to do. That place gets a little boring, most of the time.
Just for fun I think I'll show you the two Childer's etchings that I have for sale on Ebay, right now.


The train is named "Talkin Durango Flues" I forget what the other one is named; but they can both be found by doing a search of Malcolm Childers on Ebay. I'm only asking $100 to start the bidding. I feel confident that someone will make a bid. I have happy buyers in Spain, Falls Church, VA and Reno, NV.
Later
Craig

Monday, August 5, 2013

The Joy of Not Working

I just finished a book titled "The Joy of Not Working" by Ernie Zelinski. It's really good. I think I'll read it a couple of more times for all of the information to soak in. It talks about the soul-sucking drudgery of working in today's corporate world and dropping out to live on much less income but more freedom.
I feel that it is applicable to retired people as well. It's a whole book on what to do when you have more of your own time instead of selling it to the highest bidder.
I'm planning on heading out west, next year, and panning for gold. My first place to go will be Happy Camp, California. There is a club named "The New Forty-Niners, there. They own the rights to placer mine on miles of the Klamath River. I'll go there and get trained on dredging for gold. Later, I'll head out on my own and see if I can find gold elsewhere.
I lent the book "The Joy of Not Working" to Gary T. He has trouble with his job and it might encourage him to quit. I also loaned him "Illusions" by Richard Bach. It's a metaphysical book that Gary said was beyond him. He couldn't see how matter could be an illusion since he has believed in it his whole life. I told him to try to dissolve some clouds for himself. Maybe he'll try. I have about a 95% success rate with that.
Jim told me that he would sell his acreage in Harper's Ferry for $25,000. I'll try to buy it. I went by the bank today with some questions about that. I found that they would want 25% down and they asked if it was susceptible to landslides. I told them that I didn't think it was.
He also wanted an appraisal done; I'll have to ask Jim to do that.
I'm going to have to come up with $6000 for the down payment and the closing costs. I think I can come up with it if I sell my etchings.
The advantage of this place is that it fits in with my survivalist thinking. It's near the Mississippi River and I could have a garden and livestock on it as well. It's also good for hunting. I would feel a lot better if I had it; I could also use it as a target range for sighting in my various guns.
The disadvantage is that there would be hidden costs that would come up. Such as: installing a septic system, drilling a well, putting in fences and buying farm implements.
It might not be worth it. I got into the expense of having my own land back in the eighties, in California. I know that it adds up.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Too far with the Prepper B. S.

Maybe I've been going too far with the Prepper thinking. For those who never heard of it (Prepper) refers to being prepared; as in survivalist.
I've been buying guns and ammunition, lately. It started with reading the book "Aftershock". I just bought a couple of books on survival at Barnes and Noble.
I don't know what I'm trying to be prepared for. If the economy collapses, I'll still be living in a rual community ; where I'll be as safe or safer than anywhere else in the country. I live in a cheap apartment and I have a steady income from Social Security. I only have to provide for myself; I have no dependants. So why do I find myself buying guns and books on surviving in the desert?
I think I'm just being foolish.
I was discussing this train of thought with Sonja and she asked my if I wanted something bad to happen. We discussed the "Law of Attraction" and how I might be bringing negative things into my life by my thought. I think there is a tendency for people to think that they are more intelligent than others, just because they are more negative thinking. Maybe that is what I'm doing; but I think I'll continue buying ammo and camping supplies. There is an auction, this Sunday, where those are some of the things being sold. I'll be there.
Next year I'll run off to California to pan for gold.
Later.





Saturday, July 20, 2013

Detroit, tip of the iceburg; or just a bump in the road?

By now everyone has heard about Detroit's bankruptcy. So does this portend the beginning of hundreds of municipal funds becoming worthless; or will Washington bail everyone out? I think Washington will bail out the Muni-bond sector just like they bailed out the mortgage business. After a tidal wave of defaults it will become apparent that wealthy people need to be bailed out again. They will also bail out the union members whose pensions are at risk.
They will just use quantitative easing money (which is just paper, anyway) to bail out everyone affected by the various bankruptcies.
I'm wondering how to profit from all of this. I feel certain that Detroit is the tip of the iceberg and we can expect more chaos. In the short term, interest rates will go up and trash the stock market, as well as gold.
I was thinking about buying junk muni bonds. Since I think the government will bail out that sector just like they did the banks; that might be a good, (contrarian) bet. If a person was to wait about a week or two; those bond will go down to levels lower than they deserve. I would pick the bonds of cities which may be considered "too big to fail". Detroit muni's might be my first pick. Then I might buy bonds from Michigan, which, apparently, has the same problems that Detroit has. California is also on the brink of bankruptcy, as well as New Jersey, and New York. Maybe a person should wait until they actually go bankrupt to buy them.
Of course, I wouldn't risk money that I couldn't afford to lose. I've lost a ton of money on junk bonds before. It's possible that your money in junk bonds will just evaporate, while the unions get bailed out. That is what happened with Delphi and GM.
On a different topic; I bought a .22 rifle last Sunday. It's a Mossberg that I got for $107. I was surprised that it was so inexpensive. I priced a Henry Survival rifle at $230. The Henry folds up into the stock so it would be handier, but the Mossberg will get the job done. If the economy totally collapses I'll be ready to hunt squirrels and rabbits for food. If I go out west I'll be able to find plenty of rattlesnakes for food.
I feel that this was a great step towards being independent of the civilized world.
I need to sell more of my etchings before I head out west to prospect for gold. I'll see if I can post a picture of one of my etchings here. It's named "Some with Strong Backs Waning".

I've got it hanging in my bedroom.
Later