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