Sunday, April 27, 2014

FUD on Bitcoins

FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. It is driving Bitcoin down, this morning.
Most of my money is now in fiat (the dollar) or silver so it's not bothering me right now.
I am in the midst of trading some silver for Bitcoins so when I get the Bitcoins I think I will trade that for dollars.
I like having my money in an exchange so I can get out of the dollar quickly if it collapses. I think it's important to keep your options open. I've already used Bitcoins to buy and sell precious metals.
That reminds me I was going to talk about how to get into Bitcoins, today:


  1. First open up an account at Coinbase. They are on the web. It's a pain in the butt to get set up but it works really well to get your fiat into and out of Bitcoin.
  2. Second open up an account at BTC-e. They are a crypto currency exchange that runs out of Bulgaria.
  3. Avoid Crypsy. They are another exchange that messes up a lot.
  4. Use Arora Commotities in Wyoming to trade metals with. They will buy as well as sell you metals for Bitcoins.
  5. Be out of Bitcoins on weekends. I don't know why but it seems that there is always a weekend crash.
One of the advantages of trading on BTC-e is that you can trade Bitcoins for several currencies. Not only can you trade for dollars but the Euro, Russian Ruble, and the Chinese Yuan as well. You can also trade for other crypto currency coins.
I have to say "watch out for the other coins" they can be more volatile than Bitcoins. You'll either make or lose more with them. They tend to move the same direction as Bitcoins so it might make more sense to just stay with Bitcoins.
That reminds me; you can simply trade bitcoins with other people. Maybe over the Internet or meet someone personally who uses their laptop or cell phone to move them.
While I'm at it why don't I try to sell one of my etchings right now for .33 Bitcoins?


This is an etching by Malcolm Childers that I have listed on EBay right now. If you buy it straight from here I'll take it off of EBay. I haven't had any bids on it yet. If you are interested please look it up under Malcolm Childers on EBay. You could just buy it there or contact me in the comments section and we can work something out.
Later

Saturday, April 26, 2014

I'm Disappointed with Bitcoins

Bitcoins just seem to keep going down. I lost about $50 to $100 the last time I bought them. There just doesn't seem to be a bottom.
I guess the only reason I buy them is that I don't want to encourage the politicians and bankers by holding fiat currency. I also feel that the dollar could devalue like crazy at any time. I don't want to end up with my money in a bank and not be able to get to it.
Next week I'm going to pay off the motor home and start loading my stuff in it. There is no use in hauling my stuff to the new apartment and then moving it to the motor home later. I'll just fill up the motor home now.
I looked at the new apartment and I didn't feel that it was too dirty. I might paint the walls but other than that it looked pretty good. I just have to get moved in. And if I put most of the gear into the motor home I won't have to carry much up the stairs. At least I don't have shingles during this move. That made the last move miserable.
I'm shipping a couple of computers to Las Vegas for repair today. I spent so much on parts last week that I'm down to using the last of my Discover card to pay for the shipping. At least I'll have good computers for living in the motor home.
I tried to find a way to take a bus from Happy Camp, Ca to Decorah, IA this morning. It just doesn't seem possible. I can get a bus to a couple of cities that are about 70 miles from Decorah, but I couldn't find anything near Happy Camp. That means that I'll have to find someone who'll help me drive both my van and my motor home to California.
I want to keep both the van and the motor home since the motor home doesn't get good gas mileage and it's a nuisance to set up anyway. It would be better to just park the motor home where I'll be living and leave it there.
Well, I better get busy finding a box for the computers and seeing if the Post Office will take a Discover card.
Later

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Bitcoin is up and I'm Moving

It's a banner day for me. Not only is Bitcoin going up but I was notified that I can move into my new apartment.
The new apartment not only will cost less for the rent but I can get free Internet access as well.
I might be able to save $150/month. I might even save on the heating bill.
That will help me make the move to California that much earlier. I might be heading out there before winter.
I'm going to be busy, moving.
I was hoping to get Loula to help me but I haven't seen her for a while. I know that she is unemployed so a little extra income might be welcolmed. I'll have to track her down.
I was also thinking of getting rid of my desktop computer. I have a rather large laptop that could replace it so I think I'll give it to Loula or Scott (who lives down the hall).
I made a payment on the motor home this morning. I now only owe $300 on it. I'm selling gold and silver to make the payments. It's coming along well.
I've got a lot of parts for the computers in the mail right now. I hope they get here before I move. I think they will.
Well, I should go home and assemble a couple of computers to send off for repair. I took advantage of a two-for-one discount at a repair shop in Las Vegas yesterday. I just have to get them ready to ship out. That's tonight's project.
Later

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Loula Stood Me Up

I got to Java Johns a little before 7:30 this morning to buy Loula breakfast. She never showed up.
I was going to have her watch a vlog by Glendon Cammeron. He has a very inspirational YouTube channel. It is geared towards entrepreneurs.
She is talking about starting her own business as a personal trainer. She could get a lot from Glendon. Oh Well.
Bitcoins are going up but I still don't see any in my account. I'm still waiting to hear from Joseph at Arora Commodities. He made the commitment to buy my gold at last weeks prices. Unfortunately gold and Bitcoins have been going down. I may not be out much because they are both going down but Bitcoins are going down faster than gold. I can't seem to win.
I didn't get much done today. I was going to donate some books to the Laura Ingalls museum.When I started sorting through them I discovered that during the last move I had gotten rid of everything I could stand to get rid of.
I might have my surplus ammo sold. Claire said that she knew a couple of guys who have Mosins who might buy my ammo. It was just too big and heavy to be packing around. I don't think I'll need a lifetime supply of ammo anyway. Hernando on the the "Modern Survivalist" says that a financial collapse won't cause many riots and bloodshed anyway. I believe him; he's lived through it a time or two. He knows what he's talking about; whereas the people who write the books and make movies about the Apocalypse are just making things up.
I'm staying with my motor home and running off to California plan. I think that will cover most of the contingencies that a financial collapse will bring. No matter what, I should be able to live cheaply in a motor home.
I experimented with buying a salad at the co-op, today. They weigh the food that you buy on the buffet line. It only came to $2.34. I can afford it. It will be a healthy change to my diet.
Now I need more exercise. I should go for walks or ride my bicycle.
I'm still debating going to church tomorrow. I probably won't. After all, I do the lesson every day and that is the sermon. I asked everyone I could think of if they wanted to go to LaCrosse with me and nobody replied in the affirmative. Java Johns will be closed so there won't be much to do here, tomorrow. I'm still waivering.
I was just now talking with Jane about going to church, tomorrow and she thinks I should go. Maybe I will; there won't be much to do here, anyway. Maybe I'll ask Mike if he wants to go.
Later

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Troy is Getting Evicted

Troy who is on YouTube as "The Do It Yourself World" is getting evicted. I've been watching his vlog for a couple of months, now.
He was developing a homestead in Western New York. He was living in an old motor home while he was trying to get a garden going and he had chickens.
A lot of things he was doing seemed to be over doing it for me. He had a lot of electric generating things going on like solar panels, wind generators, and gas generators. He has a lot of property to move.
I guess he got into trouble for not having a septic system; he was using a composting toilet.
The state got after his landlady and she kicked him out. I think the real lesson is that the government discriminates against the poor.
When you think about it the waste that comes out of septic systems go to the same place that it would go if you would just dump it out ; so it's a stupid law.
At least he should be able to live in his motor home on the street. So the state of New York has just created another homeless person who lives in a motor home.
I hope he continues his vlog. I really identify with him. I'm saving up my money to become a homeless motor home dweller.
On another track, I sold all of my gold coins for bitcoins, yesterday. I shipped them off to Wyoming.
I went to the bank to see what else I could sell. I took out all of my larger silver bars and coins. I'm going to ship them tomorrow.
I'm a bit disappointed with how little I really had saved up. I'll still have a lot of small coins but I really didn't have that much. It's so hard to save anything when you don't have much to work with.
On yet another topic, I'm still waiting to see about my move to a cheaper apartment. I'll not only save on the rent but I hope to save on the heat and the Internet access as well. It might add up to between $100 and $150/month savings. That will help me get and fix up the motor home.
Well that's all I have for now. I'll keep you posted on how Troy does. You could just go to his YouTube channel. It's the "Do it Yourself World".
Later

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Oops I did it Again

I bought more silver.
As soon as Paypal notified me that my funds from the the sale of my last etching were available I started looking at silver.
I found a Bahamain Dollar for $25. I weighs over 1.2 ounces of silver so I bought it for $25.
Then I found some real oddball coins. They were Europa Ecu's. Just before the Euro became the standard currency in Europe, these were minted.
That  was when there was a European union but no Euro currency. Each coin was denominated in a different currency but they were for trading within the Union.
They were made for only a few years so I think they are rare. I bought them for the silver content, which came to over 4 ounces. I bought 4 of them for $71. I feel that I really scored tonight.
I've just got to quit this so I have more money for the move. I've got to make that the priority. I just keep finding bargains on EBay. That reminds me.
I was looking at an add that was running on this blog from a coin dealer. I went to his site and I have to say I was impressed. He had some good prices on gold and silver coins. I don't remember what the name of the site was but it was 3 letters. I know that this is shameless promotion on my part but if you are into gold and silver you might want to go there.
Well, I'm celebrating saving $10 on buying silver by spending $3 on food I don't really need. Maybe that is why I can't seem to lose any weight. I eat out of boredom more than anything else.
I don't have a television and I run out of sites to visit on YouTube. I guess I could watch the news some more but I'm tired of seeing coverage of flight 370.  Maybe I should get into reading books more.
Well, tomorrow the stock market might crash. Things are looking similar to the 1987 crash. There was a big bubble, then a bad week, then that Monday everyone decided to sell all at the same time.
Similar things have happened about 3 times and it didn't result in a crash, so I'm probably wrong again. I'm just glad that I don't have any money in stocks. If I did I'm not sure I would get any sleep tonight.
On that note, I think I'll sign off and go see what gold is doing in China.
Later

I keep Buying Gold and Silver

I bought more gold and silver this morning.
I bought a gold ring with a 1/10 ounce Krugerrand in it. I paid $350. I felt that it was a bargain and it looked like it might fit my finger.
I've been looking for gold jewelry. I feel that wearing gold will bring more of it into my life by the "Law of Attraction". I also like the idea of always having something I could use to buy my way out of troubles; such as bribing a border guard to escape to Costa Rica. In the future that might be a priorty.
I also bought 5 ounces of silver coins. I put in what I felt was a low bid and I got them. In the future they will prove to be worth the money.
I feel that silver will move up more than gold; but only time will tell.
The trouble is that I'm spending more money than I can really afford to. I have several things I need my money for:

  1. Pay the gunsmith for the modifications on the Mosin.
  2. Pay the 2 repair places for working on my old MacBook Pros.
  3. I need 2 new tires on the van.
  4. Pay off the motor home.
  5. Buy some clothes.
  6. I like to go to church in LaCrosse.
I might be buying things because I'm bored. Without the snow shoveling, I really don't have much to do outside of working at the Peace Center. I need to start walking or riding my bicycle to keep occupied. Without something to do I gravitate towards buying things on EBay.
It's getting to be too expensive. What I really need to do is to have an income-producing side line (such as mowing grass) to help me prepare for my adventure next year.
Blogging doesn't really cut the mustard. In the last 3 or 4 years I've made a little more than $4.00. I have noticed that the more content I put out there the more income I get; so maybe I should just write more often.
I did sell one of my etchings on EBay. I have a collection of etchings by Malcolm Childers. I'm trying to sell them off one at a time. I won't have room for them in my motor home.
I'll try to show the one that I'm trying to sell now here. If you have Bitcoins or Litecoins I would rather sell them here; just leave a comment and we could work something out. I have a lot of Malcolm's etchings.

Later

Friday, April 11, 2014

Yesterday I made the Downpayment on the Motor Home

I swung by Prosper, MN yesterday and paid $500 towards my dream motor home. It's a 1978 on a Ford chassis. It looks good to me.
I'll be paying on it for the next 5 months. I think it will be worth it. I'm looking forward to taking off on my own and living the nomadic life.
After paying it off I'll have to fix it up for my journeys. I need solar panels on it because I don't want to use a generator. I'll also have to get a refrigerator since the old one is broken. I want one that will run on propane as well as AC or DC electricity. That way all of my options are covered. I'll have to replace the rubber (as in belts and hoses) as well as overhaul the brakes.
My goal is to be out of here by next summer not this summer. By then I should have plenty of money saved up and I'll be able to afford unexpected emergencies.
I'll be moving into an new apartment soon. I found a cheaper place in the building that I work at. It will save me $50/month for the rent alone. I might be able to save on Internet access and heat as well.
I found some good YouTube sites that talk about living in an RV. They call it urban camping. They talk about living in your motor home in cities.
I think I'll be living in the mountains on mining claims that I will have the right to be on. I won't have to worry about police chasing me away but I will have to be more self-contained (as in having my own water and propane). I think I'll be just fine.
I only hope that I find plenty of gold. I can justify a lot of discomfort for a little gold. It will be worth it.
Yesterday the stock market tanked and gold went up. I don't know why the disconnect. They tend to move together. Today the market went down and gold went down.
I do think precious metals will take off any time now. I've got a lot of gold and silver, so I'm ready.
Crypto currencies went up today. That was after a major drop the last couple of days. They made back most of their losses and now they might be showing gains from last week. That is another market that is being manipulated by the 1%. I'm only going to use bitcoins and litecoins for buying and selling things. I might use the exchanges to get into Russian and Chinese currencies.
Well that will do for now, maybe I'll get back to this tomorrow morning.
Later


Sunday, April 6, 2014

Hernando says that a Homestead won't help.

Hernando the "Modern Survivalist" on YouTube said that retreating to a homestead won't do much good in a real (Without Rule Of Law) situation. He had friends from Argentina and South Africa who were murdered in spite of going to a homestead. He said that there is no way to make yourself secure when things really break down.
The only thing to do is to leave. I guess I'll have to find a country that remains peaceful in a worldwide economic collapse. I think I'll try Costa Rica. I just wonder how I'll provide for myself if the dollar collapses. I'll wind up in Costa Rica with no income. Maybe I can find some gold before I go.
Maybe I can save some money by getting rid of all the firearms I bought for the collapse. My money would be better spent getting out of the U.S. I don't think I can drive to Costa Rica so Canada might be a better choice. Mexico is out since it's already a failed state. Maybe I should go to Canada. Maybe I could prospect for gold there.
I keep stopping at the place where the motor home I want to buy, is. Nobody is ever at home. The lady who owns the motor home is practically deaf so maybe she doesn't hear me knocking at her door.
I'm going to give Danny the money that I can afford for the motor home and see if he has better luck at tracking her down. Then I could get Danny to do the repairs that are needed on it as well.
I have to find out if I got the money from my income tax return sent to my bank account. If not maybe I could give her more for her old RV.
I sold all of my crypto currency to help pay for the motor home. I'm bored with not trading. I need to find something else to do with my time. I get on EBay and spend too much on silver and coins. I think I buy junk drawers on EBay from shear boredom.  Maybe I should take up alcoholism or drug abuse. It would be cheaper. I seem to be drawn towards expensive obsessions like option trading and commodity trading. If I had been a drunk it would have been a lot cheaper. I hope that buying gold and silver aren't just a continuation of my gambling problem.
This gives me a good chance to complain about how expensive being a survivalist is. I went to Gander Mountain in LaCrosse, today. That's a sporting goods store. They had practically everything I want for my survivalist goals. Here's a list of things I looked at. I was too broke to actually buy anything:

  1. A bottle and straw water filter. I'll be able to filter almost any water.
  2. An adapter to transfer propane from a large tank to a 1 lb. bottle.
  3. A hammock
  4. An inflatable canoe
  5. A nice backpack (I'm still thinking an Alice pack would be best)
  6. A large knife/machete.
  7. All sorts of ammo for the Mosin
  8. A personal solar panel
  9. A two burner, propane stove
I don't have to look anywhere else. Between Sportsman's Guide (on the internet) and Gander Mountain I should be able to get completely outfitted for my trip to California and being a survivalist in general.
Well that's all that I've got for now.
Later

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Wasn't able to Borrow

I couldn't borrow for the move because I have a representative payee. That means that I don't have control over my own money. My checks go to the bank and they give me an allowance.
 A VA social worker thought that I should do that. I think it's been a major mistake. Never give up control of your money to anyone.
This whole being on disability and welfare has been dumb. I should go to North Dakota and get a real job; something that really pays. Instead I'm trying to get to California and pan for gold.
 I sold the last of my crypto currency to get money for buying the RV. Last week I lost about $50 on that. It never seems to go up any more. I guess that the ban in China is making a difference.
 One of the reasons that I got into crypto currencies was that the gold market is obviously manipulated. It's obvious to me that every market is manipulated including the crypto currencies. I just can't make money with my money.
I've got quite a bit of gold and silver and I'm just going to sit on that until after the currency collapse.
 All of my money now has to go towards the RV. It will not only cost $1000 to buy but I'll have to fix it up for another $500 to $600. Then I need to get the money together to go to California.
 I just have to be patient. It's hard when I'm working at the Peace Center.
 I tried to sell another one of my etchings. It's not moving. I dropped to price down to $75 and I still don't have any nibbles. I would like to sell them for Bit coins but PayPal won't do that yet. Maybe I could find another way, other than EBay, to move them.
I was thinking that I could take them with me as they won't really take up much room.
I also have to sell the coffee maker that Faye bought me for Christmas. It's to big for me and when I'm in the RV I won't be able to use electricity.
I've go to get serious about selling things. I have to get rid of my desktop computer and monitor. Maybe I'll donate that to the Peace Center. It would be an improvement on a couple of their computers.
 I need to get some boxes and start packing things up.
I should probably either sell or give my books away. I can get books on the Nook and the E-reader and not take up any room.
 I got my silver coins the other day. I bought $100 of face value 90% silver coins from a dealer a couple of weeks ago. They finally arrived. I didn't open up the bag but it looked like they are all dimes. I also bought a couple of 5 ounce, Chinese coins.
They look good to me but Mark says that they are probably fake. He's going to check them by weight. I can still send them back if they are fake.
 Later