I Haven't Posted for a While

I'm sorry that I haven't posted for  a while. I don't know why I haven't. I just got busy with other things like shoveling snow.
It's been a terrible year for snow removal. There just hasn't been much snow. I am making enough to pay my bills but I'll have to find some sort of job for after the snow season is over.
If I can make it through the next year I'll be in good financial shape. The expense of going to California to pan for gold put me into a bind.
Maybe I'll sell the van. That would get me out of the loan and I need something like a Jeep that I could tow behind the motor home, anyway.
A Jeep would be ideal since it has a stick shift transmission and I could use it better for "off road" traveling. Most of the places I drove around  in the mountains of California needed an off road vehicle.
That still leaves me with the problem of finding someone to go with me since I don't have the energy to actually work a claim. Raymundo said that he would go, if they shut down the school system and he wouldn't be able to teach Spanish. That seems unlikely, but it's progress. Nobody else has shown any interest at all in panning for gold.
I got a couple of laptops from my sister for Christmas. One worked right away but the other one is giving me troubles. When I first got it, the sound on the left speaker didn't work. I bought a couple of similar computers for parts. One of them, I got to working and it's better than the one my sister gave me. I'm going to keep it.
I'm going backwards on the computer my sister gave me. Now neither speaker works. The headset works fine. I think I'll get it running and give it away to Community Action. Joan (down there) finds homes for my computers. I can't sell them anymore. Laptops are just too cheap to sell and I have to give them away.
That's all for now.
Later

Catherine Austin Fitts Come out Against "Fear Porn" .

I was watching a lady named Catherine Austin Fitts being interviewed on one of the channels I watch on YouTube, tonight.
She came out strongly against "fear porn". She made the point that if everybody who watches that stuff just takes off to the mountains of Idaho to hide out, they are not being a threat to the establishment. We are just avoiding standing up to the evil which confronts us.
Not only that but we are using our money and energy just avoiding the fight rather than being involved in it.
In fact that might be just what our rulers would like us to do.
I think she might have a good point but I see little choice in the matter. Over 95% of the people are oblivious to what is going on and there is no way to get them to see things differently than how things are portrayed on mainstream media. I feel we are just beating a dead horse when we try to tell people the truth about what is going on. It's not worth the effort.
I'll still collect gold and silver and I'll stockpile food but I feel that a lot of my money and energy has been wasted in trying to get ready for something I just can't get ready for anyway.
I have a tendency to buy Bitcoins. It turns out that, that market is just as manipulated as any other market. I saw that today when Bitcoins gave up a day and a half worth of upward movement in just 5 minutes. I can't play that game.
Gold and silver keep going down in spite of a surge in demand for precious metals.
I'll keep buying them but I have to get my bills paid down, first.
I went deep into debt to go to California and then deeper into debt to come back.
I just can't afford being a prepper.
Of course, I'm fearful of the coming currency collapse but I can't afford to get ready for it in a meaningful way. All I can do is to get a month's worth of food and hope for the best.
I can't even afford a gun. I'll just have to hope that laws will be enforced during a collapse.
I've had it with spending all of my money trying to get ready for something that there is no way to prepare for anyway.
I have to spend the next 2 years or so just paying down debt.
Later

No Excuse

I have no excuse for not posting more often on my blog.
Maybe I'm a little despondent for not succeeding in my search for gold.
Maybe I'm a little concerned about my finances; or lack thereof.
For some reason I just haven't been keeping up the blog. I'm sorry.
Things are going pretty well. I made over $150 last week, shoveling snow.
This week there is nothing but good weather on the way. Darn it.
I'm moved into the new apartment. My stuff is stacked up but it's there.
The car is working. I had to replace the fuel pump but it's up, now.
There is work being done on the motor home. At least I got my stuff out and maybe Dan will get around to doing something with it.
I decided to keep the motor home. It fits with my survivalist thinking. And I may make another trip to California to look for gold.  That might take a year and a half.
On a different topic, I sent some pictures of my etchings off to a company named Bonham Auctions. They are in California. I'm waiting for an appraisal of my collection. Maybe I can have them auction them off. I might hear by next week. If they sell, that would solve my financial problems.
There are 2 other things I might sell:

1. The motor home. I think it fits with being a survivalist so I don't think I'll sell it.
2. The membership to the "New 49er's". That's the club I belong to to pan for gold. I could go elsewhere so it might make sense to sell it. Chris in Yreka might buy it on a time basis. 

I'm concerned about my finances after April. The snow will be gone but my bills won't be.
Later, I'll try to get back more often. Thanks

I'm in Decorah

I'm back in Decorah.

Now I need to find a place to live. I'm staying at my friend, Gary's place for tonight. 

Tomorrow I might be at a shelter for homeless veterans in Waverly, IA. 

I'm big on taking advantage of any public assistance I can get.
A week has gone by since I started this posting.
I got an apartment with some assistance from an agency called FAVA. It has something to do with homeless vets.
My car broke but I had to fix that on my own. It was a bad fuel pump and they are getting expensive. I'm just grateful that I got to Decorah before the fuel pump crapped out.
I'm glad that I left when I did. It snowed up to a foot deep at some of the places I just zipped through, last week. If I stayed a day or two longer I might have been caught in that.
The weather, here, is rainy. We're catching the tail end of the storm that I missed in Nevada.
I only wish that we were getting some snow with this storm. That's not happening. Maybe next week.
I got moved into my new apartment. It's probably the worst place that I've ever lived. It's small and cold and inconvenient. It doesn't have enough electric outlets, the shower fills up with water, and the refrigerator makes a loud noise. I'm sleeping on a mattress on the floor and I've seen mice. It's the pits but it will do, for now.
I got a safe deposit box at the credit union. I didn't know that they had them. That will save me from having to go to LaCrosse to use the box at Chase Bank. I can get that for free but it's very inconvenient. I go to LaCrosse on  Sundays to go to church but I don't, normally, go there during the week.
Later,

Should I Leave from Ashland this coming Sunday?

I'm debating whether I want to leave for Iowa as I leave church in Ashland this coming Sunday. I would be wasting some daylight since the church gets out at 11:00. But I would avoid driving into the Sun. It's hard enough driving through the mountains but to do it with the Sun in your eyes is really bad.
I expect to be packed up and ready to go by Saturday. If I really set my mind to, it I could be out of here tomorrow. There isn't much keeping me here. I need to pay a couple of bills and sell my gold prospecting gear and just leave.
I could wait until Wednesday; when I'll have my check from Social Security in the bank. I don't think I'll wait. I'll need that money in Iowa, anyway.
It's time to get out of here and get back home. I'll hate being around all of those liberals but there is a downside to everything.
I think I'll have so much room that I'll have to car top carrier on top of my bins in the back of the van instead of on top of the car.
Well, I should get back to the apartment and load up another bin.
Later

I may be Heading out Sunday

There really isn't much keeping me here so I may leave Sunday, after church.
I'm selling my prospecting gear to Chris. That will help with the gas for the trip back.
Tomorrow, I'll also be selling some gold. I hate to do that because I know I'll buy it back, later.
I think I'll have plenty of room in the van for what I have to take with me. I've been getting rid of a lot of stuff. Anything that weighs a lot or takes up a lot of room just has to go. Especially if I haven't used it for a couple of years. I even sold a couple of guns.
I may be wrong but I don't feel the financial reset will cause violence in the streets. At least I still have a .22 rifle for that.
I was thinking that I would rather have a pump action 12 gauge and a semi-automatic rifle.
The Russian SVT would work with the ammo that I have but I might have to go to Canada to get one.
When they were on the market, the Brady bill was in effect. So they weren't sold here, very much. They're easy to find in Canada but hard to find here. I'll have to see what I get into to import one.
Of course that all depends on getting a lot of money to work with. That's unlikely.
On the topic of money, it looks like Bitcoin is taking off again. I have a way to buy them using margin. But I'm unhappy with the company that I have to deal with. It seems that my money just vanishes whenever I send them some more. I made a complaint (it's called making a ticket) but I'm not getting a satisfactory answer.
I've got to make a couple of calls, tomorrow, to find an apartment in Decorah. I think it will work out.
I've got to get home and start packing.
Later

Once Again One of my Strongly Held Beliefs Turns out to be a Delusion

I was holding the belief that I had encountered a bank loan officer, here, in a time travel experience.
I asked her about it today and it turned out that it was false.
I guess you never get over these delusions and hallucinations when you are schizophrenic. I try to keep quiet about it but it still disrupts my life.
I suppose looking for gold was a symptom of my disease. I suppose I wouldn't be traipsing all over the country, looking for gold, if I wasn't sick.
Maybe that's why I watch all the "gloom and doomer" websites. I like to believe that I'm aware of something that others aren't aware of (mainly the collapse of the economy). I wonder what percentage of the viewers of those websites are either bi-polar or schizophrenic. Oh well.
I might be going back to Decorah earlier than I thought. I got my car top carrier today. I wasn't expecting it for a couple of weeks. After paying a couple of bills I have nothing keeping me here. The earlier I get back the sooner I can get an apartment. I'm looking forward to getting out of here. There is nothing keeping me here but delusions of grandeur.
I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff. Anything that takes up weight and space that I haven't used in a couple of years just has to go. I don't have the room for it. I lost the utility trailer and now I have to fit everything into the van. At least I have a water-proof carrier to put on the top of the van.
I've got to get Chris to help me load up either tomorrow or Wednesday and get on the road. I don't feel as overwhelmed as I did when I came out here. I guess I don't have as much to do. Maybe I can get rid of more stuff.
Later