Mental Progress on the Move

I'm not making any material progress on my move but I am making some mental progress:

1. I decided to get Brian to help me pack up and get ready for the move; he wants my apartment since it's the cheapest one in Decorah. 
2. I decided to sell my gold coins and rings at the Coin Club. They are serious about coins and such and I feel that I can get good prices, there. I didn't want to part with the gold but it's necessary. 
3. I contacted Jackson Auctions in Cedar Falls, IA to sell my etchings. They are going to give me a free appraisal so at least I know where I stand with the etchings. 
4. My oil options are going up. If they keep going I'll have plenty of money for the move. Maybe gambling will pay off. 

The motor home is still a problem, as well. Nothing is being done with it. It has been sitting in the shop for a couple of weeks, now. The clearance lights need to be replaced, and the transmission needs work.
I think that once the work on the vehicle gets done; I'll take it to Cresco, Iowa to have the work done on the furnace and water heater. It might fall together quicker than I think.
Shoveling snow has been a waste of time. I always end up dining out when I'm shoveling. I end up spending more for food than I make by shoveling snow.
I just need to start cooking at home and getting free food from the Lutheran Church. Once I'm out in the wilderness I'll have no alternative but to cook for myself.
As it stands now, I think I'll leave in about a month. I'll take the motor home out and somehow get back for the van.
I haven't talked about the world situations, lately.
The Yemeni rebels will probably team up with ISIS to divide up Saudi Arabia. That is similar to what Hitler and Stalin did at the start of WWII. All of this is being manipulated to drive oil prices up. Low oil prices will destroy the U.S. quicker than anything else.
I saw something on the Internet. I believe someone named Bix Weir was being interviewed. He said that there are mines in the United States (hidden in parks and military reservations) that could produce more gold than is known to be in the world, now. If he's right, that might explain why gold never seems to go up much. I still think that silver will go up due to usage in solar panels.
Oh well,
Later

Credit Cards are Killing Me.

I want to rant about how credit cards (with their high interest rates) are killing me financially.
I'm paying over 20% on some of my credit cards. That is just too high to get the principle down, over time.
I've used them for sensible things like buying silver and gold and buying my motor home. I also use them a bit too much for buying food at restaurants and coffee shops.
The problem is that they are impossible to pay off because they increase so fast that I can never get ahead.
Years ago, financial advisers would say to pay twice the minimum payment to get them paid off. That was when the interest was around 10%. Now I think you have to pay 3 or 4 times the minimum payment to make any headway.
I woke up this morning thinking about my credit cards and I just don't see any way out. I'll have to get a good price for my etchings. That would release the road block that is stifling my move to California.
That reminds me, I have to pick up my etchings from Luther, today. I have to call David and go pick them up. Maybe someone saw them and just has to buy the whole bunch. I hope so.
I'm selling a couple of my computers; but I'll still have 5 or 6 left.
I've got a lot to do today so I better get going.
Later

This Changes Everything, Again

I was watching something on YouTube the other night.
I couldn't find it again, yesterday; so I can't reference the speaker or anything.
Basically, he was saying that there are so many dollars in circulation that printing 4 or 5 trillion more won't make any difference to inflation. He was saying that there are something like 3 or 4 hundred trillion in circulation around the world.
He also said that Vladimir Putin is behind everything that happens in the Ukraine. He said that Putin is the power behind both the separatist and the government in Kiev. He's spinning off the western part of Ukraine to leave Europe holding the bag on a bankrupt country.
If we don't go into hyper inflation, it might not make much sense to stack gold and silver.
I was thinking about getting an acreage to build a homestead on, yesterday. The land prices in northeast Iowa are just too high to make that work. Maybe I can find something in Montana or Idaho.
I'm afraid of two things in regard to homesteading. First, I know from experience that homesteading is expensive. I went bankrupt, trying to do it in the 80's. It's also labor intensive and I'm getting a little old for a lot of work.
That's also a problem with panning for gold. It's hard work. I don't know if I'm really up to it.
Well it looks like the trip to California will have to wait.
The motor home is still in the shop and I don't know what will have to be replaced, yet.
I got my income tax refund and I spent most of it on credit card bills.
The etchings are still at Luther and I'll be able to get them back, next week.
Things just aren't coming together for the move, yet.
I need to find a job and make a little more money to make the move.
Maybe I'll throw a bunch of stuff into the van and go out and find some gold. Nothing is stopping me from doing that.
Selling the etchings as a collection would break me loose from everything that's holding me back. I need to get more serious about moving the collection.
Later

I'm Sick

I've been sick for a couple of weeks, now. I've got a pain in my chest and I'm blowing my nose fairly often.
I suppose it's just a cold or maybe a seasonal allergy. It might have something to do with mold, since I live in an old building.
I was thinking, today, that it might have something to do with using too much bleach on my bed sheets. It actually seems to get worse when I stay in bed.
It seems to be lingering for weeks. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. That's a quote that I heard when I was in AA, years ago.
I'm going to use more colloidal silver and a medicine that I got from the co-op. When I go to bed; I think I'll take an aspirin.
My finances are so bad that I think I'll have to stay here and get a part-time job. I was thinking that I'll save over $300/month by moving out; but that doesn't leave any lee way for vehicle breakdowns and such.
This week, my etchings will be done with being shown at Luther. Maybe I can sell them. That would be the thing that would make my dream of panning for gold in California, do-able.
I'm going to see if I can get some work done on my motor home, this week. I pretty much just want to button it up and run out to California. I can get work done out there just as easily as I can here. If I was there I would be able to find some gold.
I was thinking I could sell some of the 5 or 6 laptop computers that I have. Last night, I got really discouraged when I offered to give Brian a laptop and he didn't want it. He has a smart phone that he is happy with. How do you compete with that? The phone was given to him and he surfs the net just fine with it. My idea of loading Linux on old laptops is probably outdated. Technology has left me behind.
Well I think I'll show one of my etchings; if anyone wants to they can contact me and I'll be glad to sell them one or more.

I can't remember the name of this one; but it's an old tumble-down gold mine. I had to pay a lot for this one so I think I'll start the negotiations at $3000.
Later

I'm going (Come Hell or High Water).

I'm definitely going to California this year.
I'll only have what I get back from my income tax to spend. That's a little more than $500. I'll be driving an old (forty years old) motor home. There won't be anything set aside for emergencies. I just won't have any.
I've been wanting to go prospecting for the last 30 or 40 years. I've always had some reason not to go. This year I'm not making any excuses; I'll just go. I'm getting Social Security payments; my motor home is paid off; it's time to go.
There will never be a great time to go; it's an act of faith to drop everything and go prospecting. In the 1850's people dropped everything and basically walked a couple of thousand miles to go prospecting. At least I can drive there and I'll have a place to live (other than a tent) when I get there.
I'm wondering if I can sell something. My etchings come to mind. I've got several thousand dollars tied up in them.
I might sell some silver but my whole idea of prospecting is based on the idea that the currency is worthless; therefore it doesn't make sense to sell silver.
Since I mentioned the etchings, I might as well show one now.

Malcolm named this "With Strong Backs Waning" or something like that. I have one of 50 or 60 printed. I can't remember the number. It's showing at the Luther College library right now. All of my collection is there until the middle of March.
Maybe I'll be lucky and a wealthy Luther student will just have to buy my entire collection. At least, that's my latest delusion of grandeur.
Later
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My Take on Oil Prices

I haven't discussed the price of oil in this blog, before now.
I think oil (like everything else) has a totally manipulated price. It's a commodity like metals and grains; therefore it's traded on the commodity markets. There are around 100 paper ounces for every physical ounce that's actually moved. Hence the market manipulators are setting it's price just like everything else.
I think they drove it down to punish Russia for their involvement in the Ukraine. This is done, primarily by manipulating the commodity market; but also by having the Saudis keep their production up.
This is backfiring on the U.S. It's risking collapsing the bond market and hence driving the stock market into freefall.
I expect the U.S. to reverse itself, soon. I think they will have ISIS invade Saudi Arabia. That will drive oil through the roof and save the stock market without having to blame the U.S.
I'm using stock options to bet that this will happen.
I was first alerted to a change in the price of oil by watching Jim Cramer on CNBC. He was talking about the predictions by an analyst who uses Fibonacci progressions. This is similar to technical analysis, but it uses Fibonacci numbers instead. That was something developed in Italy a long time ago.
It seems to be working but I think it is preceding the news of a war in the Middle East, again.
Anyway, I have a few options that will take advantage of that and on Tuesday I hope to buy some more. I could be right; in which case I'll have plenty of money for my move to California.
If I'm wrong, I may have to stay in Iowa until I can more easily afford the move.
I'm thinking about working at Luther or NICC as a work-study student, this Summer. In the Summer a person can work as a work-study student for  30 hours a week. That means I could make around $2000 in the Summer. If I stayed on another semester,I might get some more work-study time in.
That would go a long way towards financing my trip to California.
If I could sell my etchings I would have no trouble financing my move. Therefore, I'll start showing pictures of the etchings (done by Malcolm Childers) on my blog. The first one I'll show is Frenchy's Flathead Flyer.

Later

Back to Normal

Well, I'm  back to trading options again. I just don't feel right without risking credit card money on options or Bitcoins.
The thing that I miss when I'm not gambling is the feeling of hope.
Of course, it is probably a delusion. After all, I've never really succeeded with any form of gambling.
All the markets are rigged and it's practically impossible to really make anything by trading.
I feel that I have to try, anyway.
Maybe one of my problems is that I tend to base my trading decisions on what I last saw on the Internet.
That's why I'm into silver options; Harvey Organ said that the world is running out of silver.
Last night I was watching Jim Cramer. He said that oil was due for a massive move up; so this morning I bought oil options.
I moved my money out of Rubles, yesterday, when I saw the minor crypto-coins move up. So I bought Litecoins. That hadn't moved yet.
So I'm all in. That's my usual condition. Basically, I'm using credit card money for my investing.
If I win I'll have plenty of money for my move to California; which is probably betting that I'll be able to find gold.
Everything I do is a gamble; but isn't that true of everyone?
Life is a gamble. If you don't take chances you condemn yourself to a life of boredom and complacency.
I don't think I could stand it. At least I have hope when I'm gambling.
Working for a living certainly didn't work. I feel that I'll have to get lucky and actually win a little money for a change.
At least, I'm trying.
Later