Alt. Investments (1)

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It’s not ALL about money.  Oftentimes, you can both invest and get some real pleasure out of experiences, people, and things.  Useful to think about, several times per year, we look at some unconventional ways to retain some personal earnings.

While some of these will have tax consequences, they will also offer an incredibly high payoff in “fun factor.”

So put down that mining workstation spec sheet and grab a Telecaster instead.

Because around here, the value chain starts with Love in the Heart at the top, and up there with it is Fun.  Money?  That filthy lucre?  Way down the list!

There’re “inside assets” (in personal RAM) that do follow you into the afterlife.  Then there are external assets that don’t – and no, bank balances don’t follow you.

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36 thoughts on “Alt. Investments (1)”

  1. “God knows, we have enough toilet paper, lol.”

    SO I am curious… How much is enough… the daughter had six cases… but since JB cured Covid in seven days and stopped BLM and Antifa in their tracks in one day.. she quit buying replacement TP.. I know for our household I have enough for three years.. and a 4 inch Deckle to make tp… the supply lines are better but still broken.. and if Stew is right on the money .. then Three years may not be enough..
    https://www.instructables.com/Homemade-Paper/#:~:text=%20Homemade%20Paper%20%201%20Step%201%3A%20Gather,the%20blender%20on.%20I%20use%202-3…%20More%20

  2. “I was far from a perfect father. Gotta be on hand to be one.”

    You have a HUGE AMEN on that one…. I didn’t learn that valuable lesson until my body started to fall apart.. thought I had it all figured out in the end its just paper and the hospitals doctors and lawyers get it all and then some.. I failed… I was to busy to pay attention..
    BUT… I have been making up for it with grand kids and great grandkids…
    Life Skills.. phew.. if it is a job in day labor or labor department.. I have probably done it.. at the end I was working three jobs.. most was six.. ( wife says eight ) back in the eighties.. except I didn’t weld.. I was offered a job welding but ended up painting the furnaces they made instead..

  3. Great column this morning George. I don’t think your Urban Survival readers know what they are missing for a 40 buck annual Peoplenomics subscription. Common sense advice and good financial and trends insight.

    I am 79 tomorrow and have gone through a similar life analysis over the past year, especially the past couple of months. The news seldom shocks me any more but this article today did a pretty god job. Is this really the society we now live in?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9393253/Sin-Citys-swing-Nevada-Gov-rolls-COVID-restrictions.html

    I have lost 2 close friends over the past 8 weeks, one of them younger than me. It does stimulate the thinking, As you describe so well, the only thing you can leave this life with is what is between your ears and the good you have done for others. These were both good men and left a legacy.

    It is probably a good idea at some point in your life to decide that you don’t want to be the richest person in the cemetery.

    Best,

    Bob in Canada

    P.S. I really do enjoy the cast of characters that contribute comments here.

  4. Dude G – good to hear about jr. , maybe learn hisself some wildcatting oil firefighting/ well capping skillets -ala red adair- boots& coots – no, not that f-ing coot!

    Your “mini me’s” are older – like mine in their late 20’s early 30’s. – but for the younger ones I alwayz ask them – ‘what do you want know how to do? learn about, anything and everything is possible – and nothing is out of bounds in the fullfilling Shen household, unless forbidden, like really forbidden”..

    Like Qigong in ancient times – the masters hid the real secrets and mysteries of Qigong. true principals and methods were not taught using books or elaborate theories in feudal times.
    True masters taught Qigong thru the use of wishes, enigmas, and so called “hidden heavenly secrets”.
    Usually consisted of half word, one word, one sentence, or even no words or sentences at all (this is what is meant by the saying “the Tao that is spoken, is not the true Tao.”)

    The great Tao is usually taught through speechless teaching, the so called “wordeless sutra of truth” – Great example..Shakyamuni method and the story of evening before his passing, Shakyamuni Buddha pick up a flower and showed it to the assembly of of his disciples in Mount Grdhrakuta..only one understood and broke into a smile. Later Buddha gave him private transmission in another place as well taught him the secret methods of internal cultivation.

    3 words – Guan Shi Yin is a Buddhist qigong method, gaun shi yin translates as “observing the sound of the world”..a contradiction, a mystery -it also contains objective and real qigong principles & methods..

    • We have scene the ‘gun control’ narrative play out over many years now. Let me alleviate the fears of some gun owners. The Federal Government and Dementia Joe can write any EO they care to write, but we have a not so small problem – enforcement! Who is going to break doors to go into private homes? The local police? Nope. The State National Guards? Nope. The US Army – definitely NOT.

      Yes, the Feds could possibly restrict the flow of ammo and such, but remember that they have been trying to restrict the flow of drugs in the. streets of America for decades. We know how well that has gone.

      This falls in the area of reversing Roe vs. Wade. Yes, we can talk about every four years, but no one wants the shit show that would happen if it were attempted to be reversed – FOR REAL. We have 100’s of millions of fire arms in America, owned and operated by experienced and competent veterans such as myself as well as active duty military and law enforcement. I don’t think anyone will dislodge them.

      Btw, who are the largest two groups of private gun owners by percentage of population? That would be law enforcement and active and former military. Now, who is going to win??

      • Relax. No one is coming for your binkie. If .gov wanted them or you to disappear, you’d already be gone. You don’t win those sorts of battles by getting in a shoot out with .gov. You already lost.

        Gray man.

        More likely it’s an assault weapons ban like GHB put in place.

      • Steve .. you forgot organized crime.. gangs that would be the only ones with guns.. Hell the USA was selling them guns weren’t they.
        https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2021/02/24/ex-dea-supervisor-sold-assault-rifles-to-sinaloa-cartel-associates/4360551001/
        . years ago a gang from california came to our city.. and was trying to get settled here.. one of the kids I was working with said he met with the group and one of the enticing things that they had was they were giving away guns to anyone that was willing to join their gang.. he didn’t join but said he was tempted because he could have had a pistol and an ak47 …. to fight discrimination.. where do you start.. tall people short people smart people dumb people people that can’t afford to wear the right brand of clothing.. your religious beliefs your ethnicity.. your neighborhood.. kids are being killed in kill city chicago because they were walking to school … or playing in a park.. wrong neighborhood to a child that couldn’t read yet.. you have blm and antifa trying desperately to hobble the police in dangerous neighborhoods all with what seemed as congressional support… so who is in control where do we start… why not adopt the laws of Singapore.. caning.. their crime rate is what close to zero..
        drive drunk get a ticket.. drive drunk again get jail and five wacks on the azz by a ninja with a cane in the mall in front of the world and make it public.. sell cotton candy and hot dogs.. popcorn peanuts.. cold drinks.. a public event.. here is a list of suspected future events..
        https://politicalvelcraft.org/2013/09/19/two-authors-warned-us-about-rothschilds-banking-cabal-baum-tolkien-wizard-of-oz-lord-of-the-rings/
        Contagion
        Fractional Reserve
        Counter Party Default
        Bank Runs
        Withdrawal Limits
        Global Monetary Collapse

      • Make mistake. The Military doesn’t work for Biden. The US Military is sworn to the Constitution. Not the president.
        I dont know one person in the US Military right now, and I know several at the largest army base in the world located south of Tacoma that would turn its weapon on a US Citizen at the order of the President or Congress. Not one.

        Most of my friends in the US Army, National Guard, and a Few in the Navy are asking what my friend who is a Gunny Seargent said the other day to me

        wtf is going on right now? Is this even happening? Our Government is acting very much out of line to my understanding of the constitution! He is the one that told me about Madam Vice President saying “the greatest danger to America is a White men with gun.”

        He said he heard it on the radio taking lunch to a few of his boys on watch as he rolled up on two white dudes standing there with Guns in the Military and thought is The Vice President calling us White Military Soldiers a danger to our Nation too?

        He asked me, what hell is going on with our nation. I have troops of every ethnicity, color and background, all from cities and towns all over the US, following my orders. I dont look at any of them different. Is the Vice President telling them to not trust me because I’m dangerous for Being white?

        Which ended me up on a rant on my website. Lol

      • ” The US Military is sworn to the Constitution. Not the president.”

        Unfortunately andy .. congress has been whittling away at the constitution for decades re-writing its contents. What’s that bill they are working on now . Something about who controls the voting..that the way I understood it.. ( I haven’t read it ) would give Congress the full authority on the results..
        The president is commander and chief. So from my perspective it’s up in the air.. once the collapse then it might go to the old feudal leadership.. similar to cities who’s in control..

    • Who would have thought there are plenty of mentally ill persons out there who can buy a gun in 5 minutes and a few hours later commit mass murder:

      newest mass shooter caught in grocery store before anybody got shot:
      https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Police-Witness-alerted-Atlanta-store-manager-to-16052132.php

      Both Atlanta and Boulder shooters bought their guns week before or the day of shooting:
      Both Georgia and Colorado have lax gun sale laws:
      https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-boulder-shootings-colorado-violence-6ba30f601233ed7aa3d49a3c76c026ed

      • Crisis actors.. 7 shootings in 7 days -during the Satanists month of sacrifice.

        home of christiansinaction -Denver, no not langley, not dc -home of the modern day MK Ultra program.
        Trained/Broke – memory “compartmentalized”, key word or phrase, hit of scolpolamine = “robotized shooter” ..who will have no memory of his actions. aquino-brennan- pasaki – ?? in common/birds of a feather.

  6. “Accident of prequel to something else? Massive cargo ship turns sideways, totally blocks Suez Canal.”

    Test run…

    • or foreshadowing – chaos soonly to be unleashed..

      * clue ? Aleppo, Syria = “city of the watchers”

  7. I think that men, as a whole, are urged by fathers, mentors and a general archetype to take care of the family. Not to say women cannot, but the pressure on them is of a different sort, and their responses to it differ as well.

    As an oilfield guy, the hours that G2 spent doing the firefighting gig are all too familiar to me. One particular year I was overseas for 280 days out of 365 – when I finally landed, the wife took the kids and left, leaving me with a decision to follow the INC ladder or remain married. I flew to DFW and resigned the next day, when they refused to allow me a domesticate position.

    That is what drove me to start several businesses, one of which gave me the delight of hiring my own father to work for me, and letting him do what he was best at – sales and service. It was a wonderful 2 years of that with Dad working with me. Never would have happened if I had taken the other choice as the wife drove away with our kids…

    It occurs to me that it would be beneficial for those on the upslope of life to benefit from those on the backslope. It’s tough to make that work, because kids, by nature, want to NOT be like their parents for the most part, regardless of the obvious fact that 50% of their genetics are from either parent, and similarities MUST be there simply due to that.

    I could coax numerous instances of this from my memory, and with 4 kids, there are many. Commonly, we say they ‘just won’t listen’, but in reality it’s more like we aren’t addressing the issue in a way that validates them. So for me, I have taken to listening, NOT offering advice, and waiting for them to ask for it. Holy crap – that actually works on all 4 of them…

    I also think we ought to do our best, especially in view of the coming shitstorm, which you and I have discussed at length, and I with others such as Kunstler and John Michael Greer, to pass on as many skills as we can. There is no denying that the end of the oil age is going to jump up in the next 25-50 years, and the world will be forced to slow down, simplify and downsize. Oil will force this, and it will be painful yet unobvious until it isn’t. Many of us won’t be here – we got no idea how ugly it will get, so the best gift is the one that keeps on giving into the future.

    The only currency you can leave in a world with zero or negative growth are skills, knowledge and love. To make those count, you need to give them away. It’s what I have been doing for years – because it just plain old feels good to do it. Pass it on to this next generation or 2 while you can, because they will need to roll with the coming changes. The most important skill to pass on is critical thinking – which is already in short supply.

    The work/life balance has been disrupted immensely by the Oil Age – so IMO the “After Oil” will likely be a bit harder, but more rewarding as it slowly removes much of what we have taken for granted since 1900. I wish I could see what will arise…

    Hope we can meet G2, since my youngest is already on the firefighting trail – he would likely enjoy talking with G2.

    Nice bit today – as you can see it rang my bell…LOL

    • 5-WT (light Oilman, lol) and G2 would get along great – and both can learn from one-another. Will note in adv to u when he’s due. Maybe get him out on a rig as a fire, emt, saftey and covid guy – rest of the time he can build on the ranch

    • Oilman 2, when i was in high school I went to a party at a friends house. My friend’s mother was a teacher at the local parochial school (during 1960’s) that I and my circle of friends attended. As the party raged on in the basement, I went upstairs and had an interesting discussion with my former teacher. Her observation of many years of teaching was that my generation was the first that she taught that questioned everything and was fearless in the search for knowledge. I believe that i have passed these traits on to my two daughters. Made for some interesting conversations with guidance counselers, teachers and principals during their education. This is probably my greatest accomplishment as a parent. And, Yes, they are fully aware that this is all an illusion and a blip on the radar of your spritual education.

  9. Gotta give it to all the paid facist gurus and the veges that support them . They are so dogmatic and organised in their plan . This is truly a bigger blockbuster than the moon landing and 911 . Compliments to George the sheetcoiners the gold sheep

  10. i must say though the sith lords are starting to weaken . they are talking tired and cannot beleive the resolve and determination of the battle toughened bears . so keep all your la la der der stories and go higher . you think the top aint in ? ask the only honest smart guru rick ackerman . stick all the rest in rear mouths and sing ting a ling a loo . ewave. aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

  11. Detailed curriculum? Book list, shop courses? How does one take a lifetime of experience, distill it down into what may be useful in the future, and then pass it along? Lay it out like a smorgasbord? Not a trivial question.

    You get into a project or job, then ask for his help. Once the “Dad knowledge” begins to flow, feed his direction, don’t push him in yours…

  13. “…..when one remembers that the ideal leftist is a semi-thinking person in a technical job – instead of a back-to-Nature or farmerly-type) it’s less surprising. Democrats have prevailed in big cities (where even the dead and non-citizens can vote) and see the conservatism that grows in the soil of hard work and sufficiency doesn’t give them claim to the “specialness” that fuels their arrogance.”

    Well George, I realize you’re in Texas and I’m in coastal central California but from this locale, your analysis and generalizations couldn’t be more opposite of my experience here. Here we have old and young who are “progressive” to the hilt who are the farmers and working towards self sufficiency (remnants of the Hippy movement, I suppose). Yes there are “conservatives” here too (whatever that means anymore). We have a weekly “Farmers Night” beer group that meets at various farms (all organic) around the area. I’d say 85% are either “progressive” or “difficult to categorize” (anti Trump and more along the lines of an admixture of democratic socialists and liberterians mixed into one…..yes, it’s possible) and 15% who voted for Trump. Needless to say, “lively” discussions occasionally erupt if the subject matter goes too far into political talking points.
    The irony of this all is I think much could be agreed upon between the folks on Ure site and the “difficult to categorize” folks….but polarization has led to the war of All against All. This is furthered by quickly labeling folks and making generalizations about them.
    Too bad; deep down, whether we really are conscious of it or not, we all want freedom and a spirtually awake life. How to achieve that is where the disagreements start. And these disagreements if taken too far, lead to being emotionally shackled and spiritually bereft.

  14. …Just a heads-up:

    Vitacost is without KI. The two other vitamin vendors from whom I purchase the bulk of my supplements are without KI.

    Wednesday night was “supplement renewal time.” I am naturally potassium deficient, so potassium citrate was on my shopping list. Unless I’m experimenting, I generally do this by pulling up a “previous orders” list and selecting from it, just the items I wish to renew. I noticed at Vitacost that my previously purchased KI was grayed out as “temporarily unavailable” so for the heck of it, I ran a search there for KI — every brand, every strength above 300mcg, sold out. I repeated at the other places from whom I order — nada.

    Amazon has Iosat and Life Extension in 130mg doses. Life Extension gives the breakdown for breaking the pills into halves, quarters, and eighths but frankly, I’d rather just take four 32.5’s, then the maintenance dose. Amazon has normal anti-rad 32.5mg from ONLY Lidtke (repackager of whom I’ve never heard), 30mg from Now, and 65mg from Thyro-Safe and a couple Chinese labels. They also have a BUNCH of reagent-grade KI from a bunch of different “labs,” (probably repackagers) and several vendors hawking potassium iodate, citrate, and gluconate, and Lugol’s, which all showed up in my Amazon (suggestive) search. That’s it!

    George, ya might want to give Shane a call, to see if he’s getting a run on KI, too…

  15. Over at Jim Sinclair’s site there has been a picture up for a few days that says “Never forget The Wizard of Oz was written about the banking system. And Dorothy’s power was held in her SILVER shoes.” My emphasis on silver. Did a look up on that story and, sure enough, it’s true. Dorothy’s shoes were originally silver, the yellow brick road was gold and all the major characters represented the players in 1900 working with and against the bankers.
    https://ellenbrown.com/2007/09/11/whats-the-wizard-of-oz-got-to-do-with-money-reform/#:~:text=THE%20WIZARD%20OF%20OZ%20Frank%20Baum%20wrote%20his,did%20not%20yet%20own%20all%20the%20media%20sources.

    The story was cleaned up and neutered for the silver screen and later TV but at least the threat remains that the truth will resurface now and then. A century later we’re at the end of another bankers’ global snafu and people are so brainwashed they believe electrons are worth more than PMs.

  16. Kinda went on a rant today. I will book markansnread later dude. Maybe i need to be quiet for a while. Hahaha

    Sometimes I just think what the hell is going on in this world???
    How can I make any difference???!
    Maybe I’m not supposed to. Maybe it’s all bullshit. Even all the good stuff I have in my life doesn’t seem to change anything. the lunatics are running the asylum. I have so much fight in me and maybe it’s not my battle.
    I guess it matters to the people I have helped and The DUDE.. I spose that us enough for me.

    Hmmm..

    It’s a beautiful day outside. And when I look around me. All is well.

    May be time for another digital detox. I dont know dude.
    I think I’m going to Alki beach and go for a walk. I will read your latest with delight later. I dont know my password to peoplenomics. I will do the auto reset. Have alot on my mind. Maybe a chick for coffee I know. Just as friends. Lol

    Later dude.

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