Bartering And Horse Trading (Part Duh)

Hi again gundriller. Yeah, the price of scrap aluminum has gone nowhere for a long time. It was about 50 cents a pound 30 years ago and still is in most places. Even if it were 75 cents it would still be a joke what with all the inflation and devaluation of the dollar through those decades.

Your computer game trade for labor sounds like the labor trade I did for a bicycle a while back. I have checked back to see that the young man was still happy with the trade and he is. I believe that a trade or deal is good when everybody wins. This keeps a clean slate for all the future deals we may make as well as builds relationships and reputations.

I also have a problem with humidity and have had a few tools get surface rust. The Pacific northwest isn’t like southern California where I came from and everything has to be protected here or it turns to junk in a few years. Right now it is 29 degrees and I still need to drain the fuel out of my chain saws, mowers and other equipment as well as check for antifreeze in all vehicles before it gets so cold that it cracks engine blocks.

We don’t own anything in this world but only have use of it for a time since we are mortal. This way, I don’t get attached to things. I look at their utility and possible future use for my family when I am gone.

Your tire chain gift was wise. Giving almost always comes back, sometimes in things far beyond mere monetary gain. You might say that the act of giving is a gift you give to yourself. Just a couple of days ago I gave a Jack LaLane juicer to a friend who has 4 children. It is just sitting around not doing me any good; I already have 3 other juicers. The only reason I even had the Jack LaLane model was that it is huge and powerful and has a large opening for the fruits and veggies and I wondered if it would be something that I would want in my kitchen. So my friend will tell me if it works as well as I have wondered. And if I want one I will find it in due time. To be in no hurry is also a wise position.

Great idea on the light bulb trade for higher copper price. A slick move indeed.

And I like your neologism "Barter-ology" . It made me laugh, especially since my son and I had watched The Simpson Movie last night.

God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.
Voltaire

Best wishes,

Agnut

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success. "
Ralph Waldo Emerson

If your life is rich, aren’t you rich ?

Good posts all. Will look into the DE Agnut. Not too many deals lately, cleaned out a bunch of stuff to make more room for longterm tangibles. Scrap metal has definantly gone down. A year or two ago I hauled a VW golf body for my bro in law to the scrap yard and he got almost 400 bucks for it. It was totally stipped of the engine, tranny, axles, wheels, everything. We took one a couple days ago which was a VW Jetta and only got $130. This was a heavier car and still had the rear axle and two wheels attached. Shows the world economy is in the crapper with nobody building anything out of steel anyway. Something else to note about the scrap yard was there were no small time scrappers there with their trailers full of old washers and dryers, ac handlers etc. Only a few large trucks hauling for big operations. We didn't even have to wait to get weighed which usually there's at least three or four trucks ahead of us. And speaking of bartering and horse trading, for hauling the car for him he filled up my truck with diesel and bought me a 18 pack of Natty light. Not bad for 2 hours work!

Hi govcheetos. Yep, not many deals here either. I’m occupied with doing several projects around the house, including cleaning out and organizing stuff as you mentioned.

Sadly, scrap metal prices are down. America’s demand has also been shipped to Asia along with manufacturing and jobs. And Asia is not buying scrap metals like they had in the past. As I read, China has many problems of their own. And Japan ?

The sooner we face the fact that we are becoming a “banana republic without the bananas” (perhaps with a dictator too), the sooner we can adapt to the fact that we are in a Depression.

No more fancy clothes, vacations, dinners out, joy riding, expensive toys. This includes no more additional debt. Americans are tapped out and deeply in debt. You would think that they would stop getting deeper in debt but I have read that they have been putting more on their credit cards. Insanity ! They are in a prison of their own making.

For this reason I have no debts. You see, for several years I have been living with the attitude that I am living in a Depression and have acted accordingly to the best of my understanding. I must admit that I am not that good at it; I had thought that it would be fairly easy but few have no idea how much this attitude encompasses. I was talking with my younger sister last night who said that I needed a vacation. I told her that I didn’t take vacations; too expensive and I couldn’t spare the time away from things that needed to be done at home. She doesn’t get it; not yet anyhow.

I still pick up small appliances like crock pots, blenders, mixers, toasters, microwaves and others that are good for trading as well as good will. I give most away and it usually comes back in one form or another. Lately we got two home made apple pies and 8 jars of home made preserves. You can’t buy that in the local markets.

I must have 15 to 20 extra pairs of jeans in my size; got them for anywhere from 80 cents to two bucks. My son also raids the thrift stores and has become quite the discriminating buyer. He didn’t in the past but has been watching me and seen the wisdom of what I have been doing. Sad to say that so many of the young don’t get it and are still spending when they should be saving and buying the steals that are out there. I know that ego has a lot to do with it but as I have written before, an ego to have the newest and best can be bankrupting.

With the cold weather it is easier to go to thrift stores for bargains. I got 17 great DVDs for $1.80 each. And videotapes are only 25 or 50 cents each. They are all over the place and a wide variety too. Now that’s cheap entertainment !

By the way I’ve lately seen ladies in the thrift stores buying stacks of videotapes. I take this as a sign of the worsening times. The local Blockbuster store just shut down and now there is no video store in town. With the theater at about $7 per ticket and popcorn about the same, I won’t be surprised to see them close in the future.

I also bought 19 name brand shirts from the local thrift store for a total of $8.50. It was an “all you can stuff in a bag” sale. Ponce has those sales too and now has enough clothing to open a store. Trading material for later, as he calls it.

Years ago when talking with Ponce I couldn’t envision what living in Cuba could be like here in the U.S. but it is becoming more clear to me as time passes. Look at others and what they are doing to adapt to our devolving economy. This is a process which leads to watching every penny, every action, every word. In its totality it is becoming financially defensive in order to maintain some semblance of decency and hope that what is done is sufficient to continue life with as little disruption as possible. Prepping however comes from seeing the future and preparing in advance in order to live in the manner one wants. So prep now and avoid the rush.

A last thought is that I sometimes wonder if some of the items I buy now will be much lower in price in the next year or so. But with the dollar value uncertainty and inflation, it still seems a go for now. Optional toys like jet skis will probably take a price beating in the future but basic needs will probably stay the same price or increase. I can buy used jeans and shirts but socks and underwear (imported too) must be bought new so their price will probably go up. See what I mean ?

Best wishes,

Agnut

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success. "
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Prepping now reduces regrets later.

In my last post I alluded to prices of items falling in the near future and wondered which items would hold their values. Here is a good article explaining what deflation would do to our futures :

Weekend Edition December 13-15, 2013
It's Closer Than You Think
The Truth About Deflation
by MIKE WHITNEY

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/...out-deflation/

The chart of the velocity of M2 money stock shows that currently the money velocity is at the lowest level in over 50 years. Does this explain why money is so tight even though the FED is printing money like there is no tomorrow ? In this article is stated that :

“The reason for this is simple: QE does not raise inflation because QE does not increase incomes, wages or credit. The reserves that are created via QE remain in the banking system where they buoy asset prices by reducing the supply of stocks and bonds available for sale. But there is no transmission mechanism for delivering money to the real economy where it can increase activity, inflation and growth. The fact is, QE may actually be deflationary since it reduces the interest on bonds (US Treasuries) that provide income for savers and other fixed-income investors. Some analysts put the amount of potential savings lost due to QE in the neighborhood of $400 billion, which represents about half of all the money spent on Obama’s fiscal stimulus called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Naturally, the loss of this revenue has only added to the sluggishness and stagnation of the US economy.”

And there is much more in this article. I hope it will be read and considered. With all the inflation (and hyperinflation) expectations floating around the internet I wonder just where all this cheap money will come from. Furthermore, will all this cheap money get into the hands of us ordinary citizens or will it continue to flow into the hands of the bankers ? Just what is the mechanism whereby this cheap money will flow to us ordinary citizens ?

When we study the who, what, where, when, why and how of the trillions of dollars around the world we may come to the conclusion that we will be the last in line. And that means that the assets we hold will have been greatly depreciated by that time. In other words we will be paid at pennies on the dollar, like the carpetbaggers did to the south after the Civil War.

As long as gold and silver, the canaries in the coalmine, are kept at manipulated low prices, the alarms won’t go off and the game will continue. This is why it is so important to TPTB that gold and silver prices are being suppressed.

I believe that gold and silver prices will not increase appreciably until those in power have almost all of it in their control. Additionally, they may well issue laws that will strictly prevent those with physical gold and silver from freely benefiting from a great increase of their purchasing power. It’s all about control.

The people will do little since we are not organized. A case in point. When that first grader was suspended for a week for wishing his home school teacher a “Merry Christmas”, why didn’t all of the parents tell their children to wish merry Christmas to everyone at school the next day ? Would the school suspend all of the students ? Would the media even report it ?

I’m sorry; It is just that I have lost so much faith in our leadership that I feel that our representatives have morphed from servants of the people into predators of the people. My ancestors didn’t fight in the Revolutionary war, the Civil war, WWI and WWII so that we the people would be treated in such a manner. They did it for themselves and posterity. Where is our heritage, our birthright ?

And so on this 100th “anniversary of the Federal Reserve I am sickened to read of all the so called “money” being created out of thin air. When will it be realized that this “money” which is really currency which is not getting to us, the common people. An outrage beyond words may well result in revolution either by peaceful civil disobedience or violent overthrow. Only time will tell but it seems that everywhere I go, people are angry and hurt as a result of the way things are shaping up. Boy ! If they only knew what we here on the internet know. And that’s their as well as our problem too. We who know the score are far ahead of public opinion and knowledge and must patiently wait for events to unfold. It is unnerving.

Predicting the future makes fools of most. Not really; I have to commend those who have attempted this when they were going on a basis of sound historical facts.

In times of uncertainty, the only solution is to prepare for all the realistic possibilities. And even then, nothing is 100% sure.

If the banks are going to do a “bail in” against depositors, get your money out of there.

If we are to experience a 50% fall in the dollar, buy any assets which may maintain their intrinsic value. Gold and silver are but two and even they can be obtained in various forms and purity.

If we are to have a new currency issued, get bricks of nickels. They are issued by the treasury and have intrinsic value comparable to their face value. In most currency resets in the past, the coins were valued as the same fraction of the new currency. So a reset of 100 old dollars for 1 new dollar would make the coins worth 100 times more. Those in power don’t believe that anyone has any appreciable quantity of coins. All I can say is that they never met Ponce. But then again, he is unusual; almost unique.

I read that the Federal Reserve wants to issue the U.S, coinage rather than the U.S. Treasury. It seems that those in power desire to control money even down to the lowly penny. Now doesn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy ?

If we have martial law we need to have preps in order to go out as little as possible.

I don’t know about you but the flood of all the recent zombie movies and books makes me feel that we are being set up for some future chaotic food scenario. Actually not zombies but starving masses who are desperate. Anyway, you won’t be able to tell the difference.

The middle class seems to be the primary target. Note that the welfare crowd and poverty folks haven’t been affected much relatively. They will have their turn; they just can’t see it coming. Because after a collapse with its chaos, there will not be any reason for those in power to continue paying them sufficient purchasing power to continue their lives as they had in the past. In other words, a collapse will affect almost everyone, the poor, the middle class, even those at the top of the food chain.

I haven’t forgotten the ultra rich. It’s just that their problems will be different than the poor folks’ problems. Their problems will include buying enough security to continue their lives. Another will be their location. And another will be continuity of their network of contacts. And even these contacts may become like a group of sharks, picking off the weakest. Did you ultra rich really believe that you were dealing within a group of moral, upstanding citizens ? And what of the cheated masses of humanity out there ? Will they be happy for you ?

The problem with mankind through the ages has been their use of money as their yardstick to measure success. As with Nobel’s dynamite invention, nuclear power and other discoveries, there is always a good side and a dark side, the latter being utilized to the detriment of mankind. Now we have electronic money that could be a great leap forward in transactions but instead is being misused to take advantage of the masses. More than ever Ponce’s quote “If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it” has become an absolute byword in prepping and protecting wealth.

Best wishes,

Agnut

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success. "
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Learning Prepper and Barter Skills at Your Local Dump, by Neil J.

Everyone these days is trying to budget and spend their hard earned money wisely. One place I found that I was able to spend a very limited amount or get items for free is at the local dump. It is a great place to accumulate items you could use in a SHTF situation. This may relate only to individuals living in suburban or city areas. There may be one in your county; it is important to find out if there is. If you have not been to your local recycle center or dump, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Take note that there might be a yearly or daily fee associated with using the dump. If at all possible, research the requirements to use the dump by calling ahead or using the local government web site. The only thing that was required at my local dump was being a resident of the city and to purchase a twenty dollar yearly pass to the recycle center. Dropping off household appliances and tires had extra fees on top of the yearly pass. The pass included free mulch and sometimes top soil.
[JWR Adds: Consult your local laws and landfill rules. Be advised that because of their well-justified fear of liability lawsuits, many municipal dumps and contracted commercial dumps now have "no scavenging" policies.]

There is a social community at the dump and you would never believe it unless you have experienced it. During my time spent as the dump supervisor for my local town, I interacted with many people that were involved with the unique subculture of the recycle center. I would like to give the readers some suggestions what might go a long way in the type of treatment and service you receive. This helps in order to be uninterrupted in gathering items or commodities that will be useful to you. Develop a first name relationship with the attendant or attendants and even patrons. People have developed strong friendships with other individuals and families they have encountered. At your dump there might be a no scavenging policy. I was the type of person to look the other way if I knew you, or you minded your own business. A small act of bringing the recycle center workers a bottle of water or a snack will bring you leniency. The main key is to be discreet and quick. If you see an item that might be useful grab it. Having a hook like tool and small tool box will be something useful to bring with you. That way you can extend your reach into dumpsters and do small disassembles for parts if necessary.

The dump is a great place to find useful items for bartering. I gathered candles, tools, books and anything I figured could be useful in a barter or economic collapse situation. I furnished my first apartment with a lot of things I found. People throw away things still brand new in the box! I once found a $500 coffee machine unopened in the original packaging. Many residents I was friendly with would put in orders with me for items they were looking for and sometimes put up rewards for finding those items. Couples and families would make a routine of showing up and making rounds just to see if they could find anything good or what had value.

Firewood is a sought after commodity by patrons that frequent the local dump. The firewood and yard waste would go into a special area. It either came from residents doing yard work or from the forestry division of the city. It was constantly searched for spring, summer and fall. Residents would brag about how much they saved on their energy bills each month by burning firewood to heat their homes. Gathering firewood for winter was very serious business for many people. I have seen individuals go to such great lengths as to bringing their own chainsaws to make lumber pieces more manageable to carry and load into their vehicles. I often saw people collaborate to help each other. The most common occurrence was residents dropping off wood and another person that wanted the wood would arrange going directly to each other’s home to help each other. In the end both parties received what they wanted while taking less trips to the dump and conserving fuel. I have seen great friendships come about by this practice.

Another thing residents really took advantage of was the recycle center provided mulch. The mulch came from the forestry department composting of trimmings and branches. I have watched families work at least eight hours making trip after trip refilling their buckets with mulch. I was told it works very well for helping growing vegetables in the garden. With your yearly pass you were able to get unlimited amounts of mulch. That is a great deal for someone trying to be frugal with their resources. Besides the two main interest grabbers being the firewood and mulch, there is a lot more things that might be useful in times of uncertainty. There was a section at the dump for dropping off a mixture of rocks, stones, dirt and bricks. A lot of people would pick up rocks and stones and take them home. I could picture someone taking home dirt, stones, and bricks home to set up a nice root cellar. Good dirt would not last long at all at the dump. It would be taken home for a variety of home garden needs. I could also see someone using a mixture of dirt, stones, rocks and bricks to set up defenses around ones property. With these items again, I have seen people communicate interest in what someone is dropping off. They will talk with each other and work out arrangements to cooperate. That is an efficient system for both parties but best for the one picking up the items. That way they don't lose out on anything while they go home to unload to prepare for another run.

There was a special section of dumpsters to recycle lumber. It was great for getting lumber or boards to burn if there was a shortage of firewood. You would be very surprised on the amount of good boards you could find, from hardwoods such as oak or mahogany or softwoods such as pine or cedar. Even treated lumber or press board is easy to find, from 2x4 pieces of lumber to 4x4 pieces. This is a great way to practice and learn woodworking. I knew several people that would use the lumber for all sorts of projects and build different things. One’s imagination is the only limiting factor on what could be built. You might even save up lumber to board up your windows or doors during an emergency situation.

A great thing about the recycle center is the individuals and families. It is a great community to practice on your people interaction skills. This is one of the most important skills you must learn for a SHTF scenario. If you don't know how to interact with all different sorts of individuals, bartering almost seems out of the picture in a severe economic downturn. There were plenty of times where just being friendly and asking politely I received things of value without expecting to give anything in return. I will tell you about a couple examples of my personal experiences but these are just a few instances. A gentleman and I somehow got into a discussion about gardening and he was telling me about all the different types of vegetables he planted for this harvest season. Peppers were a vegetable he mentioned. I asked him if he wouldn't mind bringing some pepper seeds to give to me if he had any extra to spare. He happily obliged and the next trip he made to the dump I was greeted with a friendly smile and a zip lock bag full of pepper seeds. He also gave me a brief explanation of what worked best for him when growing the pepper seeds. There was also plenty of occasions where I would help someone shovel mulch, unload, or just have a pleasant conversation and ask if they wouldn't mind bringing me something to drink next time they came around. Believe it or not I was rarely turned down. Every so often residents even went further, once I was brought muffins and other times different types of snacks. Never be afraid to ask someone a question is one thing I learned. The worst thing someone can say to you after you ask them a question is no. There is an old saying the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. The dump is a great place to meet like minded individuals within your community and practice your communication skills.

After practicing and perfecting your people skills the next thing to work on is bartering. I would often collect lawn mowers and barter them to my supervisor for cash or alcohol. I have found snow blowers and traded them to a friend for cash. A great example of bartering was when I would find coupons and barter them to a friend for scrap metal. Bartering is an everyday occurrence at the recycle center. I have seen people trade different items they have picked often. Maybe one party throws in some dollars or another item to sweeten the deal. Often sometimes it could just be items that one party wants to trade for something that will be more useful to them. There are many more examples of bartering, but you need to get down to our own recycle center and practice. I believe the dump is one of the closest things you can get to a cash limited society.

There are all different types of ways you can practice and learn skills for a survival scenario. One of the best skills to learn and practice is to fix things that are broken. You sometimes will get lucky and find things you can use that are still working and completely functional. Often a small part in something you find useful might be broken. It’s a great skill to practice to take the item home and figure out how it works. Often you can buy replacement parts or even keep your eye out at the dump for another of that same or similar item to find the working part you need. I would often tell people it has a great return policy. Meaning you can take it home hold onto it for awhile and if it doesn't work out the way you wanted and you were unable to repair the item just bring it back to the dump and throw it back out. A huge hit at the recycle center for home repairs were lawn mowers and snow blowers. Handy people would take them home tinker around with them and repair them if possible and sell them.

Another skill worth learning is trying to make money from the items you find at the recycle center. A lot of people I knew would gather enough items of value, fix the ones not working and host a yard sale. Besides gathering items and selling them, there were a lot of people interested in gathering scrap metal. You might get lucky and someone tossed out some copper pipe, old brass faucet, or some Romex wire after doing a remodel. Some people do not know what these materials are worth or they are simply too lazy or don't have enough to make it worth their time. Learn to identify different types of metals and what they are worth. I always carried with me a wire cutter and a magnet to identify different types of metals. A magnet does not stick to copper, brass, or aluminum and those are the three main types of scrap metals you should be interested in. Be careful, it can become an addicting and fun hobby.

Besides all the barter and survival skills you can learn there is another other skill to be learned. The skill that I think everyone should learn is how to be charitable. It’s not a hard thing to learn at the dump when you are looking around. If you see an item say you might not want or could use but you know a friend could use take it and give it to them. I knew a lot of people what would stay on the lookout for items that they could give to their church to help others. I knew a father and son what would look for lightly used mattresses for women that were less fortunate. Those are just some of the instances what I have witnessed. Being charitable is also a great way to help others and reduce what goes into the landfill. Its great seeing people find useful items that find a new purpose with someone instead of being destroyed and never used again.

http://www.survivalblog.com/index.html

I could start an entire thread about going to the dump.

My neighbor across the street will pull out of his driveway and yell,

"I'm going to the dump, You need anything?"

Picked up a brand new trailer tire and rim with the nipples still on the tread at the dump just yesterday!

I used to have a GOOD connection at the dump. I got the line on all sorts of stuff, hauled several old boats and trailers out of there and stripped them of engines and other parts and then sold or traded or gave them away. Always good to be on a name basis with the people who work there. They can make or break your day. They'll let you have stuff or help you out and not hassle you when your offloading something questionable. Always important to ask before taking anything. You'll get mucho brownie points for being polite and thankful. I sometimes bring them cookies from my wife or a 6 pack of beer that I know a couple of them drink. The dump has a whole subculture of people going there, kind of like the garage sailers. There's guys into small engines/lawn mowers, one guy takes old bicycles and fixes them for poor kids for Christmas, I know a guy that mines old computer towers for parts and another who mines them for gold in the circuitry. A lot of good firewood can be had there. The dump in my area is a private contract with the county which I would LOVE to have, if for nothing else just the scrap metal that goes through there. My friend and mentor and I have talked about it and think we'll end up needing 50 acres of land to store all the stuff we pick out of there if we were ever able to land the contract.

I love the dump!!

in Silicon Valley, one of the biggest "dumps" (in a good way) is Berman's Diversified.

http://www.auctionbdi.com/

Companies give them pallets of just about anything. a year ago i noticed an HP gas chromatograph.

Berman's sells it, gives some of the money back to the company it came from, etc.

thanks agnuts for all the info you give to us all . i hope more learn to be able to horse trade because there will come a time . i buy tools at sales and i mean more then one . i have more garden tools then i will ever need . but if something was to happen my family , if they can , will be making there way to my place at that point we all will be farmers . but i also buy lots of other stuff that i sale and make paper bucks from that give me more to buy other stuff i need . be safe all and thanks to all for there post here mick

Thanks govcheetos; great post covering yet another source of hot deals. What with Jim Willie predicting a 50% haircut of the dolorous dollar along with China buying all the gold they can get their hands on, the near future may be that we as a nation will become isolated from the other trading nations. At least, import prices will rise dramatically. Items manufactured internally will also go up since many of the components and raw materials are imported. I used to joke that the only thing made in America were babies but even that isn’t true any more.

Point is, the things that we possess that are useful will be like gold someday. An appliance repairman with a yard full of used parts could be a good career for the future. Just how long can we continue throwing away used appliances when no more are being imported, either through sky high prices or collapsed foreign trade? Ponce has told me many times that the dumps of today will be the goldmines of the future.

Our dump has two resale stores where we can find all kinds of items. One is run by the dump itself. Not bad but I have rarely bought anything there.

The other one run by a nonprofit outfit is where I spend my time. A friend runs the place and keeps me abreast of things I want when they come in. My electric stove’s oven element shorted out and I couldn’t find another one so I got an almost new Maytag oven for $45. Works great, and by the way, it has no electronic panel like the new ones. I hate those things. Simplicity for the future; things I can fix myself and get parts cheap and easily. My old stove was looking gnarly and the new one was a treat for the household.

I have gotten lumber, pipe fittings, stovepipes, vinyl records, insulation, books, and many, many small items I needed. All for about 2 to10 cents on the dollar from the retail stores‘ prices. There were three Kohler toilets for sale the last time I was there that might be a good buy for the future. I didn’t buy because I don’t need one right now but having a backup might be wise.

Regarding firewood, I used to pick up truckloads of pallets and use them for fire starters for logs but there is a lot of Alder growing on the property which burns well enough. I wrote about hauling my log splitter to a friend’s place where my son and I split many rounds. He returned the favor and gave us a cord of dry fir. We are using it now. So these trades are taking place all over. We just need to keep our eyes and minds open to the opportunities as they present themselves. This same friend was here an hour ago picking up a big box of fruits and veggies. He also measured my garage for the propane heater black pipe and exhaust pipe he would need to complete the job. He even took a copy of the parts list so that he could find some of the items around his place so that I wouldn’t have to buy them at the store. He also knows several professionals who’ll do other side work for a bargain price. What a great guy to have around. I met him at a garage sale he was holding, so as I have written in the past that you may find some real friends in places you never expected. That’s like the icing on the cake when getting out there and meeting your neighbors, both near and far.

If you will act like a good American, you will usually be treated like family. The way you carry yourself and treat others will be mirrored back to you. I have run across more relationship potentials than I could ever handle. What goes around comes around. Generosity in giving of yourself always pays off one way or another. It shouldn’t be expected but what happens afterwards is like a mystery grab bag dropped in your lap. What I am trying to say (and rather badly) is that attitude is essential to receiving the highest personal satisfaction. Govcheetos, I can see that you have this mastered. Well, as much as anyone can since it is an ongoing lifetime learning process.

We are not meant to sit around and feel sorry for all the things we either did or did not do but rather to learn from the past and grow. Because too many allow themselves to be defeated, it is easier for us to succeed. So don’t disparage others but rather be thankful for who you are. I know I am.

Govcheetos, your postings have been uplifting to me and to those reading this thread. Do you realize that we may be the “go to guys” in the future ? Another reason to accumulate all the connections we can while we can. Both you and I are rich. Our yardstick is not money but people. And when fiat money fails mankind and blows away in the coming storm, mankind will still be here. A time when want will be replaced by need. When those with the resources will be called upon to share their knowledge. And hopefully a time in which mankind will pull together in harmony and peace.

A man without a dream is either dead or in neutral gear. Makes for a boring sitcom. Is the universe watching us for entertainment; comedies, tragedies, adventures, romance, imaginations, nature ? We humans watch all of these. Well, why not a far advanced civilization ? Perhaps they don’t even have physical bodies. What a concept !

So with all of my above ramblings (musings would be a more polite term but I do know that I ramble on), what each of us do here on earth is our small contribution to what makes up the totality. Maybe it is a thank you for our very existence. I think it should be. I am thankful daily to be here appreciating all that life has to offer.

Best wishes,

Agnut


“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein

Hi gunDriller and thanks for the website. I’m often amazed at how much I still do not know exists out there. The older I get, the more I realize how little I know.

Through the years I have bought and sold many items on eBay. When buying I would hold off until the last few seconds to submit my bid. This is called slamming; at least one other bidder accused me of doing this. But there is nothing wrong in doing so; I have seen it happen many, many times and have no problem with it when I lost an auction. Sour grapes.

There is a fine art to selling; presentation is everything. Also when listing several similar items I would offer no additional shipping to a multiple bid winner. Funny that this seemed to increase both the number of bidders as well as the winning price. One time I had 40 items of antique Italian micromosaic jewelry. The bidding was furious and I came out much better than I had originally estimated. Of course it didn’t cost me any more to ship several pieces of jewelry in one package so it was a win-win for both the seller and the buyer. You can’t do this with large items but I use this example to illustrate that there are many possibilities only limited by the imagination.

Online auctions are relatively easy and fast as opposed to live in person auctions. They all do have their drawbacks but navigating through the maze can be extremely rewarding at times. I feel as though I am flying by the seat of my pants. I once read that that expression came from a pilot shifting weight in order to turn. Sounds like a possibility. Anyway, I like the shifty part.

When living in southern California I went to a military surplus auction. I noticed several new luxury cars in the parking lot. This was a definite sign that there was some serious money being made. I later learned that there were dental equipment specialists there as well as bearing specialists who were bidding on pallets of dental equipment and pallets of aircraft bearings. Both were out of my field of knowledge but it was fascinating and educational to watch these seasoned bidders going about their trade. Both types of bidders knew what they were bidding on, their values and where they would sell these items as soon as they won the auction. They were essentially middlemen with a entrepreneurial flair. Lots of fun to just watch the action, body language and conversation.

There are and will be lots of liquidation sales with our economy being what it is. Just know what you are buying, how much it is worth and who you will sell to before committing your hard earned cash.

Oh, and watch for egos driving bid prices through the roof. I have seen it happen and it is only comical if you are not involved.

Best wishes,

Agnut