Bits, Bytes, Bitcoin and Steem

If you follow me, then you know that I typically share elements of my life that are upbeat, pretty or travel snippets. I read quite a few of other Steemians' posts and I am sure that I do not interact as much as I should. I have found that there are people who use this platform to educate, to entertain and to blow off steam. Today, I just need to share some of my frustrations with Bytes, Bitcoin and Steem.

First off, I am old school when it comes to investment choices and my risk behavior with investments. I have children who are millennials and one in particular who is bullish on crypto currencies. I have had the benefit of being lectured to, supported, and sometimes teased because I am slow to invest my hard earned funds in such a volatile market.

I recognize the growth potential in Bitcoin and Ethereum and I don't want to miss out because I hesitated and watched the train leave the station. On the other hand, I bought some Bitcoin (small amount) when it was trending up months ago, and evidently I chose the moment right before it started its downward spiral. Thank goodness, I did not use my bill money and the loss is just a paper loss since I have not sold my small shares yet. No risk, no gain, right?

Okay, so after many convincing arguments, my son convinced me to join Steemit and to put some "seed money" into Steempower. Needless to say, I just put a toe in the water to check out the temperature of Steem since I am already in a holding pattern with my Bitcoin and Ethereum investment. Well, as luck would have it, Steem has been trending down since I joined Steemit in May. Once again, I am blessed because I did not sell the farm to invest in Steem.

I am at a crossroads again in my investment strategy. I will be changing some things around in my investment portfolio, and I have to decide how much I want to invest in crypto currencies, and which ones I should choose. I don't know if my heart can stand the volatility of having a significant investment in any crypto currency.

That brings me to my latest experience with trying to participate in the airdrop of Bytes. Oh my goodness! I don't want to tell you how long it took for me to get that process to work. I first tried to make it happen on my smartphone. I downloaded the app, and followed the instructions verbatim. Nothing happened. I called my son who then added additional instructions to the ones that were posted, but told me that I should perform the actions on my laptop instead of my smartphone.

Okay, no problem right? Yes, there was a problem! The money was sent to the small expenses wallet on my smartphone and I was now working on my laptop which had no money in the wallet. Looking at the menu in the app, I realized that I just needed to "pair" my smartphone with my laptop, right? Ding!! Wrong answer again! Yes, the app paired the devices, and yes the option for a single address wallet was enabled, but no, the money did not show up on my laptop.

After a couple of hours of "work arounds" and waiting for the system which was obviously in beta mode to catch up with all of the demands for "free money", I finally received my reward. I now have 2 wallets with the donation in one wallet and the few cents that I received to start the process in a different wallet.

Why, why, why was that process so time involved? True enough, if I had started off on my laptop, then the procedure would have been much smoother, but no one was advising against downloading the app on an Iphone. The software is buggy at best, but I can see the development team working on fixes with new releases.

In conclusion, investing in crypto currencies is not for the faint at heart. I travel to Las Vegas, Nevada on a regular basis, but it is not to gamble in the casinos. I don't want any investment that I have to watch like a hawk looking for its next prey. Perhaps my involvement for now will be at a nominal level as it relates to my seed money. I have time, talent and treasure that can be invested on the Steemit platform. Right now, I am choosing to invest more time and talent than treasure.

What are your thoughts? How comfortable are you in placing a few thousand dollars if you had it into Steem? What if it was a few hundred dollars? Did the dolphins and whales invest their own money initially or have they gained most of their money from being early adopters on this platform? I'm just wondering.