Whatever Dood! January 2018

Hello everyone! Hope you're all well. There's been a lot going on lately and thought I'd share a little of what's going on with The Dood!

So I woke this morning to snow and a lot of it! Started up the old snowblower and it barely worked. I bought a powersmart from Home Depot, and strongly discourage anyone from doing the same. Worst snowblower ever! On top of that I had to take it in two times for repair, both for the same problem, and both times it was returned still not fixed! I actually had to fix it myself and luckily discovered online that there was a factory defect in manufacturing and had to switch around the pulley system so the belt lined up properly. I guess the old saying holds true! If you want something done right, do it yourself! So the snow was wet and heavy and apparently the powersmart was just lacking the power! LOL Oh well! Next winter I'll be picking up a new one for sure, and sorry Home Depot, but you will no longer be receiving business from The Dood!

A funny thing about the snowblower. I was talking about it with a buddy of mine and he chuckled as he said, "That has to be the most expensive crappy snowblower on the planet."

I laughed and replied, "What are you talking about it, it was on sale for a few hundred bucks. It was a cheap piece of crap, I got what I paid for."

He then replied, "Didn't you sell half a bitcoin at the time for that?"

We both started laughing as I just shook my head. Indeed I did! When bitcoin was down around three hundred I was broke, winter was coming and I needed a snowblower. In a moment of desperation my weak hands folded and sold a little BTC to buy a snowblower! Before I could say anything else he added, "That piece of shit actually costed you about $6000 dollars!" Oh we laughed and laughed :(

Well on a more or less positive note I've been keeping really busy. So much so I haven't had a lot of time to work on the travel blog. The last couple weeks have been the hardest I may have ever worked in crypto! I recently talked to an accountant and he explained the proper way to file my taxes. Yes it's tax time here in the good old U.S of A and Uncle Sam wants his cut. The Dood had a really good year, and there's just no getting around it, I have to pay taxes. Bitcoin is no longer under a thousand dollars, the new tax bill makes it perfectly clear "like for like" trades are no longer acceptable, and I made enough money that if I ever want to spend it, it's probably wise to give Uncle Sam his share! So the last couple weeks have been a crash course in "forensic accounting" To the best of my ability I'm trying to account for every trade I've made since Jan 1st 2017. I started the year with a portfolio valued under $500 and ended the year well above that. The Dood feels truly blessed! I was referred to cointracking from a friend and I've found the service absolutely invaluable. If you're like me and have been freaking out about taxes I strongly suggest trying CoinTracking. Here's a referral link. It takes a little bit to get everything organized if you're on multiple exchanges but found this site absolutely invaluable!

https://cointracking.info?ref=R584025

So my days have been full accounting and trading when I can! I haven't had a lot of time to work on the travel blog, although today, snowed in and a little tuckered out from all the maths, I spent the afternoon watching Ride with Norman Reedus. He's the guy from The Walking Dead t.v. series http://www.amc.com/shows/ride-with-norman-reedus

I'm not a huge fan of the Walking Dead, I think I may have watched one episode. However, Ride is a pretty entertaining show. He travels around by motorcycle and the whole thing is documented by his film crew. When I was researching my trip to Pacific Coast Highway, I discovered it, and have been hooked since that episode.

Ironically the trip now lies heavily on how bad Uncle Sam gouges me on my capital gains from crypto trading. I'm still planning, and regardless I'll be taking some sick road trips over the summer, but the big one will depend on taxes. I'm not going to kill my altcoin portfolio just to take a dream vacation and buy a new bike. I guess I'll just see how I stand after tax time, and of course what the year in crypto holds for us all in 2018! If it's anything like 2017 I'm probably worried about nothing :)

So on a final note crypto has treated me good. As many of you know I've been the most skeptical trader right from the start. It's been a long, amazing journey. I've met so many great people along the way! Thanks for choosing to share this journey with The Dood! You all mean a lot to me. Now that I'm pushing 50 and think about old age, health, money and all the other crap responsible adults have to consider.... LOL... The Dood's never been a responsible adult.... I started also hedging with the stock market. I bought some of my first shares in tech, legal cannabis, and few more conservative low risk staples. None of us really knows where this is all heading. I promised myself when I first got involved that I'd make sure not to walk away empty handed so I decided this was a good way to "hedge my bet" if you will. Worst case scenario, if crypto takes over the world, I'll have the best of both worlds. A sick crypto portfolio and sick stock portfolio to match. If everything falls apart, and crypto isn't everything we think it is and more, at least I'll have a sick stock portfolio to sell off and a little bit of fiat I stashed here and there. Always try to cover all the bases I guess.

Anyway, that's about everything that's going on with The Dood this month. For the tweeted version... "My snowblower & taxes suck! Dreaming of travel, hedging with the stock market, & looking forward to what 2018 holds for us all!" As usual thanks so much for reading and wishing you all a prosperous,healthy, and happy 2018! Cheers and happy trading everyone!