The psychological thaw!
Good day, Steemit! It’s a snowy afternoon here in Minnesota. 9” [so far], with the likelihood of 20” more by Saturday. During the bountiful bull run of 2017, I sold enough STEEM to buy our family a snowblower. Sort of a requirement here in Minnesota, but one of those things I never would have been able to afford until Steemit became a part of my life. It got us through the coldest months of 2018, then sat in the garage for 10 months. During our first snow of December, it wouldn’t start. I pulled that stupid cord so many times my shoulder hurt. There it sat, snowfall after snowfall, mocking me.
I’m not a handy guy with engines, cars or home repairs. Granted, as a homeowner/freelance artist, I’ve YouTubed and successfully fixed dryers, door locks and even the computer for our stove. I tried multiple times to persuade my handier friends at @caffetto to come over and get this thing running […for money]. After no help, last night, @vermillionfox watched me angrily drag our non-functional snowblower from the garage in to our kitchen. There, [...taking an uneducated guess that the gas was the problem], I syphoned the tank in to a give gallon bucket.
While it was draining, I ran to the nearby gas station and filled a gallon container with premium gas. I returned home, filled the tank, gave the fuel pump a few presses and within two jerks of the cord, heard a thunderous engine combust in the center of my kitchen. It was running, and my fear of these impending snowstorms suddenly turned to relief. Maybe even a bit of fun anticipation. I can be that cool neighbor that clears all the sidewalks while everyone looks outside and nods. “…what a good guy.”. Right?
For the first time in nearly four months, my cryptocurrency portfolio is within $500 of seeing green. I’ve been traumatized by a year of losses, so when I see early signs of a recovery, I’m cautious to get my hopes up. Winter is coming to an end, though. I feel a change in energy, and as I watch @guthrie struggle to push our STEEM snowblower through 20” of snow, I see a metaphor for those of us that’ve remained here, authoring, contributing and pushing through this endless crypto winter.
Hello from Columbia Heights. Up here we shovel everything by hand. It's been a rough month.
Oh, man. Columbia Heights, @acolucky. Yeah. You definitely feel our pain, then. It’s been a tough year.
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I feel for you K, was in the same bullsh*t last year but moved to sunny and warm Austin TX- that snow storm last April broke me in some way.
@jrb450, this winter has been demoralizing. I think it’s the combination of the crypto bear market and this endless winter. Every blizzard of Polar Vortex, and every colossal drop in market cap makes me just want to give up. It’s been a really trying, tough year. I’m leaving for Seattle and LA in a few days, so hopefully the change in scenery will do me well.
hahaha that snow blower is a cool tool! would of came in handy when we were in Japan
Do they not have snow blowers in Japan, @travelgirl? There’s probably not enough accumulation to justify having one. They’re fun. I bought this entirely with STEEM when it was around $7. I think I spent less than 100 STEEM to purchase it. Crazy, right?
I"m sure they do but the Airbnb when we stayed in didn't have this machine but then maybe the snow doesn't get that high? I'm not a snow expert but trying to use the shovel to get the snow off the driveway was also "fun" haha. yeah i remember the time when it was $7 a steem .... hope we see it again!
He's one dedicated kid... just like his big people :).
It looks so cold over there, how is it that you guys still can show your faces. Must be freezing, I would wear a ninja mask lol.
HA! True, @scrawly. As a family, I think we were all just so happy to have the snowblower in full opprtation again. Shoveling SUUUUUUCKS! @vermillionfox tends to do her scarf up ninja style. It’s a way of life out here, but this year, I think we’re collectively over it.
Aww this warmed my heart! Friend I wish us all nothing but success in this lil crypto world <3
I hope so, @artdellavita. I’m losing my patience.
Just watch🎀❤️
Yeah , gas can go bad or sometimes moisture condensation gets in and that adds water to the fuel so no go. I'm glad you got it started!
Crypto is going up? I've stopped checking awhile ago. I'll be glad to see the end of Winter.
It started going up, @donnadavisart, but there was a massive price manipulation this morning that erased almost all the gains. Likewise. Minnesotans are hardened by winter, but every one I know is severely over it. Fatigue is really setting in. I leave for Seattle and LA in a few days at least.
Hey! Just checking in. Man, feels like a world away seeing this post. Some days here in Koh Phagnan Thailand I forget to where a shirt. I got a cool series going highlighting the full moon party you may like. On another note, spring will be here soon. I see that the crypto market has bottomed, I feel it too. Been a traditional investor for years, the charts are looking very much like a bottom is in play and I just learned that Samson's new phone with have a built in bitcoin wallet. Also learned that a lot of billionairs are investing and getting interested in investing in crypto. For a while I was not sure if crypto was just a fad, but it's here to stay. We'll be fine. Key to investing, especially long term is patience. I just got tickets to Bali, only 100 bucks from here in Thailand so that is where I'll be March, April, into May. Life is good. Stay well my friend.
@world-travel-pro, I’ve been keeping up with your Thailand trip. My girlfriend is Lao, so her family is from almost the same part of the world. A lot of the food you’ve been sharing is virtually the same as her family gatherings. I’m really hoping we’re at a bottom. It’s pretty discouraging. Every time I see some gains, the blatant market manipulation feels like a kick in the stomach. It happened against this morning. $15B of lost market cap in an hour. That is not “bears taking over”. That’s state sponsored manipulation. It sucks. Enjoy Bali. Looking forward to your posts.
Yeah that happened like a few hours after I messaged you. All markets are manipulated, but especially anything that could be seen as competition with the dollar have been targeted badly especially the cryptos this past year, and gold and silver have been suppressed, but I think the suppression is coming to an end and things will be allowed to float gradually towards some kind of fair market value. Very cool to learn your girl is from this part of the world. They make excellent, caring, loving, loyal girlfriends. I'm happy for you! Have a great week and I'll be in touch.
I can understand you - the crashes were really traumatizing and my portfolio got hit hard too, but I am convinced we see much much better times again :-)
@art-universe, here we are with $15B being lost in an hour. I’ve been making all the wrong moves lately. It’s the worst. It feels like this is never going to end.
I got lucky, I bought a bit more at the bottom, but just did DCA and regret that I have not bought more. But however, I will DCA and hold all the way long. I am conviced that some projects will do very very well longterm. I just have a pick of 9 and Steemit is one of them. So what I want to say, patience is all and I am convinced that there will be better times ahead :-)
Oh!!! It looks so tender Heheheheh, has done a lot of work to remove that snow...
I've missed this, I have a week or more without internet and is a hell.... It's good to see you again!
You have surpassed a lot this past year when the whole market was down and you will go super well from now on.