BUILD A MINING RIG!! RETIRE!! ITS EASY!! LEARN HERE!!

Yep, I clicked that fucking click bait too...

And just like you I immediately realized that mining can help me make money while I'm at my day job. Make money while I'm sleeping. Make money while I shit. All I have to do is...

;tldr...Mining is hard, are you nerd enough to survive? Keep Calm, Carry On.

-Spend money right now. "Its mining hardware, no biggy, I built a computer one time."

-Learn a bit of deeper level computing. "I can install drivers and mod my registry, i'm ready!"

-Blow my electricity bill out the window. "I'll make it back in magic internet money."

-Ignore my family and responsibilities and family for a few days. "They'll love me more when all the rigs whirring away buy us an island in the pacific!"

As a serial hobbyist and a crypto currency enthusiast (as evidenced by my presence on steemit) I couldn't ignore the shrill whistle of the mining boss, calling me to the dank depths of crypto-mining. The siren song of millions to be made in the comfort of my sweltering garage was too strong. So let me tell you a story.

I've been investing and speculating in the crypto market. I took the obvious path from bitcoin to ethereum, then AAAAAHHH FUCK the DAO WASZ HACKED! And, dejected, I lost interest. Then I woke up one morning to find my ether holdings tripled overnight. Then I got seriouser. I invested, researched, and obsessed.

Pretty soon my meager investment had grown a bit. And my confidence swelled.

So I converted some coins into silver, I converted some coins into cash, then I converted some coins into piles of over priced computer hardware and a total lack of usable garage space.

I spent and evening or better researching what hardware was best for the beginner, what hardware was in demand (all of it), I reaped craigslist for all its bounty, I flung amazon gyft cards into the ether and I was soon rewarded with a metric shit ton of stuff I had no idea how to convert into cold hard cash. But hey this was all a child of my speculative profits. I'm all good! It was all free...

Well I cut back on sleep, I formatted drives, I installed linux, I fought with linux...
I had a mental break down...
I learned a little bit of linux.

I learned the limitations of the motherboards, graphics processing units, and operating systems I so hastily purchased. I pestered people in slack channels from lbry to decred. I learned, I lost, and I lost again...

BUT, the challenge of the new...and the call of the fantasy kept me awake...hour after hour.

As a result I ran myself into the ground. In short order, like 9 days, and I was a wreck. The sight of thousands of dollars in new and used computer equipment laying inactive and certainly unprofitable upon my workbench had drug me through the muddy depths of a promise too good to be true. I had such high hopes.

I know I'm smart enough.

I bought all the right stuff.

When its all set up, I'll be on my way to financial freedom.

Well...all that remains to be seen. And thus I have a few lessons for you...

And this really is the my goal in starting this steem channel my friends. I hope my frantic experiences in all these lunatic pursuits can help you guard against the overwhelming mania that the FEAR OF MISSING OUT can cause.

1. Be realistic.
   • Are you well versed in the voodoo of modern computing? Can you operate from a command line? Do you know how to boot into bios? Have you ever subjected yourself to the terror of a linux based computing environment? Understand you wont make $300 this month, you've already blown your ROI out to 10 months, and you can't control your rig from your day job today and wash your ass with newly minted coins tomorrow.

These basic skills are not incredibly hard to attain, but they represent the tip of the iceberg. And, as a serial hobbyist, I can attest to the fact that attaining these skills and the myriad of other skills that crypto-mining depends on will take you longer than 2 weeks to learn. Its summer time wouldn't you rather learn to wake board or stitch your bikini for the "Scrunchy butt" effect? Be aware that mining is part art and part voodoo, and to the larger part knowledge. Spending your time making money the old fashion way and simply buying a few coins might be a better use of your time.

1. Listen to the pro's.

   • I've harassed more than my share of real miners. They know what they're talking about. When they warn you against a piece of hardware or a method for installing cuda. Listen! Walking into your local computer store and raiding the discount bin for parts is not going to help you move the ball down the field. Certain parts are in short supply for a reason. Discounting they're advice will cost you money. Money you could have invested.

2. Take your time.

   • As of writing this i've returned two mother boards that weren't going to get me where I wanted to be. Ive returned a motherboard with a nice stick of ram still installed. I've purchased a bunch of parts that are effectively useless for modern mining. And lastly, wasted two weeks tearing my hair out trying to make all my half steps stick.

3. Start simple.
   -Don't expect to spend $3k on parts and build your own cash machine. Start with the computer you have, install ccminer, sign up with a mining pool...try to get that old gtx 970 up to 10 mh/s. I fucking dare you! You gotta start somewhere...but just realize the deep end may not be that starting point.

4. It is real.
   -Mining is a thing and people are making money at it. But hastily buying incompatible hardware and running to staples for a vga cord, a thumb drive and a 50' cat5 cable 3 separate times isn't the way to mining profit's.

RESEARCH, PLAN, and PREPARE.

I havent given up, updates are inbound. I know I'll get there soonish, I just need to stay focused. Resist the urge to take up home brewing.

Just like all good things...do it right, do it once.

But, if you';re like me, you'll think this article doesn't apply to you...and you'll make these mistakes on your own.

Please comment with your own horror stories...it'll help me feel better about myself. Or, tell me about your success...and then kiss my ass.