"Three Weeks on Steemit!"

As the rest of the family is out Black Friday shopping (I wasn't allowed to go because Mariah [aka "The Wife," aka "The Boss"] said I fight with too many people when I go to stores,) I was left at home to ponder the important questions of existence in solitude:

"What is the meaning of life?"

"Why do we have holidays?"

"How much money do I NEED to make to be able to pay the bills?" (Another way of asking that same question: "How much time do I have to slack off and spend on writing and art???")

"Are ghosts real? And, if so, how can I capture and harness them for my own nefarious ends?"

"Should I eat one more fudge brownie?"

You know, the standard questions that everyone asks themselves when they're alone...

In other, unrelated news, tomorrow is my THREE WEEK anniversary on Steemit.com! I feel like I'm playing the game pretty well, and I'm trying to take advantage of all the "tricks and tips" and advice articles that I've come across without compromising my personal values.

(I did accidentally vote for one of my own posts a few days ago [I was trying to see who had up-voted my post, but I hit the wrong button] then immediately tried to "un-vote," but it still shows up on my permanent record as me having voted for myself... Bummer.)

I'm also much, much happier now that I have a little STEEM-POWER (and more resource credits!) One of my book reviews had a mini-viral run (not like the plague or smallpox, but a nice sinus infection, at least,) which kicked my SP up a bit, and I also BOUGHT some steem-power with a tiny bit of cash I had in PayPool from selling a couple of items through RedBoodle---and THAT whole experience ended up being QUITE a process...

PAYPAL TO STEEM-POWER SAGA

First, I had to look up HOW to do any of this, as I'd never attempted to purchase any cryptocurrency before. I found a few articles, including a solid one by @ramahm that walked the reader through a bunch of steps of the process in minute detail. Next, I had to open an account at a crypto-exchange that accepted PayPool---fine. Easy enough. Then I needed to buy BTC/SLL, or some string of letters that I think means I was buying my first (microscopic fraction of) Bitcoin (just as it was falling into the toilet.) At this point, I hit a snag: My P.P. account wasn't "verified"---whatever the hell that means...

Three or four days later, after jumping through a bunch of hoops and driving up to my bank to slug someone in the eye, everything was eventually sorted, and I was able to buy BTC with my P.P. funds! After that, I had to go sign up for ANOTHER account on a different crypto-exchange that sold Steem and transfer my BTC/SLL (or whatever) from the 1st exchange to the 2nd exchange---and BAM! I hit another snag: Because my account was so new at the 1st exchange, my transfer had to be MANUALLY VERIFIED---or some junk---before it could go through, which would take another 24 to 48 hours...

Mind you, all of this hoop-jumping and transferring and waiting peroid crap was for a SINGLE PURCHASE OF ABOUT $11.00 (USD) worth of cryptocurrency... Five days, a trip to the bank, and signing up for two separate exchange accounts... All of this work, for what???

I can see why normal folks are reluctant to enter the crypto game at this point. What a pain in the ass!!! Things are going to have to be streamlined if mass adoption is EVER going to happen...

Eventually, my transfer from exchange 1 to exchange 2 went through (and I'm pretty sure a new fee was collected at every step in this process,) and I was able to buy Steem with my Bitcoin. Then, I had to look up how to transfer Steem from the 2nd exchange to my Steemit account, and once THAT was accomplished, I looked up how to convert my Steem to STEEM-POWER!

AND IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!

Now, between my earned and purchased SP, I no longer get those annoying "transaction errors" or "broadcast bloopers," or whatever they were, when I try to up-vote a post or write a comment or try to follow someone or write a post myself... It's really nice to have some breathing room!

Anyway, three weeks in, I'm having a very good time. I've learned a TON, especially about cryptocurrencies and exchanges (just in time for the big crypto-crash,) and I'm slowly building up my BASE. I'm still not sure how I feel about bots and up-vote services: Are they immoral, narcissistic exercises in self-flagellation, or are they just ADVERTISING? Is it immoral to pay for ad space in a newspaper or for a radio spot? Of course not. Maybe these services are just the "advertising" of the new SOCIAL MEDIA AGE... (I still don't approve of voting for yourself, though. That's too much for me...)

Regardless, I'm glad I stuck with Steemit through the lean, no-resource-credits times (which, honestly, didn't take TOO long to transverse.) Now it's FUN-IN-THE-SUN, PARTY-ALL-THE-TIME DAYS! Thanks for steeming along with me, fellow Steemers! Let's keep cookin'!!!

---Richard F. Yates

Posted using Partiko Android