9:21 AM. I packed and shipped the one order I had. Yesterday I thought I had two different customers making item offers, but I must have misread the names because it was just one customer making offers.
Orders shipped! I think I learned something about my prices. I think they’re too high in many cases, because the customer bought a bunch of my Anohana cards except for the collections which were priced at around $15.
Do I lower prices then? Maybe. Maybe not. I actually went through and increased prices on a few collections which I think were underpriced. I’m selling single cards for around $7, and I had collections of 8 cards for $5. That pricing structure doesn’t add up! I added an extra zero to the collections.
Overall, I want collections to be priced appropriately high, but I think I should run some sales.
I bulk modified a bunch of listing prices. I just picked random groups of 200 items and decreased their price by 10%. Just a nice trial to see if I can get any bites.
My prices are probably too high. I haven’t been seeing sales every day like I’ve become used to, which makes me think that I’ve saturated the market with cards to the point where people are not assigning as much value to the cards they see on eBay. If the cards are plentiful, why pay more?
This is not a bad thing. Ideally, I’d make my money from volume of sales, not a low volume of high priced items.
I don’t have sales volume right now, which means I need to figure out a way to achieve that.
I bought a Silhouette Cameo 3. I should have known I’d be an irresponsible spender once I discovered that $1700 savings account that I had forgotten about.
Well, it’s probably the best type of irresponsibility that I can have– it’s the kind of spending where the thing I’m buying can earn me money. Impulsive purchase? Maybe, but the purchase isn’t some bullshit that depreciates over time.
In theory, the purchase of the Cameo 3 is going to pay out over time, in an amount that is more than the Cameo 3 itself. In theory!
Now I gotta track the ROI on this thing. I’m going to make an entry for that in my spreadsheet right now, before I forget.
Done. I spent a total of $273.90 on the die cutter, a roll of transfer tape, and two sections of sign vinyl. (12″ x 10ft pink, 24″ x 1ft crystal holographic)
That’s not bad for this machine which is selling for $322 on amazon right now. It’s the last-gen model which seems to be out of stock in a lot of places. The 4 is only $299 so it’s not like I’m getting a steal or anything. It’s also used but it looks to be in good condition.
Why did I get the 3 instead of the 4? Third party software support. I don’t want to install the Official Silhouette Cameo software if I can help it. First of all, it only runs on Windows or Mac. Secondly, the basic (free) edition doesn’t have the ability to import SVG files, something that I think should be a standard functionality for this type of device.
I’m going to try and run inkscape-silhouette instead of the official software. That way, I could send cutting jobs directly from inkscape, and not have to learn a new software package or have to figure out how to install it via Wine or Virtualbox.
inkscape-silhouette has Silhouette Cameo 4 support, but it is limited at this time. Apparently there is a bug which doesn’t send the correct to a Cameo 4 for it to apply enough downward pressure as the official software does.
I just don’t want to deal with a proprietary software package if I can help it.
10 am. Time for meditation. I’m going to try to stay awake LOL. My body is telling me to go back to sleep 😆
I did some yoga during the lesson, which revitalized me just in time for chanting. Unfortunately I started getting tired again during meditation, and my mind was wandering quite a bit.
I just realized that I have something to be greatful for. By being tired like this, it is a clear physical indication that my stress levels are way down!
I am reaching a goal!
Stress level zero.
It’s important for me to remember that stress level zero is a thing that I can have on a regular basis, as long as I take care of myself on a regular basis! It’s not something I can achieve then it’s simply unlocked for me indefinitely.
I took a nap. I have a headache. I almost never have headaches! I wonder if it has something to do with eating ice cream mid-week? Or maybe it’s because I haven’t been eating enough? When I get headaches, it’s usually because I have extreme neck tension, or I’m not eating enough. It’s usually the latter LOL.
Four of my stocks just triggered alerts, but I was asleep and now the market is closed for the weekend. Fuck!
I don’t know why I’m getting bent out of shape about it. I can just try again on monday.
Fastmail has an e-mail snooze feature which I really love. I snoozed those four alert e-mails so on monday I’ll see them and I’ll start the process to sell.
If I were going to use a bot to help me make stock market orders, I wouldn’t program any bollinger bands into it. I’d simply have a neural network look at the instrument’s past 1 year chart, and show me charts which look similar to the ones I’ve been seeing in this strange COVY time. There’s a strong dip as the bulls turn into bears, there’s a bottoming out, then there’s a slow recovery.
Holy shit my dude, the recoveries are real, and I’m making easy money.
Sure, I’m making like a dollar or two per trade, but money is money. If I had thousands of dollars to work with, I could apply this technique and make bigger sized trades, earning me bigger rewards.
I’m using my instant pot to warm up my ice cream. I filled up the pot with water, then stuck the pint container down in the water. I set the instant pot to the keep warm setting on high. I’ve never tried it before, so I’m about to find out if this is a great idea or a terrible idea!
I don’t like eating hard ice cream. It’s gotta be soft!
I read a Winklevoss article which pointed out how government and modern monetary policy (MMP) is in a pickle, and how Bitcoin is the answer.
It was a really good article which summarizes the flaws in MMP, and lists some of the solutions that the government is likely to pursue in order to deal with the massive amount of debt that it is swimming in.
The most promising solution is a soft default, where the government will pretty much continue what it already does, but at an increasing rate. Print more and more money, and hyperinflate the dollar to the point where their existing debts are devalued and easier to pay off.
This strategy really just shoves an immeasurable debt onto the upcoming generations without fixing the root problem– government can inflate the dollar on demand.
The inflation is robbing everybody of their value stored in the dollar. That means you can’t fill a cart of food with groceries with the same amount of money you used to. You have an effective $100 in savings in your bank? In ten years, that’s going to be an effective $90 dollars. (I think my math is wrong on how that works)
The point is that your investments aren’t safe if they’re backed by the dollar. That’s why smart investors buy houses or gold, because those things store value better than a currency with rules that are constantly being bent. It’s just going to continue like this, and the dollar will increasingly become a shitty currency.
Well, I know what’s up, and it’s time for me to play my cards. I think I should ignore the savings account features in my bank account. I should close them if at all possible, and instead store money in Bitcoin paper wallets. I should advise my family to do the same, because we’re all in this together, and I want to see them do well if times become increasingly difficult.
I think I will re-read that article and try to better understand the flaws in fiat money that are highlighted. I want to share those flaws with my friends and family who use dollars on a daily basis.
You know what? I’m going to do my family a favor right now. I’m going to make a paper wallet for every person I care about. I’m going to load it with $5 USD, and stash it away. I’m going to forget about those wallets until the price of Bitcoin explodes as a mass exodus from USD begins.
Then I’ll hand them the wallet, and say, “I told you so.”
LOL that would just be rude.
6:51 PM. I made an HD wallet for each family member and close friend. To each wallet, I sent $2 worth of BTC, $2 worth of ETH, and $1 worth of Zcash.
Zcash confirms so quickly! I love that. When Bitcoin was first getting started, I loved how fast the confirmations were. I would broadcast the transaction, and I’d instantly see the transaction in a block explorer. Now, I have to wait several minutes before I see the transaction show up.
I don’t think I’m using the right terminology. I think the confirmations have always been around 10 minutes, but there’s something that happens before that, when the transaction is broadcast. Broadcast? Is that the term I’m looking for? I sent Zcash from coinbase to Jaxx and a received funds notification popped up in what seems like 3 seconds. Bitcoin on the other hand took closer to 3 minutes until I saw that Jaxx funds receipt notification.
I rode to Fred Meyer after I made the stash of HD wallets and sent funds to each of them. I even made wallets for extended family, like my sibling’s significant others, and my brother’s and sister in law’s unborn child. They haven’t decided on a name so I just put, “B. and J.’s child”
I wonder if an HD wallet like the ones I created is going to ever be worth like, $1000? That would be pretty kickass, and a testament to how sound cryptocurrency really is.
I guess it makes sense. The dollar will continue to inflate, to where a banana is going to be like $10 for one. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will continue to deflate, to where a single banana cost like 0.00000080 BTC.
It’s funny to hear the reasons why people don’t want to use Bitcoin. “I can’t relate to that long decimal number” or “I don’t understand it.”
Let’s talk and I’ll explain what you are having difficulty understanding!
2020 has been a crazy year, and now more than ever, I’m thinking this is Bitcoin’s time to shine. It just keeps becoming more and more relavent, as the Federal Reserve and government in general keep degrading USD as a tool.
Well shit, it might be time for another experiment where I spend nothing but Bitcoin. I wonder if I could earn some Bitcoin using a decentralized marketplace?
I just found Particl.io. I am going to try it out.
Time for CBT!
9. Emotional Reasoning
I think this one is a real big one for me. I often have difficulty eating on a regular schedule, or skipping meals. When I go out and spend time with people, I find that I use more energy than if I were staying at home. Because of this, I often find myself having moments of physical vulnerability due to being hungry.
Yeah, I can really relate to this one!
What is a situation where I used this thinking style? I’m having a hard time thinking of a situation that fits, because nowadays I’m so aware of when I’m feeling physically vulnerable.
Oh I have one. When I was at the lake with B. and M., and I was hungry. I became unwilling to do anything other than sit and sulk. I wouldn’t even accept snacks from M. because of how upset I was feeling. I was shame spiralling, telling myself that I don’t deserve the snacks from M. because he’s the one who did the hard work to receive those snacks. I didn’t do anything to financially earn those snacks and therefore I don’t deserve the snacks.
I deserve exactly what I had in my backpack, some raisins and some corn tortilla chips, which I ate, and was not satiated by.
I told myself that I was going to be angry all day, because of how I was feeling. I really was angry and sulking all day, because I refused to get out of that bad mental state.
During that situation, I felt a lot of shame for being poor. I felt inadequate around my brother and M. who both have good paying full time jobs. I felt gloomy and hopeless because I was poor and I couldn’t pay for a meal at a restaurant.
And that’s it for CBT!
Oh wait, I gotta do one more.
10. Magnification and Minimization
Haha, I think I have used this thinking style at one point I was talking to my therapist.
“I don’t have as good of social skills as they do” – minimizing my own attributes
“They are much further along in life than I am” – maximizing other’s attributes
When I think this way, it’s often from a place of low self-esteem. I feel inferior when I think these thoughts. I don’t think to myself that I’m at where I’m at in life and that’s okay. Instead, I feel stupid and hesitant to try and join in with a group.
Ok no really, that’s it for CBT!
Let’s end with some gratitude and affirmations.
I’m grateful for the non-stick pot which is part of my Instant Pot! I rarely have to scrub that thing very long, food just doesn’t stick and built up! When it does, it’s a quick clean. I am grateful to have the technology of Teflon helping me in the kitchen! It’s teflon, right? Maybe that’s a brand name for an anti-stick agent. Anyway, I’m grateful!
I’m grateful that there are people out there who are working on Web 3.0, the federated internet. This is the original intention of the internet, realized! Soon we will have a plethora of platforms which are independent of a central business authority. Free speech and anti-censorship will be king once again!
I’m grateful for Neuralink. There’s a 1 hour progress update video that just dropped this afternoon. I’m going to watch that while I eat dinner. But first, I think I’m going to watch a Frank Howarth video because his productions are some of the best and what I think should be a standard for DIY/project videos.
58. Note to self; You are amazing.
59. I can control my breathing.
60. I will stay calm, it will get better.
Excelsior!
