A little more about me

I am a private person, I admit it. Perhaps some of the problem here is that people don't know enough about me. I am not inclined to discuss myself that much. Nor did I see a need to. However, when I looked at my profile page here, I noticed that there really isn't enough there about me, and what was there isn't enough. Yet, I do not really want to discuss it that much. What to do?

I think that it is necessary to discuss myself more and my life a little more. I don't know how much I really want to disclose, however. One thing that I've learned is that there really aren't that many secrets. If somebody wants to know about you, they will find out something.

But what they will find out will be second hand, not from the source, which is myself. What others may say may not be accurate. But I don't tend to lie about anything, and if you think that is too much to believe, you would be making a mistake. I really do believe that honesty is the best policy and I do my best to live up to it.

I think a good part of me is already here within this blog. It states what I believe to be true, and I can't give a better testimony to who I am than that. But it isn't the whole story by any means.

Since I do not want to discuss personal matters, I think I can mention professional matters. That should be fair enough.

So, I'll discuss that much. Think of it like a job application.

I think the biographical stuff has been covered. Basic age and a picture and what my job has been recently, as a truck driver.

A little more on that subject. To be sure, truck driving was not my first choice. I did mention that I did some programming before, but not that much professionally. I did work, however briefly, with IBM Nasa in the late seventies. It was not a permanent job, but a job as a "co-op", which was connected to my studies with the University of Houston. The way that worked is that you go a semester to school and then work a semester at a real job. Except the job really wasn't real, or all that real. ( There wasn't anything substantial in the way of job assignments. IBM Nasa was really real. ) I did only 1 semester at IBM. I appreciated the opportunity, but I didn't make the most of it. My fault, I admit it freely.

I did finish up my degree in Computer Science at the University of Houston, but failed to catch on with anybody in a professional capacity. Why not? There are those who blame me for it, and perhaps I deserve some blame for it, in the sense that they seem to believe. But, I also think that my education wasn't as good as it could have been. I believe that if I had the relevant background training, I could have made it. I feel that it is necessary to discuss this in connection with writing a blog like this, because there are those who may think negatively about me because of a lack of professional accomplishment.

And that would be correct, but it isn't the whole story. I think I could have used some good advice, but like a lot of things, I pretty much had to handle everything myself. It isn't as though I didn't get any help at all, but I definitely could have used more.

It is also true that I am almost fanatically independent. Even if someone offered their advice, I'm not completely sure that I would have taken it (in my younger years when these decisions were being made). It wasn't until some significant mistakes had been made that I started seeking input and by that time, it was pretty much too late. By that time, I was getting in my late twenties and I needed to make more money than I was, so I began a driving career. I've been at it since.

But I never gave up the idea of doing something else. I had a degree in Computer Science, that should have been worth more than a driving job. But unless I wanted something in management or sales, which I didn't want either, this was it. So, here was where I remained, except for a few sabbaticals like this one.

This blog hasn't been the only sabbatical. I had one previously, and it had the same name as this one. I was hoping for some carryover effect, but that didn't seem to happen. I have almost no readership that I know of from that time, which was in the summer to fall of 2004, corresponding to the election of 2004.

Prior to 2004, and up to it, and even up to now, I became interested in the markets.
Actually, I began in 1998, which is about the time that the great bull market ended. That is another one of my problems, I seem to have the worst possible timing. In 1998, there was a downturn, which was brief, then a quick blow off rally that ended in a crash of the NASDAQ in early 2000. The market hasn't been the same since.

I stopped being a stock picker in 2004, or even before that. Stocks just seemed to be too unpredictable. They still are, but I think, even more so. So, I began to be more interested in macro economics. In 2004, I was trading currencies. But, I switched over to gold. I have had great success with it, as I think I have come across something which I understand and is true. But not everybody seems to understand it. That's why they are still believing the lies that get told in order to keep them ignorant and poor. The lies that give rise to our current predicament, which is out of control government. I write about that not only because I am interested in politics, but because it is our country! It is literally falling apart. Western Civilization too, is in a lot of trouble. But that has always been true, to some extent. Let's not get too morbid.

I had a brief notion to become a stock broker in the eighties. In fact, it was 1987. Do you recognize that year? It was the year that the market crashed. So much for that idea.

About that time too, I got the idea to do self publishing. It would be of my own software. I wrote a few titles and made a few sales. But it wasn't a commercial success. I also tried to get my stuff published. The publisher's name I got from a guy named Taegan Goddard. That Taegan Goddard? Well, I am not sure. I think it is the same guy. It would make sense based upon what he told me about his software, which they did publish. Also, his software was consistent with what he does now, so I think it was the same guy. I only knew him online through an online service, which was available to folks back then. It wasn't the internet, but it was the precursor.

Prior to driving a truck, I worked in retail.  For a couple years, I was a manager of a wallpaper store.  Before working there, I worked as a manager of a tire store.  I even tried my hand at auto mechanics, but that didn't work out too well.  Frankly, mechanical things are a bit out of my league, but from time to time, I can do little things.  But big things, like overhauling an engine?  Fuggedaboutit!

Before going to college, I considered become an Air Force pilot.  But that required 20 20 vision and I don't have that.  But I never did fly.  I considered taking some lessons, but other priorities prevailed.  I did fly on flight simulators on the computer though.  That's why this banana hobby videos are interesting to me, in case you were wondering.

A long, long time ago, while still in high school, I studied guitar.  Like everything else, it was self taught.  I had a friend in high school who wanted a music career.  His music is up for sale on the Products page, in case you are interested.  He gave me a chord book and I studied it.  I took only one formal lesson.  I never did become much of a guitar player.

I think that about covers it.  Yes, there one more thing.  I like the NFL.  So, I am really glad the lock out is over and football is coming soon.  R U ready for some footballlllllllllll?