Running Bear's May 2025 Coffee Shop

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Morning all,

57° and clear going for a high later of 84°. Tomorrow we're looking at a new record of 91° to 94° depending on which weather prognosticator you listen to.

Trying to figure out the ads feed on the site as I had this when I got here this morning:

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Those choices would get most fathers in big trouble. And they're 25% off as well.... 🤣 🤣 🤣

Have a good day as I have to get back to work...BBL
Yeah same ads for me.
 
what up coffee friends

wana talk about hockey? :P
Sorry i have to. Switzerland did manage to take a great win over USA with 3-0.
i have to say, after seeing the scores from the USA in previous games i was a bit worried, but switzerland played awesome hockey.
And thats why iam happy :D
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on the other hand (haha wow). my girlfriend is at home sick (again) and she has to go to the hospital thursday, because she broke a bone in her right hand -.- its already healing and the doctor said all will be good. but well happens, if your falling when trailrunning..
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whats up next for me? well lets see, maybe i can prime some minis and start painting.
oh and yesterday night i had a idea for my layout. maybe i will do a mockup building to see if it could work.
still not finished section D but already planing on redoing, great work marco great great work....

cheers
marco
 


I'm loving this weather! No heat, no A/C for weeks. We open the windows at night and close the blackout curtains during the day.
I love it too!

We did turn the A/C on last night. Not because we really needed it, just more so to make sure it worked
so we wouldn't be fighting to get someone out to look at it when the first streach of 90s hit.

It worked and it is off today and the windows are back open again.
 
So I want to clarify my comments on the market and investing and options etc.

My goal was more a meta-goal in explaining one of the major ways that big wigs and cigar smokers make their money. It’s not market manipulations and secret deals. It’s mundane options trading. The bread and butter of big banks and even Warren Buffet for steady income streams is options trading and specifically things like the spreads trading I mentioned. The point is that you too can do it if you want. It’s not a secret. Yes Buffet hoards cash and goes on buying sprees buying companies and that’s the bulk of what he does. But when he started he was doing spreads to generate cash and I’d bet he (through his people) still does it (I’ve heard he does but have no personal knowledge). It’s how you generate ongoing gains for income.

Now naked options and a lot of options trading is very very very dangerous and you’ll lose your shirt very quickly. Even with spreads if you don’t have some sort of idea on what ones to look at and make a trade on. About the only “safe” one is covered calls where you “can’t” lose money on the option. You may still lose on the underlying stock or option you have that supports it. So I’m not advocating anything.

More just to point out that even we mere peons can play like the big guys and smoke cigars in our own back rooms.

This sort of options trading is not really investing. It’s more market playing. Its goal is steady income. I was dabbling in it as a way to build up a cash flow but ended up raiding it as I needed cash for the house. The program I subscribe to comes out with two trades every Thursday. So that’s all you do is execute those (or if you’re account is still small enough that you don’t have the capital to do all of them you do one every other week or whatever). If they expire in 2-4 months you win and the cash you got as a premium is yours. Sometimes the market doesn’t cooperate and you get emailed and texted instructions on how to roll it to another position. Sometimes that’s enough for a win and sometimes you have to roll another time or three for the win. Very occasionally things go south and there’s not a path to a win so you buy a long term call and wait it out. It’s low maintenance and low time. Once a week and occasionally rolls in a month. (A roll is where you sell the portion and open a new position in its place — using the same base security for your options — its how you react to market changes with options).

When I first started following the program I also was identifying where I could make my own spreads and did my own trading. I made a bunch and also lost a bunch. So I stopped doing that. I decided that I don’t know enough and can lose my shirt so I’ll just follow the experts. So the program itself is a slow, long term winner (for me).

For my 401k and HSA self directed accounts I’m buy and hold, though I’ve identified one ETF that is volatile and you’re better off selling at a high point and waiting for a market downturn to get back in (TQQQ - a leveraged QQQ). I also try and get dividend paying ones in those two accounts so buy and hold and dividends.

Again. Don’t play options unless you know what you’re doing. And even then it’s best to follow experts and subscribe to a “safe” system that trades in option spreads where liability is limited to the spread. With the added advantage that you’re not watching the market every day. You just react to any notices your subscription sends. For me that is rolls a few times a month plus the weekly Thursday trade.

I warned you.
 
Woke up and it was mid 40s. My sensor says 51F on the N side of my house. Watch says 47F. Big change from yesterday. It appears breezy but I’ve not been out yet. I’m on my way out for a walk. 3.2 miles and about 1 hour.

Mixed overcast. Overcast but not the blanket type. You see streaks of blue.
 
Now I want fried green tomatoes!

But I’m trying to not let dust in
To be honest I never thought about dust. A few years ago, we had a lot of smoke from wildfires, which is unusual for Baltimore. I was sorry I left the windows open then.

Do you have to worry about the deer playing in the garden?
Years ago, as I was delivering a 50lb bag of deer food, I had an Amazon customer tell me "The only way to keep the deer from eating my roses was to put out deer food. Not the cheap stuff, it must be the good stuff. Otherwise, they will still eat the roses"
 


I am on the front porch waiting for lunch and then the crew to show at 1. Terry had some last minute grocery sales shopping at one of the stores. It’s a Tuesday only sale and I’m sure it’s for things we actually need!

I randomly pulled a printed out switch list. I didn’t want the 5 crew switch list but that’s the one I pulled, put it back and then grabbed one of the other 2!!! The layout is set up. I did a finger tip clean with a shammy and Isopropyl Alcohol in the papermill and the soon to be gone grain terminal. It’s not going to get any cleaner. I also cleaned the 10 diesels that will be used today. I’m ready and the layout is ready

The Sandhill Cranes are out flying between fields and watering holes (ponds) today. They sure make a loud hawking sound. You always can tell when they are coming. 2 F-35’s flew over also, also majestic birds but they sneak up on you. Then the ground rumbles when they are flying at speed. They were under the cloud cover which is unusual


Edit: 15 minutes later— F35’s are flying an elliptical pattern with not much change in position. This will be the 3rd pass since I originally posted
 
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Good afternoon. It’s overcast and 84.
The Ebay login problem I was bitching talking about a couple of weeks ago seems to have stabilized, and centered on my iPads. Yes, I have two, but that’s a story for another time.
Anyway, Ebay seems to have reverted to allowing me to stay signed in on everything except them. Even my iPhone, which uses the same operating system. And then only when using Safari. If I use Firefox or Chrome, I stay signed in. Luckily, I generally don’t use the iPads other than monitoring what I already purchased.
 
Good morning, all! From the looks of it, most of you are going to have to catch up with Willie, West Texas John and me. We are already in July.
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Interesting! Something for me to do in Hawaii without lots of product besides glue and a blade to haul over!
and shipping back. I can't paint em very well when they're that far away.

This particular group isn't on of the bad ones:

Screenshot 2025-05-13 at 12.23.14 PM.png


They give you one body's assembly in the diagram, then you have to figure out which numbered parts go together for the other three bodies. The numbering is kind of sensible, but not always.

Screenshot 2025-05-13 at 12.24.09 PM.png


This set of sprues is 12 dudes worth. I want 24 of this unit.

I put the bat signal up on the local gaming server. Gamers are usually short of $$ so they'll work cheaply for extra gaming dollars. If it's gaming related. Just don't ask them to flip burgers for same amount.
 
That is a good idea!
Yea, learned that lesson a number of years ago.

It was a very mild spring, and around Memorial day the temps shot up into the 90s for several days. Clicked on the A/C and the outside compressor wouldn't run. Every A/C tech in the area was swamped and we had to wait several days to get it repaired. I now do that with my furnace as well before the seasonal tune-up, so I can have the issues fixed while they are already scheduled to be here.
 
Did my walk. Cold breeze though temp was up to around 54F but the time I got out. The blue streaks had disappeared and it was more overcast than earlier in the morning. With the lack of sun and the breeze it was nippy. I had in shorts, and undershirt, and a (printed) t-shirt.

Time to shower and eat a late breakfast since it’s already after 11am.
 
We have deer and rabbits in abundance. This new setup will be easier on the back and also much more attractive than the old arrangement.

I talked the wife into picking plants off the "deer resistant" species list for her flowers and ornamentals, however.
 
Slept late this AM due to the drugs from the tooth pulling. Better today, still not gonna do coffee til tomorrow but had some mashed potatoes for lunch. 83 and cloudy here, supposed to be in the mid 80s this week with more rain later in the week. Love the RPG painting going on too.
 
Afternoon all,

Unfortunately, no ad blocker as this is my city owned computer (Shhh don't tell anyone I'm here!).

I just thought the ad set was a bit unusual for the site...

On a side note, I'm a bit aggressive on my investments currently as I still plan to work past 67 and bank the SS money. The only piece not functioning in my favor is the annuity portion I did to appease the risk adverse wife. Seems the expenses of that are greater than the interest payments. I'll revisit that on my next visit. I personally have never liked annuities.
 
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We have deer and rabbits in abundance. This new setup will be easier on the back and also much more attractive than the old arrangement.

I talked the wife into picking plants off the "deer resistant" species list for her flowers and ornamentals, however.
We learned real quick that there were 3 plants deer never touched, Bearded Iris, Lavender, and Rosemary. Deer are giant rats and will a decimate a garden & rose bushes fast.
 
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