cryptocurrency

Friday Faithfuls & TGIF — A Combined Prompt Response

Fandango21 Comments

Jim Adams has posted another Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Friday Faithfuls prompt and Paula Light, at Light Motifs II, has posted another TGIF prompt. It’s rather late in the day, so I thought I’d combine the two prompts into a single post.

Friday Faithfuls

Jim would like to know our thoughts on cryptocurrency and Bitcoins. He asked, “Did you invest money in this, have you ever used it to purchase anything, or have you ever been asked by a hacker to send this to them? Do you think that cryptocurrency is the future of financial transactions, or do you feel it is just a way for criminals to hide money?”

Well, I actually know very little about cryptocurrency. In fact, I learned more about cryptocurrency from Jim’s post than I ever knew. That said, I have never invested in Bitcoin or any other crypto coin. About four or five years ago my son invested a sum of money in Bitcoins. He didn’t tell me how much, but he did try to persuade me to invest in it as well. I don’t invest in schemes I don’t understand, so I declined. I recently asked my son if he still has Bitcoins and he said he did, but when I asked him if he got a decent return on his investment, but he didn’t want to talk about it, which made me think it didn’t work out that well.

As to Jim’s other questions, I haven’t been asked by a hacker to send Bitcoins. And I would not attempt to predict if cryptocurrency is the future of financial transactions. Hell, I’m still trying to figure out Venmo.

TGIF

For Paula’s prompt, she wants to know if we had a good week, not so good, books, movies, counting steps…? Spill it and link back to my TGIF post, she says.

Actually, I had a very nice week. The weather was clear, dry, and with highs in the mid-sixties, it couldn’t have been more perfect. My wife and I got our annual flu shots with no adverse reactions. We also took a nice, invigorating ride on our ebikes. The stock market had another up week, which has helped replenish my retirement nest egg a bit.

It was also nice to have the house by ourselves and to get back to our routine again after our houseguests left on Sunday. And, because the nights have been so clear, when I walked our dog at around 9 pm, I could clearly see both Jupiter and Mars visible in the night sky with the naked eye. And Mars is definitely the red planet.

So all in all, it’s been a very good week. Thanks for asking, Paula.

And on that note, happy TGIF, everyone.

The Boardinghouse

Fandango9 Comments

Henry had worked hard all his life. He had never married, had no kids, and, due to his modest lifestyle and general frugality, had managed to save around a hundred grand for his retirement, which was fast approaching.

Then he met a guy who knew a guy who was a financial wizard. Henry was introduced to this financial wizard, who chastised Henry for keeping his hard-earned savings in a low-interest bank account. “You need to put your money to work for you,” the financial wizard told him. “I can double your money in a year,” he assured Henry.

Henry was never much of a gambler or a risk taker. Still, this guy was a financial wizard. His tales of exponential growth in the stock market, investments in something called “futures,” and in “cryptocurrency,” whatever that is, were compelling. It all sounded very exciting to Henry. He’s a financial wizard, Henry thought. He must know what he’s talking about.

And so Henry handed over most of his hard-earned savings to this financial wizard.

That was three years ago. Henry’s money did not double in a year. It disappeared. As did the financial wizard and the guy who knew a guy. And now Henry, retirement postponed, lived in a rundown boardinghouse with five other forlorn families, all sharing a communal kitchen and single bathroom.

This was not how it was supposed to be, Henry thought.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “communal.”