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The Original O'l Farts Club.

OleReynard

Well-known member
And I've got fire power
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I
 

HempKat

Just A Simple Old Dirt Farmer
Veteran
The best laid plans...

Murphys' law applies :(

My brother has been here on vakay.
Today we head to Detroit for his daughters wedding pix.
He got a call from his bank late yesterday to notify him
that his card was shut down due to 'suspicious' activity.
YAY they were on it but...
How is he now to check out of the hotel?

Luckily, I did not close out my personal line of cred. acct.
at my bank and it is just across the street from his hotel.
Gonna go yank some cash out so I can spring him
from his lodgings.

He was kind freaking out and now, all is well :)

Ever onward.
There are two possibilities, one is that thee bank flagged him because it showed him spending money in a area or state he isn't normally in. My bank does something similar if I go out of state without notifying them first. That's what you might call a false positive on the card and can usually be corrected by calling and confiming the transactions that caused it to get flagged, were in fact legitimate transactions.

The other possibility is that someone did actually steal his identity and got his card info in the process and did make purchases that were not made by your brother. Usually in that case they'll want to replace the card with the replacement being sent to the home address they have on file. The fix to that ideally would be to just go to a branch of the bank and withdraw cash until he can get home and get the new card. If that's not possible because he is visiting at your place and there are no branches of his bank nearby then he should ba able to call his bank, explain the situation and figure away to get the money he needs to get home. If not then he should probably consider switching banks.
 
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HempKat

Just A Simple Old Dirt Farmer
Veteran
I try and use cash as much as I can but we are moving closer and closer to a credit card world. I don't like a debit card because it comes directly out of the bank making it harder to get out loss back.

With a credit card you have the ability to dispute any charges.
With most banks at least the good ones, if it can be established too everyone's satisfaction that it was in fact from identity theft, they'll put the money back in the account. Although you will have to go thru the hassle of replacing the card and if it happens too often they might stop eating the loss. At some point the burden will be placed on you to be more proactive about protecting your card.
 
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SubGirl

Well-known member
Premium user
420club
I too began using cash only about 2.5 years ago.
Paid off all my cards and cancelled all but 1 'emergency' card.
I've saved a fair bit of cash to stash this way also. Swiping is
so easy to make non essential/ spur of the moment purchases (I'm certain that's 'their' plan).
Cash, for me at least, causes pause for thought prior to handing it over.

Brother said that next year he's getting a "Rick Steves" money belt :)

Edit:
Oops I replied to the wrong post ;) lol
Not everyone takes cash around here. It’s like a thing of the past…
 

HempKat

Just A Simple Old Dirt Farmer
Veteran
Digital currency is going to be superseded with crypto/digital government system thus ending the cash game

it is coming
Well if you believe in the Bible, particularly Revelations, they'll soon be marking our forehead and or wrist to still be able to purchase things. Which given technology being what it is now will actually be them impanting some sort of chip or device that can be read thru the skin.
 

SubGirl

Well-known member
Premium user
420club
Your words are all very true and people would look and feel better and be healthier if we could all do that. The problem is that the vast majority of us don't have that strong of discipline unless confroonted with something really bad like a major health crisis or that of a loved one.. Some of us even are unable to be that disciplined when we are confronted with a major health crisis.

The real problem isn't discipline really, we can all manage to exert discipline for short periods if the resullts are fast enough. Even for long periods if the results are slow but we enjoy that which we must do when applying that discipline. So the two main issues are how quick are the results and how fun is that which we must do to obtain those results. Unfortunately most of the best things to do to improve our strength, mobility, fitness and health aren't vparticularly enjoyable and/or the results are particularly quick. Which is why there is a huge billion dollar industry in the health and fitness market. Most of which either try to make things more fun and or faster. Like pills that promise to make you burn fat while you sleep, or crazy diets that promise amazing results in a short period of time and all sorts of exercise routines based on non traditional weight loss activities such as dancing or yoga, or martial arts.

These things do often work for people but the results are short lived because when we acheve our goals we go right back to the things that caused us to need these miracle diets or this disciplined exercise. Maonly because we came to know we had to do something and went for the quickest way to get there if we could just make ourselves stick with it long enough. Not realizing that what we needed to do was make lifestyle changes that we could reasonably stick with for the rest of our lives. I mean some of us can because some actually enjoy going to the gym and working out and or jogging several miles per day. Unfortunately many of us don't enjoy the hard workouts at the gym or jogging several miles per day. Those things are great if you can stick with it and they'll give you the best results if you want to be buff or ripped. In fact if part of what you want is to be buffed or ripped you really need to recognize that there is no way to avoid doing those things dauly for the rest of your life. You're not going to get 6 pack abs just by dieting unless maybe underneath all the excess weight you have 6 pack abs waiting to be set free. If however you just want to lose weight and be healthier then almost anything you enjoy that can keep you actively moving for about 90 minutes can work. if it's something you actually enjoy doing then you don't even need much discipline

Now if you can combine 90 minutes of daily activity along with a sensible diet you can achieve pretty amazing results in a reasonable amount of time. The problem for many though is they don't really enjoy calorie restrictive diets there's just too many things that taste so good that can't be resisted for more then a month or two. What if I told you though that you couldlose weight without cutting out all that stuff you enjoy eating now? See the real key is the 90 minutes of enjoyable activity (the more it makes you sweat the better). The big reason why so many are overweght is because in the last 100 years or so a great many things got easier with one of the biggest being the ability to drive where you want to go rather then walking. I mean go back and look at how people were when they had to walk everywhere. Sure there were horses and carridges but the average person (meaning those who weren't wealthy) couldn't afford to keep those things to use whenever they wanted so they had to walk. Another big difference was that most of the work back then involved more physical labor, so with all that hard work and walking people were burning off more calories. All weight loss really is, is the act of burning off more calories then you consume. Now I know some people will talk about thyroid issues that screw with their metabolism but that mostly hogwash and just excuses people use. There is no medical condition that will cause you to keep or gain weight if you burn off more calories then you consume. Sure they can slow things down but not prevent weightloss.

So here is what you do, first you need to stabize your weight, in otherwards get yourself to the point where your unrestricted consumption of the things you like to eat doesn't cause you to gain even more weight. Once you're at that point your calories burned are roughly equal to the calories you consume. Once you know you're at that point and happy/comfortable where you don't feel deprived of what you enjoy then you need to find that activity you enjoy that you can do daily for at least 90 minutes. be realistic though, it's got to be something that gets your heart rate up. You can't say, "well I like knitting" and expect 90 minutes of daily knitting to cause you to lose weight. However, 90 minutes of walking, dancing, swimming, bicycle riding, sex (although lets face it 90 minutes of sex on a daily bass isnot very realistic, fun yeah but realistic no). The important thing is it must be something you enjoy enough that you can incorporate it into your daily routine for the rest of your life, so choose wisely. If you can stabilize you weight with you normal eating habits but can add 90 minutes of good activity you'll lose weight guarenteed. There is one other important thing, you must continue all the other parts of your daily routine because all of it adds up to you daily calories burned. If your daily rountine is the same you diet the same but you've now added 90 minutes of daily activity, your calories burned will become greater then the calories consumed and you will lose weight.

I know this because I've lived it. There was a point in my life where I was up to 350lbs and I was not happy and wanted to do something about it. I noticedd also that the things I ate wasn't causing me to lose of gain more weight. I'm talking eating things like cheeseburgers, pizza, lasagna, tacos, cake and ice cream, home baked cookies, etc. I mean I also ate healthy things like fruits and vegtables but I didn't stop eating all those things that they tell you are bad for you. So I said okay I need to add a good amount of calorie burning activity and that will cause me to lose weight. So I picked walking, because it was something I liked to do that I could see myself doing daily and stick to it. I started in May and commited to walking 5 miles per day which took me roughly 90 minutes. By October my weight had dropped 75 lbs from 350 to 275. I did nothing else dfferent and I continued to eat all those types of food I mentioned before and the weight came off. Now sure if I cut out a lot of those foods or did something even more strenuous then I would have lost more and probably in less time. My goal was not to achieve something quiclkly but rather get results doing something I could srick with. The only real discipline I had to apply was to not tell myself, "Okay you've been doing good and lose some weight so you can reward yourself by skipping days now and then or y eating more fattening foods." I just kept things the same but added the activity. When I went to the doctors and they did my routine blood work all my numbers were improving my A1c was good, my cholesterol was good,, my kidney functions, my blood pressure, heart rate etc. It was all good and getting better. My doctor was delighted. Then the opioid crisis hit, they took my pain meds away and I could no longer do my 5 mile walk every day. The weight came back, my numbers got worse and all sorts of other negative things I'll not go into detail about.

The point to all this is that all you need to do is find a good activity that you can do daily for at least 90 minutes and you'll see results Now I should point out that at a starting point of 350 I was way above my ideal weight and that's why I achieved 75lbs lost in 6 months. As you get closer to what your weight loss should be it will slow down. Normal healthy weight loss is said to be about 2lbs per week. once you hit that point though you should be so pleased with your results that you'll now want to push yourself more by cutting out some of those fattening foods or adding more strenuius activity.
I feel I just had a workout whew 🤪
 

Goldhedge

Well-known member
The best laid plans...

Murphys' law applies :(

My brother has been here on vakay.
Today we head to Detroit for his daughters wedding pix.
He got a call from his bank late yesterday to notify him
that his card was shut down due to 'suspicious' activity.
YAY they were on it but...
How is he now to check out of the hotel?

Luckily, I did not close out my personal line of cred. acct.
at my bank and it is just across the street from his hotel.
Gonna go yank some cash out so I can spring him
from his lodgings.

He was kind freaking out and now, all is well :)

Ever onward.

Still a pain ....have to get new credit cards. Happened to me more than once!
You can ask them to expedite and it will arrive the next day via UPS.
 

Goldhedge

Well-known member
I too began using cash only about 2.5 years ago.
Paid off all my cards and cancelled all but 1 'emergency' card.
I've saved a fair bit of cash to stash this way also. Swiping is
so easy to make non essential/ spur of the moment purchases (I'm certain that's 'their' plan).
Cash, for me at least, causes pause for thought prior to handing it over.

Brother said that next year he's getting a "Rick Steves" money belt :)

Edit:
Oops I replied to the wrong post ;) lol
Truth is 'their plan' is digital money. I'm sure everyone here knows the Federal Reserve is a private bank cartel that loans the US it's currency at interest?

One might well ask "Why are we borrowing our own money and paying interest on it to a private banking cartel?"

The really cool thing (for them) with all digital money is they can track EVERY purchase and can tax EVERYTHING digitally. That's their 'plan'.

Also, an added benefit is they can turn you off (mark of the beast) if you aren't toeing their line just as numbnuts Trudeau did in Canada when the truckers were peacefully protesting per their Constitutional right. Posting something the government doesn't want you to post and you can't purchase anything....
 
Last edited:

Gypsy Nirvana

Recalcitrant Reprobate -
Administrator
Veteran
Your words are all very true and people would look and feel better and be healthier if we could all do that. The problem is that the vast majority of us don't have that strong of discipline unless confroonted with something really bad like a major health crisis or that of a loved one.. Some of us even are unable to be that disciplined when we are confronted with a major health crisis.

The real problem isn't discipline really, we can all manage to exert discipline for short periods if the resullts are fast enough. Even for long periods if the results are slow but we enjoy that which we must do when applying that discipline. So the two main issues are how quick are the results and how fun is that which we must do to obtain those results. Unfortunately most of the best things to do to improve our strength, mobility, fitness and health aren't vparticularly enjoyable and/or the results are particularly quick. Which is why there is a huge billion dollar industry in the health and fitness market. Most of which either try to make things more fun and or faster. Like pills that promise to make you burn fat while you sleep, or crazy diets that promise amazing results in a short period of time and all sorts of exercise routines based on non traditional weight loss activities such as dancing or yoga, or martial arts.

These things do often work for people but the results are short lived because when we acheve our goals we go right back to the things that caused us to need these miracle diets or this disciplined exercise. Maonly because we came to know we had to do something and went for the quickest way to get there if we could just make ourselves stick with it long enough. Not realizing that what we needed to do was make lifestyle changes that we could reasonably stick with for the rest of our lives. I mean some of us can because some actually enjoy going to the gym and working out and or jogging several miles per day. Unfortunately many of us don't enjoy the hard workouts at the gym or jogging several miles per day. Those things are great if you can stick with it and they'll give you the best results if you want to be buff or ripped. In fact if part of what you want is to be buffed or ripped you really need to recognize that there is no way to avoid doing those things dauly for the rest of your life. You're not going to get 6 pack abs just by dieting unless maybe underneath all the excess weight you have 6 pack abs waiting to be set free. If however you just want to lose weight and be healthier then almost anything you enjoy that can keep you actively moving for about 90 minutes can work. if it's something you actually enjoy doing then you don't even need much discipline

Now if you can combine 90 minutes of daily activity along with a sensible diet you can achieve pretty amazing results in a reasonable amount of time. The problem for many though is they don't really enjoy calorie restrictive diets there's just too many things that taste so good that can't be resisted for more then a month or two. What if I told you though that you couldlose weight without cutting out all that stuff you enjoy eating now? See the real key is the 90 minutes of enjoyable activity (the more it makes you sweat the better). The big reason why so many are overweght is because in the last 100 years or so a great many things got easier with one of the biggest being the ability to drive where you want to go rather then walking. I mean go back and look at how people were when they had to walk everywhere. Sure there were horses and carridges but the average person (meaning those who weren't wealthy) couldn't afford to keep those things to use whenever they wanted so they had to walk. Another big difference was that most of the work back then involved more physical labor, so with all that hard work and walking people were burning off more calories. All weight loss really is, is the act of burning off more calories then you consume. Now I know some people will talk about thyroid issues that screw with their metabolism but that mostly hogwash and just excuses people use. There is no medical condition that will cause you to keep or gain weight if you burn off more calories then you consume. Sure they can slow things down but not prevent weightloss.

So here is what you do, first you need to stabize your weight, in otherwards get yourself to the point where your unrestricted consumption of the things you like to eat doesn't cause you to gain even more weight. Once you're at that point your calories burned are roughly equal to the calories you consume. Once you know you're at that point and happy/comfortable where you don't feel deprived of what you enjoy then you need to find that activity you enjoy that you can do daily for at least 90 minutes. be realistic though, it's got to be something that gets your heart rate up. You can't say, "well I like knitting" and expect 90 minutes of daily knitting to cause you to lose weight. However, 90 minutes of walking, dancing, swimming, bicycle riding, sex (although lets face it 90 minutes of sex on a daily bass isnot very realistic, fun yeah but realistic no). The important thing is it must be something you enjoy enough that you can incorporate it into your daily routine for the rest of your life, so choose wisely. If you can stabilize you weight with you normal eating habits but can add 90 minutes of good activity you'll lose weight guarenteed. There is one other important thing, you must continue all the other parts of your daily routine because all of it adds up to you daily calories burned. If your daily rountine is the same you diet the same but you've now added 90 minutes of daily activity, your calories burned will become greater then the calories consumed and you will lose weight.

I know this because I've lived it. There was a point in my life where I was up to 350lbs and I was not happy and wanted to do something about it. I noticedd also that the things I ate wasn't causing me to lose of gain more weight. I'm talking eating things like cheeseburgers, pizza, lasagna, tacos, cake and ice cream, home baked cookies, etc. I mean I also ate healthy things like fruits and vegtables but I didn't stop eating all those things that they tell you are bad for you. So I said okay I need to add a good amount of calorie burning activity and that will cause me to lose weight. So I picked walking, because it was something I liked to do that I could see myself doing daily and stick to it. I started in May and commited to walking 5 miles per day which took me roughly 90 minutes. By October my weight had dropped 75 lbs from 350 to 275. I did nothing else dfferent and I continued to eat all those types of food I mentioned before and the weight came off. Now sure if I cut out a lot of those foods or did something even more strenuous then I would have lost more and probably in less time. My goal was not to achieve something quiclkly but rather get results doing something I could srick with. The only real discipline I had to apply was to not tell myself, "Okay you've been doing good and lose some weight so you can reward yourself by skipping days now and then or y eating more fattening foods." I just kept things the same but added the activity. When I went to the doctors and they did my routine blood work all my numbers were improving my A1c was good, my cholesterol was good,, my kidney functions, my blood pressure, heart rate etc. It was all good and getting better. My doctor was delighted. Then the opioid crisis hit, they took my pain meds away and I could no longer do my 5 mile walk every day. The weight came back, my numbers got worse and all sorts of other negative things I'll not go into detail about.

The point to all this is that all you need to do is find a good activity that you can do daily for at least 90 minutes and you'll see results Now I should point out that at a starting point of 350 I was way above my ideal weight and that's why I achieved 75lbs lost in 6 months. As you get closer to what your weight loss should be it will slow down. Normal healthy weight loss is said to be about 2lbs per week. once you hit that point though you should be so pleased with your results that you'll now want to push yourself more by cutting out some of those fattening foods or adding more strenuius activity.
Good post HempKat -

For myself - I love to get HIGH -
- as probably everyone does on this website - and at quite an early age - I discovered that I could get REAL HIGH - via physical exercise - the harder I trained - whether it be cycling - running - weight training - martial arts - or whatever physical activity I would do - including sex - the more of a reward and supreme feeling of well being I would get as a reward from my own body - in my own brain 🧠 - from the reward chemicals the brain would produce - AFTER you put the work in to strengthen/improve the fitness of the body or procreate - and that's the hardest part for most people - PUTTING THE WORK IN - oh they love to get high - but without doing any real work - to deserve that high - so they will pay for recreational drugs with money to get high on - without actually working hard physically to attain a much more natural and in my mind superior high - that you have earned thru your own hard work -

Now - over the past half a century or so - I have taken/imbibed just about every so-called recreational drug available - on the open markets on several continents - plus a whole gamut of pharmaceutical drugs - that get you high in some way or another too - and NOTHING COMPARES - or even comes close to the orgasmic high you can get from exhausting yourself physically or sexually (pretty much the same thing) -

For those in doubt - try H.I.I.T. (high intensity interval training) - and the feeling you get after a good session of that -

But - remember this - to really seek and find the highest of natural highs thru exercise - you need to be as fit as you possibly can be first and foremost - so you get higher as you become more fit - but can still taste the high from the get go - even if you are not so fit to begin with - and that's where the 'hook' is - that spurs you to go forward - to work harder - and for longer - as you experience getting higher and higher - thru months and years of physical training -

As for weight loss - as HempKat has stated - that's just about carbs in and carbs out - if you stuff more food/energy into your body than you actually need - it will just be converted to FAT - and you will have to carry around that excess baggage/weight as fat - even if you don't need it - and most people don't - and it will put tremendous stress on your body frame and internal organs - so giving you much pain and a much shorter life -

Back a few thousand years or so ago - or even less - humans were HUNTER GATHERERS - and we hunted for our own meat - and foraged for fruits/vegetables and roots - there was no pasta/rice/bread/flour/processed sugars and foods etc - and we had to work hard physically to keep some sort of food security together - today all most people have to do is lift a finger 👉 and click a mouse - to have carb rich foods delivered to their doors - that make them fat - they don't even have to schlep it from a store any more - no wonder so many lazy-ass people are MORBIDLY OBESE -
 

oldmaninbc

Well-known member
420club
I'm a visual learner. What that means is I don't retain what I 'hear' (it was a real PITA in school). I see it and grasp it. Took me decades to figure this out. I remember in school telling the teacher "I don't 'see' it." so he/she would proceed to 'explain' it to me. A kid doesn't know how to communicate precisely, so it was very frustrating.

My wife is not. She's very organized. She has a filing system and I have a piling system.

I know where stuff is because I put it there. When she 'organizes' my stuff it may as well be hidden. She doesn't know what things (tools) are called so asking her 'Where is xyz?' is futile. I have to search through boxes to find things.

Ah, but she's a real gem!
What you are saying to me has kind of a familiar ring in some ways. My wife decides sometimes to organize things for me(why I don't know) then I can never find them. Especially if she hes reorganized more than once.

Learning is not the same for everyone, it's unfortunate that schooling practices limited learning opportunities.

In BC this year they are no longer giving letter grades or % to students from K-9 it's more of a self evaluation and teacher comments. Grades 10-12 get your typical grading points.
 

Gray Wolf

A Posse ad Esse. From Possibility to realization.
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Still a pain ....have to get new credit cards. Happened to me more than once!
It's happened to me more than once too and some of those times people had stolen my number and were using it illegally, soooo I'm tongue and cheek.

I try and use cash as much as I can but we are moving closer and closer to a credit card world. I don't like a debit card because it comes directly out of the bank making it harder to get out loss back.

With a credit card you have the ability to dispute any charges.
I use my credit card for the same reason but have paid it off monthly since 1980 and have collected air miles and cash rewards.

We have zero debt, and I froze our credit to guard against identity theft. Imagine my surprise when Esperian reported that they were downgrading my credit rating because of an increase in my credit card debt.

Even though our balance was zeroed every month, I use it to pay contractors and Esperian doesn't check remaining monthly balance, they do spot checks, so one month it was around $1K and the next $3K and change when they checked it. That is the number that they use, even though the card is approved for $35K and we have a $200K letter of credit.

It is all a game..........................
 

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