Faith Walks - Revamp

     I decided after 15 years to revamp the book that needed to be revamped the most. I mean, don't get me wrong, all of my books need, and will go through an entire revamp using AI to correct grammar, spacing, spelling, etc., but there are a couple of my books that I could not redo or get access to because I couldn't find the correct files. That was the case with Faith Walks, about 10 years ago when I wanted to fix it. I couldn't expect the original publisher (Xlibris) to help. They wouldn't send me the file back, and even if they did, I realized it was most likely in PDF format, and I already had that.

    I wasn't aware (either out of technological ignorance or just not thinking it through) that I could change the PDF format back into a Word document. I hadn't saved it as a Word document back then. I thought that was it after I published it. I must have deleted it - and there you go - gone.  In 2023, I was able to force Xlibris to give me the file when I formally closed my account with them, but it was, as I suspected, a PDF file -- I didn't know I could change it until this week. 

    So today, I uploaded the PDF, used Word to convert it back into a Word document, and used AI to make changes. Boy howdy! Let me just say that literally every single page needed to be redone. I didn't have as many mistakes as I thought, but the way I said things and the lack of punctuation were just amazing. I used "like" instead of "as" about a million times. I didn't hyphenate correctly on just about any word combination, like second-grade or well-deserved. I just didn't. So if you're lucky enough to have one of the old books, and you buy the new one, you'll see that I took out the Memorial page and added an Author's Note page. (two pages)

    The book doesn't have space between paragraphs, which is how I write, but because it was originally set up that way, I didn't change that. I did remove two lower-quality photos. I added one, plus a short blurb about Faith's passing and an update for our family. It's been 15 years!! Copeland was literally a baby when the book was published. He'll get his driver's license in about 5 months! Wow...just wow!!

    I've uploaded it, and it will be approved tomorrow and back on sale on Amazon after that. I've not changed the Kindle yet. I still don't know whether I will need to pay for that service. I thought I would have to pay to change the books, but the last two books I've changed or revamped have gone up without me being asked to pay their $25 fee. I'm not arguing with it. If they don't want to charge me, I won't volunteer.  I just hope it goes off without a hitch.

    This book is up, and Murder Book has been revamped. I'll do one or two this week, and keep up the process until they're all redone. I'm starting with the ones someone else edited, then I'll get to my own. Most of the books will be the ones I edited, and I've already regretted doing it without AI's help. I need AI. I mean, you just can't find your own mistakes, but AI can! Let me say that out loud! AI can find things I never realized I said. I can read it three or four times and not catch it, then see it when I apply the corrector -- damn.

    So, there you go - things are getting redone, and that makes me happy. If someone is spending money to read one of my books, they don't need a bunch of misspellings, bad punctuation, or wordy sentences that could be reworded to meet standard novel-writing standards. Sometimes I disagree with the AI, but not as often as I agree with it. I'm amazed at how many small points I missed. I'll give you one more example: I said "so" when the word "still" would have been better. It could be a Southern thing, but the more acceptable thing was to start the sentence off with "Still".

    Even now, you'll never see how many issues AI helped me fix just inside this one blog!

Photo Credit:  Google Play

Explaining the Trade

     OK, fine, I'll explain the trade and why I decided to take a Bearish short SELL rather than a Bullish long Buy position. First, you can make money in the market in an upward trend and in a downward trend. You have three market moves to watch: the upward trend, the downward trend, and trend consolidation. Most of the time, the market isn't moving up or down; it's battling between buyers and sellers out there in the ether, where you can't see them doing their thing. You only see the results after a candlestick prints.

    Candlesticks are either green (bullish) or red (bearish); green ones show the market (or price of something) is going up, and red ones indicate it's going down. When the sticks are shorter and they tend to hover around the same spot, that's consolidation. It's a very general overview, of course, but for explaining this trade, it makes sense.

    I use two "indicators" when I trade. I also "box" out my trade before I trade each day, and I only trade when the dots connect, the conditions are right, and the indicators confirm whether a trade is worth entering. I'll try to explain, but again, you can't learn the entire game in one session. I can't tell you how many times my big cousin Gene smashed me at Chess before I finally figured it out, but by my 12th birthday, we could play and I could come close to winning. By my 16th birthday, he had an opponent!  Things take time.

    Look at the chart. There is an obvious DOWNWARD trend in the EUR/GBP (Euro vs. the British Pound). I boxed the trade, meaning at 8:00 a.m. I turned on the computer, opened TradingView and Oanda, made sure I was on the DEMO account (not a live account), and set my time frame to 15 M. I drew a big purple box around everything the market did from 3:00 a.m. until then. I raised the top of the box to the top of the tallest candle, and the bottom to the bottom of the lowest candle. That is the box. That shows me where the market was and has been for 5 hours. This is the time when the New York Market opens, and the London Market is about midday. They've all but stopped, but the NY market is just getting started.

    If price moves out of that box on the next 2 or 3 candles while I'm watching the 15-minute time frame, above or below it, I watch the next candle to see where it goes, whether it strengthens or weakens the trade, and I keep watching. Now, however, I switch my gaze to the indicators I use. I use the RSI at the bottom to show me where the market is being pulled; the numbers vary, and it would take a while to explain, but if they're between 30 and 50, I'm ready to strike. They have to be closer to 40 before I pull the trigger on a sell (Bear), and closer to 48-52 before I buy (Bull).

    The EMA is the exponential moving average; it tells you what the last 50 candlesticks have done. You can lower it if you like, or raise it, but I keep mine at 50. The line is a ribbon that drapes over, at, and under the price, and where it is matters before you buy or sell. If the line is above price, you can sell. If it is below price, you can buy. If it is stationary at price, you need to wait - it gets tricky, but this is a general rule. Of course, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions when the market changes literally every nanosecond of the day.

    I saw the market trending down and staying in that trend. I watched the RSI and saw that it was hovering in the 30-50 range. I also saw the EMA above the candlesticks, and it kept bouncing off them, so I had to wait for buyers and sellers to show who was in control. Then, just before I hit the drawing tool to set up my trade, before I hit the SELL button to secure it, there was one more thing to consider: SPREAD.  The ask price and bid price differ; that difference matters. It can make you lose more than you want immediately, putting your trade at risk even if all the other conditions seem favorable. Check the damn spread.

    The spread between the ask and bid shouldn't be more than 20-22 pips, and yes, we'll have to go over pips soon too. You're not actually trading right now, so trust me when I say you'll need to make sure the ASK and BID bars on the right side of the screen are only about 20-22 digits apart. When they are closer than 22, HIT THE TRADE BUTTON!  I hit the sell button and made sure my risk was in the right place. Again, it's another lesson on what risk-to-reward is and how much of your account you should risk. I only risk 1% of my account on each trade. I'm not trying to become a millionaire, and I'm not loose or crazy; I'm being practical and frugal. I treat this as if it really is my actual job.

    When the risk of the trade is 1% of your account, and my account is $92,000 (fake money) I am literally putting $920 on the line hoping that my calculations are correct, and that the market is going to do what I want it to do. I set the drawing tool at 1:1.4, meaning that if I do win, I win more than I lose. I will win $1288 if price shoots outside my target range, and I will only lose $920 if it shoots out the other side. HOWEVER...I watch my trades, and the moment I see it going south, losing me too much before it pops back into the green, I am likely to stop the trade and call it quits. If the lower time frames show the market is reversing, I will stop the trade.

    That being said, I won't stop it immediately. I give it a few candlesticks on the lower time frames to see whether momentum is truly moving away or will spring back in my favor. You trade at a higher time frame, then use the lower ones to gauge the market and its tendency to flex. It can go either way. There is no set pattern. There is no forgiveness. The market is a live, flowing river of pushing and pulling, and there will be no single second of security, only trend. If it is trending and seemingly holding that trend, you have a good shot at making the trade work in your favor.

    That's what happened with this trade. I saw it. I took screenshots with my snippit tool and showed ChatGPT what I wanted and my goals. ChatGPT came back and warned me about getting in too soon, explained why, said what the RSI and EMA were likely to do, and literally saved me from entering too soon about 11 times. Finally, when the numbers matched what could be a good chance, I entered. I watched, I waited, and I won -- but if I had left it alone and gone to lunch or something, I would have lost!  When the lower time frames started to say it was reversing, I got out.

    As it turned out, the market did reverse, then it came back to trail down a bit more, but since I was up $675.00 out of the $1,288 I could have won, I closed it. I closed it and walked away. My goal each day is $400, so after losing $117 earlier in the day and winning a $3.00 trade because I didn't use the right risk-to-reward, I decided ending at $675.00 was the best move. I am happy, and I get to put a big gold star on my calendar. It was a good green day in the world of Trading with Jude!

Photo Credit: TradingView

The Trading Post.

     OMG... maybe I should start a new blog just for trading. I'll think about that as I progress. I'm not sure many people would be very interested in hearing how I scream at ChatGPT for giving me information that's incorrect, unthought-out, or completely misses the point I'm trying to make. Some would say, and probably be right, that the problem isn't ChatGPT at all, but me. I can concede, but in the middle of my tantrum, it wouldn't be a good time to point that out to me; trust me.

    I started a free trading account with Oanda and began trading about two weeks ago, but I wasn't sure what I was doing and just couldn't connect all the dots. I gave myself until today (meaning yesterday) to draw a line in the sand, making it exactly two weeks of training, and then I began trading for real.  I began with $92,000.00, (again free fake money on a demo account) a fresh start, and so much more knowledge than I had two weeks ago.

    Before you think, "Wow, she lost $8000 in two weeks," you would be wrong. I lost it in about 2 days. I was up, doing most things correctly, then I decided to take a chance on what is called a non-traditional pair, which wasn't that non-traditional; I wasn't trying to trade rubles for lira.  I was trading USD/JPY, the U.S. Dollar against the Japanese Yen. It wasn't the same as trading a traditional pair like EUR/USD. Even the reverse, the USDEUR, is considered a non-traditional pair.

    At one point I traded them against each other, which means if you win both you do well, but if you lose both you double your trouble, and in some cases, because the spread was so much higher on the USDEUR than it was on the EURUSD, I would have lost a great deal more. I got out of them both before they could close and strip me further. I did lose on both, but not as much as I could have; being able to watch or monitor the trades, rather than simply setting a stop loss and moving on, is the saving grace.

    Don't get me wrong, I still set a stop loss; I'm not stupid. I don't want to lose more than I need to, but I will move it if I think the market will reverse after a quick spike in the opposite direction. I've been stopped out at least a dozen times because I saw the candlestick but didn't see the wick until after it closed, and damn -- out!   Oh well, knowing when to move the chains is part of the game, and if it is actually your business, then yeah, you're supposed to work that entire time and keep a good eye on the results. Know your game.

    Today was supposed to be my first two-trade day. Now I allow myself only two trades a day to see if I can hit my goal of $400 a day.  I figure if I'm making $400 a day for 20 trading days a month, I'm bringing in about $8,000, so if I'm up in the middle of the month, I may just pay myself and keep trading, allowing the rest of the money I've earned to stay in the pot and grow the account. That sounds like a good plan. My actual goal is to earn $400 a day and pay myself only $2000 a month, letting the rest compound. 

    With Laura working and me paying myself a little, we can still do what we need; I can focus on trading, get better and better at it, and never have to go back to regular work again. It's a lofty goal, but absolutely attainable. I just have to get the real live active account up to $50,000.00 first so I can do this -- and that's where Jesus takes the reins. I have a plan, and it's a good plan, but I know His plans are greater, His ways are better -- I'll wait. Just like a good trader waiting on a reason to enter -- I'll wait.

    Today did not turn out to be a two-day trade. My computer was lagging, we had internet issues, and the online demo account canceled me 3x for either setting the wrong numbers or leaving the take profit and stop loss toggles on when they should be off. I accidentally set two limit trades instead of market trades, had to get out of those, and by the time I was ready to go back to a market trade, I had lost momentum on one of them. I was furious!

    But in the end, I had 3 active trades today. I won two and lost one because I had to close when I miscalculated. I lost $117, which, if that had happened in real life and I had lost $117 in less than 1 minute, I'd be really upset with myself. The key is not to be. Not to be upset. You can't trade if you're emotional or chasing the $$$. You can't; it will never work for you. So, in one trade, because I had the numbers completely too low, I won, but I only won $3.00!! In the other one, the one I did correctly, I won $675!  So, all in all, at the end of my trading day today, at 12:13 p.m., after working less than 4 hours, I earned $561 (fake money).

    Gold star day!! I'm going to get a little book with a calendar in it and mark off my green and red days...maybe buy some gold stars, and really treat myself. If I win, I get a candy bar! If I lose, I don't get a candy bar, and that could be devastating for me; enough to make sure I never lose. Some things in life are actually worth fighting for.

    There you have it, today, my first real pretend day without giving myself too many passes, I earned $561, and I will indeed enjoy that Milky Way bar. I have a rule about them too; only the fun size will do. I'm not going to pull out the full-sized bars daily, which is how many times I think I will win. I could lose a trade every day and still make my goal by winning a trade every day. I just have to cover the $400 spread that I want every day, so if I lose $500 but win $900, I'm good.  It's a really fun way to work; I hope I can do this full time soon.

    Some people trade all day. Some people trade all markets. I trade early in the NY market, usually from 8:30 to 10:00, and watch the trades grow or fall between 10:00 and 12:00 -- after that, the day is over for me. If I haven't won, sure, I'll linger to see what happens, or if I can pick something up, but your chances go way, way down as the day goes on. I trade Forex, by the way, not stocks, not gold, not Bitcoin. I only trade Forex. If you're interested in how it works and what you could do to learn it, I would suggest giving yourself a full year and searching YouTube for "The Trading Channel" with Steven Hart. He's good.

    There are dozens, if not hundreds, of other trainers, and they are usually good-natured and mean well. They really want you to do your best, but I think Steven breaks it down the easiest for me anyway, and after I learned the basics, I started with a free online DEMO account from Oanda and use TradingView as my platform. I trade on TradingView, and I use ChatGPT on the side to show it what I'm thinking of doing and see what it thinks. It's right most of the time, but let me say this: you can't rely on it, NO, YOU CANNOT!  Let your own brain do the work, but having the AI reiterate what I think I know, or correct this or that, has been very helpful.

    The hard part? Figuring out the RSI, the EMA, and the SPREAD, finding the entry point isn't that hard, but pulling the trigger isn't just about making a sell or buy trade; there has to be a reason. The numbers have to line up across the chart, not just in the candlesticks. You'll learn. It really does take a full year to get it all inside your brain; I'm glad I waited and that I'm using a fake account to work out all the bugs.

    This is the trade I won today. I closed it short because I could see that it was about to reverse. I earned $675 instead of $920, but I could have lost $$ too if I had just set the stop loss and gone to lunch. Nope, I watched it, closed it, and called it a day.

Back to Coffee -- Well, Half Back.

     Today, and honestly, I think I should say, I started drinking coffee again yesterday. It has been one solid year since I was a "coffee drinker". I sold my fancy espresso machine, and I gave away my little drip machine as well. I wasn't drinking coffee, so I didn't need it. I gave away the 1/2-pound bag of Peet's and about 40 or 50 pods because if I wasn't going to drink it, someone else could at least enjoy them. That was my thought process.

    Around this time last year, I discovered drinking mushroom coffee, and after trying about four different brands, I chose Yege because it didn't have chaga mushroom in it. I know I'm not an expert, but I did some research, and chaga has properties that can cause or worsen kidney issues. I mean, there have to be underlying issues, I believe, but I didn't want to risk it. No chance at all, whatsoever, none. I have had kidney stones, and I do not like them. No!

    Well, there were three reasons I decided to go without coffee, and the first is one everyone already knows: it has caffeine. I had already dropped from full caffeine to half caffeine, then even tried full decaf, and it just never stuck. I did try it, and Green Mountain was the best I had found, but it wasn't tasty, try as I may, and I did try.  

    The second reason was the cost. For some reason, I thought I might be spending more on coffee than on mushroom coffee, and, honestly, it was too close to call. I paid about $17.50 a bag for Yege and got 24 cups of coffee out of it, or I could pay $17.50 for 24 pods of coffee and get about the same. Now, if I'm buying ground coffee, then coffee wins every time, and there was no challenging that - it was a fact.

    The third reason was that mushroom coffee makers were swearing up and down that drinking mushroom coffee would be better for my waistline and my mental state. This was a big draw for me, but again, as with most things, that too was a myth!  I didn't lose a single pound, and I was no more focused with mushroom coffee than with regular coffee. Both have all the antioxidants I need and want. Both have the polyphenols that I want and need -- so it's a wash!

    About a month ago, I bought a little coffee maker for about $20 on Amazon. It makes one cup at a time, and that's all I need. I can empty a pod or scoop in ground coffee; I have pods now, so that's the route I'm taking. It's been two days, just two, and I already know I'm going to stick with the coffee and do the mushroom coffee occasionally; both have 40-50 mg of caffeine, so neither will be drunk after 11:00 a.m.  Fully decaffeinated coffee has about 4 mg of caffeine, much less, and I'm OK with the half-caff. (Again, Green Mountain tastes great and is a really good value.)

    So, there you have it -- another time-tested experiment, and this time I can honestly and genuinely say I stuck with it; I gave it a year. I put all the research, time, effort, and money into it, but in the end it was just a wash; nothing changed, nothing stood out, and it wasn't worth the effort, but at least now I fully know, and can verify, that I put in the time. I waited ONE full year, and I think I discovered that organic this or that doesn't work for me either. I tried an organic decaf blend about a month ago. I tried two brands - both bad. Nope, I'm going for the cheaper one, but I tried Green Mountain again, and I'm giving it a thumbs-up.

    Maybe in a month or so, or maybe, I don't know, for my birthday, I'll buy a better coffee pot. I don't need it, but some things just find their way into my house, like the two feral kittens that happened to find their way in two weeks ago, and no, they haven't left. One is older than the other, but I bet they're related. Laura has her hands full with them; I'm just trying to live my life as peacefully as possible, and I think settling the whole should I drink coffee again issue is done!

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com

In the Market - Sort of.

     So, I'm trading again, not with my own money, but with fake demo money from Oanda. I'm using the TradingView platform and practicing...practicing. I'm completely lost one moment and know where I am the next, so I have to get back to the point where I am no longer confused. I will open a buy or sell trade and change my mind about the stop loss, and when I do I don't know if I've activated my new stop loss or not. I get scared and close the position to avoid a loss, which is dumb since it's a demo account.

    Nevertheless, the first rule about pretending that you're trading is to treat it like it's real, so if you don't know, you don't know, and it's better to cut bait than to swim with the sharks. Since I'm using fake money, this is a good time to tell you that when I do get back into it for real, I'll use a prop firm to trade for the first month or so. It's a way to use other people's money, so I don't lose my own.  I'll explain.

    Prop firms, sometimes banks, sometimes other people with enough to lend, will let you trade with their money if you can prove you know what you're doing. You apply, pay their fee to evaluate your abilities, then trade on a fake account until you earn $8000 or lose $3000, whichever comes first. If you win the $8000, they let you keep it; if not, you lose your fee, but you learn a valuable lesson: don't pay someone a fee to use their money unless you're damn sure you can earn before you lose.

    The market is unforgiving, and it doesn't care. It doesn't care who you are; it doesn't care whether you'll win or lose. It is what it is, and that is the market. Price is what price is, and you either accept it, or you die really fast in the game. That's it: trading isn't a game; it's a very real thing. The best thing you can do is practice using strong, disciplined strategies. Your risk management is your key; it's your bread and butter, and it's your anchor to hold onto! You don't trade if your risk management conditions aren't met.

    People fall into two very distinct categories when it comes to trading. Some think they know everything; others realize they don't. I'm in the smarter category, the ones who realize we don't know everything; you can't. The market is unpredictable, and it moves the way it moves, so guessing where it will land is never a good option. If you diligently have a working strategy, the best you can hope for is around a 65% win ratio. Believe me, a 65% would be wonderful! I'm hovering around 52% now, and I need to get to about 55% before I feel comfortable using real money.

    My strategy was developed after watching a few really good investors who have their free workshops on YouTube. I haven't joined their paid subs yet, and I hope I don't have to. I may end up doing that when I pay for the Prop, but if I can get away with making 2 or 3 trades a day and hit my minimum, I'll stick to it and let the others pass me by. I am not in it to become the next Warren Buffett - I'm OK being exactly who I am.

    My plan works so far, and if it keeps working, I'll share it with anyone and everyone so they can follow the same plan, but I don't want to put it out there until I've done it at least 100 times and can say it works. That means for the next 99 days I'll keep records diligently so I can do it correctly, without feeling like I'm lying to myself or anyone else.  I'll report my findings on or near January 15, 2027. That's 100 days since I started this path.

    I've been testing this path for a few days, but I officially started it yesterday, and it worked then and this morning. I may keep you posted every week as to how I'm doing, but I won't tell you the method until I've done it 100 days in a row and can say with confidence that I have a 55% win ratio -- by that time, I may have my own money, or I may be able to do a prop firm turn and use someone else's money, but for now, I'm going to assume I'm using Oanda's demo account. It's $100,000 and they automatically leverage me at 50X so I'm only really spending $20.00 per trade - again a fake $20.

    Today's wins and losses? Both wins: I traded EUR/USD and USD/CAD for wins. I began practicing away from the official scoreboard and lost 4 and won 2. I won't keep track of those because they are later in the day, and my plan is to trade only very early in the morning, picking up as the London market transitions into the NY market. You can trade 24/7 from 5:00 EST on Sunday to 4:00 EST Friday, but you're in the Australian and Asian markets until 3:00 a.m. EST, when you hit London, and 8:00 EST for the NY market M-F. There is no trading on Saturday and Most of Sunday.

    If you want to watch a few YouTubers that I trust, you can go to THE TRADING CHANNEL with Steven Hart and JOOVIERS GEM with Josiah Stewart. Both are really great.  It is free, free, free to get involved, and won't cost you anything to learn and practice. It's 100% worth the fun and learning experience, but if you don't have patience, you'll never get good at it, and it will eat you alive faster than you can spit!  (no matter how fast or slow you spit) The market is NO PLACE to play.

    It is NOT gambling - you need to know that. You are not throwing money at it; you're not risking without knowing what you're risking, and if you don't have an exit plan, you should never hit the buy/sell button -- you are in control of that. It's a business, a real business, and it must be treated as such. Do people go crazy? Yes, they do. Do people succeed? Yes, they do. It's a law-of-large-numbers thing; you must be patient, use your own strategy, and manage your own risk. You'll learn what's best for you, and you'll either control it or let it control you -- simple as that...and as difficult as that.

    If I were actually trading the money I fake-traded today, I would have earned (not won) $2400.00 in one hour. It does not and will not happen every hour -- it's not like that. Many pairs never get into a buy/sell position worth opening, and if they don't, you don't! That's the thing. You only enter if the conditions are right to do it -- they were for me, so I entered the two trades, both before 9:00 a.m., and they were done by 9:12 a.m.  I'll let you know how it goes and if the strategy works -- I think it will.

Photo Credit: Me. This was my win trade today.

Beetle Mania...I Have It.

     Back in the day, way, way back, sometime around the first day of Kindergarten, which for me was in 1967 (I was 5, almost 6), I fell in love with the Volkswagen Beetle, and no one would ever, and no one has ever, come between me and my car. I have owned a number of them on paper. I would buy them, register them, have them fixed, and I'd drive them out to California to sell because I knew I could literally get 3x as much for them as I could in Oklahoma. This was me, several years past my Kindergarten years, but I knew then, and I continue to believe, that the Volkswagen Beetle is God's gift to the automobile world.

    I sold 11 cars that way - one wasn't a Beetle at all; it was a 1968 Kharman Ghia, and that in and of itself is a story worth an entire blog. I not only sold it for 4x what I could have gotten in Oklahoma, but it wasn't really running that well when I sold it. My parents had to send my brother out to Arizona to save me when I broke down for the 4th time along the way. When I did sell it, my parents put it on the back of their flatbed and drove it out for me so Mom could see the ocean!

    I'd buy a Bug for around $1000, have it fixed for around the same, and end up selling it for $6000, sometimes as much as $7500. It took 2 days to drive out to L.A. from Oklahoma City, and I could catch a red-eye back for literally $99. When in L.A., I had several places to stay, including a mansion in Beverly Hills that I occasionally watched. I'd let them know I was coming out, and off I went - never once worrying too much about too much.

    There's a really wild and crazy story to tell about that Ghia, but it's not the time for it. This blog is about my new car! That's right, I'm planning to buy myself a Bug, and this time, unlike 10 out of the 11 other times, I'm keeping it. I did keep one of my Bugs: Sir Gub Elteeb, a 1968 white 12-volt, 1600 cc Bug with rusted floors, no seat belts, and a rattling noise I could never pin down. He was awesome!!

    I'm at the point in my life where I think I deserve, and know I want, another VW Bug. This time, unlike all the other times, it's me who will be spending way, way too much on it, but there's a good, solid, realistic reason. I'm going to get one that is not only street-worthy, but has been run through a fine-toothed mechanical comb, and it will have as few issues as possible for a 55- to 60-year-old car.

    If I could customize it, I'd make sure it was another 1968, white, 1600 cc, 12-volt air-cooled Bug, but there are so many really good ones out there that are already painted, and I can't see myself spending $3000 for a new paint job if I don't need to. I could; that's not the issue, but if I don't need to, I won't. Still, my heart is stuck on my old memories, and Gub was, in fact, my dream car. I'm chasing a dream from 1986 when I had to let him go.

    Lately, I've been looking on Hagerty, Streetside Cars, eBay, and a few other well-known sites to find the right car. I'm looking at this stage, I won't buy for another minute or two. I am waiting for the right time. It's coming, but it's not here just yet. I'm going over every inch of the cars I like and taking notes on what I like about this one or that one, and if the one I find doesn't have that feature, I'll see whether adding it would be too much. If not, I'll add it. For instance, I love the wide painted wheels and rims—I want a pool ball for a shifter knob, but I don't know whether I want a red glittery ball or an 8-ball.

    I know I like the lined cages that go over the headlights, but I don't like the eyelids or the crazy "flower power" accents some of the Bugs have.  I like standard mirrors, not the swan-necked mirrors. I like the wider chrome bumpers in front and back.  I like the taller seats in front with good padding, and I'll have to customize the accelerator pedal to be about 1" shorter than the standard - they're too long and get stuck. (not fun)

    I could get a project car and spend $10,000 fixing it, but I think I want one that is already done. I want one that has already gone through the mill and come out the other side smelling like the rosebud it is. I don't want issues. I want a very classic ride that I can enjoy driving around town and listening to the putter-putter splat of the engine. I swear, that sound could rock me to sleep. I need to see if I can record it and play it on loop at night instead of the ocean waves I listen to.

    I found a red Bug that had all the bells and whistles I wanted, and the owner was funny; in her description, she said the car had a slight oil leak, but it could be fixed with bubble gum. You have to know to know—I laughed. I really wish I had the money to put out today for the Bug because her friend would become mine.  It won't be much longer—hopefully before Christmas, but if not, I'm patient. I can wait.  (I mean, I've waited since 1986, right?)

    In High School, everyone wanted a muscle car. I graduated in 1979, and nearly every girl wanted a Cutlass Supreme, and every boy wanted a 442, Camaro, Mustang, or GTO. I wanted a Bug. I just wanted my little Bug. My first car wasn't one; it was, in fact, a 1977 Chevy Monza, because my dad didn't share my passion for German engineering. Eventually, not too long after I graduated, I bought the first one - then the next, then the next, then the next - and off I went off into the sunset, selling bugs, not drugs, and making good money.

    But now - that life is not for me. I will buy one, keep it, love it, and garage it. I will spoil it and give it the best life possible. Who knows, maybe we can grow old together. We both have a pretty good start.

Photo Credit: Streetsideclassics.com 

    

I May Have Retired. (Not Sure)

     I learned today that I may have retired. I say that with my tongue against my cheek, but at the same time, it may be true. I worked for over two and a half years for a claims management company as a remote employee. I worked from home, meaning I wore my pajamas most days, but I was nice enough (and professional enough) to wear a decent T-shirt in case we were asked to be on camera.  I was happy about the arrangement even if I wasn't completely thrilled about waking up earlier than I prefer. I'm not really a grouch, but sleeping in has its benefits and its comforts.

    Well, I was terminated from my job, as I mentioned in my last blog. I was literally let go for reasons that would baffle the mind(s) of anyone with a moral compass. I won't go into it because I don't want anything I say online to hurt my chances of regaining what is truly mine through the impending legal action that is imminent. I was wronged, and instead of being really mean, nasty, or loud about it, I'll let the lawyers do what they do. I did what I did for years, and they can do what they do without my interference.

    Today, I went through my bank accounts and did the math on my immediate, near, and future-future. I'll be OK. I will likely announce an official retirement in the future, maybe after the first of the year, but I think I may have stumbled quite unexpectedly into my personal retirement from working in Corporate America. It may not be true; I may be persuaded to go back if the conditions are favorable, but I think it may have happened - and I'm not upset about it.

    Obviously, when someone steps away from employment at the end of their working years, they've either set themselves up for success, or they've stored away a bit of cash or assets to make their golden years more comfortable. I'm one of those who made significant plans long ago, and while I may not be on the same tier as others, I feel confident in moving forward with the cards I have been dealt. Any financial gain from the company will be nice; it will add to the mix.

    Beginning next week, after I rest a few days, I'll start Forex up again, but this time with a more serious tone. I'll need to retune myself and practice for a month or so on the demo account until I'm back up to the 55% win ratio I enjoyed before I went back to work, but I think this could be it. I have the books, of course, and I'll keep priming the pump to promote them. They are a smaller source of income, but one that has been steady enough. Maybe with a bit more promotion, or maybe a really juicy book about corporate corruption, I can hit a new high in sales!

    When the world hands you lemons, remember who made those delicious treats in the first place: Jesus!  If it weren't for Him, I would be so far out in left field, even the Savannah Bananas couldn't find me. Jesus is so very good. He is so very good - and He is so very good to me.  I know all about heartbreak, heartache, heartburn, and heartfelt thoughts. I've had them all. He has been with me the entire time, and He's led me to an understanding that I don't have to seek revenge; that's for Him. I only have to be still and let Him do what He does best.

    "Be still and know that I am God"  (Psalms 46:10) is so much deeper than most think.  The very essence of the first word, "be," is eternal. You must exist to be. You can't be on your own, or by your own doing. We are all being literally every second of every moment. We are; therefore, we "be".  The next word, "still", that's the hard one. I can be all day, but to remain still and do nothing - that's the challenge. The next part is the promise: if I am still, I can then KNOW that HE is God. He is God not because I believe; He is God because He is God.

    So, if I go back to work, or if I write, I am being. If I work, I can still do Forex, and I am being. While I am being, I will rest in Him. I will pray and ask Him for His guidance, His mercy, and His way, because I suck at ways. I suck really bad at ways. I found myself so relaxed yesterday after realizing it had come to a close, and nothing tied me to that company except good memories of some of the wonderful people I worked with and met through my employment. But being unconnected doesn't mean I won't continue to pursue what is rightfully mine - because I am... 100%.

    I've not woken up to an alarm clock in a week now. I like that. I've rested, I've calmed down. No one is complaining to me about anything, really. I don't feel the need to fix this or that for anyone who may or may not owe the company money. It's the company that now owes me. I did my part. I'll sit back and practice being still. It's the least I can do, and it comes with the most benefits; strange, but true.

Photo Credit: USA Today

AND...the Winner is....TEXAS RANGERS!!

     I have a friend at work who is a HUGE L.A. Dodgers fan. He's a real die-hard, and he even once lived in Los Angeles and was a big-time game-goer. From time to time, he'll plan a trip to L.A. to see relatives, but always around a game or two, so he can see the players in person. That is true loyalty, true fanship, and I just never really had it. I never did - but it's also never too late to start! (I won't be over the top, I promise.)

    So, I wanted to pick a team - one that meant something to me. I was a Padres fan back in the day only because a friend of mine played for them. He and I went out a few times, and he was recruited right out of college. He played ball at Oklahoma, and let me just say, if I had driven more, maybe hung out with the man a few more times, I too could have moved to San Diego in the mid-80s, and my life would have been so very different; I assure you.

    Then, sometime around 1990, and for no reason whatsoever, I decided that Chicago was the way to go.  I was married at the time, and my husband was a White Sox fan, so I wore the jersey, and I really tried to pretend I liked them, but I just couldn't get past their past. I didn't like what I knew - and the Cubs were a much cuter mascot; you have to admit that. So, the Cubs it was. That lasted a good 15 years, but again, I was never really into it. I would watch; I would say, "Yeah! Go Cubs!" but I couldn't tell you a single player, or if they were in the playoffs - nothing. When they won the whole thing in 2016 -- I knew, and I smiled. First time to win in 108 years! You gotta smile.

    Well, that was then - again, another 10 years of so, and I've not even given baseball much thought at all. I'm not saying I've given football any thought, and certainly not soccer or basketball. I just haven't. I'm writing, I'm reading, I'm thinking, I'm doing stuff, but I'm not sporting - just not doing it. What I decided to do, in order to have something to do and to be sharing the experience with a co-worker who, like me, is old, is to be a fan of a team that isn't the L.A. Dodgers because I've absolutely never liked them or the Yankees, but to pick a team that means something to me - a team closer to home, and I don't care if the team I chose starts with TEXAS -- I'm not into the pretense of the big Red River Rivalry anymore.  (I actually love the State of Texas!)

    I chose the Rangers. I didn't just throw a dart and say I'll be a Ranger fan; no, it is much deeper than that. We have the Royals in Kansas City; they're a great team. We have other close-enough teams, but the Rangers were named for the famed and fantastic law enforcers who simply take my breath away! I have and will always be a true Texas Ranger fan - the cowboy lawman more than the baseball player. I'll wear the shirt, I'll root for them, and when Scott P and I talk, I'll try to keep up with his side of the conversation by at least knowing whether or not my team has won -- or even played! (Research is my middle name)

    The Texas Rangers! I can get behind that. I love the colors: Red, white, and blue. I love the area -- central north Texas. I know the real lawmen wear Stetsons, boots, and badges, but I'll be OK in my new tee from Amazon, and I'll get a bobble-head or something to knock around when we talk. I think starting a new hobby will be good for me. It will give me something to look forward to, and something to laugh over when we're not talking about work.  I can promise you this: I probably still won't know a single player, their stats, or anything too deep, but I'll try to keep up with games, the wins, the losses, and the playoffs! 

    I know I'm coming in late this season, but the playoffs haven't started, so I'm not cheating!  I picked the Rangers for who they are named after, and that's it —and they tend to choose our Oklahoma players more often than a lot of other teams. That's something to root for!  Go Rangers! Let the games begin -- or, you know, end well.  Besides, I do have a connection to the sport; my brother played, and my cousin (2nd) was a big-time professional player: Cal McLish! (who was actually a Dodger at one point)

My Daughter the Handy-Woman!

     More than once, over the past few years, I've relied on Laura's abilities to watch a YouTube video or two on how to fix something, all the while hoping and even expecting her to actually fix something.  To date, she's batting a 1000! She's been able to turn a wrench, fix a fence, lube a machine that was making noise, fix a toilet handle, and even caulk the bathtub. She's awesome! 

    Today was absolutely no different. I took a shower when I woke up and noticed almost immediately that the hot water wasn't exactly hot. I mentioned it to her, and she had experienced the same thing the day before. We just bought this house! I wasn't happy at all that the hot water tank was going to be the first thing to go out on us after only one full month.  Believe me, I wasn't looking forward to calling the gas company to find out exactly what I needed to do. I know they have a crew that helps people relight pilot lights, but who wants to spend money if they don't need to?

    Laura, in her typical fashion, sat herself down and watched a few videos about it. She took a deep breath, went into the garage where the tank is, and she went over it a few times in her head, imagining what she would need to do. Then, she did it! She read a short article, watched a video, and when she hit a snag, she stepped back, watched another video, and fixed it. Bam!

    The water heater is an A.O. Smith 100, which is powered by gas, but the ignition is electric. There isn't a small viewing window to check whether the pilot is lit; there's a button that lights up! She followed the instructions and fixed it. We have no idea why it went out, but it did. We'll need to keep an eye out for ways and reasons this happens, but I'm absolutely certain she's gonna save us both a lot of money and a few headaches.

    I didn't want to just post it on Facebook; I wanted to blog about it. I want to brag about her openly. She's really handy, street-smart, and has a little know-how for just about everything that needs to happen to help life push its way through. She's a game-changer, a life-saver, a great friend, and an amazing daughter. I'm so very happy to have her, and I'm so very blessed to have her. Jesus knew exactly what I needed when He made her - and when He gave her to me.

Photo Credit: Me (one of my favorite photos of her)

NEW BOOK! "The Trust" Has Begun.

     The new book "The Trust" has begun. It is the 10th book in the Nick Posh series and, I believe, my 23rd book. I'd have to sit down and write them out to be sure, but I think it's my 23rd book. At least, if I do nothing else in my life, I can prove I was an author. When I was writing my first book, I was so thrilled, so scared, and ultimately so very green! I had no idea what I needed to do to start it, keep it going, finish it, publish it, print it, sell it, or anything else. To be honest, I ended up hating it and almost didn't write the 2nd book. The experience was harder than I could have imagined. If I had money, I could have worked through it much better, but life is life, and that just didn't happen.

    Now, because I've learned so much more in terms of what I can do on my own, and what I absolutely don't need from anyone else (publishers, editors, agents, etc.) I can write a book using Word, edit it using Grammarly and AI, and design the book cover on Canva before loading the interior and the exterior into a file with IngramSpark, creating my own book from scratch! This book is probably my 19th book (I think) that I've created entirely on my own. Again, I'd have to sit down and figure out the math on it, but it's around that. 

    "The Trust" is a book that will take the readers through the mill in one way, and up and down an emotional rollercoaster in another. It tells my own story as it relates to real estate hell, and it digs deeply and intentionally into the various disasters Laura and I had to endure just trying to buy a place for ourselves. The deceit, the lies, the half-truths, and the pressures put on us were tremendous. We didn't deserve any of it, but there we were, swimming in the muck with one hand raised, asking for help before going under, and the other hand holding onto my daughter as she had to face extreme choices due to the people we trusted to smooth the way for us into the path we believed we could achieve. 

    God. God and God alone achieved the end results for us. We are in the house we need to be in. We are now, finally, after more than nine months of extreme mental and financial abuse, in a house we love and will love for years to come. The journey was rocky, deeply pitted, and sometimes impossible to imagine. We were misled by those whom I had hired to guide me, and in the end, even those people appeared close to innocent compared to the owners of the house we first believed we'd own, and the previous owners of the same house - a trust. 

    What takes place in the book is NOT what took place in our lives. No one died in reality. No one purposely tried to wrangle our situation into chaos, but we felt as if we were spinning out of control more often than not. The book is an outlet for me; a therapeutic adventure. It is my way to let off the steam I allowed to build up during the agonizing time(s) I was dragged through the mud, pushed into the ropes, and made to jump through so very many unnecessary hoops - hoops that didn't need to be jumped through if the people I had trusted had just done their job to begin with.

    "The Trust" is a murder book, a look-the-other-way-before-you-get-pulled-in book. It's a hard book to write, but a good book to write at the same time. I can get rid of some of that nagging indigestion I've been holding onto due to the way we were treated. Maybe when it's over, and the book is on the shelves waiting for people to buy it, I will look back and see that my bottle of Pepcid and Mylanta don't need to be refilled. Maybe the people who did what they did will read the book and understand I could have said so much more than I did. I could have filed complaints and raised disciplinary flags for them, but I chose not to. I chose to write a fictional novel instead. (It's my way of giving the one-finger salute.) 

    I have written two chapters today. I don't have a deadline. I don't know when it will be finished. I'll write it as I feel led, and I'm sure it will be timely. I'm sure I'll stick with it, like I do with all my other books. I'm thinking by Christmas it will be out - that's not too far in the future; maybe that's a goal. At least I know this: I can relax in my new home, a home God was able to secure for me, and I can breathe better, eat better, and know that what I (we) went through will never happen to us again.

Photo Credit: Me.