sellhart53's Xanga

Relationship Question of the Month

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:04:52 GMT

After a brief hiatus, the RQoTM is back. This is a basic question, but it seems that enough folks have gotten it wrong to warrant some deep thinking on the issue.

Q: What is love and how do you know you're in it?

I know there will be less of an audience since this isn't transferring over to FB, but I would appreciate it if I could get responses from a diverse spectrum of people. Please share your thoughts.

Election Voting

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:39:04 GMT

Time to harp on one of my pet peeves....There is absolutely no place I can go to look at the ballot I will see on election day! You would think in this day and age that it would not be difficult to have a PDF copy posted on a state or county website of every ballot that every precinct/district will see, but NO!! After visiting the Ohio website, my county's website and Google-searching for a Dayton Voter's Guide, I have to hope and pray that I've found all the issues and people I'm supposed to be knowledgeable on. On top of that, with the exception of a Dayton Voter's Guide which I assume many areas of the country don't have, forget trying to find out who the best qualified candidate is. There is no information! SO FRUSTRATING!!! Why not have an area on every state and county website where all the candidates are laid out with their website or at least their resume and an answer to a question or two relating to the office they're trying to win?

Personally, I would be fascinated to take a pole to see how people voted for their candidates and why, especially for the local elections. I hypothesize that a significant chunk don't know who they vote for when it comes to the local elections where no one is really a Democrat, Republican etc. They'll vote the incumbent or go with the person they saw the most signs for along the side of the road. What does that say about our democracy?! It's almost to the point of asking how you can blame them because there is no information out there.

After all my searching, I still walked to the ballot box and missed a race. I had no idea I would be voting for Township Trustee. So, guess what....I just didn't vote for anyone there. It's pitiful that that had to occur.

Ok, I'm done.

Inadequacy

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:31:57 GMT

There has been so much to write about this last week or so, but when I sit down to write about all the great times and challenging times I've had this week, nothing seems interesting enough to write to an audience.

I will say that God has been challenging me a lot lately. He's driving me to be more dedicated, more devoted to him. Just when I think I've given everything I have to God, he shows me something else. As confident as I am in my skills, in my passions, I often feel so inadequate. Inadequacy is a good place to be though. It seems that only then will God do amazing things through you.

I've been struck by God's immense mercy for the humble. Over and over and over again in Scripture, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. I've been reading in 1 and 2 Kings for my devotions lately, and I came across the most extreme example in King Ahab. After murdering an innocent man for his own greed, the Scripture says that there was "NEVER a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord." He behaved in the "vilest manner" and he "caused Israel to sin." Yet, when God's prophet, Elijah, confronted Ahab, he put on sackcloth and fasted and went around "meekly." And guess what God did because of his humility? He put off the punishment that was pronounced on Ahab's family until after Ahab was dead. He did this for the most vile, wicked King in Israel's history!

Lord, help me to come humbly before you. You are my everything, Father. You call me your own, and you provide abundantly for my every need. Help me to trust you with all my heart, all the time.

Weekend and Week Ahead

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:08:10 GMT

I haven't told you about a weekend of mine for quite awhile, so I think this is a good one to share!

After getting off early from work on Friday, I had a great conversation with a great friend for an hour or so. Later in the evening I headed out to the 3rd-6th grade boys Awana Overnight at the church! It is always a blast every year. The boys love it. I have fun, and I get to learn all their names with the Awana year just starting up. We ate lots of healthy food and went to bed early. Ok, we ate hot dogs and cookies, and I got back to my house @ 2:30am. For the 7th consecutive year, the clubbers did not find me during the final round of hide-n-go-seek when all the kids have to seek the leaders! I hid inside the communion table this year.

On Saturday I woke up early and left @ 9am for a 50-mile bike ride through the fall colors with a friend. It was a pretty tough ride, but wonderful to be outside. I came home just in time to buy a new (to me) mountain bike! This fellow purchased it for over $300, rode it twice on the road, then sold it to me for $150. There wasn't even any dirt on the tires. It's a pretty sweet Mongoose bike with Shimano gears, disc brakes and a serious front suspension system. Following the bike purchase I went right to watch the Michigan vs Penn State game. Lousy game, but a good time with friends. The husbands and me were watching football while the wives made some delectable food. That's hard to beat. Following the game I drove straight to a rural farm. Some other friends invited us over to watch (and partake) in cider making. What a great time!! This family makes the cider every year and they invite friends over to watch the cider being made and then allow everyone to take a half gallon home. Everyone brought a snack to share and there was a nice fire you could sit around and enjoy afterwards. Awesome day!!

Sunday was a blessed day as always. I ate lunch with friends after church at the brand new Five Guys restaurant. Came home to watch a little football then went to evening service with an emotional, God-centered testimony from one of our pastors. Everyone came over to my house after church, and we all hung out, talked, ate and watched the ALCS. Good times.

Monday kicked off a new challenge for me at work today. While I don't officially become THE supervisor for a couple weeks, we had a brand new government employee come into my group today. She comes with 30+ years of industry experience, so I need to find a good way to challenge her yet still balance needing to teach her a lot about government. She seems wonderful. Ready or not with the supervisor thing, here I come.....

Accent Wall

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:34:42 GMT

My living room wall has endured enough scuffs, scrapes, splatters and miscellaneous other abuse that I have finally decided to paint it as an accent wall. Now...what color should I paint it? The rest of the room is a light tan. The picture frames on the wall are black and a burgandy. I'm thinking about a burgundy-ish color. What do you think??

Investing in Collectibles

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:56:53 GMT

Common knowledge says that a retirement portfolio should be broadly diversified across stocks and bonds, but are there more categories which would be beneficial to invest in? Maybe precious metals? Real estate? Art? Collectibles? Today, specifically I want to address collectibles with four main points to consider when determining if they should be incorporated into your diversified investment strategy?

First, you need to determine whether your spending on collectibles is primarily for investment purposes or for fun. This is where my thinking was off. Clearly, I have a ton of fun collecting Alan Trammell memorabilia. Part of my justification for keeping all those Trammell items was that they were a hedge against other more ethereal investment products. It was a hard asset. I have something in my hand that I can sell. The problem with loving Trammell and also using it as an investment is that it is easy to become emotionally attached. I won’t act like a good businessman and buy low, sell high. I’ll buy it when I see it, and I may never sell it, let alone for a good price. If you use collectibles (figurines, jewelry, coins, stamps, antiques etc) as an investment, make sure you can remain objective and buy/sell when you should. Under no circumstances should collectibles be a major portion of a retirement portfolio; 5-10% max.

Second, to successfully invest in collectibles you have to be an expert in the field. If you aren’t an expert, don’t even try using collectibles as an investment. You have to know when something is a good deal, and you have to know when to sell. As an example, I am a casual numismatist (coin collector), and this possibly would be a very good field for me to get into for investment purposes. I really don’t get emotionally attached. I just enjoy old coins. I’m not an expert on all coins, but I know what I’m talking about with Walking Liberty Half Dollars. I can be an expert in those and expand my knowledge to other areas as desired.

Third, liquidity is a major consideration. If you use collectibles as an investment you have to be able to turn that investment into cash at some point. For collectibles you either have to have enough to enlist the services of an auctioneer or else sell the collectibles on Ebay. These are the two primary ways to liquidate collectibles. If the local market is bad for your particular collectible or the prices aren’t high enough on Ebay, maybe you should reconsider your investment.

The last thing to consider is with insurance. I may have $10,000 in Alan Trammell memorabilia hanging on my walls, but if a fire came through and gutted the house, could I recover that value from regular home insurance. The answer is probably not. Collectible-type items need to be specifically insured. This typically means that a list of all items to be insured with the approximate value needs to be on file with your insurance company. This is an extra expense. You’re accepting a lot of risk if you choose not to insure and something happens to destroy your collection. Make sure you are protected somehow.

In general, investing in rare collectibles is the best bet. For my Trammell cards, as an example, where there are more than 50 produced, the price is fairly stable throughout the years, but when I have a #1/1 card, the only one in the world, the price varies wildly. If you can purchase a rare item for a comparatively low price, you have a reasonably good chance of making some good money in the future. Scarcity is a key for collectibles.

Alan Trammell Collection Divestiture Update!

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:46:03 GMT

Whew, big step folks. I have a handshake agreement with one of my online Trammell collecting buddies to take 32 of my best Trammell cards off my hands for $2000. Only 10,392 left to go.....

**update**

Funds are in my account! I'll be posting later on portfolio diversification through collectibles.

**end update**

**update #2**

The pace is slowing. I have another interested in 20 more cards for $500. I kind of forgot how much fun it is to sell stuff I own.

**end update #2**

Unexpected Stimulus!

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:37:12 GMT

I received a check for $250 from the State of Ohio last week...completely unexpected! I suppose I wouldn't exactly call it a stimulus though. Apparently I made $500 in 2008 estimated tax payments, but when I filed my 2008 tax return I only said I paid $250. Now I'm thinking...what else did I do wrong on my taxes????

In other news, I did some gorgeous hiking with some wonderful friends in John Bryan State Park yesterday. It was crisp weather, partly cloudy. Gentle breeze. Flowing river through a steep gorge. Abundant leaf color. Good conversation. Crushing fresh walnuts. Eating ice cream. Perusing pumpkins and eating apple samples. What a way to spend Columbus Day!

The Time Has Come

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:55:17 GMT

Many of you know of my affinity for Alan Trammell, the shortstop for the Detroit Tigers for 20 years. In total I own over 10,000 Alan Trammell trading cards along with a hundred or so pieces of other memorabilia (balls, bats, jerseys, magazines, posters, bobbleheads, gloves, figurines etc). Indeed a whole room in my house is decorated with Trammell. There is probably about 1,000 of my 10,000 items represented in the photo below (and 800 of them are sitting in the box next to my left leg).

This past Sunday I was asked to speak to my Sunday School class on a topic that is very near and dear to me, the spiritual discipline of giving. God renewed in me afresh the desire to live a "wartime lifestyle" for his glory. Not using the money God has given me on myself, but rather to store up treasures in heaven by seeing other souls come to know the peace and security I have in Christ alone. It may seem funny to you that this was a struggle for me, but God has been working on me over the years. I came to a point a couple years ago where I realized my spending on Tram items had gotten out of hand. At that time I felt the need to break the hold that this collection had on me, so as hard as it was I picked one of my favorite Trammell cards and sold it on Ebay for less than I paid for it. That was the first Alan Trammell item I had ever gotten rid of...ever. That was tough.

As part of my study this past week, God really drove home to me that I need to be content with the simple necessities of life. Every purchase I make is a spiritual decision. God does not prosper us so we can spend money on ourselves. He prospers us so we can give to others. This was not a revelation that I should go sell everything I have and live in an apartment somewhere bereft of nearly all earthly possessions. I believe God gives us things to enjoy. Some things that may be considered discretionary can really provide a lot of joy; they can give us a needed break (as in a vacation). An ipod can help you cope with a lot of things. A laptop can help you be more productive. A house can be a good investment. But what I realized with the Trammell collection is that it's just too much. I receive joy from having it. It's fun to talk about it and show others cool things I have. It's fun to collect and organize and try to complete a collection; it plays to my sense of organization, and it gives me a sense of fulfillment on some level. Ultimately though, the Lord has convicted me that I have too many resources tied up in the collection that could be used in a better manner.

This morning I woke up and began the divestiture process. I wrote up an email to a fellow avid Tram collector and attached my master list asking if he was interested in purchasing anything. I also pulled the lower left case off my wall that you see in the picture above and listed my first two Ebay auctions. It's a sad day, but it's a happy day knowing that I'm following the Lord's leading, and I'm excited to see how he will use the money I'm able to generate from the sale.

Before I make it sound like I am getting rid of everything (which would literally take years to do it right), my plan is to sell pretty much everything I have past his 1997 retirement year. These are the most valuable cards that I have. I think it will still be fun to keep a majority of my collection, but the remaining collection may make up 25% of the overall worth of the whole collection I have now.

Praise to the Lord! May he use this for his glory in my life and in the lives of others!!

Who wants to go to Alaska?

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:37:57 GMT

It is about time for me to start thinking and planning for a 2010 vacation. I'm thinking I would like to go to Alaska! The trip would probably be 7-10 days including travel and would consist of visiting/hiking 3-4 National Parks/Preserves. Most of the trip would be backpacking and camping but there may be an opportunity for a day or two of other stuff. There will likely be 4-6 hiking days of 10ish miles each day. Nightly shelter would primarily be a tent with maybe a hotel stay or two to be able to get a hot shower and a good night's rest. Male and female accommodations would be separate under all circumstances. I don't have any detailed costs yet, but the trip would cost in the neighborhood of $1000-1500 with about half of that being for airfare. I was thinking about going in the spring (Mar/Apr) timeframe, but I am flexible.

I'm leaning toward spending most of the week hiking in this park. All I have to say is WOW! Un-real.

So, who wants to go? Any takers??