That's Not What I Mint!

Me at the Denver Mint...

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Here is a snap shot of the US debt clock taken 9/27/2023 at 8:05 p.m.:

To see in real time, feel free to use this link as it's constantly fluctuating: 

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

Why did I screen shot the US National Debt clock?  This real time clock shows debt per citizen and then debt per tax payer.  Meaning, children born today come out of the womb already owing just shy of $100,000.  Not all citizens of this country work, and sadly these stats get worse the longer the border remains open.  Remember the old adage, "you can't multiply wealth by dividing out?"  Well, aside from Harvard economics classes, it turns out that this math is true.  Not just the border, but when you displace the American worker by selling jobs overseas or replacing with AI, not only are these citizens not paying income tax, they’re now drawing welfare, EBT and other handouts.

As of the time I screen shot this image, every taxpayer in America owes $255,353 in debt if we are to divide out our national debt per taxpayer.  And, ADD that on top of student loans, mortgages with skyrocketing interest rates (why do you think I rent?), credit card debt, private schools, taxes, utilities and other expenses!  Even Kamala Harris said most Americans are $500 short of bankruptcy.  Really the only substantial and accurate thing to come out of her mouth.  We are a dying nation in serious decline.  

This debt gets worse every time the federal government prints off more money to ship to Ukraine.  Those blue and yellow flags may as well signal, "Hey, we are in some serious shit financially and I don’t care because I’m virtue signaling for a country I can’t point to on a map!”  By the way, I don’t want to get too off track here, but you should research “war bonds” and how citizens used to buy them to help finance wars, particularly WWII, and keep America out of debt.  But these days Congress doesn’t sell war bonds and needs wars to launder money.  We all know this.  Look at the net worth of these “public servants” and then look at their annual salaries.  Laundering and insider trading for $500, Alex!

Also, ever heard of the Texas Basin (otherwise known as the Permian Basin)?  It's not talked about a lot since the USA is currently on this "green energy" bandwagon.  I put quotes there, because there's nothing green or environmental about it.  By the way, did anyone see in the news all the electric vehicles that caught on fire 🔥 with the rising water as they tried to seek shelter in Florida during Hurricane Idalia?  Turns out, salt water creates chemical combustion to the battery.  I guess the car dealership sales dude didn’t mention that.  Click here to see what I’m talking about: 

Anyways, Joe Biden doesn't give a flying f*ck about the environment.  But, green energy lobbyist fill his family's pockets with gold, not to mention they probably buy Hunter’s crack straw paintings.  Back to this basin, the USA has more oil than any other country in the world (maybe Russia rivals the USA).  This is liquid GOLD!  Yet, the Biden administration is not interested in this natural resource to help dig the USA out of debt.  Instead they’re counting on their citizens to fund the green new deal.  

With the green energy initiative, follow the money.  The oil companies certainly aren't making electric vehicles.  And for Coloradans reading this, research the new law the Air Quality Control Commission, given really unchecked and unlimited powers, currently trying to pass state law that by 2035, any NEW car (2025 beyond) MUST be an EV to be legally registered in Colorado.  It would essentially ban the sell of any new petrol powered cars.  Our secretary of Transportation was JUST bitching that he couldn't find a reliable charging station to charge his car.  The silver lining is that makes my car worth a lot of money in the used car market.  But, imagine this, you live in Wisconsin and just bought a new petrol powered car.  You get a job in Colorado in 2035 only to find you have to sell your new car because it can’t be registered in the state!  Fact check me:  idalia ev catch fire

The US dollar used to be the gold standard.  I’m not going to sugar coat this, because this is why people read my blog.  I’m real and I’ll shoot you straight.  Dire Straits.  Speaking of, time for a theme song: https://youtu.be/ZC1Pdsppch4?si=GLDKY_fmRdm20xMG 

We are approaching the gates of hell with gasoline soaked rags.  Your current spending habits are about to change real quick.  I heard this recently and it’s true for me!  “I’m so glad I learned to be poor because it’s expensive to be poor these days!”  In my lifetime, I'll probably see the Renminbi, the Communist currency of China, become the new gold standard of the world.  Speaking of, not sure if anyone has heard of the Project Sandman. It's been heralded by woke liberals as a conspiracy theory, but honestly, conspiracy theory is like the new "n word"...it's designed to belittle, gaslight, and make you feel weird for discussing anything against the system's or "mainstream" narrative.  Basically conspiracy theory means spoiler alert  🚨:

You've also been told during the entire Biden administration that inflation is and remains at 7%.  And, all I can figure is that they're banking (all puns intended) Americans are just really dumb and bad at math.  And, I will be the first to agree that America boasts some really highly educated yet dumber than dirt citizens. It’s like when Joe Biden says he’s never taken a penny from China.  He’s right.  He hasn’t.  He’s taken billions.  Pay attention to how lawyers phrase things.  Unless inflation is compounded at 7% EACH month, to tell us it’s stagnant at 7%, is as ignorant as saying we don’t like Trump because his hair looks funny.  I'm going to share this formula with you so you know how to calculate inflation.  And, you know that computer in your pocket you use to look at cat videos?  It has a calculator on it!  Calling your smart device a phone is like calling a Lexus a cup holder   It’s just so much more!

[(the new price - the old price) / the old price] x 100 

So, let's give it a whirl, shall we?  A bag of air...err, I mean potato chips was $2.50 in 2020.  Now this same bag of potato chips is $3.90.  Plugging into the inflation formula, that's a 56% increase, not 7%.  So, at least at the grocery store alone, prices of food are EIGHT times higher than the inflation bullshit they're selling you.  But, 7 sounds nice doesn't it.  Lucky number 7.  If you still believe inflation is only 7%, bless your heart.  So, back to the bag of potato chips: not only are they 56% more expensive, but now the bag is slightly smaller, there are less chips, and the quality is shit!  So, we can't even use the formula to be exact.  It's actually higher than 56% in this case.  So, why would the accountant at Frito Lay want 56% more for the same bag of chips?  Because they know that the US dollar ain't worth $1.00, more like $0.40.

Look, I wish I could say I buy American everything.  But, my car is a non-union built car.  I drive a Subaru, and living in Colorado off roading and navigating snow, are you really that shocked?  Currently in America, auto workers are strike demanding 40% increase in salaries to make low quality cars.  And I have seen Joe Biden walk lockstep with these workers in the ultimate show of betrayal and hypocrisy as he’s right at the center of all this trouble.  His party sold off American jobs.  As a general rule, they despise every state they fly over to get from NY or CA.  That’s why they wanna grain out of Ukraine!  We have grain here in the Midwest but it’s grown by farmers who voted the wrong way - so they don’t care if it rots in silos!  Americans have relied on rental cars and disposable cars!  They’re not built to last and everyone knows this.  Does this sound “green” or clean?!?  Importing grain?  From clear across the world when we have a plentiful resource domestically? 

And, don't think the Chinese are done with us!  The Bidens are "tight" with this Communist country and have made a TON of money through their ties with China, both creepy Uncle Joe and Crackhead Hunter.  Have you wondered why Sam Bankmangried got away Scott free?!?  Because if he went to trial, through discovery they would have found all the loopholes to his crimes.  The government doesn’t want you to know all that.   

Covid is the ONLY thing made in China that has lasted this long.  Hey, remember not too long ago when you were called a conspiracy theorist for stating COVID was manufactured in China using the US tax dollar?  The Maury lie detector test proved that was the truth!

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Now let's talk money...queue theme music: https://youtu.be/2aW7HweAf3o?si=rZ_vnBAnq49gn0ik

For your money/time I’m giving you a two for one blog drop today:

Earlier this year I made a trip to one of four US Mints and this one is located here in Denver, Colorado.  Yes, it’s WORTH the tour.  And, yes, I wish I was a tour guide here.  It’s been a dream of mine to be a tour guide at a museum since I was little.  Here are few shares from my visit:

Short of a strip search, you can't take anything inside the Denver Mint.  So, make sure you only show up with your tickets.  They'll take your phones, purses, etc.  You can't have any electronics on your body.

Parking is non-existent, so Uber if you can OR walk.  But, you will have to account for enough time, if you drive, to park far away for public parking.  Trust me, there is zero parking within several blocks of this place unless you get there at 5 am and pay a dollar an hour in meter!

There is an age restriction.  You can't bring small children.  Check their website on this.  I believe it’s 7 years or older to be able to tour.

Tickets are FREE!  You have to show up early and stand in this line.  A guy will walk down the line asking you how many and what tour time you want.  Once tickets are gone, they're gone for that day, so get there early!

There was a “gangster guy” back in the day who worked on the floor of the mint.  I don’t really think he was in a gang but his picture looked pretty gangster.  He was miffed that he hadn’t had a raise in years, he decided to matter into his own hands. Daily, he was slipping a gold bar in his uniform and burying it in his back yard.  They finally realized the rat and the missing gold and he served some time in another state and then came back to Denver to work for the DOT.  I raised my hand and asked if he was responsible for the shitty roads.  My tour group chuckled.

One of the most important positions at the mint is the Quality Control!  This is neat to watch them in action, because if you find a coin with a defect, it could be worth A LOT of money.  Once, they accidentally stamped two different US Presidents on a coin and those coins went out in circulation.  Now, anyone with a copy is independently wealthy.

The Mint is private and are personally owned businesses!  It's not a government entity.  It sells coinage to the US government at face value.  However, due to gross government mismanagement of the dollar, the Mint is actually losing money on coin manufacturing.  For example:

It costs $.02 to make one penny and $.11 to make a nickel; however, the US Mint makes up for it with the production of quarters and dimes:

It costs $.04 to make a dime and $.11 to make a quarter!  The US Mint has contemplated taking the penny out of circulation.  This is sad for me since I believe in lucky 🍀 pennies.

The giftshop is amazing.

Thanks for stopping in!  October is right around the corner!  And, I've got some breadmaking on my bucket list.  I'm going to make a banana walnut and pumpkin bread in the bread maker my brother gifted me - which takes a lot of precision at our altitude.  It’s like the best Yankee Candle ever made to smell the aroma of fresh made bread in your kitchen. ALSO, I'm going to give pickling a shot.

Until next time!

Kimme

Fright Night...

FRIGHT NIGHT...  

Tis the season to drop a spooky post.  I just went into a Halloween Spirit store (one of those enormous seasonal popup costume stores that exclusively hires emo goth kids that celebrate Halloween on Christmas) this past weekend and I did not see one single costume that spoke to my soul.  We got little Millie (my step dogg-ter) a kilt for a Scottish Festival in Estes Park which we later found did not allow dogs.  So I'm not sure if we all go as Braveheart characters?  I don't know.  The verdict is still out.  Drop me a comment on what you think my costume should be this year!

So, last month, my boyfriend worked hard to plan a spectacular end of summer getaway in the teardrop camper.  We had been scouting dispersed camping Leadville and really wanted to eat at this place that boasts Colorado's BEST CUBAN SANDWICH!  My boyfriend is really great at finding host apps and BLM (Bureau of Land Management...my mom seriously thought we were camping on Black Lives Matter property...giggles) camping spots...but mostly dispersed camping with incredible views.  I joke that he should really be the one with the blog or the YouTube channel.  

Well, our trip kinda last minute fell through when a neighbor, who is from Leadville, explained that the town was hosting a huge road biking event and that traffic and camping and EVERYTHING would be insanely crazy...which seems to be the norm everywhere in Colorado on the weekends these days.  Bottom line, we don't do crowds.  Everyone is now trying to get their hobby and outdoor fixes in before snowfall.  Especially if you're not a retard and spend thousands of dollars skiing each year.  To put it in prospective, I don't ski and I live in Colorado and explore a lot more than sitting in hours of traffic and ski lift lines.

A last minute change of plans was a total surprise for me.  My boyfriend found a camp site on a host app for campers/RV's/teardrops that we had previously used and had a FANTASTIC stay on an alpaca farm.  I promise to drop this blog soon.  Specifically regarding the alpaca named Tina (yes, from Napoleon Dynomite) that kept making out with my boyfriend and spitting at me.

We packed up and hit the road and 1 hour later rolled into a wildlife refuge (not to be confused with a wildlife refugee, which I kept calling it).  To tell you that the site was nothing like what we had envisioned is the understatement of the century, but in a good way.  I took plenty of photos to document this rare one night camping adventure.

We arrived at the campsite around noon and found our camping pad (usually in a campsite, the different areas have numbers and there is a flat area to be able to back the camper and level it.)  Scoping out the site, we were right across from an amazing mountain view completely obstructed with two large yellow abandoned shipping container homes.  Since we appeared, at the time, to be the only campers in the entire wildlife refuge, I joked to my boyfriend that the scene reminded me of a Rob Zombie film (House of 1,000 Corpses) and that a killer clown could jump out at any moment.  

We later learned from the owner that the shipping containers were actually historic turn of the century railroad cars documented with the Golden Colorado Railroad Museum.  They both have the historic numbers  and the cars were used by the repair crew for endgame and line repairs and housed the bunk beds and the kitchen.  One day the nonprofit hopes to restore both train cars and the super creepy garage barn by the marsh to create a visitors center and meeting hall to host environmental speakers and host future year long fundraisers. 

I love this shot of my favorite little ginger in front of the creepy shipping containers.

To our left we had an incredible view of a wildlife marsh.  The entire land area is private property with the purpose of a sanctuary for all of Colorado's native wildlife.  There is zero state or county signage to find this property, so you have to go by directions on the app (which you'll want to screen shot since there is zero cell reception around).  All around the marshy pond are private trails with an old mining outhouse, some abandoned cabins, and an abandoned motor home that looks like the one from American Horror Story: Freak Show, the one with the Clown in the abandoned motor home!

Interestingly enough this wildlife refuge, owned by a small non-profit, is not a state or national park, but rather a quaint area on a mining parcel (roughly 13.2 acres created in Colorado's mining district).  And we were the ONLY ones there.  Spooky, no?  Noone would hear us scream.  Think about this in the pitch dark and keep reading.  The refuge is rustic and completely underdeveloped and there are deserted buildings and junk, as well as mining equipment and supplies strewn about the property.  However, the area still gives off vibes of a true Colorado mountain experience and is tranquil and healing.  Oh, did I mention the vintage excavator/bulldozer?  This guy dug the Panama Canal and was featured in a box office hit film, which I can't remember the name of to save my life.  And, to think you thought the only bulldozer in Colorado was in Granby, CO - "Killdozer" - BY THE WAY, I wrote a blog on this guy that you'll want to read.  The moral of the story is to make sure you're checking up on your muffler shop friends who live in small Colorado mafia ran towns.  They deserved it.  There is also a great Netflix documentary on this guy.

Okay quick current events trivia:  Did you know that currently the Panama Canal is only allowing up to 38 ships a day to pass?  This went from hundreds a day!!  Not only this, but the ships now have to cut back on their allotted cargo by 60%!  If the water level in the canal drops by another 3 feet, the Panama Canal will officially close!  Which means Americans will need to stock up on anything we have shipped from overseas.  

Another Trivia:  What is the cost to traverse the Panama Canal and how long is it? (Answer at the end of the post)

Me playing with grownup toys...

After we explored the refuge a bit, we began unpacking, setting up the canopy over our kitchen area.  After unpacking the last bit of equipment, the skies suddenly opened up and it started pouring rain.  For high desert, we have a suspicious amount of rain.  And, I see chemtrails and cloud seeding daily.  

So, since camping  in the rain sucks, we unhitched the Jeep and went for a drive.  As we were driving toward downtown Black Hawk, we spotted this biker bar and decided to pop in until the rain subsided.  The place was called "Last Shot" and it has the Guinness Book of  World Record claim for the most shot glasses under one roof!  They were everywhere!  

When I first walked in I went right to the payphone and turned around and loudly shouted, "CAN EVERYONE PLEASE HOLD IT DOWN?  SHHHHHHHHHHHH!  I'M TRYING TO USE THE PHONE!"  Just kidding, I didn't, but RIP Pee Wee...and, lucky for me, this wasn't the private club for Satan's Helpers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYjcQr4sSYQ

The bar was SO cool.  It had different rooms with great views.  The owner took a liking to my boyfriend and comped our food and drinks.  The place was full of unique art, paintings, all for sale, except the shot glasses.  The service is top notch and they loved Millie and gave her some complimentary bacon.   Millie would make the best biker bar dog.  She loves her a good biker.  Bikers are good people.  She enjoyed walking table to table greeting all the patrons.

He kept telling me I was awful pretty

After the rain stopped, we decided to head back to camp.  One thing we did not know is that moose are the most common visitors at this wildlife refuge!  Also, sitings of black bears, coyotes, fox, bobcats, small herd deer, and elk have been verified by previous campers and the owner.  We were told that we would most likely hear active beavers around the pond/marsh.  Thus, we expected these little guys to be splashing around at night.  

  As I was setting up for dinner, an old pickup truck randomly came through and then we heard gun shots and then it left.  We are still not sure what happened and never found any remnants of a true crime.  However, if a missing person comes up on Dateline, 20/20, 48 Hours, Forensic Files or Unsolved Mysteries in Black Hawk, hit me up, and I'll guide you to this place.

One of my favorite parts of camping is dinner.  I love cooking on this propane camping grill.  For dinner, I made my world famous salmon patties.  They're a Southern take on New England crab cakes.  I paired these patties with sweet potatoes.  My boyfriend said I nailed it.  But, I could have burned them, and he still would have told me it was the best thing he's ever eaten.

Before we knew it, the sky turned pitch black and then a sky full of stars popped out in 3D.  This is what I love about Colorado!  Also, I was amazed my iPhone captured these shots:

My boyfriend has balls of titanium because he set the john up next to the marsh and this is a photo of his lantern while he's seeing a man about a horse.

Dropping a song here in honor of the sky that night:

https://youtu.be/4Y10AXYGw3E?si=9yPgq1DtQAdn2tBP

Scene: Pitch-dark campsite, sitting around our campfire, and Millie starts going NUTS!

We suddenly heard immense splashing in the marsh, and my boyfriend and I looked at each other, because we KNEW that ain't beavers.  It sounded like a bear!  I had to put Milie in the teardrop and she was not happy.  Her breed is "ride or die" and she would give her life trying to protect us.  My boyfriend and I suddenly saw wide set green eyes in the marsh!  And, then TWO sets of them.  We are standing there frozen.  I whispered a suggestion that we get in the camper, but my boyfriend was overcome with curiousity.  The eyes started moving and two enormous creatures emerged from the marsh!  It was two gigantic black moose!  We had a short Mexican stand-off where they stared intently at us and we at them.  And, then they got bored and mosied off into the woods.  By the way, these guys weight over 800 pounds a piece, charge people in an aggressive manner, and run quicly at an alarming rate.  So I consider us lucky they got bored with us.  A bull moose can weigh up to 1500 POUNDS!

Now about the Perseid Meteor Shower!  That night, a meteor shower was on the books.  It was slated to begin at 3 a.m. and, all I remember from the event was my boyfriend trying to wake me up to witness it.  He was unsuccessful, because it's hard to get me up once I'm cozy and warm.  But, from his recount of events, it was absolutely spectacular.

Waking up the next morning not murdered was a great feeling.  I'm joking.  We pack heat because we are not stupid.  And, I'm trained to hit twice center mass and one between the eyes while laying on my back.  It's all about the yoga breath.  

Millie thinks my toothbrush is a treat...

There is nothing more liberating on this entire planet than waking up and brushing your teeth in the brisk mountain air in your sports bra.

The next day we dropped into downtown Black Hawk and walked around checking out the shops and casinos.

Take me hooooome, country roooaaaads, to the place I beloooonnggg....

Millie my flower power wolf...

Answer to the trivia question:  The Panama Canal is roughly 50 miles and it costs $1600 for a small yacht to traverse it!  And, up to $188,000 for a transit/cargo ship!

Thanks for stopping in!  Don't forget to drop me a comment with your costume suggestion!  And, may your Fall be spooky and full of fright nights.  Wink...

Love, 

CK