Cold again. 15 below at 5 AM. I immediately hooked the battery charger up to the Ford with the hope it'll start with a little help. I put it on a trickle charge. It said the battery was at 75%. Hopefully within a hour it'll be at 100. I stopped in to deliver packages to a neighbor that lives 5 miles to the northeast of me the other day. I told him my name. Told him who some of my family was that lives nearby. He got interested. Asked me my name again. Told him that, where I lived, and that my wife and I own Bean Brook Nursery. "Oh, I know who you are! My wife mentions you once and awhile. You write on Facebook. She follows you." "Oh no," I said. "No, it's all good. No worries!" "Good!! I left in embarrassment. I took about an hour to wear off. I have a friend who is a published author. He's written over 20 books. He said one time that a big fear of his is that his neighbors read his books. If I remember correctly. I understand better now why. I'm off to the mail trail. The Ford started! Fire #112 1.24.25

This quote is why I am open to religious ideas. I don't like to suffer. Life can be easier. "I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among those in the second half of life - that is to say, over 35 - there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living religions of every age have given their followers, and none of them has really been healed who did not regain his religious outlook." ~ Carl Jung

I delivered a package to my mom's neighbors the other day. He and his wife live across the road from her. Not directly, but close enough you can see their house from her driveway. They're an older couple. I've seen who I thought were their kids and grandkids around there at times. He speaks with a German accent. I've heard he's from Germany. I've never spoken with his wife. Once and awhile I see the two of them out walking together on the road. They've been living there for well over 5 years now. They used to live over on County A. I deliver mail. I know these things. Sometimes I see he and his wife out in the woods with a chainsaw clearing brush and deadfall. Usually when I see that a pile of firewood, a couple wheelbarrows of jackpine, is left near my mom's woodshed. He's been doing that since they lived there. When my Dad was alive he said he just showed up with the firewood and offered it to him to burn in his outdoor wood boiler. He's been doing it ever since. It's enough for a couple days burning. I delivered a foreign package to him on Tuesday. It needed a signature. I didn't quite make it to the front porch and he was out there ready for it. Said he'd been waiting all afternoon for it. After he signed and I handed him the package I told him who I was. That my mom and grandma lived across the road from him. Then I thanked him for dropping off the firewood for all those years. His face lit up. He asked me my name again. I told him it was Curt with a "C". I figured he's German, that might matter. He told me his name again. Said it was nice to meet me. He was going to say more but I had to tell him I had to get going because I was 3 hours behind. "Ok, then!" He said. And I was on my way. Now he knows who is mailman is. And I know who my mom's neighbor is. Fire #111 1.23.25

35 degrees warmer than yesterday morning. It's almost 10 above. I will not be using either of my vehicles today. They both didn't start yesterday. One the battery was completely dead; the other it was so cold the gas wouldn't fire in the chamber. This is the first time in 16 years I didn't have a mail vehicle of my own available to start the day. I tried and tried to get the Ford Escape going. Our minivan started. So I pulled it around facing the Ford, hooked the jumper cables up, and let 'er idle and charge. I did this 10 times. It wouldn't fire. I pulled it up to the white jeep. Tried once or twice. Battery clicked the starter a couple times. Then I went back to the Ford. Turned it over multiple times, but wouldn't fire. I went in the house and got Annie out of bed for support and ideas. I felt like a failure. It's part of my job to have a vehicle to deliver mail out of. She would've been able to drive me in our pickup, but she had a Doctor's appointment in Duluth she couldn't miss. I should've been there with her. She needed a driver. But days off are hard to get because we're short handed, especially the day after a holiday. I did inquire about her cancelling the appointment. It was a hard no. So I gave in. I went out and started my pickup knowing I was going to be 45 minutes late for work without a vehicle to deliver mail out of. I showed up to work. Let 'em know the situation. And my Postmaster said I will send you out in the Metris van. Which I'm supposed to be driving everyday anyway. That's another story. I got my mail and packages sorted, packed up, and ready to load.. It was 3 hours after I should've been out the door. It was going to be a long day, hours of delivering in the dark. I put the key in the Metris ignition to start and warm it up. Turned it and there was nothing. It was dead. I went back in to ask a friend and fellow carrier if she could drive me in my pickup. She is on light duty from a fall back in late summer. She tore her bicep and injured her shoulder. It required surgery. She's fighting her way back to delivering mail before she can retire in a few years. She said take my mail car. There's only two people in the office I'd trust to drive it, and you're one of them. So I did! I packed every space in her car. By Noon I was off to the mail trail. By 8 PM I was headed back to the Post Office empty. Her mail car sits in my driveway as I type this. I will drive it today. Exchange it for my pickup this afternoon. And come home to try and start my vehicles in warmer weather. Winter in northwest Wisconsin. I hope you have a great day! Fire #110 1.22.25

5:35 AM. It's 25 below out there. I'm on my second burning of wood. Been up since 3 AM. Anxious. The house is slowly cooling down. The fires can't keep up. It didn't get above 0 yesterday, and maybe the day before. If it did, it wasn't much. Today I face holiday mail and packages. It'll be close to twice as much. With the extreme cold who knows if everyone will show up. Vehicle breakdowns and the will to be out in this are factors. Hoping my vehicle starts and makes it through the day. I looked out our southern window at 4:30 AM to see a waning moon high in the southern sky. I could see the glow of it coming in around our curtain. The moon and stars, I need to remember to look up at them more. That's all for right now. Going to enjoy this fire for the few minutes I have before heading off to the mail trail. I hope you have a great day! Fire #109 1.21.25

Joe Rogan's point that RFK Jr. never got sued over what he wrote in the "Real Anthony Fauci" has always stuck with me.

BITCOIN PRICE ON INAUGURATION DAYS: 2009- $0 2013- $15 2017- $895 2021- $35,500 2025 - $108,000 ~ Joel Bomgar

The earlier you get into Bitcoin the better. Get off zero. Learn what you can about it. The more you learn the more you'll buy. That's been my experience. Hopefully I haven't been suckered. Each day that goes by the less it seems that's so.

7:20 AM. 22 below out there. Another day off. I have come to appreciate days off. Especially today. I don't have to hope a mail vehicle starts and dress like I am going ice fishing. Yesterday we drove over to Springbrook to look for my postal badge. I walked the ditch along highway 63 in front of the Post Office and found it! It was a shot in the dark. But there it was laying face down. The white and black of it blending in perfectly with the stained roadside snow. I got lucky. I was telling Annie yesterday that it would be cool to start a Curt The Carrier Facebook page for my community. I could communicate with customers and get feedback on their mail delivery services. They could tell me where to leave their packages, etc. I had a customer private message me recently to tell me that she wants her packages left by her garage for example. I like it when people give me feedback. In the end we're a service and I'm not guessing. I would also communicate what it's like to deliver Amazon packages. When Amazon delivery started in the Post Office it changed the game. The standard mailbox, in my opinion, should have been banned. That might seem harsh or extreme. But the amount of packages we started delivering went up 5 times. So any package that might fit in the standard mailbox we would desperately try to make fit to save time. A big mailbox or container at the end of the driveway can be a godsend sometimes. On the other hand, I just delivered a route without Amazon delivery for a year and half. When I had a package that was questionable to fit in the mailbox I usually took it in. I had the space to do it and gave me a chance to get out of the vehicle. Small things that would make life easier for everybody with a little communication. Well, that's what I got running through my mind this morning. I hope you have a great day! Fire #108 1.20.25

"Bitcoin is insurance against politicians." ~ Naval Ravikant

I don't know how accurate this is. It feels accurate. As a family we can't afford a lot of the things we use to. I'm a Rural Route Carrier. I don't know if it's ever going to get any better, inflation that is. It seems they are going to continue to print money and debase The Dollar. And the crazy thing is the US Dollar is the strongest currency in the world. There are people in Argentina and other countries, for example, that store their wealth in US Dollars instead of their own currency.

5:52 AM. I'm in front of morning fire 106. My journal a year ago today says I was also on fire 106. We're about halfway through the burning season I'd guess. There's a pattern to this. 17 years worth. The new mail route is going well. This will be my 7th day. I don't know if I'll stay. I really do like being close to home and in my territory though. I get to meet my neighbors. Yesterday I met a woman that sells plants online. I told her we sold plants too, except we focus on natives. She then showed me the native garden she started recently. Like the last route I now have a native garden besides my own that I can watch develop over the seasons (On edit: LOL. maybe I am staying). She also told me she makes her living only from selling plants. I told her I would like to someday, too. She really likes it, and said I would too. We concluded plants are good. She also knew my name before I could tell her. I thought that was pretty cool. Word gets around. This route is less active. People are out and about less. I'm guessing because people are mostly at work. The last route had a lot of retirees I delivered to. I've been up for 2 hours now. The temperature outside has dropped 5 degrees. It's down to 8 now. Supposed to be frigidly cold the next couple of days. Glad I have off! That's it for now. I hope you have a great weekend! 1.18.25

Everything is on sale with Bitcoin.

Morning Fire #105 Day 6 on the new mail route. It went well yesterday. It started not so well. I didn't think I would be able to fit all the Amazon packages in my vehicle. I did though. Then it was a matter of delivering all the packages, mail, and box holder before dark. I did that too. And I did it with grace, little stress, and safely. A lot can go wrong out there. I got to stop in and see my grandma. She helped me cut the plastic bands on a few bundles of papers. She barely had the strength in her arthritic hands to cut the bands with the scissors. She did it though. She grew up on a farm in southern Wisconsin with 12 brothers and sisters. She's tough. My last grandparent that's still alive. One advantage of doing this route is I get to check in on her. That's it for now. I'm running late. Had a hard time getting this fire going this morning. I hope you have a great day! Fire #105 1.17.25

Morning Fire 104 6:08 AM. Time is short this morning. I did get back to the post office before dark yesterday. The mail case is starting to pair up with the lay of the land I deliver mail on. Starting to calm down and absorb the small things that make the job easier. Compared to my other route, this route has a lot more little blue stem growing on it. Anywhere there's open, feral land it seems to be growing. I like little blue stem. It's seasonal colors. The way it catches fire. And the timeless imaginings it invokes. It's been here a lot longer than humans and will more than likely out survive humans. There's something reassuring about that. I hope you have a great day! 1.16.24 Fire #104

Friendly Reminder: If your income has not risen by at least 23% since Covid hit, you are now poorer. And that is using the government’s own data. The real number is likely 35% plus. [From X] ~ Joel Bomgar

Bitcoin is competing with the U.S. Dollar. The more dollars they print the better Bitcoin does. Why? Because the Dollar becomes less valuable. That means it can't buy as much as it used to. If you hold it you become poorer. People will sell their dollars for Bitcoin because it buys more than the dollar does. That's why people buy gold. Some predict Bitcoin will be worth more than Gold someday. I think they are right.