I wrote to Jeff Bezos

[dualstow]

and suggested that Amazon get into the precious metal business.
The response was mostly formulaic, of course, but positive.
Hey, I can dream.

[WiseOne]

Be careful what you wish for. Amazon is a bit too high profile for me to be buying gold there. There would be a very obvious and easily obtainable (by the government or whoever) record, plus I can only imagine the ads it would trigger.

Just posted off my check to Colorado gold! I must say, this has been a remarkably painless rebalance. I was fretting a bit about buying large amounts of assets that we are all nervous about (bonds, physical gold), but with the PP's discipline I did it without breaking a sweat. It did help to buy TLT instead of long bonds - will convert a chunk of TLT to long treasuries later.

[buddtholomew]

Nice job WiseOne!
Sometimes doing the right thing feels the worst.

[WiseOne]

Sometimes doing the right thing feels the worst.

Uh oh, I hope you're not getting PP-fatigue again. This is just a transient downswing. Good time to buy in, if you're thinking of redistributing some of your cash.

[dualstow]

Be careful what you wish for. Amazon is a bit too high profile for me to be buying gold there. There would be a very obvious and easily obtainable (by the government or whoever) record, plus I can only imagine the ads it would trigger.

I want all my gold purchases to be open and aboveboard, but I'm curious. Would opting for a regular gold dealer somehow be more private?
The one caveat I can think of, and I included it in my suggestion, is that every package of books or cat toys might become suspect bullion, and that there would be more stoop thefts of boxes.

Those stoop thefts are already an issue where I live, but the understaffed USPS does not care. That's why I spent an extra $4 at APMEX to have a signature required delivery.

[MachineGhost]

Besides being oh-yet-another-negative of living in an urban jungle, what are stoop thefts exactly?

[dualstow]

Besides being oh-yet-another-negative of living in an urban jungle, what are stoop thefts exactly?

People taking boxes off the front step that the USPS lazily left there, without even ringing the bell, sometimes even when I'm home.

[MachineGhost]

Besides being oh-yet-another-negative of living in an urban jungle, what are stoop thefts exactly?

People taking boxes off the front step that the USPS lazily left there, without even ringing the bell, sometimes even when I'm home.

And how would Amazon resolve that problem?

[dualstow]

They wouldn't. Just the opposite. That's why I called it a caveat.

[MachineGhost]

They wouldn't. Just the opposite. That's why I called it a caveat.

They do have lockers to pick up your stuff. Never tried it.

You can also have it sent to HOLD FOR PICKUP at FedEx and UPS.

[dualstow]

I use the lockers whenever I can, but (1) the items are often too large and (2) the lockers near me are often full.
I make sure to address that in Feedback any time I place an order. The lockers are great, though. There are two 7-elevens near me which I make full use of.

The lockers would also be great for bullion. ;-)

As for UPS and FedEx, used to write to Amazon to request them, but they told me essentially that logistics dictate who does the delivery, and that sometimes it's going to be the USPS. Maybe one of these days I'll see more of those Amazon trucks I saw in Maryland.

[MachineGhost]

As for UPS and FedEx, used to write to Amazon to request them, but they told me essentially that logistics dictate who does the delivery, and that sometimes it's going to be the USPS. Maybe one of these days I'll see more of those Amazon trucks I saw in Maryland.

I meant using it with non-Amazon purchases like from Apmex.

A little offtopic, but with your being carless, doesn't that raise troubling security issues -- especially with all that gold you're hoarding in your apartment/condo/whatever? I feel the strongest caveat against going carless is that aspect... being co-dependent on the questionable charity of strangers during a crisis or calamity feels scary in an urban jungle that is liable to be jam-packed, dysfunctional with public transporation shut down if not the stores also cleared of just-in-time groceries after 3 days. How do you deal with this?

[dualstow]

You mean post office boxes? I have considered those, but don't really want to reward the USPS with more business for failing to deliver my packages properly.

Not hoarding anything. It's all at the bank, where they give me a safe box for free. They just moved me from the smallest box to a large one, still fee-free.

I worry now and then about flash mobs/wolf pack attacks, but not in the context of gold. Just in the context of having my beautiful face smashed in by some thug, like happened to others recently.

[buddtholomew]

Sometimes doing the right thing feels the worst.

Uh oh, I hope you're not getting PP-fatigue again. This is just a transient downswing. Good time to buy in, if you're thinking of redistributing some of your cash.

I went through a woe is me stage as the PP descended from its recent highs.
Getting over it and recently purchased TLT (@124) to restore fixed income duration to 5.6 years.
I've been invested in gold all year so no changes required.

[dualstow]

I worry now and then about flash mobs/wolf pack attacks, in the context of having my beautiful face smashed in by some thug, like happened to others recently.

Could you elaborate on this? I thought flash mobs were a 'performance' thing. And what is a wolf pack attack?

Wolf pack attack is when a swarm of young thugs attack random pedestrians or throw rocks at cars.
A lot of people protest the term flash mobs for non-performance things, but where I live it is often used for things like wolf pack attacks when they are pre-arranged via social media. The term seems to be sticking.

[dualstow]

i thought the "non performance art" definition of flash mob was a large group of kids enter a store all at once and using shear force of numbers to walk out with (steal) anything they can carry off (often beer)...

Yes, sometimes it involves petty theft, but more often than not it's been about violence. A few weeks ago, they assaulted a mounted police officer and punched the horse in the face. Twice.

I think what defines a flash mob is the apparent spontaneity of it, hence flash, but quiet planning involving social media to make it happen.

[dualstow]

there seems to be a shifting definition from art and group pranking, to pretty theft and vandalism, to violent crime.... sad world...

Sure. Of course the sad part is the need for that redefinition.

[MachineGhost]

Yes, sometimes it involves petty theft, but more often than not it's been about violence. A few weeks ago, they assaulted a mounted police officer and punched the horse in the face. Twice.

I think what defines a flash mob is the apparent spontaneity of it, hence flash, but quiet planning involving social media to make it happen.

What is the usual ethnicity of these flash mobs? Wait, let me guess...

Seriously, I don't know why we don't go all Rambo and have zero tolerance for this kind of bullshit. Oh, except it occurs in "compassionate" liberal cities...

Jeeze.

[dualstow]

Yes, they're black. And I get that they're also disadvantaged, come from troubled households, etc.
But we did to be able to walk down the street without fear of being randomly assaulted. Otherwise, we're going to lose our tourists, our businesses, and the hateful white power people will be proven right, or rather will have some semblance of having a point, strangely.

[MachineGhost]

White power fucknuts are like Democrats -- they use any and every angle to boster their cause, no matter how tenuously related.

If this election has taught us anything, people are generally fucking stupid and are highly motivated and influenced by puppets. It was a mistake to ascribe any hint of rationality to the process.

Mars is looking pretty good for a rational society without the idiots.