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AstroTrain

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Journal Entries posted by AstroTrain

  1. AstroTrain
    Learning the camera, updating the set
    So today I got my "photo" stuff in the mail.
    I ordered a couple lights, because turns out I don't have a single portable light source besides a flashlight and a cellphone.
    I updated 90% of my registry with pictures. If you look through the pictures you will see them go from blurry images to some decent images.
    I need to go back and retake the fuzzy ones, but tomorrow is another day!!!
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  2. AstroTrain
    Can't get away from that tiny 10c piece.
    Dear Mr. Roosevelt Dime,
    You first caught my attention in a cash register when I was 21. You sound different from the rest of the dimes in the till. I inspected you and all I knew was, "Hey! You're from 1962!"
    At that point in time, I didn't know you where silver, I thought you may be fake, or even an error. I took you home, and put you away, there you stayed until a much later day.
    Fast forward, maybe 7 or 8 years and I found some of your brothers. Your not fake, you not an error...
    Sparks began to fly and I bought books and albums and I had to have one of each of you.
    I bought the Dansco with all the slots. Circulation, Proof, clad, silver, Philly, Denver, San Fransisco, even one from West Point. I took two years searching for the cream of the crop. High grade, blast white, near perfect, every one.
    As I placed the last one in, I felt...excited to be done, sad the chase was over, proud to show you off, and well, maybe just a little relief.
    I tucked you away and would pull you out to look at you, maybe add the newest coins from this years minting. I finally thought, maybe I can move on...I thought wrong!!!
    I've decided, with a push from some others, I want to build a high quality complete NGC set of you.
    Looks like the chase is on! I don't think I can do it in two years, or even 5. I will find the best, I will take my time! This won't be our first chase, I'm sure it won't be our last!
    -AstroTrain
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  3. AstroTrain

    Bliazzard 2013

    By AstroTrain,

    Thinking back...
    As the snow falls rapidly, and the wind whips out side, and the news talks about power outages in the state I am amazed. I live where they say it will be the worst (for my state). All the local news channels are talking about Route 1 Foxboro getting hit the hardest and it's exactly 1 mile from my drive way.
    I'm grateful to have power, last year we lost it for 10 straight days. All of this and I love the snow. I hate driving in it, I hate shoveling and snow blowing...BUT staring out the window with my 2 1/2 year old son and seeing the excitement in his eyes and on his face brings me back to being a kid. The snow ball fights and snow forts with my friends, making snow angels and snowmen with my dad... the next few years I get to relive it all.
    I now live in the very house I grew up in. Everyone is sound asleep and I am sitting here with my lap top staring out the window remembering things I haven't thought about in 25 years.
    Top Memories coming back to me: (good and bad)
    1-Crazy neighbors that use to tie a rope to the car and drive down the street with a sled dragging behind with fool hanging on for dear life; thankfully no one was ever hurt. I always wanted to do it, being grown up now, glad I never did
    2-Taking the sleds down to the "Killers" with my friends...there are woods behind the house, with a "valley" that had 4 slopes, one on each of the 4 sides. We would all man a slope and slide down crashing into each other...injuries were never serious, but tons of minor ones all the time!!!
    3-I learned about death 27 years ago in a snow storm when I saw my neighbor collapsed while shoveling his driveway...it was sad, but the man who now lives in that house is the son of the man that died that day, and I now live in my parents' house from back that...it's like the houses own the families, the families don't own the houses.
    4-Tackle football in the street! The street has about 20 houses and it's a dead end, but there were 12 boys all within 4 years of each other and with a little powder on the ground before the plows came we would have epic football games that could never be topped.
    5-My dad helped me and all my friends build the ultimate snow fort one winter. We had a series of hard storms and after shoveling the drive countless times we had a snow bank in the front yard about 8 feet high (at least being 8 it seemed that high) and spanned the entire length of the drive way on both sides (which is 60 feet). We dug tunnels, ramps, weapon supply rooms (snow balls, snow throwers, and what not) and when they were complete, we had a snowball fight that lasted days! We never wanted school vacation to end.
    So this snow storm is like digging through pocket change for me. I find a 1994 penny and instantly I go flash back to my 8th grade field trip to Washington DC. If I see a 1998 quarter it's senior year of high school and all over again and the last time all my friends were in the same place at the same time.
    So let it snow, and don't stop any time soon. For all of you getting hit by it, be safe and I hope you come out with no problems, just take a moment to marvel at it!
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  4. AstroTrain
    Here's how I deal
    I have a super small collecting budget. After the bills are paid, the food is bought, my son is clothed, and money is put away...well lets jus say there isn't much left.
    Each week I give myself an allowance for coffee, lunch, and whatever else I may need. It's not much, just $50. I make sure I get it in cash (10 $5 bills), and it breaks down to $10 a day (it's only for work days).
    I have a jar that says "Poker Money" on my desk and I fill it up every night when I get home. Whatever is left over from the $10 goes into the jar. I use that for my coins.
    At first when I came up with idea I was pretty sure I could put $2 a day, or $520 a year into the jar.
    It was cool, every couple months I could buy something for $50-$100...but it just wasn't enough. So I began thinking it through...light went off! I starting buying a loaf of bread, peanut butterm and nutella. All of the sudden I'm dropping $40 a week into the jar, and things are looking up! My collection is growing faster, with nicer coins, and I'm nor going hungry! (although sometimes I need to change it up and buy Fluff, not Nutella)!
    Point is, I know many of you are like me and don't have tons of money to throw around, but if you think about it, there is plenty of ways to cut your outgoing cash flow and redirect it to where you would like to have it.
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  5. AstroTrain
    A little less strain, and alot more detail.
    Having grown up in the optical world and taken it on as my profession I have learned alot of things. Being a coin collector, I have also learned how to make it easier.
    Looking for small details for extended periods of time and be brutual on the eyes. Having a really good pair of properly fit eyeglasses will make huge differences in your experience.
    If you have a strong prescription or no prescription at all, you have alot to gain by investing in a quality pair.
    Off the shelf readers are evil and do more harm than good. The are a generic cut lens. They were not made for you, so the optical center of the lens is off and will cause your eye to strain. Plus they do not have Anit-Reflective coating, which is key!
    If you wear prescription glasses, get Anit-Reflective coating on them! It allows more light ot pass through the lens, reduces reflections, cuts glare, and it will reduce strain your eyes dramatically!
    If you don't wear prescriptions glasses you can order a great pair of AR coated glasses with PLANO lenses and you will be on your way to keeping your eyes healthy and making you experince alot "clearer".
    You can even go above and beyond. I had my doctor write a -script for +20.00 lenses. When I wear my contacts (that set my eyes back to 0.00) the +20.00 creates 5x magnification. Most of the time I don't need a loupe to see problems, so it saves much time! (Note: every +4.00 diopters = 1x magnification. ie. =12.00 would be 3x magnification.)
    Treat your eyes right, take care of them and they will take care of you.
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