planb, it's not that I'm living in some fairyland where I think everything is going great. I think I pointed out a few posts ago several reasons why TATF is in serious danger of going down the tubes, if it's not already flushed, and many things need to change. Isn't that mind-numbingly obvious by now after the last 1000 posts? Do you still think you need to convince somebody here that TATF is not producing the projected golden river of cash?
It's too late to ask if I have faith in Steve, haven't we discussed that? I already put my faith in him. He has the cash - there's no more faith to give or withhold(except buying more trees, which I'm not about to do). What extra faith are you talking about? How would I pull back any of the faith I put in him? Please, please tell me, because I would love to try.
I don't need to see my trees to guess that there's nothing great to see, quite likely to the point that my investment is doomed already. Why would I spend the equivalent of 10% of my investment and waste my time going down to be disappointed in person? Why would I subject myself to Steve's schpiel in person when I can read it off the website? Nobler men than I have tried to use that personal interview to talk him into throwing us a bone, anything, and failed. I don't have the classic engineering mind, so I don't have to actually touch something to believe in it. Words are pretty good for me, pictures are even better. I can be disappointed and upset listening to you guys just as easily as I could by going. I'm not a masochist; I don't have to spend thousands of dollars just to make sure I feel as bad as possible.
I am a reverse optimist. I think the situation is already so bad that almost any change would be an improvement. I do consider my investment a total loss. That is very freeing for me.
So now what? On paper I have my wife's whole IRA from when she was working as well as mine from a former job and part of an inheritance, all sunk into these trees. If I listen to you, I should just rip up the papers. Guess what? I can't afford to listen to you or I will be eating dog food when I'm 75. You are too rich for me since you find it so easy to throw in the towel. It's just amazing to me that you find it so worthwhile to keep hashing over the same tired complaints when you don't think it's getting you anywhere.
If we were on a ship with a leak and it was sinking, some of you guys would be moaning and crying and yelling about how we're going to die. Some people would be trying to figure out who made the hole and string them up. Count me in with the people that are looking around for a way to plug the leak or to bail out the water or find a stash of life jackets. Is that too idealistic of me?
- Don't bother telling me "the hole's too big, you'll never plug it and you can't bail fast enough".
- Don't bother telling me "there's nothing to plug it with"
- Don't bother telling me "you would have to go outside the ship and plug it from the outside or it will never hold - it's impossible"
Just get out of my way. Unless you are proposing a better solution. You seem to think I need help --- to give up? If I go down with the ship, I will be spending my last breath trying to save my family, not cursing the captain.
Why on earth would you spend so much energy trying to stop people from fixing the leak and saving us all? I don't care if the chance is one in a million - or less. I do not care. Especially if my wife and family are on board, and guess what - they are on board this ship. Any energy and time I spend on TATF now are going to be spent trying to make it work. If I can't think of a way to try to make it work, then hooray - I didn't waste any energy or time on a lost cause. But I'll keep looking for any way for things to improve until I have no hope left. And like I said, then I will go spend my time on something else, you won't find me around here complaining. I hope.
If I start at ground zero as I am now, all I care about is getting somewhere above zero. It's hard to imagine I could lose any more money if I don't invest more. While I'm hoping, I might as well hope for a profit. It doesn't cost any extra to hope. I can wait the full 25 years to see if something happens - it's for my retirement. I can even give Steve a couple more years than that to come through if that's part of the solution. In the meantime I will watch this forum for info from others, keep reading TON in the hope that there will be verifiable progress at some point, and try to think of ways to force TATF into action, or to salvage some of my investment.
What's "Plan B" for you, planb? What is your brilliant idea of how to spend your time? Sounds like it is complaining. If you imagine your investment as a salary, you are going to spend your investment on complaints. Complain as much as you want but it will take down your wage per complaint. I hope your complaints are worth it to you. Mine would just be ashes in my mouth. If I want a shoulder to cry on, I'll talk to my family or my pastor or my investment counselor (seems like I should get one of those). I don't feel like I need to keep coming here to complain to people I don't know (and some that I'm not sure really exist - Ab ;) ). What a waste of time.
OK, the situation is bad. Very bad. Very, very bad. We learn that in more and more detail all the time. As exciting and interesting as that is, I just get tired of it. I just can't keep caring extra extra much about the money I already feel is gone. Enough already. I'm not interested any more in knowing the exact degree of how bad it is. I am interested in knowing any way to make it better. Even a little bit better.
I would rather look at my situation as earning my investment back as a salary than as spending it. If I consider myself to be starting at zero, anything I get is more than I had. I will be patient, I will be accommodating, I will do whatever I can to bring Steve back to the table. If my effort is wasted and I get nothing out of it, then you and I earned the exact same thing. So turn that frown upside down mister grumpy pants, lets all put our heads together and earn some money.
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