On Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:55:59 -0500, Ignoramus9930
wrote:


My sense however is that the prices of tools have begun to rebound.
I"m glad I was buying the past couple of years.


I have a firm resolution to stay out of gold.

i
I bought more machines in the past 3 years than I did in the previous
30. I've upgraded my shop. I haven't bought any gold myself, but
there's some in the family. My grandparents generation hoarded a
small amount. As European immigrants, they lived through times when
their governments money was near worthless.

I'm in the process of reading about Germany in the days of the closing
of WW II and the early occupation years. For those without work,
barter was with / for food, clothing, shelter, and sex. Farmers made
out OK, except possibly in the Russian occupied areas.