End Of Season Rewards: Made It To Bronze II Again!
Hi all!
Hadn't managed to make a post yet about the end of season rewards, as NYE kind of got in the way of that haha.
Anyway, I had a decent season. I bought my first Chaos Legion Packc, rented my way to Bronze II again and was rewarded with more cards than ever before! Things are looking up!
Unfortunately it still isn't profitable to rent my way to Bronze II, the rent costs more than the battles give me, but the rewards help and I hope that soonish I won't have to rent my way to Bronze II anymore, but will have the CP
Season Rewards
Anyway, back to the past season. I was pretty chuffed with my rewards:
I am still drowning in potions, but I got three cards, one of them rare! It has a value of 25 cents or something, but it is getting my CP closer and closer to where I want it to be!
Goals for the New Season
So the goal this season is to keep to Bronze II. I want to buy 160CP worth of cards, then I will only have to rent Dr Blight to give me anough CP for bronze II
How was your season?
My Goals For 2022
We are about to enter a new year and that means it is not just time to reflect on what we have done the past year, but more importantly to look ahead at the year that is coming:
Source https://www.ytcc.nl/2021/11/08/2022/
I have decided to put a couple of important goals for me on a row:
Getting a permanent contract at work.
This will be my main focus. I switches jobs this summer and we moved quite far for it. I love my new job and a permanent contract would mean I don't have to worry every year about getting it extended and it would bring the benefits of it being a lot easier to buy a house when we are ready for that. I also really love my new job, so fingers crossed! Will get word around April, I will have to get 4 more visits in class (I am a teacher) from my boss and will have to pass those. Already passed the first 4 visits.
Source https://www.engineering.iastate.edu/ecs/students/the-employment-process/step-9-sign-employment-contract-and-celebrate/
**Healthy and Happy**
Source https://www.healthyhappywonderful.com/
I have a good life, I like my life and I enjoy the people I spend it with. My partner and I are making plans to get married, have kids. So I would like to continue on that happy road of my relationships. But my health is a point of improvement. I also piled on the Corona kilos in the past two years and will have to work hard in 2022 to shed them, because I want them gone! I want to go back to being fit, stomping around in the mountains and underground and being active.
Financial goal of the year
So last year was a nice year, my first year in crypto and manage to make a $1000 profit on this year! I reached the goal of getting to 1 full BCH (bitcoin cash). But a new year means new goals! And my goal for this year is to get to 0.5 Ethereum! As I am currently on 0.08 ETH I have a ways to go.... But it wouldn't be fun if it wasn't a challenge!
Decided to leave it to 3 goals for now, could make up loads more, but it is better to focus all the energy on a few things that are really important I find!
Earnings Of A Small Fish: 2021 Overview
So now the year is coming to a close it is time to make my Crypto Earnings Overview for the year 2021.
I started in crypto this year, bought my first coins in March and quickly got hooked and decided to try out different platforms to earn more! I spent around $500 buying coins and currently have about $1500 in coins. Many more are still on platforms like this one, where I hardly cash out. Here I will give an overview of what has made me the most profit and how much exactly.
The Year Overview
**Hive: $677.71** The current value of my account is around $480, which I keep on my account. I have just over $70 value in other coins on the Hive ecosystem. I cashed out $110 worth since I started. Hive has been good to me in 2021! Referral here: https://ecency.com/signup?referral=plint
**Read and Noise Cash: $456.15** About 6 months ago I discovered Read and Noise and blogging and sort of tweeting platform. They have been very profitable for me as I earned of 1 BCH on the platform in 6 months. I have cashed everything out from the app and am staking it to make more money. Referral for read: https://read.cash/r/Plint and noise: https://noise.cash/u/plints
**Cake DeFi: $91.90** I got into Cake during the Olympics when they had a deposit $50 and get $50 in DFI, that has increased a lot in value and I received a referral bonus, overall Cake DeFi has been very good for me. Now you can get $30 worth of DFI when signing up with a referral code: 348795 is mine if you are interested you can go here:https://app.cakedefi.com/ and enter the code when you sign up!
**Reddit Moons: $59.73** I made the decision to sell my moons on Reddit. I still feel good about this decision, the r/CC community continues to decrease in quality and I managed to take profit, so pretty happy.
**Celsius: $54.79** I stake most of my coins and have made a decent amount of rewards from the staking. I also received one referral bonus of $40 Use my referral here: https://celsiusnetwork.app.link/1196075cd9
**Coinbase Earn: $47.50** Oh Coinbase Earn the gift that keeps on giving. I mean this is crazy. I only hold like $300 on the platform and they gave me $50 worth of free crypto! Referral here: https://www.coinbase.com/join/smolde_q8?src=android-share/
**PublishOx: $10.22** It is so hard to build a strong base on PublishOx, but since it is no extra effort I will keep going! Check it out here: https://www.publish0x.com?a=4QbYvl5ndz
**Splinterlands: $11.28** I just started over a month ago but I feel Splinterlands deserves a spot here because I think this game will be very profitable! Already made my initial investment back and really enjoying playing it! Here my referral: https://splinterlands.com?ref=plints
Yearly Grand Total: $1410
I am really happy with that to be honest! As expected Hive and Read and Noise have been super profitable to me. For 2022 I hope to make even more! I didn't do a full calendar year last year, so am expecting even more profits in 2022. Also hope to discover new platforms and get going with Splinterlands and other blockchain games. Will make another post with my 2022 plans soon!
How was 2021 for you? Had a profitable year?
Earned 1 BCH ($450) This Year By Using Noise and Read Cash
I have been on a mission in 2021 to make as much crypto as possible from blogging. I joined Hive first which has been a great source of income. About 6 months ago I also joined noise.cash and read.cash and I made good money from it!
What Are Noise and Read?
Both read.cash and noise.cash work on the BCH network. Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of Bitcoin that has focused on fast transaction speed. Both platforms aims at people interacting with each other and being rewarded in BCH.
Read Cash focuses on blogging, so people write articles. If you're interested check it out: https://read.cash/r/Plint
Noise is read's little brother and is basically Twitter with BCH. It is all about short messages you share and channels you can talk to like minded people. If you want to try it go: https://noise.cash/u/plints
My Earnings
So in the past six months I made 1 full BCH with a current value of around $450. My earnings were about 50/50 on Noise and Read and are actually still increasing as we speak. The hardest part was the beginning but after warming up I now make around $70 a month on both platforms.
A side effect is that I also really enjoy both platforms, found a nice group of people to discuss things I enjoy in life with so that is nice!
Looking Ahead
So of course the year is almost out and I have earned my first BCH, so the obvious question is: what next?
The truth is I haven't quite figured it out. I could continue to go the way I am now: putting all the funds into Celsius and make some money on staking. But I could also do different things, like putting it in a different token to diversify my portfolio. But the big question then of course is: what am I going to put it in? There are some contestants: Ethereum, Solana, BTC, Polygon....
Anyway until I figure out what to do it will just go in Celsius. What would you advice to do? Would love to hear!
Bought My First Chaos Legion Pack
Hi all!
Finally took the leap and decided to invest some funds to buy myself a Chaos Legion pack!
With my airdrop of vouchers going insanely slow I realized I would have to wait a long time or just make a small investment. So I bought a Voucher, for a pretty ok price of just over $3 and I used some DEC to buy credits to get a pack. I ended up spending about $7 to buy 1 chaos legion pack.
The Pack
I finally managed to get to this screen and all the potions I had gathered might finally come in handy!
And here we are! I was very happy to receive a summoner actually, but the rest of the cards was a bit meh I guess. But ah well have to start somewhere.
The Value of the Pack
So of course I was very curious what the value of this pack would be.
Start off with the summoner Tarsa, that is valued around $5.11, not bad!
The Deeplurker is worth about $0.23
The Radiated Scorcher is at $0.07
The Riftwing at $0.17
And the Shadow Snitch at $0.09
Making at the moment for a value in total of: $5.67 so not yet breaking even. I guess the hope is that with time the value of the cards increases. But most of all is was a nice experience to open some packs and join in the fun. Will wait for the general sale to buy again I think but should be fun!
Daily Earth Quest and Back in Bronze II!
Afternoon all! I had a good day, managed after struggling at the beginning to get out of Bronze III I am now back in business in Bronze II
Renting to Bronze II
So I only have 255 CP myself (I know, sad times, but I am really trying here!) So I rent my way to Bronze II. I am currently renting two legendaries that I use as well, because might as well make a use of it!
I rent Doctor Blight, which I love! He has been very useful to me. If he wasn't so expensive I would buy him.
The other card I used was Djinn Biljka an earth legendary that goes pretty well with the earth deack I will show you in a bit
The Earh Daily Quest
Did I tell you yet that I love playing with Earth splinter? I love it! As much as I used to love the Water magic deck, I think I just love magic decks.
So without a doubt Obsidian is the best summoner for earth. I mean I think it's my favorite summoner overall!
As a tank I still use the Unicorn Mustang.
But after that I did tweak my deck a bit. I found out the Goblin Psychic is nice, but a tad vulnerable sometimes because of its lack of health. The Regal Peryton is actually better! Because of its flying ability it avoids a lot of damage!
After that I like to bring in one or both of my legendaries. Not just to show them off of course, they are pretty good!
Watch a battle here: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_136bc2c44e724b13bfa6501b31ef0ac2&ref=plints
And If you are keen to join the game (which you should) here is my reference: https://splinterlands.com?ref=plints
Daily Quest: Sneak in Bronze
Today I had the sneak quest as my daily quest and that made me excited because I use sneak for almost anything!
The sneak ability is one of my favorite abilities. I will show you some of my favorite sneak cards. And then the simple death deck that I used to win.
Favorite Sneak Cards
**Silent Sha-vi** Of the new cards this is my favorite sneak: it is strong and sneaky, a lovely combo. I use it in all my death decks.
**Tenyii Striker** In fire this is my favorite sneak card. It combines great with the fire summoner, giving it that extra melee power.
**Goblin Thief** Though I usually go for magic with earth splinter, this is the best option if you want to put some sneak attack in or make a different earth deck without the magic.
The undead badger is not too shab either, though I do not use it as much. I find the common cards with sneak have gone down in usability, but most splinters offer a decent one.
The Deck I Used
I decided to use a death deck, love playing death at the moment.
This was a fun death vs death game where the sneak made the difference!
Want to watch the battle? https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_df17570d18ccb8cb8060f1f90da990a7&ref=plints
My Weekend: My 4th Ankleversary
Hope you all had a good weekend. Last weekend I celebrated my 4th Ankleversary. A what you ask? Well, the anniversary of my ankle of course!
**The Day 4 Years Ago**
So on that faithful day four years ago I had a horrific climbing accident. I was bouldering (climbing smaller rocks without a rope) and at about 6 meters from the ground I feel my one hand slip, then my other and I am hurtling down at a horrible angle... When I hit the ground I do so with only the side of my foot and I instantly feel everything breaking...
I instantly know this is bad news, but I stay pretty calm on the ride to the hospital. Once I get there everything is too swollen to even get a decent x-ray. They bandage me up, tell me not to move and take a CT scan a few days later, right after Christmas. When the results come in it is all bad news: I have broken my ankle in 6 places, tore all my ligaments off with the bone, have a tear in my achilles tendon and tore off one of my calf muscles. And with that comes the hardest rehabilitation of my life.
**The Inability to Move**
I instantly become bed and house bound. I stay with my parents for one week, but go slightly mad of all their caring. I decide to go home but this means I need my friends to take care of me. I cannot shop (all hands are needed for crutches) I cannot cook (kitchen is on a different floor) and 500 meters is about my radius of movement before I get too tired or my leg starts to swell.
I decide to make the best of it, pick a bright color of cast and with the help of my amazing friends I get by. I am allowed a walking cast after 3 weeks and 4 weeks after that I see my leg for the first time in 2 months!
**It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better**
When I am out of the cast I am in for a disappointment. Instead of becoming more mobile I am in a world of pain and I can not really walk, only limp and drag. Soon it turns out that since my foot was not plastered in a 90 degree angle walking is too difficult. I need to go back into the hospital and get it fixed and.. back in the cast. I have a little cry when I am back in my room in the cast I have grown to hate.
But this is a story of hope! Because after 5 months in crutches and so much physio I do it! I can walk without a limp! I can move again, and have my life back! In this time I also meet my boyfriend and a happy time start: I walk lots, drive a car (wasn't allowed to drive for 5 months!) and... the mountains are calling! Even though I fell while climbing all I want is to go back into the mountains and be in nature.
And 7,5 months after the accident I do it! I make my first summit in Switzerland again!
I decide to celebrate my Ankleversary every year, because despite all the pain, all the trouble and my still quite poorly performing ankle, I can walk! I can experience the world on foot! I love to be in nature! So many things to be thankful for. But most of all, the ankle incident made me realize that I am tougher than I ever thought and that is worth a celebration. So happy Ankleversary to me!
Daily Quest: Fire Deck in Bronze
It's been a while since I played the Fire Splinter to be honest! I have been getting lots of earth and death quests lately. But today it was time for a fire quest!
So I hadn't actually played fire with the new cards yet. Trying to get to Bronze II, always hard at the beginning of the season, but the fire quest actually helped me today! Had to play 9 games to win 5 with fire, so not too shab considering I was trying out some different options.
The Deck
**As a summoner: Tarsa** Tarsa is a solid summoner, giving +1 melee attack and +1 health. I preferred to try out this new summoner and I think it is more powerful than +1 speed.
**As tank: Living Lava** I mean this is still just the best tank for fire in my opinion.
.
**The rest of the line-up**
So I have really enjoyed using Tenyii Striker, a decent Sneak attack. Especially with the +1 attack and +1 health this card is pretty powerful.
I also enjoyed using Serpentine Spy because of its opportunity ability. Sometimes I used the Goblin Fireballer or for low mana cost battles instead of the Living Lava as a tank.
If you want to check out a battle, here is the battle link:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_7cf1186d5c0cfee9932fb557af973704&ref=plints
How have you been getting along with fire?
14 Peaks - Following a Bold Dream
You may have heard of the latest Netflix sensation: 14 peaks. I saw it last week and think it is worth a watch, even just to see the sheer madness of this mountain adventure!
Source https://www.whatsonweekly.com/14-peaks-nothing-is-impossible/
**Project Possible**
The main man behind the movie and the adventure is Nimsdai Purja, a Nepalese climber who is either very optimistic or downright crazy, I still haven't figured that out entirely. He wants to set the new world record for climbing the 14 peaks in the world that are above 8000 meters high. He wants to do this is a crazy record time of just 7 months. What makes this goal so crazy is that these mountains are in three different areas, they are all crazy dangerous to climb and you must spend a decent chunk of time in the 'death zone' where oxygen is very low, meaning you normally need a long time to get ready and recover.
Source https://snowbrains.com/new-study-human-error-causes-75-of-high-altitude-avalanche-fatalities/
Here you see those 14 peaks. Some of them are really technical (like K2 and Annapurna) and all of them are dangerous. Of course, you also need a huge budget to do this. So Nimsdai sets out to fund his project by giving out the hopeful message of Project Possible: nothing is impossible. And to be honest you start to believe in this strange man. He seems high on life, bustling with energy and purpose as we meet his friends and family.
**The Nepalese Community**
What makes this story even more interesting is that Nimsdai is Nepalese and wants to scale these 14 peaks with a fully Nepalese climbing team. The Nepalese, who are known for their climbing skills and bodies that are well adapted to high altitude have been to peaks often as Sherpa's or as guides, but he wants to change that dynamic by showing how talented his team is.
Source https://megaxblog.com/nimsdai-purja-wife/
And I think this his honestly what motivates his team to go above and beyond and risk their life in order to fulfill this dream. They stick together, but also help out others on the mountain when an emergency arises.
**Why You Should Watch It**
Honestly, you should watch this movie for two main reasons:
This man, he is insane, I don't think a more optimistic person ever tried something like this. Just watching him makes you want to do something amazing with your life.
The views. I mean, most of us will never end up on the roof of the world, but Netflix tries very hard to give us the best view possible from the couch. You get a sense of the glorious feeling the climbers must have when they are on the summit.
Have you seen 14 peaks yet? What did you think?
A Shitty Tumble
Somebody recently asked me what my most embarrassing childhood memory was and I did not have to think long about that one. Here it is:
**A Vacation in France**
It was summer, I must have been around 7 and we were having our vacation in France as we did every summer. My father decided to we would go to a themepark whose theme was pre-history (and you wonder why I became a history teacher?) But it was quite a drive, so we left early to get to Prehisto Parc. Where they show how early humans must have lived.
Source https://www.tripadvisor.com.mx/Attraction_Review-g1048266-d4174548-Reviews-Prehisto_Parc-Tursac_Dordogne_Nouvelle_Aquitaine.html
While we were in the car I at some point had to pee, which usually made my father grumpy as he noted I should have gone before we left and this was all taking way to much time (funnily enough my partner now has the same reaction whenever I have to pee during a trip). So my dad decided that instead of taking an exit and making a stop, he would just stop on the side of the highway and I would have to pee there. I objected, because I wanted some privacy. Luckily I spotted that there was a little dike by the side of the road, so my genius idea was to climb over it and pee on the other side, so the people on the road could not see me.
**A Shitty Tumble**
So I walked on the little hill, saw that it was perfect cover and walked a bit down on the other side to squat down for my pee. Unfortunately I forgot that I was on a hill and that I have terrible balance. So it didn't take long for me to start tumbling down the hill... I came to a full stop with a loud splash and a nauseating smell. It seemed I had landed right into a pile of pig shit, the pigs seemed to have great fun at my expense.
I started crying and made my way up the hill back to my parents. Who when they saw me first said what did you do? Followed by: oh god that stinks. My father refused to have me in that car like that and my mother by this time could not stop laughing....
**The Real Tragedy**
It was quickly decided that I should undress completely and leave my clothes. This however, was a tragedy. You see I had just used all my savings to buy a Spice Girls shirt and I was so in love with it I don't think I ever washed it...
Source https://www.bobotemp.com/listings/spice-girls-t-shirt?size=S&color=Red
I would not stop crying, but my father had no mercy and did not want pig shit in his car (which as an adult now, I do kind of understand. It was also decided that we had driven too far just to turn back and not go to the Neanderthal park. So we drove to a local swimming pool where I was put under a shower while my mother, in her best French, pretended like we left my clothes there the last time and got me a free outfit. I do have to commend my mother here!
And so it ended up that we went to Prehisto Parc, with me in a scruffy dress, too grumpy to even recall anything of the day. As you may understand, we have no pictures of that day, but we do still have the story.
What is your most embarrassing childhood memory?
End of Season Rewards- My First in Bronze II
Morning all!
Just opened my season rewards, went to bed super early last night so missed it! This one was an interesting one for me as I finally made it out of Bronze III and into Bronze II. I could have made it to bronze I the final day, but didn't think the rental costs outweighed the benefit of two chests, but I have been doubting that decision haha.
**My Rewards**
I am happy I got one card, but would have liked it to be more. I have enough potions now to make a witch jealous I think, so would be nice to use them!
**The upcoming season**
I was very happy to finally make it to Bronze II and will go back there. It cost me about 5DEC to get the power to rent to Bronze II. I think Bronze I might be feasible as well. Might divert some hive income to buying some more DEC to also buy some cards and become less dependent on renting. I rented Doctor Blight the past season and really liked the card, see if I can rent some other legendary to get the CP I need but also use the legendary, otherwise it is a bit of a waste.
How were your rewards?
Are Sustainable Periods Possible?
I pondered for a long time if I should make this post about periods. But then I figured we need to get over ourselves. Half the population at some point will have periods for most of their lives. So forget the taboo and lets talk about something that really matters: **Is there a way to have periods without detrimental effect to our health and that of our planet?**
**What Are Currently The Problems?**
We have come a long way since the days of rags or no female hygienic products (for which I am grateful every month) but we are a long way from a perfect solution. So what are the current problems with using tampons and sanitary pads?.
A huge amount of non-recyclable waste
According to estimates we are talking about billions of tons of waste which are mostly plastic and will take 500-800 years to disintegrate. source https://science.thewire.in/environment/what-is-sustainable-menstruation/
The current products are bad for our health as well. Being in touch with these non-sustainable material cause rashes, sensitive skin and even an increased chance of cancer. Many tampons contain bleached cotton and bleach is, well not great for your body. Source https://www.followyourblisscr.com/toxic-tampons-cancer/
It all ends up in landfills. The average woman uses between 5.000-15.000 sanitary products in her lifetime (yes, that much) and currently there is hardly any way to recycle them, meaning they end up in landfills. People who flush their tampons (I always wonder who the hell does this but ok) shoot their plastics straight into the oceans. Source https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/how-tampons-pads-became-unsustainable-story-of-plastic
**The Solutions**
But before we get to depressing, there are solutions nowadays:
Using Reusable cups
I have been trying these out actually and so far so good. You get one reusable cup that lasts for 5-10 years. Meaning you only use one plastic product in all that time instead of tons.
I used OrganicCup, but there are many more others out there.
Using sustainable products. You could use organic tampons. They are made of organic cotton, without the usual chemicals and plastics, ensuring they are better for you and the planet. You still end up having to throw it away so it is not waste free but definitely better! Source https://www.health.com/mind-body/best-organic-tampons
What are your thoughts? Have you tried anything other than the usual tampons and pads?
Daily Quest: Water Deck in Bronze II
Today my daily quest was Water. This was interesting because in the time of Alric Stormbringer water was by far my favorite. I would use the water splinter to make a magic deck (as did most other people)
But the new standard cards and me not being smart enough to get Alric before he became super expensive means that the water splinter in my eyes is no longer the strongest splinter. But I like a challenge!
The Deck I Used
**As a summoner: Kelya Frendul** The only real option at the moment, with +1 armour and +1 speed pretty decent. Not as strong as Alric was, but we must not reminisce too much!
**As Tank: Diemonshark** Love this card! The trample means he will keep on attacking when he makes a kill and this has often made the difference for me during a match!
**The Rest of the Line-up** From here on it depends to the mana and ruleset I would say. I really enjoyed using the Deeplurker, with its opportunity ability. I love sneak as well so Pelacor Bandit is a favorite of mine as well.
You can also decide to try to keep your Diemonshart alive for as long as possible by using the Merdaali Guardian.
I also like using Doctor Blight, the legendary I am renting to get to Bronze II because he sits there the entire game not being attacked because of his ability but giving you a solid 1 magic attack the whole game.
The Reward
I am finally in Bronze II so I get somewhat of a reward, though the past days still just credits. Hoping for some cards at the end of the season.
If you want to see a battle here is the link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_e09e5355a9c2389b99fb7b2529fd3414&ref=plints
I like this one because it is water vs water.
What deck are you using for the Water splinter?
Earth Daily Quest in Bronze II
Morning all!
Had an earth quest today and with the new cards I think Earth is one of the strongest splinters at the moment, so I did not mind at all...
My Deck
I have been playing with the following deck for the past days, and really happy with it! For those playing in Bronze and not having many cards outside the standard deck I think this works really well!
**As a Summoner:** Obsidian
Since Alric is no longer available as a standard summoner (can't believe I didn't buy him before the new release!) this is now the summoner you want to use with magic.
**As a Tank** Unicorn Mustang
Still one of the best tanks out there. If you have a super long mana set you could use the biceratops instead.
**The magic line-up** This is the main part as you want to use the magic powers of Obsidian. I really enjoy using: Goblin Psychic, Khmer Princess and Doctor Blight. I rented Dr Blight and he makes me pretty happy so far.
When you have extra money I like adding stealth with Goblin Thief. Also cool is this card for high mana battles: Mycelic Slipspawn, with 2 magic attack (3 with Obsidian) and taunt it is a useful card.
I found this deck effective against all decks, but Thaddius is your toughest opponent as he takes away a magic attack.
For an example click on the battle link:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_d0eb47d30bba8c2d1232734d2f357a1b&ref=plints
We're Going Deeper Underground: My Hobby
Somebody asked me yesterday what my hobby was and I would love to tell you all about my hobby: **Caving!**
**Going Underground**
I first started caving about 4 years ago. I was already fond of climbing and had heard that caving combined rope techniques with the awesomeness of going to places that not many people visit.
This is me after my first cave visit ever (without the proper gear yet haha) and as you might be able to see I loved it! Since you can't cave in the Netherlands I go to Belgium to do most of my caving. I have joined a caving club, which you need because all Belgian caves are locked and can only be opened by the clubs to prevent accidents and damage to the caves.
Not much is required to be a caver, you need some knowledge of rope work and tying knots and you need to be ok with cramped and dark spaces. Besides that you need to always have someone with you with knowledge of the specific cave you are going in and with a call-out to people on the outside so they can alarm people if you don't come out (no phone signal down there)
**The Amazing Underground World**
I think a lot of people assume that the underground world is just dark and scary, but it is an absolutely amazing place to see. There are formations that have formed over lots of time and pressure, amazing colors and shapes. And the idea that you might be one of the very few to see them makes it a lot more special.
In this cave (crackpot in the UK) you can see lots of formations from the ceiling, so called stalactites and even a fully formed column that runs from the top all the way down, quite rare!
One of the most amazing caves I have ever visited was in Hotton, Belgium. This cave is only open a few times a year on request. It is a very fragile cave with beautiful formations and they don't want many people entering and possibly breaking things. We managed to make a couple of pictures. It is super difficult to take pictures in caves, you need to bring extra light to make it work and that means carrying all of the lights in, a big faff.
The formations in Hotton are so special because there are so many and they are still super pristine! When you look up close they are like unique snowflakes.
**Not Just a Hobby but a Family**
Caving has not just become my hobby but has given me a whole caving family. It is a great mix of Belgian and Dutch cavers and we meet about twice a month. We have been through a lot together and below the surface you really have to be able to rely on each other.
Because of the pandemic we haven't been able to cave much but I hope we can see each other soon again and continue our underground adventures.
Hope to hear more about your hobbies this weekend, have a great weekend!
Splinterlands: Finally Reached Bronze II
Hi all! Exciting times as I reached Bronze II!
It may sounds silly but this is the first time I have made it so far!
I am so excited to finally have made it to the place where the rewards are! I started just at the wrong time really with playing, 2 weeks after I started DEC rewards for Bronze III disappeared....
How I did it.
So I got some cards that I wanted to get, invested about 500DEC into it. Then I used 5DEC a day to rent two legendaries: In my case Doctor Blight:
That legendary right there is 500 CP and he fits really well into my earth and death decks so yay!
The other legendary I got was Zyvax Vuul
I thought it would be useful, but haven't used it yet so far, think it takes too long to be useful.
Just wanted to share my happiness with you all about finally reaching this new level!
Death Deck for Beginners With the New Cards!
Hi all,
Hope you are as excited as I am about the new cards!
I had a death quest today and decided to try out some new cards.
Death Deck
So I like playing with the death splinter. I did have to get used to the new cards, but think I found a fun combo.
As a summoner: Thaddius Brood
Seemed like a fun summoner with nice dual action going on so I went for Thaddius
As a tank: Cursed Windeku
I love this card! For the cost it does loads of damage! Thanks to the thorns ability this tank strikes back and gets in double the damage!
The other monsters: I love using sneak so I have used Undead Badger, an old card. I have also used Silent Sha-vi a new card with sneak abilities.
I found this to be a good combo at 17 mana. Still working on the more expensive decks. All ideas and comments are welcome!
The Reward
Silly me is still in Bronze III so this was my reward:
Check out the battle link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_82e9cb09b30b5f29061fae18e8e51b52&ref=plints
The Path To Fame- I Joined The Rising Star Game
So those of you that know me know that I try almost any blockchain game under the sun. And of course I like telling you what my experiences are.
This time I decided to try out a game on the Hive blockchain: Rising Star
Becoming a Super Star
The idea is simple: you are a beginning musician that wants to become a rock star! But that path is long and full of obstacles of course. You start of playing illegally on the streets while you dream of making it big.
The setup of the game (still in beta) is pretty simple. You have a character, can play missions to gain fans, experience and Startbits, the in-game currency.
With those starbits you can get cards (NFTs) that will help you advance your musical career. With those cards you can also add bandmembers to your band to advance your career.
Rising star has actually been around for a while already, but I have managed only just now to hear from it. It has quite an active community here on hive.
Why I like it
I have tried lots of games and many of them I didn't like (like the new Alien Worlds, seriously stay away). But I like Rising Star! Why?
You can play it without initial investments. A big plus I think. I was thinking the other day of starting a game, but it required a starting capital of $700 of ETH, ehm no thank you.
It has an easy interface and doesn't require a ton of information to be processed by you. I hate games that require you to spend at least a month studying how to play
It has good rewards and a good community. I like that it incorporates NFT's as well, making it an interesting game to play.
I will keep you up to date on what I think of it. But try it out! If you want to use my referral go here https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=plint
Splinterlands- Life Quests Drive Me Mad
Hi all, I need your help!
I am a fairly new player in Bronze III and I just cannot get the Life Quests done. I really tried! But man it was too hard, after a day of grinding I just gave up.
My Current Setup
So I have been trying (and failing it) with the following setup:
As a summoner I use Tyrus Palladium
He seems the best summoner.
After that I used the Silvershield Knight, seems a strong ability to give extra melee strenght.
The I put in the Luminous Eagle as the abilities seem helpful to me
Then depending on money I put in the Feral Spirit and sometimes also the Elven Cutthroat.
Also money permitting I sometimes put in the Divine Healer.
**Help Me**
So what am I doing wrong? How can I use the standard cards (or maybe some very cheap buys/rentals) to make a deck that allows me to at least make it to 5 wins so I can claim my daily reward. All help is welcome!
Wow thanks @foryoubtc09 for the sponsorship, I really appreciate it!
Thankful to all my sponsors for supporting my writings and hopefully many more articles to come here on read cash!
Carnaval in Rio- An Amazing Experience
In a group on Hive we were asked to look into celebrations in different cultures and share our experiences. I would love to tell you about my experience with Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, some celebration I won't easily forget!
Carnaval
Carnaval is a Catholic feast celebrated before lent (period of fasting) and the biggest carnaval in the world is in Rio. Every area of the city has their own Samba school that takes place in the carnaval parade. You can tell the samba schools apart by the colors they use. Each school designs a dance routine, costumes and decoration.
Tickets sell out really quick, but we managed to get tickets for a practice run before carnaval, so we could see what that practice looked like.
Even the practice is really impressive! It all takes place in the Sambadrome, an insanely large stadium that has like a street running through where all the samba clubs pass through dancing, with loud music and lots of Brazilian joy for life. It was a great experience even just to see a practice.
Party in the Streets
But arguably the best carnaval parties are in the streets. Since most people can't go to the sambadrome most people just celebrate in the streets! The streets are filled with music and people dancing. It is insane how well most Brazilians can dance, I felt a bit like a Dutch clumsy cow haha. We decided to celebrate in the vincinity of our hostel in Santa Teresa, near Centro. As we were told that bringing valuables like phones and cameras were only things you could lose I didn't take any pictures. But this picture should give you a good idea of how busy and happy it is!
[Source](https://www.thetravelmagazine.net/rio-carnival-rio-de-janeiro.html)
I Loved It!
Safe to say that I loved Carnaval, it was everything that I loved about Brazil: the music, the dancing, the friendliness of the Brazilians. Would for sure go again (maybe drink a bit less caipirinhas) and see this amazing cultural event.
November Earnings of a Small Fish
Do you ever wonder what common people without huge piles of money make in passive income? Well this is the place to be!! I, teacher, currently not investing any of my own money in crypto will show you what I manage to make each month to enlarge my pile of crypto currencies.
I currently have about $1500 in crypto, about $500 of which is my money put into crypto, the rest I got for free!
Last month, in October I had a one time financial input from selling my Reddit Moons which put me at a nice income over $200 dollars for that month. I don't have such high expectations for this month. But lets see!
November Earnings
I had a difficult month, work was crazy and my partner switched jobs, which created a busy time for us personally.
**Hive: $46,59** Hive is up a bit again from last month, which is good. I should put more into it and it will go up even more I think. So the goal for this month is more quality posts on Hive! Still my biggest earner and I love this platform! Referral link here https://ecency.com/signup?referral=plint
**Read.Cash: $32** A small decrease from last month, but considering I wrote a lot less, not that surprising! Would recommend everyone who blogs to be on this platform. Referral here https://read.cash/r/Plint
**Noise.Cash: $30** I had a huge drop in Noise and then the free tipping came to save me! Honestly wouldn't have known what to do without it as it saved my earnings. Bright future ahead again! Referral here https://noise.cash/u/plints
**Celsius: $3,33** Have most of my coins on Celsius for staking rewards, which are increasing every month so that makes me happy! My referral is here https://celsiusnetwork.app.link/1196075cd9
**Coinbase Earn: $3** Free money for doing absolutely nothing. Everyone should be grabbing this. Referral here https://www.coinbase.com/join/smolde_q8?src=android-share/
**Cake DeFi: $2,84** I once picked up some free Cake when I bought $50 worth of BTC and it has been growing steadily. Now you can get $30 worth of DFI when signing up with a referral code: 348795 is mine if you are interested you can go here:https://app.cakedefi.com/ and enter the code when you sign up!
**Splinterlands: $2,57** Just started and didn't get to spend a lot of time on it yet but I think this will be a massive earner! Referral here https://splinterlands.com?ref=plints
**PublishOx: $0,90** With only 2 published articles last month it is not so strange the reward is low this month. Want to check it out? Go here https://www.publish0x.com?a=4QbYvl5ndz
Total for November: $121,23
Which I think is my lowest result in a while, but I am not that surprised, what you put in is what you get out and I wasn't able to give it my all this month.
Looking forward to December
I am excited about December! I think I'll have more time this month than I did in November, Noise has picked up again, and the first days on Hive are promising as well. And I hope Splinterlands will pick up as I invest more time into it. So hoping to be back above $200 for December again!
What are your goals for the final month of the year?
Nature: Climbing into the Sky
I love mountains and nothing excites me more than climbing mountains. There is just no feeling like being in nature, scaling this impressive mountain. I love the silence up there as well, especially with climbing it can get lovely quiet up there by yourself. So I want to share one of my most epic climbs with you: to the top of Zugspitze, the highest mountain of Germany.
Zugspitze
With two friends we decided that we wanted to climb Zugspitze in the summer of 2019. I was just recovering from shattering my ankle the year before and I wanted a big challenge on the horizon to go back into the mountains. We trained lots, did lots of climbing in Belgium and indoors (no mountains in the Netherlands haha) and went to Austria a week before to scale some lesser mountains as a warm up.
From the campsite we could see Zugspitze so that was a good reminder of our goal! There are five different routes up the mountain and we decided to take the Höllental or Devil's Valley route, which is a tough one. It takes about ten hours, involves climbing and crossing a glacier. The main issue was going to be the gap between the glacier and the climb, falling down there would mean serious injury and it was the part of the route we were most worried about before we left.
The Climb
We left at 4 am from the campsite, crammed as much food as we could in our mouths and backpacks. It was a tight squeeze to put the crampons, climbing gear, food and water in our day packs. We started walking in the dark with our torches for the first part in the forest up to the tree line. By the time the light came we were in a beautiful canyon on our way to the hut which is placed before the climbing section and which is the finish point for most people on that route.
At the hut we drank as much water as we could and got ready for the climbing section. From this part the route becomes 'real' and we were now warmed up. The rest of the route would be: a climbing section, a scramble through a boulder field, some nasty scree, the glacier with the much feared gap and then the final climb, a pretty steep piece on the mountain.
We finally started climbing! This is the part I love, as soon as you gear up, leave the tourists behind and get into that focus. You stare at the rock, feel the rock, place your feet and take the leap. This is what adventure for me is all about. The first climbing section went really easily and we were in great moods. Then we got to the scree and glacier bit. It was getting super warm and super sunny (not ideal) and the landscape turned tricky. Lots of loose gravel meant you really had to be careful where to place your feet.
This is the view in the gravel pit looking at the glacier. For the glacier you need crampons and then it's fine, but the end of the glacier meant the gap was coming soon, the thing we had worried about most during our preparation. We knew that the hotter it was the bigger the gap would be. This gap is the hole between the glacier and the rock. If you fall you can fall down really far and will definitely have to be rescued. When we got there it was a decent gap and it meant a jump from the glacier straight onto the rock and hoping you will stick to the rock. Downside is you have wet shoes, so sticking is made a bit harder.
I don't know why but I was chosen to be the first to make the jump (thanks guys) and managed to stick it. I think that gave the boys some courage to go after me. After that is the main climbing part, with this beautiful view.
The Summit
We were getting tired, but mostly we got hot. The sun had been shining on us relentlessly for hours and I think we all got a bit dehydrated and overheated. The last climb required all our focus. I had the problem that I really had to pee so had to do a climbers pee, since I am a girl I do have to take off my climbing harness, so we found a nice ledge, tied my ankle to the wall and had a pee, luckily it went well!
After ten hours from the start we finally made it to the top! Here are our excited faces!
Zugspitze is still one of the coolest climbs I did, not technically but it is a long day with lots of different parts and it was awesome to make it to the summit from the climb!
I hope I showed you a bit of my excitement for mountains, looking forward to hearing your stories!
How Lockdown Made Me Love Christmas Again
Hope you are all doing well and looking forward to the end of this year with the holidays fast approaching. I had a bit of a shock when I saw what the contest would be this week, because... I am not the biggest fan of Christmas. Though that did change last year in the lockdown, so I will tell you about my very very new Christmas tradition!
**Why I am a bit of a Grinch**
So people usually get a bit upset when I tell them I am not much of a Christmas person. I know some people cannot wait until Christmas comes around, but I am not really fussed. But as you will see in this article, it turned out I just celebrated it wrong all those years!
So growing up I never really cared much for Christmas, the Dutch don't do presents for Christmas and my mother always had the flu (I kid you not, like 4 years in a row my mother had the flu for Christmas). Then my parents got divorced when I was 9 years old and Christmas became a battle field. They both wanted me for Christmas and they didn't want the other parent to have anything really haha. So by the time Christmas came around I was already sick of all the bickering. And this has kind of continued until last year...
**The Turnaround**
So after all these years of grumpy me on Christmas (and weeks before already when families started bickering again about who got what Christmas day) I was pretty happy when last year there was a lock down for Christmas. No family at all for me! So me and my boyfriend decided to have a small celebration and a dinner together instead. And man I am a fan now!
We started with opening the liquor cabinet, an excellent choice. We had some nice drinks before the dinner, getting our buzz on. We lit lots of candles, put some nice music on and made a nice two course meal for ourselves. We first made a nice fish course.
And then we had a nice piece of roasted meat for the main course. After that we settled down and watched a movie.
It was by far the most lovely and stress-free Christmas of my life. So we decided to make a new tradition: just us two, no family, no stress. Just a lovely meal together being thankful for what we have! It means a lot to me, after so many unhappy Christmas celebrations with just fights and stress. I hope everyone will have a relaxing Christmas.
So wishing all
Review: BlacKkKlansman, or How an African American Man Infiltrated the KKK
We decided to spend the Saturday evening inside, under a blanket and with a movie. My eye was caught by BlacKkKlansman because it promised a true story of an African American cop infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan witht he help of his Jewish colleague back in the 1970s. Well if that doesn't sound intriguing then I don't know what does.
The Story
The story is set in Colorado Springs, a town in the US where Ron Stallworth, a young African American applies for a job at the local police department. He is hired, but stands out from his colleagues. Ron is not only the first African American in his department he is also oozing the 70s soul vibe.
He starts off where all new cops start, bored to death in the archives. Then he gets the opportunity of a lifetime, he phones the local Ku Klux Klan after they place and advert in the papers. He is invited to come join them and it is a great opportunity for the police to see if anything illegal happens in the notorious organization. Only problem? Well, Ron won't be able to go himself....
He is helped by his colleague Flip, who happens to be white, but who will have to hide his Jewish background, since the KKK also don't take kindly to that.
What ensues is a movie where they infiltrate deeper and deeper into the mysterious KKK, but where a mistake is easily made and one that could cost them dear if they are discovered.
Gives Perspective
I loved this movie because I think it gives a great perspective. Sometimes the stories that seem to crazy to be real turn out to be real! Who would have thought about a duo of an African American and a Jew infiltrating the KKK?
I think it also beautifully showcases the 70s: a changing society in which African Americans are voicing themselves, an era of the black power movement, but also one with lots of institutionalized racism.
And just when you think at the end of the movie: ah well at least we have come a long way since those days, the movie keeps you on your toes by showing the latest struggles of the Black Lives Matter movement.
A must see movie therefore, a comedy that is thought-provoking and changes your perspective
Inspiring Each Other to Save Our World
I would love to inspire the leaders of this world to make this planet last, change the way we pollute it now and make it a place future generations can thrive in!
**My Vision**
Wouldn't it be amazing if we could all live on this planet in a sustainable way? Sharing it with animals, people, plants in a way that we don't fight with each other over space? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could live on our planet and also have our children and grandchildren live in that place? Well I think it would be!
I have been watching some amazing things of people living in sustainable houses; powered by solar energy and off natural gas. I have also been watching a show on organic and natural farming: farms that do not use mono culture, but combine different crops, animals and plants to make sure there is a balance in their ecosystem.
**My Inspiration**
So I know this is a pretty big topic right? And many people have been doing some amazing things already: people have started using more public transport, some people are eating less meat or are investing in solar energy for their homes. Awesome! But I really want to give a wake up call full of inspiration to some of the people who can make an even bigger difference then their own carbon footprints.
I am talking to you leaders of the world! Get off your asses! Properly represent the people of your country and help them to preserve this beautiful planet that we all want to live on!
What I see is a lot of leaders who are thinking short term: "I was only elected for 5 years, this is not my problem!" or "I don't want to raise taxes for my citizens for a problem that they cannot even see in their lifetimes." But I believe true leadership should mean that you are not afraid of making big choices, lead your people and dare to do something that might be unpopular now but will help everyone in the long term.
So leaders, be inspired, see our beautiful planet and set out to save it!
If You Could Relive a Weekend
Someone asked me this week what weekend would I re-do if I had a time machine and I could go back in time. I didn't have to think for long. This is what I would do:
Step Into My Time-travel Machine
We are transporting ourselves back to the winter of 2018. I had just met a very cute boy through a mutual friend. Only downside: I lived in the Netherlands and he lived in the UK. But when this cute boy send me a message to ask me out on a date I thought: Why not?
We decided I would come over to the UK for a long weekend and we would go camping in the Lake District. When I told my friends, they asked me if I had gone mad: what if the boy wasn't that cute at all? Did I even know if he could be trusted? Who travels to a different country for a date?
But I would not be deterred and it turned out not only to be the most fun weekend of my life, but I also found the love of my life! You understand why I wouldn't mind reliving it!
The Weekend
As soon as I arrived we had lots of fun, finally being able to speak face to face again. The next day we set out on adventures! Since we are both adventure lovers we had a weekend filled with fun outdoors ahead of us!
We started with a walk to this insane wall where we saw lots of good climbers having a go. After a picnic here we drove on to the Lake District, which is a beautiful area in the UK. We pitched up the tent and well, if your first date is camping together, you get to know each other pretty quickly! The next day we went for a hike in a quarry. We both like hiking and we chatted away.
Time seems to always fly by when you are having the best time of your life (another reason why I could do with a re-do of this weekend) and before we knew it it was the last day. We decided to have a romantic finish to our first date by going up a bank and eating pizza while the sun set. While looking at this insane view.
The Aftermath
We had an amazing weekend and sitting on the train back to the Netherlands I thought to myself: "oh man, I really like this guy". Now, sitting on the couch with him next to me, 3.5 years later I still feel the same!
I think that weekend and the fun we had formed the base of us still having lots of fun together today.
Really looking forward to hear about your weekends!
Sunday Roast
The weekend is of course the perfect time to spend cooking. Not the stress of every day and more time to make a nice meal. A tradition that we took from our time living in the UK was making a roast on Sunday. A roast can be anything really but the main parts are: a nice piece of meat from the oven, some roasted potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and of course, vegetables. Oh and gravy of course!
Making the Roast
The easy part is the potatoes and carrots: I boil them first and then roast them off in the oven, giving them a nice crisp. Sometimes I also do parsnip, especially in the winter. They are great from the oven. But really any veg would work.
In this case I made cauliflower cheese, boil some cauliflower, make a bechamel, top it with some cheese and pop in the over to finish it until golden.
The Yorkshire Puddings: For my partner these are the highlight. I have to say that during my time in Yorkshire I grew fond of them as well. They are very simple to make with just flower, milk, eggs and a pinch of salt. For a nice recipe look here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/yorkshire_pudding_69240
The Meat: here again you have many options. On the first picture I went for chicken thighs, as they stay nice and juicy. I cover them in a nice coat of herbs (if you are feeling adventurous you can give them a yoghurt and tikka massala rub, giving it an Indian twist) just pop them in the oven and voila.
Other option include gammon or ham joint, roast beef or if you are feeling less like a heavy meal you could put salmon in the oven to keep things lighter. You can of course also go for a vegetarian option as well. We have made quiche to accompany it at times
Weekend Meals
I hope I gave you some ideas for a nice weekend meal. I love this because it is a nice homey meal, but also doesn't require crazy cooking techniques. Of course I am very curious what your weekend meal is, let me know what you make?
If It Ain't Dutch...
So as some of you may know I live in the Netherlands, country of tulips, clogs, windmills, weed and I think I have ran out of stereotypes to describe my country now.
You might get the impression now that I live in perfect tulip land, but I am afraid that there are some things to improve on my small little country. So here I give you, three things to improve on my country. And finally I shall treat you to an artist impression of my ultimate Netherlands!
1. Let's go to altitude
So you may not know this, but the Netherlands gives a new idea of the word flat. My country is flatter than a pancake. It is so flat, that most of it lies beneath sea level. The biggest 'hill' lies right on the border and I'm not sure it really merits the name hill. For a mountain lover like me this can be a bit difficult...
I now have to get into a car to drive 12 hours to be in the Alps, but in my perfect Netherlands I would be able to see the snowy peaks when I open my windows! That way I could do climbing, one of my hobbies a stone throw away from my home.
2. Let the sun shine!
One of the things I love about the Netherlands is the fact that we cycle everywhere. It keeps you healthy and it is better for the planet. A little downside is that the Netherlands is pretty rainy so I often look like a drowned cat dressed in a raincoat when I get to work.
I do enjoy the benefits of rain though, I enjoy water sports, and like a green country to live in. So in my ideal Netherlands it shall rain at night and be sunny during the day!
3. A Final Touch
Now that I have improved the climate and the view out of my window, there is a final tough before I am truly pleased.
Now you see I love my fellow Dutchies, weird, tall creatures they may be. But after having lived in different countries I have realized that we are pretty bad at small talk.
You see, we Dutch are champions of efficiency. We can send two word emails, can call our families for 5 minutes a month to get them up to date, we can do 20 minute meetings at work! But we are horrible at chit-chatting. When I lived in the United Kingdom I was always amazed at all these people in shops who just kept talking to me. At first I was irritated: so inefficient all this chatting! But the longer I was in the UK the more I grew to love it, and now I miss it. So I will bring this to my Netherlands as well!
The Ideal Country
So here I present to you: The Netherlands Revamped!
Hope you enjoyed and remember: If it ain't Dutch... It ain't much!
@Plint
