1st post

Hello, Steemit Community. This is Jay Alvarez. So, THIS IS EXCITING! 30 yrs old, and currently in Southern California.
So, I feel like most of my life has been leading towards CRYPTO/BLOCKCHAIN technology.

Growing up you are made to think that things are the way they are, and we should not question them. And for the most part I was accepting what was happening around me. I don't think that there was a single event that made me wake up to what really was happening around me. I'm talking about the real world. Not the stuff you see when you go to the mall, or the stuff they show you on primetime tv, I'm talking about what is really going on around us, how the government and the companies that own the government control and influence us in our daily lives.
"The government, really, this guy is a nutjob!"
I know, to some or most I probably sound crazy or just another broken record talking about how we are all puppets. But really, are you really able to tell me that you do without a doubt live in a free country. If you think you do then nothing will convince you otherwise, and this is as far as you should read. I'll wait. . . Are they gone? Ok. So like I said there was always this expectancy of what I was gonna do with my life. It started in high school. My parents, counselors, everybody was asking me to think about what I wanted to study in college, or tell me to "work hard" and get a "good job". Really, the last thing i wanted to do was go to college to waste my time just to some boring job for 40 or more hours a week for 40 plus years, and pay a good amount of my money to the government, and put some more aside later so I have enough when I'm too old to work. And if you have a traditional 401k expect to pay higher taxes in the future, because the current banking scheme only works if we keep raising the debt every year. Sorry, maybe got a bit carried away there.

Bitcoin.
The first time I heard bitcoin, I was at work doing what I'm always doing, which was surfing the news online. I was scrolling through Yahoo news, (Really the only reason I ever go to Yahoo anymore) and I saw a story for a weird new digital currency that you can theoretically use to pass as a system of value. "Funny," I thought. But I didn't pay too much attention to it. I do remember at this point in time bitcoin was only, are you ready for this. 27 F#$king dollars. I know, but at that point in time I really did not have a good grasp on finance, all I knew was that stocks and real estate were the only real way to make major bucks.

Bitcoin. . . Again.
I had almost completely forgot about bitcoin, when I saw it again for the second time. Let's get right to the price, it was valued at over $500 per coin! And if you think that I let that opportunity slide and didn't buy any, then you're right. I was thinking that I missed out, and that it was something that maxed out, and that it would never get any higher than what it had gotten to. I felt bad for missing out, but I didn't linger, ( I should have) I moved on and from that day on I was on YouTube watching finance videos, and how to read charts, etc. I was thinking that I didn't want to be working for a giant company for the rest of my life, or a small company. I didn't really want to work for anyone period. So I thought that saving up money and trying to do some small time stock trades were gonna be my way to get things rolling. At this point in time there was an app called Robinhood that didn't charge commissions, and after doing some homework I put in some money, only to lose most of it by the year's end. I was at a low point, I had done everything right. I had picked good stocks with strong companies, but that was not enough. In the end I sold on a loss, and was a very bitter person about it. I went a good while without trading. After I had saved a bit more I decided to self analyse what errors I had made, and I was ready for round two.

Ethereum.
There I was, big time trader with a big ol' $1,000 portfolio, it really was sad to think of all the time I wasted and all the sleep I didn't get just to be up when the market opened. (Since I'm in the West Coast)
I would be happy with a $20 gain for that week. But I knew that unless I came from money or somehow got a whole lot of cash to invest all of a sudden, that all this would just be a waste. So there I was online again, and I came across an article for this thing called Ethereum. Another crypto, what is going on with this stuff. Ok, so finally I started to go in the rabbit hole, and look up at why this thing, this blockchain, this ever growing coin was not fading, in fact it was bigger than ever. I almost wanted to cry when I found out that bitcoin was at $1900 and at that point it all clicked, I had not given bitcoin the time of day. I did not know why it was so valuable and I hadn't realized that it was because of the blockchain technology and the open ledger idea that everyone holds everyone accountable, the actual bitcoin values and the potential of the technology, not just the coin, could revolutionize pretty much any industry that relies on computers nowadays. EVERYONE. Nearly every company that is in existance right now could in some way benefit from this technology. I felt like N eo in the matrix, I was up all day and night learning, absorbing everything I could to get me up do date on what I was sleeping on all these years. I was desperate to start buying. From the time I read the first article to when I felt I could dip my toes in the water Ether had gone up from $120 to $170. So there I was buying ethereum. Sorry Bitcoin I didn't have $2000 to buy you. But I did have $1000 that I had taken out from those weak ass stocks and went over to crypto. I still do not have any bitcoin even now as I write this on the eve of the UAHF. I expect bitcoin to do well and bitcoin cash to do poorly at first. But I'm not doing so many short term trades as much, I'm really a believer in this new technology, this modern day digital miracle that is here to be an actual modern Robinhood, and take power from the mega rich and empower and enrich everyone that truly embraces it.

2017 and beyond.
This year my daughter Natalia was born. and now I really do more than ever see the value of life and that most of us are overworked, overstressed, overtaxed, and overfed. The time we have together is the most valuable thing we have. It is a finite resource and there is less of it everyday that passes.(lifecoin) If anything cryptocurrencies give me hope in the future, that maybe through this generation's struggles and willingness, we can disrupt all the the power that has held us down with a life of obedience and servitude towards the all powerful dollar. I dont think there really is another place where i would feel that the audience would connect or at least understand what im trying to vocalize here. But hey, this is a crypto powered community and I know that once you trally take the time to learn about crypto and what part it can play in the world, that you can never go back and pretend that life is just fine. There is electricity in the air, and believe me, this is a game changer.

P.S. I realize that my pictures are upside down. Working with a galaxy phone, I don't have time to sit at a computer ever with this cute bundle of energy. Let me know if there way is a way to fix that.