My Last Financial Asset

This is probably the latest blog entry I have written in a very long time. The reason is very simple; I've been busy and on the go since first getting up today. The busy and on the go has all been about making banking arrangements. I am changing where I bank as well as setting up a US funds deposit account.

I've had the same email address for 26 years, since 1990 or perhaps 1991, I can't remember for sure. It's been a very long time. I doubt there are many others who can say that they have had their internet address remain the same for as long. The reason for this is simple. I own the "RAMA.COM" domain. When you have an email address, the first part is your name, or identifier. The part after the "@" sign is the domain. Most of you have an address with Google or Microsoft or something like that. Their domain hosts your email account. I, one the other hand, have hosted my own email domain for all these many years. Until now.

My last remaining financial asset was RAMA.COM, the domain name. A few weeks ago one of my blog readers contacted me and offered to buy the domain from me. I declined. My feeling was that the domain name was only worth a couple of thousand dollars at best. I wanted to leave it for my son, as a reminder that I once was here. Then the contact made an offer a bit higher that what I expected.

At that point I decided to do my research. Ultimately I ended up listing the domain name with a domain broker, a fellow in Germany with a company called SEDO, who would auction off the domain name to the highest bidder. That auction completed this morning, and I found myself in the position of needing a US funds account for the transfer from Europe. I have decided to keep at least half the money in US dollars, a kind of travel fund for going south. The other half will be used to supplement my income over the next year or so.

I am not sure how long I will live. It may be a year, or two. I don't think it will be much longer. The pleasant thing is that this domain name sale will relieve me of some financial pressure during this time, adding enough to my bank balance that I will no longer be constantly short of money. The downside, and there is always a downside, is that I cannot leave this memento to my son, nor will I have my email address any longer.

This was my last financial asset. It has now been converted to cash so I can live. I'm not happy about that, but I am very happy to have the money.