Welcome to the 104^th (and final) weekly installment of my series on Steem income and growth!

Income on this blockchain is generated by "investment" (the more currency you have, the more you earn) and by "work" (earning currency by contributing content that adds value). I've been trying to work to earn STEEM by creating (and curating) valuable unique content.

Calculating weekly income

Here's the running tally, including my wife @MediKatie and our joint account @GirlsofGreen: _{Week 001 - 0840 (+ ? ) STEEM (+n/a%)
Week 002 - 0848 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.95%)
Week 003 - 0862 (+14) STEEM (+1.65%)
Week 004 - 0868 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.70%)
Week 005 - 0876 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.92%)
Week 006 - 0888 (+12) STEEM (+1.37%)
Week 007 - 0914 (+26) STEEM (+2.93%)
Week 008 - 0929 (+15) STEEM (+1.64%)
Week 009 - 0936 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.75%)
Week 010 - 0953 (+17) STEEM (+1.82%)
Week 011 - 0960 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.73%)
Week 012 - 0966 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.63%)
Week 013 - 0973 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 014 - 0980 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 015 - 0986 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.61%)
Week 016 - 0991 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.51%)
Week 017 - 0996 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.50%)
Week 018 - 1032 (+36) STEEM (+3.61%)
Week 019 - 1040 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.78%)
Week 020 - 1045 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.48%)
Week 021 - 1051 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.57%)
Week 022 - 1059 ( +8 ) STEEM (+0.76%)
Week 023 - 1065 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.56%)
Week 024 - 1073 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.75%)
Week 025 - 1079 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.56%)
Week 026 - 1091 (+12) STEEM (+1.11%)
Week 027 - 1100 (+ 9 ) STEEM (+0.82%)
Week 028 - 1105 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.45%)
Week 029 - 1108 (+ 3 ) STEEM (+0.27%)
Week 030 - 1119 (+11) STEEM (+0.99%)
Week 031 - 1151 (+32) STEEM (+2.86%)
Week 032 - 1159 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.70%)
Week 033 - 1166 (+ 7 ) STEEM (+0.60%)
Week 034 - 1172 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.51%)
Week 035 - 1177 (+ 5 ) STEEM (+0.42%)
Week 036 - 1183 (+ 6 ) STEEM (+0.50%)
Week 037 - 1196 (+13) STEEM (+1.10%)
Week 038 - 1204 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.66%)
Week 039 - 1220 (+16) STEEM (+1.33%)
Week 040 - 1250 (+30) STEEM (+2.46%)
Week 041 - 1264 (+14) STEEM (+1.12%)
Week 042 - 1287 (+23) STEEM (+1.82%)
Week 043 - 1300 (+13) STEEM (+1.01%)
Week 044 - 1312 (+12) STEEM (+0.92%)
Week 045 - 1323 (+11) STEEM (+0.84%)
Week 046 - 1351 (+28) STEEM (+2.12%)
Week 047 - 1372 (+21) STEEM (+1.55%)
Week 048 - 1394 (+22) STEEM (+1.60%)
Week 049 - 1410 (+16) STEEM (+1.15%)
Week 050 - 1436 (+26) STEEM (+1.84%)
Week 051 - 1481 (+45) STEEM (+3.13%)
Week 052 - 1505 (+24) STEEM (+1.59%)
Week 053 - 1517 (+12) STEEM (+0.80%)
Week 054 - 1529 (+12) STEEM (+0.79%)
Week 055 - 1540 (+11) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 056 - 1555 (+15) STEEM (+0.97%)
Week 057 - 1576 (+21) STEEM (+1.35%)
Week 058 - 1606 (+30) STEEM (+1.90%)
Week 059 - 1620 (+14) STEEM (+0.87%)
Week 060 - 1631 (+11) STEEM (+0.68%)
Week 061 - 1647 (+16) STEEM (+0.98%)
Week 062 - 1674 (+27) STEEM (+1.64%)
Week 063 - 1685 (+11) STEEM (+0.65%)
Week 064 - 1702 (+17) STEEM (+1.01%)
Week 065 - 1714 (+12) STEEM (+0.71%)
Week 066 - 1722 (+ 8 ) STEEM (+0.47%)
Week 067 - 1734 (+12) STEEM (+0.70%)
Week 068 - 1752 (+18) STEEM (+1.04%)
Week 069 - 1780 (+28) STEEM (+1.60%)
Week 070 - 1937 (157) STEEM (+8.82%)
Week 071 - 2080 (143) STEEM (+7.38%)
Week 072 - 2179 (+99) STEEM (+4.76%)
Week 073 - 2334 (155) STEEM (+7.11%)
Week 074 - 2368 (+34) STEEM (+1.46%)
Week 075 - 2379 (+11) STEEM (+0.46%)
Week 076 - 2424 (+45) STEEM (+1.89%)
Week 077 - 2479 (+55) STEEM (+2.27%)
Week 078 - 2501 (+22) STEEM (+0.89%)
Week 079 - 2517 (+16) STEEM (+0.64%)
Week 080 - 2535 (+18) STEEM (+0.72%)
Week 081 - 2555 (+20) STEEM (+0.79%)
Week 082 - 2567 (+12) STEEM (+0.47%)
Week 083 - 2580 (+13) STEEM (+0.51%)
Week 084 - 2616 (+36) STEEM (+1.40%)
Week 085 - 2692 (+76) STEEM (+2.91%)
Week 086 - 2746 (+54) STEEM (+2.01%)
Week 087 - 2830 (+84) STEEM (+3.06%)
Week 088 - 2840 (+10) STEEM (+0.35%)
Week 089 - 2851 (+11) STEEM (+0.39%)
Week 090 - 2867 (+16) STEEM (+0.56%)
Week 091 - 2900 (+33) STEEM (+1.15%)
Week 092 - 2935 (+35) STEEM (+1.21%)
Week 093 - 2960 (+25) STEEM (+0.85%)
Week 094 - 3020 (+60) STEEM (+2.03%)
Week 095 - 3069 (+49) STEEM (+1.62%)
Week 096 - 3090 (+21) STEEM (+0.68%)
Week 097 - 3154 (+64) STEEM (+2.07%)
Week 098 - 3211 (+57) STEEM (+1.81%)
Week 099 - 3262 (+51) STEEM (+1.59%)
Week 100 - 3295 (+33) STEEM (+1.01%)
Week 101 - 3322 (+27) STEEM (+0.82%)
Week 102 - 3355 (+33) STEEM (+0.99%)
Week 103 - 3375 (+20) STEEM (+0.60%)
Week 104 - 3388 (+13) STEEM (+0.39%)} Average weekly growth (last 10 weeks): +36.8 Steem (+1.16%) It wasn't a great week, as the economic mess has everybody running for the hills. Upvotes were way down, and my posting was a little decreased as well. @GirlsofGreen has been fairly inactive, as the models aren't feeling very positive or motivated lately. @MediKatie is doing her best to take care of the baby, and get the house ready for possible quarantine and martial law. The 10-week running average of growth slowed to just over 1% weekly, pretty much an average throughout my 2 years of recording these data. Charting my SP over time yields this image:

As you can see, it has been a steady grind up. That jump about 9 months ago was my trial with 3Speak, which I've since abandoned because it was expensive, glitchy, and limited to the Steem blockchain. Nowadays I upload videos to LBRY and other free decentralized platforms that work properly. Also note that I didn't spend any of my STEEM, didn't power down, etc. I created content (posts and comments) full time, and powered up all the payouts I ever got 100%. Only now am I powering down - to pay out funds to my [MAP] project, and to finally escape from this blockchain with what little I have left. You see, I arrived with 0.2 BTC, at the time worth nearly $5000 USD. I created content for a while, before realizing that without any Steem Power, I was never going to get anywhere here. So I converted my BTC into STEEM, powered it up, and never looked back! (Soon after that, I began keeping these weekly data.) That $5000 investment, with all the proceeds of my hard work (and that of my wife and a few models that volunteer for us) for almost 3 years now amounts to just $474. Put another way, we paid about $4500 to work full-time here for 3 years. Our team paid $1500 per year to contribute to this blockchain.

"Your voice is worth something!"

How amazing this place was, years ago! I was so excited, thrilled, overjoyed to be here! Innovative, powerful, and supposedly decentralized. And we can earn cryptocurrency?! It was exactly what I had hope for, for so long! It's not like I haven't given it my all. I've put a few hours a day, at least 360 days a year, into making this blockchain a better place. I started projects, I joined groups, I created my own crypto, and of course, I kept data on my income the whole way through. Results are in! Hard work, skill, sacrifice, and luck combined aren't enough to turn a profit with 2 people working daily - even if you inject 5 grand of your own money to pump things up. In fact, you'll lose 99% of your initial investment, if not more. So, is my voice worth something here? Of course it isn't. I've had to PAY just to be here. "Pathetic and disappointing" doesn't even begin to cover it. Tragic. Devastating. Brutal. This is my final post in this series. I'm powering everything down and moving whatever is left to a currency that isn't going to zero. I should have done that 3 years ago. In fact, I should never have invested anything here at all. In my time here, Steem has fallen from the #7 crypto to the #70 crypo. It has fallen during the bull markets, and it has fallen during the bear markets. Steem has done nothing but steadily go down for the past 3 years straight. It's hard to be certain this is the bottom.

In hindsight, Steem was a financial mistake. We didn't know that at the time, but we know it now. If we continue here, we're doing so knowing there's no point to it.

Meanwhile, my reputation has hit 68.5 and I'm the 1640^th most reputable Steemian. I'm sure my parents would be proud. I made it. You love me! You really love me. Good luck everybody. DRutter ![banner2020.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSYrqLN4o2UnygmMxNkxyQdi1TKqGi2Q3tNJbYVWTq1ZR/banner2020.jpg) Posted via Steemleo