I am much encouraged by like minded people on this topic, with a good spirit of adventure and risk. I was very fortunate to being thorwn in with a group of other contractors 1n 05/06 in Iraq. It eally din't take much brain power to figure out that this cpould be HUGE investment (speculation, I know) down the road; especially in consideration of the thousands I've wasted over the years on cars, bikes, useless tools, and other "eye candy".
As a result, I have a comfortable stash in the lock box, and never miss the costs. My sharing is limited to my wife, son, and a special financial adviser, who is really beginning to ask the right questions...