Losing My Skills

Well I have to report that twice in the past few weeks I missed money that was lying on the ground. Very blatantly out in the open too. I think I'm losing my skills. I missed a dollar lying in this one store and what's even more embarrassing is that I was standing in line for a minute before someone else noticed it. Then this evening I passed up a nickel at the subway turnstile. I went through, saw something shiny and realized it was a coin. Sigh. It was too far for me to lean out with my leg and get it. Hope that this is just a minor slump.

I do have more coins to add to the stash. A dime I found on Sunday night and then four more pennies. Meaning, my total has broken $2 and I have to buy another scratch-off. Wish me luck!

A Week of "Ones"

This definitely was the week of ones or pennies as they're more commonly known in the Street Change world. But before we get to the amount, two friends of mine sent me the exact same story:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-ODD-Pennies-Saved.html

Wow! 55,000 pennies. That's unreal! I'm no where near that in my collection.

How'd I do this week? Well, this week I found 18 pennies. One morning I found three pennies as I walked down to the subway platform. It's as if someone had left a trail either for me to find or to help the person get out of the subway. Most of the time I just found the single penny on the street. But last night there were four pennies right near the turnstile at the 1st avenue entrance to the F train.

But the week was not all pennies. I found one dime right near my apartment building Friday night after I had enjoyed some improv comedy at the UCB Theatre.

Hash "Cash"

So I went hashing yesterday. First time in about three years. I had a lot of fun. I didn't find any money on the run and I would never pick up money while on trail. That would be undue cause for humiliation later on. But on the way to the start, I found a penny. And after the activities, I found another penny. Oh, I guess I should also add that after the run, a bunch of us jumped in the ocean at Coney Island. !!! That was cold.

There Will Be Change

On Friday I collected five pennies throughout the day. A few at the Dunkin Donuts in my office building, a couple at my subway station. My average rate of change for 2007 was over 9.5 cents a day. I'm a change laborer.

So 5 cents is about half of that.

On Saturday, I had a bit more luck. I picked up a dime on 1st avenue near Xunta which has some really good tapas. Then at the 2nd avenue station there were two pennies someone had dropped. Lots of people were waiting for the train but no one would have these neglected pennies. Finally I was walking home because the lovely F train needed track repairs and wasn't stopping where I normally get off. And I found two more pennies.

A good day.

Another street changer?

Read this article:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_7955708

He's in California. Another one of our kind? I hope so. Looks like he started in 2006. AND he even makes the statement jokingly "Perhaps faithful readers, after reading last year's column, stole out into the streets ahead of me and threw coins for me to find." Ha! I know all about that with my friends. I'm going to email him. Maybe I'll get a response unlike the other person I wrote to earlier in 2007.

Yesterday I received a letter from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society regarding my donation and the "Northern Ohio Chapter admires your ingenuity in fundraising." Yeah! That was nice.

Over the past weekend I found a bunch of change: 1 dime, 1 nickel and four pennies. Last night I found a penny.

And we've got a winner!

So I had been relatively stymied the last few days. After embarking on such a strong start and nearing $1, I was stymied. I found four pennies this week until today. I was up to 98 cents and just wanted to break the $1 level to buy that first scratch-off.

Finally I got that break-through.

And big.

I found a quarter this morning near 10th avenue right near the rear bumper of a car. Cool! I can buy that first scratch-off. Then I found another penny.

Well, I've bought scratch-off tickets at this one bodega near me and never had much luck. So I decided to walk down to 5th avenue and look for a place. I found one near the Monk thrift store. I bought a Lucky 7's.

When I came home, I scratched it off with the quarter I had found. AND I WON!

$2! All going to donation. :)

Wash Warm

I found a dime in my laundry room this morning. I'm trying to get a bunch of laundry done....it's been piling up.