Day 97

Instead of going to the change today, I decided to let the change come to me. Part of this decision was made because I was running late to work and didn’t have time to search. As the day went along, I thought that I might not do any searching after work, and wait for the “natural” find, risking the first goose egg since February. Well on the way out of work I found a penny next to the door, then no more than 3 seconds later, I found a dime. Would I have really waited all day and stayed at zero? Like they say with the number of licks in a Tootsie Roll pop, “The World May Never Know!”



Honestly this is VERY abnormal for me to be flying through books like this, but last night I finished Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale. The book was WAY better than the movie. The stories of his exploits in the book are much better than what was shown in the movie. He wasn’t driven away from home after his parents divorced, but rather ran away from home in search of adventure and girls. He really got into crime so he could afford all his girlfriends. It was a great read and very enjoyable, it would make an excellent read. My only problem was that he used the word “save” all the time. Example…..”I was not being noticed by any guards save one in the corner.” Come on Frank, mix in an “except” here and there.

Next up is The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. Now would be a good time to mention that 99% of the books I read are Non-Fiction. I was a history major in college, so I enjoy reading books that are based on truth rather than read about a made up story (Although my favorite book is Catcher in the Rye….Go Figure). Also, I rarely buy a book in hardcover. I think that reading a soft cover book is easier to carry around and read, plus it is much less expensive. So when you notice that most of the books I read are like 3 years older or more, that is the reason.
This book was recommended to me by a very close friend in college, Kelly (He was a guy). We worked at a YMCA together back in Indiana, I was at the front desk and he was the building supervisor. We worked on Thursday nights and I use the term “work” loosely. We would also call into the local radio station at 9 to guess movie quotes, and I would often leave the desk to go play pick-up basketball, while he kept an eye out on the desk for me. After closing, we would invite some friends over, lower the goals and have dunk contests. Everyone who worked with us HAD to have a nick-name, I was Conrad and he was Bear, other names escape my memory at the moment. We got our names from quotes that we incorrectly guessed during one of our numerous calls to the radio station.
He was a full-time teacher, and worked at the Y on Thursday nights, and used the money to take his family to DisneyWorld once every 3 years. So he would always have a countdown till his next vacation. We took this idea and started to keep track of the number of Thursday’s that WE worked together. When I got a job and moved to Houston, we were at 243 Thursdays, and we had probably only missed 3-4 Thursdays in that 4 year span. It was an EXCELLENT time and a great college job.
ANYWAY… we also discussed books while we were supposed to be working. He was in college during the late 60’s and got into the LSD scene, and during one of our book talks, mentioned this as a great book that really captured the feel of the era. I’ve owned it for about 4 years now and I feel that now is the time to read it. So Bear, this one if for you.

Total for the Day - $0.11
Total for the Race - $24.27