The Final Post

Since my last post, I have found:

• 2 dimes & 5 pennies at Dallas Airport
• 2 pennies & 2 dimes at Schunck's Coinstar
• 1 penny at STL TSA
• 1 penny at MSP TSA
• 4 pennies at Schnuck's
• 6 pennies outside of car going to Blues Game
• 1 dime & 5 pennies at Schunck's
• 1 quarter at Blues Game
• 1 penny at Schnuck's
• 1 penny at BP
• 1 dime & 1 penny at STL TSA
• 1 dime & 1 penny at Detroit TSA
• 1 quarter, 1 dime & 3 pennies at MSP TSA
• 3 pennies at STL TSA
• 1 dime & 2 pennies at MSP TSA
• 1 quarter at Panera
• 1 nickel & 1 penny at STL TSA
• 1 dime at Schnuck's
• 2 pennies at ATL Airport
• 1 dime at STL Airport
• 1 dime at Wendy's

It is with heavy heart (and light pockets) that I write this post. It should come as no surprise that my interest in the blog has waned in the last few months. The evidence for this is the fact that I haven’t blogged since November 2008.

As you can tell, I have been keeping track of my finds since then, but I haven’t posted. And I knew that it was time to shut it down when after 3 months of not posting, I didn’t miss it at all. I have been putting off writing this post for weeks now. And while it was tough at first finding change and the NOT keeping track of it, it got easy as time went on.

There was a time when I thought that I would be posting to this blog for the rest of my life. That this would become a diary for myself that I could look back upon. And while it has been fun to look back at posts in the past, I really feel that this phase of my life is over. My job has kept me plenty busy and things are only going to stay that way as Marti and I plan to move to Indianapolis in June.

I still continue to look for change, but I no longer go out of “change runs” or “change walks”. I just keep my eye out during my normal life and let the change come to me. Over the last few months, my interest in the blog has gone down, and has been replaced by other ventures, including a podcast that I have started with some friends from college.

For all those who enjoyed the Change Race, thank you for being part of this journey with me. This is not the end just a new beginning. I will leave you with a picture of my final find that I am posting. It is a dime that I found on the floor in a Wendy’s somewhere in Indiana on I-70, as Marti and I were driving back from Bloomington.


Until next time, Blue Skies & Green Lights!

Total since last post - $2.44
Total for the Race - $288.41

The Gingerdead Man

Yikes, quite a while since my last post. No apologies, just onto the finds:

4 Pennies at Blues Game
1 penny at STL TSA
1 nickel in Coke Machine at Hampton Inn in MSP
2 pennies at Schnuck's
4 pennies in Bloomington
2 pennies at STL TSA
1 dime in parking lot
1 dime & 3 pennies at McDonald's in middle of MO - On the phone with Chris
1 dime & 2 pennies at STL TSA
2 pennies in McDonald's Parking Lot in Minneapolis
1 dime & 1 penny at MSP TSA
1 dime & 3 pennies at Schunck's Coinstar
1 dollar walking on the circle in Indy
2 pennies at MSP TSA & 1 Canadian penny

On Halloween Marti and I once again went out to find the WORST horror movie we could find. Coming into this year, the leader in the clubhouse was Killer Clowns from Outer Space. But we might have found a new winner with our pick this year, The Gingerdead Man. It might be the worst horror movie we have seen and therefore it was an awesome time!


Total since last post - $1.81
Total for the Race - $285.97

The H3 Rental

Since the my past post I have found:

• 1 dime & 4 pennies while jogging around apartment complex
• 1 penny while walking to Schunck's
• 1 Dollar Bill at work
• 3 pennies on walk to dry cleaners (At the dry cleaner there was a red Hummer with a Cardinals Vanity License plate "HOF 85". The guy inside didn't look like a baseball player and was wearing a work jump suit. But when I get home and found out that Lou Brock was elected to the Hall of Fame in 85, I figured it might have been him. After talking with Chris, he said that when he met Brock, he looked a tad dirty also. So, I might have met Lou Brock?)
• 1 Dime while getting gas at BP
• 5 pennies at Coinstar at Schnuck's
• 1 quarter at stroller return slot in MOA
• 1 quarter & 1 penny at bagel shop in Minneapolis
• 1 dime, 1 nickel & 3 pennies at STL TSA
• 1 dime & 2 pennies at MSP TSA
• 1 quarter & 1 dime at STL TSA
• 1 quarter at MSP Airport
• 3 pennies at STL Airport
• 1 Canadian quarter in the arcade at the MSP Airport
• 1 penny at Steak N' Shake
• 4 pennies at Panera
• Finally, the best story. I was at work in Minnesota walking with a client. I found a penny on the ground and mentioned it to the guy as I picked it up. He asked for it, and said that they collect loose change found around the office all year, then buy a pizza at the end of the year with the money. So the first time that I have had a found penny taken away! It does not count toward the totals.

I leave you with a picture of the H3 that I got as a rental car in Minnesota. Kinda fun and different, but honestly not a great drive. Very bad pick-up, very big, hard to park and horrible sight lines.

Total since last post - $2.82
Total for the Race - $284.16

The Nothing Report

Since my last post I found 1 dime & 2 pennies.
One of the pennies was a 1951 Wheat Penny, which I found while jogging around the apartment complex.

Nothing much more to report on. Sorry.

Total since last post - $0.12
Total for the Race - $281.34

The Goodbye

Since my last post I have found:

• 1 dime at Walgreens
• 2 dimes at STL TSA
• 1 penny at Schnuck's

This post is written with a heavy heart as it looks like we might be saying good-bye to Brian from Change Quest.

As you might know, when Chris and I first talked about this idea, he had just found the Change Quest blog, and it was after reading and getting hooked on Brian's blog that we decided to blog our race.

I have learned from Brian, read about his child growing up, and come to find him as a Change friend. I know his feelings, as a few months ago, I shut down my blog for a month. I hope that after some time off, Brian will decide to come back and post. If not, Brian, you were a mentor and a friend and your presence will be missed!

Total since last post - $0.31
Total for the Race - $281.22

The Pre-Tip Results

Before I get to my finds, I need to give you an update on the Pre-Tip idea from my last post. I only have a sample of five trips, but I would say that on average my service has gone DOWN when I pre-tip. One time, the guy even lost my ticket, so he didn't know where my car was! (He did however still have the dollar!)

I know that when they go back into the parking garage they have a specific route they drop off people. I thought that offering a tip, would make the driver want to drop me off first. After talking with Chris at length about this, I realized my problem. If they change the route, they could get in trouble or fired. So why are they going to change things up just for a $1 tip. It makes sense to Pre-tip when the service can be raised. It would be nice to be able to pre-tip your waiter before your meal, or instance.

Interested to hear your thoughts, or any of your pre-tip experiments. Onto the finds. Since my last post I have found:

• 1 nickel and 1 penny on Washing Machine at MSP Hampton Inn
• 3 pennies at Schnuck's
• A HUGE find of 17 Quarters, 4 dimes and 2 nickels in Coin Return slot of Coinstar. It was so awesome, I had to take 2 separate handfuls just to get it all!
  
• 1 dime, 1 penny & 1 Canadian Cent under the Coinstar machine
• 4 pennies at Mall with Marti- 2 at Victoria's Secret (Oh, Behave!)
• 1 quarter, 1 dime and 2 pennies, again, in the Coin Return slot of the Coinstar machine

The last quarter was interesting. I believe it is a steel quarter, as it has the same silver edge as the steel dime. Plus it feels and sounds much different than a normal quarter. Here is a picture, and since I'm to lazy to do my research, any info you have would be appreciated.

Total since last post - $5.36
Total for the Race - $280.91

The Pre-Tip

First off, thanks to all the comments on the last post. In case you didn't hear, the NPR story that I teased a few weeks back, finally aired last week. I will post the whole story here in a few days. But I am just been super busy with work, and haven't had time to reply back to the comments, but believe me, I have not gone big time! :-)

I had to travel to Milwaukee last week, and at their TSA I found an amazing 1 dime and 7 pennies! Back in St. Louis I found 1 penny, outside of Walgreen's. And this week in MSP, I found 1 penny at REI (Store where I was looking for a new coat, that I didn't need and thus, didn't get) and 1 penny at a gas station.

I was so happy with my finds at the Milwaukee TSA that I ALMOST walked back around, and went through it again so I could hit the second TSA line. I figured that maybe they also had the same amount of change lying around. I decided not to. Even though I have the TSA process down to a science, it is still a hassle. I did take a picture
for everyone, even though it is probably illegal to take pictures of a TSA station.


Finally, I have been doing a social experiment and I wanted to let you know about it. I park at The Parking Spot 2 at the STL Airport, and they use the shuttles to take you from the parking lot to the aiport and back. I like to tip the driver a buck each time. But one of my things in life, is I think we should tip BEFORE we get the service. After the service is done, it isn't going to get any better. Why not tip BEFORE dinner, the thinking being you are probably going to get a bit better service. Make your tip worthwhile.

So the last 4-5 times I get picked up at the airport by the shuttle, I had the driver my car ticket and a dollar. I was curious to see if I would get dropped off first because I tipped the guy, and so many other people don't. What do you think has happened?

Results will be posted next time.

Total since last post - $0.20
Total for the Race - $275.55

The Burlington Bees

Since my last find I have found:

• 1 nickel at Sonic
• 1 quarter & 3 pennies at McDonald's
• 2 pennies at STL TSA
  

In the first part of this week I was in Burlington, Iowa for work. I had some time to kill on Monday night, and since it was just 2 blocks from my hotel, I went to my first A Baseball game. I saw the Burlington Bees take on the Cedar Rapids Kernals. It was a good time, and was the first time that I saw an infielder MISS a grounder during the between innings warm-up.

Marti and I played the "picture game". This is where she gives me 3 things to find and take pictures of while I am at an event. So my list was:

1. Someone wearing a MLB Jersey
2. A Mullet
   
3. A woman who is in her mid/late 30's who still thinks she is a hot 20 year old, and dresses like it

Below are my results, along with a few pictures of the stadium and some others that I liked. (#2 & #3, were pretty hard to find. I must say that a guy going to a A game wearing a Jeter jersey, let's just say is starts with a D and ends with a bag. I just couldn't hang out with a guy like that. Hate the Yankees way to much!)






Total since last post - $0.35
Total for the Race - $275.35

The End of the NYC Luck

I knew that my finding streak in NYC was to good to be true. In the 7 days since I returned, I have found nothing! Thankfully at the end of this week I had to go to Minneapolis for work, so I was able to find some change on the road.

During the trip I found:

• 1 Penny at STL Airport
• 1 Penny at MOA - More details on this below
• 1 nickel & 1 penny in return slot of Coke Machine at Hampton Inn - More details on this below
• 1 quarter & 1 dime at MSP TSA

Onto the interesting stories. While walking around the Mall of America (A friend of mine in NYC wanted one of their Harry Potter Lego Keychains, so I was forced back into the MOA) I found a penny in the wall! I fished out the penny, then thought about what a weird place to find a penny, so I decided to go back and take a picture for all of you.

The penny was in that vertical metal strip, about belt high. Probably just a kid messing around with a penny, and got it stuck. Not quite as puzzling as the find that I made later in the night.

While getting some ice at the Hampton Inn, I checked the coin return slot and found the nickel and penny mentioned above. To the best of my knowledge, Coke machines do not give pennies as change. So how did the penny get in there? Did someone put the $0.06 in there? Did they have a penny in their hand while going to get their change, and simultaneously dropped the penny and left the nickel? Did the machine mistake it for a dime? I am really perplexed by this find.

I am eager to hear your theories on how the penny got there.

Total since last post - $0.43
Total for the Race - $275.00

The End of the NYC Trip

Since my last post, I have made a ton of finds. Here are the details:

• 2 pennies in Times Square
• 2 pennies in Central Park
• 12 pennies at 34th Street Station (Oldest was a 1962)
• 2 pennies on 28th Street
• 2 pennies at Penn Station
• 1 quarter, 1 nickel, 12 pennies on table at bagel shop in Newark Airport
• 1 nickel & 1 penny at a Newsstand in the A concourse. I was very proud of these finds, as they were so far under the counter, that I had to get a magazine insert and use it to push out the coins.
• 1 20 cent Euro coin at Chock Full o'Nuts - Does not count toward the totals
• 1 penny at STL Airport
• 1 dime & 2 pennies at Schnuck's Coinstar
• 1 dime & 1 penny at Arby's in Bettendorf, Iowa, where I was for work this week.

If you couldn't tell from the finds, I did very well while I was in New York. I found change every day, even if it was mostly pennies. I think if I moved there, I would do much better in the race. Of course, I couldn't afford to live there, even with all the extra pennies I would find! :-)

Total since last post - $0.92
Total for the Race - $274.57