Thoughts from the Change Race

The Final Post

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:09:00 +0000

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 Over the last few months, my interest in the blog has gone down, and has been replaced by other ventures, including a podcast that I have started with some friends from college.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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:13:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:23:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:07:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:41:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:35:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:27:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:02:00 +0000

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:

Someone wearing a MLB Jersey
A Mullet
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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:14:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:30:00 +0000

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

The NYC Finds

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:17:00 +0000

As you know, this Monday was my 30th Birthday. So to mark the date, I took the week off work, and Marti and I traveled to NYC for a vacation. Marti has never been, and since I used to live here (Which is why I'm a Mets fan), I had to come say goodbye to Shea Stadium. (Plus Marti had to come say Hello/Goodbye).

So far I have been doing great with finds in New York. Here is what I have found since my last post;

1 Dollar Bill at STL TSA
1 dime & 2 pennies at Airport Starbucks
1 dollar on ground at Newark AirTrain station
It is worth noting that I used airline miles and hotel points for this trip. The coffee we got at Starbucks cost us $6. Since we found 2 bucks and change, we were at a point where it was possible that found money was paying for the trip. That ended when we paid $30 for the train tickets from Newark to Penn Station!
1 penny near escalator at Penn Station, NYC
1 penny at NBA Store on 5th Ave
3 pennies on 34th Street in front of my old apartment
4 pennies around NYC
1 dime at Shea Subway Station
2 pennies at Shea
1 penny at Times Square Subway Station

I was so excited that I was able to find change on the street of my old apartment (34th & Lex, if you are interested) AND Shea Stadium. Very solid day.

I leave you with pictures of Grover in front of my old Apartment, at Shea Stadium for the Mets game (We beat the Phillies, sorry Brian!) and a photography picture that I am proud of.

Hopefully, if things keep up, more finds to come, as we are here until Saturday.

Total since last post - $2.34
Total for the Race - $273.65

The 30th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:48:00 +0000

Since my last post, I traveled to Boston for work. It was nice because Marti was able to join me for this trip. I was also able to meet up with Chris for a night, so that was nice.

I am not sure why Chris is having such a hard time finding change in Boston, while I was there, I had NO troubles! Here are the finds that I made while in Boston;

1 quarter, 2 dimes and 1 nickel all at a pizza place I went for lunch while I was in West Concord
1 penny in our hotel lobby
1 dime & 1 penny at Logan Airport TSA
2 quarters, 1 dime and 3 pennies at various T stops in Boston
1 penny on the street while Chris and I were walking to dinner

I was very excited about that last find, because Chris didn't get to it, and I had the lead for the night. He ended up finding a quarter at the restaurant and a dime at the T stop. So while he might have won the war, he lost the first battle!

When I got back home, I went to Schunck's and found 3 dimes, 5 pennies and a 1 cent Euro coin.

Finally, last night, Marti and I went out with some friends to the new Batman Dark Knight movie. Very good, and Heath Ledger as the Joker is just as good as advertised. On the way to the theater I found 1 penny in the parking lot. Then after the movie, Marti and I stopped off at McDonald's for some shakes (Sonic was out of ice cream!) and I found 2 dimes and 3 pennies. One of the dimes is pictured below, check it out;

Might not mean much to you, besides being a super dark dime. But it was minted in 1978, the same year I was born, and I found it a day before my birthday! I found that cool.

Finally, today, on my 30th Birthday, I found 1 penny in the apartment complex parking lot. While I don't mind getting a bit older, I am not a huge fan of being 30, because now when someone is talking about me, they can't say, "He did all this BEFORE he was 30", like they do in the movies. Unless of course they are talking about a Change Race blog, and then yes, I did that before I was 30! :-)

Total since last post - $1.86
Total for the Race - $271.31

The Turtle

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:19:00 +0000

NPR Update - Story has still not aired. Sally the reporter says that it is still going to run, just not sure when. So that is that.

Since my last post I found 3 pennies while Marti and I visited family in Ft. Wayne. I also found 3 pennies at Schnuck's near the self checkout counter and 1 quarter & 1 dime in the Coinstar.

Now onto the fun part. While we were in Ft. Wayne, we went on a family trip to the Children's Zoo, and it turned into Showtime After Hours. Let's just say that I enjoyed feeding the ducks, and watching the turtles go at it. Yes, we got to witness the always fun time of animals doing it in front of tons of people. I not only took some pictures, but shot a video for you, as the noises were too good to pass up. And yes, I am about to turn 30!

Hope you enjoyed, I know the turtles did! :-)

Total since last post - $0.41
Total for the Race - $269.45

The Field of Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:30:00 +0000

NPR Update - If you forgot to listen, then you haven't missed much. The story was bumped on Wednesday. I was told it was supposed to run on Friday, but it appears it was bumped again.
I have no more info, so we'll keep our ears open and more details to follow. Onto the finds.

Since my last post, I traveled to San Antonio for work. While I was there I found 1 quarter, 1 dime & 2 pennies.

Now as promised, some Grover travel pictures. This new set is from our latest trip to Iowa. You can see Grover in Hannibal at the Mark Twain statue that was never built, in Iowa at the future home of Star Trek commander James Kirk, near the Mississippi flooding and at the world's largest truck stop.

Did I ever make a mistake, but it wasn't until I was leaving the Field of Dreams, that I realized that I never got a Grover picture there. No excuse, a blunder on my part! But I did get some very solid pictures from the outfield. I was very proud of them, and hopefully you enjoy them.

Finally, I leave you with two more pictures. One is the sign outside of Riverside, Iowa. The other one is mainly for Chris. I know that he enjoys collecting wheat pennies. I found this thrift store in Hannibal that was selling wheat pennies for $0.25 EACH! Chris, take all your wheat pennies and move to Hannibal, and you could be a millionaire!

Total since last post - $0.37
Total for the Race - $269.04

The Upcoming NPR Story

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:34:00 +0000

Since my last post I found 1 nickel and 2 pennies at Schnuck's. The nickel was about 3 feet from the check-out area. The pennies were under one of the self check-out machines. It seems like the last few times I have gone there, I have found change. They are turning into my change finding ATM!

Enough about change finds, I have some important news to pass along. Tomorrow there is going to be a story about The Change Race on NPR Marketplace PM. (For times/radio stations go to Marketplace.org)

Quick back story on how this came to pass. A few weeks ago, I got a comment from a reporter with NPR who was interested in doing a story on people who search for change. I am not 100% sure how she found the blog, but very happy that she did. One thing led to another, and two weeks ago, I found myself alone in the St. Louis NPR studio talking with Sally, the reporter. NPR would not accept phone interviews, so I had to go into a studio to conduct the interview. As always, I brought my camera with me.

In the first picture, you can see the studio that I was in. I brought my computer with me so I could have the change race excel sheet open during the interview.

You can also see in the second picture the head of the radio engineer in the other room. It was tough looking at her and her facial reactions while I was talking to someone else. It also didn't help that once she realized what I was talking about, she gave me some pretty funky looks. When I mentioned that I found change during my wedding, she looked up and shot me a look as if she just ate a spoiled turkey sandwich. I even stopped the interview for a moment to tell Sally, that the engineer was looking at me like I was crazy. This was after I mentioned that I found 1 dime and 2 pennies on the way over to the studio.

Sally also interviewed Chris, but tonight we learned that he did not make the cut. I don't know much about producing radio segments, but I would have thought that our story of The Change Race would have been an interesting story, and that if one of us made the story, we both would. I personally think that given some of the questions, it is going to be more of a personal finance/frugality story and less about change searching. But it is going to be interesting to hear how it turns out. I will post a reaction tomorrow night.

I end on this note, if we get any new readers who heard about this blog on NPR, I must say that it is impossible to understand this blog without also reading Chris's Blog - Race of the Century. I really feel bad that he did not make the NPR segment, as we came up with the idea of the Change Race and blogging about it together. And many times over the last couple of years, when my interest in The Change Race and the blog were waning, he talked me back in. Plus, he is the Change Race Champion, and no one can take that away. So if you just found this blog and you dig it, please go check out his site also.

Total since last post - $0.07
Total for the Race - $268.67

The Becky Thatcher Quarter

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Last week Marti joined me for a business trip to Iowa. On the way to Quad Cities, we stopped at Hannibal, Missouri, which was the childhood home of Mark Twain. As we went through all the building where he lived (Which by the way is one of the worst attractions we have EVER been to) I made one of my best finds of the year. One of the attractions was the house of girl that inspired Becky Thatcher. Upstairs there was a box where you could put in a quarter and hear the story of Becky Thatcher. As you can see from the picture below (click to make it larger), there was a quarter already half-way in the machine. Let's just say that this whole place was not worth even close to the $8 a head that it cost us, and they surely didn't deserve another quarter.

It wasn't easy getting the quarter out, as there was a lip around the place where the quarter is placed, so I couldn't pop it out. There was a small hole in the back on the coin slot, so I had to take a pen out of Marti's purse, break it apart, and use the tip to push the quarter out. In the end Marti was happy with the find, but I have to say that she was ready to give up half-way through. Shows that I have the true heart of the change searching champion!

Throughout the rest of the trip I found 1 penny at the World's Largest Truck Stop in Iowa, 1 penny at a gas station in Missouri and 1 dime in our apartment complex parking lot.

While in Hannibal, I did use one of their penny squishing machines. I know that some of you collect these, so first one to comment and ask for it, I will gladly send it out. I don't collect them, so I got it for you!

Finally, I leave you with some pictures of the flooding in Northern Missouri. Coming in the next days will be pictures of Grover, Field of Dreams, and some GREAT video from the Zoo.

Total since last post - $0.37
Total for the Race - $268.60

The Rascals Game

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Since my last post I found 1 dime and 2 pennies at McDonald's. I really didn't want to eat there, but I had an appointment in the afternoon that I was running late for, and didn't have time to make the standard PB&J for myself.

Last weekend Marti and I went to a River City Rascals game. We had planning on driving over to KC to go to a Royals game, but just didn't want to make the boring 4 hour drive to KC, so decided to hop over a few miles to the Independent Minor League team in O'Fallon, Missouri.

It was a good time, and of course one of the best parts of the game were the constant between innings minor league promotions. One of the promotions was a race between a egg roll, hot dog or burrito. But check out the game piece we got as we walked into the stadium for this race;

We ended up calling #1 - "Ethnic Egg Roll", because it looked a bit stereotypical, like something you would have seen in the 1940's. On a side note, the Egg Roll finished a distant 3rd.

One other note from the game, one of the Rascals is A.J. Van Slyke, son of former Pittsburgh Pirate Andy Van Slyke. A.J. looked pretty good, and even hit a home run over that huge wall in right field. I think I might go back later in the year and get his autograph, just for fun. Maybe look around the ballpark and see if Andy is around.

I leave you with some pictures from the game.

Total since last post - $0.12
Total for the Race - $268.23

(Just an FYI, Marti and I took a road trip to Iowa, and we have some very solid stories, pictures and change finds to report. Be on the look out for that later this weekend. Also, for those who remember our trip to Paris, Super Grover makes a return!!)

The Lost Dollar

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:48:00 +0000

Since my last post I found 3 pennies. 1 was found at the TSA Check-Point in the Minneapolis airport. I can't remember where the other 2 were found. Guess my memory is slipping.

This Friday, after playing some pick-up hoops, I swung by Mr. Goodcents to pick up a small sub for lunch. (In my effort to shed 10-15 more pounds, I am only getting the kids meal when I go there for subs. A nice little 4 inch sub, not to bad, and pretty filling) As I walked out with my sub, I looked through my change, and saw 2 five dollar bills and 1 one dollar bill. I looked around and went back into the store looking for the dollar that was missing (The change was $12.65). After a short search, I figured that maybe the lady at the counter gave me the wrong amount and decided to move on with my day. As I was able to drive out, and employee came out holding a dollar and asked if that was what I was looking for. He said when I grabbed all my stuff, I guess it was left on the counter.

A very nice gesture and very ironic, since had the positions been reversed, that nice young kid would be a dollar short, and I would have an extra dollar added to my totals.

Total since last post - $0.03
Total for the Race - $268.11

The No Cash Value Coins

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:39:00 +0000

Since my last post I have found;

1 nickel & 1 penny at Schnuck's
While in Minnesota I found 1 quarter, 3 dimes and 4 pennies at the Mall of America. The quarter was in the return slot of a baby strollers rental machine. The dime was found in the parking lot. The rest of the coins were found near various check-out counters at the MOA.
With some time to kill on Wednesday night, I searched for Car Washes in my Garmin and found Doug's Car Wash. I went there and found 3 pennies.

The the parking lot of the MOA I thought that I had hit pay dirt, as I found a bunch of coins scattered near my car. But when I got closer, this is what I found.

As you can tell they do not count toward the totals, as they do not even count for cash value.

As promised I brought my camera, and snapped up some pictures around the Mall. I would be interested to know your thoughts, and which one you liked best.

Finally tonight I will leave you with a picture I took from the plane as I was leaving St. Louis. You can see the flooding around the Missouri River! Tomorrow on the flight back home, I will try to take some pictures while over Iowa.

Total since last post - $0.68
Total for the Race - $268.08

The Laundry Room Penny

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:07:00 +0000

I found 1 penny in the complex laundry room, as I walked through this morning to go work-out.

I had planned on going out this afternoon to take some pictures, but did not get around to it. Hopefully I will have pictures/stories/change finds to post here tomorrow.

Total since last post - $0.01
Total for the Race - $267.40

The 1934 Wheat Penny

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:07:00 +0000

This weekend while going to work out, I found 1 penny in the parking lot.

Then at Schnuck's I found 4 pennies in the CoinStar machine. One of the pennies was a 1934 Wheat Penny. Check it out below!

Total since last post - $0.05
Total for the Race - $267.39

The Lego Crystal Skull

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Since my last post I have found;

6 Pennies at the Mall of America
2 Pennies on my plane from MSP to STL
3 Pennies at TSA Check Point in MSP Airport
1 Quarter at Schnuck's

During my trip this week to Minneapolis I got to the airport about 3 hours before my flight. With so much time to kill, I decided not to sit down and do some work, but rather, walk around the passenger pick-up area and collect luggage carts for the $0.25 reward. Sadly, as I walked up and down, I learned that there is an employee who was doing the same thing I was doing. He never told me to stop, but whenever he got to a cart before me, it was a reward that I lost! I decided to go up to the check-in area, where there were not as many carts, but no competition. After about 30 minutes I got pretty bored of playing the cart game, so I decided to stop. I ended up returning six carts for a total of $1.50, which counts toward my net worth, but not for the Change Race totals.

I will leave you with 2 pictures. One is of some stairs at the Mall of America. If you have been a loyal reader of the blog for quite some time, you know that I dabble in photography. In the coming months, I am planning on taking more "artistic" type photographs and posting them here. I hope you enjoy.

The second picture is from the Lego store in the MOA (One of my favorite stores in the mall. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Legos!). It is a Lego version of the Crystal Skull from the new Indiana Jones Movie. Speaking of that movie, Marti and I went to see it on opening weekend. Good start, not such a great ending. It was proof that adding a bunch of CGI, isn't always a great thing!

Total since last post - $0.36
Total for the Race - $267.34

The 2008 Indy 500

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sun, 25 May 2008 23:58:00 +0000

Since my last post I found;

2 pennies at the Schnuck's Check-Out counter
1 dime, 1 nickel, and 1 penny outside of Kohl's in Iowa
1 dime and 7 pennies at a Sonic in Iowa

When I got to my hotel in Iowa, I thought that there was a SERIOUS problem with my car, because it smelled like burning rubber. I went to dinner and the smell went away, so I figured all was alright with the Accord. When I got back to the hotel the smell was back! I turned on my car, smelled the exhaust, walked around the car and tried to figure out what was causing the smell. After I looked around, I noticed the huge factory only a block away, that was likely the case of the smell. When I drove away the next day, the smell was gone. Thank you factory in Keokuk, Iowa!

As I have mentioned before, I love watching the Indianapolis 500, and today was no exception. I was really impressed with the way that Tony Kannan handled the situation with his teammate, who basically put him out of the race. I really hope that he can win it one of these years.

A few months back, we switched from our crappy cable company to AT&T Uverse for our TV, and not only do we pay less, but we have HD. Watching the race in HD was awesome. I played a lot of HD / Non-HD channel switching game. Marti did not enjoy the game as much as I did! :-)

Total since last post - $0.35
Total for the Race - $266.98

The Newsweek Article

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:39:00 +0000

Yikes, sorry for the time between posts. Just been busy and haven't gotten around to posting. I would promise to do better, but I have said that before! :-)

Even though I haven't been posting, I have been making change finds. Since my last post, I have found the following;

2 pennies while walking into Schnuck's.
2 Dimes at McDonald's Drive Thru, while walking by with Marti
1 penny at Schnuck's Check-out
5 pennies and 2 dimes at TSA Check Points
3 dimes and 3 pennies in the Coinstar machine
1 quarter and 2 very dirty pennies in the parking lot of Schnuck's

Check out this article from Newsweek, this guy is basically writing a story about change finding! I thought about writing a letter to the editor, to mention the Change Finding Blog circuit. Like so many good ideas, I have yet to act on it. So I have also scanned in the address to send in a letter to the editor at Newsweek, please feel free to take my idea and run with it! Just let me know so I can have my eyes open!

Total since last post - $1.08
Total for the Race - $266.63

The Post Office Letter

noreply@blogger.com (Bailey) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

First off, thank you for all the nice comments on my last post. It made me feel much better to write out my experiences.

I am not sure why I was selected, but check out the letter that I received for the Post Office this week;

How cool is this? I get to be part of the Post Office Council. Who knows what this means, or if they will ever contact me back. But this is very funny because for years Chris and I have made fun of the Post Office for how bad their service is, and talking about ways they could improve. The USPS might have just invited the wrong guy onto the Council.

I did not hit a car wash this week, but can you imagine how cool it would be if I found this! That would HAVE to count toward the totals!

Since my last post I found 1 quarter and 2 pennies at the check-out counter in Steak N Shake.

Total since last post - $0.82
Total for the Race - $265.55