The Results.

I didn't spend time counting how many of each type of coin I found, but here are the results for how much I found in 2008!


Change 2008. from Josh Rose on Vimeo.

Happy new year! Now it's time to collect 5 bucks from everybody. Oh and in case you were wondering.. this animation was the surprise, I know it isn't much, but it's something.

The Change Game.

Josh is leading right now with a prediction of $6.44. Greg has a long way to go but is the next closest since he predicted $6.75. Lee is in last place with a prediction of $9.32. I am out of the running since I have found more change than the average of Josh and my predictions.

For November and December I will not be posting the change I find since I have a bit of a surprise in store for everyone. It's not much, but I'm still really excited about it. So just wait and see! Even though we're nearing the end of the change game, I have yet to receive any money from anyone which is intentional.

Sending the money through Paypal is option one which could be easiest if everyone has an account. Or all the money could be sent to me so that I can then send it to the winner and since this is a game based on trust there should be no concern over whether I will just keep the cash, especially since I started this whole thing in the first place.

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Change update.

I have some competition. Whenever I am out it is usually with my girlfriend, and she has a voracious appetite for finding change. She has probably knocked me out of at least $.30. Incidentally she has promised a 5 spot and is on the list of predictions. She could manipulate the game in such a way to where she could win the pot herself by either tipping me off that there's a coin on the ground, or picking it up without letting me know if I were to find enough change for her to be in her prediction bracket. Luckily, there's little to worry about, because she is a genuinely honest person. That or a really really good liar.

Aside from the threat of sabotage, it has been sort of a dry period for finding change. Maybe she is trying to sabotage the game? Anyway, with the dry times, comes less things to mention on the topic. I had sort of decided to wait until I found at least three different mangled coins before I would post them, but sabotage is interesting enough to supplement with one photo of a mangled coin.



I found this one at a Hardee's drive-thru window. Mind you, I did say that drive-thru windows were off limits if I were to intentionally scour them, or open the door when I'm pulled up to one. But this situation is a little bit different in that we parked on the side that the drive-thru was on, and just past the window is the door to walk in to place an order. Because of this, it's pretty easy to see and grab any change that people had dropped.

The other side of the coin was relatively unharmed. Apparently asphault is a bit rougher on a coin than a rubber tire is. Go figure!

My Gas Saving Tips.

I know that there have been numerous articles, and news reports on how to cut back on gas consumption while driving. But I still have to do add a thing or two to the vast amount of tips myself. I'll first start at the pump.

Get your gas either in the morning or at night when the temperature is cooler. Gas pumps are set to measure the volume of gas and not the density so when it's cooler you're essentially getting more gas.

I can't stomach doing this anymore for fear of embarrassment and perhaps an angry gas station clerk, but here's an extra tidbit for the brave. When you first walk up to the pump, if there are three different nozzles, I have found that you can take each one, before they are turned on and squeeze out about a cup of gas into your tank. Then you pick which nozzle you're actually going to use and start pumping with it. You could also try doing it again after you've finished pumping to see if you can squeeze in a couple extra cups of fuel as well.

Once you have finished pumping and have turned off the pump, turn the nozzle and then pump the handle a few times, the first pump will release the pressure from the hose, which often results in quite a bit of extra gas.

Pumping the handle after the initial one sometimes will produce a slow drizzle so if you want to stand there until the drizzle stops then by all means do so, but I've experienced times when I haven't seen the end of it and just gave up. But I've found that some newer pumps won't allow a person to pump the handle any more once the pump has been turned off.

Here's my main driving tip. I'm sure you've heard most of the others I'll cover, but I have yet to see any other article cover this. If you live in a mountainous region, throw it in neutral when going down a hill. I feel that this at least offsets having to go up the hill, which takes more gas than going on the flat. I drive 65 miles every other weekend to see my girlfriend and I estimate that I can coast nearly 12 miles round trip. The benefit to doing this is saving RPMs. I go from 2000 RPMs while in gear to 700 while in neutral. That's gotta count for something.

Make sure you deactivate cruise control before you do throw it into neutral because some vehicles will freak out and accelerate to really high RPMs since it's not in gear. Also DO NOT slip past neutral, because you'll throw it into reverse, and that will fuck up your transmission. Then the whole saving money on gas thing is out the window because you'll have to buy a new transmission. I suppose these are the reasons why the media leaves this one out.

I often drive at night with no one near me on the roads on the way back from my girlfriend's house so I'll usually take the inside of every curve I can on the four lane highway as well. Doing so ever so slightly shortens the trip.

Yes. I did pick these up.

OMGEEZ! I've had a fun time trying to keep up with all the change I've found so far. I know it is such a mundane thing really, but I find it to be quite an interesting experiment. I'm pretty sure I've missed out on about 33 cents because of various social situations however.

The first miss was on an escalator between the set of stairs, I wasn't fast enough, and people were horny to get on the moving stairs, that was at least 6 cents. The second occasion was in San Francisco. I had more of an opportunity to get it, but there was a change hungry zombie across from it who was asking for change. I had the notion soon after the opportunity had passed to go pick up the 2 cents and give it to him. But, if you get in a situation like that you have to be ready for anything, and I didn't feel like dealing with him.

For the third I saw a quarter lying on the ground in front of a Hardees drive-thru. Now this situation is rare, because a person just doesn't happen by a drive thru. I've had to fight the urge to scour them for change because people drop a lot there, but it is an awkward social situation to just open your door and pick it all up while you're waiting on your food. But in this instance, we parked on the side with the drive thru and it was very near the entrance to the restaurant, but when I had the chance to snatch up the 1/4 dollar a car pulled up to get their food.

I've picked up some pretty dirty money. Certain coins were dirty enough to photograph.

This particular penny conflicts with the rules. As previously stated, change can only count if found out in public. This penny was found outside on the ground at my house.



I know I never dropped this penny because I would remember such a screwed up penny and I generally don't maim money for fun and neither does my Dad. I want to count this coin. But I need the OK of the people that have thrown in the pot in order to count it. They approve, it has been counted.










Yes. I did pick these up.

Gas Prices Rhetoric.

Writers can lead us to believe just about anything. I don't know how I would handle writing articles about gas prices if I were in a position to do so, but I do know that I'm no too happy with the way writers are handling it now. I suppose they're required to be subjective and they end up writing articles like these: Gasoline: Painful and getting worse.

"Now there are some studies that say it's not really that bad."

Oh really? Are the people who do these studies rich? Doubling in price in little more than a year is NOT GOOD. I feel like I'll do ok, but what about those who live from paycheck to paycheck? Tell them that "It's not so bad." I remember when I was younger hearing an older uneducated man talk about the woes of earning a living and how the government was going to jack up the prices on everything, and that things were only going to get worse. I scoffed when he said it, but he turned out to be right. Well, at least about the fact that prices are soaring now.

Ultimately, I wish Americans were more willing to protest. Everyone is so jaded and apathetic, that they just don't rise up and protest anymore. I care. I want to shake down the walls of whoever is responsible for such ridiculous prices for gas. We're being robbed people! Gas used to cost me about $22 to fill up my Chevy Cavalier. It costs me nearly $34 dollars a tank now. Gas costs nearly the same as a gallon of milk does now. When I was 17 years old gas was somewhere around $.80 a gallon. I'm 26 now and gas is $3.20? That was only 9 years ago.

This photo was taken on January 13th, 2007:



Everything is NOT OK! Protest!

Price Gouging Petition

Change, updated.

Well, so far this little experiment has been fun. The biggest concentration of change I've found is in Walmart at the registers; four dimes and several pennies. The main reason for this entry is because of a small happening came about that is note worthy.

I was standing and waiting for my food to be brought out and there was this guy in front of me ordering. When he paid for his order and got his change he looked at it and immediately threw it in the trash and walked away. There are several reason why this bothers me.

He obviously didn't want the change. But mostly it bothers me because he was so inconsiderate to have thrown it in the trash. People like me would have loved to find that change. But more importantly a homeless person or the salvation army or some organization like that could've put that change to use. But now it is on its way to a land fill.

From what I heard when he threw it, it sounded like it was probably about 3 cents but still, how mind blowingly prickish of him. And no, I didn't go digging in the trash for it. I did find a penny on the ground while I was waiting for my food though.

Stay updated on the total, because I'm going to announce the total at the end of the year in a special way. It's not much, but I'm excited about it.

Tallying.

I visited a friend last night to celebrate the New Year and I found a $.10 on the floor. I thought, Awesome! But alas, the rule is that I have to find it in public. So I left it at his house. I'm having a hard time finding takers for the $5 pool, but I have a whole year to convince them I guess. In regards to that, another rule I'll set is that I can't tell them the amount I've already found before they've given their prediction. If they know how much I've found six months into this little experiment, they could take an average and perhaps gain an advantage to predict by.

I did already state my prediction, which was: $2.26. Two days before this experiment began I did find a dime in Walmart! W00t! I love finding change! I heard a little story on the radio how this man who only used cash and saved all his change ended up using the change over time to buy a new car with. That's a whole lot of ca-ching.

Happy New Year everyone!

Change.

Starting January 1st, I am going to document all the change I find in 2008. I'll do my best to not actively seek out change by walking up to drive-thrus, coursing through parking lots, and fingering every change return slot. I am quite curious to know how much it's going to amount to however. I may not even crack a dollar unless I get lucky and find several quarters, or bills on the ground.

My prediction is $2.26. Tell me your predictions too. I'd almost like to get a $5 pool going and whoever guesses the closest to total change found would win the pool. I'd probably lose a lot more than I found, but it would make it more interesting. To add to the stipulations, it has to be money found out in public. In the couch, in the car or at someone else's house doesn't count.

Vampire Electronics

The Article

I think it's an interesting concept and frankly, I'm more interested in the money saved than conserving energy, although that is quite important to keep in mind. But either way this is something that I think is worth looking into and figuring out a way to cut back on. Think of this, those cordless phones you use, are always on charge. If you don't have one on the docking station, there's still the answering machine, or clock, or caller I.D. that is seeping power.

My Playstation 2, Wii, VCR, DVD player and stereo all have these features. And if some of them don't have power running to them, then the correct time and settings are all lost. And they also are really difficult to unplug since everything is behind the t.v. stand. So what to do? At least my stereo has a mode that consumes less power.

So in the end, more coal is burned, more CO2 is released into the air, and more money is spent on electricity by the consumer. The only ones that benefit are the power companies themselves. I wonder how much money they're losing now that those florescent bulbs are becoming more popular.

I just have to state that cutting back for me would be really difficult. Unless there are ways to make it easier. Any suggestions?

Sellout.

Here's what is wrong with the media. So many people have to sell out in order to exist in the media. Here's an example, and I know that it's kinda lame that I watched this with so much intent. But hey, it was on. MTVs Wanna Be a VJ contest showed exactly this sort of selling out. Or maybe not. Stay with me to understand.

Ray, a short-haired, blond, wiry looking fella ended up winning a Wanna Be a VJ contest. He was quite outspoken about how MTV is so cliche and shows crappy music and he hoped to bring more electronica and Bob Marley to the network. Which is kind of funny.

Soon after, he got his shot at introducing videos on the network he was no longer able to be the outspoken fellow that said, "You know, this video sucks, I don't understand why you people like it, now here it is." Instead it was business as usual and he soon was no longer on MTV, either because he was defiant or because he just didn't work for them. If he was defiant then he actually didn't sell out.

The VJs are robots trained to do what they're told and there's no real personality coming from them because of that. The reason for that is because it's a formula that works for MTV. They don't want people to give their opinions, because if they do there's a good chance they'll piss off their sponsors and they'll be short some money.

"Taser This: Fuck Bush", "Nappy-headed hos", and "This is a Brokeback Mountain game, because there was so much penetration." Are all great examples of people speaking their minds, right or wrong as they may be, and were chastised for it by the respective companies they were affiliated with. The reason they were chastised is because of the fear that sponsors would hit the eject button and those companies would no longer have the money they once had. It all comes down to money not moral concern.

This explains why at the beginning of certain programs there's a warning that says "These are not necessarily the views of the network." But hey, selling out can be a good thing to certain people. Somebody gets paid a lot of money, and we all need money unfortunately. Heck that's why there are ads on this blog.

Hooray for capitalism!

Money.

I've seen time and time again where men will be very forward with girls. I won't go into extreme detail but it seems like those who speak it often get it. I've seen one guy continuously say that he wanted sexual favors around girls and he ended up getting his way. Well, I figured I'd give it a try, but I don't want sexual favors. I want money.

I'm not begging, I don't want people to give it to me for free. But I need a lot more money than I'm earning now, so I want money. I want money by doing what I've been trained to do through college. I am getting paid for doing what I've been trained, but not nearly as much as I feel like I'm due.

I want benefits. No not just a free subscription to Game Developer magazine. I want health insurance, a retirement plan, paid vacations, and whatever else this wonder company wants to give me. I don't expect that I'll ever really be rich, but I want to feel comfortable. I want my own place, and to get that I want money. I invite tips on how to make money, which stocks to invest in, what kind of IRAs, CDs, what to collect and sell for higher prices... you get what I'm saying. I want money because I need money, not because I'm greedy. If I were to be rich, I would definitely be a giving person. But until I feel comfortable, I want and need money.

Believe me, I'm really going to try to make it happen without aid, but I realize a lot of people get in good with certain groups of people to make their money. And that's why I wrote this blog.

This Place is a Mess!

I think I know why Walmart does so well. Yes, they have stores all over the world and that surely helps, but for the most part their stores are clean. I've seen the store contradict me on that statement but I would say that 75% of the time they're clutter free (restocking time doesn't count). The reason I bring this up is because 3 stores come that just made me very uncomfortable because of their problems.

K-Mart - The one in my home town seems to be the only one that's just completely unkempt and they surely know how to do that right. The toy isle is the worst of all. They had plastic shelves that stood about hip high up in the middle of the isle with an abundance of unsorted toys strewn about all over the top of them. Then in the food section where the drinks are there was a big puddle of soda pop being blocked off with over turned empty boxes. Let me tell you, the entire store has similar problems as well.

The another thing that truly irks me about K-mart is that friggin alarm that sounds when you walk into the claustrophobic electronics section. Why can't they just expand that section or maybe make it so that the employees that are in charge of the section can see the customers that are looking at the electronics.

Another funny thing about the K-Mart here is that they still have an N64 and Xbox display up that no longer functions. Furthermore, the Xbox part of the display still dawns the bear controller that Penny Arcade famously made fun of. In fact if I ever get a chance, next week I may photograph the display and show you. Keep an eye out for an update.

Random Consignment Shop: This shop is stacked from floor to ceiling with Everything! That's how thrift/consignment shops work of course. This one mainly focused on media like books, movies, and music but the problem with this store is not that it was cluttered exactly. They have things pretty well in order. It's just that they have decided to pack the store with SO MUCH. It's so claustrophobic in there, you barely have shoulder room to walk through it all. I guarantee that if a Fire Marshall stopped by they'd have a problem with the place. Plus it seemed so packed that it might even be dangerous in that something may fall on someone. Just thinking about the place makes me feel uneasy.

Old Retail Store:
I recently watched Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices and they showed how a local retail store was going under because Walmart moved into their town. It had thrived and did quite well for many many years. They showed footage of the inside of the store and it just seemed so barren. I don't know if it was because they didn't have the money to pay for any more merchandise or if it had always been that way, but to me having very little merchandise is a big turn off. I just find it so depressing and because of that I won't go back to a store like that. A big reason for having a store is so people can go there, look around, and to buy things, but if there's nothing to look at it kind of defeats the purpose.

So if you decide to get into the retail business, walk around in a few others first so that you can know what works, and what doesn't work. Now, off to contact someone at K-Mart HQ to tell them that something needs to change. It won't be the first time I've contacted companies about their products. More on that subject later.

Greeting Cards

I throw them away. Just give me the money and a hug.