Mike Becvar

Coins, coins, and more coins.

Mike — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:45:50 +0000

I start most days by putting a few quarters, nickles, dimes, and pennies in my pocket. But, more often that not, I end the day by taking out more coins than I started with. Even though I have the coins in my pocket, I rarely use them unless the price is only a few cents more than an even dollar. If I am paying for something small with a $10 or $20 bill, I will only give coins if it means getting back a $5 or $10 bill instead of a pile of $1 bills.

The coins join a pile on my dresser. When that pile overflows too much, I will sort the coins and move them to counting containers on my nightstand. Once all of the containers are overflowing and surrounded by even more coins, I will find the time to count and roll the coins.

Last night, I emptied some of the coins from my tip jar and sorted/counted/wrapped some of the coins I had collected during the past few weeks or months. I think I had $40 worth of quarters, $10 worth of dimes, and a few dollars in nickles and pennies.

I don’t remember that last time I actually turned in or otherwise spent the money once rolled. They just get added to the pile. I keep thinking that some day, I will find a good cause collecting coins or something. I should note, that I sort out the nice and shiny pennies and drop them into glass ball jars. I have come close to filling my third jar.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

Mike — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:02:49 +0000

I made a trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival (http://www.rennfest.com/) on Saturday. This was probably my fourth or fifth time going. Earlier in the year, I tried to set aside some time to go to the Virginia Renaissance Festival, but never made it. This was opening weekend, and I figured that if I waited until later in the season, things would come up and I would miss going this year. So, I took advantage of my free weekend and went.

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Slow service at the gas pump

Mike — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:29:05 +0000

My smart fortwo has an eight gallon gas tank. Compared with the much larger tank on my older Chevy Trailblazer (15-20 gallons) it takes half the time to fill with gas. But, I can’t help but feel like I could spend even less time at the pump.

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High maintenance haircuts

Mike — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:54:55 +0000

I spent the weekend at Hershey Park and noticed a lot of young boys sporting mohawks. Actually, I would say that only one or two boys really had mohawks, the rest looked like two or three weeks ago, they may have had mohawks.

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Harry Potter books on CD

Mike — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:35:46 +0000

I have continued to listen to the Harry Potter books on CD in my car for the past several weeks. I started with Book Six, then went back to Books Five and Four. I am listening to Book Four for the second time. I definitely pick up minor details with each listening.

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Power Outage

Mike — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:46:30 +0000

I was getting ready for bed last night when I heard some rumbling outside. At first, I thought it was one of the neighbors fighting with their trash cans, but when it continued, I realized it was thunder.

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Laundry in the Summer

Mike — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:31:29 +0000

I just finished doing two loads of laundry. I have been running out of clean socks lately. I don’t think I have fewer pairs of socks than I did a few months ago. I think it is more that I haven’t been doing laundry on a regular basis. I have been busy and do my laundry when the basket is full. The problem is that I have been wearing more t-shirts and shorts lately and they don’t take up as much room in the laundry basket.

Earthquake

Mike — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:40:20 +0000

All of the news reports are talking about the earthquake this morning. I didn’t feel a think. I woke up about 30 minutes before the earthquake, but went back to sleep after looking at the clock. The alarm went off about 20 minutes after the earthquake. When I first heard about the earthquake, I wondered if that was why I woke up, but the time was wrong.

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Motorcycles

Mike — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:21:44 +0000

I was driving to work on US 50 when I noticed a motorcycle next to me. I happend to be just before a point where I specifically like being in the left lane because the bumps in the road are a little less. The motorcycle was in the right lane.

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Mary Poppins

Mike — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 04:42:21 +0000

I went to see Mary Poppins at the Kennedy Center tonight. I don’t normally see shows on week day nights, and considering the busy weekend I have planned, this might not have been the best night to be out late. But, I had the ticket, so I had to use it.

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