marius

Ahhh well, gasoline is pretty important! Still, a windfall is very nice. Saw a show on TV and the host asked everyone who'd ever unexpectedly come into a bit of money to raise their hand. Almost every person in the audience raised hands. One time marius was very much needing extra cash and found ten dollars lying on the trail at a nature preserve. It was an out-of-the-way place and no way to find the owner. It was a most welcome gift. : )

marius

And for some reason that reminds me of the time a man came into the restaurant/bar where marius worked and asked, "Did anyone find a roll of one hundred dollar bills in the bar when they cleaned up last night?"

To my knowledge, no one found it but apparently it was about $4, 000! There was a greyhound race track nearby and the winners often frequented our establishment. These were the guys who lived by gambling ... not the nicest of folk and cheap tippers too! That guy was bummed out a long time and was sure one of us had found his money and kept it. Possible, but it wasn't marius.

marius

On that note, marius is headed for dreams. It is raining now and we're supposed to wake up with anywhere from three to eight inches of snow on the ground ... but at least it got up to 68 today and that was a WONDERFUL change!

Sweet dreams to all. : )

Dragon

I once found a 20 dollar bill lying on the floor in a store I was in in Hawaii. There were no other shoppers in the store and the till was across the store so I didn't feel bad at all about cashing in. Then when I went to make my purchase I accidently trier to use some Canadian change (which you Americans are remarkably unwilling to take) the teller told me they couldn't accept it but asked if I was Canadian. When I said yes her eyes just lit up and she went through her little "Take a penny, leave a penny" jar and gave me all the Canadian change out of it. It was nearly a dollar's worth. It was just such a nice gesture.
I recall being at the Airport in Palm Springs waiting for my flight home and wanting to buy a nice little bell (I collect them) I was using up the last of my American cash but I was 10 cents short, I asked (foolishly hopeful) if they'd take one little Canadian coin and got a very dirty look in return along with a curt 'No'. Man, come on guys, is our money really so worthless that you can't bend a little for a dime? I think our dollar was really close to being at par with the US dollar at that time too. It kind of pissed me off that I had to use my credit card because of that. (The Hawaiian people were much nicer, I think I'll go there next time).

Dragon

Can you imagine misplacing $4000 in hundred dollar bills?! If that had been me I'd have kept my hands on it all night long. I once read a story about someone who'd left a bag full of money in a public restroom. It was something like $68,000 or some ridiculous number like that. The employee who found it put it inthe lost and found and the person who lost it got it back. If I remember right it was one of those cases of someone just losing a loved one and being left a bundle of cash when they were really in desperate need of it. I'm a pretty honest person but I'd be hard pressed not to keep the money if I found it, or phone the cops about it, how many honest people carry that kind of money around?

lilalee

Dragon, I live an hour away fron the Canadian border, and we do get coins, but never have I had any trouble spending them. In fact I have had people say they save the bills and coins for their trips to Canada. I do know several Canadians who go to Florida, and have heard down there, they don't like the money, as they have to deal with the banks. Too bad.
We use to go to Perry Sound, and they liked the American money!! Of course then it was worth more!! The only place I have had trouble with the monies, is our banks. There is only one bank in Toledo where you could get Canadian money. Here, the monies which are refused, is from Mexico?? lol!!

Dragon

hehehe lilalee. We wouldn't accept Mexican money up here either.
Ya, the only places I've had trouble were the states further south and I must say the only rude response I've ever gotten was from the person in the airport, everyone else was really nice about it. My mom had a Canadian penny thrown back in her face in L.A once with the comment 'We don't take that money here' but that was back in the 70's. I can't recall having any trouble just across the border, but strangely I haven't driven down very often since I've been an adult. (I don't recall spending much when I was a kid).

marius

When I lived in Portland, Oregon, sometimes we'd get Canadian money for tips and it was no problem with me. Sorry there are crabby people in the world who throw money at other people, Dragon! How very rude, but I always try to remember when people are like that ... who knows what is going on in their lives. Maybe their mother just died, their cat ... you never know.

Dragon

You guys are sweeties. marius I think the world would be a much nicer place if everyone tried to see things from the other persons point of view.

Baldur

Baldur spent the entire day outside in the garden trying to get all sorts of things done. The weather was glorious, but we are expecting rain tomorrow.

sheftali52

Oh Baldur--Sheftali spent a lot of time outdoors today, too--it got up to 75 degrees, I think. I repaired the wire fence around my garden, stuffed twigs into the garbage bin, edged the wayward grass all around the fences, cleaned and filled bird feeders, etc. We're expecting rain tomorrow, too, so it was imperative to do as much as possible outdoors today. Ah, Spring.......there are two baby doves in a hanging planter on my front porch. Mama dove tries to sit on them, but they're very active and keep her moving around.

marius

Wow ... lucky people getting to work in their yards! We got three inches of snow Friday night and by this monring another six to eight inches had fallen. On the good side of things we've had fires in the fireplace most of yesterday and most of tonight! Relaxing evening and now dreams call. G'night all!

chelydra

On the subject of misplaced bags of money... A friend of mine moved into a big old once-grand house with a bunch of other students. In a closet they found a paper bag stuffed with paper money, thousands of dollars. Then they noticed the dates were all from the 1920s or 1930s (not exactly legal tender by the 1960s). Then they learned the place had once been the residence of the Philadelphia Police Commissioner.

matthew

Paper money from the 20's is still legal tender today... Check to see if one of your legs is longer than the other because somebody has been pulling it...

matthew

I want to meet rude people who will throw money at me... That would be wonderful...

Shanley

Funny, Baldur, the same here. Today was wonderful, tomorrow it's supposed to rain.
i wouldn't mind people using money as confetti to throw on me either...who would? lol

Dragon

I knew someone who just about got the crap beat out of them for flicking pennies at hookers, so I guess they mind.

Dragon

Here's a question for all you cookers out there. I'm interested in making Sweet Potato Pie and have a good recipe for it (at least it looks good) what I want to know is this - Is sweet potato pie a dinner or a dessert?

sheftali52

Dragon, I've eaten sweet potato pie as a dessert.

Matthew, if you don a thong, people will throw money at you--to make you go away!

Baldur

Dragon, Sweet Potato Pie is very similar to Pumpkin Pie in looks, but tends to be sweeter and less spice is added, so you taste the sweet potato rather than cinnamon, nutmeg etc.
It's definitely a dessert item, and a very rich one at that.
Baldur's recipe is simpler than most, I've knocked the filling down to just 3 ingredients, you can add vanilla, a bit of spice if you want, some people add melted butter.

Sweet Potato Pie

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

Take 2 medium sweet potatoes and bake then until they are quite soft.
When they are cool enough to handle, split them down the middle and scrape the flesh into a bowl (you may actually scrape them into a food processor if you'd prefer and prepare the filling in that).
Mash the sweet potatoes thoroughly until smooth.
Add:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 large eggs (2 would be enough but I like the pie on the firm side)
Whisk everything together
Pour into a prepared 9" unbaked pie shell

Bake for 55-60 minutes until the center of the filling no longer jiggles when jostled (+6 points).
Allow to cool before slicing (refrigerate to store it).
Most would serve this with a dollop of whipped cream.