Fishies and Duckies and Frogs, Oh My!

      I'm starting to get a pretty good collection of little 'critters' I've found in the road.  In addition to all the shiny pennies (thank you creator of all for this symbol of your infinite abundance!) there have been duckies, fish, dogs, cats, dragons, horses, pterodactyls, snakes, turtles, and on and on and on.  I found a little baby Kermit the Frog, a crazy 'hair in the air' something, a Hulk (arrrrgggg), what I think is a platypus, a squishy Atlanta Falcon football guy, not to mention a Surf Turf car and a front loader.  You've probably figured out by now the filter isn't always on.  That said, when I found the little green plastic snake, I was compelled to put it out on the patio and then casually at some point say, gee honey, what is that? And then she sees that it's a snake and I rush out to grapple with this 4" monster.  Showed him who's boss!!  My baby only got a small cramp with that eye roll.  And of course, there's 14 rubber duckies--- ya gotta love it!  I especially like the little duckie with the wet suit.  I guess now he has two? 

     The plastic luncheon meat containers seemed like a good thing to put change in when I started.  They don't weigh a ton like a 5 gal water jug would if it was filled with coins, and they stack.  Thing is, I'm on container number 13 now and since they weigh about 5 lbs each, you need a pretty study table to put them on.  Fortunately, the duckies were really good about sharing their steel table, so I have them together.  I have found folding money on any number of occasions.  Once running past a bank drive thru lane I saw a bunch of dollar bill pieces scattered on the ground.  I picked up as many as I could find, taped them together and had 3 dollar bills.  The pieces were similiarly torn, as if three bills were torn across the middle, put together, and then torn again.  Now who tears up dollar bills????  Save yourself the time and effort, if you don't like'em, just give them to me, I have no issue with George Washington.  I've found 1's, 5's, and 20's but no $10 bill, so I guess I just need a ten to 'hit for the cycle' 

PUTTAY-VOUS THE WALLET AWAY BEFORE YOU TURN THE KEY!

      Watch my lips......Do - Not - Put - Your - Stuff - On - Top - Of - Your - Vehicle (and then drive off!!)!!!!  Don't use me as an example though, I have done that on numerous occasions through the years, never with anything seriously valuable mind you.  My rule is "if you put anything on the roof, put the keys there too", which I mostly remember.  On yesterday's run though, not even a mile out, I found a multi pocket plastic file folder which had groupings with almost a dozen locations where a construction/remodeling company was working.  There were signed contracts and building permits, and even some bank info from the individual I'm assuming was doing the field work. Somebody set it on the roof and off they went.  I tried for several hours to track the guy (yes, it was a guy) down today both at the company's corp office, the apartment complex office whose address was on the bank stuff, and at the bank itself.  And I also checked the info/lookup service I have (to help screen solicitors) since it was a very unusual name.  No call backs yet but I'm going to wait until tomorrow and if no word then take it to the bank and leave the whole kit-and-kaboodle with them -- put the monkey on their back. 

     Next, all of about 100 yards away in the road I found a woman's wallet, with SS cards, drivers lic, birth cert, 3 or 4 credit cards, and 3 Covid Vax cards.  That was worrisome!!  Somebody's whole life is right there in that wallet!  I did have an address on the Driver's Lic so worst case I thought I might have been able to drive over and drop it off, but it was different from the info the lookup service had.  I understand that it's not necessarily the most up to date info, but it usually is reasonably accurate.  Anyway, I called three different numbers with no response.  The wallet had a zipper compartment that I couldn't get open initially but when I finally coaxed it open, lo and behold there were Covid Vaccination cards showing the drug store where they got them.  Woo and Hoo!!  We called the drug store and a very nice young lady there was able to forward our phone number to them, and 10 min later we got a call.  We met up a little later, they were a very nice young family, who hadn't discovered they had lost it yet.  It was one of those things, they set the wallet on top of the car, put the child in a car seat, belted them up, shut the door and drove home.  There would only have been a couple of hours of daylight left when they lost it so fortunately it was pretty much invisible on the curb line until I went thru early the next morning.  If you believe in Karma, I sincerely hope that I've got a couple "in the bank" for the next time I do something like that. 

     So,it was an interesting run.  I was dressed right for when I woke up but in leaving 90 later and then the 90+ minutes of running,I was WAY over dressed (didn't need 6 layers!).  Fortunately I always take Sustain Sports drink with me so that when I started to fade about 8 miles out, I got a pick-me-up.  Fortunately for me it's very low sugar so not only do I get the electrolytes, I also don't have to deal with a sugar rush. Who knew you had all this stuff to worry about when you hit the streets???

     Ok now, what's the lesson here??  Puttay-vous the wallet or other important stuff away before you turn the key.  (I'm pretty sure that will be on the mid-term)

LUG NUT DAY

 

     Sometimes it's dime day, yesterday was Allen wrench day,  today was lug nut day. I found 4 and they're all pretty much different   So hopefully it's 4 people just missing 1 as opposed to one guy missing 4 and has a tire that's about to go sailing down the road. Never has a good ending. 

     I found a gas cap at the curb just after passing a gas station (surprise surprise) and it said on it, in capital letters, "TIGHTEN PAST THREE CLICKS "  Ya want to bet 'zippy only did two clicks??? I'm just sayin. 

     Only found 5 pennies today, or rather, only 5 pennies found me. Today's was a new route, and I had no expectations, but then I never ever know where something will spring up. It's always a surprise. And a blessing.  Especially the shiny pennies!

What's The Plural Of Half?

 

I was looking back through pictures from 2021 and rediscovered this one from last May.  I've found a lot of USB cords in the road, some that work and some that are very flat.  It was raining that day and the dollar bill was rolled up like in the picture on the edge of the street.  I bet if it had rained any harder it could have gotten floated down the storm drain.  I remember thinking that day that I didn't see how I could have gotten any wetter, it was a strip at the door when you get back kinda day, put them in the washer to spin the water out of everything, and then either hang up or throw in the dryer.  I think it was a dryer day.  I usually kid about rainy days, about if I was thinking I'd take a bar of soap with me and take care of two things at the same time.  Might even smell springtime fresh when I get back which would be a 1st!  Karen always tells me I smell musky when I get back, I just tell her it's my mahnly muskatude (yes, pronounced that way).  

     Didn't hit for the cycle, but lots of 'treasures'.  A couple of more sockets too, and half a set of dice, I guess one is a die.  Some of those singulars and plurals, they make you wonder.  I've found a pair of sunglasses in the road but it's only enough for one person.  I've heard two canaries make a pair, I think they call it a parakeet.  But others...a paramecium is not a pair.  No, really.  What's a paraphernalia? Nobody knows. And what's the plural of half?  Yup, whole.  I'd best stop, don't want my head to 'splode.

Double Naught Spy

      Today again I found an assortment.  It was Allen wrench day, I found three of them.  That makes 50 now (Allen,--stop leaving your tools everywhere!!)  I found another credit card which when I called the company they said just shred it.  Also in the street was a 9mm luger bullet, and I was careful not to drop it.  Do you suppose Barney Fife has been in the neighborhood, after all it was just one bullet?   There was another lotto scratch off second chance ticket, again for the Tinseltown Takeover (a trip to Hollywood??)  No shiny pennies today, but I consider the bright sunshiny (cold) morning as the 1st shiny penny, and having the wherewithal to get out there and do it the 2nd.   Lastly, there was an "Order of the Sword and Shield" card on the curb.  It says it's "an academic and professional Honor Society for Homeland Security, Intelligence, Emergency Management, Cyber and Information security, and all protective security disciplines.  Woo Hoo.....I gots me a double naught spy card! (maybe next week I can be a stealth ninja...)

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB

   

     The dates on these last couple of posts are a little off, Smiles was yesterday's run (Tues) and Duckies was somewhere before if that makes any difference.  Today I needed to run by (literally) the post office to drop off a get well card so I took a little older route that I've used now and again, just different places to look.  I always have to put whatever mail in a plastic bag and stuff it inside my shirt, especially in the summer, because sweating is part of my skill set and most things mail better dry than wet.  Moving on....So, on the curb of this 6 lane road today I found a relatively new Smart Strap, one of those ratchet down straps for securing a load on a flatbed trailer or a pickup. A two pack at Lowes goes for $28 with tax so I guess that ought to be worth $10 at the next garage sale (I think I sold two practically new ones at the last sale).  Anyway, this thing felt like it weighed a ton, at least when you're running and trying to move your arms. Didn't need to do a lot of arm exercise when I got back, already had that covered. 

    After I got back from running today I called the local animal clinic about a dog's rabies tag I found on the sidewalk yesterday (actually I think it was more of a "I don't have rabies" tag). It's a shame, some poor dog is probably having to sneak around and hope they don't get carded.  (whuhuoy!)

     I also found a gigundo socket today, again in a spot I normally don't run.  Ok, it was a 1/2" and mine are 1/4 and 3/8, but for some reason those look huge--maybe it's because the socket handle is a lot bigger.  I may soon have enough of that size to make a set, which can go in the garage with the other tools I probably won't use but have Justin case (Tiffany's brother) (one thousand one, one thousand two,..... ha ha ha ha...). Yeah yeah yeah, I know, don't quit your day job.  

A DISH FOR THE DUCKIES

 

     Every day's run is truly a mystery, what will you find and where will you find it?  This was from Sunday Dec 5th, 2021 and of course Sunday is a longer run, usually 10 miles but might be 12 if I do a little extra exploring, so I would expect to find more as there's more places to look.  Found a #1 birthday candle, so anyone celebrating the 1's (1, 11, 21, 31, etc) I got you half covered.  I hit for the cycle, extended cycle actually (all four coins, a socket, and lug nut), which seems to be a given more often than not.  Lots of change, 8 quarters, 14 dimes, 5 nickels, and 24 pennies so that easily covers a gallon of gas.  And I found, right there next to the road, in the grass between the curb and the sidewalk, there was a doggie water dish.  With as many rubber duckies as I've found I figure the dish would give them a place to crash, although all 14 won't fit in it at the same time, they'll have to swim in shifts I guess.  

     I found a small caliber bullet in the road, I've seen a number of casings, but this was the first live one I think, and I was careful not to drop it.  There are always a lot of nuts, bolts, washers, and screws in the road, and I expect they're off some part of a car.  Lots of job security for all you mechanics.  Some I recognized from my youthful days working on my first car, a 1964 Chevy Biscayne wagon, two tone--green and rust.  It was a three speed on the column and I loved that hunk O' junk!  There are so many lug nuts I've found on the curb line, if anybody needs one---I have it--all sizes, shapes, colors, types, and even  a few specialty lug nut removers.  I found another bungie cord, and I've been able to make use of a lot of them but, like the lug nuts.... I'm flush.  Looking at the picture I see a long skinny socket, I've been finding a lot of longer ones, or extensions, or more specialized ones let's say.  One of these days I'm going to start putting sets together, I'm sure it would help move some of them at the next garage sale.

(thought I posted this on the 24th??? guess I forgot to hit 'publish'.)

SMILES MULTIPLY

 

     It was a good run, everything felt pretty good too! I had just been to PT so everything was pretty loose.  Considering how achey some tendons were at Thanksgiving, I'm truly thankful (there's another shiny penny!)  Nothing really unusual out there today which is how lots of runs go. You just get out there and do it, and the quiet time, the getting your head straight time, the 'genius time' is enough. 

     I'm going to smile, wave, or acknowledge most everybody I pass. I will always wave to the vehicle at intersections that doesn't run me over (always a plus!), and I want to encourage that kind of behavior.  But I very much enjoy how smiles multiply.  I smile at somebody and almost always get a smile back--now there's two.  And maybe that one gets shared, so there's 3+.  And I'll say good morning to everybody I run across (pun intended-- buh-da-bum) and nearly always get a hello and a smile back. That all multiplies.   Not everyone actually hears me I've found as a lot of people have earbuds in listening to something, so they're responding to the wave mostly. I could have waved and said "I'm a purple squid" and they wouldn't have known.  The only bad part if that is that they may not hear the vehicle that maybe wasn't paying enough attention and doesn't see them. That's a problem. 

    I was waiting to cross at a very large and very busy intersection yesterday morning and the guy stopped next to me at the curb rolls down the window. He said he sees me running a lot and wondered what I was picking up. I gave him the short list---pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, sockets, lug nuts, cell phones, wallets, credit cards, tools, and he was surprised. Hey, no more than me I guess when I stumble across all that stuff (and more). I run that route once a week so I guess maybe our paths have crossed a few times.  Makes me wonder about how I'm perceived, I'm seen running some place or another every day so I suppose folks get used to seeing me. 

HUNDRED-AIRES!

 

     I've got some remarkable workout aids, Access bars, Sustain sports drink, aminos, Elevate protein, etc and I get them delivered to the house as I happen to run out of this and that.  Which means more often than not I'll get a box shipped to me every week.  Which means I see the same delivery driver once a week.  I was in the middle of today's route and who pulls up in the parking lot I was running through but my delivery guy.  I've told him about some of the silly stuff I find in the road and I stopped to yak for a sec.  I was telling him what I had found so far today and he started pulling out stuff he's found and it's hilarious--he sees the same kind of stuff I do!   He's found a lot of tools also - vice grips, crescent wrenches, screw drivers, measuring tapes, to name a few and I had to laugh.  See--it's not just me that stumbles across this stuff.  We're both going to make a fortune at our next respective garage sale. Why...we could be hundred-aires!!

     I usually keep an eye peeled for lotto scratch-off tickets, the 2nd chance drawing ones.  If it doesn't win when you do the scratch off part then you can go online and scan the ticket for a chance to win, in this case, a Tinseltown Takeover Trip (whatever that is), but it could be $100, or a trip to Vegas, or NFL season tickets, or, for the Willie Wonka ones, a million smackers.  Anyway, I found another one of those so I entered it so I've got another entry in the hopper.  I also found a "Bug Sky Ball", a 4" inflatable ball.  With lots of little plastic spiders inside?  Seriously?  Just seems a little creepy giving that to your kid to play with.  There was also the usual assortment of pocket change, another socket, and a small silver plated $10 bill likeness key chain bobble?  The hole for a chain is the wrong way for it to be a pendant so I'm thinking keychain. 

    I just needed a quarter to "hit for the cycle" today but the last few miles I kept finding shiny pennies, which considering that they're always a blessing, I don't mind not seeing the quarter.  I suspect it was probably there, I don't always spot everything I pass, after all I'm running and also watching for cars, watching the terrain, etc.  More than once I've run back the way I came and there's the penny I missed on the way out (or nickel/dime/quarter.)  But no worries.  Something else for me to find tomorrow.  And appreciate!!

THOUSAND-AIRE!!

 Last Sunday was that amazing jackpot in one spot in the road,  but this Sunday  turned out pretty good too-- 71 coins in all! They were onesy twosey everywhere I looked. Was trying to "hit for the extended cycle" and just needed a socket. Not sure why I crossed over to check the other curb line , but there it was, a long 1/2" socket with a socket extender.  Ok, it's not like I need another socket,  I've already  found hundreds in the road, it's just the challenge. And it's shiny. And in the road. And of course it makes me laugh. 

     Ran across (literally) another (car) reindeer antler, now I have a matched set. Was wondering when the cars start growing these, what...late summer, to be ready for the Christmas season?? (ha!) I even found a giant Rudolph nose in the road recently, hopefully it's as easy to regrow the sniffer as it is the antlers. 

     I've been using a small plastic container, the kind you get sandwich meat in from the grocery store, to collect all the 'road' change. I'm about halfway through number 13 and the collection rate seems to be accelerating. Full they weigh around 5 lbs each, so it's a good thing they're on a really sturdy steel table.  Not sure how much is in each one, it'll vary of course, and the last one had a $20 bill I found, but they must average $15 or $20 each??  I'll have to dump one out out and check....I could be well on my way to being a thousand-aire!!!!

   Oh yeah, and my Sustain sports drink did not freeze up in the bottles I take with me. That's another 'shiny penny' right there!

Dr Schols and the Aussie Coin

   

   Seems once you find that first coin in the morning the rest come easy. Found a shiny dime right off the bat passing the gas station on the corner and I got nickel and dimed the rest of the way. (ok, that was a cheap one).  Spotted something in the dirt at a pretty big intersection and back peddled to find what I thought was an Australian coin.  About as big as your pointy-finger nail, it said half penny on one side and had Queen Elizabeth on the other. Thought it might be worth something, but found they're fake, they stopped minting them in 1964, and that in 81 those were made for key chains. Ah well, there goes my chance at being an international coin mogul (try and say that fast six times....)

     Still, 5 dimes, six pennies, and a nickel -- I'll take that, and what about the Dr Schols arch support that was in the road? You don't just find those everywhere!  Well, yeah, I guess maybe you do..... at most drug stores.  Well you don't find just one dirty Dr Schol insole in the road just anywhere! That's what I'm sayin!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

     Hit the streets running yesterday and it was mid 50's outside.  You could tell something was coming, the skies were dark, it wasn't raining, just spritzing. Hit for the extended cycle! (again).  I'm always grateful for the first, and sometimes the only, shiny penny I find (thank you creator of all for this symbol of your infinite abundance!) but it seems like anymore I find all four coins and the lug nut and socket as well.  Found a flapjack flipper in the road too, nice to know I've got that covered now.  No more burning the flapjacks cause I couldn't get'em out of the pan.  Yeahyuh! 

     Today was a little different.  26 degrees.  11 with the wind chill.  It took a lot longer to get out the door because of all the layering, 7 on top and 4 on the bottom plus cowl for the face and ski hat, and two pair of gloves.  Felt like Nanook of the North (apologies to my Canadian friends where it was -28 today). I always have an Access (workout) Bar before I go out and I eat it when I get up, but by the time I get my eyeballs to stay open and I'm finally dressed, and I've had a chance to stretch out, it can be 2 hours and then I need another bar.  At least the sports drink I take with me didn't freeze in the bottle, I just have to use warm water to mix it and not use what I put in the fridge.  Wasn't sure I hit for the cycle as the nickel was pretty beat up and I couldn't tell until I got back.  Wind was a blowing, eyes a watering, nose a runnin, it was really attractive.  I did run across (literally) another reindeer antler in the road, probably the last one of the season.  They show up on cars right after Thanksgiving and I've seen tons of them, singles in the road.  It makes sense, real reindeer males will shed their antlers after mating season, right before Christmas.  How cars know to start losing them at that point I'm not sure, they must be those smart cars. 

New Day, New Month, New Year

     New day, new month, new year, but same stuff in the road though.  And two new little duckie friends -ha!  This was the picture from this last New Year's Day and I found both duckies together....fraternal twins I guess. Another hat, don't know how many that is, and another visa gift card. I was glad it wasn't a debit or credit card, I know how I'd feel if I lost mine. I have surprised a few people calling them to let them know I found their card and surprisingly not everyone asks how I tracked them down even though their phone number's not on the card. I get so many solicitor calls now that I finally got a (paid) lookup service, you put in a name or phone number and most times it gives you info -- name, address, phone . At least that gives you an idea of who's trying to sell you something. So sometimes, as long as it's not a ridiculously common name like John Smith, I've gotten possible numbers to call. I've gotten maybe half the cards back to the owner, some just to a local bank branch, and some I've just called Visa, MC, etc to notify before the shreading the card.  But I find the cards in the road, medians, driveways, all over. So.....make sure you stow it before you drive or walk off!

Here's Blogging at you, kid...

     Once again--I 'hit for the extended cycle', and also found a shoe for a very short person.  I'm thinking a very young short person.  Someone that shouldn't be crossing the street by themselves short person if you know what I mean.  I figured they must have been running so fast that they just ran out of one of their little sneakers.  If I run into whoever I can let them have a sparkly red doll shoe I recently found that's about the same size--just so they don't wear that sock out.

     Shiny pennies are a blessing for sure but who'd have thought an 'achy to point of distraction' upper arm, and also leg tendons that hurt to drive might be a blessing?  Both finally prompted me to visit the doctor who sent me to a Physical Therapy clinic nearby.  They're focusing on core strength and flexibility and in the last few months I can see a major difference. It dawned on me that I had been slacking off on a lot of the strength workouts and stretching I used to do. There was always a lot of everyday stuff--work and life as usual, and I would rush stretching and weights after a workout to where I wasn't doing much at all. If not for the injury I would have been rocking along, physically just slowly inching downhill. So.....don't forget....if you don't use it, you'll lose it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.......now where have I heard that before?  Here's blogging at you kid.....

JACKPOT!!

     I think I hit Ft Knox today. Half of this was in the road on a six lane road in town with a brick median. I'm sure anyone close by could hear..."oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!" (oh boy) Just goes to show, you never know where or when, you just know. 😄🙃  I've found coinage like this a number of times before, it's not the norm, but it happens.  And just how does all this end up in the road?  And how was it that I just happened to cross the street and run that side, I usually run the other side facing traffic.  Not exactly sure what prompted me to head over there but it happens all the time.  For one thing traffic can 'move' you one way or another, or rather avoiding traffic can, but also curiosity can too.  Anyway....woo hoo!!  And a shaker ball...wonder what happened to the shaker?  Actually my go-to shaker now is one I found on a run, think I was running past a car wash and there it was. 

     The last year or so I've normally worn a nylon running "belt" with two zipper pouches that I've used when my pockets get too full.  It doesn't always get used but again, you never know what you'll find.  Sunday is always my long run, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 miles and you'd think the farther you go the more opportunities you'd have of finding "treasures".  So, the pockets could get full and I'm just trying to make sure I can always get something interesting back to the house.  There's been a few times, before the belt, that the pockets were full and both hands were full, usually on a Sunday of course.  I've pretty much stopped running on the running/walking/bike trails for a couple of reasons.  I've almost never found ANYTHING interesting on them, and then there's always the biker that goes tear a**ing by you unannounced (apologies to the guys out there that do let you know they're there).  Anyway... all that said, it was a pretty good day, but then, blue skies, sunshine, early morning, the fact that I have the opportunity and ability to hit the streets, I'm truly blessed.  Shiny pennies all!

IT'S COLD!! (WAHHH!)

      It was cold this morning (for Texas)!  My apologies to my friends in Canada that would always smile when I said 'wind chill is 15' when theirs was -15.  It was 38 and with the wind chill felt like 21.  It was the wind that made it bad I guess, 25-35 mpr gusts.  Wahhh!  Actually I like running in the cold and/or wet mainly because nobody else does.  OK all you bikers that were always sneaking up behind me on the running trails, where were you today???  Not a lot of cars out either, guess everybody was staying in staying warm. On days like this it seems to take forever to get out the door because of all the layers to put on.  I had 6 on top and 4 on the bottom and a cowl and a ski cap.  And gloves and socks to cover them.  You remember being a kid going out to play in the snow and your mom dressed you in six pair of corduroys and a bunch of sweatshirts or long johns and maybe the one snowsuit that got passed down/around?  And how many times when she (or you) was done would you remember that you had to go to the bathroom??  Sorry mom.  

     Well, we hit for the cycle today, but that's been kind of the norm of late.  Needed that last nickel and what shows up in the road in the turn lane from Davis Blvd to MidCities?  Yup, and then another one showed up 100' away.  It always makes me laugh.  Anymore I think they find me.  Just another symbol of the creator's infinite abundance.  I can't tell you how many times I've just gotten through saying "where the heck is that........" and there it is.  Karen tells me I need to inquire about some bigger bills (HA!)  I have found 1s, 5s, and 20 dollar bills in the road and I even found a very realistic looking fake 100 dollar bill on the sidewalk.  I wondered if somebody had put it there to see people's reactions.  Kind of like my Grandpa Barnes who would nail a nickel to the elevator floor and watch people try to pick it up.  I hope I've inherited some of his sense of humor.  (if so I've got him to blame for all the 'humor' I've inflicted on my younger brother Dave)

Anyway, among other things, today I found a perfectly good baseball at the curb, and two and a half, or maybe 2 & 2/3 pennies.  Sometimes they get hurt in the road.😬

CELL PHONES IN THE ROAD

 I'm not really sure how many cell phones I've found, maybe around 20 or so.  The majority of them are pretty beat up and there's really no way to find the owner.  The one in this picture I think is an I Phone, but I've found all kinds.  There was the time I found a phone and case on the side of the road with the person's Drivers License, Military Id, and 2 credit cards in it.  I had only gotten less than a mile from where I found it when it rings!  I answered it and said, "this isn't who you think it is!", and it turns out that it was the brother of the guy who lost the phone.  He contacted his brother and he called me on his work phone to retrieve it (when I got done with the run).  Seems he had set the phone on the top of his truck and drove off, then was wondering where it was so he called it (while driving) and he hears it ring so he thinks it's somewhere in the cab.  Nope!  First turn he made and it was gone.  And get this, the brother of this guy lived 3 doors down from where I am?!  This fellow's guardian angel was definitely working overtime.

One guy left his phone on the truck tailgate one night after they left a restaurant, and drove off.  I go running the next morning and see it in the grass next to the curb line.  I was able to start calling contacts and finally got his wife who came to the house to get it.  Seems her husband was being called about job opportunities and I'm thinking, probably needed the phone 😀. Another guardian angel hard at work.  I probably can't talk, no doubt I have a guardian angel of my own that keep my tookus from getting run over in the road.  Every day is a blessing.

I've found tablets and laptops in the road too, only a couple were salvageable.  One of the laptops at least had a usable hard drive, no way to tell who's it was but it was useable.  Some of the phones and tablets are fixable, usually it's only the screen that's not working, which is easy to replace.  But it's another "mouth to feed" and I always have plenty to do as it is.  So some of them I just keep for the picture.  

  

HITTING FOR THE CYCLE

      I usually feel like every day is going to be an adventure.  It was a pretty day today (that's a shiny penny right there), sunny and not too cold out.  No traffic to direct (a story for another day).  I run the same route most of the time with a few small changes here and there but for the most part it's the same old route--and every day I find something different.  I think today was dime day-I found 8 but-----I hit for the extended cycle!!!  In baseball getting a single, double, triple, and homer in the same game is considered hitting for the cycle.  I figure for me that would be finding a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter on the same run, and I seem to do that a lot so I added hitting for the extended cycle which is getting a lug nut and socket as well.  Got'em all, 4 coins (+), a lug nut, 2sockets and a socket extender.  And of course a hub cap.  I already have 20 in the garage now and we sold 30 of them at our last garage sale. Gotta laugh!  Quite often there's tools out there too, today was a screwdriver and a phillips head drill bit.  Also a reindeer nose and a little orange squishy thing.  I've got so much "pig iron" now that I'm trying to be a little more selective.  It needs to be money, or something useful, or something unusual, and some days it just depends on what I've found already.  

      I titled the blog One More Nut In The Road because of the lug nuts and other assorted nuts I was finding a few years ago.  And I always think, here's a nut in the road being picked up by...a nut in the road.  Karen and I have talked about having a lug nut award.  It would go to the most exasperating or uncooperative or inept or, well, you know, person that month.  We'll have a plaque and there will be 12 lug nuts, one for each month and they'll be awarded to the person you'd most like to say---well bless their heart to.  (we won't actually give them a plaque, it can stay on our wall and we'll have a metal name plate with the name and date. Joshua---you're number 1...)

Where's That Shiny Penny?

I run every day, it's where I can explore, think about the day and what's ahead, work on a problem, and where inspiration usually comes from. It's also where shiny pennies find me.  What started as one here and there has grown to where, on an average Sunday run I'll find probably 20 pennies, along with 5 quarters, 8 dimes and 4 nickels.  There is also the usual assortment of sockets, lug nuts, cell phones, credit cards, tools, and my favorite.... rubber duckies.  Yup, I'm up to 14 now...ya gotta laugh.  And it's spilled over to other places now.  I'll fill the gas tank and what will I find on the ground by the car door?  Yup, my penny.  I've read a lot of Dr Wayne Dyer's books and the one on The Power of Intention seems to speak to a lot of what I seem to find.  He speaks about positive intentions and positivity, bringing good things into your life, and every day it seems that expecting good things--finding that penny--goes a long way to making it happen.  He was poor as a kid and used to look for soda bottles to redeem for a nickel and he'd always give thanks "for this symbol of the Creator's infinite abundance.

I've been taking pictures of what I find every day for quite a while now and I thought I'd start sharing the varied and fun stuff out there.  From the life vests to the $20 bills, to hubcaps, crescent wrenches, pens, pencils, drivers licenses, school ids, gift cards, and on and on and on.  You just never know what you'll find! 

The first post has an assortment including a fork in the road found at "a fork in the road"