Tag Archives: change

December 11, 2016 · 2:30 pm

Coin Jar

I’m in the service industry and I rely on tips as my main source of income. Cash is my main form of payment and it works out pretty well for me. The only downside is that a wallet full of cash inevitably leads to a pocketful of coins. Coins are annoying. They jingle, they weigh more than paper money, and they are only worth fractions of a dollar. It’s very tempting to leave eight-nine cents at the cashier rather than be burdened with the excessive amount of change. But I’ve long ago realized that coins are still money and they add up quickly. So I lug home the random coins I’ve acquired throughout the day and throw them in a coin jar.

A coin jar is like a piggy bank for adults. The main difference between the two is that one is a jar and the other is shaped like a pig. You deposit coins in the jar and it gradually fills up. Then you take the coins to the bank and turn them into real money. The bigger the jar, the more money you get. It’s economics in action. 

Critically Rated at 11/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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July 6, 2015 · 9:02 pm

Sitting in One Spot and Watching the World Change Around You

I went to my friend’s apartment the other night and we ended up perched on top of the fire escape drinking beer and sipping wine. It was right in the heart of downtown San Francisco, a block or two away from Union Square. It made for some terrific people watching to say the least. We saw tourist after tourist gawking at buildings and taking pictures of the cable cars. We saw angry drivers honking and yelling at bikers and pedestrians. We saw cars leaving parking spots and others swooping in instantly. We saw one guy drive up the wrong way of a one way street. He didn’t cause any accidents, but he didn’t make any friends either. We watched the sun set and the city became a different place. There’s nothing quite like sitting in once spot and watching the world change around you. It makes you realize that life happens whether you’re apart of it or not, aware of it or not. I’d rather be aware. I prefer people watching over binge watching something on Netflix.

Critically Rated at 15/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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April 19, 2015 · 10:21 pm

Change Machine

I recently moved to a new spot and today was the first chance I had to do laundry. Needless to say, I took advantage of the opportunity and I went to the local laundromat. I had to do a couple loads, so I put a few bucks into the change machine to get some quarters. As the quarters fell out, it dawned on me that it shouldn’t be called a change machine. It doesn’t give you change. It only gives you quarters. Change is more a mixture or combination of coins. It should be called a quarter machine. It’s a more accurate name. A change machine is that thing at the grocery store checkout counter. It was hard to concentrate on my laundry after a revelation like that, but I managed not to slip anything red into my whites. 

Critically Rated at 11/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young 

  

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February 26, 2015 · 7:06 pm

Wrapping Coins

I had the day off today. It was the middle of the week, I was bored, and I had no plans. I started wrapping coins. It was my big task for the day, my only errand to run. I put on Netflix and I went through my change jar. I would grab a handful of coins and sort them. Quarters over here, dimes here, nickels go there, pennies there, half-dollars and dollar coins go together here, and all imposters (like Canadian coins) go into the reject pile there. After they were sorted I would go through each denomination and count out how many coins were needs to fill the wrap. A wrap for quarters is ten dollars. That’s forty quarters. A wrap for dimes is five dollars. That’s fifty quarters. A wrap for nickels is two dollars. That’s forty nickels. A wrap for pennies is fifty cents. That’s fifty pennies. I didn’t bother counting out the pennies though. That can go to charity if they are willing to wrap them up and haul them to the bank. All in all, my quarters, nickels, and dimes were worth a grand total of $228. Not bad for a year’s worth of loose change and a few hours to sort through it. I could always use extra money. Now I have it and all it cost me was caving into my OCD.

Critically Rated at 12/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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June 15, 2014 · 10:28 am

Seat Hopper

A seat hopper is a person who can’t sit in one spot for more than a few minutes. They are usually creepy old guys on the bus. I saw one the other day. I was on the bus going to work and the bus was about half full so there were plenty of available seats to choose from. An old Asian guy came on, glanced at all of the open seats, and chose the seat right next to me. He saw there for a minute or two, but then he got up at the next stop, moved across the aisle, and sat down next to a young college chick. I wondered if I caused him to move by neglecting to put on deodorant or something, until he got up at the next stop, moved back across the aisle, and sat down to the guy sitting right in front of me. A few stops later he got up and went to a different spot. It was around that time that I realized that he was just a weirdo with a penchant for seat hopping. I watched him move to three more seats before he finally got off. I can only assume that he went to find another bus to sit in more seats. I think that he’s harmless, but he’ll be my top suspect if I ever sit in anything sticky on the bus.

Critically Rated at 8/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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May 31, 2014 · 10:03 am

Facebook Name Changers

It seems like every couple of weeks one of my friends on Facebook changes their name for some reason or other. Those Facebook name changers make my newsfeed a lot more interesting. I’ll check my FB when I wake up and see a name that I don’t recognize. It makes me wonder if I was drunkenly adding people the night before. Then I click on their link and realize that it’s an old friend trying to mix things up. I don’t get it. If Facebook is getting boring, then change your profile picture. You don’t need to change your name. That’s just going to confuse everybody. Nobody wants to be confused. They want to be in control. But you can’t control Facebook name changers. You can only bitch about them and wonder why they did this to you. Or you can blog about it. That’s what I did. Or you can read a blog about it. That’s what you did.

Critically Rated at 10/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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March 31, 2014 · 9:39 am

Dropping Change You’re Trying to Put In Your Pocket

You’re at the corner store buying a soda and some chips and maybe a candy bar, and your total comes out to $4.07. You hand the cashier a five-dollar bill, and he hands you back 93 cents. You take your small pile of coins and try to shove it in your pocket but you completely miss. The coins hit the floor and roll in all different directions. You wish that you could just pretend like it didn’t happen and walk out the door, but you can’t abandon those quarters. So you swallow your pride and get down on your hands and knees to pick them up. And you might as well pick up the dimes while you’re at it because those aren’t completely worthless. And you pick up the nickels and pennies because you don’t want to litter. Dropping change you’re trying to put in your pocket makes you feel like less of a person. The truth is you are. But it’s only temporary. Only the cashier and people waiting in line behind you know that you’re a failure. Nobody on the street knows what you did, so you’re in the clear once you exit the store.

Critically Rated at 6/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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January 22, 2014 · 3:44 pm

Wearing Your Uniform to Work

Some workplaces require their employees to wear a uniform. It kind of sucks, but you’re lucky to have a job so stop complaining. I have to wear a uniform at work, I know your pain. I keep my work shoes, shirt, pants, and gear in a backpack, and I get to work a few minutes early so I have time to change, grab a coffee, and hang out in the break room. It’s annoying having to lug my backpack around if I want to go somewhere before or after work, but it’s better than wearing my work clothes all day long. There are exceptions to everything of course. Some people drive to work and drive back home right after work, they don’t stop anywhere and they don’t have much interaction with anyone along the way. But if you rely on public transportation, wearing your uniform to work makes you stick out like a sore thumb. A lot of servers at The Cheesecake Factory wear their uniforms to work for some reason. They wear white collared shirts, white pants, and white shoes. They look like they are in a cult. Wearing your uniform to work makes you look like a tool, especially if you have to wear all white. Have a little self-respect and bring a change of clothes to work. You’ll feel better about yourself at the end of the day.

Critically Rated at 5/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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December 13, 2013 · 9:57 am

The Metamorphosis (novella)

The Metamorphosis is a short story by Franz Kafka about a guy who wakes up and discovers that he’s transformed in a giant insect. You never find out how or why Gregor Samsa becomes a giant bug, he just wakes up in a different body. The story is about his attempted adjustment from being his family’s financial provider to being a cockroach. He becomes a burden on his family, slowly draining them financially and emotionally. They are disgusted and repulsed by him, and they end up resenting him. They end up despising him. And they don’t hide it either.

The Metamorphosis isn’t about a guy changing into a bug; it’s about change itself. It’s about a guy realizing that his life will never be the same again and having to deal with it. It’s about a family rejecting one of their own because he’s no longer useful. Kafka published this novella back in 1915 and it’s still an important, intriguing, and relevant work of literature to this day. I once had to buy it for a college class, and it was so good that I didn’t sell it back to the campus bookstore. I could have used that money to buy beer and Top Ramen, but I chose to expand my library instead.

Critically Rated at 15/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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July 6, 2013 · 8:10 am

Paying with Change

It’s a know fact that four quarters equal a dollar. But there is a huge difference between leaving a server a dollar bill versus leaving four quarters. You should never tip or pay for a bill with pocket change. I don’t care if you’re a tourist and if today is your last day in the States and you just want to get rid of all your spare coins… It’s insulting to leave a handful of change as payment. If you don’t want those coins, what makes you think that somebody else would appreciate it? There are a million other things you can do rather than offend a server and show how cheap you are. You can give it to a homeless guy, you can make wishes at a fountain, you can flatten them at the railroad tracks. Paying with change is a great way to tell other people how stingy you are.

Critically Rated at 5/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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