The Penny Project Is Unbelievable!

My Dallas EF Class...believers (and even a few contributors) in the Penny Project! Thanks Grant, Carol, Lester, Kim & Jackie for adding with your finds & donations!

Literally, I told a group of my students about The Penny Project last week and one of them didn't believe me! I was using the story in the context of how things build over time (in this case, their facilitation skills). I said I started facilitating about a month before I started The Penny Project. Then one day I looked up and realized...a) I'd become a pretty good facilitator and b) There was over $500 in the penny account. When did these two things happen?! It was a perfect way of explaining how with practice, their skills would conitue to grow over time...so I can see how it might sound made up!

The way I convinced the students this wasn't a made up story was two fold. First, I showed them the spread sheet (seriously...hard not to believe me when I pull up 2+ years of financial data in 7-cent increments!). Second, I showed them a few of my text messages. I thought it was funny that I had saved a few. Little did I know I had stored 26 penny-related text messages in my phone!

I have shared a few on the blog...but the collection in it's entirety is quite amusing. So, I'm sharing them with all of you and hope they make you smile like they did me!

Penny Texts:
1) "Odeto TrackCHange:I'mstanringatchangeonthe tracks. Dimes.Pennies.Ithinka quarter.IfonlyIcouldreachthem. Justalittlefarther. Stretcharmstretch! Oh shit.The train...:-)" by Chele B. on March 10, 2008
2) "I just said, out loud...oh, I need to count pennies...I thought you would be proud!" by Amy D. on March 15, 2008
3) "2 pennies on the way to work--heads side up!" by Steph G. on April 29, 2008
4) "My parents are visitng and my dad found two pennies and a dime for you" by Heather R. on May 2, 2008
5) "Now mom found a penny for you. It's a family affair. We're on a roll!" by Heather R. on May 3, 2009
6) "3 pennies today. 2 with my boss. He asked why I was picking up pennies. ;-)" by April C. on July 14, 2008
7) "He thought I was crazy until I explained what you were doing." by April C. on July 14, 2008
8) "He asked if the charity was how to not get hit by a car when picking up pennies in the middle of the street." by April C. on July 14, 2008
9) "We were crossing the street at the time, but we had the crossing sign." by April C. on July 14, 2008
10) "You got a convert..." by April C. on July 14, 2008
11) "Dime at the metro. I need a tetnus shot, but I picked it up." by April C. on July 23, 2008
12) "Got ur penny pic ;>)...found 30 cents today...asst scoutmaster found two pennies too...now u've got the boy scouts on ur side...:-)" by Chele B. on September 27, 2008
13) "Eoin found a penny" by Dan J. on November 6, 2008
14) "Deghlan found a penny at Starbucks...ironic since their stock is worth about that!!" by Dan J. on November 22, 2008
15) "11 cents" by April C. on November 25, 2008
16) "2 pennies this morning and one the other day. I am on a roll, that is why there is butter on my pants. Ha-ha!" by April C. on December 18, 2008
17) Fox news profiling family that picks up change and blogs about it!!! Last name was Humphrey. Talkn bout xtreme penny retrieval including leapn out of a car on bridge" by Chele B. on January 25, 2009
18) "Penny for ya" by April C. on May 13, 2009
19) "Penny. Dime. Nickel. Don't mess!" by Sarah S. on May 26, 2009
20) "Just found $6 in NYC :)" by Illeny M. on June 6, 2009
21) "Add another .13 to that. All within 30 mins :)" by Illeny M. on June 7, 2009
22) "Quarter, nickel. Bring it silver!" by Sarah S. on June 8, 2009
23) "So nasty you can barely tell it is a penny. Must remember to wash my hand. Thinking of you sweets." by April C. on June 8, 2009
24) "Today's find: 3 quarters, 2 dimes, 3 pennies :)" by Illeny M. on June 10, 2009
25) "Penny, penny...dime!" by Sarah S. on June 11, 2009
26) "John-dime!" by Sarah S. on June 15, 2009

There's been dozens more...but my phone memory is only so big! Thanks to my main contributors...you guys really make me laugh! And if you didn't make this listing...keep the texts coming! They're hilarious and will probably make an appearance on an upcoming blog!

The Toll Booth...Round 2

You probably thought it couldn't get any sillier than me hopping out of my car on the way though toll booths on the way home from my sister's house. But you'd be wrong.

The weekend after my infamous toll booth score (tolls paid = $1.25, money found = $1.26, net gain = $.01), I had to go out to Ashburn again for a surprise slumber/birthday party (yes, this is my life). There were 4 of us in the car on the way out there and of course, I asked if anyone would mind a small delay in the toll booth area as I perused the road for dropped change.

Being my friends, the girls agreed (although they clearly thought I was nuts). Turns out it was an even better score than before as I found almost $1.50 at one of the toll booths. Yahoo! I was pretty excited and couldn't wait to share my find with the other slumber party attendees (although a good half of us were in this car!).

My friends are used to my particular brand of crazy by this point, so no one thought it was unusual that I'd had the driver follow behind me as I walked through the toll area in search of change. Well...at least it wasn't unusual for me (which is kind of sad now that I think about it!).

We had a smashing time that evening which included several bottles of champagne, a game of 31-questions on how well we knew the birthday girl (who was turning 31...hence the 31 questions), and a midnight viewing of "Step It Up," which may have been the highlight of the evening.

But the REAL highlight of the weekend came the next day when 3 of us headed back to the city...through two more toll booths!

As we approached the first one, I hopped out of the car and commenced searching as my friend eased up to the booth behind me. The attendant looked at me and shook his head but was clearly enjoying my little display of change-gathering. I told him not to worry...my friend had an EZ-pass and we were definitely paying the toll. I let him know the change would be going to charity. He didn't seem to mind and was friendly about the whole exchange. Sweet...over 70 cents collect and one toll booth operator amused for the afternoon.

Off to toll booth stop #2.

At stop #2, the traffic was a little crazy in the lane we chose. The guy two cars ahead of us was having some issues. This didn't bother me in the least as it just gave me more time for my search. I hopped out a few car lengths back from the toll collecting basket and started looking. When the big, red SUV between my friend & the guy slowing down traffic pulled forward...I was in change-finding heaven. There were quarters EVERYWHERE! It was a change bonanza!

I threw up the official sign for stop, just like I was one of the Supremes or something, and halted my friend as I proceeded to snatch up the quarters.

Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind me..."Ma'am! MA'AM!"

"Oh, don't mind me," I said. "I'm just picking up change for charity."

The woman did not seem amused. "There's cameras watching you!"

"Sweet!" I replied.

Apparently, this was not what she wanted to hear. "Ma'am...you can't do that! There's cameras."

At this point I realized she was not at all like the amused toll booth operator from the first stop. She was more like an evil rule enforcer and was about to take down my friend's plate #s to make sure we'd get a ticket. I jumped back in my friend's car screaming, "Go! Go! Go!" as we headed out of the toll booth area.

I'm not sure she actually got the plate number (and there has been no ticket sent to my friend). But I am sure we had a major score at that stop...13 quarters plus other assorted change equalling $4.55. Talk about an exciting day for penny finders everywhere!

So that is my latest change finding excursion. It may or may not have resulted in a $50 ticket for breaking some kind of un-posted "don't get out of your car in a toll-booth" rule...but at the end of the day, I think it was worth it. We laughed all the way home!

I realize my brand of crazy isn't something everyone aspires to (although my sister apparently tried to stop in a toll area the next day when traffic was much heavier and called me in amazement over my ability to collect so much change via the toll roads!) but I encourage you to find your own brand of crazy. Something that only you might be willing to do...but you know you'll have a great time doing it.

And if you find a penny along the way...be sure to let us know!