Cyberpope wrote --

I found a nice score a whi8le back in my local grocery's coin counting machine

There was once one in a store I went to. I was back in it one day for something I couldn't get otherwise and it was gone.

I'm in my wheelchair, rolling padt, & I sees a nice little stack of
coins in there, scooped it up; found a few foreign coins to add to my informal colection, & about $5.

One of my jobs in parking is emptying the meters, taking those bags* of
coins to the bank, having them counted and given back paper which is taken
back to the parking office and deposited with the other paper money.
The counter at the bank broke and for weeks the coins piled up.
The machine was finally repaired and had bags and bags of coins.
Each trip the counter would hand me several Canadian quarters the counter kicked out.
One summer when emptying the meters I found someone had put in old silver quarter. I called it raiding Granny's piggy bank. I brought those at face value and worth far more than that. They are in a desk drawer.
(*The bank as gone from multiple use canvass bags, to one time only use plastic bags. ==sigh== "Progress".)

regfularly checked payphone Coin Rerturn slots for the occasional quarter or 6!

If I see a pay phone, rarer and rarer now, I still check the coin return.
I was asked once why and said their might a coin in there.
Spotting one not far away I took a quarter from my pocket without being noticed (I was walking along with my hands in my pocket) and hiding it in my fingers, I opened the slot and pulled out the quarter I had "found".

Same as I put my refundable drink containers (pop, juice)

One time we had a recycling place here for aluminum cans.
But one would take a large trash bag of cans and get only a few cents for them. Not worth the effort.

In addition to that, today he could resale those jeans as "distressed" and make a fashion statement. :)

True enough. The jeans the young girls wear today!

I see girls on campus in ripped and torn jeans all the time. Just
tatters and rags. They look like street urchins in some Dickens story.
And they probably cost more than if if all the material were still there.

I'm of the philosophy that everything is walking distance, if you begin early enough.

LOL. Good one. Gotta remember that.
Joe
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If I see a pay phone, rarer and rarer now, I still check the coin return.
I was asked once why and said their might a coin in there.
Spotting one not far away I took a quarter from my pocket without being noticed (I was walking along with my hands in my pocket) and hiding it in my fingers, I opened the slot and pulled out the quarter I had "found".

The Telco here has a policy of leaving the payphones, until they break (usially from vandals), then cleaning it up, as required by bylaws, but not replaxcing it. . .

The last few left are in public spaces like the airport & a few malls. . .

No more 24/7 access, excepting if you want to go several miles to the airport (as if!)

One time we had a recycling place here for aluminum cans.
But one would take a large trash bag of cans and get only a few cents for them. Not worth the effort.

They add up; my dad brought in 3 or 4 of those giant bags full a week, plus another one of bottles. They didn't count them, as my dad knew the number they expect per container type, & ensured those numbers were accurate.

True enough. The jeans the young girls wear today!

I see girls on campus in ripped and torn jeans all the time. Just
tatters and rags. They look like street urchins in some Dickens story.
And they probably cost more than if if all the material were still there.

Yup, exactly. I don't mind, for the ones I can tell are fully adult (19+); the teenyboppers, though, I look away in sadness at the shame they're giving their parents. . .

I'm of the philosophy that everything is walking distance, if you begin early enough.

LOL. Good one. Gotta remember that.

It's not just a pithy aphorism, it can also be a way of life! (I've lived it)

Natch, as a youngster, if I could get a ride to go 5 miles, i'd take it. Even if walking home(~3/4 mile) from school in the rain, & some stranger pulled over in a van to ask if I wanted a ride, I'd be inside as I'm saying thank you. . .

Ahh, the '70s in the exurbs. . . *aah*

Then came population growth & the '80s. . . *sigh*

Your friend,

<+]:{)}
Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
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Cyberpope wrote --

A shame; thought of taking it on yourself?

Nah, I had one already and those that were found were in a pretty rough
shape with missing parts.
Some years ago on the way home I saw a bike chained to a small tree.
It was there for a couple of weeks then one day a wheel was missing, a
week or so later the other wheel, and over a period of about three months it was slowly disassembled piece by piece until only the frame was there, that also disappeared. :)
I've had five bikes stolen on campus over the last 30 years. Chains
cut, etc. All one needs is a good bolt cutter and a few seconds.
I now have a U-bolt if left outside. The problem is with those parts not locked are stolen.
I generally park my bike in the police station if I'm working security in
a dorm and always when in parking.
The last one to be stolen was a few years ago on Thanksgiving. I need a
bike so the next day I got a new one. Then the campus police, after filing
a report, offered me one of their old police bikes (TEK's), but already replaced the stolen one.

I miss being able to ride a bike -- now , if I could, i'd never hop another city bus ever -- I'd ride 40 miles to something first.

In my younger days (50s and early 60s) I sometimes rode 20 miles or so
just to do it. But eventually I would make more five minute rest stops than before. Not to mention being saddle sore by the end of the ride.
Our city buses have bike racks (fit two) which I use to ride wherever the
bus stops closest to my destination. Those really come in handy.

No doubt they got supreme shit from the commander & another bout from you 4 volunteers, eh?

Nope, we just did our job, with the usual grumbling amongst ourselves.
I did joke with my major about that later from time to time. :)
Joe
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Joe,

In my younger days (50s and early 60s) I sometimes rode 20 miles or
so just to do it. But eventually I would make more five minute rest
stops than before. Not to mention being saddle sore by the end of the ride.

The last few years living in the Miami, Florida area, I delivered my afternoon newspaper route on a bicycle. When the family got transferred
to Little Rock, Arkansas, I used the money from the paper route to buy
a 10 speed bicycle. All the bikes I've had were Schwinn...when we first
moved here, about a mile from my place were 2 factories...the AMF Cycle Division, and a plant for Timex. The buildings are still there, but AMF
and Timex are long gone, and other businesses are in them now.

When I bought a Timex watch in one of the department stores in the
Hialeah area, it noted "Little Rock, Arkansas". I thought "Whoa!! Big time town!!". I never thought I'd be living here...going on 45 years now.

Our city buses have bike racks (fit two) which I use to ride wherever the bus stops closest to my destination. Those really come in handy.

I think the same is true in central Arkansas with "Rock Region Metro"...
it was originally known as "Central Arkansas Transit". But, masks are
required on board, due to COVID-19.

Nope, we just did our job, with the usual grumbling amongst
ourselves.

Sounds like what goes on in this echo now. <g,d,r>

Hey, it's Monday...which is a horrible way to spend 1/7 of your week. <G>

Daryl

... Is The Sysop Gone?? Good!! Now, I can !#@$%&*^ NO CARRIER
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Some years ago on the way home I saw a bike chained to a small tree.
It was there for a couple of weeks then one day a wheel was missing, a week or so later the other wheel, and over a period of about three months it was slowly disassembled piece by piece until only the frame was there, that also disappeared. :)

I have heard more tyhan once, that on the outskirts of NYC & LA, if a car breaks down, or you walk to get gas, the car will be stripped of every sellable part in under 15 minutes, bu a small gang of hodlums who hide out of sight, waiting for such opportunities. . .

I've had five bikes stolen on campus over the last 30 years. Chains
cut, etc. All one needs is a good bolt cutter and a few seconds.

Yup -- most park their bikes inside their destination building, especially if one of these newer 4-figure pricetag bikes!

I now have a U-bolt if left outside. The problem is with those parts not locked are stolen.

I've sesen U-bpol;ts & chain setups that pretty much attach every removable part to the post/body

I'm guessing if left overnight, someone will appear with a blowtorch to cut out some bits. . .

In my younger days (50s and early 60s) I sometimes rode 20 miles or so just to do it. But eventually I would make more five minute rest stops than before. Not to mention being saddle sore by the end of the ride.
Our city buses have bike racks (fit two) which I use to ride wherever the bus stops closest to my destination. Those really come in handy.

Ours do, too -- necessary to cross some bridges, as no bikes allowed on the commuter bridges, or gety through the tunnel.

I'm waiting for the day someone puts an expensive bike in the front rack & someone else jumps off to unsnap & go with it. . .

Thieves are getting more & more brazen.


I was so proud of my local Safeway one year. I was working the Salvaton Arnmy kettle at tjheir one exit/entrance, when I heard roughhousing & saw some youth (teens into 20s) tumble out, wrassling & fighting. Thenone took off clerar across the patrking lot, only to be tackled (HARD!) by one of the others, sending phone & glasases skittering some distance. He & another dragged this fallemn one back into the store. Laster I asked a clerk what was that & they had hired security with take-down privileges that season. Loved it!

That kid with the parking lot-raw cheek will think twice next time, I hope!

& hope he told his friends, so they'll hesitate in future, too. . .

As it is today, if they get a shoplifter, they take him in back, call the cops, who perp walk him across the front window, to try to shame him(it doesn't) & they just think it's all a big joke/game.

'tewas better in olden times wshen the shop owner would administer a non- maiming beating to dis-incentivizxe furtger thefts.

Kid'd go home, crying, explain why, & get another two from dad (1 for the crime & another for embarrassing the family name!)

Those kids became law abiding for life!

Your friend,

<+]:{)}
Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.2)