Whine and Cheese

My day started off by Boo the Devil Kitteh sneezing in my face to wake me.

Let's hope it's not a portent of what's to come... cat boogers...

I really don't do the resolutions, because we all know that people break the large majority of them. Here's a few things I'll try:

• Exercise more, eat less, and lose weight. My weight is a roller coaster at times, but I need to get it under control.



• Read more books. I have a stack of books that I've purchased with the intent to read them. It's always easier to grab a comic book or draw or watch TV instead, so I may need to put some effort into this.



• Try to get back into a creative groove. I've been in a slump of late. I have a few moments of clarity, but otherwise it seems to be sputter out. Issue #26 of my comic is in progress, but it's not coming to me as easily as past issues and is making me think I wrote a crappy story. We shall see. I am also going to try to do the 365-drawing challenge again this year, just to see if it will fuel the fire a bit.



• Found money total this year was $5.18, which is the second highest in the ten years I've been tracking it.
  

Happy New Year everyone!

Since 2009, I've been keeping track of all the money I find outside the house during the year. A penny here, a dime there, the occasional quarter found in parking lots, on the carpet at work, or in the grocery aisle. I've kept track of the money for one year to see how much I would accumulate.

The rule is that it must be found money, money lost or discarded by someone else. So the change in my washing machine or dryer, the coins between the sofa cushions, the money in my car's floor -- none of them count because that's already my money. I call it the "found money." It takes little effort on my part, but I like to see how the amount tallies up.

The annual total has been $3.05 on average. Some years were closer to $2, while last year was the largest at slightly over $4. Until this year.

This past year's "found money" total was $11.76.

The amount was skewed from the average when I found $9 in cash laying on the ground at a Kentucky rest stop this summer. I had come out of the restroom and was walking toward my car when I saw it laying on the concrete. I looked around to see if anyone could have dropped it and there was no one about. So, I pocketed the cash with the intent of putting it in the found money jar.

Without the $9, the total would have been $2.76.

I slept really well last night, after staying up after midnight and sending out various text messages. I got up and worked out, had lunch, and took a nap. Yeah, I lead an exciting life. Here are a few odds and ends of the day:

• After an online discussion last night with a certain burly bear in Ottawa, I wanted to watch "The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar". It's a 1969 Canadian Film Award Winner for Best Picture (these are now called Genie Awards, the Canadian equivalent of an Oscar). It stars Chris Wiggins, a nice furry bear of a guy who is well known as "Jack Marshak" in "Friday the 13th: The Series," in the lead role and was the first film for Margot Kidder, who plays his daughter. It's the story of a poor bush worker who refuses to sacrifice his dignity to provide his family with a better life. It's a very good, low budget drama. You can watch the whole flick on YouTube.



• Today being New Years Day, I counted my Found Money for the year. For those who are new to the journal, I keep track of all the money I find throughout the year in parking lots, etc. It started as a little experiment, I just keep doing it. The amount seems to be relatively small, but shrinking, as this is the lowest amount found in six years.
  
  



• After dinner, I sat down to watch the above movie, a so-so horror flick called "The Damned," and a couple of episodes of "Criminal Minds." I also got started on drawing the next issue of "Grizzly & The Bear Patrol." Two pages down so far, just eighteen to go. Here are some rough pencils of page 2.
  
  

It's good to be off today, considering I went to bed around 5 AM this morning. My sleep schedule is a bit skewed because of the NYE party I went to. I did some cartooning, so I put the late night to good use.

After this morning's workout, I showered and dressed and went out for lunch. I bought some birthday cards to send out for my nephew and brother. While I was out, the snow started falling fast and furious. I was getting nervous about that as snow makes people drive like nutjobs.

I stopped by the post office to send out the cards and a woman stopped in to see the postmaster. The post office window was closed due to the holiday. I suspect that I must have one of those faces suited for counseling or something, because often strangers will stop and tell me all sorts of things without my asking. I get stopped in department stores and asked for help, even though I'm in jeans and tee-shirt with no apparel to suggest I work there. This woman stopped me in this relatively deserted post office to show me the Christmas cards she sent out that were mangled in the shipping. She wanted to give the post office a piece of her mind and I think she believed I worked there because I knew why the window was closed. I gave her a polite "wow, that's rough..." and left.

So I'm home now and am happy to be in the warm house and giving Murphy a bit of attention. It's win-win, because he's really warm and I have a bit of a chill.

And to close out 2011, I counted my Found Money for this year: $3.96. It's slowly going up from the 2009 total ($3.17) and 2010 total ($3.51). I so need a life.

I took the day off. It's not the snow I fear so much as the hideous traffic I'll encounter on the way home today. I have a lot of comp time that needs to be used before I lose it, so today sounded like a good day to do that.

Around this time last year, I started my Found Money project, collecting money that I found on the street, in the coin slots of vending machines, etc., just to see how much I could accumulate in the course of a year. I even included any foreign currency I found here (mostly Canadian) and abroad (Euros and Danish Kroners).

The grand total for 2009: $3.17, mostly pennies.

I'll likely continue to do it, though I don't think it'll make me rich.

Yesterday was a lengthy day of odds and ends, mostly revolving around traveling:

• At the training office at 6:30 AM with luggage in tow to beat the long line of folks who would be bring their bags and having to go through the x-ray machine at the entrance.
  
• Good end to the class, but didn't have enough time to go over our second set of documents. They'll be emailed to us.
  
• Metro ride to the airport with one of my classmates who is a stunningly beautiful woman from Texas -- long dark hair, brown eyes, radiant smile. I wonder if she has a brother.
  
• The Delta airlines guy played a joke on me, putting his foot on the scale and telling me my bags were overweight. I was two seconds from freak out when he fessed up.
  
• Had lunch at T.G.I.Friday's and sat across from a sweet pretty Lesbian named Lindsay who has a new black Lab puppy and plays softball.
  
• Stopped at a news stand after going through security and the cashier short-changed me by $5, when I confronted her about it, she handed it over without argument.
  
• Multiple iPhone camera shots.
  
• Baby sat one row ahead of me on the plane. Luckily, he was 16 months old and didn't hardly fuss at all. Karma making up for my flight out. His dad was cute too.
  
• Stood at baggage claim for 40 minutes for my suitcase before finding out it was in the baggage office.
  
• Home! Cats happy and alive! Thanks SOOOOO much Brian (cincycub), you're a godsend. You've earned dinner and gifts! A cloned cubby of your choice as soon as I get the process figured out!
  
• Qdoba for dinner, because I needed it.
  
• Found Money total thus far = $1.05.
  
• Sleeping in my own bed, the happiest place on Earth for this weary traveler.

Today: Mowed yard (despite wetness) and waiting for the window replacement guy to show for an estimate!

"Could you put your answers in the form of a question?

And,

Q: Skyline Chili."

What is sweet ambrosia of the gods, made even better with hot cheese and hot sauce? :D

If you have a question you'd like to ask me, post it here.

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On Watchmen:

Definitely a great movie. I freely admit that I'd not read the entire comic book, but from what I have read, it mirrored the story and settings very closely. The story is so intricate, I really can't give it a good description without this getting too long. It's bloody, it's gory, it's graphic, and it has full frontal male nudity (with good looking men no less). Jeffrey Dean Morgan... sigh... Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach is incredible. Just so you know, there is no extra scene at the end.

I enjoyed it, I'd watch it again, and I'm seriously considering buying it.

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On Found Money, the total after February stands at 36 cents. I haven't found a single penny anywhere since January, but it's hard to see it through all that snow on the ground.

I've been thinking about doing this for the last few months, but wanted to wait until the first of the year to give it a go. I was just reminded of this little project in the Chipotle parking lot at lunch.

How much money can a person find in a year? A penny here, a dime there, the occasional quarter found in parking lots, on the carpet at work, or in the grocery aisle. I've decided to keep track of the money for one year to see how much I accumulate. What I'll do with the money is up in the air, but I'll try to do something creative or charitable with it.

The rule is that it must be found money, money lost or discarded by someone else. So the change in my washing machine or dryer, the coins between the sofa cushions, the money in my car's floor -- none of them count because that's already my money.

Today at lunch I found a nickel in the parking lot, so I'm off to a favorable start.

Current total -- $0.05.