It’s Friday night and Doc is watching TV Football, so I’m totaling our November coin finds. It’s pretty quick. Only $2.01 for the entire month! People are using cards instead of cash! Remember the Good Old Days of Penny Finding? In 2017- $13.20, in 2018 - $6.62, in 2019 - $10.66.
There are a few of you Penny Pals who REALLY enjoy reading the Penny Tales. So I will share two of the November finds with you.
ENJOY Your December. Every time you see a wayward penny, know that Angels are with you.
WOW! It’s been nearly 3 months since I sent out the last Penny Tale. It is GREAT to be back in the U.S.A.! Tanzania was NOT coin friendly.
Several people have asked how many coins Doc and I found in Tanzania during our recent 18 days there. Easy answer: ZERO, None, Nought, Zilch, Zip, Nada! Doc was looking, I was looking, our son and his wife were looking, my brother and his wife were looking. The only time I saw any coins whatsoever was the next to the last day as my change when buying a few last postage stamps.
Of course we would not find pennies since they use Schillings as their unit of currency. To give you an idea about the exchange rate …A $3 bottle of water at the hotel would cost approximately 6,990 TNZ Schillings. ($1 US = 2330 TNZ). A postcard stamp was 2300 TNZ. In the Capital of Dar es Saalam we took our local guide and driver out to lunch at a nice café. Four delicious lunches on the rooftop of a downtown building were 50,000 TNZ. (That’s about $21).
There were thousand of zebras, wildebeest, elephants, giraffes, Cape buffalos, antelope, baboons and such, but not a single wayward coin!
In comparison: I found coins each of the three days immediately upon our return, then yesterday when filling my fuel tank at the gas station, I found a penny, dime and two quarters in just moments.
It’s Good to be BACK IN THE U.S.A.
It’s been nearly 5 months since I sent out the last Penny Tale. Doc and I have continued to find coins, but not EVERY day as it once was.
Today I was talking to the angels on the way out to check my mailbox at the street. “Hi Angels. What’s up with you? I’m not planning to leave the house today, so I guess no coin finds today”.
There was some paper gently scootching along the street by my driveway. It looked like it could be U.S. Currency? Sure enough it was! And not just a $1, $5, or $10 bill, but a $20!!!!
I could almost hear the angels giggling: “You thought you would not get a Penny today? You are correct! How’s this instead?” LOL
Today Doc and I had lunch with Kevin – one of our former solar race car students from 26 years ago!!!! Kevin has been working abroad. For the past 15 years he has lived in Odessa, Ukraine. Needless to say the conversation over lunch was fascinating!
Kevin has friends and contacts throughout Ukraine from whom he is getting updated information. Kevin said the news we are seeing in the U.S. is highly exaggerated. Most of Ukraine is still operating fairly normally. He said the country has been at war for the past eight years. Citizens were aware of the presence of Russian military, but no one expected the attack going on now. His sources say only 500 or so innocent Ukrainian Citizens have been killed. Most fatalities are military on both sides.
Kevin said another casualty of this siege are the pets. People who are fleeing must abandon their pets.
Other Tidbits:
· Kevin is in California because two days before the Russian invasion, he came back to the U.S. to attend a training session. He has his travel clothes with him, but all his other belongings are still in his Odessa apartment.
· Kevin ordered pancakes for lunch because it is not something he can get in Odessa. LOL
· Kevin brought Doc and I some gifts: a Magnet of Ukraine and some coasters with Odessa highlights.
Kevin did not know about my Penny Finding, yet he somehow was ‘nudged’ to pull out some Ukrainian coins to offer Doc and I.
COINcidence?
This morning I had neck surgery. Now in Recovery Mode.
One of you Penny Pals had the audacity this evening to email, “So how many coins did you find today?” Grrrrr….. I was kinda busy in a hospital bed and operating room!!! This morning the alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. in order to be at the hospital for a 5:30 check in. So when I got home around noon, the first thing I did was to have some soup and bread for lunch, then four hours of sleep.
Back to the Penny Finding. Around 6 p.m. Doc and I headed out for some Penny Finding Therapy, his 10,000 steps for today, and a take home dinner (no dishes tonight!)
I was chatting with the Angels: “Just 5-6 coins tonight would be okay with me. That should satisfy those pushy Penny Pals!” LOL
We found 14 pennies and a dime at the car wash. That is more than a Coin Mine! (12 coins in one location). That is more than I asked for. (Who says you can’t find coins in the dark? (That is what flashlights are for.)
Then while I was ordering our dinner, Doc walked to get his steps. Coins at the grocery store: 2P, 2N, 2D, 1Q. That is almost TWO Hits for the Cycle! (A H.F.C. = one coin each of penny, nickel, dime, quarter).
Doc found one more penny on his walk. So a total of 23 coins for today: 17P, 2N, 3D, Q.
That is some pretty awesome Coin Finding Therapy!!!! Divine forces are always out there ready to assist. Perhaps next I should ask for assistance on the actual healing of the wounds? LOL
People often share how a Coin Find at just the right time can “adjust their attitude” and serve as a reminder of a Divine Presence. Today was one such day for me.
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In the Spring and Summer of 2016 Doc and I were part of a community beautification project. It was called “The Garden of Hope”. The house is on the corner of a very busy intersection. Last weekend a plumbing service truck did a rollover and landed in the front yard. We were notified that the traffic signal was sheared off, the split rail fence was damaged, plants were uprooted, irrigation lines severed, there was glass and debris strewn about, and yet the driver was okay. No other vehicles involved. Definitely some repair work is needed.
Doc and I received this urgent call while we were waiting for the Emergency Room veterinarian. Doc’s “Baby” Sheila had injured her leg and was not able to put any weight on it. Never a dull day.
Today I went to obtain the Police Report of the traffic incident so I could begin the restoration effort. When I approached the service window at the Police Station, there was a penny on the counter right in front of me! Certainly the many other visitors would have had to reach across it to conduct their business? How could they jut leave it there? To me it was a good sign that Angels were there to help get through this crash project.
The clerk behind the plexiglass handed me a form to fill out and pay the fees. I thanked her and took a step away. For some reason I was “nudged” to turn and tell her that “the craziest thing happened this weekend. A service van turned over in my front yard! I am not sure HOW to proceed with this, so I am obtaining the Police Report as the first step. I need to figure out who to contact on this.”
There was only one other person in the lobby and waiting area. A gentleman who was on his phone trying to get information from his office. He was probably 20 ft. away from me. He looked up at me and said “Would that be Sunday evening with a white plumbing service van on the corner of xxx?” “YES!” He was the Operations Manager for the plumbing company and was there to obtain tools and such from the towed van. We exchanged information and spoke of the next actions. What are the odds that the exact person I needed to speak with was in that Police Department lobby for the same few minutes I was in that lobby? COINcidence?
Doc and I then proceeded to the accident site. Took lots of photos. As Doc was kicking around in the debris he spotted a Nickel! Nickels are the rarest coins to find. A simple thing, but a reminder that amid all the chaos of our lives, there is a Shining Presence.
People frequently ask: “How’s the Penny Finding Going?” My answer: “Not as good as it used to go”. The COVID-19 Pandemic has sure decreased the number of wayward coins.
Here is a summary of the 2021 data. Doc and I found:
A total of 922 U.S. Coins. 665 Pennies, 42 Nickels, 160 Dimes and 55 Quarters. There were 10 Hits for the Cycle.
There were a few foreign coins as well. The value of the U.S. currency totaled only $38.50
Since I first threw out the Penny Challenge to the Universe in December of 2008, I have found more than 34,000 coins and currency worth over $1,500.
That goes back to my slogan “It’s NOT the Money, It’s the Message”. The “stories” associated with many of the coin finds continue to inspire and touch the people who hear the messages.
Looking forward to another year of COINcidences and hopefully some travel as well!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
