The major focus today was on the new house. At 7:10 AM we called the septic guy. He said he would meet with us -- in 30 minutes at our house! Yikes. Major scrambled to clean up. That was unexpected. Yes, I shared PennyFinding and gave him a Penny Card. As Rick was leaving, we got a call from friends who live in Sacramento. They were in town and wanted to meet for coffee. Another unexpected meeting.
We met at Starbucks where we unexpectedly ran into one of our former engineering students. That was a pleasant surprise. Then we walked over to the CVS pharmacy to look for coins. Doc found one (Coin #1). Then a dime in the parking lot as we returned to the van (Coin #2).
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This afternoon we drove out to Riverside to the manufacturing area for the stone veneer we are considering. I expected to find a big building with machinery and conveyor belts and pallets and …. Instead we found a dirt field with various makeshift shacks and sheds (some barely standing) and one guy, Mateo, who spoke broken English. When I asked to see certain stones from the brochure, he had to trample down some weeds so we could see the sample boards. The rest of the yard looked like a battlefield of pallets and injured stones.
Mateo told us how he personally made each order! Sometimes hundreds of stones a day. I felt like Goldilocks. I found the cut of stone I liked, but one color was too light, the other was too yellow, the other was too grey. Mateo said he would make the color I wanted. Wow! Forget going through Home Depot or Lowe’s or the Masonry Yards, I went straight to the craftsman! Angel guidance? I gave him a Penny Card as a souvenir for his day. Big smile.
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Doc wanted to stop at Orco Block next. That was great to see their product line for retaining blocks. Then we hit the expected LA Friday afternoon stop and crawl freeway traffic.
We eventually made it to San Bernardino and spent time at Elliott Block. Huge yard. Thousands of blocks. Conveyor belts and amazing manufacturing procedures. Carl took great pride in his company and gave us quite a tour - that was unexpected and terrific!
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By then the van was hungry for fuel and so were we. We stopped for petrol and found one penny at the convenience station (Coin #4). Then we stopped at the grocery store. I spotted one penny in the express check out line as we arrived. That line was full of people on a Friday night. So I left it there and did our shopping. When it came time to check out, we had more items than allowed in the Express Line. So I took some items, then Doc took the others right behind me. I claimed my penny and Doc got the second one in the line. Then I found a dime as well! (Coins #4-6).
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This evening Doc is grading papers and I am trying to make cents of all the notes and things we learned today. So many items to decide upon. We have a meeting early tomorrow in Murrietta for doors and windows. Need to prepare for that next…
Total: 6 Coins P (4), N (0), D (2), Q (0) = $0.24
Today’s Thoughts: Expect the Unexpected. Sometimes it can be wonderful. Other times (as the septic guy might confirm) … STUFF happens!
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