Saturday, November 6, 2010

Cheap Change #4

Part 1: BCC is not a Green Campus
I can't explain why or how the idea got in my head, but ever since I have been looking for a teaching job, I've always had this vision of turning my full-time place of employment into a mean green recycling machine.  If BCC is where I end up, I will certainly have my work cut out for me.  In particular, I have noticed there aren't any recycling bins in any of the classroom that I have been teaching in.  With all the energy drinks and soda that college students consume during classes and considering that BCC is always looking for new ways to fund themselves, maybe they should try to profit off the 5-cents each container would be worth.  I wonder how many cans and bottles are abandoned there daily.  So since they aren't taking advantage of this opportunity, I took it upon myself to adopt any orphaned bottles that I see walking around campus.  How many, you ask?  Well to date I've been able to take off $1.90 my grocery bills.  So that's 38 cans and bottles.  Expect this to be a recurring item in Cheap Change.

Part 2: The Forgetful Painters
Awhile back, I mentioned that our house was being painted.  They had finished shortly after I blogged about their mysterious presence, but a week later I left the house out of the back door to better admire the work they had done.  To my delight, I saw a dime and a penny on the staircase looking for a home.  As virtuous and caring as I am, I gave them a warm and loving home before the winter season.

Part 3:  The Search for a Mini-Backpack
I have a good friend who was looking for a very particular type of mini-backpack.  Not one to mince other people's words, here's the source text.
The problem: it is no longer 1996. Mini-backpacks have not been around much for some years now, and while I hope in my heart that they will soon make a comeback (every 20 years things are supposed to, right?), I can't wait much longer. I own a purse, but purses are not the same. You have to carry them on one shoulder. I want one with two straps. But not one of those single-compartment drawstring bags made out of the stuff they make windbreaker jackets out of, or whatever. I want one with a main compartment and at least one smaller secondary compartment. Also, I want one that, while not real leather if possible, would serve for a semi-dressy situation (say, something I could bring to school if I were wearing my teaching clothes) as well as a more casual one.
Having no sense in modern fashion, I thought it would be a noble quest to help out my friend.  My wife, however, was much more up to the task.  In the three minutes after informing her of said noble quest, she went through her 3509873053 bags and purses and found something legitimately close and gave it to mini-backpack wanting friend.  We also found a dime and two pennies amongst the purse and bag melee.  Everyone is a winner in this story.

Cheap Change #4: $2.13
Cheap Change Total: $56.19

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