So, last week, I was going to hail a cab to head down to Union Station because I had to be in Baltimore that morning. I walk up to 14th St., and hail the first cab I see.
When I opened the door and got into the backseat, I noticed a dollar bill lying on the floor of the cab. I didn't think much of it at first, until I picked it up and realized it was a $100 bill. I think if you added up every cent of found money I've collected over my life, it wouldn't add up to $100.
Now, I know that $100 doesn't get you what it used to, but still...I was pretty darned excited. (And for all you do-gooders out there, you'll just have to take me at myword when I say that had there been any way to track down the owner of the cash, I would have tried. But I didn't feel like leaving my cab driver a $100 tip, so...into my pocket it went.) But now I am faced with a quandry: what do I do with my found money?
Should I donate it to a local charity, who undoubtedly could use the money more than Mr. and Mrs. 14thandYou do? Should I attempt to pick up a pair of Caps playoff tickets? Should I go purchase 6 burgers at Marvin? Should I invest it so that I can show my grandkids 50 years from now the time value of money?
So many options...so I'm throwing the question out there: what should I do with my newfound wealth? Give us your ideas (via comments), and we'll pick the most creative suggestion and actually do it--and provide photographic evidence. Nothing illegal, please--so no suggestions about how I should place a call to the D.C. Madame. ($100 wouldn't even buy me 30 seconds with Elliot's callgirl, so what's the point?)
Technology Update
Thanks to the many thoughtful responses to my question from a couple of weeks ago about our computer situation. We are proud to report back that we are now the proud owners of a new MacBook, and aside from the fact that some of our old PC documents are now unopenable, we are loving it. Next up: the purchase of a new digital TV, to replace the current rabbit ears set with the broken picture tube....
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
If I had $100...
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10 comments:
Turn it into the DC Police Department as found property. They will see if anyone inquires about it.
gotta be a nerd too and say turn it into police. chances are you'll get it back.
put it on CL under lost and found
give it to a homeless guy
Save it. You will need it for a new power cord for your crApple craptop.
Give $20 tips to the folks who clean up the sidewalks every day. It's a thankless, but essential job.
Last time I found money, it was on an ATM at the liquor store by my apartment on U St. I told the guy working the counter, whom I see all the time, and he told me finders keepers. I, however, believe that found objects belong to the world, not the finder. So I put it back into the world, and told the fellas working to pick out whatever they wanted from the store's inventory, and picked myself up a nice bottle of Jameson as well. So go to a bar, and buy a round for everyone there. Or pick up 10 box lunches from the deli and pass them out to everyone on the street, homeless or not.
I'm curious about how easy the switch to mac was. I have a dell desktop, and need a new laptop, but need to use both for work reasons. Part of me would like to get a mac, but not if I'd have to buy all new software and lose access to many of my files.
It was in the cab? Give it to the cabbie. It's his car.
lynne,
The PC to Mac switch went fine. Mr. 14th & You was previously unfamiliar with Mac, and he's getting around it pretty well. All the usual shortcuts and macros are there, the keys/mouse are just slightly different. For example, you can use a two-finger touchpad click to get the same options as if you used a right click on a PC. Just like new PCs, MS Office does not come installed unless you pay for it. We opted for the less expensive Mac office suite, and it rocks. We can open all Word and Excel files (haven't tried PPT yet), and then can save them them in almost any format, including PDF.
Macs can be a tad more expensive, depending on the options that you look for. For us, our first choice had been a Sony Vaio. But when we saw that Vista took up nearly half of the RAM we'd be buying, and that the Mac came with a lot more standard software (and a lot fewer garbage applications), we changed our minds. (We also opened up the task manager on the Vaio and were appalled to see about 2 dozen processes running even with no applications open. What a recipe for a RAM-hog slow computer.)Ultimately, for a mid-level machine, the prices were nearly identical between Mac, Dell, and Sony. However, if you want to ultra-thin Air, the MacBook Pro (with nifty metal finish and fancier video graphics), or the MacBook with a black finish, be prepared to pay more. On the extreme end, a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro runs around $4000.
Another cool advantage to Macs is that they do not use fans to keep cool. Instead, the construction of the machine acts as a heat sink. Ours runs very cool, though I used to use a MB Pro that ran hot. I hear that cooler-running laptops last longer b/c you're not frying your processor and mother board over the long haul. My sister had a Dell that had to be on a fan-cooled docking station just to avoid over-heating during normal use.
That said, after reading computer reviews for months and making a comparison spreadsheet, all makes and models of laptops appeared to me to have various medium-term wear issues. Anyway, here ends my essay on computers.
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