Last night I gathered together all the loose change that has accumulated through the year, and rolled it into sleeves to take to the bank. There is only $44 this year, due to all the quarters I used at the laundromat while my washing machine was broken. Last year it was over sixty dollars. Still, every bit helps. I can add a few more items to my shopping list.
It was actually almost five dollars less, because when I remembered an extra stash of coins left over from last year and went into my room to fetch it, Portia decided to use one of the rolls I'd already made as a toy, and when I got back tot he living room I couldn't find it. Later she played with it again and un-hid it, and I stepped on it. That could have been bad, but I got lucky.
I will go shopping tomorrow. It would have been better to go today, so I could have gone to the bank and exchanged my rolls of coins for folding money. MY bank used to be open for a few hours on Saturdays, but no more. It feels a bit weird to pay for my groceries with rolls of coins, and I don't think Safeway really likes it. But maybe I can stop by the store's customer service desk before I shop and see if they'll exchange them there.
Oh, look how late it is. My mind has been wandering off again without telling me. Some day it will wander off and never come back. But I'll never know. It will be somebody else's problem. And I won't even know that.