Thursday, October 20, 2005

Today I found 24 cents. . . 2 dime and 4 pennies.

With the exciting events of yesterday still fresh in my mind I woke up at 7am this morning and was on the road from St. Louis to Houston by 8am. I honestly still don’t know how I feel about the win and the first trip to the World Series for the Astros. Words describing my feelings range from relief to tempered excitement. I almost wish I had stayed in Houston and watched the game on TV. As thrilling as it was to be in the stadium for the final out it was also depressing to see the St. Louis fans so broken up about the loss and the loss of their stadium. I was certainly in no position to scream, cheer, and go nuts, so part of me feels cheated. Cheated and slightly depressed.

Prior to leaving the city I took a walk over to Bush Stadium and wrote some words on the wall (the stadium is being torn down in two weeks and team officials have been permitting fans to write on the outside walls of the stadium). After saying my piece and saying goodby I turned my attention to acquiring the morning newspaper, headline: “Lights out at Bush.” In the newspaper box, located on Bush Stadium property, I found 10 cents (one dime) in the change return slot. It was one final gift from the City of St. Louis to a visiting Astros fan.

In Oklahoma I had to stop for gas and at the Kum & Go gas station I found 11 cents (one dime & one penny) on the floor by the cash register where I purchased some Mountain Dew for the long drive.

Back in Texas I stopped for a drink at Sonic outside of Dallas and found two cents while walking the Sonic parking lot. My final find of the day was a single penny on the floor of a gas station in Huntsville, where I filled up my tank for the last time.

Totals for the day: 24 cents
Race Totals: $184.15