Weekend recaps

I think you are owed a recap of a weekend spent in Pittsburgh, Akron and Canton. Here's the thing. Every weekend that I spend with my brother has the same blueprint -- burritos and diet soda. And some cookies. Chocolate chip. This past weekend in Louisville was much the same, although we managed to complete the Burrito Trifecta -- Moe's Southwest Grill, Chipotle and Qdoba. (Not all in Louisville, mind you.)

Anyway, the highlight of the Penn-Ohio trip was the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Motivation to go stemmed from neither of our spouses being around and my brothers upcoming summer move to Louisville and the extreme unlikelihood of ever trekking all the way up there for just that.

Anyway, the hall is nice albeit a bit small. Don't get me wrong -- there's a ton of information there. But the thing is, if you only really like one team (as I do) then that's all you're going to read. Some of the other stuff is interesting (like life before the merger, origins, changes in equipment) but after a while it's just team and Superbowl history/recaps.

They have this neat film they show you about life from training camp to the Superbowl. And since they hadn't updated it, it showcased the Steelers winning the Superbowl. So that was cool.

The other odd thing about the Hall is that you think it's this big draw for people. But it's like the Indy Motor Speedway here. That is, you go on a random day in the winter, and there's about 10 people in there. Kind of makes it lose its luster a bit.

Since I'm lazy

I'm not going to check if I already posted on this or not. Instead, I'm going to assume I just e-mailed it to someone.

So, being cheap, I decided that the best time to buy a calendar isn't January when they're half off, but in February when they're a whopping buck. After rooting through a couple hundred of them, I finally scored a rather lovely -- yet nearly 1/6 used -- 2007 Steelers Calendar. No biggie. It's only a buck.

Here in Indiana? 6% sales tax. So, kids, time for some math.

$1 + $0.06 = $1.06

Pretty hard stuff.

I get to the counter. I have in my pocket one dollar. And in the other, some change rattlin' around. Five pennies. Not even kidding. Five of them. It's close enough, no? I hand the currency and coins to the cashier (some younger prick) who then stands there and watches as I go through my pockets again for a penny. There's no penny jar on the counter to bail me out.

Keep in mind the real reason of having a penny jar is so that things like this don't happen. So that small business owners can get your cash instead of your credit card. Because processing a credit card transaction costs some money. I'm not sure how much, but I know it's well over a penny.

As this was in a WaldenBooks and the employee clearly didn't care, I took the currency back into my pocket, whipped out the debit card and away I went.

But I mean, really. A freakin' penny.