Quarantine

I apologize for the brevity of the post today, but I'm not feeling great. Let's hope it is just a 24 hour issue. I just haven't quite got that hop in my step today, but the glass is still half full! Castle Sidewalker has been closed to the public and the four of us are under quarantine. I don't see any finds in my immediate future, unless the pharmacy can bail me out.



-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $12.81

Celebrity Coinage?

Of late I have not been blogging on individual coin finds, unless they have been out of the ordinary. This holiday weekend Mrs. Sidewalker had such a find. Not only was it a big haul (45 cents no less) but the location and size of the find leads me to believe that it may be our first celebrity coin find!

Hoboken, N.J. is the location of Carlo's Bake Shop, the HQ of TLC's very own Cake Boss. Behind the shop is a back alley for deliveries and it is here that Mrs. Sidewalker found the four dimes and a nickel. The exact location can be seen on my Cash Trail Map in the sidebar to the right. I hope the Cake Boss does not read this blog, otherwise I may be getting an offer I can't refuse in the not too distant future! As long as it involves pastries (which are absolutely fantastic from there) and nothing to do with sleeping with the fishes in the Hudson River I won't mind too much!

So we are left with more questions than answers. Was this indeed our first case of celebrity coinage? What was Mrs. Sidewalker doing loitering by the delivery entrance of a "Bakery to the Stars" on a Sunday? There is much head scratching to be done at Castle Sidewalker today.

I'll leave you with a Sidewalker factoid of the day. The Cake Boss made the Sidewalker wedding cake! I can hear you thinking that is not very frugal having your wedding cake made by a celebrity chef. On the contrary, when you have it made many years before the chef achieves celebrity status it can be a great talking point at social gatherings! Seems a shame we ate it now...


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $12.77

Sidewalker Mailbag #3

I just want to wish everyone a happy 4th. If you are playing with fireworks this weekend be careful and stay safe. Well it's Friday so that means it must be mailbag time! Let's dip in and and see what delights are waiting for us ahead of this long holiday weekend.

"In this area, you're lucky to find a penny a year. Even my metal detector won't find it!"
- D_Old_Man from U.S.A., via Twitter
[LS: I'm sorry to hear that Old Man. If only I knew where you were located, I could avoid it like the plague. I don't think I could stand the damage to my cents per day stat.]

"I have found a 'wealth' of coins just sitting in trays on the counters of just about any convenience store."
- thecomputerdave from Florida, U.S.A. via Twitter
[LS: Dave I find your enthusiasm infectious, but I think you will find that is stealing.]

"Thinking @LukeSidewalker and @DavidSlocombe should meet! One is searching for a million, 1Cent at a time, the other giving away a million!"
- KarenLKay from Mississippi, U.S.A. via Twitter
[LS: Sounds too good to be true Karen, I don't think his intention is to give it all to one person though! Thanks for the heads-up.]

And I could not leave you without the obligatory rebuttal, just to keep it real.

"@LukeSidewalker WORST GIMMICK EVER AHAHHAHA. JUST DO LIKE THE WINOS DO AND STICK TO DUMPSTER DIVING FOR CANS. YOU'LL GET RICH FASTER HAHAH"
- MrFriendo from no fixed address via Twitter
[LS: Hey pal, you may want to take the caps lock off before I take anything you say seriously.]

While everyone is looking up at the fireworks this weekend, I'll be the one looking down for coins! Happy Independence Day.

Have a great long weekend.


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $12.30

Trading Places

This morning I came across an interesting blog. Some of you may already be familiar with it, it is the story of a guy, Kyle MacDonald, who started with one red paperclip and traded his way up to a house. He is now looking to trade that house, which got my mind ticking over. I have contacted him with a proposal. I have offered the full assets and balance sheet of the Sidewalker Fund in exchange for the house; that is not only the cash balance of $12.30, but all the royalties from my short movies, and all the Sidewalker image rights as well. If he drives a hard bargain I may well throw in Sidewalker Jr. and Little Miss Sidewalker as well!

I'm not saying I've had enough of Castle Sidewalker, but it does get tiresome herding the whole family into the dungeon for the winter, as it is the warmest room in the place. Also the air conditioning (a.k.a the three missing bricks in the North facing facade) lets in a lot of water during thunderstorms, but the place does have "character" in spades, and if the deal goes through we will be leaving with a heavy heart. I hope the new occupants will remember to feed the bats.

Having just previewed this post and reading what I have done, written down here in black and white, has got me feeling buyers remorse already and I haven't even heard back from Mr. Red Paperclip yet! In the current real estate environment I think I may have offered too much. Does anyone know how to retract a voice mail...?

In other news, the State of California is about to start printing IOU's. If only the grocery store would accept Sidewalker IOU's, but that is a post for another day.


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $12.30

Sidewalker Taboo!

Ever since I did my first video presentation (in the the post: Sidewalker busts $10 in video first!), I have been itching to do another. As premier coin finder and editor-in-chief of this esteemed publication, I allow myself the one indulgence of using this platform as a showcase for my nascent cinematography career. I do expect to get some constructive criticism from my readership, especially when I put my work in the harsh glare of the public spotlight.

Today's video short highlights one of the many temptations for Sidewalkers the world over. I can only imagine what it would be like to live in Rome! Throwing coins into a fountain is a practice that is said to come from ancient Greece. It was an offering to the Naiad nymph of the spring or well. These offerings were to insure that the source of the water would not run dry. Needless to say, it is not in the Sidewalker playbook to pilfer coins from fountains. It is strictly taboo and not one cent of the Sidewalker Fund has originated in this manner. I'm not one to incur the wrath of nymphs!

I can envision the Oscar's next year. Clint Eastwood on the podium, "And the Oscar for the 'best independent short film shot on a cell phone by a newcomer' goes to... Luke Sidewalker for Sidewalker Taboo". Applause.

We all need a dream, right?


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $12.29