“Pennies” might seem like a natural follow-up to “Small change,” my topic from two days ago.
And it is, because “Penny” is the name I’ve given to this character:
That Penny:
- is a pen given to me, upon my request, by the server at The Summer Shack, the Cambridge, Massachusetts restaurant my son Aaron, my bf Michael, and I chose for our New Year’s Eve celebration.
- is in contention to be my new profile picture here at WordPress,
- seems valuable to me, already, even though I didn’t pay a penny for her, and
- has been accompanying me everywhere I go, since New Year’s Eve.
Yesterday, Penny came along with me and Michael as we went to the Burlington Mall, to try to solve this problem:
Even though my cellphone looks cracked and broken there, it still did a great job taking photos last night. As usual, surface looks can be deceiving, don’t you think?
Here’s Penny at various locations in the mall, captured by my cracked cell phone:
In that last shot, Penny, Michael, and I are at the iFixandRepair kiosk, which seemed like the right place to be. However, I was confused by who the “i” was in the name AND nobody was there to help us. Do we look disappointed?
Our next stop was Bobby’s Burger Palace. “Bobby” is celebrity chef Bobby Flay (not pictured), whom Michael and I have seen, many times, on the Food Network. I don’t know if Penny knows about Bobby Flay, but she seemed to enjoy herself there:
Penny seems to be saying that — even though that turkey burger looks good and is healthier than regular burgers — I might want to think about eating more salads, in the New Year. Penny looks like a vegetarian to me and — who knows? — maybe I’ll start being more like her, again.
After dinner, Michael went to get coffee and Penny and I headed off to the Verizon Store. Here’s what we saw on our way:
Soon, we were waiting to speak to somebody at the Verizon Store, which is where I bought my cracked phone, a couple of years ago. We took our time looking around:
We became very interested in a Droid phone, which is smaller than the iPhone.
Then, Brady, a Verizon salesperson/representative showed up, telling us:
- it made more sense for me to stick with the iPhone (rather than switch to the Droid),
- it would cost fewer pennies to get a new phone than to fix the screen on my old one (because I was due for an upgraded phone), and
- I could save pennies if I made other changes Brady suggested, including how I’m paying my monthly Verizon bills.
Sometimes, when people make “sales pitches,” I get a little suspicious and anxious about whether I’m going to make the “right” decision. But Brady answered all our questions, was patient, and made a lot of sense.
Here’s Brady, taking care of ways to save us the most pennies, as we’re getting my new phone:
Thanks, Brady!
Here’s a news flash from me and and Penny: for no additional pennies, I can now take and upload pictures on my blog using both of my phones. As a result, I can show you this side-by-side comparison of the two phones’ home screens, which I took last night (without any help from Penny):
Here’s what I notice there: The new phone has a little more heart.
Time for a video! How about a trailer (found here on YouTube) from Pennies from Heaven, a movie I studied quite closely at Film School in the 1980’s?
And here‘s an uninterrupted version of the song “Pennies from Heaven”:
Thanks to Michael, Brady, Bobby Flay, the Summer Shack, the Burlington Mall, iPhones (and other things that begin with the letter “i”), Steve Martin, Herbert Ross, Dennis Potter, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, all those who deal with pennies, everybody else who helped me write this post, and — of course! — to you for accompanying Penny and me here, today.
AWSOME BLOG
I think I am a little infatuated with Penny
Me too, Mary. I’m still thinking, though, she might not be my new profile picture here. In any case, I hope you meet her soon!
Even if she doesn’t become your avatar, I hope to see Penny on some of your adventures. She is more portable than a camel!
Penny is right here and she says, “Thank you for your kind regard.”
I didn’t realize you were an everyday blogger. I so much enjoy your posts and your positive outlook on life. Thanks for that! As for the avatar, I have also been questioning mine, and I’ve had it for about 4 months. Some people say that just having a picture of yourself, is the best thing. I suppose the logic behind that is that one perhaps shouldn’t need to have a “symbol” of any kind. People want to see your face “as it is”, and not a “symbol”. Since I’m a woman I struggle with this issue because even when I know I’m not a “beauty”, I don’t consider myself totally “ugly”. I suppose women have an “issue” with beauty, I don’t know. The other issue could be the “aging” issue. Women seem to be much more vulnerable to show the “aging” features on their faces. But I think men probably have the very same issue. Overall, however, it is recommended to use a real picture of yourself, instead of a “symbol”. But I’m also struggling with that.
Thanks for this comment, Maria. I think we each have the power to decide what we want our avatar to be. It’s our image; we can choose it. I also hope we can all feel better about how we look, letting go of critical messages about that.
The looking better paired up with the feeling better, regardless of what society expects, regardless of symbolic avatars or not.
I love, love, love Penny. Have been smitten with her smile from our first introdiction.
She loves you, too, Maureen!
Really? I would have thought she’d have more cents…. 🙂
Penny is captivating but this line… surface looks can be deceiving…. well, it says it all! Brilliant as always my friend.
Thank you for being brilliant you, Louise!
Yeah!!! Great story 🙂 I love Penny the pen and her adventures Ann!
Penny loves seeing you on her adventures, Val! Thanks for the cheer and the smile.
Congrats on the new phone! My son got me a new Otterbox for mine for Christmas because I broke mine, and I had already broken the regular case I “borrowed” from my mom!
Thanks, Kate. As always, it helps to know I’m not alone.
🙂
Penny makes me very happy, I hope she keeps visiting.
Your visits here make me and Penny happy, Hilary! I think she’ll be showing up in tomorrow’s post.
Ann … Penny is adorable and sure gets around. Congratulations on the phone upgrade. Looks like a marvelous choice. I’m sticking with the one we got a year or two ago because I rarely use it except to take photos. 😉
Thanks for your supportive comment, Judy — much more valuable than pennies to me.
Sounds like quite an outing for you, Penny and Michael. Glad Brady was able to help you same pennies Ann! ❤
Diana xo
Thanks, Diana!
I’m still smiling, thanks Ann.
If that was your intent-you were successful.
-Alan
That was definitely my intent, Alan. You are welcome, and now I’m smiling, too.
Did you know that you should pick up every penny you see on the ground or floor Ann? They were put there by angels to bring you luck. And right now, I’ve been sitting on my butt for so long it’s getting numb, so I’m going to go and search for some lucky pennies. Have a good rest of the weekend with Penny and Michael.
Thanks for sending some good luck pennies my way!
Love it all, Ann! Fwiw, I’ve been a vegan for about 5 years now, and I am doing fine. I get Boca burgers with all the fun trimmings at places like Red Robin, and just leave off the cheese and mayo, and the bacon, of course 🍔. I’m not as thin as Penny though. She is very cute, and seems indefatigable! Congrats on the new phone ☎️. I’m glad you got good advice and good service. Have a good week!
Love this comment, with all your very valuable thoughts. Thanks for the visit!
Penny sure gets around.
I have the iPhone 5, which I love, and had decided not to upgrade, just keep it. Then I saw some photos people are getting with the iPhone 6 and all plans went out the window. It will cost many pennies that I don’t really want to spend. But I don’t get my upgrade until April, so I have time to save a few of those lovely pennies.
I could use a few pennies from heaven right now to help pay for my upcoming trip to Florida on Wednesday! It is much warmer there (thankfully) than it is here in the high desert of Arizona and the seashore along the Sea of Cortez in Bahia Kino!
Emilie! With all the places you go, you get around more than Penny does. Thanks for getting here as much as you do, and for adding your two cents (and much more) to this post.
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My two cents’ worth says Penny is a winner, Ann. Also I am rather flabbergasted that they allowed you to keep the busted phone on the plan along with the new phone. How did you sweet talk Brady into that at the same cost?
If there was any sweet talking involved, Mark, I would tend to think it was Penny’s. Your two cents are always golden here.
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