July 7: My wife had a business meeting about a possible "new big job" in San Diego. She's a very respected person in her industry and, as such, is recommended for jobs quite often. She's mainly worked amongst the Fortune 500 but this job being offered was something different... to become the "head honcho" at a closely held company that has the prospects of going public. I can't divulge more information than that...
Anyhow, we drive to San Diego to visit their site which was actually in EL Cajon. Using our GPS map and having never visited the El Cajon area before, I was surprised by the first impression and hopefully my only impression of EL Cajon. I might as well call El Cajon the other side of California. Leaving the 8 Freeway and turning onto Johnson Ave., we were met with what I can only say is the lowest form of the American Dream... A city devoid of any beauty, littered by the remnants of the foreclosure crisis and teaming with illegal immigrants -- A Third World hidden by the Hills!
El Cajon in Spanish literally translates into "THE BOX." A most truthful naming of a city I've ever come across. The city is surrounded by high hills and can't be seen from the outside. It's people are mostly living in poverty... low income housing, cars on blocks, and young men in gangster clothes hanging out on the streets. Liquor stores, quickie marts, and fast food seem to be the only businesses that thrive. There were lots of store closings and vacant available retail spaces. El Cajon is truly San Diego's armpit.
Having spent most of an afternoon there wondering the Westfield Parkway Mall and driving through it's dilapidated neighborhoods, I truly could not understand why any American with a sense of dignity or class would ever want to live there. I left El Cajon last night with a smile knowing I will never have to set foot there, again.
Okay, so here's what we found during our visit to "THE BOX." A penny at the Jack in the Box on College Ave. near UCSD. A quarter that was stuck in a coin slot of a vending machine in the Westfield Parkway mall and successfully recovered with my slick use of my car key. 3 dimes and 6 pennies found whilst strolling the mall. A dime picked up at the GOLDEN STATE gas station on Second St. in El Cajon. A nickel found during a bathroom stop at an In-N-Out burger along the I-5 in La Mirada on the way home.
77 cents in all.
Today's Stats
Money Finds: $.77
Bottles & Cans Collected: 2
Running Stats
This Month: $2.68
Last Month: $8.58
2008 Finds: $68.40
Since FMJ Blog Inception: $452.20 (March 28, 2006)
Total Found for FMJ Fund: $912.45 (since 1-1-2000)
Bottles and Cans Collected: 41 for the month.
Bottles & Cans Return Fund: $1,195.77
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