Ayecarumba
Ayecarumba
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September 3rd, 2010 at 2:15:30 PM permalink
What's the largest amount of money, or cheque(s) that you have ever found (and kept)?

So far, the most I have come across is $15 blowing across a Target parking lot. My grandmother once picked up at stray $100 bill. I like to think that her "win" is higher since she moves slower and has to carefully watch where she is stepping, so she is always looking down.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci
rudeboyoi
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September 3rd, 2010 at 2:18:10 PM permalink
if shes always looking down, isnt it more likely she will spot something on the ground?
Ayecarumba
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September 3rd, 2010 at 2:22:26 PM permalink
Exactly. That is why she finds the $100 while many others probably stepped right over it. I look down a lot more now.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci
Wizard
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September 3rd, 2010 at 3:38:17 PM permalink
My record is $10 or $20. Once I dropped about $3,000 without realizing it, and an honest soul gave it back to me. I gave him a $300 reward.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
Ayecarumba
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September 3rd, 2010 at 3:52:32 PM permalink
Quote: Wizard

My record is $10 or $20. Once I dropped about $3,000 without realizing it, and an honest soul gave it back to me. I gave him a $300 reward.



Egads Wizard, I have to walk behind you more often... Reaching into your pocket and realizing your wallet (or wad of cash) is missing has to be one of the worst feelings in the whole world.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci
boymimbo
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September 3rd, 2010 at 3:53:08 PM permalink
I found about $600 at the ATM at Fallsview where the cash came out. I gave it to security. Stupid.

My mom found $300 in a used book that she bought at a bookstore for $1.

I've found $10s and $20 through my life in different places and circumstances.
----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!
dwheatley
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September 3rd, 2010 at 3:55:15 PM permalink
I found a SCRATCHED lottery ticket worth $20 when I was too young to buy lottery tickets. That was awesome.
Wisdom is the quality that keeps you out of situations where you would otherwise need it
Nareed
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September 3rd, 2010 at 3:57:26 PM permalink
On two separate occasions within a few days I found money in the same store. About $50 all told.

At the bank I once found a check worth several thousand dollars. Alas it was a certified check, so I just gave it to the bank's manager.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
benbakdoff
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September 3rd, 2010 at 4:35:32 PM permalink
Purple chip on the floor at Taj Mahal about 20 years ago. It was early in the morning and nobody was around. I know,I know, it was casino property but I needed it more than The Donald.

At Mohegan Sun more recently, an elderly woman walked away from a $5 video poker machine with $795 in credits on it. I got a friend to watch the machine while I caught up to her. She had no clue.
miplet
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September 3rd, 2010 at 5:19:08 PM permalink
My best was $20. My sister found a $20 in a garbage can at a bingohall. (oops I accenently hit flag post instead of reply. That thing should require a confirmation)
“Man Babes” #AxelFabulous
timberjim
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September 3rd, 2010 at 6:21:29 PM permalink
Found a slip for $95 on the floor by some slots we were playing at Harrahs Cherokee. We played the slots for a while and really did watch to see if anyone was looking for something. No one showed up and we kept it. I was sure if we gave it to security, it would just go into their pocket.
mkl654321
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September 3rd, 2010 at 7:26:18 PM permalink
In the hotel lobby of Harrah's I stepped in a bucket of quarters someone had left right in the middle of the floor (I was actually looking for the men's room, so I didn't see it until I had literally stepped in it). I looked around to see who might have left it there, but there was no one nearby. So..I cashed them in. $85!
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
DJTeddyBear
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September 3rd, 2010 at 8:20:05 PM permalink
I've never found anything in a casino.

Back in the late 1980's I had a job as a night club DJ, but I also would be there every day starting at noon, just to accept deliveries, and do other stupid stuff before we opened at 6:00pm. One afternoon, one of the owners comes in, saying he was there that morning and lost $400, and asked if I found it. Nope. Then he searches everywhere. No dice. He eventually leaves. About an hour later, I go to the back room to accept a delivery. I see the cash lying on the floor, right out in the open. He DID check that room! If he's that blind and stupid, then finders keepers!

About 5 years ago, I was walking thru town, and I noticed something sitting on top of a pay phone. I take a look - it's a wad of cash in a money clip. No ID. It was over $500, and I was heading to Atlantic City two days later. Ka-Ching!
I invented a few casino games. Info: http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ ————————————————————————————————————— Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
rxwine
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September 3rd, 2010 at 8:28:13 PM permalink
The most I've ever found was $20 dollars. Once on the floor and once left in the bill changer.

Dolye Brunson tells a story of losing a wad of $50,000 in a Bellagio restroom. Wasn't returned, so I guess someone made out well that day.
There's no secret. Just know what you're talking about before you open your mouth.
Wizard
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September 3rd, 2010 at 8:34:12 PM permalink
Quote: DJTeddyBear

...If he's that blind and stupid, then finders keepers!



If I can give my unsolicited opinion, I would have returned the money. Who hasn't looked all over the place for something, especially us men, only to discover it was right in plain view the whole time. He clearly lost it accidentally, and made a good faith effort to look for it. The "finder keepers" argument doesn't cut with me in this instance, but that is just me.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
RaleighCraps
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September 3rd, 2010 at 9:35:36 PM permalink
I was playing craps on a mostly empty table around 3 in the AM. The cocktail server walked by, got my attention , and discreetly pointed to a black chip laying on the floor. I picked it up and on her next pass, handed her a black chip for a coke.
Always borrow money from a pessimist; They don't expect to get paid back ! Be yourself and speak your thoughts. Those who matter won't mind, and those that mind, don't matter!
NicksGamingStuff
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September 3rd, 2010 at 9:50:02 PM permalink
Last month I found a $20 bill on the ground of the bagel shop I work at, since Einstein's/Noah's forbid's tips I call it some tip back pay. When customers try to give tips I say the rule is no tips, but there is no rule about cash gifts! :-p
mkl654321
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September 3rd, 2010 at 9:52:25 PM permalink
Quote: Wizard

If I can give my unsolicited opinion, I would have returned the money. Who hasn't looked all over the place for something, especially us men, only to discover it was right in plain view the whole time. He clearly lost it accidentally, and made a good faith effort to look for it. The "finder keepers" argument doesn't cut with me in this instance, but that is just me.



Well, it's not just you--in the instance described, there was a clear indication of who the money belonged to. Keeping it was the moral equivalent of finding a wallet with ID in it, taking the money out, and throwing the wallet away. "Finders keepers" is something you say in third grade; later on in life, you develop a moral code, hopefully.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
DJTeddyBear
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September 4th, 2010 at 7:06:55 AM permalink
Yeah, I know. I was in a bad financial position then. If it happened today, things would be different.

For the record, when I found the money clip a few years ago, I DID look around to see if there was any kind of ID nearby...
I invented a few casino games. Info: http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ ————————————————————————————————————— Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
boymimbo
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September 4th, 2010 at 7:15:32 AM permalink
When I found the $600 in the bank machine (a couple of years ago), I didn't even count it (it felt like $600) and walked it over to security. I know that certainly I could have pocketed it without repercussions, even with the cameras in place. I knew that had I had time to think about it, I would have probably pocketed the money, despite it being the wrong thing to do. I would have balanced the ethical odds of knowing I was doing the wrong thing vs the probability of the casino doing the right thing (doing everything in its power to find the rightful owner of that property). The odds that security would have even attempted to find the owner of that money was small, but perhaps there was the chance that someone would call the bank and ask for their money and so on and so forth.

Money is a powerful elixir. I'm happy that I did the right thing, though.
----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!
Mosca
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September 4th, 2010 at 9:27:41 AM permalink
Quote: Wizard

If I can give my unsolicited opinion, I would have returned the money. Who hasn't looked all over the place for something, especially us men, only to discover it was right in plain view the whole time. He clearly lost it accidentally, and made a good faith effort to look for it. The "finder keepers" argument doesn't cut with me in this instance, but that is just me.



Until I get my cataracts replaced at the end of this month/beginning of next, I can't see much of anything under a certain size in low light/medium range conditions. Mrs Mosca is my only hope for dropped rings, car keys, wrist watch, cell phone, etc. Dropped money, I can only trust her.
A falling knife has no handle.
rudeboyoi
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September 4th, 2010 at 10:26:25 AM permalink
when i was smoking a cig by the front doors at CAZ, a woman dropped a $100 bill walking by. i shouted to her as i was picking it up to get her attention so i could return it to her. there was security by the front doors anyways so he probably wouldve said something. i acted faster though so i got the karma points.
Garnabby
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September 4th, 2010 at 10:28:44 AM permalink
Quote: Wizard

If I can give my unsolicited opinion, I would have returned the money. Who hasn't looked all over the place for something, especially us men, only to discover it was right in plain view the whole time. He clearly lost it accidentally, and made a good faith effort to look for it. The "finder keepers" argument doesn't cut with me in this instance, but that is just me.



Nothing like a little "object lession" to wake a person up now and then. Besides, all this "the lower we bend, the higher we reach" stuff pales in comparison to the every-day, ultimately destructive tendencies in each of us. It takes only a moment to destroy something it took years to create; or several small steps to not prevent that. Eg, how many "lives" has Bodog quietly ruined; and with also the Wizard's "promising" endorsement? (I watched a half-hour tv-show about Bodog last year. From what i think i remember from that show... the owner, or more properly put, the guy who started it but had to sell it "under the table" to some friends to "run it for him" after corruption charges, etc, hides out from US prosecutors somewhere in Antigua/Costa Rica while continuing to operate his(?) servers out of places like small indian reserves in Quebec, Canada... to skirt the federal/provincial laws against such activities. But yes, the US government began confiscating the transfers of such proceeds last year.)

Gambling involves only a set of extreme activities. I mean, AP's start to sound like the cult-guys; the lazy, like the busy hive of bees; the addicted, like the snail-paced bettors; and the broke, like the (soon-to-be in their own minds, lol,) millionaires. Just isn't any moderation if the losses keep adding up, no matter how slowly. One good reason that casino-gambling (for its own sake) can't really be a form of entertainment, religion, or any other healthy endeavor.

I spotted a men's date-day timex watch in the tall grass beside the sidewalk yesterday, on a long afternoon's walk while, among other things, thinking about that "envelope problem" in the other thread. The watch, i'll drop off at the Sally Ann store up the street; but as to the other item, jfalk's reply seems another "fudged" and stilted anwser to it. (When ironically, the main gist of it seems how mathematics (or any other form of logic), like every thing else, breaks down when left to itself; but is reborn in itself once first properly reunited with the physical world in which it must coexist. The flip-side of, if there were really something certain, then that would immediately lead to a full explanation of every thing: the reason all theories break down once we become (mathematically) too-comfortable with those... and a new physics must be unearthed to take and "hold up" the numbers in a new direction.)

Quote: mkl654321

In the hotel lobby of Harrah's I stepped in a bucket of quarters someone had left right in the middle of the floor (I was actually looking for the men's room, so I didn't see it until I had literally stepped in it). I looked around to see who might have left it there, but there was no one nearby. So..I cashed them in. $85!



After finding a $100 on the floor in the slot-room, i instructed a cashier to have their tapes checked. Ten minutes later she said, "They told me to tell you to keep it."

Anyway, i think a long walk would well serve also the "teacher"... to let the rest of his body catch up to his brain.
Why bet at all, if you can be sure? Anyway, what constitutes a "good bet"? - The best slots-game in town; a sucker's edge; or some gray-area blackjack-stunts? (P.S. God doesn't even have to exist to be God.)
mkl654321
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September 4th, 2010 at 11:29:39 AM permalink
Quote: Garnabby


Anyway, i think a long walk would well serve also the "teacher"... to let the rest of his body catch up to his brain.



If you're referring to me, Garnabby, I am a teacher, not a "teacher", in the same way you are often full of it, not just "full of it."
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
Wizard
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September 4th, 2010 at 12:11:39 PM permalink
Quote: DJTeddyBear

Yeah, I know. I was in a bad financial position then. If it happened today, things would be different.



I don't mean to sound judgmental, and I know you didn't ask for opinions, but I don't think the Robin Hood excuse cuts it. If I were in your shoes, and wanted to get my karma right, I would go back to that bar, ask for the owner, and give him his money, plus interest.

Quote: Garnabby

...Eg, how many "lives" has Bodog quietly ruined; and with also the Wizard's "promising" endorsement?



I think you could make that argument about any casino. How about the alcohol and tobacco businesses too? As I was saying in the thread' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/questions-and-answers/gambling/2628-should-gambling-be-allowed-for-legal-adults-18-20/]thread on lowering the gambling age to 18, I'm big on freedom. I basically believe that what you do with your own life is your business and your responsibility, as long as you're not hurting anybody else. If you're not into gambling online, then don't. However, if you do, I think Bodog is a safe and enjoyable place to play. Since this is getting rather off topic from the original thread, if you wish to hit back, please make a new thread for it.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
annaj10
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September 4th, 2010 at 2:07:51 PM permalink
Very interesting topic. I'm curious how people feel about this scenario. On another blog, a story was told about well-known VP player dropping a TITO slip near a machine. A man picked it up, cashed it, and immediately left the casino. This was found out because the woman was able to identify the machine where she had received the ticket and id the amount (it was a for a few hundred dollars if I remember correctly). Through some security work by the casino they traced the movement of the ticket. I'm assuming this effort was expended because the woman was well-known by the casino. On the blog, the man was labeled a "thief" and supposedly casino security was "looking for him". Personally, I feel that it's morally bankrupt and bad karma not to return the ticket when it was fairly obvious who it belonged to, but do you think this man could have been arrested for "stealing" the ticket when it was on the floor, as implied on the blog? What if she had dropped it in the parking lot or at the grocery store later? Do the tickets belong to the casino, the player, or are they the equivalent of cash?
DJTeddyBear
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September 4th, 2010 at 2:21:02 PM permalink
Quote: Wizard

I don't mean to sound judgmental, and I know you didn't ask for opinions, but I don't think the Robin Hood excuse cuts it. If I were in your shoes, and wanted to get my karma right, I would go back to that bar, ask for the owner, and give him his money, plus interest.

Yeah, I know. And I knew there'd be some negative responses. I'm not proud of what I did, but I'm not denying it either. But going back to fix things isn't an option. The bar closed a couple years later, almost 20 years ago, and I have no idea where he is today.
I invented a few casino games. Info: http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ ————————————————————————————————————— Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
rxwine
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September 4th, 2010 at 2:34:14 PM permalink
Quote: annaj10

Through some security work by the casino they traced the movement of the ticket.



As a side note, tickets are useless to thieves once they are reported as stolen. Thieves have sent their own dear mothers to cash out tickets later (the next day) only to get suprised mom greeted by security while standing in front of a ticket change machine. (she claimed she didn't know)
There's no secret. Just know what you're talking about before you open your mouth.
Wizard
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September 4th, 2010 at 4:44:11 PM permalink
Quote: annaj10

do you think this man could have been arrested for "stealing" the ticket when it was on the floor, as implied on the blog?



Here in Vegas the casinos consider money on the floor and abandoned credits in machines theirs. The reason is they don't that like trolls roaming around for such money. It is not an uncommon problem. I'm not sure they could have a legal claim to get the money back, but they can 86 whoever they like pretty much.

Morally, I think one should return found money. If it goes unclaimed for x number of days, then they will give it to the finder. I'd make an exception for small amounts, like $20 or less or a $5 ticket, where nobody is likely to notice it missing or bother to report it lost.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Yeah, I know. And I knew there'd be some negative responses. I'm not proud of what I did, but I'm not denying it either. But going back to fix things isn't an option. The bar closed a couple years later, almost 20 years ago, and I have no idea where he is today.



If you're sure about that, then I guess you'll have to live with the unresolved absolution. Maybe it would help a little to give the money to a charity in the general area of the bar.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
canuck
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September 4th, 2010 at 8:56:02 PM permalink
I once found a wallet with 5 bucks in it along with 3 drivers licenses with the same picture but different names and addresses. Passed the wallet including the 5 bucks to the police to see if they were interested.
bcooper
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September 4th, 2010 at 11:39:20 PM permalink
Largest amount I've found and kept was about $80 that I found walking from a hotel room to the lobby going across the parking lot.

At the Ameristar casino in St. Louis, I once found a signed blank check. Being nice, I called the phone number on it, got voicemail, and left a message that I found their signed check on the casino floor and was going to destroy it. I then tore it up into about 20 little pieces and threw those away.
inap
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September 5th, 2010 at 3:43:28 AM permalink
in my younger years i used to do alot of bike riding, ten speed road bike type. in fact i was in a club and used to do a little racing. my friend and i used to ride late at night. it was nice to ride then, no traffic and road was all ours. we would ride for miles, like sometimes 60 or more and sometimes get back home when the sun was coming up. anyway, one night when we got close to home i found a bill in the road right in the middle of an intersection. it had just rained so the road was wet and the bill was stuck to the road. i stopped to pick it up then the thought crossed my mind, if there was one maybe there would be more! i headed up the road and kept my eyes peeled to the road like searching for treasure. i figured if there were any more bills it wouldn't be able to fly away because it would be stuck to the road. sure enough, i started finding several bills stuck to the road! i didn't say anything to my friend but just started picking up bills with excitement. my friend yelled to me asking what i was doing? i just kept picking up bills, and ending up finding $55! back then it was enough for a new tv which i needed.

years before that another friend and i went to the last few days of the national guard summer training camp. his father was a captain that's why we could hang out with them during the training. i found some change in the grass and sure enough started looking for more! i found a trail of loose change, which wasn't much but in those days was alot, and the fact that i kept picking them up like there was no tomorrow was exciting! i gave it to my friends father and he assembled the troops and anounced if anyone lost any money. no one stepped forward so he split the money between my friend and i.

.
Garnabby
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September 5th, 2010 at 6:20:50 PM permalink
Quote: mkl654321

If you're referring to me, Garnabby, I am a teacher, not a "teacher", in the same way you are often full of it, not just "full of it."



Let's assume, (though i don't know how,) that you've already proved (to me) that you're a teacher of some sort and degree. The fact remains, that earlier you and/or someone else referred to yourself as a "teacher"... simply quoted. Why the hostility... not to assume you are such by nature, of course?

Second, please explain (to me) how 'full of it' differs from "full of it"? (And how a person can be both at once.)

Third, i am "often" the latter because i made a specific observation about the activity of walking?
Why bet at all, if you can be sure? Anyway, what constitutes a "good bet"? - The best slots-game in town; a sucker's edge; or some gray-area blackjack-stunts? (P.S. God doesn't even have to exist to be God.)
Garnabby
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September 5th, 2010 at 6:25:26 PM permalink
Quote: Wizard

...if you wish to hit back, please make a new thread for it.



Thank you, but you haven't "hit" me yet.
Why bet at all, if you can be sure? Anyway, what constitutes a "good bet"? - The best slots-game in town; a sucker's edge; or some gray-area blackjack-stunts? (P.S. God doesn't even have to exist to be God.)
mkl654321
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September 5th, 2010 at 8:07:39 PM permalink
Quote: Garnabby

Let's assume, (though i don't know how,) that you've already proved (to me) that you're a teacher of some sort and degree. The fact remains, that earlier you and/or someone else referred to yourself as a "teacher"... simply quoted. Why the hostility... not to assume you are such by nature, of course?

Second, please explain (to me) how 'full of it' differs from "full of it"? (And how a person can be both at once.)

Third, i am "often" the latter because i made a specific observation about the activity of walking?



Heh. We English teachers sometimes forget that nuances of the language all too often go right over people's heads.

Characterizing someone while putting that characterization in quotation marks equates to an ironic statement that that person is actually NOT what the characterization would suggest, i.e., a fake or a fraud.

Compare:

He's a priest in a Catholic church in Kansas City."
He's a "priest" in a Catholic church in Kansas City."

He runs a grocery store in the South Bronx.
He runs a "grocery store" in the South Bronx.

He's a nice guy.
He's a "nice guy".

See the difference? If you didn't mean "teacher" that way, I apologize for my reaction. It seemed to me that you were somehow suggesting that I was posturing, though if someone wants to lie to make themself more glamorous or something, I doubt that calling themselves an English teacher would be their first choice.

And the difference between full of it and "full of it" is that in the former case, you actually are full of it; in the latter, someone merely THINKS you are.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
Garnabby
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September 5th, 2010 at 8:43:19 PM permalink
Quote: mkl654321

Characterizing someone while putting that characterization in quotation marks equates to an ironic statement that that person is actually NOT what the characterization would suggest, i.e., a fake or a fraud.



As i thusly used those many times in the past, on many different boards. But are you suggesting that 'quotation marks' aren't, by definition, primarily for quotations? Then check out, "Although quotation marks primarily enclose direct quotations from speech and writing, they also set off titles and highlight special senses. Always use quotation marks in pairs, one at the beginning of the quotation and one at the end. Double quotation marks (" ") are standard, while single quotation marks (‘’) are only used for quotation marks within quotation marks. In British writing, this convention is reversed." ( http://www.nipissingu.ca/english/hornbook/quotatio.htm )

Quote: mkl654321

See the difference? If you didn't mean "teacher" that way, I apologize for my reaction. It seemed to me that you were somehow suggesting that I was posturing, though if someone wants to lie to make themself more glamorous or something, I doubt that calling themselves an English teacher would be their first choice.



In one of my previous replies, when i indicated that there aren't many texts about "reading between the lines" and determining who's "posing". One good technique is to intentionally not provide a lot of contextual clues, to allow the other guy as wide a range of response(s) as possible to say what's really on the mind; or conversely, to phrase stuff to allow for only a yes/no response, to put the other at ease.

Anyway, i wouldn't want to limit the scope of anyone's real potential to one's profession. (Eg, i did my share of cross-words when those were popular, but have to admit that the best solver i know of is a retired laborer.)

Quote: mkl654321

And the difference between full of it and "full of it" is that in the former case, you actually are full of it; in the latter, someone merely THINKS you are.



(As i suspected,) if you meant the slang for "full of sh*t, nonsense, etc", then it's not possible for anyone to be full of that. One can "step in it", but not be full of it.
Why bet at all, if you can be sure? Anyway, what constitutes a "good bet"? - The best slots-game in town; a sucker's edge; or some gray-area blackjack-stunts? (P.S. God doesn't even have to exist to be God.)
mkl654321
mkl654321
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September 5th, 2010 at 9:07:54 PM permalink
Quote: Garnabby

As i thusly used those many times in the past, on many different boards. But are you suggesting that 'quotation marks' aren't, by definition, primarily for quotations?

In one of my previous replies, when i indicated that there aren't many texts about "reading between the lines" and determining who's "posing". One good technique is to intentionally not provide a lot of contextual clues, to allow the other guy as wide a range of response(s) as possible to say what's really on the mind; or conversely, to phrase stuff to allow for only a yes/no response, to put the other at ease.

Anyway, i wouldn't want to limit the scope of anyone's real potential to one's profession. (Eg, i did my share of cross-words when those were popular, but have to admit that the best solver i know of is a retired laborer.)

(As i suspected,) if you meant the slang for "full of sh*t, nonsense, etc", then it's not possible for anyone to be full of that. One can "step in it", but not be full of it.



Primarily, yes. Exclusively, no.

I understand what you're saying, but on the internet, anybody can be anybody they want to be. The only way a person can claim an identity and make that claim credible is to provide verisimilitude; I have somewhat inadvertently provided that by employing a large vocabulary (which I do in the normal course of events), but also by being picky about spelling and grammar. Furthermore, I've indulged my natural tendency to be didactic. So I feel there's more "proof" that I am, in fact, an English teacher than, say, a piano player in a whorehouse.

And "full of shit" is, of course, a figurative term, but no less invalid for that--one could say "this economy is going down the toilet" while fully realizing that no such toilet big enough to do that exists (the Pentagon had one on the drawing board, but it was shelved due to environmental concerns).
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
rxwine
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September 5th, 2010 at 9:24:28 PM permalink
Quote: mkl654321

So I feel there's more "proof" that I am, in fact, an English teacher than, say, a piano player in a whorehouse.



Why not be both? Go for the dream.

~

Commas save lives - "Let's eat, Grandpa!"
There's no secret. Just know what you're talking about before you open your mouth.
BigTip
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September 9th, 2010 at 7:28:42 AM permalink
I own a restaurant and use to frequent equipment auctions. I bought a cash register for $20 at one. Got it back to the store, removed the cash drawer, and there was a $100 bill stuck to the roof of the compartment. Nice.

Went to the shoe store with my 13 year old. He opened the car door and stepped out onto a $100 bill. We looked around and saw no one. No way to tell where it blew in from either.

I was walking in The Beau Rivage with a friend. He spotted a black chip and scooped it never breaking stride.
thlf
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September 9th, 2010 at 8:25:16 AM permalink
We had a really windy day one day (as is common here in Vegas) and when we got home we let the dogs out. We were sitting in the back yard waiting for them to complete their business when the schnauzer comes walking up with a twenty dollar bill stuck to her nose. We went to the pet store and bought them both treats with it.
ItsCalledSoccer
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September 9th, 2010 at 9:32:49 AM permalink
Quote: boymimbo

When I found the $600 in the bank machine (a couple of years ago), I didn't even count it (it felt like $600) and walked it over to security. I know that certainly I could have pocketed it without repercussions, even with the cameras in place. I knew that had I had time to think about it, I would have probably pocketed the money, despite it being the wrong thing to do. I would have balanced the ethical odds of knowing I was doing the wrong thing vs the probability of the casino doing the right thing (doing everything in its power to find the rightful owner of that property). The odds that security would have even attempted to find the owner of that money was small, but perhaps there was the chance that someone would call the bank and ask for their money and so on and so forth.

Money is a powerful elixir. I'm happy that I did the right thing, though.



Wow, interesting topic.

I wonder, what does what other people/businesses would do have to do with what you would do? It doesn't hurt the casino by keeping some poor schlub's money, it hurts the poor schlub. But there's more ...

The most I ever found was about $65 in a wallet that I found on the ground while taking my dog outside. The only thing in the wallet was the cash; no ID, credit cards, photos ... nothing else. It was also a weird wallet ... red and yellow duct tape criss-crossed over a wallet. Since I live near SMU and an elementary school, it looked like a school project. And the lack of ID made me think it was an elementary school project.

I picked it up and kept it for a few days, and kept walking by the same spot, hoping to find some clue as to whose it was, but never did, so I kept it.

I think these things even out over a lifetime ... I've been on the losing side of this same equation about the same number of times as the finding side. Those things happen, it's part of life, and you can't always get the money back to the schlub.

So in my case, I took the $65 and put it back into my best guess, the elementary school, by buying fund-raising candy, spaghetti suppers, etc., etc., until it was spent.

But for other amounts, I have used it for personal enrichment because there was no best guess ... by "personal enrichment," I mean towards bills and stuff.

I haven't been faced with the dilemma of a large amount of money, say, a few hundred. If I found a brown paper bag with a few large in it, I'd probably turn it in to the police, but I don't know what that threshhold would be.
Garnabby
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September 9th, 2010 at 4:38:05 PM permalink
Quote: mkl654321

I understand what you're saying, but on the internet, anybody can be anybody they want to be. The only way a person can claim an identity and make that claim credible is to provide verisimilitude; I have somewhat inadvertently provided that by employing a large vocabulary (which I do in the normal course of events), but also by being picky about spelling and grammar. Furthermore, I've indulged my natural tendency to be didactic. So I feel there's more "proof" that I am, in fact, an English teacher than, say, a piano player in a whorehouse.



Hardly, as last week i "called out" a guy on his own $10,000 baccarat-challenge (to me, myself, over at one of those boards where i posted up the bills showing the serial numbers of the $11,000 to cover the exchange, etc, to a reputable escrow)... only to catch him "peeing his pants with excuses" after immediately backing out. Moreover, which better place to "read" each other than a message-board, transpiring "exclusively" by the written word, and/or images? Notwithstanding of course, the seemingly-endless line-up of greedy morons (who are pretty much left here and there to their own devices) waiting to be stripped of their welfare-cheques first, by the as-thoroughly-unschooled scammers who are also online.

One could as easily post up a degree(s), or any other bit of publically-verifiable 'material evidence', as part of one's actual 'claim'. At the other end of this, lay the popular meanings and usages of words in the course of an argument. No requirement to be an attorney/lawyer of something to successfully argue such a case. How many here would much even really know of the "appearance" (as below, which unrelentingly comes to rest at that secondary definition,) of a good english teacher/professor... who ought to be aware of also this?

Let the bulk of 'appearances' to the "poker bums" who try harder to artificially create more of it than begin to understand the real uncertainty all around us, itself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

ver·i·si·mil·i·tude   /ˌvɛrəsɪˈmɪlɪˌtud, -ˌtyud/ Show Spelled[ver-uh-si-mil-i-tood, -tyood] Show IPA
–noun

1. the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability: The play lacked verisimilitude.
2. something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/verisimilitude

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why bet at all, if you can be sure? Anyway, what constitutes a "good bet"? - The best slots-game in town; a sucker's edge; or some gray-area blackjack-stunts? (P.S. God doesn't even have to exist to be God.)
boymimbo
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September 9th, 2010 at 4:57:56 PM permalink
Not found money, but after a great roll at Niagara last week, someone tipped me $10 as a tip. I put $5 of it immediately on an hard 8 (the point) for the crew, and next roll, it was "fifty and down" for the crew... probably the biggest "tip" I've given at the craps table. I tried it again with the other $5 and it lost.
----- You want the truth! You can't handle the truth!
mkl654321
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September 9th, 2010 at 5:10:24 PM permalink
Quote: Garnabby

Hardly, as last week i "called out" a guy on his own $10,000 baccarat-challenge (to me, myself, over at one of those boards where i posted up the bills showing the serial numbers of the $11,000 to cover the exchange, etc, to a reputable escrow)... only to catch him "peeing his pants with excuses" after immediately backing out. Moreover, which better place to "read" each other than a message-board, transpiring "exclusively" by the written word, and/or images? Notwithstanding of course, the seemingly-endless line-up of greedy morons (who are pretty much left here and there to their own devices) waiting to be stripped of their welfare-cheques first, by the as-thoroughly-unschooled scammers who are also online.

One could as easily post up a degree(s), or any other bit of publically-verifiable 'material evidence', as part of one's actual 'claim'. At the other end of this, lies the popular meanings and usages of words in the course of an argument. No requirement to be an attorney/lawyer of something to successfully argue such a case. How many here would much even really know of the "appearance" (as below, which unrelentingly comes to rest at that secondary definition,) of a good english teacher/professor... who ought to be aware of also this?



Somehow, you're both validating and completely missing my point.

You had NO proof of this person's honesty, integrity, or willingness to honor an agreement.

The verisimilitude I was talking about is in my case, I simply made the claim (that I was an English teacher) more likely to be true, by properly using the tools of the English language; in the Wizard's case, it would be the presentation of complex mathematical formulae and the accurate usage of gambling terms. I COULD be lying about being an English teacher (no doubt trying to attract the swarms of hot babes that follow English teachers wherever they go), and the Wiz COULD be lying about being a gambling expert. However, what you see in our posts provides strong circumstantial evidence that we are, in fact, what we say we are.

To use your example, a person using proper legal terminology and being familiar with the workings of the courts doesn't necessarily mean that he's an attorney. It DOES, however, make it more likely that when he says he IS one, he's telling the truth.

I was partially responding to some other posters' insinuation that I was not what I said I was, and since I'd have to be completely out of my mind to post any personal info here or elsewhere on the Web, that circumstantial evidence is all anyone's gonna get. I actually don't give a rat's rectum whether anyone believes me or not---my profession is parenthetical to the discussions in which I engage.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
wildqat
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September 10th, 2010 at 12:34:10 AM permalink
Walking through Rio, my then girlfriend (now wife) finds a $100 on the floor between the buffet entrance and the side doors. The instant she picked it up, one of the Wyndham vultures descended, saying "Oooh, it looks like you're good at finding money, here's how you can find more!" We were just confused enough that he was able to take the hundo back while we tried to tell him "No speaky timeshare." After we got outside, she said, "Wonder what would have happened if we had run?"
Garnabby
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September 12th, 2010 at 8:04:37 AM permalink
Quote: mkl654321

You had NO proof of this person's honesty, integrity, or willingness to honor an agreement.



Nor of his capability to believe his baccarat-system could win in the long-run, and hence blindly follow through with his "challenge" (as i referred to it where he first proposed it, for the reasons you mentioned.)

Quote: mkl654321

The verisimilitude I was talking about is in my case, I simply made the claim (that I was an English teacher) more likely to be true, by properly using the tools of the English language; in the Wizard's case, it would be the presentation of complex mathematical formulae and the accurate usage of gambling terms. I COULD be lying about being an English teacher (no doubt trying to attract the swarms of hot babes that follow English teachers wherever they go), and the Wiz COULD be lying about being a gambling expert. However, what you see in our posts provides strong circumstantial evidence that we are, in fact, what we say we are.



Meant that i like to be sure, if that's easily-determinable.

And in my opinion, i would argue that the reason "gambling mathematics" never really came into its own, academically, is that in most instances of it... simple formulas lead to the same overall result. (Have there been any recent developments to the broader field of game theory?)

Quote: mkl654321

To use your example, a person using proper legal terminology and being familiar with the workings of the courts doesn't necessarily mean that he's an attorney. It DOES, however, make it more likely that when he says he IS one, he's telling the truth.



Well, but i hate it when i'm telling the truth (as i have perceived/understood and succussfully applied it otherwise) but am just not believed because i happen to have on a T-shirt and don't speak like a "silver-tongued devil".

Quote: mkl654321

I was partially responding to some other posters' insinuation that I was not what I said I was, and since I'd have to be completely out of my mind to post any personal info here or elsewhere on the Web, that circumstantial evidence is all anyone's gonna get. I actually don't give a rat's rectum whether anyone believes me or not---my profession is parenthetical to the discussions in which I engage.



Nice to have you here... a pleasant change from the boards where independently-minded contributors find themselves forced off, or grow bored at the material left to them.

If you begin to point out my own many grammatical short-comings, (once having deemed me a worthy student,) please take it one at a time. (Didn't study english in university, though i audited it in grade 13 because that was a requirement for such. Needless to say, it was not a favorite subject of mine.)
Why bet at all, if you can be sure? Anyway, what constitutes a "good bet"? - The best slots-game in town; a sucker's edge; or some gray-area blackjack-stunts? (P.S. God doesn't even have to exist to be God.)
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