change comes from within

cleaning up the flat a bit today (re-arranging it, rather, then re-rearranging it back to the original configuration...)

i stumble upon - for the Nth time - the container full of ...
CHANGE.

this container full of 1 cent pieces, and 2 cent pieces, and 5 cent pieces.

lots and lots of little pieces.

now, if these were reeces pieces, i know just who i would give them too. but seeing as how they are little pieces of metal...

when it comes down to it, this is money. cash. save enough of these little creatures and i could use them to do something fun - like go to IRELAND, or something practical - like pay for school, or something frivolous - like buy the entire series of LITTLE BRITAIN.

i mean, this is FREE MONEY. the person in the flat before me left this large container of the little beasties. enough for SEVERAL cups of coffee. they seem to have multiplied, curiously enough, like rabbits. so now there is enough for even a few more cups of coffee.

the problem: they are annoying. annoying to carry about, annoying to pay with - and people tend to frown on you, when you want to pay for a cup of café with two hundred and ten little tiny 1 centime pieces. (which i could do, incidentally. several times over).

if i were still in the U.S.of A. i would have several options open to me: take the change to the bank and exchange it for bills (YAY!). the banks usually accept coins rolled by the customer - provided you are a customer of the bank -and you can buy the little money wrappers at a number of places, or even get the for free from the bank. or you can take a large jar of the jingly jangly things and dump them into the large coin machine that meijer's always has about. of course, that route costs a little bit, but when one considers the time and annoyance that saves you from experiencing...it's worth it.

which brings me to the point at hand.

what do you do with them in france????

i've asked a few french people, and they are at a loss. all have told me that the bank will not accept them, and i haven't put this to the test. (who wants to carry that much change around? )

so the coins have been sitting there, breeding.
like rabbits.