God, I love my dad. This is a man that knows the value of a dollar. He has been collecting cans since I don’t know when and selling them to the aluminum recyclers. I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing in my condo. I could put out little bins and collect the cans once a week. Yeah, if I weren’t so lazy that might actually work! Anyway, back to Joe Jr., that’s my dad’s name. So Joe Jr. has collected a ton (literally) of scrap metal and he wants to take it to the junk yard to cash it in so he asks if I can come over and watch my nephews who are currently out of school while he cashes in the scrap at the junkyard. I guess the junkyard has a rule against allowing minors on the premises.

He finally gets ½ of the scrap loaded on his truck (because that is all that will fit) and he is sweating his ass off. Meanwhile I’m watching the kids. Perfect time to get some much needed reading in. About two hours later he pulls in the driveway and I can tell that he is tired as hell. “So, how much did you get?”
“Oh, about $24, that’s four dollars more that I thought I would get!” He says.
TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS!? For all that work? He wanted to give me ten just for sitting outside watching the kids. It just didn’t feel right! I politely declined. Yes, he definitely knows the value of a dollar… or does he?