How much money should I keep in my bank account ...

Filed under: Banks You've got to give this bank robber points for ingenuity and ambition. But, yes, yes, it's a terrible thing, and I hope he's caught. But still... a cautionary tale for anyone answering any classified ads where someone tells you how to dress and asks you to show up in front of a bank. Looking at it that way, knowing the outcome, it does sound suspicious, but I admit, if I had been in these unemployed persons shoes, I'll bet I'd have fallen for it, too. Why not? Who would think...? OK, so here's what happened earlier this week: A Craigslist ad featured a job opening for a road maintenance project in Monroe, Washington, and anyone interested should meet near the Bank of America in Monroe at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, wearing a "yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask... and, if possible, a blue shirt." About a dozen men showed up, and right about that time, so did an armored truck. Suddenly, one of the dozen men dressed in this yellow vest, goggles, mask and blue shirt stepped out of the crowd, blasted the guard with some pepper spray, took the money bag and then did a 100 yard dash -- with at least one bystander giving chase -- to a nearby creek. He escaped down the creek in an inner tube, and he remains at large. Meanwhile, the job hunters never did get their $28.50-an-hour job. Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across Americ a (Rodale). Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Food I've always been fascinated with how underground economies work due in part to my addiction to reading any story about prison escapes. I can clearly remember the mastermind doling out packs of cigarettes to keep someone quiet or acquire a critical piece of the escape plan. Indeed cigarettes were the de facto currency for prisoners, who cannot possess real currency, until smoking was banned in 2004. Since inmates can no longer barter with cigarettes they've turned to pouches of mackerel to fill the need for a common currency inside prison walls. Even though bartering isn't officially allowed inside prison walls, prisoners are expected to dole out a few pouches of mackerel when you get your haircut. The use of fish by prisoners to create their own economy is a reminder that virtually anything can be used as currency. Even outside prison walls we don't need to rely on government minted tender to complete transactions so long as there are willing parties involved. For all I know there's a subset of people in my town who would gladly accept Chuck E. Cheese tokens or Antartican Dollars for my daily needs . Continue reading Holy Mackerel! Fish make a slick currency in prison Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Fantastic Freebies Today's Fantastic Freebie is a subscription to Genre, a gay lifestyle magazine, courtesy of Nuwear. From the website: Nuwear is offering all our web visitors a free subscription to Genre magazine. Every month, the magazine throws a spotlight on the hottest, the freshest and the best-in entertainment, the arts, fashion, home design, automotive, technology, health and fitness, grooming and travel. Our readers are smart, stylish and tuned in. They're leaders. We engage them by looking at the world through their eyes and speaking to them in their own language. Loaded with intelligence, insight and an irreverent wit, GENRE is for the man who's a lot more than just out. Click here to fill out the form. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments