Alright everyone, it is time for the final Thursday Rundown of March 2021. Fair warning: Next week’s Rundown will fall on April 1 so just keep that in mind when you scan the five topics. But before we get to those five topics, we need to get to these five topics…

Magnet Kit – Your local library most likely offers so much more than just books. Last week we checked out a STEM kit from our Spokane Valley County Library. This particular STEM kit was all about magnets. It contained magnet wands, a magnetic horseshoe, alphabet magnets, several magnet books, and more. Sloan loved experimenting with the push and pull of the magnets and was even inspired to look around our house for other magnetic materials. We played a few different games with the kit and just enjoyed the cheap entertainment we got from it.

Sloan messing around with her magnet STEM kit we checked out from the Spokane County Library District.

That’s A Lot of Rubber Bands – I came across the below tweet a couple nights ago. Could you imagine spending a grand on rubber bands each week just to wrap your money stacks? Whoever the “rubber band man” was for this enterprise sure must have enjoyed the business.

Hard to imagine rolling in so much cash that you need to spend $1,000 in cash just to organize it.

National Waffle Day – Okay, let me frank…I am a pancake guy. With that said, I definitely don’t hate waffles. One thing I really miss about living in the South is Waffle House. However, there was another waffle-centric “restaurant” that I enjoyed going to. Back when I lived in Missoula a fro-yo place opened called Yo Waffle. It was just like any other fro-yo place except that it had…well…waffles. You would walk in, pour the batter to make your own waffle, and top it with all the frozen yogurt and candy that you wanted. Can you say heart attack? On second thought, let’s just say this—happy National Waffle Day!

This was my first ever meal at Waffle House. Smothered hash browns and a peanut butter waffle.

NCAA Tourney Reaction – The NCAA Tournament field has been cut to 16 teams and two out of the three universities I threw my support behind last week are still dancing. It might come as little surprise to many that tourney-favorite Gonzaga took care of business in its first two games. But the other team in the Sweet 16 who I am still cheering for fits the bill of a Cinderella. Oregon State will take on Loyola this weekend with an Elite 8 appearance on the line. Let’s go Beavers! It has been fun watching Wayne Tinkle, a great guy who I got to know when we both worked in the athletic department at the University of Montana, coach his team to some big wins. I hope by Tuesday night that the Bulldogs and Beavers are both in the Final Four.

At the University of Montana there was a big start of the year picnic called Welcomefeast. I was responsible for coordinating the athletics portion of the event. One of my responsibilities was to find a guest speaker and Coach Tinkle never hesitated to accept my invitation when I would ask him.

Doesn’t Make Cents – Another cliché news story that media always bite on is the tired tale of a debt being paid in pennies. Whether it is an angry citizen paying a fine at city hall or someone making good on a lost monetary bet, the ultimate way to stick it to the collector is to pay in copper coins. A story that made the rounds today centered on a disgruntled auto shop manager who paid a fired employee his final $915 paycheck in pennies. The manager dropped off a wheelbarrow with the payment at the guy’s house and fled. When the ex-employee found his payment, he noticed that the pennies were covered in motor oil. Okay, I must admit this is the first time I have never heard about someone actually adding a substance to the coins but I still think it is tired and juvenile. Let’s retire this unoriginal act of passive aggressiveness.

The ex-employee went outside his house to discover a wheelbarrow full of pennies.

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That’s a wrap for this week. Hope you get some nice weather this weekend and maybe a waffle or two. Don’t Blink.