Here a few things you should know about Our Money!

Is U.S. currency legal tender for all debts?


According to the "Legal Tender Statute" (section 5103 of title 31 of the U.S. Code), "United States coins and currency (including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues." This means that all U.S. money, as identified above, when tendered to a creditor legally satisfies a debt to the extent of the amount (face value) tendered.

However, no federal law mandates that a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services not yet provided. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills.

Some movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations as a matter of policy may refuse to accept currency of a large denomination, such as notes above $20, and as long as notice is posted and a transaction giving rise to a debt has not already been completed, these organizations have not violated the legal tender law. (http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqcur.htm)

What is legal tender?

31 USC 5103. Legal Tender United States coins and currency (including Federal Reserve Notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve Banks and National banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.However, there is no Federal statute which mandates that private businesses must accept cash as a form of payment. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.(http://www.moneyfactory.gov/faqlibrary.html)


The following table gives specifications for U.S. Mint legal tender coins presently in circulation.


Quick Circulating Coin Facts:


•Mutilated Coins: United States Coins no longer fit for circulation are classified as "uncurrent" or mutilated.
◦Uncurrent coins are coins that are worn yet recognizable as to genuineness and denomination, and are machine countable. Uncurrent coins are redeemed by the Federal Reserve Banks, then forwarded to the Mint for disposition.
◦Mutilated coins are coins that are chipped, fused and not machine countable. Mutilated coins are only redeemable through the United States Philadelphia Mint facility.
All uncurrent or mutilated coins received by the Mint are melted and reused in the manufacture of coinage strips.
I have some coins that were damaged and the bank will not redeem them. What can I do with them?
The Treasury Department has prescribed regulations regarding uncurrent and mutilated coins. Let us explain the difference. Uncurrent coins are whole, but are worn or reduced in weight by natural abrasion. They are easily recognizable as to genuineness and denomination, and they are such that coin sorting and counting machines will accept them. Merchants and commercial banks will generally accept or refuse these coins at their discretion. However, Federal Reserve Banks and branches handle the redemption of uncurrent coins.

Mutilated coins, on the other hand, are coins that are bent, broken, not whole, or fused or melted together. The United States Mint is the only place that handles redemption of mutilated coins, and they should be sent to the Mint at Post Office Box 400, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
(http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/coins/sales.shtml)

What happens to United States coins that are no longer fit for circulation?

"Those coins are classified either as uncurrent or as mutilated. Coins that are chipped, fused, and not machine-countable are considered mutilated. The Mint redeems mutilated coins at the value of their metal content.
Mutilated coins are only redeemable through the United States Mint at:
United States Mint
P.O. Box 400
Philadelphia, PA 19105
(215) 408-0203

Uncurrent coins are worn, but machine-countable, and their genuineness and denomination are still recognizable. Uncurrent coins are replaced with new coins of the same denomination by the Federal Reserve Banks, then forwarded to the United States Mint. All uncurrent or mutilated coins received by the Mint are melted, and the metal is shipped to a fabricator to be recycled in the manufacture of coinage strips."

Ahhh Bread the staff of life

So I got a bread machine and man it's nice!

No more $3.98 a loaf bread for me. We have 4 people in our house so we go through about two loafs a week. So far we have only made Whole Wheat Bread and we have been doing it for about two months and I will never go back to the store bread again!

It's vary easy but it does take some time so you have to plan ahead. It only takes 5 minutes to mix the ingredients and start the machine. But you should be home for the 4 and a half hours it takes to mix and bake it just in case something goes wrong like a fire. You know Murphy law the first time you leave it by its self it will burn your house down.




Here is the ingredients for the bread:

• 1 Active dry Yeast packet or 2 1/2 teaspoons of instant yeast


• 1 1/3 cups of water


• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil


• 1/4 cup of Molasses or Honey or maple syrup


• 3 1/2 cups of Whole wheat flour


• 1/4 cup nonfat dried milk


• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt


• 3 to 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten
  
  
  

Here are the keys to making this bread.

1. You must use 3 to 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten (Unless you like short dense loafs of bread)

2. Mix the Wheat flour and the wheat gluten and the dried nonfat milk in a bowl

3. Put the oil in the the bread machine pan first and then molasses and then the water it should be around 80 to 95 degrees

4. Add the dry mix to the pan

5. Now in one of the corners add the salt then cover it with the mix (you want it deep in the corner but not in the water)

6. Now add the yeast to the center of the mix in a hole and cover it up like the salt.

Other tips that will help:

1. use the 1/4 cup for the dried milk first then for the oil and last for the molasses this way the milk won't stick or the molasses.

2. When you measure out the flour stir it up with a spoon to fluff it up first so it doesn't pack and then use the edge of the handle to level it off in the cup you will get better results if you do this.

3. The yeast temp should be 80 degrees but I make it about 10 to 15 degrees higher because once you put it in the pan and get all the other stuff in the it cools off 10 to 12 degrees.

Droid Dock 30 bucks (Ya Right!) DYI

So I now have a new cell phone, this one is a Motorola Droid by the way (way cool!). I guess you can get a car mount and a home docking station for ($29.99) each. When you put the droid in the home docking station it goes into media mode and when you put it in the car mount it goes into nav mode. Now true you can use apps to turn on these modes but you have to push buttons! God forbid we have to do work! Plus $60 bucks come on. Well you know me DYI.








So I guess how it changes modes is with magnets how fun is that!






I wasn't sure how to approach this I wanted to do it in metal because I'm a better metal worker then a wood worker. Since I wanted to test the concept fast I used some scrap trim that I had sitting around. The magnet came out of an old CD drive





You have to kinda play with the position of the magnets because there two magnetic switch's in the phone one for the car nav mode and one for the home media mode. I think should incorporate power and speakers next, that will be (DYI Dock 2.0) coming soon to a blog near you!

What to do with one Old Cool Fork.

More fun with metal but the sad part is no fire for this project. So what can you do with a Old Cool Fork. Well you can make a Cool Business Card holder or a table place card holder.

This is a easy project for a quick present for someone or quick cash if you just sell them to other people. To make them you need a vice a tack hammer or any small hammer will do and a pair of needle nose pliers. The vice and hammer is for the neat 90 degree bends on the front and the needle nose pliers are for the loops on the back. A good place to find forks is the good will store or garage sales.