Once, after a looong hike - from 7am or so until 7pm or so and involving a little postholing near the top of Condor Peak, a fair portion of the trip being due to team members even slower than me and resulting in waiting around in the gloom - I swear I gave the gal at Der Wienerschnitzel in La Crescenta a ten or so and I got back fifteen in change or something like that. I didn't notice it at the time, but I ended up coming back with more money than when I left. Honest Abe that I am, I went back there or something but they didn't know anything about it and I wasn't about to shove money on someone who wasn't docked for it.

And, would you know it, I hit the jackpot... again! I recently went to a Carl's Jr. and ordered six 50 cent tacos and a 99 cent burger. In other words, lots and lots of possibly BSE- and/or offal-stuffed ground beef for just over $4.

I was given a large, heavy bag back, but I didn't bother looking in it. I assumed they put the tacos in a big styrofoam box. I was a bit curious about the french fries smell emanating from the mystery bag, but I thought it might be the tacos.

Boy was I surprised when I found out I'd scored the following:
- two large boxes of chicken strips
- a double-decker burger
- no less than three orders of extra-large fries

I guess that's at least $12 worth of fat-soaked junk, if not a few dollars more. I called and the lady who'd given me the giant mystery bag had left for the day and the one I spoke to didn't know anything about this. I would have thought it would have been the talk of the joint.

Of course, none of this makes up for the mistakes other fast food outfits have made, and yes I'm keeping score.