IKEA

You have entered 29,248 Bills worth $80,349
Bills with hits: 2,149 Total hits: 2,404
Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.22% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,099.21
Your rank (based on George Score) is #754
(out of 52,164 current users with a George Score. [98.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 37 out of 6,390 [99.4]

I went to IKEA yesterday and had a chance to let my bills see the inside of one of their registers in two cities. (The other time was when I was out in in the Phoenix area.) Here’s the thing. I made the mistake of using $2 bills. When I went to the snack counter to get lunch, I didn’t see where the cashier put them, although she was caught off guard.

When I made it to the checkout counter to buy the items that I wanted, I again used twos. This time, I noticed that she put them under the tray. My parents were there, ahead of me in line, and I had people behind me. Once again, I found myself wanting to ask the cashier why, but didn’t want to hold people up.

It may simply be a matter of time. Places like McDonald’s seem to be a little more tolerant. This could be me wearing them down or simply wishful thinking. Either way, it was just one time that I noticed. I don’t know if IKEA or any place else has an actual policy against twos. I think it’s just some sort of collectively unconscious effort.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share.

fifty with crease 3350

You have entered 29,033 Bills worth $79,904
Bills with hits: 2,135 Total hits: 2,390
Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.23% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,098.51
Your rank (based on George Score) is #763
(out of 52,178 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 38 out of 6,385 [99.4]

I actually found this $50 bill the other day. I thought it was interesting, but I’m not sure if I want to keep it. There’s an actual crease that affected the printing, which is interesting. I have to see how much that affects the value. It’s not really worth holding on to for the sheer novelty.

I also found a 1976 series $2 bill with a date-of-issue postmark, which I will be holding on to. For those that don’t know, when the $2 was reintroduced in 1976, some post offices postmarked the bills to commemorate the reintroduction of the bill. Again, I don’t know if it’s worth anything, but it’s definitely worth hanging on to, especially since I hold on to 1976 twos anyway.

I can’t think of much else to post. I know I’m not keeping up with a post every day, but I’d like to.

Ranking

You have entered 28,421 Bills worth $78,294
Bills with hits: 2,076 Total hits: 2,326
Hit rate: 7.30% Slugging Percentage: 8.18% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,095.47
Your rank (based on George Score) is #780(out of 52,413 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 39 out of 6,361 [99.4]

I went up to 37, but I got knocked back down to 39. This happens when people refresh, since points are taken off for not refreshing. The points are added back when you do refresh your hits by state. If someone falls under me, then refreshes, I get knocked back down. This is illustrated with Bank of Frank’s Spy Tool. (Look for me under Florida.) Right now, those that are above me are staying above me, which means that it will be a while before I go back up. It took me a while to break into the top forty. It’s going to be even longer before I get to the top thirty.

You have entered 27,918 Bills worth $76,903
Bills with hits: 2,035 Total hits: 2,280
Hit rate: 7.29% Slugging Percentage: 8.17% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,093.19
Your rank (based on George Score) is #779
(out of 52,389 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 38 out of 6,343 [99.4]

I went to the mall yesterday ready to go to the casino, but wanting to get lunch first. I stopped by the Tony Roma’s Express that opened there. (It wasn’t quite as good as I expected, but that’s another story.) I guess one of the pitfalls of having just opened is not knowing how much change you need over the course of a day. They were out and I was able to provide them with $50 in singles.

Now, I normally don’t mind doing this, but the cashier gave me back $10 in twos that I had given her to pay for my lunch. I was hoping to get them into circulation at the mall, but I’d rather leave $50 in singles than $10 in twos. I think I did well.

I was able to get a few $2 bills into circulation at the casino, but not many. Since they don’t give them out as change and I don’t know where they go, I don’t want to spend too many there. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or what, but I think the machines are starting to take twos again.

Anyway, when I got back, I remembered to get an iTunes card. The two toms that I gave as payment were put into the drawer for the ones. I consider this a very good sign. I don’t know if they really are getting back into circulation, but it’s as good a place as any, considering that they have Internet access there. If I spend enough twos there, I’ll eventually get a hit.

Well, I figured I’d share the day’s events.

You have entered 27,831 Bills worth $75,915
Bills with hits: 2,028 Total hits: 2,272
Hit rate: 7.29% Slugging Percentage: 8.16% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,092.79
Your rank (based on George Score) is #773
(out of 52,252 current users with a George Score. [98.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 37 out of 6,337 [99.4]

It looks like I’m staying above 40th place in Florida. I was bouncing around for a while, mostly because people were waiting several days before refreshing. (Your George Score goes down for every day that you don’t refresh.) It’s possible that I’ll go back down in the next few days, but I am making progress right now. That leads me to believe that I’ll be in the top 40 for a while.

I have today and tomorrow off, which is unusual for me. I usually get Mondays and Tuesdays off, but due to scheduling concerns over the next few weeks, I have to take today off. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but most banks will be closed today and tomorrow.

Today is, of course, Sunday. It’s a day that banks are usually closed. Tomorrow is Columbus Day, a day which all banks close. This means that I wasn’t able to get change from banks today and I won’t be able to get change from banks tomorrow.

I went to the casino today anyway. When I first tried to get on the bus, I saw a big wall of rain, so I decided to hold off. Forty-five minutes later, it had cleared up and I was able to go. I didn’t have much on me, but I was able to get a few bills into circulation. I actually came out $10 or $15 ahead.

If I go back tomorrow, I’ll probably bring more bills with me. I’ll leave some singles behind so that I’ll have enough to cover the registers when I go in to work Tuesday. The big thing will be having fives, but that shouldn’t be a problem, either. I have some twenties that I can break if I go tomorrow. If not, I may be able to go to a local grocery store to get fives. I may even have enough right now depending on how busy it is.

After going to the casino, I went in to the Apple Store to get an iTunes gift card. I only had $2 bills at that point. When I gave them to the guy at the register, he actually tested them with a pen. (I think this is the third or fourth time I’ve had this done with twos.) He said to a coworker how he wasn’t looking forward to closing with them because of the way that they have to enter the money into the machine.

I told him that he could always get them back into circulation, which I think he’s going to do. He put them in the register where the tens normally went. (He was out of tens at the time; he probably moved them when he got tens in.) Considering that the Apple Store at the mall has computers with Internet access, it’s possible that I may even get some hits there. It’s doubtful, though, since they closed at 8:00 and I haven’t seen any yet. I can always hope, though.