Sweet Irony

You have entered 65,300 Bills worth $186,311
Bills with hits: 5,225 Total hits: 5,943
Hit rate: 8.00% Slugging Percentage: 9.10% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,201.98
Your rank (based on George Score) is #346
(out of 50,695 current users with a George Score. [99.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 23 out of 7,309 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 2,615,801 miles.
They have averaged 446.9 miles per hit and 165.18 days between each hit.

A funny thing happened to me tonight. I had to go out to do several things, including getting a floor amt for my desk chair. I go into Office Max and grab the only one they have, which goes for $29.99 plus tax. I take out a few fives and a bunch of singles. The guy sees the singles and asks me to break some bills.

At first, he wants $100 in change if I have it. Unfortunately, I don’t. Even if I did, though, I don’t like admitting to having that much money on me, especially not to a total stranger. I do agree to sell off $20 in singles. The good news is that he’s going to a strip club, so I may get a few hits soon.

The irony is that I had just gotten some $2 bills this afternoon, but I hadn’t entered or marked them yet.

Ten Years

You have entered 65,066 Bills worth $185,594
Bills with hits: 5,219 Total hits: 5,935
Hit rate: 8.02% Slugging Percentage: 9.12% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,201.79
Your rank (based on George Score) is #344
(out of 50,565 current users with a George Score. [99.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,307 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 2,614,058 miles.
They have averaged 447.4 miles per hit and 165.22 days between each hit.

I took a look at my last post and realize that it was made last month. One of the problems with working in retail is that I get kind of busy, especially this time of year. I had to decide to make another post today.

I’ve passed 1,200 George Score. It seems like each hundred gets harder and harder to pass. I think it has to do with the natural logarithms used in the formula. I’m almost past the #20 mark in Florida. It looks like there are a few people that like to wait 10 or 15 days before refreshing. Past five days, your score drops one percentage point for every day you way, so that on the fifth day, your score is normal. In the sixth day, you lose 6% of your score. One of these days, I’ll make it to #19.

I also found a strange comment, located here. I can’t make heads or tales of what it means.

I also had one hit removed for reasons that I can’t explain. It’s possible that someone entered the wrong series. It’s also possible that it was a bad hit. There are reasons that someone might try to enter a bill and have it removed.

I’ve also heard that Where’s George turned 10 recently. Apparently, the site came online December 23rd 1998. I started almost 3 years ago. This would be the first milestone anniversary. Here’s the forum thread.

I also have a few strange markings to share, here, here and here. The first one looks like a sports team logo. The second one appears to be a business logo. There is a J & M Scaffolds of Florida located in Key West. I can only assume it’s them, as there were no other direct hits on Google. There do appear to be other places in Key West that do business with a place called J & M, but I don’t think any of those other places are in Key West.

As for the third picture, I think we have another case of way too much time on someone’s hands. I’d love to know if they do this to other bills, or if this was an isolated incident.

I also came across a 1928G $2 bill. It looks like it’s in pretty good condition, considering the age. I’ve only come across a few red-seal bills, all of them $2 bills. This seems to be what the banks have. I’d assume that there are other red-seal bills out there, but since other denominations are requested more frequently, I doubt they last as long.

That’s all for now.

You have entered 61,317 Bills worth $175,444
Bills with hits: 4,877 Total hits: 5,535
Hit rate: 7.95% Slugging Percentage: 9.03% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,193.92
Your rank (based on George Score) is #362
(out of 52,071 current users with a George Score. [99.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,218 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled an average of 445.17 miles per hit with an average time of 159.27 days between each hit

I was looking online last night to see if there’s a possibility of a new series of $2 bills. I did find two links worth sharing. One is about someone making the decision to spend or keep $2 bills. The other is from NPR about how $2 bills are making a comeback for various reasons, some of which I hadn’t heard.

I don’t know that they’re making a comeback. I’ve been spending them to be different and to log them into Where’s George. To notice an increase in hits wouldn’t be saying much. Ones still get the lion’s share of hits. I have been noticing people giving them out as change, so that is a good sign.

I’m debating over whether or not to close my account at TD Bank. (Formerly Commerce Bank.) I went there last weekend to get change and one of the tellers gave me grief about it. Apparently, they don’t keep a lot of singles in the front and it’s a big deal to go into the back to get more. Also, she looked up my account and told me that my account was ’inactive’. Change was a service that they only performed for ’active’ accounts. Yes, I could just deposit a check every now and again. I’ll have to think about it.

I do have a correction to make. In my last entry, I said that I was 12,000 bills shy of being on the top 201 list for bills entered. It should have been 1,200. I’m now actually on the top 201 list. I was able to get a few hundred bills last weekend and a few hundred yesterday. That put me on the list.

I have also noticed new stats on Where’s George when I refresh. The new additions are the average time between hits and the average distance per hit. I am also able to access the top 200 people per state by clicking on it. I just thought I’d mention that since it is in the stats that I copied.

You have entered 59,847 Bills worth $171,763
Bills with hits: 4,809 Total hits: 5,454
Hit rate: 8.04% Slugging Percentage: 9.11% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,192.08
Your rank (based on George Score) is #373
(out of 52,946 current users with a George Score. [99.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 20 out of 7,197 [99.7]

I never thought I’d make it to the top 20 in Florida so soon, but I seem to have jumped. I doubt this will last very long, because it probably means that several people haven’t refreshed. If I understand correctly, your George Score drops after five days of not refreshing. If enough people refresh by this time tomorrow, I’ll be back down to 23.

I’m also to within 12,000 bills of being within the top 201 list for total bills entered. I know it’s not much, but it’s something. I figured I’d get something in.

209-E, Dress Down

You have entered 58,744 Bills worth $168,458
Bills with hits: 4,730 Total hits: 5,366
Hit rate: 8.05% Slugging Percentage: 9.13% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,190.18
Your rank (based on George Score) is #384
(out of 53,052 current users with a George Score. [99.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 26 out of 7,167 [99.6]

I came across some interesting bills last month. One has a red rectangular stamp with 209-E inside of it. I don’t know what this means. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’ve actually submitted it to a group which specializes in strange pictures. I’m wondering if it’s some sort of bank stamp or something. The only thing I can think of is that it’s some sort of vendor code. I’ve been to plant sales where there’s a centralized bank of registers. However, it would probably be an easier way to keep track of money, since there’s no real need for any particular vendor to get a specific bill.

The other had Dress Down written on it. I have no idea what this means. I can’t think of any definition of dress down that applies to money unless you’re applying money to dress something down. Maybe someone got dressed down, as in reprimanded, and had to put write the phrase on a bill before putting it in a jar.

I got singles from Washington Mutual last week. I felt a little bad because the guy that usually helps me said that they haven’t been getting a lot of twos in, mostly because of the whole takeover situation. At least Chase is a stable bank, which would mean that the branch will stay open. I don’t see why not, since I don’t know of any Chase banks in the area.

That’s all for now, which is why it’s taken me so long to post. I hope I’ll have more soon

It's not easy spending green

You have entered 57,347 Bills worth $164,885
Bills with hits: 4,627 Total hits: 5,246
Hit rate: 8.07% Slugging Percentage: 9.15% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,187.55
Your rank (based on George Score) is #402
(out of 53,202 current users with a George Score. [99.2 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 25 out of 7,137 [99.6]

It’s not easy using $2 bills. I went to Panera today and ordered lunch. The total was a little over $10. I handed the cashier 6 bills, but she said that she was told not to take them. When I asked why, she said that the bank shredded them, referencing the markings. This bothers me for several reasons.

First, there aren’t many banks in the area and I know that the Wachovia nearby does, in fact, hold on to them. I’ve actually gotten some of my marked bills back from them. It’s possible that they recently switched to the Commerce Bank, but I doubt it.

I also doubt that they shred the bills. I’m thinking that her manager may have meant that the were sent back to the FRB to be shredded, but either way, why would Panera care? If they’re being credited with money, it shouldn’t matter. I guess that the manager (or whoever made the decision) knows that I don’t want them shredded. I guess it’s better to hold on to them and at least spend them somewhere that will hand them back out as change.

Most importantly, it means that they’re not getting them back into circulation. Instead, they’re depositing the bills. For this reason, it’s probably just as well that I not spend them there. If a store is actually refusing them for this reason, there’s very little chance that they’d ever change.

After Lunch, I went to Party City. I wanted to get some glow sticks, but didn’t want to pay $15-$20 in shipping. I was able to get an assortment for very little money and paid for it in… you guessed it… $2 bills. The cashier had to ask someone if it was ok to take them. I guess it was because she eventually took them. This is pretty common, but is still annoying.

I’ve also decided that it’s too much of a pain to spend cash in the Apple Store at the mall. They are able to go through the line and process credit and debit purchases right away, but you have to wait for cash. I was first in line and had to wait at least five minutes to be helped, despite the fact that several cashiers were just standing there. All I wanted was an iTunes card. I even had the money counted out. Could they suspend a transaction and help me? Obviously not. I’m thinking that I should get my iTunes cards elsewhere.

Driving

You have entered 56,575 Bills worth $163,083
Bills with hits: 4,554 Total hits: 5,164
Hit rate: 8.05% Slugging Percentage: 9.13% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,185.77
Your rank (based on George Score) is #381(out of 53,196 current users with a George Score. [99.3 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 23 out of 7,119 [99.7]

I’ve been driving for a few weeks now, which is part of why I haven’t been writing as much. It’s odd having to do certain things like buy gas. (Which I am doing with cash, in case you’re wondering.) I haven’t been posting in either blog, even though I’ve been taking a lot of pictures. (Check out http://sixmegs.blogspot.com/.)

I haven’t noticed any real change in the distribution of my bills, but spending them at gas stations is something that will affect the distribution within the county in which they’re spent. Since I’ve bought gas within a few miles of my house, I would think that the northeast quadrant of Miami-Dade County will be the most affected. I just don’t know how.

Having a car has had me thinking differently. Theoretically, I could go on a short trip if I had two days off. I wouldn’t necessarily do this to pick up hits in new counties, but it is something that has crossed my mind. As of this writing, I have 53 of Florida’s 67 counties. It looks like there’s one county south of Orlando that I need, and that’s De Soto County. The only major city listed seems to be Arcadia and that barely warrants an entry in the AAA book. The only way I could see going there is on the way to Sarasota or something.

There are a few north of Orlando, like Union and Bradford. It looks like all of the counties with major destinations are taken though. I also don’t want to go too far north. If I did make up my mind to go somewhere, I’d like to be able to go there and get back no later than the next day. Saint Augustine, which is pretty close to those counties, would be almost a five-hour drive from where I live. If I left early enough, I could get there by lunchtime, but I’ve never really planned a trip like that and would have no idea where to go or what to do.

Granted, all of this is just me thinking about the counties I need. I definitely don’t want to waste the gas just to spend the bills. However, if I happened to be heading in a certain direction, I might try to stop in or near a county I need. This is just one of the things I’ve been thinking about since I started driving.

Of Steak and Shake and IHOP

You have entered 53,175 Bills worth $153,735
Bills with hits: 4,134 Total hits: 4,670
Hit rate: 7.77% Slugging Percentage: 8.78% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,174.78
Your rank (based on George Score) is #429(out of 53,561 current users with a George Score. [99.2 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 27 out of 7,009 [99.6]

My brother and I had an interesting experience last night. We went to Steak ‘n’ Shake, but found they had closed early. The sign said that they closed every night at 2 a.m. and we were there at 12:30. I’m pretty good at math, or at least at reading. I’m pretty sure that they should have been open at least another hour and a half. One of the people there just said that they were closed.

I understand this reaction when you are actually supposed to be closed. I work in retail and it does get annoying when people show up fifteen minutes after we’ve closed and everything is already shut down. You should have gotten there earlier. Also, we have another location about five miles away that stays open later. However, if we arrive well within the posted hours, we have a right to expect the restaurant to be open.

We ended up going to an IHOP in North Miami Beach. Not the best part of town, but it wasn’t too bad. We were a little surprised when we overheard someone talking about another restaurant that was robbed earlier this year and how it was her shift. When I went to pay, the waitress said that she needed the singles and had only twenties. I actually thought of trading with her, as I had singles with me, but it was late and there were people there. I didn’t want to be followed out to the car.

Contrary to what my mother may think, I do think of these things. The trouble with living in a big city is that you do have bad people. I’d like to get bills into circulation, but I don’t want to get mugged, especially when my brother’s there. (I don’t want to get either one of us hurt.)

I filled out a complaint form for Steak ‘n’ Shake, which hasn’t earned a response yet. We’ll have to see how it goes.

You have entered 51,669 Bills worth $147,780
Bills with hits: 4,014 Total hits: 4,529
Hit rate: 7.77% Slugging Percentage: 8.77% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,171.28
Your rank (based on George Score) is #441
(out of 53,747 current users with a George Score. [99.2 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 29 out of 6,969 [99.6]

I am happy to report that one of my two-dollar bills was given out as change at McDonalds the other day. This means progress. It’s hard to tell what kind of progress because I don’t usually hang around to see how the next person gets their change, not to mention that the next person doesn’t always use cash. I am noticing that fewer places are putting them under the tray. This means that they’re at least keeping them on standby.

I also ordered another stamp from stamp-connection.com. It seems like I get a stamp every time I need to order ink pads. I figure a few years from now, I’ll have them all. I definitely recommend them if you need to buy stamps, especially acrylic stamps.

I got two hits, here and here that will be (or was) used in a vending machine at Barry University, which is about a mile from where I live. It’s hard to think that two bills stayed together for almost 500 days and they’re still so close from where they were entered. This is why I’d like to see my bills entered more often. I’m assuming that since there are two bills that they were sitting in a bank somewhere, but for all I know, they made it around the world twice before making it back to Barry University.

I have a coworker that thinks it’s good that my bills end up at the bank. This is why it’s not good. I want my bills out and about and going places. They can’t do that if they’re sitting in a vault somewhere. Take a look at this bill, which ended up in Richmond, VA. Yes, it took a while, but I’ll bet it didn’t see the inside of a bank.

In other good news, I got Hawaii county bingo, but it’s an easy bingo of sorts. I should probably update the County Bingo Wiki. There’s one county that seems to be in dispute as to whether or not it’s a county. It’s called Kalawao County and doesn’t have a government, but does apparently have a sheriff. If you read the Wikipedia article, it’s kind of interesting. It’s also apparently difficult to get a hit there.

That’s all I have to report now. I’m sure I’ll think of something later.

You have entered 50,160 Bills worth $143,134
Bills with hits: 3,904 Total hits: 4,408
Hit rate: 7.78% Slugging Percentage: 8.79% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,168.12
Your rank (based on George Score) is #459
(out of 53,590 current users with a George Score. [99.1 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 27 out of 6,936 [99.6]

It’s been a while, I know. I also realize that this has become little more than a place for me to post milestones, but I haven’t come across many interesting bills. The most recent bill of any interest is here. Someone gave George a new face. Is Teresa the person that did it or is Teresa the person they’re trying to impersonate?

Speaking of faces, I’m not sure if I posted this one. It looks like they tried to give the smiley a long nose. It does give the face a little more depth. What’s with the checkmark, though? Are they saying that the smiley is good enough? “Hi, I’m Teresa and I approve of this Smiley.”
As for the milestone, I just entered my 50,000th bill. It took me about two and a half years.

I’m wondering if it will take me as long to enter another 50,000 bills. I’m thinking it will take me less time, as I am getting a little better at getting bills. There are those that are able to enter that much every month, which is why it surprises me when people worry about me.

I did hit three bills today, located here, here and here. The interesting thing is that two of them are two-dollar bills. I got all three bills from the same bank at the same time, which is what’s most interesting to me. I’ve always wondered why I don’t find more bills, especially considering that so many get hits.

I think it has to do with the fact that so many hits come from unregistered users. However, it is a zero-sum effect, if you think about it. For every bill that I hit, someone else gets a hit. Whenever I get a hit, it means that someone else has entered my bill. I would think that if you add up all the bills that are hit and do the same for all of the hit bills, the numbers would be the same.

I have yet to meet someone that has hit significantly more bills than has had bills that were hit. There are those that only hit marked bills, but many of these people have very few bills entered. We’re talking less than a hundred many times. I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.

Top Toms update

You have entered 47,120 Bills worth $133,907
Bills with hits: 3,649 Total hits: 4,123
Hit rate: 7.74% Slugging Percentage: 8.75% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,160.49
Your rank (based on George Score) is #470
(out of 53,605 current users with a George Score. [99.1 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 29 out of 6,867 [99.6]

I just happened to notice that Top Toms link that I posted was way out of date. No one had been added at all so far this calendar year. So, I asked and it turns out that someone else is keeping the list. (You can find the list here.) I’ve submitted the information out again and hopefully, it will be added soon. (The person got back to me pretty quickly, si it may even be up there already.) I’m now stamping the bills and hope to have them in circulation later this week or next.

Top Toms

You have entered 47,117 Bills worth $133,904
Bills with hits: 3,639 Total hits: 4,113
Hit rate: 7.72% Slugging Percentage: 8.73% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,160.25
Your rank (based on George Score) is #476
(out of 53,611 current users with a George Score. [99.1 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 28 out of 6,865 [99.6]

Just after I posted about not being able to get $2 bills, I got a hundred of them. That put me over the 2,000 needed to get on the Top Toms list. I sent in the information and hopefully, I’ll be added soon.

I’m not sure if I want to mark them. It’s not because they put me over, but because they’re new. I hate having to mark new, sequential bills. It’s bad enough that I get looks for the marked currency, but people seem to hate new, crisp bills. The manager at the store where I work often alternates between new and old if he can.

I don’t really have much else to report. I just wanted to share.

You have entered 47,017 Bills worth $133,704
Bills with hits: 3,633 Total hits: 4,106
Hit rate: 7.73% Slugging Percentage: 8.73% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,160.04
Your rank (based on George Score) is #481
(out of 53,641 current users with a George Score. [99.1 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 28 out of 6,859 [99.6]

I know it’s been a while. I was out of town and I’ve been closing at work a lot, so I haven’t been writing much. I actually made it to the #25 spot within Florida, but got knocked back down. I may make it back up soon if I keep entering bills.

I have been trying to get twos, now that I’m within a hundred bills of being a Top Tom. (At last count, I have 1,948 twos.) It’s getting harder now that I’m closer. I can’t seem to get more than ten at a time. One bank near Aventura Mall, which usually has them, has been out for a while. There’s a teller at another bank that knows to tell me when she has any, but she wasn’t there the last time I went.

At the bank by work, I’ve been seeing the $2 bills that I’ve been marking. I had stopped spending them at McDonalds, so I can be relatively certain that it’s not them. There aren’t too many places that I spend them and there were a few last time I asked. It looked like it may have been from several deposits.

As for other bills, I found a $5 bill marked with a big purple circle. I don’t speak Spanish, but I think Azul is blue. I can’t make out the first word. If anyone knows what it means, please leave a comment here or on the picture.

On another bill, I also found "Fanfan" and "repent". It looks like it was two different people. I think I may have found a fanfan bill before, but I see so much writing, it’s hard to remember. I’m way too lazy to look back at my previous posts.

To Arizona and back

You have entered 44,360 Bills worth $124,108
Bills with hits: 3,420 Total hits: 3,866
Hit rate: 7.71% Slugging Percentage: 8.72% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,153.13
Your rank (based on George Score) is #509
(out of 53,120 current users with a George Score. [99.0 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 27 out of 6,797 [99.6]

I went to Arizona and came back and found I had Delaware county bingo. Granted, it’s only three counties, but it’s still my first real state. Next in line in terms of easiness would be Rhode Island, I believe, with five counties.

My mother spent a few bills in the Fort Lauderdale airport on the way out to Phoenix. It turns out that I got a few hits on some of the bills. I think someone got in line before her and got the bills as change, then got on the same flight as us. It sucks, but it happens.

When we came back, I tried to reload a Starbucks gift card, but the woman at the register said that she couldn’t. Apparently, some people had stolen money by pretending to reload the cards, but pocketed the money instead. The customers didn’t realize what had happened until they were halfway across the country. I tried to reload at Burger King, but they didn’t take the kind of gift card that I had.

I looked for places around Arizona, but I was only able to find a Subway at a mall and a Starbucks we stopped at. There weren’t many options.

I did find some interesting bills before I left. This one has some illegible handwriting on it. All I can make out is the 516. There’s also the Diver Down bill, here. Nothing worth writing a lot about, but worth sharing.

Last but not least, I managed to pass and stay above 30th place in Florida. I don’t know how long it will last since I think there are at least three or four people in the top thirty that wait a few days before refreshing. If they’re right ahead of me normally, I may get kicked back down if they all refresh. One can only hope they don’t.

100th post

You have entered 42,091 Bills worth $117,433
Bills with hits: 3,123 Total hits: 3,533
Hit rate: 7.42% Slugging Percentage: 8.39% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,143.33
Your rank (based on George Score) is #555
(out of 52,047 current users with a George Score. [98.9 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 32 out of 6,720 [99.5]

I got my new fives in the register today. They seemed pretty well received. I didn’t stamp them because I knew that I might get someone who wanted to say something just because they were new bills. I didn’t need someone getting confused by the stamps on top of that. A coworker handed out two without comment. I gave a few more as change and the woman asked for most of the rest for a twenty. I don’t know what happened to the last one. I have to see if I can get more.

I also got a hit on a twenty. These are pretty rare, especially considering that I don’t mark them. Usually, they go to the bank and I don’t expect a hit on them. However, if I’m going to the casino, I may mark them. (This way, I can tell if I get them back.) It’s not surprising that the bill only made it to Fort Lauderdale. From what I understand, twenties don’t travel too far. I am surprised that it took only 81 days to get a hit.

That’s all for now.

You have entered 42,083 Bills worth $117,352
Bills with hits: 3,117 Total hits: 3,526
Hit rate: 7.41% Slugging Percentage: 8.38% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,143.12
Your rank (based on George Score) is #557
(out of 52,002 current users with a George Score. [98.9 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 33 out of 6,716 [99.5]

I got some new fives today. I honestly can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t like them. Sure, there’s that big purple 5 on the back. It’s actually a lot bigger than I expected. And a lot more purple. The demo on the Web site doesn’t do it justice.

I’m going to see if I can get a few in the register at work tomorrow to see how customers react. Most people don’t think that the new bills look like real currency because they’re used to the old design that we’ve had for way too long. I thin we’ve been way overdue for currency redesign.

I did also get some interesting bills recently, including one with a hemp leaf. It had the corresponding "I grew hemp" stamp, but I couldn’t get that one without getting the serial number. This is the first I’ve seen of that bill up close and personal, although I’ve heard of people stamping bills that way.

I found a $2 bill, seen here, that said "Good Luck in 2006" on it. It would appear to be a bit past it’s prime, but it’s a nice sentiment. This one, I’m having trouble figuring out and only part of it has to do with the handwriting. (You have to view the full image to see the handwriting.)

From what I can make out, it says "Who ever receive this bill will be bless /// The Jesus-Christ". I’m thinking it was done by someone who doesn’t speak English as their first language. (I will admit that my fellow native English speakers never cease to amaze me with their poor literacy skills.) I still don’t get why people do this. I appreciate the fact that someone is wishing me well, but I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God or that Jesus Christ is the savior.

Anyway, I’m not trying to start a religious debate. I started out just wanting to share that I had gotten a few of the new fives and I decided to throw in the pictures. Until next time…

Many hits and many bills

You have entered 41,117 Bills worth $114,220
Bills with hits: 3,046 Total hits: 3,448
Hit rate: 7.41% Slugging Percentage: 8.39% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,140.53
Your rank (based on George Score) is #558
(out of 51,814 current users with a George Score. [98.9 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 32 out of 6,697 [99.5]

I read the other day that Gulfstream Park, where I gamble a lot, isn’t doing so well. (You can read the story here.) It’s not so much that the casino is doing poorly; it’s just that it’s not doing as well as expected. It stems mostly from the construction of shops on the property, which is keeping people away.

It would suck if the casino closed. There’s another casino not to far away, but the other one would be more difficult to get to. I’d have to take a different bus that’s operated by another county. I really don’t think that Gulfstream will be closing any time soon. Casinos tend to do well. It’s just the thought of not being able to get as many bills into circulation is a little scary.

I also got a new stamp and pad. It reads “These bills were made for spendin’” and will be used on twos. I haven’t had much of a chance to use it yet, since twos seem to be hard to come by as of late. The idea is to let people know that I don’t want the bills to end up in a collection or at the bank. The intent of spending the bills is to have them given out as change.

I got an orange ink pad with it, but I think that may have been a mistake. The orange doesn’t seem to be as visible. I’ve been using it in conjunction with another stamp marked in red ink, so at least I have some visibility. Orange wasn’t as bold as I had hoped. At least I’ll be getting some use out of it.

In other news, I did get a six-hitter. If you’re reading this post years after the fact, it’s entirely possible that this bill will get more hits, so I’ll have to explain that a six-hitter is a bill that gets six hits, or seven entries. (The original entry doesn’t technically count as a hit, since hits are only subsequent entries.)

In hopes of getting other six-hitters, I went to two banks today. One gave me what I call semi-consecutive or semi-sequential bills, which is where they take sequential bills and split them up. I may get spurts of five or ten bills in order or with serial numbers close to each other, but the majority of the bills are out of order.

Even though consecutive bills are very easy to enter, semi-consecutive bills are very difficult to enter, since I often have to sort the bills and I have to pay attention so as not to enter bills that I don’t have. The reason I hate this is that it means more work than getting either consecutive or all random bills. I really wish that banks wouldn’t do it.

I think it’s done because people generally don’t like getting all consecutive bills, so the bank figures that it’s better to give out a few at a time. To make matters worse, a lot of the bills come crinkled. Not only do I have a lot of work, but the bills look used, too.

Well, I think that’s all the complaining for now. I’m sure I’ll have something else in a few days.

You have entered 40,041 Bills worth $111,370
Bills with hits: 2,961 Total hits: 3,342
Hit rate: 7.39% Slugging Percentage: 8.35% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,137.00
Your rank (based on George Score) is #574
(out of 51,585 current users with a George Score. [98.9 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 32 out of 6,675 [99.5]

I’ve passed 40,000 bills entered. This is pretty big for me. I know I’m not quite in the top ten overall, but I’m working on it and may soon pass 30 within the state.

I actually entered 3,010 bills last month, which is the second time I’ve entered at least 3,000 bills in the same calendar month. The thing that scares me is that I entered more than $10,000 in one calendar month, and it was in the shortest month on the calendar. (For those that aren’t too quick with math, that translates into an average of $3.41 per bill, give or take a few tenths of a cent.)

I also got two international hits yesterday, which can be found here and here. That’s not including the Canadian hit I got today, which can be found here. I’d say that my bills like to head out in the world.

I just figured I’d give an update.

Jesus is Lord

You have entered 38,155 Bills worth $104,259
Bills with hits: 2,791 Total hits: 3,151
Hit rate: 7.31% Slugging Percentage: 8.26% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,130.38
Your rank (based on George Score) is #595
(out of 50,987 current users with a George Score. [98.8 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 31 out of 6,618 [99.5]

I found another stamped message on the back of one of my bills. This time, It’s “JESUS IS LORD” in big red letters. It bled through to the front, so I do have some concerns about spending it. I may be able to pass it off on one of the slot machines, but any way I look at it, I’m making it someone else’s problem. I hate spending bills like that because I get enough questions about the Where’s George stuff. It’s even worse now that I have religious crap on the bill. Imagine explaining to someone that I’m an atheist.

“So, why’d you do it?”

In other news, I got squiggles and a happy face on one bill, seen here. People will do strange things to their bills.

Two years and counting

You have entered 37,762 Bills worth $103,006
Bills with hits: 2,762 Total hits: 3,121
Hit rate: 7.31% Slugging Percentage: 8.26% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,129.26
Your rank (based on George Score) is #593
(out of 50,917 current users with a George Score. [98.8 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 31 out of 6,614 [99.5]

It’s been two years today since I signed up and entered my first bill with Where’s George. I almost let it pass without a blog entry. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing this for so long.. (It seems like just yesterday that I was telling everyone that it was one year.)

I’ve been thinking about it. It seems like I’ve been obsessive about it ever since I figured out how to be. When I first signed up, I simply entered what I got. Granted, I didn’t spend anything until I got it home, but it never occurred to me to simply go to the bank and get singles. Then, someone pointed it out to me and it took me only a week or two to convince myself to do it. It’s been all downhill from there.

It took me the first four months of 2007 to surpass all 11 months that I was entering in 2006. I now have almost 38,000 bills entered totaling over $100,000. I keep telling my parents that I’m not obsessed. Obsessed is entering over ten times that amount. I honestly don’t know how anyone does it outside of getting friends to enter and/or mark, or simply not marking.

I’ve always wanted to go to Vegas, but Where’s George has given me a new reason to want to go. It’s also given me reason to think of strange things, like where the best place would be to spend a bill if I want to get it to go far away. (Airports are a natural choice, but which county would be the best for distribution?)

I’m usually looking out for the nearest Internet connection so that I can enter bills. (I’m paying extra for Internet on my cell phone just in case.) Libraries are usually a good bet, but you usually have to be a resident of the county and you often have to wait in line. Apple Stores are good, as are hotels if you’re staying in them. I’m still wondering why the casino doesn’t have Internet access.

Well, here’s to another year of entering more bills.

Edwin 2442

You have entered 37,328 Bills worth $102,038
Bills with hits: 2,744 Total hits: 3,103
Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.31% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,128.51
Your rank (based on George Score) is #596
(out of 50,863 current users with a George Score. [98.8 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 30 out of 6,606 [99.5]

I found a bill with interesting markings. It said simply, “Edwin 236012” and “Edwin” as seen in the picture. I have no idea what this means. Someone suggested with another bill that the marking was to keep track of tips. It allowed the bills to be entered into the system and tracked for tax purposes. It’s possible that this is the guy’s name and employee number. Why would the guy’s name be written twice, though? Maybe he thought his name wasn’t legible before.

In other news, I spent some $2 bills at a local Walgreens only to have the cashier put them under the register. What struck me as odd was that she had $2 bills in the tray. Of course, mine were marked which means that the unmarked bills have a better chance of getting back into circulation more quickly. I never realized that it would be so hard to actually try. I have to wonder where the other bills came from, though. Was she keeping them there to swap out later? (Mine were just as good.)

When I was entering bills at the mall today, someone was looking at the computer, wondering what I was doing. I had the chance to explain to him what Where’s George is. I even showed him the most-hit bill on the site. He seemed interested for the last two seconds before he walked away. We might have a new user, but I’m not expecting to find any of his bills.

$100,000

You have entered 36,770 Bills worth $100,221
Bills with hits: 2,689 Total hits: 3,035
Hit rate: 7.31% Slugging Percentage: 8.25% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,126.06
Your rank (based on George Score) is #622
(out of 50,640 current users with a George Score. [98.8 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 33 out of 6,591 [99.5]

I actually broke $100,000 in entered bills. Not exactly big in the grand scheme of things, but definitely worth sharing here. Now, mind you, that doesn’t mean I have $100,000 on me right now. Going to the casino and having access to a cash register both help. I can swap out bills, so $200 or $300 will go a long way.

I still don’t know how others are able to enter more than me. For me to enter and stamp bills takes a while, and that’s assuming I’m not distracted. Of course, I get distracted easily by things like food, TV and (on occasion) this blog. Right now, I’m stamping bills, which I think I’ll get back to. I just wanted to share.

Another Aida bill

You have entered 35,844 Bills worth $98,210
Bills with hits: 2,642 Total hits: 2,982
Hit rate: 7.37% Slugging Percentage: 8.32% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,123.90
Your rank (based on George Score) is #632
(out of 50,660 current users with a George Score. [98.8 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 34 out of 6,579 [99.5]

At work today, we had a guy come in and notice the bills. He said that someone in the area must be spending them. I had to smile because I knew who it was. He said that he’d seen the bills all over, which I consider to be a good sign. Spending them at McDonalds and Subway seems to be paying off. I haven’t had many people confront me about it. It seems like everyone else gets the mean customers, but I think there may be some exaggeration going on.

I found a bill, photographed here, that shows someone trying to raise the note in a very obvious way. I have to think that this was meant as a joke or something. It was still interesting to document.

As for this one, I sense something familiar. I found another bill, seen here. The other one was a five, but it still had the same distinctive ‘AIDA’ written on it.

This person seems to be doing it on a lot of bills. I’ve hit only 51 bills from other georgers since signing up almost two years ago. Here, I’ve seen at least two from the same person. I don’t think I have doubles from any one person. (Yes, I’ve gotten my own bills back, but that’s mostly at the casino.)

Maybe I’ll figure out who this Aida person is.

You have entered 35,111 Bills worth $96,174
Bills with hits: 2,585 Total hits: 2,915
Hit rate: 7.36% Slugging Percentage: 8.30% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,121.31
Your rank (based on George Score) is #650
(out of 50,625 current users with a George Score. [98.7 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 35 out of 6,557 [99.5]

I found some 2006 series $5 bills, but they’re not the redesigned bills. I was surprised to see them since the redesigns were supposed to come out in March. I think the serials of the new bills are supposed to start with I. These start with H and Where’s George still recognized them. In case you want pictures, they look essentially like the 2003A bills.

There’s no purple 5 on the back or cool colors. They look the same as always. I guess this means that we have to wait until March to see the new bills. I just thought I’d share and see if anyone had an explanation as to why there are 2006 bills that look the same as 2003A