Cash FTW

You have entered 133,611 Bills worth $350,883
Bills with hits: 9,380 Total hits: 10,606
Hit rate: 7.02% Slugging Percentage: 7.94% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,270.48
Your rank (based on George Score) is #197
(out of 49,500 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,932 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,955,361 miles.
They have averaged 473.7 miles per hit and 194.95 days between each hit.

I saw two articles today that indicate that I should expect more hits. The first says that fewer people are using credit. The driving force seems to be that people don’t want it incur unnecessary debt, which is good advice in any economy. Not only will people have less debt but the stores don’t have charges associated with having the transaction processed.

The second article is reassuring people that cash won’t slow down checkout lines. Not only does it take about the same time, but not enough people are doing it that anyone has to worry.
Either way, it means that more of my bills will be given out as change.

And now for something completely different

You have entered 131,155 Bills worth $346,299
Bills with hits: 9,205 Total hits: 10,419
Hit rate: 7.02% Slugging Percentage: 7.94% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,268.43
Your rank (based on George Score) is #199
(out of 49,660 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,924 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,879,028 miles.
They have averaged 474.9 miles per hit and 194.41 days between each hit.

For those of you that think that math has no real-world application, I present to you a case of statistical sampling. Very often, I will enter 100 or more bills at a time. Once in a while, I’ll have entered fewer bills than I should have. This means one of two things: either I was shorted a bill or I missed one.

Since I deal with banks and casinos, I’m dealing with people that are a bit paranoid about money and thus not likely to short me a bill. When I’m missing a bill like that, it means that I’ve skipped over one. You may ask how I can find one missing bill among 100, 200, 300 or more. Do I have to go through each bill?

I used to do that until I realized that I didn’t have to. That’s where statistical sampling comes in. Let’s say that I have 250 bills. I think I’ve entered all of them only to discover that I’ve actually entered 249. I count off 10 bills at a time and check the top bill against the recently entered bills.

The top bill on my pile should be the most recently entered bill. If I count off ten bills, the next should be the eleventh most recently entered. When I find one that doesn’t match, I’ve effectively narrowed it down to a range of ten bills; my missing bill should be in there. (If it’s not, I’ve probably miscounted.)

I know this may well be boring to most, but it is an example of how paying attention in math class can help.

Hits and profiles and really large numbers

You have entered 123,555 Bills worth $328,764
Bills with hits: 8,822 Total hits: 10,009
Hit rate: 7.14% Slugging Percentage: 8.10% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,263.54
Your rank (based on George Score) is #199
(out of 51,518 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,888 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,669,903 miles.
They have averaged 473.1 miles per hit and 193.98 days between each hit.

Someone in the Where’s George forums pointed out that the profiles have new stats. (Here's a link to my profile.) These are stats that are normally available on my profile, as indicated above, but are now available to all each time I refresh.

I also have an interesting comment to report. Since the person commenting knows the full name of the person, I doubt that Alex Mozeak really is a crack head. (For those that point out that it’s obvious, I do have liability to worry about; there are one or two other people that read this blog every so often.)

Then there’s the three-year sleeper. The one thing I wonder about a hit like this is if the bill traveled around the world only to end up 14 miles away. I know that it was probably sitting in a bank vault somewhere, but it’s impossible to tell as there were no hits for more than 40 months. It could go either way.

Finally, I’ve just gotten hit number 10,000. (As of this posting, the page isn’t showing the actual hit number; I had to count backwards from hit 10,009, so there’s a slight possibility that it’s one off.) At the rate I’m going, I may get to 20,000 within two years.

Updates

You have entered 119,194 Bills worth $320,218
Bills with hits: 8,606 Total hits: 9,760
Hit rate: 7.22% Slugging Percentage: 8.19% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,260.50
Your rank (based on George Score) is #216
(out of 51,840 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,870 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,577,277 miles.
They have averaged 475.7 miles per hit and 194.22 days between each hit.

With the demise of Geocities, it appears that the Top Toms list had to be moved. It’s now being hosted at a more permanent location. It looks like my status hasn’t been updated in a while, so I’m going to have to send in my current stats.

There’s also a link there to the Tom Supply Network. I should probably add that to the links section. I’ve just registered there and will later add some banks in the Miami area to the list.

I’ve also noticed that the profiles on Where’s George now have additional stats like overall rank and state rank as well as the number of wilds hit.

I just thought I’d add the updates.

Interesting user comments

You have entered 114,306 Bills worth $309,936
Bills with hits: 8,391 Total hits: 9,522
Hit rate: 7.34% Slugging Percentage: 8.33% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,257.42
Your rank (based on George Score) is #218
(out of 52,519 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,845 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,488,478 miles.
They have averaged 478.3 miles per hit and 193.99 days between each hit.

It looks like it’s time to post some bill reports. The first is one of those comments that I’d love to see the bill. Sometimes, if I get a little of the red ink on my finger, I may get some of it on the bills if I touch them. I wonder if that’s the ‘blood stain’ that the comment refers to. It could also be that they’ve got an strange sense of humor. It’s still an interesting comment.

This one I speaks for itself. For those that don’t know, check out the Scarlett’s web site.

This one, I’m wondering if they still have it. They actually held on to it and then entered it? Why?

In the Poor Concept of Time category is this bill. They hadn’t used the shorts in six months, but it’s only 80 days between entries. Maybe someone slipped it in their pocket.

Who is Mr. Yuck?

This is another one I can’t figure out. Is the New York?

Those are the more interesting ones I’ve gotten recently. I’ll post more as I get them.

No more SunPass only

You have entered 110,168 Bills worth $301,266
Bills with hits: 8,213 Total hits: 9,322
Hit rate: 7.45% Slugging Percentage: 8.46% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,254.75
Your rank (based on George Score) is #220
(out of 52,612 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,840 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,412,318 miles.
They have averaged 480.6 miles per hit and 193.67 days between each hit.

Last week, I went through a toll plaza that took both SunPass and cash, which surprised me. A few days ago, my father found a job listing for a toll collector, which also surprised me. I had been operating under the assumption that the cash option had been phased out.

After filling out the application today, I asked about the cash option and the job opening. The guy said that the SunPass-only toll booths never came to pass. I guess that’s a good thing because it not only means that I don’t have to worry about getting a SunPass, but I may get a job out of it.

Blood stains and other markings

You have entered 109,444 Bills worth $299,436
Bills with hits: 8,082 Total hits: 9,178
Hit rate: 7.38% Slugging Percentage: 8.39% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,253.10
Your rank (based on George Score) is #216
(out of 52,355 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 15 out of 7,835 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,362,204 miles.
They have averaged 483.1 miles per hit and 193.53 days between each hit.

I actually made it to #15 in Florida, but I don’t know how long that will last. There are a few people below me that haven’t refreshed in a few days. When they refresh, I’ll be knocked back down.

I also found this bill today. I don’t know what the deal is with the red and green markings other than Christmas decorations. It’s going to be a little difficult to mark with my Biscayne Park stamp or any similar stamp, for that matter. I may have to simply mark it on the edges.

First a drug bust. Now this. What is it with blood stains and drugs in South Florida? I really need to move somewhere else and soon.

Sexy

You have entered 109,065 Bills worth $298,709
Bills with hits: 8,035 Total hits: 9,126
Hit rate: 7.37% Slugging Percentage: 8.37% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,252.48
Your rank (based on George Score) is #214
(out of 52,692 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,834 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,342,316 miles.
They have averaged 483.7 miles per hit and 193.25 days between each hit.

I hit a bill today that had the URL in really small print. If you’re going to handwrite the URL, make it big enough for people to see. The only reason that I hit it is that I enter almost everything I come across.

At least I have a picture to post. I came across this five at the casino. I’m not sure how they got it, as the machines have a tendency to reject anything that’s marked this much. I still have it, but I don’t know if I should hold on to it until I return to the casino or if I should just try to spend it somewhere.

When I get a bill that’s marked like this, I’m usually a little worried about the looks I’ll get. It’s not a particularly attractive design. The thought of Abraham Lincoln in drag with the word ’sexy’ even kind of gives me the willies. But, what can I do?

Maybe I should start walking more

You have entered 107,426 Bills worth $295,589
Bills with hits: 7,896 Total hits: 8,969
Hit rate: 7.35% Slugging Percentage: 8.35% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,250.53
Your rank (based on George Score) is #222
(out of 52,475 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,820 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,279,035 miles.
They have averaged 485.4 miles per hit and 193.32 days between each hit.

I know I seem to be a bit anti-debit when it comes to a lot of things. I’d like to think that it’s more about having choice. I read in today’s Miami Herald that Miami-Dade Transit wants to do away with paper transfers. (You can read the article here.)

For those that don’t ride the bus, transfers allow people to use two buses on the same trip without having to pay two full fares. In Miami-Dade County, full fare is $2 and a transfer is 50¢. (Service is so bad that it was overpriced at half that amount.) In order to be able to pay 50¢ for a transfer, you’ll have to buy an EASY Card.

According to the article, the cards will be free for a limited time. If you’re not quick enough to get one, you’ll have to pay $2 and load it online, at Metrorail stations or certain other locations. At least they’ll still be taking cash, so someone that doesn’t have access to the Internet can at least get to one of the machines at one of those select locations.

I generally don’t like situations like this. It seems to me that Miami-Dade Transit Authority is simply trying to get more money out of people. You either have to pay $2 for the card or you have to pay full fare for each bus ride. It seems to me that they’re trying to make it just a little more difficult to take the bus.

I’ll use tokens as an example. Back when bus fare was $1.25, tokens cost 10 for $10, or $1 each. When fare was raised to $1.50, the cost of ten tokens went to $14.50. Yes, that’s right. You saved a whopping 5¢ per trip. If you decided to go downtown to buy some, you’d have to buy five or 10 rolls to make it worth the trip. I think that’s why they were phased out.

What are tourists supposed to do if they want to take our transit system? Are they supposed to donate $2 (per person, no doubt) to get a card that won’t be worth anything when they leave? This is exactly why I started driving.

You have entered 103,618 Bills worth $287,846
Bills with hits: 7,783 Total hits: 8,840
Hit rate: 7.51% Slugging Percentage: 8.53% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,248.55
Your rank (based on George Score) is #235
(out of 52,544 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,805 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,215,497 miles.
They have averaged 485.0 miles per hit and 192.93 days between each hit.

I really have to admit that the Bank of America in Aventura has great service. I went through the drive through yesterday to get change. Before I could put the money in the container, the teller actually came over the intercom and asked if I wanted $2 bills. For some reason, I don’t normally ask for $2 bills in the drive through. I don’t always ask when I go in. But for them to recognize me and ask is great. I really like going to that branch. (To boot, I got two red-seal bills in the batch that they gave me.)

In other news, I got two interesting hits. I don’t know if this first one is true. If it is, it’s pretty interesting. To think that I got the bill and it couldn’t last two weeks without being noticed by law enforcement. It was nice of them to enter the bill.

The second one is more of a novelty. They seemed to get the website right the first time to enter the bill, but put where’sbill.com in the user note. I don’t get that.

Why you need a car in Miami

You have entered 102,018 Bills worth $284,170
Bills with hits: 7,699 Total hits: 8,746
Hit rate: 7.55% Slugging Percentage: 8.57% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,247.25
Your rank (based on George Score) is #242
(out of 52,687 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,794 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,169,053 miles.
They have averaged 484.6 miles per hit and 192.95 days between each hit.

I actually went through the drive-up lane at the bank yesterday to get change. I think that the reason I never did was that when I was learning to drive, the bank drive-up lane was somewhat difficult, especially in a minivan. When I got to the bank yesterday, it was a few minutes after closing. Since so many Publix locations don’t want to give me change, I figured I might as well go through the drive-up.

Yes, I’ve been driving for over a year and this is actually the first time that I’ve gone through the bank’s drive-up. I did go through a McDonald’s drive-through once, which I also managed to survive. I think another part of the reason is that drive throughs are so confining. You have to follow a very specific path and, at least with fast-food places, once you’re in, you’re pretty much committed. You cant get out until you’ve gotten your food.

Once you have a car or two behind you, it’s pretty much the same thing at the bank. You just have to sit there until there are no cars in front of you. This is why I generally prefer going in, and will continue to go in given a choice.

I think that the drive ups at banks are unfair. When I went to the bank yesterday, several other people were walking up to the door after me. One guy had to make a deposit, but didn’t seem to have a problem using the drive up. There was a woman, though, that didn’t drive. When that happens, what do you do if you need change? (Basically, you need to go to the nearest Publix and hope they’ll have the change for you.)

This is why you need to drive in Miami. We’re not set up for people without cars.

Getting change and entering bills

You have entered 101,324 Bills worth $282,686
Bills with hits: 7,674 Total hits: 8,718
Hit rate: 7.57% Slugging Percentage: 8.60% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,246.83
Your rank (based on George Score) is #246
(out of 52,498 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,791 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,149,527 miles.
They have averaged 484.0 miles per hit and 192.60 days between each hit.

It looks like the North Miami Publix is also not a good place to get change. I went over there and when I asked someone else for change, someone else called her and said that there were no singles. It could be that they were simply low at the time, but the impression I got was that there weren’t any for me.

I had been there a few days before and they had said at the time that several businesses had asked for change. When asked which business I had worked for, I had mentioned that I used to work for Wolf. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. I wish I had someone else with me so I could have sent them in.

I did eventually get change. Because my computer wasn’t working for a while yesterday, I went over to FIU to see if they had any computers for public use. It turns out that they do, but there are so few that they were all taken. (And this is on a Sunday.) I ended up coming back home. I did find out that the machine where you pay for parking takes $2 bills.

I’m going to have to keep looking for more places to get change. I also want to find new places to enter bills, mostly as a precaution.

You have entered 100,560 Bills worth $281,060
Bills with hits: 7,622 Total hits: 8,662
Hit rate: 7.58% Slugging Percentage: 8.61% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,246.07
Your rank (based on George Score) is #250
(out of 52,631 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 16 out of 7,789 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,122,135 miles.
They have averaged 483.8 miles per hit and 192.47 days between each hit.

I finally passed 100,000 bills a couple of days ago. (It looks like I’m just below 100 in rank by number of bills entered.) It took me a little longer than I expected, but I knew it would come eventually. It will probably be a while before I hit 200,000. On a side note, I seem to be holding at #16 in Florida.

I also found a few interesting bills. This one has what appears to be a bird on it. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to signify. This one is someone’s name. I don’t know who Teresa Marquez is supposed to be. Cajera can mean either an ATM or a female cashier or it can refer to a city in Mexico, either one of which is plausible.

It seems that it’s getting tougher to get change at Publix. The one on Aventura switched to that new system. They apparently only order what they need each day, so they don’t have any to spare for customers. Other stores seem to still be giving out change if they have it, but they don’t always. I need to start getting out of the house earlier so I can go to the bank.

The race to 100,000

You have entered 99,068 Bills worth $277,847
Bills with hits: 7,569 Total hits: 8,603
Hit rate: 7.64% Slugging Percentage: 8.68% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,245.17
Your rank (based on George Score) is #253
(out of 52,441 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,780 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 4,097,151 miles.
They have averaged 484.2 miles per hit and 191.99 days between each hit.

I now have hits in 1,004 counties. I’ve gotten so many new counties lately, I’m not even sure which one put me over 1,000. I still need one for Massachusetts, two for New Hampshire and eight for Florida. I seem to be averaging 14 or 15 hits per day, which helps, but most of them are in Miami. One of these days, I’m going to have to take a trip up the East Coast.

I am also within reach of 100,000 bills entered. I have some bills to enter, but I’ll be putting them off until tomorrow morning. I went to the casino today, but didn’t to bring all of my bills that I had entered. I put most of my money into the machines, but felt that I should have had more. It didn’t occur to me until later that I may have left some at home. When I got back, I checked and there were bills that I had missed. I’ll have to remember to make sure that I bring all of my bills with me. That’s another 50 singles that I could have entered tomorrow morning.

I do have a two interesting hits. This one took a year to stay in the same place within the United Kingdom. However, it’s apparently going to be repatriated soon.

I wish I at least knew where Maldives was. I looked it up and it’s a series of Atolls near Sri Lanka. I’ve never heard of the place until now. One of the interesting things about Where’s George is finding places you’ve never heard of. At least I’ve heard of something new.

more bill pictures

You have entered 96,141 Bills worth $270,909
Bills with hits: 7,377 Total hits: 8,382
Hit rate: 7.67% Slugging Percentage: 8.72% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,242.12
Your rank (based on George Score) is #262
(out of 52,364 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,753 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,953,584 miles.
They have averaged 479.7 miles per hit and 189.96 days between each hit.

I found two bills worth posting pictures of. The first is a $1 bill that has been marked up a bit too much. I entered it, but I don’t think I added any of my own markings. Personally, I don’t think I could mark bills this much on a regular basis. Aside from all of the work, you run the risk of people and machines not taking the bills.

The other is a $2 bill with a red mark that looks familiar. It looks like someone took one of those plastic things from a bag of bread and used it to make the mark on the bill. I’m not sure what they used. It looks like magic marker, but I could be wrong.

I’ll let you know if I find any more bills

You have entered 95,402 Bills worth $269,226
Bills with hits: 7,317 Total hits: 8,319
Hit rate: 7.67% Slugging Percentage: 8.72% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,241.25
Your rank (based on George Score) is #267
(out of 52,349 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,751 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,925,258 miles.
They have averaged 480.3 miles per hit and 190.00 days between each hit.

I’ve been reading and hearing a lot about the Federal minimum wage, which was jut increased to $7.25 as of July 24. I have to admit that this doesn’t do me a whole lot of good since I don’t have a job. Yes, they say that looking for work as a full-time job, but looking for work doesn’t get the bills paid. I don’t think many landlords will take job applications in lieu of a rent check.

When I first started working at Wolf Camera, I was earning $6.50 per hour. This was in excess of the $5.15 per hour required at the time. When Florida enacted a minimum wage, it was below what I was earning until January of 2008. I was being paid $6.75, but Florida said that the minimum was to be $6.79. (Wolf continued paying me a base salary of $6.75, even when the minimum wage went up to $7.21, because I received sales incentives.)

It was pretty nice having a base salary above minimum wage. It meant that my employer thought enough of me to pay me more than they had to. Even with the sales incentives, it wasn’t anywhere near what I needed to live on, but it was still nice.

When minimum wage caught up with my base salary, it was a little more depressing. It meant that the first few cents I earned every hour meant nothing. Yes, I was still getting above minimum wage, but I was also still earning less than what I needed to in order to afford luxuries such as food and rent. (While the store was being closed, there were paychecks that they had to bump me up to minimum wage because I wasn’t being paid sales incentives until the end of the month.)

Now that I’m looking for work, I have to wonder how minimum wage is affecting my chances of getting hired. I haven’t seen salary information on many of the jobs, but I think a lot of them pay well enough that I don’t have to worry about it.

Or do I?

End of the Month

You have entered 94,665 Bills worth $267,428
Bills with hits: 7,293 Total hits: 8,293
Hit rate: 7.70% Slugging Percentage: 8.76% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,240.83
Your rank (based on George Score) is #264
(out of 52,090 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,751 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,913,065 miles.
They have averaged 480.3 miles per hit and 189.57 days between each hit.

I can’t seem to get out of the house in time to be able to go to Bank of America. The problem is that it closes at 4:00 Monday through Thursday. If I go to the casino, I’d have to leave around noon or 1:00 to be able to enter any hundreds I have before taking them to the bank. I actually got out pretty early Thursday. I went to the bank before going up to the casino to get some $2 bills, which they had plenty of.

After going to the casino, I went to the Bank of America across the street. I had $50 that I didn’t use at the casino so that I might break it at the bank. It turns out that there was some unusual activity on my card causing it to be declined. I guess using the card at two different banks on the same day raised a red flag. It took so long to get it straightened out that the tellers had already closed out their windows. I ended up breaking the $50 at a nearby Publix.

Yesterday, I had to wait for someone to fix our phones. He was scheduled to be here between 11:00 and 2:00. He didn’t show up until 3:00. The problem with later appointments is that it’s impossible to tell when they’ll be there. I don’t fault the guy for showing up so late, as he can’t really tell how long each job will take. It just sucks that I had to wait around so long. I couldn’t really do much at that point.

It looks like I finished July having entered 7,244 bills worth $17,392. I’m not really sure how I ended up entering that many bills in one month. I was actually trying to slow down. (I entered 6,676 bills worth $14,903 in June, which was a record until now.) I’ve been trying to go to parks and movies more. I’ve even been getting a lot of fives lately. I guess I haven’t been cutting back as much as I thought. The up side is that I’ve been getting a lot of hits every day. I have 16 so far today.

I have hit two more bills this month. (#9 and #10) This brings the total to 133 bills hit so far, including ten last month.

Maybe if I try, I can get out today before one, not that the banks are open past then…

Two bills

You have entered 94,542 Bills worth $267,027
Bills with hits: 7,283 Total hits: 8,281
Hit rate: 7.70% Slugging Percentage: 8.76% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,240.66
Your rank (based on George Score) is #264
(out of 52,148 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 20 out of 7,751 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,906,671 miles.
They have averaged 480.2 miles per hit and 189.32 days between each hit.

There are two interesting things of note. One is an overmarked bill I found. (The picture is here and the bill report is here.) I didn’t add any markings of my own because of how many there are already. I’m not sure if I should report it, though. (I still have the original picture with the serial numbers.)

I also got a hit on this bill with an interesting comment. I’m not even going to add any sort of editorial on it. I’m just going to post it and let you decide.

That’s really all for now. I just thought I’d post those two bills.

You have entered 93,774 Bills worth $265,158
Bills with hits: 7,249 Total hits: 8,242
Hit rate: 7.73% Slugging Percentage: 8.79% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,240.07
Your rank (based on George Score) is #260
(out of 52,008 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,741 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,886,558 miles.
They have averaged 480.0 miles per hit and 188.93 days between each hit.

It looks like another Florida county fell. The same bill that got me Wakulla three weeks ago has now gotten me Liberty County. (You can see the bill report here.) This leaves 8 counties. It’s amazing that I had to wait so long for a new county and now, they’re falling pretty quickly.

I also found a bill with this comment. I’m not sure who the kids are. Is the person referring to the markings and the site? Maybe a child dropped the bill and the person felt that they were so irresponsible with their money that they didn’t deserve it back. Maybe they’re just kidding.

Since my last entry, I’ve hit two more bills. One originated in Feasterville-Trevose, PA. The other is from Cleveland, TN. This brings the total up to seven so far this month and 130 bills in all.

I also received a 1957-series silver certificate from a local Publix. You don’t see too many of those around.

Speaking of Publix, one of the employees informed me last week that they may be switching to a new system that may make it harder for them to give out change. I don’t know if it’s that store or all of them or if it’s really going to happen.

This is important because a few days ago, I was told that I’d need a checking account to be able to get change at the Washington Mutual by Aventura Mall. That’s understandable, but that’s the only bank where I can get change past 4:00 Monday through Thursday. Friday’s not a problem since most other banks are open until 6:00.)

I’ve been able to get change at several Publix locations and at the casino, but if Publix isn’t able to give me change, it will affect how I am able to get change. I’ll have to go to banks in the morning to get change. I’ll have to see what happens.

Hits, hits and more hits

You have entered 91,832 Bills worth $260,351
Bills with hits: 7,157 Total hits: 8,133
Hit rate: 7.79% Slugging Percentage: 8.86% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,238.43
Your rank (based on George Score) is #270
(out of 52,171 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 20 out of 7,721 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,820,139 miles.
They have averaged 478.1 miles per hit and 188.93 days between each hit.

I’ve hit 128 bills since joining Where’s George. At first, they were few and far between. To give you an idea, it took me over four years to get the first 113. That’s about 2.2 bills hit per month. I hit 10 bills last month and another five so far this month. (Point of origin in reverse order: Staines, United Kingdom; Wattsburg, PA; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Cullman, AL and Appleton, MN.) I don’t know if it’s that more people are becoming active or if it’s just random distribution. Notice that only one is local. One even came from someone based out of the United Kingdom. (Interestingly, I haven’t hit many bills from people I know in the chat room.)

As for hits on my bills, I got one hit on a bill that was supposedly found in an Aventura Casino. There are no casinos in Aventura that I know of. I think the person got it from Gulfstream Park Racetrack and Casino in Hallandale. Part of the property is in Aventura, but the actual building is in Hallandale Beach.

I had a random idea to travel up to Orlando, but I doubt I’ll be doing it any time soon. I need to worry about a job first and I’m not sure that my car could take the long trip. The only reason that I even thought of it was that there are three counties by Gainesville that I need and there are lots of attractions in the Orlando area, but Orlando and Gainesville really aren’t that close. There are a few other trips I’d want to take first.

Rickenbacker Causeway going cashless?

You have entered 91,041 Bills worth $258,494
Bills with hits: 7,109 Total hits: 8,078
Hit rate: 7.81% Slugging Percentage: 8.87% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,237.62
Your rank (based on George Score) is #267
(out of 52,253 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,712 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,798,487 miles.
They have averaged 479.0 miles per hit and 188.91 days between each hit.

In the continuing saga of cashless toll plazas, I was reading in today’s Miami Herald that there’s a plan to make the Rickenbacker Causeway Toll Plaza cashless. (You can read the article here.) It appears that the favored plan includes a cash lane, but I started thinking how bad a cashless system would be.

For those not familiar with South Florida geography, the Rickenbacker Causeway is the only land access to Key Biscayne. If you want to go to Key Biscayne, you either have to take The Rickenbacker or learn to swim. For the cyclists, a cashless toll plaza would mean that the traffic wouldn’t be regulated and there is no other causeway to and from the island.

I began to think of this from the perspective of the drivers. My first thought was of teenaged drivers. In Florida, you can drive at 16. However, you can’t have a credit or debit card until you’re 18. If someone has their own car at 16 and lives on the island, they have to maintain an account, either with SunPass or C-Pass as their transponder.

From the user agreement, both transponder programs take cash. However, you have to be 18 to enter into an agreement. First, it means that you either can’t leave the island if you’re under 18 or effectively have to get your parents’ permission. Secondly, it means that there’s a way for parents to see when their children come back from the mainland.

Also, there are a lot of people that, for whatever reason, may not want a transponder. I don’t go to Key Biscayne a lot, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t ever. Suppose I’m invited to a party on Key Biscayne. Does that mean that I have to get a transponder just to go there? Suppose I can’t get one in time. I’d either have to turn down every invitation or get one now on the off chance that I will be invited one day.

This isn’t even including the argument that there are several attractions on Key Biscayne. Suppose someone comes in from out of state and wants to go to Crandon Park or Bill Baggs State Recreation Area? There’s also a high school on Key Biscayne. Does this mean that all of the staff and students have to get transponders?

As I said, the favored plan would leave one lane for those paying cash. I really hope that they do. It’s basically all of the issues I had with cashless toll plazas in general, but with the added issue of restricting access to the island. For those that complain, those in charge can’t say that you have the option of taking a different route.

90,000 bills

You have entered 90,944 Bills worth $257,860
Bills with hits: 7,083 Total hits: 8,051
Hit rate: 7.79% Slugging Percentage: 8.85% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,237.27
Your rank (based on George Score) is #268
(out of 51,926 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,708 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,784,461 miles.
They have averaged 478.8 miles per hit and 189.02 days between each hit.

Well, I finally passed 90,000 bills entered, but I think I may have to rethink my strategy of going to the casino. Part of the problem inherent of gambling is that I’ll more likely lose money than gain it. Even if I go in, put bills in and cash out without gambling, I have to pay gas money there and back. I also risk raising suspicion of the casino management. They may wonder why I’m putting money into their machines, but not playing.

I was thinking of cashing in some quarters tomorrow, but it may be better to not have the cash around to spend. In fact, the cash that I have now is in marked singles. I really don’t like the idea of depositing marked singles. Not that I have a lot of bills in my possession, but I may have to find a way other than the casino to swap out bills so I have unmarked bills to deposit if I need to.

I do have several leads going on jobs. One is at a bank. All I’ve gotten back so far is an automated reply, but that was last week. I‘m hoping that they’ll start calling people in starting Monday. There are a few other jobs that I applied to a while ago, including Sears. I think it’s been long enough that I’m probably not going to get an interview with them. However, I believe Sears keeps applications on file for a few months, so anything’s possible.

I’m even considering writing on Epinions again, even though there was very little income involved. At least it would give me something to do during the day other than watch TV. The days of making serious money on that site are long gone. I really need to find a job and soon.

New Jersey County Bingo

You have entered 89,799 Bills worth $255,543
Bills with hits: 7,049 Total hits: 8,014
Hit rate: 7.85% Slugging Percentage: 8.92% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,236.62
Your rank (based on George Score) is #266
(out of 52,154 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,704 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,762,615 miles.
They have averaged 478.1 miles per hit and 188.92 days between each hit.

It turns out that I got New Jersey county bingo a few days ago and I didn’t even know it. The last county was Warren County, located in northern half of the state. With Hawaii, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware, I now have five state bingos.

It looks like Massachusetts is the only state where I need one county and that’s Nantucket County. New Hampshire is next with Cheshire and Coos Counties remaining. Those seem to be the only two states that I’m close on.

It looks like by the end of the day today, I'll have entered 90,000 bills.

9 Florida Counties to go

You have entered 89,395 Bills worth $254,513
Bills with hits: 7,035 Total hits: 7,997
Hit rate: 7.87% Slugging Percentage: 8.95% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,236.35
Your rank (based on George Score) is #275
(out of 52,318 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,701 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,753,749 miles.
They have averaged 478.0 miles per hit and 188.77 days between each hit.

I’m down to nine Florida counties that I need for county bingo. The addition of Wakulla County brings me up to 58 of my home state’s 67 counties. The remaining counties are Bradford, Calhoun, Franklin, Gilchrist, Gulf, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison and Union.

I also almost got a three-year sleeper. I guess it’s like they say, though: Close only counts with horse shoes and hand grenades. Still, another four weeks…

I had the opportunity to go to Gulfstream Park Racetrack and Casino today. When spending my bills at the casino, I noticed this on a bill. I looked it up and it seems to be someone not related to Where’s George or currency tracking. I guess that he or one of his fans felt compelled to put his myspace page on a bill.

That’s all for now. At least now, I have a record of when my last Florida County was.

DSC_0428

DSC_0428
Originally uploaded by Brian Kuhl

I don’t think I posted this picture. The markings look a little intricate. It’s definitely more than random markings. (Everything other than the Where’s George stamp was done by someone else, presumably the same person.) I wonder what the Owl signifies.

You have entered 87,421 Bills worth $250,036
Bills with hits: 6,939 Total hits: 7,891
Hit rate: 7.94% Slugging Percentage: 9.03% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,234.68
Your rank (based on George Score) is #286
(out of 52,320 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,690 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,696,012 miles.
They have averaged 476.9 miles per hit and 188.21 days between each hit.

I have two interesting hits to report. One waited 1 year, 204 days, 3 hours and 4 minutes to go 0.0 miles. It’s nice that I got a sleeper, but it sucks that it went nowhere after all that time. The other hit ended up in Milan, Italy. Almost 5,000 miles in just under 20 days.

In other news, it looks like I’ll finish the month with 6,676 bills entered. It’s conceivable that I could get 10,000 bills in one month, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money without a job and if I don’t go to the casino, there’s no real way to get that many bills into circulation. The fact that I got so many bills this month was a bit of a fluke.

I am looking for work. I’ve applied at Sears and a few banks. My parents even want me to apply at the casino, but it doesn‘t look like they have anything I’d be interested in. I just have to keep on looking.

So many hits, so little time

You have entered 84,800 Bills worth $244,119
Bills with hits: 6,827 Total hits: 7,768
Hit rate: 8.05% Slugging Percentage: 9.16% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,232.66
Your rank (based on George Score) is #288
(out of 52,570 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,668 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,625,979 miles.
They have averaged 475.0 miles per hit and 188.23 days between each hit.

Ok, so it’s been a while since the last entry. Not much has happened in the past few weeks. I did get Rhode Island county bingo with Bristol being the last holdout. I’m not even really sure when I got it. It just sort of showed up as having been completed in the report. I’m not even sure if I can search by county or not.

I also got a hit in Ha Noi, Vietnam. Apparently, it’s living the not-so-good life in the Hanoi Hilton. Interesting, though, that it took almost a year to make it to West Palm Beach before going out of the country.

This hit is from a recent trip to Palo Alto for my brother’s graduation. I doubt it was a direct hit as I generally don’t eat in Quizno’s.

I do, however, go to Wal-Mart occasionally. Apparently, someone found one of my bills on the floor of the men’s room there. I really don’t want to know the details.

Speaking of stuff I don’t need to know the details of, I got this hit not to long ago. It’s hard to tell if people actually are serious or are making stuff up. Occasionally, I have to assume that they couldn’t possibly make this stuff up.

That’s all for now. Hopefully, I’ll have more soon.

Bill pictures

You have entered 80,745 Bills worth $235,133
Bills with hits: 6,620 Total hits: 7,531
Hit rate: 8.20% Slugging Percentage: 9.33% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,228.83
Your rank (based on George Score) is #302
(out of 52,623 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,631 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,479,078 miles.
They have averaged 469.6 miles per hit and 185.46 days between each hit.

I uploaded the pictures I mentioned before, but I’m just now getting around to posting them here. Things have been a little hectic and strange with the store having closed last week. (I still have one or two issues unresolved.)

The first picture simply says to boycott Jane Fonda. It seems that there are a few groups that don’t like her. Of the first few returns on Google, one had to do with not liking liberals and another having to do with Viet Nam. I really don’t want to get into politics that much here, so I’ll leave that one alone.

The next one is of a bill stamped with FairTax.org. The site seems to call for a national sales tax. I’m not sure I completely support that, but I can see where the appeal is. Again, I don’t want to get in to every political debate I come across, so I’m going to post the link and let you decide.

I also came across one that just has LUX with a red rectangle around it. I don’t know what this is. If there were a few more similar ones, I’d say that people were stamping it’s travels or something, kind of like how people put stickers on suitcases. Does anyone know if it has a meaning beyond Luxembourg?

The last one comes from Janet somebody. I can’t make out the last name. It was handwritten in pencil, which makes it more difficult to read. This is another one of those bills that I seek explanation for.

That’s all for now. I know that there was something else I wanted to post. I know it will come to me later.

You have entered 79,017 Bills worth $231,717
Bills with hits: 6,541 Total hits: 7,441
Hit rate: 8.28% Slugging Percentage: 9.42% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,227.31
Your rank (based on George Score) is #285
(out of 52,646 current users with a George Score. [99.5 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 20 out of 7,617 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,438,086 miles.
They have averaged 470.1 miles per hit and 184.57 days between each hit.

I haven’t been writing here a lot lately mostly because I’ve been busy closing the store. We had to make a final deposit, which wasn’t big per se, but I brought in some twenties to swap out for the coins and small bills. I did this mostly as a security precaution. Two of us had to take the deposit over and I didn’t want the person taking the deposit over to have to walk in with a ton of change. Even though we did it at the night depository, someone would have to count all of those coins.

I also wanted to get the small bills, which I noted were the last that the registers saw. If you hit one of my bills, you may see a user note referencing Wolf 1390. That’s one of the bills that I entered. The store closed a few days ago, but I didn’t get around to entering the bills until this morning. I had been going in early and getting home very late, so I didn’t have much time to enter them. The funny thing is that the next time I refreshed, I ended up with exactly 79,000 bills entered. (I’ve entered a few bills since, so it won’t reflect in the stats at the top of the page.)

I also got a hit with a user note referencing Belmont Park. I have a lot from Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, mostly because I spend so many there. With a little work, I could have a thing going with all the major race tracks.

I’ve uploaded the pictures that I mentioned a few posts ago. I may post them one at a time or I may just link to them. It’s not easy posting links directly from Flickr, so I may not post my stats if I do it that way. (What I may do in that case is to make a normal post and do a picture post directly after.)

No more job

You have entered 78,734 Bills worth $230,667
Bills with hits: 6,485 Total hits: 7,378
Hit rate: 8.24% Slugging Percentage: 9.37% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,226.40
Your rank (based on George Score) is #303
(out of 52,717 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,603 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,405,676 miles.
They have averaged 469.5 miles per hit and 184.02 days between each hit.

It’s official. The store I work at is closing.

It’s kind of sad considering that this was the first real, permanent job I had. It’s also the job I had that allowed me to find out about Where’s George and enter so many bills. Yes, I know I would have found out about it anyway, but I may have grown bored with it if I didn’t have steady funding to back it up.

I’m going to miss the people I’ve worked with. There were a lot of people, may of which are no longer with the company. I’ll remember a lot of the regular customers, but not all of them fondly. (There was a sign that my friend’s parents had in their house. It read along the lines of, “Everyone brings joy to this house, some by coming and others by leaving.”)

It’s not very likely that I’ll be transferred, as there seem to be more employees than positions. I’ve been asking people if they know anyone that’s hiring, but everyone is worried about being laid off themselves. It’s a tough economy.

This blog doesn’t bring in much money, nor have many of my other endeavors. I may write on Epinions to bring in something and I will have unemployment to look forward to, but I have to find another steady paycheck, so if you know anyone’s who’s hiring…

Red-faced George

You have entered 78,632 Bills worth $230,537
Bills with hits: 6,473 Total hits: 7,364
Hit rate: 8.23% Slugging Percentage: 9.37% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,226.20
Your rank (based on George Score) is #296
(out of 52,761 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,598 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,395,496 miles.
They have averaged 469.0 miles per hit and 183.84 days between each hit.

As predicted, my state rank is back in the twenties. I’m not surprised. I think everyone refreshed.

I’ve been finding a lot of interesting bills lately. This is the only one I have uploaded to Flickr so far. I know that this one is a little boring. Taking a magic marker to a $1 bill like this doesn’t take much effort. (There weren’t any markings on the back, although the ink seemed to bleed through.) I’ve seen more creative designs.

I’ll be editing and uploading others later tonight. Some are more political while some are harder to figure out.

You have entered 77,985 Bills worth $229,066
Bills with hits: 6,410 Total hits: 7,288
Hit rate: 8.22% Slugging Percentage: 9.35% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,225.04
Your rank (based on George Score) is #293
(out of 52,626 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,586 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,360,998 miles.
They have averaged 469.1 miles per hit and 183.17 days between each hit.

When they opened a Five Guys Burger and Fries in Aventura Mall, I decided to have lunch there. I like their food and I have to think that getting bills into circulation at a mall is always a good thing.

The total comes out to $12.38. I give the cashier $13.08. She hands the eight pennies back to me. I try to tell her to keep the 8¢. What does she do? She puts the pennies in the tip jar. If I had given her three pennies, I could understand. When both amounts end in eight, it’s a little obvious.

I don’t know if she didn’t have much experience with a cash register or if it was that there was a line, but I don’t think she realized what I was trying to do. Since there was a line, I didn’t argue. I wasn’t going to make a scene over such a small amount of money.

In other news, I made it up to #17 in Florida. I got knocked back down to 19, but that’s ok. I expected it.

I’m probably going to go back to Five Guys. (Maybe even today.) If I get the same woman again, I’m not sure that I’ll bother with the pennies.

Dilemma

You have entered 77,387 Bills worth $227,993
Bills with hits: 6,389 Total hits: 7,266
Hit rate: 8.26% Slugging Percentage: 9.39% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,224.62
Your rank (based on George Score) is #297
(out of 52,848 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 19 out of 7,579 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,349,873 miles.
They have averaged 468.9 miles per hit and 183.03 days between each hit.

I’ve just passed 900 counties. By Where’s George standards, there are 3,142 including the District of Columbia. This means that I’m at roughly 28.686%. My next milestone will be 1,000, which would put me near a third. (1,044 would be exactly one third.)

I’m also still hovering above 20th place in Florida. I broke 300 overall, but I don’t know how long that will last. As I said before, overall rankings tend to fluctuate more than state ranks.

On a side note, I have an interesting math question. (I think it would fall under game theory and I don‘t know if there’s a definite answer.) My store is closing, but I don’t know when the exact date is. I want to use the time to get bills into circulation, but I don’t want them deposited and I don’t know if I’ll be there to swap them back out.

If I keep going until the bitter end, I get the maximum number of bills into circulation, but I know a lot of bills will get deposited. (For those wondering, deposits containing large quantities of marked bills tend to draw unwanted attention to the site, thus possibly resulting in account termination.) On the other hand, if I stop depositing now, I miss out on all the days that we’ll eventually be staying open.

The best scenario would be that the last bill we hand out is the last of my marked bills. Not having a crystal ball, I have no way of knowing how to time it. The question is: When should I stop swapping out bills? Should I play it safe and stop now? Should I go to the bitter end? Or is there some trick I can use to tell when to stop?

Any responses would be appreciated.

Top Twenty in Florida

You have entered 77,287 Bills worth $227,893
Bills with hits: 6,379 Total hits: 7,255
Hit rate: 8.25% Slugging Percentage: 9.39% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,224.45
Your rank (based on George Score) is #301
(out of 52,796 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 18 out of 7,574 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,344,734 miles.
They have averaged 468.9 miles per hit and 182.87 days between each hit.

I’ve hit 18th in Florida, which is a new high for me. I’ve been bouncing between 19 and 22, mostly as a result of people not refreshing. It looks like that’s what’s going on now. I’ll probably end up back down at 20 or below soon, depending on who refreshes and when. There are at least 3 people that could knock me down to 21 if they all refreshed at once.

I’m also at 301 overall. The Where’s George site has a top-user list, but it only goes down to 201. According to the Bank of Frank, it will probably be a bumpy ride. My George Score is within a point of several users. In fact, the last time that the site indexed my score, it had me at 299, so I have been in the top 300.

I’ll have to wait and see if the top-20 rank holds.

Jumbo Buffet Redux

You have entered 77,242 Bills worth $227,554
Bills with hits: 6,357 Total hits: 7,227
Hit rate: 8.23% Slugging Percentage: 9.36% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,224.05
Your rank (based on George Score) is #310
(out of 52,789 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,570 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,328,317 miles.
They have averaged 468.7 miles per hit and 182.60 days between each hit.

Tonight, I had to take care of dinner for myself. I don’t like making stuff, which is why I prefer restaurants. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Jumbo Buffet. The last time I went, they refused my marked money. I had actually considered keeping large, unmarked bills with me for that purpose.

Before going to dinner, I went to the casino in Hallandale. I left with 25 singles, two marked fives and a marked $20. I was debating whether or not I should spend any of them in the casino. If I spent the singles, I knew that they’d be in circulation, leaving me with a safe bill to spend on dinner. On the other hand, I could put a twenty and a five into a machine, leaving me the marked singles. If I was wrong, I’d have to pay by debit, which is what I had to do.

I figured the safe thing to do was to keep all of the remaining bills. If the waitress refused the marked money again, I could give her the twenty and get change. (It would have been nice to have a fifty or hundred.) It’s been so long, I think that they’ve had enough turnover that few employees would recognize the bills. If the manager’s still there, though, he may have to remind everyone. I have this vision of me going there again and seeing a wanted poster on the wall saying that I’m banned from the place.

I'm from the government and I'm here to track you

You have entered 76,710 Bills worth $225,999
Bills with hits: 6,324 Total hits: 7,190
Hit rate: 8.24% Slugging Percentage: 9.37% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,223.44
Your rank (based on George Score) is #303
(out of 52,593 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,562 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,311,913 miles.
They have averaged 468.7 miles per hit and 182.00 days between each hit.

I actually had a customer refuse two marked bills today. She said that she lived in a heavily Hispanic area where most of the people would have refused the bills. We’re talking about a five and a one, both marked differently. I should have asked where she lived, but I doubt she would have taken it well. I ended up giving her six unmarked singles since I had no unmarked fives. (No, they weren’t entered.)

I don’t get out much, but there are a few active georgers in the area and I have yet to hear of any neighborhoods where marked bills are refused outright. I’ve had stores and restaurants refuse them, but never whole communities. I imagine out there somewhere is a city that has banded together against Where’s George. They have ordinances against stamping bills or purchasing certain kinds of stamping kits.

And people say I have no life.

More on SunPass

You have entered 76,029 Bills worth $223,504
Bills with hits: 6,252 Total hits: 7,107
Hit rate: 8.22% Slugging Percentage: 9.35% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,222.14
Your rank (based on George Score) is #309
(out of 52,303 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 20 out of 7,550 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,262,741 miles.
They have averaged 467.1 miles per hit and 181.34 days between each hit.

I’ve been talking to people about the SunPass and I got a response about it from the State of Florida. It looks like the best option is to plan trips so that I’m not taking toll roads. If I find myself approaching a toll booth, I’ll have to get off at the last exit and reenter later on, which could be tricky.

There are a few other arguments against a SunPass. First, you have to maintain a balance. It looks like you have to start with $10. Before you run out, you have to arrange to put more money on it. (And yes, there is a cash-only version of the SunPass. I’m not sure where you pay, but it’s not at a toll booth.) It’s just one more thing that I have to worry about.

Speaking of things to worry about, I also have to worry about bringing it with me. Since I’m single and tend to drive only the one car I have access to, it’s not an issue. I can just hide it somewhere in the car. My parents have one and have to remember to take it with them if it’s in the other car.

Having the option to pay cash makes things pretty simple. You don’t have to worry about bringing the SunPass. Yes, you have to worry about bringing cash with you and not running out of it, but I’d think that if you don’t have cash, you might have other issues.

It’s pretty sad that in terms of driving, I’m coming of age on a cashless road system. I don’t want a SunPass.

Cash-free toll booths

You have entered 76,012 Bills worth $223,431
Bills with hits: 6,231 Total hits: 7,082
Hit rate: 8.20% Slugging Percentage: 9.32% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,221.79
Your rank (based on George Score) is #316
(out of 52,495 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 24 out of 7,549 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,255,349 miles.
They have averaged 467.6 miles per hit and 180.97 days between each hit.

I read an article today that Florida expressways are going cashless. I find this disturbing on several levels. First (and most obviously) because I can’t pay cash. I kind of like being able to get cash into circulation and toll booths are a great way to do that. Someone else gets the bill and takes it somewhere you might not be going.

Cash is universal. Everyone has access to it. The plan is to get people to use a transponder. Florida’s is called the SunPass. From what I’ve read, it doesn’t operate by the same standard that other states’ transponders operate, meaning that people from other states can’t use their transponders.

What do tourists do when they come to a toll booth? According to the article, people renting cars can pass through and have the bill sent to them. I’m not sure what locals will do. Right now, there are only certain toll booths that will be SunPass only. I’m hoping that there will be some warning so that you can exit before the toll booth.

This could be an even bigger issue if you’re borrowing a car. Suppose I use a neighbor’s car. Is it fair that I could go through all sorts of toll booths and have him fined for it? Should I be forced to find toll-free routes to avoid this? Lending out cars just got a lot more complicated.

More basically, why should I be forced to get a transponder? What if I don’t want to? Do I have to get off before the toll booth and get back on? I just don’t like this. I’m going to ask the Florida Department of Transportation about this and see what they say.

Lots of news

You have entered 75,903 Bills worth $223,290
Bills with hits: 6,218 Total hits: 7,064
Hit rate: 8.19% Slugging Percentage: 9.31% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,221.51
Your rank (based on George Score) is #315
(out of 52,405 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 23 out of 7,547 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,245,665 miles.
They have averaged 467.2 miles per hit and 180.97 days between each hit.

I got to thinking the other day how it might be interesting to be able to compile the series and serial numbers for later entry in to Where’s George. I’ve heard that it’s possible to use film to record images of bills. Since the series and serial number letterings are consistent, it shouldn’t be hard to have the computer compile them into a list for me to copy and paste into the entry form.

I’m not saying that it would work or would even be allowed. I’m just saying that someone out there should be able to put something like this together. (Not that I’m endorsing it, but if you have done this, please let me know how it worked out for you.)

One thing that’s been bothering me is what I’ve come to call semi-sequential bills. I went to the bank last week and got 50 $5 bills which seemed to come from nearby straps. The letters and the first five numbers were all the same, but the last three numbers were different. They were all close, as if they were all within close proximity.

I think that when the bank processes them, the bills get mixed up. This makes it harder to enter; if they were all sequential and had no gaps, there’s a trick I could use to enter them. This tricks is useless with random bills. (Actually, the trick is useless with $5 bills, but it’s still easier to have no gaps.)

On an unrelated note, I’ve had two hits on twos in the past ten days, seen here and here. It’s nice to get them, but they’re pretty rare. A woman at the gas station north of Aventura Mall collects them, so I may not spend them there as often. Notice that both of these have gone unreported for over a year. I think that people either collect them or deposit them in the bank, which is not good. I spend two-dollar bills so that they will stay in play for as long as possible and get a lot of hits.

I also have to other unusual hits, here and here. Both were initially entered 35 days apart, but seemed to end up in the same place. I don’t know if they guy was holding on to them, as some people do sometimes, or if he found them together. I don’t mark my twenties, which means that he’s probably entering everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s allowed to enter them at work or swap them out of the register.

On a rather strange note, I seem to have ‘found’ $75 at the casino the other day. I usually put $25 into the machines at any time, then consolidate the tickets later on so that I can keep track of how much I won or lost. Thus, each ticket would have come from $25 or $100 in play.

I figured out that I had brought $500 to play. Somehow I ended up with five tickets from $100 in play and three from $25, meaning that I had put $575 into the machines. I think that I must have put three tickets together instead of four, meaning that some of the tickets had come from $75. I have no other explanation. I’m sure that I started with $500.

I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.

Looking for jobs in all the wrong places

You have entered 74,642 Bills worth $219,784
Bills with hits: 6,105 Total hits: 6,938
Hit rate: 8.18% Slugging Percentage: 9.30% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,219.46
Your rank (based on George Score) is #316
(out of 52,565 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,529 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,177,894 miles.
They have averaged 466.4 miles per hit and 179.70 days between each hit.

It’s official. The store that I work at is closing. Ritz Camera filed for bankruptcy (on my birthday, no less) and, as a result, several hundred stores are closing, including the one in North Miami. Before you start hitting me up for information, I don’t know exactly when the store is closing, I don’t know if I’ll be transferred to another store, and I cannot cut you any special deals.

This will definitely put a dent in my ability to enter, mark and spend. I’m hoping that I can get another job. If I can’t, I would hope to be transferred, but there’s a lot of competition for a few spots. If I can be transferred, all will be well assuming I don’t get transferred to Naples. I do not want to commute across Alligator Alley. (I already have Collier County, anyway.)

A long, long time ago, I wrote in this blog how I was looking for a new job. I may have to do that again. I suppose that it all comes back to having money to enter and spend, so it’s still somewhat related to Where’s George. I’d prefer not to have to worry about it.

In better news, I got two hits, here and here, in the same ZIP code from bills that were entered months apart. It’s interesting how two bills can be entered (and presumably be spent) something like four months apart and find their way to the same place within an hour of each other. I suppose that it’s statistically inevitable that as you enter more bills, stranger things will happen. It’s just a matter of time.

On the Interesting Names category, we have Pennsylvania Furnace, PA. New York has a lot of interesting names, but I’ve found other good ones around the country. I wonder how they got Pennsylvania Furnace. Is that like Hell’s Kitchen? Is it really hot there? Or do they have a lot of bakeries. Maybe I’ll have to go there one day.

270 counties

You have entered 74,269 Bills worth $218,775
Bills with hits: 6,056 Total hits: 6,885
Hit rate: 8.15% Slugging Percentage: 9.27% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,218.62
Your rank (based on George Score) is #308
(out of 52,105 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,518 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,134,022 miles.
They have averaged 463.2 miles per hit and 179.04 days between each hit.

It seems like not that long ago that I had hit 860 counties. Now, I’m at 870. What’s frustrating is that I haven’t picked up any county bingos for a while, despite being one county shy of several states. I’ve also been ten counties shy of Florida bingo. I still need Bradford, Calhoun, Franklin, Gilchrist, Gulf, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Union and Wakulla Counties. (As I mentioned, three border Alachua County.)

I’ve often wondered what would happen if I got every county in the country. I’d have other milestones, like countries, Canadian provinces and bills entered, but I don’t know if it would be as much fun. It seems kind of obsessive to worry about getting every ZIP code in the country, especially considering that some are extremely difficult to obtain. (Consider that some exist only within the confines of a post office branch.)

Speaking of ZIP codes, I have a bill that has four hits in the same one. The funny thing is how close together they are in time. The last one didn’t even take a day. It would be nice if it would travel around a little, maybe even picking up a few neighboring ZIP codes or counties. I wonder if this happens a lot.

Then, there’s the hit in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. I really don’t mind the foreign hits. I have to wonder how they all end up there. Some foreign countries do use American currency. (I’ve been told that Mexican tourist spots are very receptive to American currency.) I think there are some cases where people bring bills to other countries to do the user a favor. In other cases, it’s possible that they don’t convert all of their money before they leave the United States. When I figure it out, I’ll post it.

Lots of hits

You have entered 74,004 Bills worth $218,271
Bills with hits: 6,031 Total hits: 6,851
Hit rate: 8.15% Slugging Percentage: 9.26% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,218.07
Your rank (based on George Score) is #325
(out of 52,031 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 23 out of 7,510 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,118,272 miles.
They have averaged 463.3 miles per hit and 179.05 days between each hit.

I was surprised by a hit I had earlier today. The bill originated in Las Vegas, but was hit in Fort Lauderdale. At first, I thought that the bill had followed me home. I had spent the last of the Las Vegas-entered bills in the Salt Lake City airport. It wasn’t until about an hour ago that I realized that the hit was on a $5 bill, a few of which I had brought back with me.

I did get two hits in foreign countries. One was in Austria; the other was in El Salvador. Purple hits are hard to come by. I guess having spent bills in several airports recently helped.

In other news, I’m almost three-quarters of the way to six figures. I now have just over 74,000 bills entered, fewer than 2,000 of which have been entered this month. I’d have to get almost 200 bills tomorrow to break 2,000 bills this month. (Not an impossible task, mind you.) I’m $424 shy of $10,000, which would mean that I’d have to get at least some of those bills in fives. (Twos would be nice, though.)

My average dollar value so far this month is $5.24. The reason that I have such a high dollar value with so few bills is that I was entering a lot of twenties and hundreds in Las Vegas. (I don’t think I came across a fifty while there, but I did have cause to enter a ten.) I was aiming for smaller bills for a while, but I realized that there was little point since it was so easy to get change.

It’s getting late and I need to get some sleep. I’ll probably have a few more interesting hits in a few days.

6,000 bills and 860 counties with hits

You have entered 73,983 Bills worth $218,110
Bills with hits: 6,007 Total hits: 6,825
Hit rate: 8.12% Slugging Percentage: 9.23% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,217.69
Your rank (based on George Score) is #325
(out of 51,862 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,509 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,091,761 miles.
They have averaged 460.8 miles per hit and 178.85 days between each hit.

I’ve passed 6,000 bills with hits, which I suppose is a good milestone to pass. Unfortunately for my hit rate, I’ve entered over 70,000 bills, which puts me at 8.12%. I also have 860 counties between the fifty states and the District of Columbia. It seems like the counties are harder to get now, which is understandable.

I have every county in Florida south of Alachua County, which is where Gainesville is. Alachua has plenty of hits, but I need three of the neighboring counties: Bradford, Union and Gilchrist. That’s the kind of stuff that gets me. I have 21 hits in Alachua, but they can’t travel over to any one of those three counties and get a hit. I’m sure that I have at least one in each county. It’s just that someone has to look at one of my bills and get to a computer in that county.

Yes, I’ve thought of going to Gainesville, but it’s a college town. They have malls and an aquarium, I think, but there’s no real reason for me to go there. It’s not like Orlando, which has Disney World. Aside from which, I don’t know that I want to make that kind of drive just to get hits. If I had to go to Tallahassee or Pensacola, I might consider going that way and planning on having lunch there.

All things considered, 860 isn’t a bad number of counties. 57 Florida counties isn’t bad considering that I only need 10 more.

Sick Day

You have entered 73,959 Bills worth $217,990
Bills with hits: 5,983 Total hits: 6,799
Hit rate: 8.09% Slugging Percentage: 9.19% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,217.30
Your rank (based on George Score) is #324
(out of 51,753 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,505 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,071,730 miles.
They have averaged 459.5 miles per hit and 178.21 days between each hit.

I have 1,781 bills entered so far this month. I have a few large bills to break, but with the month ending so soon, it looks like most of the bills I’ve entered this month will be in Las Vegas. The bronchitis has really kept me indoors.

I had taken a few sick days before going and am taking one today. I’m not really in any condition to go to the bank and get change. Tomorrow or Saturday, I may go over to the bank or to the casino. (I haven’t been to the casino since getting back from my trip.)

The hits from Las Vegas seem to be waning. I haven’t seen any in the past day or two, but I did get one in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. I don’t get many foreign hits, but my proximity to the Caribbean means that many of my foreign hits will be there. (The single most hit foreign country is Canada with 20 with the Bahamas rank second with 16.)

That’s all for now. At least one good thing came about from being sick: I can catch up on my writing. I may even post a few reviews on Epinions.

You have entered 73,954 Bills worth $217,850
Bills with hits: 5,952 Total hits: 6,758
Hit rate: 8.05% Slugging Percentage: 9.14% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,216.69
Your rank (based on George Score) is #330
(out of 51,685 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,497 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,053,813 miles.
They have averaged 459.4 miles per hit and 177.75 days between each hit.

The hits from Las Vegas keep coming. I was a little worried that the casinos wouldn’t get them back out, but people are commenting that they’re getting them from the casinos. I got one today from the Tropicana. They’re getting out pretty fast.

I posted pictures from the trip, viewable here. It’s not all of them, but they’re some of the ones I think are among the best. I saw people out there with digital SLRs. I almost wish I had brought by D50, but it was probably best that I didn’t. I have several lenses and I would have wanted to bring them all. That would have meant having to drag around a pretty big bag of stuff. I could have gotten away with the Sigma 28-90 and the Sigma 10-20, I suppose. I don’t remember any situations where I would have wanted to use the Nikkor 35-135, but I probably would have if I had brought it.

I also got a Canadian hit. I don’t have many of those. I always find it odd that people will get the bill so close to me and take it far away like that. They do seem to be a registered user, so it is understandable. They may have understood that I’d want the far-away hit.

Then there's this hit. It looks like they’ve gotten one of my bills before. I don’t recognize the profile, but I don’t always look at all of them and it’s possible that the profile’s changed since I last looked at it.

Anyway, three entries in four days is a lot for me. That’s all I have for now.

More on Las Vegas

You have entered 73,951 Bills worth $217,800
Bills with hits: 5,939 Total hits: 6,743
Hit rate: 8.03% Slugging Percentage: 9.12% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,216.47
Your rank (based on George Score) is #329
(out of 51,627 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 22 out of 7,496 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,045,490 miles.
They have averaged 459.1 miles per hit and 177.65 days between each hit.

I’ve been getting more hits from the Las Vegas trip. Here's another one that seems to have come from the airport. I was going to post links to two hits from the same person until I got another set of hits from the same person, this time four.

I also got a hit from someone in the chat room. He was waiting until 10:30 to tell everyone. (Somehow, I knew it was me.) This is at least the second person in the chat room I’ve gotten a hit from, the other person being my george parent. (For those that don’t know, a george parent is the person who’s bill got you started if that’s how you found out about the site.)

My george parent is also one of at least two regulars in the room whose bills I’ve hit, the other person being Wattsburg Gary, the person with the highest george score and the most bills entered. I have this odd feeling that I’ve hit bills from others in the chat room. I’m sure if they see this, they’ll let me know.

You have entered 73,829 Bills worth $217,575
Bills with hits: 5,919 Total hits: 6,720
Hit rate: 8.02% Slugging Percentage: 9.10% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,216.11
Your rank (based on George Score) is #326
(out of 51,602 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 20 out of 7,495 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,026,305 miles.
They have averaged 457.7 miles per hit and 177.85 days between each hit.

Not two days back and I got three hits from the Vegas trip. This was the first hit. I’m pretty sure it was a direct hit, as I spent a lot of bills in the MGM Grand, but I was staying across the street. It’s entirely possible that someone took it from the Tropicana and walked it over to the MGM.

The second one was indirect. I guess it got to see more of Vegas than I did. I’m not complaining, though.

I’m thinking that the third bill was spent at an airport. It was entered late on my last full day in Vegas and I know that I spent my last bill from the trip in the Salt Lake City airport. (I spent none of my Vegas-entered bills outside of an airport; I ate breakfast at Las Vegas’s McCarran Airport.)

It’s interesting, though, how I got a hit at the MGM and I got a hit on a bill that I got from the MGM so close together. Some might say it’s coincidence, which I’m generally not amazed by. (This is due mostly to a strong belief in math.) I’m hoping that I get many more hits in and from Las Vegas.

Back from Vegas

You have entered 73,707 Bills worth $217,365
Bills with hits: 5,910 Total hits: 6,710
Hit rate: 8.02% Slugging Percentage: 9.10% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,215.93
Your rank (based on George Score) is #327
(out of 51,614 current users with a George Score. [99.4 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 21 out of 7,492 [99.7]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 3,016,311 miles.
They have averaged 456.7 miles per hit and 177.69 days between each hit.

I’m back in Miami. It’s good to be back, but I was just getting used to being in Las Vegas. I actually thought about doing a blog entry in Vegas, but the laptop I had wasn’t really meant for typing. Also, I was too busy getting bills into circulation. (That should be read as gambling.)

I now have 1,265 bills entered in Las Vegas. (1,255 in 89109 and 10 in 89119.) This is more than I have entered in my work ZIP code of 33181. The only two ZIP codes with more bills entered are 33161 (67,517) and 33180 (3,900), which are my home ZIP code and Aventura, respectively.

I did get to meet the fellow georgers that went to Las Vegas. I think I would have been better off staying in the Imperial Palace, mostly out of practicality. (If you do stay at the Tropicana, I found the Garden Café to be better than the buffet. It ended up costing about the same or less and had better food.) I didn’t realize how great the distances were in Vegas.

In Miami, a difference of 100 in house numbers equates to one block, so that 345 N 1 St is between 3rd and 4th Avenues. This isn’t necessarily true in all places. Add to that that one block may be longer or shorter. When I saw that there was a difference of 300 or 400 in the addresses of the two hotels, I incorrectly assumed that the two hotels were much closer than they were.

I also learned to stay away from the table games. For my purposes, slots were much better. I got more game play per dollar. I got to play roulette, which I had wanted to do, but you can go through money pretty quickly.

On a related note, if you plan on playing the slots, sign up for the players’ card. I was advised by several people to sign up everywhere I gambled, but this may prove to be a hassle. I actually signed of at Circus Circus and never used the card. At the very least, you should sign up at the hotel where you’re staying.

All things considered, I’d say it went pretty well. It was a bit strange being on my own for a week. Vegas is definitely better with friends. I managed on my own, but it is nice to do things with people, and there are things to do in Vegas other than gambling. I’d definitely want to go back.