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?