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.