Massachusetts elects a Republican senator and I still can’t get a hit in Nantucket County

You have entered 136,916 Bills worth $356,541
Bills with hits: 9,948 Total hits: 11,226
Hit rate: 7.27% Slugging Percentage: 8.20% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,276.51
Your rank (based on George Score) is #186
(out of 48,163 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,989 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 5,228,361 miles.
They have averaged 471.5 miles per hit and 195.68 days between each hit.

For those that don’t know, Nantucket is an island county off the coast of Massachusetts. There are several things that make getting a hit there difficult. First, you have to take a ferry over. From what I can see, the fares aren’t cheap. I don’t think a lot of people would go over just for the heck of it.

The other thing is that there don’t seem to be a lot of malls or Starbucks there. (There is a Starbuck Road, though.) Don’t get me wrong. There does seem to be retail there. It’s just that Nantucket doesn’t strike me as the kind of place that would like chains. So, even if I spent the $40 to get over there, I don’t know that there would be many places for me to spend my bills.

Now, I’m not saying that you should just hit my bills. I don’t want to be selfish. All I’m saying is that if you happen to be on Nantucket Island and you happen to find a marked bill, please enter it regardless of who originally entered it.

For that matter, you’re always welcome to start a bill’s history. If you have money, just enter it on Where’s George. Someone has to start the bill report. That’s not even considering all of the unmarked bills out there. I’m sure that there are a lot of other georgers out there that would greatly appreciate the hit. It seems that if someone needs a county in Massachusetts that the county they need is Nantucket.

Of Sanibel and Haiti

You have entered 136,519 Bills worth $355,822
Bills with hits: 9,889 Total hits: 11,164
Hit rate: 7.24% Slugging Percentage: 8.18% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,275.92
Your rank (based on George Score) is #187
(out of 48,291 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 17 out of 7,980 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 5,191,871 miles.
They have averaged 470.7 miles per hit and 195.44 days between each hit.

I actually found an interesting app for the iPhone that I’d use. The USPS has its own app that, among other things, allows you to know which ZIP code you’re in. This is very useful to someone who needs to know which ZIP code their bill is on before entering it on WG. The app also lets you track packages and know where the nearest Post Office is, both things that I could see using.

Yesterday, I went to a place in Florida called Sanibel Island. When I got back, I found that I had two hits related to Sanibel. One was actually hit there. The second simply refers to it in the user note. I did spend 11 bills there, but neither hit is from any of the bills that I spent there. Odd that it should take so long for one bill to make it over there and end up there on the same day that I did.

I also got a hit on a bill that was apparently intended to help Haiti. Yes, it looks like it was deposited, but it was just one bill. I’m assuming that the actual donation was much larger.

That’s all for now.

New Florida County

You have entered 134,556 Bills worth $352,623
Bills with hits: 9,616 Total hits: 10,864
Hit rate: 7.15% Slugging Percentage: 8.07% (total hits/total bills)
George Score: 1,272.98
Your rank (based on George Score) is #196
(out of 48,755 current users with a George Score. [99.6 Percentile])
Your State Rank in Florida is: 16 out of 7,962 [99.8]
Your initial entries with hits have traveled a total of 5,054,793 miles.
They have averaged 470.9 miles per hit and 194.74 days between each hit.

I got a hit in Gulf County, which brings the number of Florida counties I have up to 60. I’m now missing only seven counties in Florida.

I did get a few other interesting hits over the past month or two. This one was found on the ground in Las Vegas. (I just love the scrolling text.)

This bill Was waiting two years to be entered. I don’t know which is more frustrating: The fact that the guy held on to it for so long or the fact that it was at a local airport, potentially waiting to go out of state.

This one, I can’t say I understand. I just thought I’d share.

That’s all for now.

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…