Mad Macedonian

Merry Christmas from Nikita and The Mad Macedonian!

Merry Christmas!

Rejoice in the meaning of the Holiday, Religious (The Birth of Jesus Christ!), and Secular (Shop 'Till You Drop! It's your Civic Duty!)!

As readers know I am a Currency Tracking Research Scientist at Where's George, um, hee, hee! ;-D

Bills of mine have been tracked across SoCal, and the United States, to Florida, in the year since I've joined.

506 bills = $3387

12 of those bills have been Hit, and I've Hit 2 bills sent traveling by others.

Last month I wrote about a Cool Tradition of Christmas Card Sharing among members of the Where's George? Community.

Well, as of today, I've received 77 of 109 card sent out, and a very cool collection they are, too, from across America, Canada, and 2 members of the US Military serving overseas in Iraq.

Nikita worked very hard to set up this display of wonderful Christmas Spirit!

He sacrificed nap time, and even the chance to sit in the window, and watch the rain drops a fallin' outside. ;-D

 

Many of the cards had nature scenes, some had simple messages, and others, well...

The overall message can be summed up this way:

"Okay, due to injuries sustained by Rudolph, and friends, during the Extreme Raindeer Games 2008, Santa has banned it in the future, hired temporary help, in the form of Geckos,  and other creatures, to handle the Sleigh pulling, and driving duties, while he made the Drop Offs.

Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful Holiday Season...and a New Year filled with many Hits!!

Peace out...and have a Hip Holiday!

Sincerely, your friends in Georging!"

Each card was signed by a Georger, and had personal greetings of the season.

I look forward to getting the rest of the cards by New Years Day. ;-D

Tracking and Searching, Searching and Tracking: Beyond BookCrossing and Georging

In 2005 I became a Bookcrosser...

In 2007 I became a Georger...

A few weeks ago, while telling one co-worker about Georging a Benjamin, another co-worker told me she had been carrying around a Dollar, for a few months, that had Georging Stamps on it.

But wait, it gets better! ;-D

When I asked her why she still had it she laughed, and offered to give it to me if I told her where it had been.

I gave her 4 quarters for it, went online, during a break, at WG, and learned the bill had originally been GEOCACHED...IN KS., over 2 years ago!

I decided that it would be cool to return it to a Geocache so I signed up. ;-D

While the tough locations need GPS to find, SOME of the easy ones, especially if they are Urban, and you know the area...DO NOT.

TRUST ME. ;-D

1st BK, then GW, now GEOCACHING...

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching (Official and Original Site!) is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

Whether I will get a cheaply priced device with the minimun needed to get the job done, or not, I am not ready to say yet...but, um, heh, heh, I detect a pattern in my choices of some of my hobbies. ;-D

Further research turned up other similar hobbies.

Have A Very Georging Christmas!

As readers know I am a Currency Tracking Research Scientist at Where's George, um, hee, hee! ;-D

Bills of mine have been tracked across SoCal, and the United States, to Florida, in the year since I've joined.

418 bills = $2927

6 of those bills have been Hit, and I've Hit 2 bills sent traveling by others.

There is a cool tradition that has been popular for several years among the Georging Community, and this year I decided to join in the fun.

The tradition involves the sharing of Christmas Cards among interested Georgers from across America, Canada, and the world.

This year, including me, there are 110 people on the list, with 4 from Canada, and one person serving her country in the US Military, aboard a ship in the Persian Gulf.

The cards start going out this weekend, and Mail Carriers across the land will find themselves swamped, for a few weeks, by an abundance of Holiday Cheer that they will be responsible for ensuring safe delivery of.

Each card I send out will have my Special Georging Stamp, seen on the Hamilton above, and a brief message, and the envelopes will be enhanced by 2 humorous stamps, one identifying the item as "Genuine Snail Mail", and the other with a Cat at its desk for a "From the Dest of" effect, above my address label. ;-D

Where's George? Gambling His Heart Out, That's Where!

WHERE'S GEORGE?  is the fun, fascinating, and educational website where people can keep track of those globetrotting gents named George, Andrew, Abe and Ulysses and the rest of their Currency Commrades.

You have just bought a burger and fries at some fast food joint, bought a lotto ticket, or paid some street corner floozy for a midni, um, forget that last, you get my drift, I'm sure.

Have you ever wondered where those bills have been, or where they will go next?

Well, George seems to have spent a day or 2 playing the slots, and the cards at Pechanga Casino, in Temecula, Ca. ;-D

My 2nd hit of the month! (Read about the 1st, here.)

I got this particular dollar bill on Saturday morning, in Santa Ana, and spent it the next morning, in Orange.

3 days later the bill has traveled into Riverside County, for a Gambling Weekend, then headed over to Los Angeles County, where it was reported in from Glendora, yesterday morning:

I got this bill as change from buying dinner for my friend and I at Pechanga while he was busy playing poker. Those tacos were pretty good. Poker wasn't so good!

Technically the bill travelled only 26 miles, from the where it was registered by me, to where it was next reported, but obviously it traveled considerably farther inbetween. ;-D

For anyone who wonders just how many folks are doing this in Orange County, here are some stats to chew on:

Orange County is the 4th busiest county in the state behind Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Diego.

TOTAL BILLS ENTERED = 890,803

UNIQUE BILLS = 887,571

TOTAL HITS = 187,324

NUMBER OF BILLS ENTERED IN THE COUNTY THAT HAVE BEEN HIT = 85,171

Of the 58 counties in the state, the 3 with the least interested in Georging citizenry are:

TRINITY = 1,901 TOTAL BILLS (1,866 UNIQUE) (Bills entered in that county that have been hit = 238)

SIERRA = 787 TOTAL BILLS (778 UNIQUE) (Bills entered in that county that have been hit = 86)

ALPINE = 565 TOTAL BILLS (560 UNIQUE) (Bills entered in that county that have been hit = 61)

Where's George? 2,000 miles from where he started, that's where!

WHERE'S GEORGE?  is the fun, fascinating, and educational website where people can keep track of those globetrotting gents named George, Andrew, Abe and Ulysses and the rest of their Currency Commrades.

You have just bought a burger and fries at some fast food joint, bought a lotto ticket, or paid some street corner floozy for a midni, um, forget that last, you get my drift, I'm sure.

Have you ever wondered where those bills have been, or where they will go next?

The last time I posted about my activities, in April, I'd released 54 Bills into Re-Circulation.

Six more bills, all of $1 denomination, were released that week, and then I stopped for a while.

I've been encouraged to resume Georging by my very first Released Bill to be FOUND!!! ;-D

Old timers tell the newbies, in the forums, that the hits will come, be patient.

Some are lucky, and see their first hits in a couple of months, others not for a year, or even two, so just keep settiing those bills free!

Well, today, it was finally MY turn!

A notation appeared in the record for this bill that announced it had been found in Boynton Beach, Florida, and some new markings had been made on the bill!

black eye and stach

Florida is appropriate, in a way, as it is a Twenty, and the President on the bill is Andrew Jackson, whose Military, and Political careers affected the early history of the region.

A black eye is interesting, too, as Andrew was famous for his fighting, and dueling. ;-D

This bill has travelled over 2,000 Miles in over 300 Days!

I will be setting loose some ones, a two, and a five in the next couple of weeks, thus resuming regular Georging. ;-D

Where's George, and Andrew, Abe, and Ullysses, for That Matter?

WHERE'S GEORGE?  is the fun, fascinating, and educational website where peopel can keep track of those globetrotting gents named George, Andrew, Abe and Ulysses and the rest of their Currency Commrades.

You have just bought a burger and fries at some fast food joint, bought a lotto ticket, or paid some street corner floozy for a midni, um, forget that last, you get my drift, I'm sure.

Have you ever wondered where those bills have been, or where they will go next?

All you need to do is enter the denomination, series, and serial number of any US dollar bill, and your current USA ZIP or Canadian Post Code in the box on the main page.

If you want to follow them on their travels, though, you have to register on the website.

You can enter a brief note describing the bill, its condition, and any markings on it of interest.

If you so choose you can print, or rubberstamp the website URL on the bill, in a way that does not deface the bill, or make it "unfit for re-issue", so the finder will know what to do, if they are so inclined, and then spend the bill!

For 10 years, now, people all across America, and Canada (There is a seperate site for Canadian bills), have been following the money. ;-D

These news stories, over the years, are a testiment to the popularity of the site.

The website has many fascinating forums, interesting links to Numismatic related websites, and a store that sells shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers.

There are various Top 10 lists that track bills in various categories such as:

1. Top 10 Most Entered Dollar Bills: some bills have been entered 12-15 times (All $1 bills), and there are lists for other denominations.

2. Top 10 Users: One person has entered over 907,000 bills, and had 143,000 of them reported again!

3. Top 10 States: Ca. comes in at #1 with over 11,800,000 unique bills entered, and more than 1,300,000 of those reported again!

4. Top 50 Zip Codes, and state/county.

There are also lists by Series, denomination, and Federal Reserve Bank.

I've been a member since Sept. 2007 and have entered 54 bills worth $253

None have reported back as of yet. ;-D

21 = $1

12 = $5

11 = $2

5 = $10

5 = $20

The oldest ones I've registered are 5 $2 bills from 1976!

As a registered member your bill stats are numerous, and fascinating to read:

Denomination, Series, Federal Reserve Bank, Block Letter, Zip Code, year and month registered.

You can even track favorite bills, and I currently have two:

There is, I learned, a 1999 Bill w/Same Serial #  as one of my bills, Traveling Since 2002!

Where's George is fun, check it out! ;-D

Other websites of interest:

The Directory of Where's George Related Pages

Alan Gilfoy's Where's George Main Website

Alan Gilfoy's Where's George Tip Page