Golf

Paying for golf would ideally be a credit card payment situation, if it weren't for their 1991-era dial-up authorization. So cash it is. And this time I had sufficient coinage to do the transaction the correct way.

Upon slapping down three Good Ones at the register, the white-haired, wizened woman exclaimed, "I don't even know what these are!" I then distracted her with a Big-Head Jackson to complete the sale.

Tender: $20, 3 Good Ones, 4 quarters
Response: Wonderment
ACI: 0.2

Haircut Tipping

If there's one place where I expected problems paying with Good Ones, it's tipping. I tipped a bathroom attendant last week, but that wasn't a big deal, since he took tips in a container which was full of coins anyway. It's a different matter altogether if you are required to hand someone a tip.

And so it was at Supercuts. I'd paid for the haircut with a credit card, and handed over two Good Ones as a tip. No sooner had I turned to leave than I heard two coins being plunked into the cash drawer and exchanged for Bad Ones.

Tender: $2
Response: Nonverbal disapproval
ACI: 0.8

Jeffy Sighting ... in Prague!

In the touristy parts of Prague, there are quite a few casinos, mostly catering to tourists looking to get rid of their Czech currency before returning home. I walked by one casino this morning that had one of those big spinning money wheels, but loaded with US dollars instead. And they even acquired some Jeffies to stock it with:

Slick

I walked to the post office today, intent on paying the postage on my Norway-bound envelope in all coins. As I handed over five Good Ones, the Post Officer exclaimed, "Oh, think you're slick, getting rid of them by giving them to me now!" I replied that dollar coins aren't so bad, and she eased up a little, noting, "Well, they sure are shiny."

People like the shiny. Shiny accounts for a 0.4 point reduction in ACI.

Tender: $5.64
Response: Playful regret
ACI: 4.6 0.4

Good Ones are the Key

Paying for a key duplication at the local giant blue home store. Self checkout with another heartless automaton, so you know it went well. These mechanical money takers just love them some Goodies.

Tender: 2 Good Ones
Response: Gleefully dispensed change
ACI: 0.0

Cheap Movie

Went to see Hot Tub Time Machine at the local discount movie theater, not a bad film for its genre. Since the movies are $2 ($1 on Tuesdays!) A couple of shiny AJs seemed just the trick. Cashier accepted them without breaking her teenage angst one bit. Looked around the cash drawer for a few moments and then put them in with the dimes. The dimes?!? Not sure why AJ goes in with the FDRs, but who am I to tell her how to run her drawer?

Tender: 2 Good Ones
Response: Emo
ACI: 0.0

Toll Booth

The unsuspecting toll booth worker thought it was an ordinary night. Low traffic, little communication, lots of limp dollar bills. Then at 3:30am, I rolled up. I dropped a Good One in to her hand, and gave it a quick tap, to let her know that it should be carefully inspected. Her eyes widened as the florescent lights of the toll booth lit up AJ's shining face. She was clearly dazzled. The weight of 8.1g of maganese-brass-clad copper in her hand. Old Hickory staring her in the face. The coin itself instilled with the accomplishments of the seventh president: elimination of the natoinal debt, surviving an assassination attempt, and generally being a badass.

Best night of her life? I think so.

Tender:1 Good One
Response: Dazzled.
ACI: Zip

The Copy Cat

I decided to take a cue from Mike and drop my first Good Ones into the vending machine.

Tender: 2 Good Ones

Response: The machine didn't care, but the guy in line behind me was annoyed that I was using coins. Until he noticed that I was only using 2 coins.

ACI: 0.1

Starting off with a clank

Traded in some folding greenies for my share of the latest batch of Good Ones this morning. Spent my first of Phase 2 in the vending machine just now.

Tender:1 Good One
Response: Resounding clank as it landed in the empty dollar coin bin
ACI: 0.0 from the soulless machine

Kicking off VBE Phase Two

Our box of Denver-minted Andrew Jackson dollar coins arrived today, and Mike has already bought his share. We will be running The Experiment the same as before, which requires participants to:

1. Relinquish all Bad Ones to a Bad One Containment Recepticle until the end of The Experiment
2. Exchange any Bad Ones obtained for a Good One from the personal stash
   
3. Use Good Ones in all circumstances just the same as using a Bad One

The goal of all of this? To get dollar coins into the local economy (part of The Plan) and to document the reactions of the recipients (making special note of Anti-Coin Ire). We aim to be both informative and entertaining.

I will admit that after Phase 1 wrapped up, it was a little underwhelming; there just wasn't as much Anti-Coin Ire out there as we expected. Perhaps this time around we'll try to get ourselves into more interesting situations.