Sir Wilf, where have you been?

I got an e-mail today from someone called "Where's Willy?" The subject line told me that my bill had been found. Not one to lose things often, nor one to want more bills, I had no clue what it was. It had made it to my inbox and had no attachments so I opened it. Then I remembered. On June 5th 2005 (I only know this because the message told me so) I came across a five dollar bill that had a website stamped onto it and said something like: "Track this bill." I thought that was a neat idea, so I took it home, went to the website, entered the serial number then promptly forgot about it.

Today's e-mail gave me a link to the log of my bill. Before following the link, I imagined where my five dollar bill might have been. Perhaps the person who had encountered it this time had picked it up from under an empty beer bottle in a sleazy tequila joint in Tijuana. Or maybe it was given as a tip to a camel driver in Douz. Or it had been used to buy a steaming mug of yak's milk tea in Lhasa. Something good, no doubt.

This particular $5 bill was first entered into the Where's Willy system in January of 2004, in Etobicoke. It was next tracked in July 2004 in Vancouver. It hung around here until I got it and I don't remember how or where I spent it. Etobicoke to Vancouver is really not that impressive a distance in 7 months, especially when followed by a year of lazing about in Vancouver, so I really only have myself to blame for letting my hopes get up, thinking that bill of mine had been off having the adventures that I was not.

In the 262 days, 8 hours and 43 minutes since I entered the bill's information it had traveled as far as Kamloops. Here I was, hoping it had bought someone a bowl of borscht from a vendor in Nizhniy Novgorod, when I got Kamloops. Maybe next time it shows up will be a little more exciting. I can hope so at least.