The License Place Game & the other Game

The License Plate Game

My mother and I have officially half-finished the License Plate Game.

What is the License Plate Game, you ask?

Basically, we're searching for numbers on license plates in numerical order. We started with 000, then 001, then 002, and so on. 000 also counts as a "wild card," so if you're looking for 256 and you see a 000, you can move on to 257. Note that if you live or work by a 000 that you see often, you can only use it the first time. And the first 99 numbers have to start with 00 or 0 (008, 088, etc.).

We blame it on her friend Neal for introducing us to this game. It is good, however, for mother-daughter relations because we call each other or text almost daily. Not that my mother and I have ever had relational problems. My mom rocks.

California plates are the best for this game, which is helpful since I live there (and have a 40-minute commute each way). Car plates have this pattern: 1ABC234. The three-digit number is what we're looking at. Trucks have this pattern: 1A23456. On trucks, we just look at the final three numbers, 456. Which stinks when the first three number (234) are a 000 or the number we're looking for!

Anyway, we hit 500 this week.

We've been playing this entirely pointless game for just over a year now. We've learned the following things about license plates in the process:

1. People who don't have license plates on the front of their cars are evil.

2. People who have vanity plates are evil.

3. Texas license plates are useless.

4. Canada is good for 000s.

5. 888 looks like 000 from far away.

6. Compared to other people we know who are playing, my mom and I are VERY good at this game.

In other license plate news (there is only such a thing when you stare at plates as much as my mother and I do), California car plates have officially rolled over to begin with a 6. We've been beginning with 5 since 2002, so it's fun to see something new!

The Game

Every time I talk about the License Plate Game (or any game, for that matter), I lose The Game, which was taught to me by Julia. Darn her.  

The Game is the game of all games. It has three main rules:

1. If you think about The Game, you've lost The Game. This is the main rule.

2. If you think about The Game, and thus, lose The Game, you must tell someone you've lost The Game (whether that be verbally, by email, by blog, by text, by carrier pigeon, etc.). If the person doesn't know about The Game, you must indoctrinate tell them about it, like I am doing so now.

3. After you lose The Game and tell someone, they do not lose The Game. There is a thirty-minute grace period after one person loses The Game for the involved parties to talk about The Game and forget it before The Game begins again.

If you're reading this post more than a half-hour after I've posted it, you've just lost The Game. Sorry. Tell someone about it.

You are now officially playing The Game for life. You may forget about it and never remember that you're playing. That means you're very good at The Game. But the second you realize how good you are at The Game, you've lost The Game.

I am not very good at The Game.