We call local highways by their honorary names instead of the numbers, so instead of "94," it's "the Edens," which makes traffic reports difficult for nonresidents to interpret.

In NYC too, and it makes using my TomTom really annoying when I'm trying to leave town (which is almost the only time I use it anyway since I don't own a car). The worst is the Battery tunnel, which is "Battery Tunnel" to everyone who lives here and on all the signage, but 478 (or something) according to the GPS. So I'll be thinking to myself "Wait...478? I thought I was going through the tunnel...OH FUCK THAT'S THE EXIT!"

Yeah, what tommyrot said; because you use the "and" for cents. I'm sure nobody cares, but I was taught to do it that way and now it's habit.

Yeah, what tommyrot said; because you use the "and" for cents. I'm sure nobody cares, but I was taught to do it that way and now it's habit.

Yeah, I think I was taught that in a high-school accounting class.

eta: Also, you only use a dash to separate the tens digit from the ones digit, right? Like "Four hundred twenty-seven and 6/100"....

That's how I was taught to write checks too.

I had a fifth or sixth grade teacher that was really adamant about not sticking "and" into numbers. It wasn't because "one hundred and one" would mean something different, though, just that the "and" was unnecessary and to be avoided.

Eta: I write checks like tommyrot, as taught by my mom, who probably learned in a high school accounting class. And if it's for a even dollar amount, something like "One hundred one dollars only".

And if it's for a even dollar amount, something like "One hundred one dollars only".

or "One hundred one dollars and 0/100ths", which is how I was taught to do it. And then draw a line through the rest of the space to keep anyone from changing it after the fact.

... this is another of those things our kids will never need to know, isn't it?

... this is another of those things our kids will never need to know, isn't it?

Yep. I ran out of checks a year and a half ago, and have relied on online bill paying since then.

I was taught by my mom to write checks that way, too.

A quick correction:

the Kennedy is 53 minutes from O'Hare to the Hubbard tunnel

It's the "Hubbard Cave," not the "Hubbard Tunnel"--bad Chicagoan! I knew something was wrong there, but didn't place it until just now.

I still have to have checks for my rent, but that's the only thing I still use them for. If they had on-line payment, I'd be able to get rid of them completely, but no such luck.