Jenny, don't change your number

September 23, 2015 10:07 AM

The “867-5309/Jenny” Awareness Center. Since 2003, raising awareness that Jenny's number is, and will always be, 867-5309.
posted by maryr (57 comments total)

and yet the website is 876-5309.com?
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:14 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was just talking about this number today! I had a friend who would give that as her number when being hit on by a guy she wasn't interested in; 867 is similar to the exchanges in our town, and this was before 10-digit dialing, so it was a believable number if you didn't think about it too much. Her name isn't Jenny, though.
posted by TedW at 10:15 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Also still a semi-reliable way to get discount card savings anonymously. I just used it a Wegman's yesterday!
posted by ryanshepard at 10:15 AM on September 23, 2015 [20 favorites]

and yet the website is 876-5309.com?

From the site: "I bought this address in 2003 by accident." ... And thus the birth of the "867-5309/Jenny" Awareness Center. Hopefully, this site will help prevent similar mistakes by other people.
posted by Rob Rockets at 10:16 AM on September 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

I wonder if the same guy owns 1006westaddisonchicagoillinois.com
posted by bondcliff at 10:25 AM on September 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

I freaking love the bridge in this song so goddamn much it hurts.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:28 AM on September 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

I have a phone number earworm that's stuck with me for 30+ years.
It's from a series of local radio/TV commercials for—of all things—a newspaper's classified ads pages:
The Dallas Times Herald Classifieds
(The newspaper is long defunct.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:28 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

What's crazy is that the correct site, 867-5309.com, is called "Technology Shoppe" and is apparently straight out of 2001.

We are a leading-edge application service provider (ASP). Our suite of services leverages the Internet to provide a direct exchange of information between companies and their vendors and customers.

posted by Slinga at 10:28 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ah, this should work to dislodge the REO Speedwagon medley that's been going through my head since last week's obit post.
posted by mogget at 10:31 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Way to bury the lede: the number is in pi at position 9,202,591, which is itself the PUBMED number for Paravertebral extravasation of contrast medium during lumbar myelography, which forms the acronym PECMDLM. Play that word in Scrabble and you get 66 points. Order 66 was the command Palpatine gave the Stormtroopers to kill all Jedi. But Tommy Tutone 2, which contained "867-5309/Jenny", came out in 1981, 24 years before Revenge of the Sith came out.

What did Tommy Tutone know, and when did he know it?
posted by Etrigan at 10:32 AM on September 23, 2015 [64 favorites]

The link includes a dead link to that site where someone called every 8675309 and recorded responses. Wayback Machine to the rescue!

"“Hi this is Paul with Gavick and Sons Plumbing and we went into the bathroom the other day and saw Jenny’s phone number on the wall and we took it and now it’s our number. If you’re trying to get great plumbing service then give us a call at our main number at [Number], otherwise Jenny passed away [Has to wait?]."
posted by yellowbinder at 10:34 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

The true purpose of this post is to get 867-5309 (Jenny) stuck in your head for the rest of the week. Please look forward to my upcoming posts on It's A Small World, This Is The Song That Never Ends, and Call Me, Maybe.
posted by maryr at 10:34 AM on September 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

What did Tommy Tutone know, and when did he know it?

To be fair, the events of "Revenge of the Sith" happened long ago in a galaxy far, far away.
posted by drezdn at 10:36 AM on September 23, 2015 [8 favorites]

What did Tommy Tutone know ... ?

Uh, two tones?
posted by octobersurprise at 10:43 AM on September 23, 2015

What did Tommy Tutone know, and when did he know it?

Everything. Always. Tutone fhtagn!
posted by MikeMc at 10:48 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

What did Tommy Tutone know ... ?

Uh, two tones?

Nope: tut.
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:59 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

That song was the bane of my 8th grade year (though I spell it "ie")....
posted by brujita at 11:07 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I was pleased to be sitting in on a colleague's (elementary) number theory class once upon a time, when she called on me to give an example of a prime number. "Eight million, six hundred seventy five thousand, three hundred and nine." "Are you sure..." "Yes, I'm sure."
posted by Wolfdog at 11:17 AM on September 23, 2015 [19 favorites]

A104175
(nonn, dumb)
posted by Wolfdog at 11:20 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

The “867-5309/Jenny” Awareness Center

Not affiliated with the Tainted Love Foundation, Friends of the Rock Lobster, or the "Mickey is So Fine" Measurement Project
posted by PlusDistance at 11:24 AM on September 23, 2015 [14 favorites]

I can't think of a one-hit wonder who's achieved as much immortality as this one has.
posted by blucevalo at 11:43 AM on September 23, 2015

How fine was Mickey, by the way?
posted by maryr at 11:43 AM on September 23, 2015

Whenever someone hands me their phone (or leaves it unattended and unpasswordprotected) I add Jenny to their contacts.

Do you know me? Have I ever touched your phone? Go check, I bet it's in there.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 11:44 AM on September 23, 2015 [13 favorites]

...which sounds like appropriate behavior from a MeFite whose username is a reference to the best B-52s song.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:49 AM on September 23, 2015 [10 favorites]

Friends of the Rock Lobster

everybody had matching towels

ಠ_ಠ
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:49 AM on September 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

I can't think of a one-hit wonder who's achieved as much immortality as this one has.

As evidenced in the news this week, the Hill Sisters' effort did pretty well. ;)
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:51 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

What did Tommy Tutone know ... ?

Uh, two tones?

Nope: tut.

I always liked that odd spelling for some reason. I use a NuTone two-chime (two-tone?) doorbell for sound in my pinball machines. In the schematics and build diagrams the controller board is Tommy and the complete unit is Jenny
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 11:57 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

How fine was Mickey, by the way?

I can't speak for others, but he was so fine he blew MY mind.
(come on people, don't just leave her hanging like that)
posted by chococat at 12:02 PM on September 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

Also still a semi-reliable way to get discount card savings anonymously. I just used it a Wegman's yesterday!

Hi! I'm here to be Debbie Downer!

For your local grocery stores, you might want to actually be honest about your number and address. A couple of times I've received a letter or phone call from the supermarket (I think it was Kroger back in TX?) to the effect of "Hi! This thing you bought is recalled so don't eat it!" and "Hi! One of our deli staff caught hep and may have handled this thing you bought, so don't eat it!"
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:04 PM on September 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

How fine was Mickey, by the way?

He was so fine he took me by the heart, but pity, he didn't understand.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:14 PM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

But chococat, I can never remember. Is that extra fine or ultra fine?
posted by maryr at 12:17 PM on September 23, 2015

mogget: "Ah, this should work to dislodge the REO Speedwagon medley that's been going through my head since last week's obit post."

For me it may well, finally, kill Phil Collins and Keep it Dark. I won't link to the song. I am not evil.
posted by Splunge at 12:18 PM on September 23, 2015

For your local grocery stores, you might want to actually be honest about your number and address. A couple of times I've received a letter or phone call from the supermarket (I think it was Kroger back in TX?) to the effect of "Hi! This thing you bought is recalled so don't eat it!" and "Hi! One of our deli staff caught hep and may have handled this thing you bought, so don't eat it!"

Loyalty Cards: Reward or Threat? [Consumer Affairs]

. . . many shoppers are increasingly aware that loyalty cards are being used to compile profiles of their shopping habits for later use, and that this data can be farmed out to business partners, telemarketers, and direct-mail solicitors. What isn't public knowledge, however, is how often discount card programs themselves are outsourced to other companies.

The only thing that has changed in the decade since this article was written is that many chains are realizing that the ROI on loyalty card programs makes them a liability. The slim chance that a chain is going to call me about a recall isn't worth regularly handing that much more information to data brokers.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:18 PM on September 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

Random Jenny reference: it's used as a Shibboleth by the lost Stargate Atlantis expedition in The Jenny Code by Domenika Marzione. Good story, especially if you're into SF with extra military neepery.
posted by suelac at 12:28 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

But chococat, I can never remember. Is that extra fine or ultra fine?
SUPAFINE
posted by chococat at 1:00 PM on September 23, 2015

How many of us who grew up in the 80s use that for passwords? Come on now...
posted by chavenet at 1:23 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

What's crazy is that the correct site, 867-5309.com, is called "Technology Shoppe" and is apparently straight out of 2001.

So I got curious and called Technology Shoppe's number; the man who answered (with a flat "hello", not a "Technology Shoppe, Rick speaking" or whatever) said they're still in business, but had no interest in discussing their business over the phone, nor in discussing their 867-5309.com domain name.

There's nothing via Street View (which I looked up before I called) at the address on their website but a Dunkin' Donuts, UPS store and a nail salon. But past the point of calling a publicly listed number on a public website, things start to get a bit doxxy, so I've taken the conversation as it lays and that's the haps on Technology Shoppe.
posted by Shepherd at 3:01 PM on September 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

867-5309 is my phone number. 90210 is my zip code. I like to think I've transcended my generation but my grocery cards and anti-spam logins state otherwise.
posted by honestcoyote at 3:51 PM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

@Atom Eyes: It took just a quick glance at your description to dislodge this particular worm from whatever fold in my brain was concealing it. So thanks for that.
posted by HillbillyInBC at 4:27 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

It is/was the phone number for the Ben Franklin plumbing company in my locale.
posted by jadepearl at 4:31 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

What did Tommy Tutone know, and when did he know it?

Fnord.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:24 PM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

And the really important thing, of course, is for Rikki not to lose that number.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:25 PM on September 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

I have a friend whom I refer to as Dyslexic Jenny because her phone number is comprised of all of those same digits, in similar enough order to be recognizable but in different enough order that nobody would ever dial it intentionally. I hope she never moves, after two decades I would never be able to learn her new number.
posted by Lokheed at 5:54 PM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I can't think of a one-hit wonder who's achieved as much immortality as this one has.


Inna Gadda Da Vida?
posted by TedW at 6:11 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

YouTube ads fuck everything up.
posted by TedW at 6:13 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Nothing divides your number
That's how I know it's prime
Sieve leaves in place your number
867-5309
posted by escabeche at 6:23 PM on September 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

I can't be the only person who checked their phone number to see if it was prime. And was disappointed to find neither my home nor cell number was.
posted by TedW at 6:24 PM on September 23, 2015

Besides being prime, it's also the hypotenuse of a primitive Pythagorean triple (according to Wolfram Alpha)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:25 PM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I hope she never moves, after two decades I would never be able to learn her new number.

Phone number portability means she can take it with her! Well, sometimes.
posted by limeonaire at 6:55 PM on September 23, 2015

My introduction to the number was a mysterious scribble on a wall in the first level of Duke Nukem 3D.
posted by ymgve at 7:51 PM on September 23, 2015

So I got curious and called Technology Shoppe's number; the man who answered (with a flat "hello", not a "Technology Shoppe, Rick speaking" or whatever) said they're still in business, but had no interest in discussing their business over the phone, nor in discussing their 867-5309.com domain name.

There's nothing via Street View (which I looked up before I called) at the address on their website but a Dunkin' Donuts, UPS store and a nail salon. But past the point of calling a publicly listed number on a public website, things start to get a bit doxxy, so I've taken the conversation as it lays and that's the haps on Technology Shoppe

It's probably a CIA front or something. You should burn your phone.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:05 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

The link includes a dead link to that site where someone called every 8675309 and recorded responses. Wayback Machine to the rescue!

That was me and how I originally found MF back in 2005.
posted by daninnj at 8:49 PM on September 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

Should never have let my domain name lapse...
posted by daninnj at 8:51 PM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Friends of the Rock Lobster,

To reach Friends of the Rock Lobster, dial 6060-842. They're all waiting for you.
posted by jonp72 at 9:19 PM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

I didn't actually know this song until I went to college. A professor of mine often used 8675309 as an exam answer and only after tutoring his classes for a few quarters did I notice this and Google the number.
posted by town of cats at 11:55 PM on September 23, 2015

In baseball, each of the defensive positions corresponds to a number 1-9 (1=pitcher, 2=catcher, 3=first baseman, etc).

Last year, Joe Maddon (now manager of the Chicago Cubs) filled out his batting lineup where the first seven batters' positions were 8-6-7-5-3-designated hitter (0 for this purpose)-9. And it wasn't a coincidence as he'd sent out a tweet pointing it out in no uncertain terms.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 2:42 AM on September 24, 2015 [5 favorites]

Obligatory xkcd (see "Jenny's Constant").
posted by AbnerRavenwood at 5:57 PM on September 24, 2015