Money

Well, i've now picked up some travellers cheques and cash to tide me over the first month (or so) of life in Charleston until I get a social security number (1-2 weeks) and a bank account (who knows?!). Until then, i'll be working for zip....nothing...nadda because the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) can't pay me without them. Still, it'll be like being a student again - except i have extra wrinkles now. Anyway, the main point of this rant...err, post is to comment on American Money. I mean, who on earth came up with this system?

Over here, things seem to work well enough. With coins (from low to high), it's copper, then silver (round), silver (not round) and then gold (okay, the £2 has silver too but it's pretty recognisable). In the US, they have coins for (in cents) 1 (copper), 5 (a nickel - silver, round and big), 10 (silver, round and small), 25 (silver, round and bigger) and the dollar coins (big, bronze). I mean, what kinda screwed up order is that? And is there a use of having a quarter over a twenty and a fifty pence piece? Perhaps its what you're used to and what you're brought up with but i think it's a bit dumb to me (but, hey, this is the US!).

As for the notes - which have a curious air to them, kinda like a musty dusty book that's been in the library untouched for years. Dunno what it is, but i nearly always get a dry throat when i'm near them. But, on top of that, they're ALL THE SAME SIZE and, worst, ALL THE SAME COLOUR. Now, in the UK, if i removed an orange/brown Bank note from my wallet, virtually everyone would now its a tenner, ditto blue = fiver, pink - £20 and so on. Yet, get a wad of bank notes there and its a painstaking process to flick through and make sure you have got the right amount, the right notes etc. Added to the fact they have a one dollar bill (one good thing about this is that it makes you feel rich) and you can understand why they got rid of one pound notes in favour of coins.

So, as you can probably guess, my opinion on American Money isn't currently too high. That may change - watch this space is all i can say. However, if there's a positive message to take from this post, it's that you have to salute that Exchange Rate!