h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Okay my washing machine has decided to break thus trapping my clothes inside, the clothes I need to be clean and dry in order to take them to Miami. So it's going to be one of those weeks is it?

Went to the back and got some American dollars, are you sure this suff is real? It's all the same size, how do blind people tell the difference between the notes, I'll have to keep a careful eye on this stuff and make sure I don't give away the wrong notes thinking they're something else.

So what else do I need to do, besides phoning the washing machine repair man?

Have you tried using a spoon? To get the clothes out of the washing machine, that is. That's what I've had to do in 2 of the last 3 houses I've lived in over here.

What, all your notes are the same size? You've been done! You didn't go to Lloyd's did you?

Sorted out your cash card yet?

It would be really annoying to carry notes of different sizes. Why does everyone see fit to criticize the US cash when at the same time it seems like it's dollars so many people want?

Anyway, I dunno if this is what you mean Jonny, but a bank machine card should be usable to get cash here. I've used mine to get cash there a few times. Some machines may charge a $1-2 surcharge, though. (They do this to everyone who doesn't have that particular bank's card.) But sometimes this is waived for cards issued outside the US. Just depends upon which bank and how consumer-friendly they are. (Yeah, right.)

Cash card will be with me on Friday, I may try the spoon thing if the washing machine bloke can't get come before Friday I may just try the spoon thing

And Greg I quite like my different sized British pounds shame I can't spend them in the states. But besides that any money other than your own always feels like play money

Today we were talking about money, and came to realise that none of us really knew who's on which bill, except that Washington's on the $1 and Hamilton's on the $10. They really do all look alike. The only thing we look at is the number, cause that's the only way to tell them apart easily...

...by the same token, we couldn't name the people on the coins either, as normally you only feel for one of the proper size... and it's much easier to check how much change you've got than to count the bills in your wallet, so honestly I think different sizes must be good. Why would it be annoying, Greg? If you kept them all in order, it would be helpful to have them that way.

Not quite what I was getting at Greg, but Ant knew what I meant so that's OK!

I don't think I ever managed to get any cash out for which I wasn't surcharged on, despite what the machines themselves may say! The only reason I ever saw to open a US account was to get cheques (actually I suppose they would have been checks ) to pay my Pac Bell bill, since they inexplicably wouldn't accept a credit card payment. Dunno how I'm going to pay them the $27.12 I still owe them.

Another thing I meant to mention about US money is its remarkable resiliance to being washed or taken swimming. If I remember rightly UK money doesn't hold up too well, I would do a quick experiment if it wouldn't cost a fiver!

Erm, hm, looks like I should've just stayed out of this, since I jumped into an "inside" conversation. That's always annoying.

As for the size of the cash, well, if it were any taller it would be annoying. That's what bugs me. This could actually be a gender issue. Why, you might ask? Well, since I don't traditionally carry a small bag everywhere with me, I try to minimize to what can go into my pockets. This is easier during weather where a jacket/coat of some sort is the norm, but in the summer, you want to have virtually nothing. Thus, anything that makes it harder to carry around cash is a no-no.

And who's on what? It's like this: penny (1 cent): Lincoln, nickel (5 cents): Jefferson, dime (10 cents): Roosevelt (although, you know, I'm not sure which one. I believe it's a recent desgin, must be FDR.), quarter (25 cents): Washington, half-dollar (50 cents): JFK (yeah, very recent, isn't that weird? And these are far, far too big for everyday use, not seen often.) There's a infrequently-used small dollar coin with Susan B. Anthony on it (too similar in size to quarter, and same color) and the last large "silver dollar" coins (larger than the half even) had Eisenhower, also quite recent. I don't know who they had before that, cos they certainly didn't have Eisenhower before he died in the mid-70s. The flip side of these featured a scene commemorating the Apollo 11 moon landing. Pretty cool.

The bills: $1: Washington, $2 (the coolest, and not in everyday use): Jefferson, $5: Lincoln, $10: Hamilton, $20: Jackson, $50: Grant, $100: Ben Franklin (the only non-President on the money). There used to be $500 and $1000 bills in circulation, I believe, but no longer. At the very least there used to be $500 ones. There were denominations up through $100,000, and they have some oddball Prezs on there like William McKinely (I think he was on the hundred grand; I used to have a list somewhere), but most of those, and definitely the 100K, were never circulated to the public. They were used for bank to bank transactions in times before computers.

I wouldn't really call it an 'inside' conversation Greg, Jonny just happens to know my cash point card runs out at the end of feb and I need them to get me a new one before I go... we'll see if they can So now you know as much a Jonny, Greg

Don't ever feel you have to stay out of conversations, just ask if you want to know something, it's what I always do

Yeah, what Ant said.

As far as transaction fees, I think I paid six dollars every time I got money out in London. 's ridiculous, it is.

That's your own rip-off bank, though. Unless things have changed, I never ran into a "this machine will turn your $60 withdrawal into a $61 withdrawal and keep the extra $1 for itself" situation like we have now in most places in this country. They've also gotten stingier about the exchange rates than they used to be, but generally it's still the best way.

And since I don't know what a cash point card is or why it would run out I think I still shouldn't bother with that bit of the conversation.

You making fun of MY bank???

*puts up fists*

No, it is a ripoff. The only reason I keep my account there is 'cause it's too much of a damned hassle to switch. I probably should, though.

And I knew I was going to get raked over the coals anyway--if I pull MY money out of a bank that could well be next door to MY bank, it costs me, on average, 3 bucks, $1.50 from that bank, $1.50 from my lovely, cherished (knowing readers will realize that heavy, heavy sarcasm is afoot) bank that I don't bother to switch. Hmph.

Is everywhere over there still voting to ban "double-dipping" (well, I remember the people of Santa Monica did and I think those San Francisco were about to when I left)? With the result that the banks turn round and say, "Who the hell do you think you are? If you're going to be like that about it we simply won't let you get your money out and see what you have to say then!"

I haven't really heard anything since the initial flare-up, and I haven't been to Santa Monica since, so I'm not entirely certain. I think the banks are still being buttheads, though. They always are. *considers putting all of his money in a mattress, then realizes that that's even more inconvenient than banking today*