British Pound Sterling

Back in November, my brother, Mike, and his girlfriend, Stephanie, came across the pond for a visit. It was a very fun visit [different post], if for no other reason because it is 'refreshing' to 'see' the UK through another's eyes ... especially if he's my brother because I kind of get how he thinks. Even so, I didn't see this coming.

So Mike was busy trying to learn and manage the currency. First thing he noticed:it's freaking expensive here, so you don't hold onto the currency for very long and make frequent trips to the Cash Point [ATM] for a 'top up' [more money].

Second thing he noticed: we have a lot of coins here. And we use them. So although Americans have been unwilling to adopt a dollar coin, here in the UK we have a 1£ coin and a £2 coin.

Third thing he noticed, as with many things in the UK. It's all very 'logical', so you can catch on to the currency quite quickly. Well, almost anyway. So here's the story [I took pictures to illustrate]. Here we have the £2 coin and the 1£ coin and you can see they have the same shape.

And here you can see the £2 coin and the 1£ coin and the 1£ coin is roughly half the size of the £2 coin.

Now we'll take a look at the 2-pence and 1-pence coins.

You can the same logic applies. They are the same shape, the lesser value coin is roughly one-half the size of the other.

And the same applies to the 10-pence and 5-pence coins. They are the same shape, the lesser value coin is roughly one-half the size of the other.

Which brings us to the final presentation [it's a lot more entertaining when Mike does it 'live']. We have just two coins left. They are the same shape, the lesser value coin is roughly one-half the size of the other.

And so it makes perfect sense that the value of the coins is 50-pence and 20-pence !!! If you're an American, right now you are asking 'where is the Quarter'?

I've been here three-and-a-half years, I never noticed this.

Shocking Sight

Apparently, I still have a lot to learn about British culture. I certainly appreciate parts of it!

Last week, I 'nipped' out of the office with Dianne to pick up some lunch and then come back to the office. As we were returning, we saw a couple [man and a woman] crossing the road and walking towards us. The woman was quite a site and we had to muster all of our poker face skills ... look past and catch some details ... without getting caught ... like stopping dead in your tracks, drop your mouth open, and gasp!

The couple was in their mid-60s. I didn't pay to much attention to what the man was wearing, but woman had looonnnnnggggg dark black hair that hung in loose curls half-way down her front. She also had a long white scarf wrapped around her neck several times. I failed to notice that under the scarf and hair was a black leather top [Dianne caught that one]. She was wearing thick black eye liner that a raccoon would envy. She had black tights, black tight short-shorts, and ……

six inch heels, black base covered in roses!!!

'Shock' is the only word I can come up with. When I returned to the office, I shared our experience with some of my staff, and then Dianne suggested that the woman could be 'Petunia' from the public service adds about 30 years ago about Coast Guard safety. Google is my friend ...

Watch this:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1964to1979/filmpage_coastguard.htm

Pam then remembered her favourite which was 'meet Dave ... learn to swim, you man!' Look at the woman in the add, ‘Come on Dave! Let’s swim’ … and she’s magically suspended in the air …

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1964to1979/filmpage_swim.htm

As Caroline is 'only 27', she couldn't remember any of them. The only thing I could come up with compares [and shared with my staff] is School House Rock.
Watch this & enjoy!
http://dai.ly/emrL0H
BFN!