What really bothers me is the lack of colours. I love the convenience of being able to look in my wallet, and if I need $20, I just need to find the red note. With all these bloody green notes, I have to actually read them to find what I want, and the addition of $1 notes doesn't help to reduce the volume! With my vision, I better be careful I don't go using the wrong amounts! I must say that I find having a note for a dollar to be a bit odd, but that's something I actually understand the logic behind: coins for cents, notes for dollars (though I hear the US does actually have dollar coins too). One thing I always do over here is forget who has the bigger gold coin - in Australia, the $1 is bigger and in NZ, the $2 is bigger, but I always manage to muddle it. I may even have it around the wrong way there, though I don't think I do. I suppose when you country-hop with the frequency I did a few years ago, getting muddled like that is understandable. You'd think I would've had it nailed by now, though.
Ah well, boringness aside, it is fun to hold a thick wad of cash. Makes me feel wealthy, despite the fact I've gone and blown stacks of money on this trip to the US. I'm sure some of you know how I feel, particularly on the front of spending heaps on U2 concerts.
And now it's random story time! Well, not so random, as it has to do with money; I'm just jumping into it randomly. My father used to work for the National Bank of NZ, and when I was about 7 or 8, Dad was telling me about how lots of people often needed money between $5 and $10, so the bank was going to introduce a $7.50 note (or it may've just been $7). Of course, I fell for it. I can still remember that as clear as day. We were walking on the wide path out of Marine Gardens towards Raumati Road, though of course, only
divinecirinde has a clue about where that is. I'm just enjoying the nostalgia trip. I'm still feeling homesick for Raumati Beach. I miss the Marine Gardens trains so much. I used to spend every weekend in the model railway building. They came to know me so well that they would run the trains I asked them to run, even getting a model of a DA class diesel locomotive in working order for me. I can still see it. I miss the place so bloody much. 