I have previously admitted to being low on cash. How low, one might ask? Well, on Monday morning, I was $24 short of having enough cash to pay my mortgage, which is due on Saturday
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My bank did something similar when I cme back from Japan, except they charged me a *percentage* of the total amount of cash, since it was over a certain amount, something like 5.5%. I paid a little over $60 to exchange just over $1000 in yen. And I had to wait while they sent it to Atlanta for processing. Two weeks of waiting. Bigtime suck.
It's really a hell of a pain. I mean, I don't mind much that they're "buying" rather than "exchanging" currency, but the flat fee really annoys me. It makes it almost completely pointless to change small amounts.
If I hadn't needed it, I wouldn't have changed it at all.
I mean, 30 Euros = 29 USD? In what topsy-turvy world does that happen?
Oh, yes: the discrepancy between American attitudes toward currency conversion and European attitudes was quite apparent :)
It made me long for the nice little shop in Paris where they were all business, gave me a decent rate, and sent me off in about 30 seconds.
Of course, I could find a money changer just about anywhere there. In Columbus, OH, there's only one, and it's at the airport. And banks, as you see, aren't being positive about the exchange rate.
I had a military history professor who used to like saying, "Jimmy Carter was from Georgia, Josef Stalin was from Georgia. . . there's got to be some connection there!"
I think a lot of it has to do with our general Amerocentrism regarding currency, which can best be summed up in the statement, "Why would anyone want anything other than a dollar?"
Whereas I'm seriously thinking about a bank in Greece that had a very nice exchange rate and a solid interest rate for Euros. They offered a 12% interest rate for dollars and a 10% rate for Euros: that, alone, showed me the stability patterns in the currency.
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Wow, its been years since I last tried to do such a thing, and i know i wasn't charged.
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I really wanted to ask, "So, if all the banks jumped off a bridge, would you guys, too?"
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If I hadn't needed it, I wouldn't have changed it at all.
I mean, 30 Euros = 29 USD? In what topsy-turvy world does that happen?
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I am wondering if I am going to have to come on IM every day now for a suitably amusing addition to research...
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(The comment has been removed)
It made me long for the nice little shop in Paris where they were all business, gave me a decent rate, and sent me off in about 30 seconds.
Of course, I could find a money changer just about anywhere there. In Columbus, OH, there's only one, and it's at the airport. And banks, as you see, aren't being positive about the exchange rate.
I suddenly miss Europe a lot more than before :)
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(The comment has been removed)
I think a lot of it has to do with our general Amerocentrism regarding currency, which can best be summed up in the statement, "Why would anyone want anything other than a dollar?"
Whereas I'm seriously thinking about a bank in Greece that had a very nice exchange rate and a solid interest rate for Euros. They offered a 12% interest rate for dollars and a 10% rate for Euros: that, alone, showed me the stability patterns in the currency.
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And I'm glad you made the payment :D
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