Quiet start to the day and "I don' like dees dollars" ...

[kinzel]

So I went downstairs and grabbed a "to go"  breakfast and coffee and have been going over the workshop stories. I have time before my appointment at the SFWA table and other duties, so I'm taking things slow.

So I didn't tell you about the experience of passing a blazing motorhome on the side of the road in Virginia on Tuesday, close enough that I could feel heat through the window glass despite having the airconditioner on at the time. Black smoke hung away from the road, the field next to the vehicle was starting to burn.  There were people sheltering on the other side of an underpass, looked like several sets of older couples -- they had with them some motorists who had stopped -- and the entire front half of the semi-bus style contraption was burning ... here's a slightly more newsy story -- with photo
http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/99887794.html

The odd thing was that I'd spotted the smoke a few minutes before, off to my right but as traffic was cruising at 75 or so didn't  think much about it, assuming something industrial -- but then the road curved and cars began slowing  down and i realized this was not some purposeful event. Luckily, it was not a full-scale tragedy -- I have family members who are truckers and they have sometimes told of the scenes they've ween along the roads -- but it was impressive enough that I decided to stop and take a walk-around break at the pretty rest area at Mile 262

http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/map-ra-newmarketsb.asp ;

Coincidentally, this is one of my favorite highway rest areas ever, complete with wooded trails and flowers... and I (and Sharon and I) have stopped there a  few times in the past until it has become a looked for stop. Oddly, I'd overlooked it my planning this time around, so it was a welcome chance to climb wooden stairs under the big trees and sit on a picnic bench for a snack, despite the heat. I also spoke briefly with Big Kake and Little Jake -- two nearly identical Dalmations who happened to be ... wait for it ... mother and daughter.

Breakfast today, by the way, included this interaction:

Me, hearing that the charge was $7.92, handing over $8 -- a $5 bill and three gold-toned coins.

The cashier looked up.  "I don'  like dees dollars," he said, turning the coins over and looking me in the face.

I pulled a pocketful of change out, pennies, a few quarters, and three or four more of "dees dollars" -- "What I have on me. We use these coins up north in Maine."

He shrugged, moved his change in the drawer around a little to make a place for them, and gave me my change.  

Oh, I know Canadians use coins in palce of bills at the low end -- how about Europeans?

And last night was the Guest of Honor dinner, which went well I thought, even though several people I was expecting to be there for dinner were not -- but lasagna, cheesecake, and a sititng at a table with folks sharing good conversation on topics like Andre Norton's publishing and residential history, fanzines, the fate of old collections  -- hey, good stuff. Right beside me sat Doug Fratz, who bought an article from me many years ago for his excellent review and commentary semi-pro zine THRUST SF. 

So SFWA table and dealers room coming up for me today. Hope to see some of you there!

Comments

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Pound (Sterling) and two pound coins, euro and two euro coins, higher denominations are paper (fractional ones are coins).

Pound notes were withdrawn some 25 years ago, having been replaced by the coin (with some opposition), the two pound coin was introduced about 12 years ago. As far as I recall the two euro coins were introduced at hthe same time as all the others.

(Smaller denominations were once notes. I remember 10 shilling (half a pound) notes, they were retired with decimalisation in the late 60s.)

[saruby.livejournal.com]

Here in the western states we have $1 coins, but I don't see them much in circulation. Once in a while, I'll get one as change and you can use them in parking meters. But I've never had anyone complain when I used one. Oddly, people 100 years ago or so didn't like "paper" money and preferred coins. At least you could melt them down for the value of the metal. Paper just burns. If the treasury wants to promote use of coin dollars, they'll have to distribute more. People will get used to them.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

The problem is that the banks don't distribute the coins matter-of-factly to their customers. Even up here, we have to ask especially for dollar coins and a lot of times they're "in the vault" rather than in the cashier's drawers. As long as they're treated as a Special Circumstance rather than Money, the coins aren't going anywhere.

If the Treasury Department pulls all the dollar bills out of circulation, now...

[saruby.livejournal.com]

True. And it occurred to me that ATMs can't use coins, but then I remembered that they only give out $20s and $10s anyway. Perhaps I should go into the credit union and ask for coins instead. Personally, I kinda like checking out the new ones.

[baobrien.livejournal.com]

I use dollar coins when I travel to Canada and like them. I have tried to use them here, but find that I have to make special trips to the bank to get them. I'd love to see them distributed more and the single dollar bill discontinued. Wasn't there some discussion about this as a potential cost savings for the US Mint?

[(Anonymous)]

Several of my local US Post Offices give dollar coins as change when you purchase stamps via their vending machines.

Susan
Orlando

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

Vending machines seem to be the most common source of dollar coins. Our main post office no longer has a cash vending machine though, just the fancy automated postal machine that only takes plastic.

[painoarvokas.livejournal.com]

It would be unheard of, in my experience, to get comments about paying with a couple of coin, even if notes would have been possible. However, things change if you start giving the cashier ten or twenty coins...

[groblek.livejournal.com]

At one point I was intentionally using dollar coins and $2 bills for many of my purchases, just to promote the use of less-common currency. I got quite a range of reactions.

dollar coins

[(Anonymous)]

Love 'em! I'd always use them, but can never find them. My local bank dispenses cash when I go to teller via machine, and apparently can't (probably just won't) let me ask for dollar coins, and teller never seems to have any on hand. Used to get them as change when buying stamp booklets from USPS dispensing machines, so would feed in $20 and ask for smallest book of stamps available, then could reload on dollar coins, but I use USPS so little anymore, that's just not viable strategy.

Jim

[isabellag.livejournal.com]

We've had coins for $1 & $2 in Australia for quite some time, and our notes are all polymer; they last a lot longer, apparently. We also don't have 1c and 2c coins either anymore, we have these weird rounding rules that cover what you pay depending on the cost of what you buy... it was lots of fun for the computer geeks when they had to put it in...

[(Anonymous)]

Ditto for New Zealand, except they got rid of 5c coins a few years ago too.

Philip

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I like that rest stop too. For years I mostly skipped going past it though, because there used to be a wonderful used book store in New Market, so I'd get off the highway and drive through town, returning to the highway on the other side of the rest stop.

[(Anonymous)]

I periodically get the dollar coins at the bookstore. It occurs to me I could be an agent
of change (ha, sorry PU*) and stock only dollar
coins instead of dollar bills in the cash drawer.
HMN.

We got a Mariana Islands quarter last night during
the Wine Tasting. Very cool - I thought they were
quitting after the 50 states; it's nice to see the
territories getting in on the quarter action.
Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

* PU=Pun Unintended

Dollar coins

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Strange how things come up several times together. This BBC article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10783019) talks about the growing dollar coin 'mountain' beacuse Americans don't like them, and also says that the USA is the only G8 country which still has its base currency in note (bill) form, all of the others use coins for the "One Unit" amount (several for two unit as well).

I wonder, is the USA the only country which also has all of its paper money the same size and colour whatever the denomination? All the others I know use different colours and sizes depending on the value (the size differences help colour-blind people).