london virgin lounge 2.54pm 18.5C sunny thursday 2017
oh, i see on the big tv on the wall showing the news that the new £10 jane austen plastic note is being issued today. quite a lot of new features on it. looks like the bank of england is trying to convert most of its currency to plastic. unlike some who dont like the change, i dont mind.
i think when they change the £20 note, it will be a lot more of a disruption to us.
then there is the hoo ha about the way they charge for the new apple iphone x. it costs the same whether it is in US$ or in £, even though the exchange rate is $1.33 =£1.
in the states there is the strange anomaly of sales taxes , some states dont have that, or lower than others. delaware it seems have no state taxes. is there a lot of smuggling across state borders do you think? how do the americans deal with that? i remember when i used to go to the states for christmas , it is cheaper in new jersey than in manhatten because of the difference in sales tax. but of course being a tourist, not to mention that the exchange rate then was so good, $1.80 to £1,( such happy days! now that i look back on it) that it never occurred to me to go to new jersey . not worth the trouble, really.
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Jane Austen? Interesting use of a person to be on pound note! We just had an ‘elected’ Malay President, Mdm Halimah Yacob. We cannot please everyone but she is setting new standards by living in HDB flat – it is 9 room one ie she bought a 4 +5 bedroom HDB!
a person , the queen of course, before her a king, has been featured in british notes, but so called commoners have also been featured. dont know when they first appeared. jane austen is the 2nd woman to be featured. florence nightingale was on the old £5 note. i think the singapore president is nominated by govt and approved by the members in parliament , not elected by the citizens. but it is time to get a woman and a malay into that position. she is the first woman and the first malay tohold the post. it is a purely ceremonial role. i think it must be a really boring job.
Lol! A lot of feasting, charity and ceremonial role but also a custodian of our country’s financial reserves!