It's really strange. I have 2 10's and a 5 Canadian (I can actually explain those, I was on a business trip and stayed in Windsor).
A euro 10
1000 Won from the Bank of Korea
100 Kronor
And something from the Banco Central Do Brasil that's apparently worth 10 Reais

I have no idea.

What is a Mini-cab? Is it just a cab/taxi, or is there a difference?

It is usually booked, but the actual difference is that Taxis are licensed and regulated, and you have to take a test and be registered by the council to drive one. Minicabs aren't - anyone can set themselves up. Only licensed cabs can pick up fares on the street, use bus lanes and taxi ranks, etc. Minicabs have a bad rep - there are occasional cases of drivers assaulting female fares, etc.

Just had third-last episode ever, Touched, here in NZ. Have spent last two hours reading the furious debate they had about that episode and the whole of season 7 in the main show thread. Desperately wanted to agree with the positive people, but couldn't quite. I'm not sure which is sadder -- having a brilliant final season and being devastated there is no more; or having it tail off sadly in the final season with so much missed potential, but at least leaving you at a point where you don't care so much. Hope that makes sense. Anyway -- I know what I'll be doing at the end. I'll be doing the ostrich: burying my head in some fanfic. Because, despite all those thoughtful comments people made further back on the whys and wherefores of fanfiction, I know the reason I read it is because I don't like what they did or how they did it on the show. So if Mutant Enemy screw it up or do it limply at the end, I will just go ``lalala I'm not listening'' and head off to visit Ginmar or Herself for their lovely stories.

I mean I can handle having my heart broken -- as long as it's done really really well, eg Becoming, Graduation, the Gift.

People didn't like it.

Huh. That's...y'know I'm not getting over this people-disagreeing-with-me thing any time soon, I feel. I mean, in theory I understand the concept, but my inner egomaniac keeps getting confused (which, now that I think about it, is probably linked to that badge she made for herself which clearly declares her the Grand Arbiter of Taste, May All Other Opinions Bow Before Their Rightful Master. I'd take it away, but she seems so attached to it...)

(Of course, if you are me, and you are terminally lazy, you eat them skin and all.)

Okay, I'm pretty lazy--if I can't take it out of the fridge and put it in my mouth then it's too much work, but I draw the line at eating furry skin. Which explains why I hardly ever eat kiwi fruit anymore.

And on an entirely unrelated topic (well, I could've worked in a furry-related segue, but see above mentioned laziness)--what is it with cats and boxes? I don't get it. My parents are moving down to the coast, and my cat insists on helping by investigating every single box and then sitting in each one for ten minutes like box-sitting is the new catnip. He almost died an ignominious death by photo-album earlier today, the silly thing.

Anything that involves the creation of a brand new typographical symbol (and therefore the obsolescence of billions of keyboards) is OK by me.

I'm not sure I'd even thought about that before, Angus. V. cool!

Which makes me wonder, though--where did we get the idea for "dollars"? The word, the symbol, whatever? Why aren't we still using pounds? And how did Canada and Australia and NZ also end up with dollars? Was there a secret "change pounds to dollars!" movement within the UK whilst everyone was emigrating out?

In the mountains of northwestern Bohemia, just a few kilometers south of the East German-Czechoslovakian border, is the small town of Jachymov. In the sixteenth century, a silver mine was opened nearby and coins were minted to which the name joachimstaler was applied. In German this was shortened to taler. Shortly afterwards the Dutch or Low German form daler was borrowed into English to refer to the taler and other coins that were patterned after it. From this the word Dollar was adopted by the American Constitution as the money unit of United States of America.

That would be my guess, anyway.

I don't know where the word "dollar" comes from (wait, yes I do, Main Entry: dol·lar Pronunciation: 'dä-l&r Function: noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Dutch or Low German daler, from German Taler, short for Joachimstaler, from Sankt Joachimsthal, Bohemia, where talers were first made Date: 1553 1 : TALER 2 : any of numerous coins patterned after the taler (as a Spanish peso) 3 a : any of various basic monetary units (as in the U.S. and Canada) -- ), but the typographic symbol is reputed to come from laying a U over a S and getting the $ sign (only it should have two vertical bars, not one).

My psychic powers are telling me that Billytea knows the answer to all these questions.

Ah! The U over S thing, that I think I'd heard before. Cool.

And yay for the etymology too. But I'm still wondering how it got popular. Am also still amused by the old non-decimal or whatever British system in old books. Confusing as hell, but interesting and bizarre.

meara! Welcome back! How was your trip?

I've got nothing on topic to say. But meara was away from the USA, so it's somehow UnAmerican.

[Edit: And I'm looking for someone to share this post # with me]