Funny Money

Its somewhat ironic that our house in Renfrew was sold two days before we go off on holiday. Instead of being able to park there and be a ten minute taxi journey from the airport, we have to drive up from Carradale and pay for long-term parking! But hey ho, at least the house has gone and there is one thing less to worry about.

For such an early blip I couldn't think of anything more colourful than some of the currency we will be taking with us. It all looks a bit funny and as if there is lots of it, which is not actually the case! You would think in this day and age our plastic cards would be enough to cover most things, but some cash is still essential. Especially as banks have increased their charges for using credit and debit cards outwith the EU. Our bank is charging 2.75% on the exchange rate plus £1.99 per transaction whether debit or credit card. That's almost £5 in every £100 they are making from it. I can recall the days when there was no charge for using your credit card and they actually gave you the same exchange rate as for cash on the day of purchase! Even the Cash Passport that Thomas Cook tried to convince us to take has a charge of £3.50 per withdrawal. So it has to be some cash in the form of this funny looking money. Winge over - time for holidays!

Suspect there will be only limited opportunity to comment in next few weeks, although I will try and post blips as and when wi-fi allows. Hopefully, next blip will be from Hong Kong at some point.

Right, must dash now!