Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?

Subject: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Red Eye
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 09:26 AM

The biggest ever currency change over takes place tonight at 00.01, when twelve EU countries adopt the single currency. Britain is not one of the twelve, but will effect us in an unimaginable way. When we converted to decimal cuurency the education for the country was immense, yet even though the euro can be spent here I have seen no information or my children have had no education in dealing with it. I know it's available on the net but you would think that they would inform us through education etc. The currency will be easier for our American friends to use as it is based on centimes etc, (i think).

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Deckman
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 09:50 AM

I have a good American friend living in London. I've been very curious about this HUGE change. She just e-mailed me a website that I found to be very helpful It is:http//europa.ev.int/euro/htm/entry. I hope this helps. Merry New Year, Bob Nelson, Everett, Wa. USA

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Roger in Sheffield
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 10:20 AM

€ is this one?

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: nutty
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 10:24 AM

I have a euro sign next to the 4 on my keypad.
You press control and alt as well as the number 4 to acess it
£ $ € £ $ € £ $ €

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Roger in Sheffield
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 10:35 AM

...same here nutty or press Alt Gr and 4.

The Guardian / Euro

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Roger in Sheffield
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 10:38 AM

I only scored 3 on the quiz

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 10:40 AM

Unfortunately, my computer hasn't been updated to read the character - it's just a little rectangle. Perhaps it's because I'm using an older (98) version of Windows?

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Roger in Sheffield
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 10:53 AM

I can get that Jeri, by changing the encoding (under view), from Western European to Unicode, and refreshing the page. Perhaps you cam see a euro sign by selecting Western european (if you have it?) and refreshing. remember what your encoding was set at to change it back aftrwards.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,Paul
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 10:53 AM

Jeri,

Mine (€) works on Win 98.

Paul

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 11:07 AM

Jeri, how is your browser set up. I think you are on IE5? I've played with the view/encoding options. Western European (Windows) - my normal setting displayes the Euro symbol but changing to say Unicode (UTF8) just gives me the square box.

Jon

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 11:20 AM

I've got mine set to Western European (Windows). I tried Western European (ISO) - same thing happened. Unicode makes the box disappear so Paul's post above looks like "Mine ( ) works on Win 98. " Maybe it's my ASCII text that's outdated...

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Bill D
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 12:51 PM

in the Opera browser (which I am in right now), there is a default setting called "automatic detection" under the 'encoding' menu, so it show the Euro symbol just fine. I will look at Netscape(I know I have seen the € symbol in NS)[if you see it, I typed it using 'alt 0128']...(I will NOT look at IE, since using it messes up my newsreader .ini file)

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Bill D
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 12:58 PM

ok, I just opened a small, free browser called K-Meleon and it also displays the Euro ok...must be hardcoded, as I can't find a menu for language prefs.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Bill D
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 01:02 PM

my Netscape (4.75) diplays it ok, and is currently set to Western [ISO-8859-1]

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Jeri
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 01:17 PM

Well, I can view it with Opera 4.02, so there must be something I can change/add/update in MSIE 5. I'll just have to mess around with it.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Red Eye
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 05:03 PM

Yip€€€€€€€€€€.

I am now a true European.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,Desdemona
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 05:08 PM

What do people here think about the Euro? Personally, I think it's pity to homogenise currency this way; but then I still regret the loss of shillings, et al. I don't like to see bits of (even financial) cultural heritage wiped out in the interest of greater convenience. I'd rather spend a little extra time figuring out the various exchange rates of lira and francs than have it all boiled down this way.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 05:27 PM

In MS Office 2000's version of Word the shortcut (on an American keyboard in the Times New Roman and other text fonts) is alt + cntrl + E = €

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,NH Dave
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 06:00 PM

Somehow I had thought that Great Britain was going under the Euro as well and had thoughts of posting a letter to a bank on both Man and the Channel Isles asking them to send me a Manx/Guernsey/Jersey pound and five pound note, and one or two of there larger denomination coins, 50 pence for example. It would make a nice souvenir of my time over there shortly after Decimalization.

Dave

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Bill D
Date: 31 Dec 01 - 06:45 PM

I heard that the Buckingham Palace gift shops are refusing to accept Euros, no matter what...true?..or just another hoax?

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 04:42 AM

The Euro is not an accepted coin of currency here in the UK. It is entirely up to the shopowner if they wish to accept it, but I'd say 99% won't. Hell, we have enough trouble getting them to take Scottish paper money!

The Inland Revenue will accept returns done in Euros, if the company is foreign owned, or subject to double taxation in another country.

As for the banks, they will accept and provide Euros as foreign currency, but are still a bit dubious about taking them for British. The only advantage is, you could probably argue the case for depositing them directly into your bank account, rather than exchanging them, but again, that is dependant on the particular bank.

LTS

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Red Eye
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 04:46 AM

Went to get a paper this morning and, for a laugh, asked the newsagent if he'd accept Euro's. He said YES.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 05:00 AM

Ah, so HE'S the one percent!!!

LTS

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Red Eye
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 05:43 AM

'The Euro is not an accepted coin of currency here in the UK'. So if I go into a car dealer today or any instituition where money is the name of the game and want to pay in Euros they wpuld turn me away. Money talks Liz, whatever colour it is.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Roger in Sheffield
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 06:04 AM

Here you can get a Euro Currency Screen Saver (think I'll give that a miss) and download the Euro Font
Clicki€

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Roger in Sheffield
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 06:10 AM

Not sure if I like look of the notes

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: cyder_drinker
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 05:03 PM

No Eurinal key on my keyboard. And I don't want one, thanks.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,Peter from Essex
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 05:12 PM

There is a € against the letter E on my keyboard which types as é. Alt Gr 4 (thanks Roger) works on some applications but not others. I'm not sure that I care enough to spend time trying to get that sorted.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 06:11 PM

Since $10 = about €11 I think we'd do better to call them eurodollars anyway. Dollars started out as a European currency anyway. Though I'd prefer the Latin expression, and call them euroquids.)

I can't see many shopkeepers refusing euros if it means losing trade. What they'll do is accept them, but at a rate that gives them as big a profit as they can get. "Two euros to the pound, squire, as a favour to you."

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Gareth
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 06:50 PM

I am old enuf to remember decimilisation in the UK
It was the biggest cause of inflation ever.

I have no doubt that the UK will go over to the Euro, and the sooner the better, but what frightens me is the way this will be used to drive up prices.

Gareth

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 07:38 PM

I remember Decimalisation too... that's why I don't want the Euro!!

What is the point of a common currency when we don't have a common economic system? Until that happens, there is no point. Why have a Euro that is worth 60 pence here, but more in Germany or less in France? Prices will rise rather than drop to come into line with each other, and the losers will be everyone except the traders who jack up prices because people don't understand the exchange rates.

If you went to a car dealer in the UK today to try and pay in Euros for a new car you'd be stupid.... cars are far cheaper in Europe and that INCLUDES the import duty and taxes, whether they are in Francs, Marks, Euros or Lire...... although whether that will remain the case as per my former comment here, is another point in question....

LTS

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Jan 02 - 08:04 PM

Some people with newer software (Office 2000, etc) seem not to have a problem. For those of us stuck with "old" stuff, the following may be helpful.

The "euro" character is UNICODE character number (hex) 20AC. This is decimal number 8364.

You can post the character in http (on mudcat) using the character encoding € or €

As € it should look like €.
As € it should look like €.

If you don't see a sort of a "capital C" with two little "bars" through it, the following may help.

Generally, the character "identity" is preserved - on mudcat, on the web generally, and even if you paste the text into your favorite word processor.

The character will be visible only if it is defined in the font you are using to view the web page or document. If you see little squares, dots, asterisks or some other kind of "splat" glyph, it merely means that the font you are using to represent the "intelligence" that someone posted simply does not know how to "draw" character number x20AC (8364).

Whether you are using US English, European English, Unicode, or some other "general setting" has little directly to do with whether you see the character.

A quick survey of fonts that I have on my machine shows that relatively few "popular standard" fonts can display the "euro" symbol. All of the fonts that I found containing the euro symbol are TrueTypes. This probably just means that most of my Adobe fonts are getting old.

Setting your display font selection to one of the following may pop the euro symbol up - if you have the same font versions I do (Win98 and Office97, generally).

(As I have not checked the full character sets for any of these, it is possible that setting one of these as your display font could make some other things disappear, so keep track of your original settings so you can go back if needed.)

In the font versions I have, the following include the "euro" character: Albertus Extra Bold or Albertus Medium
Antique Olive
Arial Black
Book Antiqua
Century Gothic
CG Omega or CG Times
Clarendon Condensed
Comic Sans MS
Complex
Coronet
Courier New (Including Baltic, CE, Cyr, Greek, Tur extended Courier New)
Gothic E, Gothic G or Gothic I
Greek C or Greek S
Helvetica Narrow
Impact
ISOCP, ISOCP2, ISOCP3, ISOCT, ISOCT2, or ISOCT3
Italic, ItalicC or ItalicT
ITC Avante Garde Gothic or ITC Avante Garde Demi
ITC Bookman, ITC Bookman Demi, ITC Bookman Light
ITC Zapf Chancery
Letter Gothic
Lucida Console
Marigold
Monotxt
New Century Schoolbook
OCR B MT
Palatino
RomanC, RomanD, RomanS, or RomanT
ScriptC or ScriptS
Simplex
Tahoma
Txt
Univers, or UniversCondensed
Verdana

If you want to change your font selection to something you can use generally - that includes this symbol, Palatino might be a good alternate to a Times type of serif font. Century Gothic is not too bad as a sanserif replacement for Arial or Helvetica.

John

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: MudGuard
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 04:34 AM

John, whether € is shown as the Euro symbol also depends on whether the HTML viewer knows about this entity. Some (very old) browsers might not...

On older systems with older versions of the fonts listed, the Euro symbol might still be missing.

MudGuard (who has not only an Euro symbol on his keyboard - AltGr+e but also real Euro in his pocket)

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: vindelis
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 09:06 AM

Personally I can't afford the Euro. If the French have had to cope with 17% inflation - in twelve months; and the Irish have had their currency devalued by 30% in 7 years, how can it possibly be a good thing? Unless you are somebody with more money than sense.

We in the UK would have had to deal with inflation of 13%; ie paying 70p for something that at the close of trading in December was only worth 60.99p.

Ever been had?

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Red Eye
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 10:38 AM

We dont care about the £. This morning on BRITISH TV there was two examples of commentators revealing how much people earn in a European country and converted it into DOLLARS?? Why?? I'ts as hard for me to relete to wages/cost in dollars as it is in Euro's.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 11:52 AM

Red Eye,

You'll learn how to do it soon enough...

I'm looking forward to listening to the right wing 'little englanders' like Wurzel when we finally lose the pound.

Should be entertaining! *grin*

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Ringer
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 12:11 PM

Why should you think, nameless Guest, that those against Britain adopting the common currency are either right-wing or little Englanders? As far as I can see, those agin it come from all sides of the political spectrum (is Tony Benn right wing?), and (speaking for myself) we're agin it not for any nationalistic reason but because we don't want to give away control of our economy to unelected bureauocrats in Frankfurt.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,Paul
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 12:28 PM

Bald Eagle,

The previous post was from me. I'm not able to use cookies on this computer, and I forgot to sign the message.

Whilst it's true that there are people across the political spectrum who are not in favour of the Euro, I'm sure you'd accept that the majority are on the right of the spectrum.

I really have this arguement of "giving up control to unelected bureaucrats".

Isn't that what Labour did when they came to power, and which now every mainstream political party admits was a very good idea?

Worrying about the fact that the decisions will be made in Frankfurt is simply xenophobia. No more.

I've never quite understood how those on the right can be so against devolution (bigger is better) but so against the euro (smaller is better) at the same time.

Unless of course the Union is of some special size, that is best

London and Manchester would probably like different interest rates too. Should we have a different currency for each city?

Paul [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Ringer
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 12:47 PM

I don't want to argue the left/right issue, because it's not important at the moment. However...

Isn't that what Labour did when they came to power, and which now every mainstream political party admits was a very good idea? Yes, but Gordon Brown is quite capable of taking back control of interest-rates from the MPC if it suits his purpose. There is no escape clause from the common currency, as far as I understand it.

London and Manchester would probably like different interest rates too. Should we have a different currency for each city? So you understand that argument, anyway. If a single interest-rate for London & Manchester is a problem, why worsen the situation by insisting on the same rate from Helsinki to Madrid, Dublin to Berlin?

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,Paul
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 02:58 PM

I'm not convinced that individually tailored interest rates are as important as the 'anti' lobby make out.

The USA seem to do fine with decisions made by the Federal Reserve.

To be honest, I'm not an economist, and I think that very few of us really know enough about this to make a fully rational decision on it.

What really gets me, is the view that we will be giving up our sovereignty to Germany, which is so far from the truth that it's laughable.

If we could have the arguement without xenophobic bias, or comments about not using 'monopoly money' we might get a lot further.

Personally, I think it's inevitable that we'll join. I just hope we don't leave it to late to influence important decisions or lose our place as a major world financial centre.

Paul

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 03:32 PM

Too bad, Red Eye. A few more years and the Euro dollar and the US dollar will be standardized as one currency. Then all the prices can be adjusted upward(s) once again.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,Paul
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 03:45 PM

And a few years after that, H.G. Wells' vision of a 'world government' may come to fruition.

Hey, it works in 'Star Trek' *grin*

It's a damn shame that I'll only get 3 score years and 10. (plus hopefully a bit more)

I'd love to see how the world develops over the next 500 years...

Paul

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Bill D
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 07:53 PM

It seems to me that the real value of the Euro is simply to have one form of currency in this age of travel and internet buying. It is not really relevant whether the financial situation is better in Germany or Ireland. Here in the US we all use the dollar, but it may well take a lot more dollars to buy gas, or autos..etc...in New York than it does in Alabama.

There will always be better bargains one place than another, just as with 14 national currencies...but now they don't have to juggle daily conversion rates and money. The price can rise or fall, as it will, but it will sure be easier to tell at a glance whether you should buy that toaster in Belgium or the UK.

Most of the gut reaction, it seems to me, is just 'liking what one is familar with'.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Jan 02 - 09:09 PM

"Why have a Euro that is worth 60 pence here, but more in Germany or less in France?" It doesn't work like that. The Euro is worth the same all over - but what it would show up is the way prices in English shops and so forth tend to be so much higher than in other countries in Europe for all kinds of things, from cups of coffee and hotels to motor cars.

And no doubt there are examples where you can quote the opposite, but that doesn't really change anything. The point is the rip-off merchants are going to find it a little bit harder to get away with it than they do now. Especially with the Internet available.

It strikes me having a common currency is just convenient. Going back to the way it always used to be. It's the wrong issue. Now having some pillocks in government, any government try to tell us what weights and measures to use - that's far more important, and the people who just rolled over on that are now the ones who claim to be so worried about the euro. Once the single European Act was signed by Thatcher's lot the rest is just tidying up the mess.

Local currencies like "Lets schemes" - that's the way to go for anybody who is seriously interested in resisting centralisation, and the right level for decentralising isn't big nation states, it's regions or even smaller.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,hrothgar
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 03:23 AM

And here's silly me thinking that a euro is a rock wallaby, also known as a wallaroo.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Ringer
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 04:26 AM

You're a little less coherent than usual in your last post above, McGrath, particularly in paragraph-3. What do you mean? Just when was this common currency that you describe as the way it always used to be? I agree with you about weights and measures, incidentally: the convenience of Lb (for example) is evidenced by the colloquial useage of "livres" in France, even though these are now 500g.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Wolfgang
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 06:24 AM

As for the Buckingham Palace shops, here's what they say officially:
Buckingham Palace says: "It's purely a business decision. Retail outlets at official residences have never accepted other currencies. "The shops are not geared up to deal with currency exchange - this is not an anti-European decision."

As for only 1% of shops in Britain accepting the Euro, that may still be true for the whole of Britain on a shop count basis. It is far from true for London (if I may trust our newspapers) and those shops accepting Euros are the largest on a turnover basis. Look here for a 2nd of January news report of the ready acceptance of the Euro in London (maybe the link only works for a short time).

As for prices going up with the Euro, the opposite is true for Germany, but that may be only due to our fortunate exchange rate (1.95..). The catch-the-eye prices of e.g. 1.98 Marks don't go down to the 'correct' 1.01 Euro, they often go down to 0.99.

Since high prices in one €(Euro) country are no longer protected by money conversion losses the expectation is that on the long run prices will go down due to increased competition.

Since I've seen the neologism 'euronate' a couple of times here, may I cite another neologism describing the ready and very quick acceptance of the new currency in Germany:
Europhoria

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 08:19 AM

In Ireland, the change has gone with complete, boring efficiency. The attitude here is:

* A common currency for all 300 million Europeans will mean prices are transparent across Europe

* Travelling to neighbouring countries won't mean we have to pay expensive bank charges each time we change currency, carry two or more wallets of different currencies, become confused about how much things cost, etc, etc

* It's the first time since the Roman Empire that all of Europe will have the same currency

* On the other hand, all of the countries of Europe have given up their right to set their own currency rates, effectively devolving their power over their industries to the Central European Bank, which some regard as crazy.

By the way, a lot of the big British retailers - shops like Marks & Spencer, for instance - said they will accept both euros and sterling.

The British are going a bit cracked about it all. I can understand getting sentimental about a lot of things, but money...?

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: Ringer
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 10:17 AM

We seem to be unable to discuss the euro without the "Goody, goody: I'll be able to save a couple of quid in currency commission when I go on holiday" attitude coming to the fore. I've said it before (eg Click Here, for example) and I'll say it again: European EMU (of which the common currency is a part) is primarily a political, not an economic, process. On December 3, Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission, reiterated, "This is not an economic process; it is a political process."

I'm convinced that the economic benefits of Britain joining form a negative sum (ie to join is to our economic disadvantage on balance), but even if there were economic benefits the political disadvantages should keep us out. Look what's going on at the moment, for instance: Wim Duisenberg was made (elected? appointed? who knows?) President of the European Central Bank about 4 years ago. At the time, stories abounded that the French were upset that their candidate for the job, Claud Trichet, hadn't got it, but that they'd secretly reached agreement that WD should resign half way through his 8-year term to make way for CT. They're now looking for the payoff - and why? So that the French can control Germany's monetary policy, that's why. Quote from today's Daily Telegraph: The European Union monetary affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes offered his backing to Wim Duisenberg yesterday, drawing attention to EU treaty provisions which established an eight-year term for presidents of the European Central Bank. Brushing aside speculation that Mr Duisenberg has secretly agreed to stand down this year in favour of a French replacement, Mr Solbes said: "The treaty is there to be complied with. As far as I know, Mr Duisenberg was nominated for an eight-year period.". This is typical of the European "Union": no-one puts Europe first, all seek advantages for their own Nations.

So, all you gobe-mouches who can't see beyond your next European holiday, can we have some political arguments, please? Tell me why you don't mind seeing ancient rights such as Westminster's supremacy, Habeus Corpus, trial by jury, control of our own economy, etc, surrendered.

Subject: RE: Anybody got a euro key on their keypad?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Jan 02 - 11:34 AM

Incoherent, Bald Eagle? Well, a couple of commas, and a new sentence to break up one that was maybe a bit long, and it seems pretty coherent to me:

"It strikes me having a common currency is just convenient. Going back to the way it always used to be. It's the wrong issue. Now, having some pillocks in government, any government, try to tell us what weights and measures to use - that's far more important. The people who just rolled over on that are now the ones who claim to be so worried about the euro. Once the single European Act was signed by Thatcher's lot, the rest is just tidying up the mess."

"The way it always used to be" - that means way back when all the fragments of Europe shared a common currency, gold, even though the coins would have different symbols printed on them.

I just don't think the currency is the right ground on which to fight centralisation. Excessive and irrelevant centralisation can be imposed even with a fragmented currency, and decentralisation could be achieved even with a common currency. Americans wouldn't put up with a lot of the centralising tendencies of the European system. It isn't the euro in itself that threatens things like Habeas Corpus.

"Subsidiarity" is supposed to be a fundamental element in how the European Union works, and that is supposed to mean decisions taken at the lowest possible level - a lot lower than the nation state for a lot of things. That's what we should be working towards achieving and developing, whichever part of Europe we are living in.

The daftest thing was the news, with tourists returning from Europe being interviewed on the subject "How easy did you find to use the new notes?" they were asked. "Well, we found it quite straightforward really."