I put in the order for my euro currency for my upcoming trip to Berlin today, and the euro is currently on parity with the dollar for a near 1-1 swap. It’s a bit more, of course - the bank wants its fees - but it’s crazy better than the last time I went to Europe and the exchange rate was $1.57 to 1eur before fees. 
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Dang, I remember when I lived in Germany in the '80s the Deutsche Mark-to-Dollar exchange rate was like 3:1. My parents got paid in dollars and we lived like kings! Well… like slightly less poor people anyway
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I wen to Europe as a kid and still remember the exchange rates:
A Deutsche Mark was worth a quarter.
A French Frank about twenty cents.
A Lira about 1/10 of a penny.
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By the time I visited Europe in the mid-2000s, the euro was already a thing. I don’t remember what the exchange rate was then. I think at that point, Slovakia hadn’t joined the EU yet, so when we took the train from Vienna to Bratislava, I took a picture of whatever currency Slovakia was using at the time (the name escapes me) because, due to the exchange rate, there was quite a bit of it.
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OK, who decided chopping onions was a good thing to do right now?
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I am smiling because my wife and I successfully used up the first avalanche of zucchini from our garden this weekend – all it took was two loaves of zucchini bread, a 13x9 inch zucchini cake and several stir fries! Plus, all of our native plants we used to replace worthless stretches of lawn are bringing in many many bees and hummingbirds.
Truly, all I want to do nowadays is watch MST3K and talk to people about my garden 
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I LOVE zucchini bread!
ahem
(Come join us, won’t you?)
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That’s a good way to be!
Love that you got such good use out of the zucchini - and I hope you enjoy the discussion in the Gardener’s Corner thread that @LadyStarblade linked to!
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I thought it was supposed to be throw pillows.
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Don’t mind if I do! I apparently didn’t do enough digging (pun intended) here to find the Gardeners’ Corner. Thank you!!
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My family made zucchini bread this weekend too! One big mamma-jamma zucchini gave us three loaves of bread with another loaf’s worth frozen for next time. It’s the only thing our garden has yielded so far, but a few more are starting. Our soil sucks - and I mean suuuuuucks - but I’m gonna hit the garden with some fertilizer this evening if it doesn’t rain. Maybe more veg someday soon.
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Was Rock Hudson involved?
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While I was on my daily walk, I saw a deer and her 2 babies. I think that was the first time I saw a fawn in person!
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I got some sleep last night! After days and days of insomnia I finally got the sleep I need. In fact I even slept in which never happens!!
Oh hap-hap-happy day!
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So the first tattoo artist I e-mailed is currently not taking clients. I e-mailed someone else a couple days ago. She e-mailed me today saying that she had an opening at 2 tomorrow. I’m a little nervous, but after many weeks of injecting myself with IVF drugs (plus I’m getting a blood draw tomorrow), this should be nothing for me, pain-wise.
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You got this! My one tattoo hurt like hell but I’m also kind of a wuss.
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Nice. That actually makes me smile.
No, for real. I’m addicted as well to the sound and execution of small but effective speakers. Sorry not sorry, but even though I am a fan of Acer notebooks, currently on a Lenovo typing, those dweeby little built-in micro-inch notebook speakers just don’t do it.
Currently using a “woozik” brand thing mostly, plus some little thing I got as a swag from work, called a “Musibaby” something or other. Still thinking about picking up a Klein AEPJS2 speaker for portable sound from keyboard instruments.
Can’t really fire up the regular systems, especially when I’m at my desk, which I always am when at home.
I got to know: do you use the aux in/cable, or bluetooth?
For me it’s got to be that little 3.5mm cable, even though it can be a contributor to the spaghetti-cable stew…
This is such a long ways from those days of old “computer speakers” with complicated power requirements, wallwart transformers, and so forth.
It is a good thing.
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One of the two grocery stores I find myself at frequently has managed to hire… a customer service rock star as an assistant manager! (GASP!)
Best shopping experiences in MONTHS.
I mean, I still hate going shopping at all, but at least this was a rare bright spot in an otherwise miserable experience.
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