Now playing: They might be Giants. Again.

Well, it's all Euro here. On Wed., Jan 2, I attempted to buy a newspaper at the kiosk at the train station. This caused a great deal of consternation. Finally, I felt so sorry for the poor old guy (it was way too early to be that confused), that I searched my pockets and the bottom of my purse until I came up with enough to pay for it in Lire. After further searching, I discovered that I am down to about 2000 lire, which won't get me very far.

According to the papers, the Italian banks hope to have 90% of the cash machines stocked up by this weekend, which is later than the original plan, but more realistic. On Jan. 1st, we had to go to 3 or 4 cash machines that were just plain out of service before finding one that would dispense euros (and this not until later in the evening, so who knows when it was stocked. Things seem to be much smoother in that regard now, at least here in the BigCity-- who knows what's going on in smaller towns and villages.

I find it easier to use than the lira, what with all those zeros and funny conversion rates, but a lot of the Italians seem to be having trouble. The lines are taking longer than usual as it takes the cashiers forever to make change. Have been trying to get into queues with the youngest cashier as they seem to have less conceptual problems with it, but the drawback, of course, is that some of them are genuinely stupid. Come on, people-- it's just making change, and it's not like you have to do the math yourself! Just count out however much it says on the till and get on with it. It's pretty funny though-- there are euro orientation kiosks set up in the grocery stores, etc., and the "you and the euro" programs on tv are a real hoot: I've never seen anyone have so much fun buying a kilo of eggplant. And listening to the earnest discussion about it helped pass the time while I waited an hour in line to pay bills at the post office yesterday. ("So you're telling me that you can use it just like real money?") Of course, that whole line was a disaster, especially once one bright spark found out that they would convert lire to euros right there at the counter in the PO-- he emptied his pockets right there, and then everyone remaining in line (and their numbers were legion) had to follow suit. And then examine the new currency right there at the window. And ask questions. Sample conversation:

"What's this five mean?"

"That this note is worth 5 euros."

"How much is that in Lire?"

"9680 Lire."

"What's this ten mean?"

Once I finally got up to the counter, I discovered some of the problems. For one, the tellers at the window were explaining things to other tellers as they went. For another, they were peeling off coins from the rolls like they were lifesavers, instead of dumping the coins into the till.

Actually, though, there's been less confusion than I expected. And the new money looks really cool, even with the generic historic monuments and buildings. So many safety features! Watermarks, holograms, security stripes, ink that changes color, ink that's flourescent. Too bad they couldn't guard the money supply better until it actually went into circulation.

On the resolution front, I've maintained my vices, been nice to BH (which today means beloved husband), played with the cat, failed to procrastinate, but done no yoga and no meditation, although I may get to those this evening. Am enjoying life, and that's good.