Wendishness proposal is :
we’re at the end of decade and in the media we’re seeing a lot of highlights, mishaps, misfortunes etc.. that have happened in the news. But what about everyone else? I would LOVE to see your highlights and lowlights from the “noughties”.
I really had to rake my brain for this, because I don't remember any special highlights, but I remember a "lowlight" which was the day when Mr. Gattino started his life as a retired man ! That turned my world a little upside down until we got used to live together 24 h a day, but I think this is the destiny of all married women. Now I don't have to worry anymore that I could forget to feed the cats (which btw never happened) but he is there to supervise and the cats get fat and fatter.
Another highlight for me but for a lot of people a lowlight, was the introduction of the Euro on 1st January 2002 and suddenly we got our salary in Euros and had to pay everything in Euros too. Most of the people my age are still calculating in Belgian Francs, I forgot them, I like the Euro it's so easy for travelling because it is used in 16 of the 27 European countries.
I really don't understand why the rest of them want to keep there own currency, pounds or whatever, they have to change their money into Euros anyway when they go abroad. Now the Euro is the second largest reserve currency and the second most traded currency in the world after the U.S. dollar and a lot of foreign countries prefere Euros to the $. Those who are 16 or 17 today don't even remember the Belgian francs. And those who pretend that with the introduction of the Euro everything increased, forget that their local currency prices increased too and we all pay more or less the same value for a bread.
Euro bills and coins
Our cat family changed too. Max died after just 20 years of sharing our lives which was very sad. But then we adopted Arthur, who is such a funny cat and a childhood wish of Mr. G who always wanted a white cat. We inherited also the two cats of our son, because he moved from his house in London to an appartment in Amsterdam and the cats were so unhappy.
Last but not least I choose little Rosie on Internet and she is the first cat I could follow in pictures from birth until now that she is two years old. Other then that a big highlight which really changed my life was the discovery of internet in 2005 and then the start of a blog in 2006 which became so important that I had to make 3 out of one !
The important switch of one century to the next, i.e. 1999 to 2000 which is something very special and not all people live this event, I don't remember very well, because we were both sick and just got up at midnight to have some champagne, looked at the fireworks in the neighbourhood for a minute and went back to bed again, sneezing and caughing.
The last highlight was the purchase of my new car two years ago and the last lowlight the death of my best friend this year in february.
I have never seen a Euro. Thanks for sharing that and when I saw Max I thought whose that? What fond memories you must have of him. Mr. G and his retirement story is funny I must say. Is he getting skinnier cuz you always feed the cats and not him? LOL. Thanks for sharing this. I enjoyed reading it :)
ReplyDeleteIt was the same when we went from sterling currency to decimal...so many years ago now, I forget. People thought everything had gone up but it was just the same. Decimal is so much easier to work by and now all our measurements are metric, too. Have been for years. Give me decimal and metric any time.
ReplyDeleteOh your comment about Mr. G's retiring really struck home Gattina. My good friend just retired and her husband had previously retired. He said life as he knew it was over when she retired. However they're doing great with their own interests.
ReplyDeleteI share your enthusiasm for Euros--makes travel a lot less hassle for those of us who are mathmathically challenged! And I too count blogging and other technologies as a highlight. The world is at our fingertips.
Yes it is convenient not to have to exchange money e very time you travel. I think your cats lok so sweet.
ReplyDeleteWe still have fun travelling. When in Switzerland we need francs, when in UK we need pounds, and when on the continent we need Euros. However we have discovered Travel Cash now and that makes it a bit easier. Hope the next ten years are good to you.
ReplyDeleteI live in the UK (are we in Europe or not? I wish our governments would make their minds up!) and I wish we were fully integrated like Ireland and used the Euro for currency. But I fear that while the pound remains "strong" it won't happen.
ReplyDeleteSorry to read about the passing of Max, he was a gorgeous looking cat.
Wow! Some of those are pretty big events - the changing of the money certainly is! And Mr. G retiring - that's huge! NEXT year you shall have the first BIG EVENT of the next decade! And I may do a New Year's eve post about this.... Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteAll money is basically the same isn't it? Some random piece of paper or metal that has been given a value. So interesting people's attachment to it, though. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI have coin & money collection but don't have euros yet. A travel there is a must to get all those personally! =P
ReplyDeleteLol about when your hubby retired. I can relate..we do stay out of each others way most of the time. We plan on a trip to the UK in the spring and I am hoping the US dollar is stonger againt the Euro by then. Its going to be pretty expensive. I agree with you on computers, internet and blogging as a highlight in the past decade. The wonders of modern technology.
ReplyDeleteThe euros are so pretty! I wish everyone worked on the same currency-conversion is such a headache! Love the cats. I thought about doing a decade of pets... and I only have one cat I can trace from tiny kittenhood to adult cat. The rest came as older cats.
ReplyDeleteamazing how time flies -- i remember when the euro came, we were in Paris and my friends from the Netherlands have a Euro starter pack with coins amounting to 10 euros I think - we were so jealous because we from Germany don't have any.
ReplyDelete