Lunch, old friends and counterfeit money.

[eyeamdry]

I had lunch today with about 8 "old lady" friends from the old neighborhood.  We've all known each other for 50 years plus and friends since elementary or jr. high school.  Recently, have been meeting monthly for lunch.  Well, I missed the last two because of the "couldn't get out of bed syndrome."  I drug it out this morning @9:45 did the shower and hair, got dressed and got together pretty good.  At least, they won't think I am withering away or something. 

I wasn't the last one there for a change.  It was very good at food and conversation.  I made a mental note of how many of us (not me) had lost a loved one in the past couple of years.  The answer was more had lost children or spouses than not.  There was a couple who had recent surgeries and one battling a new cancer.  Just what you would expect for people our ages.  Particularly upsetting to me was the deaths of several adult children recently.  They were early 40's and natural deaths.  One of them was my sister's son who died at 42.  This was one of our biggest lunches and will do it again on Aug 21, finally changing restaurants.

I went to do a couple of errands afterward.  My local store, a small grocery, had given me back a $10 bill I used to buy something with a couple of weeks ago.  The clerk was sure it was counterfeit.  I said ok and put it back in my wallet carefully folded so next time I went to my bank I'd see for sure.  I took it in and the clerk said "yep, it's counterfeit."  So, I'm out $10, no big deal, but it could have been $100 or 200.  I had two one hundred dollar bills in my wallet.  I should have asked them to check them, but I didn't.  I will later, as they probably came from the same place/bank.  I am not sure where the $10 came from.  So the moral of the story:  keep in touch with old friends and don't take any counterfeit money.  Lucy

[Meld256]

Lucy,

That sounds like good advice; Keep in touch with old friends and don't take any counterfeit money!   

I'm so sorry to learn of your friends and their adult children passing.  We have an extended family member whose 50-year old daughter passed last year from a sudden heart attack.  So sad.  I'm sorry to hear of your sister's son; 42 seems so very young. 

It is wonderful that you get together with your old friends.  We really all need to do that.  And great that you do it on a monthly basis; having it often keeps everyone updated.

Sure glad you didn't have one of those $100's exchanged for counterfeit. Geesh!

[Katybarstool]

Lucy

I'm glad you enjoyed your time out today with your friends. It's vey sobering to read about the loss of so many relatively young people though.

Today, I had two aunties visit. They are not very much older than me, as my mother is the oldest of ten surviving siblings. Five of these girl siblings, and one of the 'boys' meet up every week for coffee and a chat in town. It started with just the girls about 7 or 8 years ago, when one of them reached 60. She hadn't seen some of the others for years, and decided they could all benefit from some company ocassionally. They started with monthly meetings and, like I said, now meet weekly. It's such a nice thing for them all to do, and they get on really well together.

Sometimes, the simplest things in life are the best, aren't they?

Sorry to hear about the money, but relieved for you that it was only a ten.

Hugs
Kathyx     

[irish]

Lucy, You continue to lift my spirits. I am glad that you are able to have these monthly outings. It is fun to visit and eat out with friends.

I am always amazed to hear when people get counterfeit money. I don't think I would ever notice counterfeit even if it hit me over the head. I know that when I give stores bigger bills they always check them lately. I bet in this recession there is a lot more counterfeit money hitting the streets.

Don't take any wooden nickels either, girl!!! Hugs Irish

[Bucky]

Lucy - sounds like you had a great lunch with "old" friends.     May you enjoy each time you are able to join the gang.

When I got married 20 yrs. ago, I moved away from my childhood home to another state 500 miles away.  I miss not being able to get together with friends, relatives, schoolmates, etc. - people I grew up with. 

It's almost like I have a split personality - people in Ohio don't know the people here in Illinois, and the people in Illinois don't know the people in Ohio - but, I know them both.  No shared history or stories between the two places with anyone. 

In reference to the counterfeit money - I've always wondered how to tell the real from the counterfeit.  In my job, I handle a lot of money.  Most bills are 20's, 50's, and 100 dollar bills.  Today, as I made the bank run for the company, I asked the teller about counterfeit money.  They didn't have any "samples" to show me, but she explained it to me.  She mentioned it's quite uncommon where we live to get counterfeit money, but go to the larger cities and it is quite common.

She said the markers you see people use, aren't always accurate.  The bank has this light box that they can put the bill into and you will be able to see a bar code going from top to bottom of the bill, plus, if you turn the bill over, you should see another picture (not the ones on the front of the bill, but a smaller picture).  Interesting!

You can also hold the bills up to the light and see the bar code and picture - I tried it, and I could see it.  She said some of the older bills, however, don't have the security picture on them - which doesn't make them counterfeit, they just don't have them. 

Counterfeit money also "feels" different or is a little larger in size than real money (the counterfeiter not cutting it right), or the margin around the bill is wider than other bills.

So, there you have a brief, Counterfeit Money 101 Class.     (Okay, I see you guys running to get your wallets and hold your money up to the light to check!!  LOL)

Bucky

[eyeamdry]

@the money.  I didn't notice it was counterfeit.  My local store told me when I went to buy some Diet Coke--of all things.  He++ I don't know counterfeit from a wooden nickle.  Also, I still have two $100 bills that I may have gotten at the same place I THINK i got the bad bill from.  I will have to check on those.  I will be ticked off if they are counterfeit.

The bank called me today for more info about where i think I got the bill and so forth and said they may be in touch with me.  Gulp.  For those of you who know me, you might be able to guess where I got that particular bunch of $$ from.  casino of course.  It's my spending $ for the casino.  I've saved it for a long time and now I'll have to check this out.  I can't be 100% certain, but this ten dollar bill was probably given to me at the casino from an ATM. 

I had a counterfeit bill in my younger years.  Not sure, but it seems like it was a $20, but then again the holder is out the money.  Not the bank, or where you got it from because you can't prove any of this.  I remember the $20 hurt me years ago more then ten bucks today. I won't miss a lost ten bucks.  I sure do enjoy the old friends thing, but one gal showed up and I had no idea who she was.  Well, finally someone introduced us and I later found out she was having chemo for cancer.   Gotta hear all the stuff sooner or later.  I need to say that most of the "news" comes from someone other than the owner or the illness or loss of relative.  Another of the gals has been on dialysis for a long time and doesn't come often.  I think there is something of a "healing" kind of thing about all the old gang.  You get in the car to leave and you have a big grin on your face.  At least I do. 

[irish]

Around where I live they take a special kind of marker and just make a short line on the bills. Apparantly if they are counterfeit nothing shows up or the line looks different. Irish