never mind . 1 British pound = 2.0134 U.S. dollars

[daywane]

I am not sure how to even lookit up in google
I am contacking some on in the UK.
he has what I want for £49.90
Is that called pounds?

never mind . I found it
http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html

something close to $100.50

[shardian]

Wow. Thanks alot for reminding us Americans how crappy our economy is...

[Singapura]

http://www.xe.com is also a good one. In google you can put: "1 GBP in USD"

[ark_ader]

Wow. Thanks alot for reminding us Americans how crappy our economy is...

Yeah it is poor.  But some of my income from shares is in Sterling, so I'm enjoying it, but others like our friends (ex pats) are finding it rough when their US pensions come out short.

I noticed that the $ -> Euro is not looking that good either.  I just read on CNN about the enquiry on the state of Iraq's economy of oil, and where the money has gone.  It looks like the US has the burden to rebuild Iraq.  But the Iraq government is not doing its bit.  100 billion a year is quite a sum of money.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/08/iraq.main/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Once that gets sorted maybe the dollar will get stronger and arcade cabs will get more expensive.   

[Level42]

On the brighter side: I'm doing everything in my power to improve the US trade balance by ordering parts for prices that keep getting lower and lower for me

I am even considering another holiday in the US if it keeps like this....

[Samstag]

On the brighter side: I'm doing everything in my power to improve the US trade balance by ordering parts for prices that keep getting lower and lower for me

I am even considering another holiday in the US if it keeps like this....

Heh.  If my wife ships much more stuff to her UK friends pretty soon she's going to need an export license.  When they visit they bring a couple of empty suitcases and they still end up mailing some stuff home that won't fit in the luggage.

[ChadTower]

I live very near a set of high brand name Outlets.  Tourists from other countries come in literally by the busloads, straight from the airport.  Some of them come in just to shop there, they mail thousands of dollars of stuff home, and then they go home again.

[daywane]

funny the same product here would cost me $170.00
and its only 2hrs drive from here. 

[lanman31337]

Don't remind me of the conversion.  Most of my vinyl records come from the UK.

[grantspain]

if i had spare cash i would buy a house in florida right now

[protokatie]

if i had spare cash i would buy a house in florida right now

Florida? Unless you have been there before and found a nice town, I dunno... No offense meant to any floridians, but that state has more than its fair share of problems and troubles. If you were to buy land in the US (as it is cheap right now if you have the dosh on hand) I would suggest either New England or pacific northwest (including northern Cali), or maybe even Ohio.. The only thing is, it seems like most of the best places to live in the US dont have the great weather you get in spain.. (IE, New england and pacific northwest (esp washington state) have weather more like England, and I am sure there are enough Britons on this board to remind you how much that sucks....)

But I digress, I like living in northern new england because of the people, even tho the weather is rather shitty...

[Level42]

I've got relatives who live in MA (Not going to spell it, I never get it right ). Been there on holiday two times, and I love it there. It's also great that it's not spoilt by busloads of tourists....

What about Florida ? My niece is working there for a half year(part of her study), don't get me more worried than I already am

[ark_ader]

I'd buy in Las Vegas right now.

Foreclosures are up and house prices are cheap, and low interest rates.

I cannot comment about Florida, but the weather here is great, and no big bugs flying around to make you run for cover.  Humidity is low too.

Obviously you have the nightlife, but I like recreational sports, and we have nearly everything, except surfing.  But Lake Mead makes some waves on a stormy day.

Beautiful houses, people and scenery.  What else could you want?  I won't comment too much about the UK (you might know my view on the subject) but it sure beats rain rain rain and cold anyday.   

My sister-in-law has just become a Realtor, and the houses I've seen are very impressive.  One was $800,000.00 and is now $470,000.00  Plus a outbuilding to house at least 50 arcade cabs.

I've already started saving.   

[ChadTower]

I've got relatives who live in MA (Not going to spell it, I never get it right ). Been there on holiday two times, and I love it there. It's also great that it's not spoilt by busloads of tourists....

There are definitely parts of MA that get busloads upon busloads of tourists.  Salem gets thousands of tourists a day over the summer and maybe a couple hundred thousand tourists a night around Halloween.

[dgordon86]

I've got relatives who live in MA (Not going to spell it, I never get it right ). Been there on holiday two times, and I love it there. It's also great that it's not spoilt by busloads of tourists....

There are definitely parts of MA that get busloads upon busloads of tourists.  Salem gets thousands of tourists a day over the summer and maybe a couple hundred thousand tourists a night around Halloween.

I'm sure you can imagine how important tourism is to us on the cape (mass)
You have a slow summer and you're feeling it for the whole year...
If you ever visit during the off season, play the specials "ghost town" while driving down rt. 28. You'll understand.

[ChadTower]

Heh, yeah.  We can get to the Cape in 35 minutes in the offseason.  It takes three hours in July.

[Level42]

My relatives live three hours from Boston, towards the west. I bet it's quieter there

[ChadTower]

Can you even go three hours west of Boston without leaving MA?     It's pretty much two and a half to Connecticut.

[Level42]

Well, Logan airport to Drury (near North-Adams) took about 3 hours.
Indeed close to the border of the state.

By the way:

1 Euro = 1,58 USD now......this is going FAST !

[ChadTower]

Keep in mind that Logan to anywhere a mile away from Logan is a half hour.  Using Logan as a starting point isn't a reliable indicator of distance.  I'm surprised it didn't take you an hour just to get onto Rt 90. 

[Level42]

Well, my aunt was doing the driving so I don't remember the road nrs. We arrived early afternoon, not too bad traffic.

We did rent a car at North-Adams (should have seen the face of the guy when he heard where we came from.....and THEN when he saw my driver's license ) to drive up to Funspot. was about 4.5 hours drive if I remember, but we were in no rush and stayed over at the wonderful 1884 Inn motel pretty near Funspot (same road). We were the first Dutch visitors the lady running the Motel told us

[ChadTower]

Yeah, there's not much to hold you up between Weirs Beach and Western MA... until you get to about 10 miles from Weirs Beach.  If you hit that traffic at the wrong time you can be looking at 2 hours for those last few miles.  Big big tourist place and only one or two roads to take around the lake.

[Level42]

Yup, I guess we came from the right "side" (east). Don't remember any roadnrs, because my TomTom did all the dirty work of guiding us

Also, it was just after holiday season closed (some last day in september ?) so it was pretty quite....
We were vitrualy alone at Funspot.

[Level42]

Did we go off-topic ? I think so

Anyway....remembering this all......makes me feel like going there again this year
I bet the dollar euro rate is 1:2 by the end of summer

[ChadTower]

Seasonal places tend to close down just after Labor Day here, which is the first monday in september or something like that.  Summer tourist spots go dead at that point until spring.

[grantspain]

if i sell my house and move to the u.s i would be a (one) millionaire,how cool is that

[Level42]

if i sell my house and move to the u.s i would be a (one) millionaire,how cool is that

Wow.....you got a pretty expensive house. I would barely touch 4 grand....

[RayB]

BMW just announced moving some manufacturing to the US because it's cheaper!

[patrickl]

if i sell my house and move to the u.s i would be a (one) millionaire,how cool is that

Wow.....you got a pretty expensive house. I would barely touch 4 grand....

Yeah and then there is a mortgage on most peoples houses. My previous house would be worth well over a million dollars, but half of it would be mortgaged.

If you want to be a millionaire, move to Japan 

[danny_galaga]

if i sell my house and move to the u.s i would be a (one) millionaire,how cool is that

Wow.....you got a pretty expensive house. I would barely touch 4 grand....

4 grand = 4,000. damn theres some cheap house in het nederlands!

[ChadTower]

Four grand here wouldn't rent you a small house for more than two months.

[Level42]

Sorry guys, of course I meant 400,000 dollars.

400 grand...