Overheard at the LFGSS golf club bar

freeing up a load of money, and being able to move to a much nicer place in a nicer area

Hands in the air if you love capital gains

Milan San Remo will go very nicely with power blasting the decking

base rate

I don't think Rishi counts as particularly wealthy by hedge fund standards

I used to go to the same gym as Di.

I've got a few hundred USD in an envelope

Tbf, I once had a couple of grand in USD in an envelope. I was going on holiday at the same time as the USD crashing, so I bought lots more than I needed.

Changed it back a few years later. I can see how it’s a thing. In life, most of us don’t get handouts!

Tbf, I once had a couple of grand in USD in an envelope.

I can see how it’s a thing. In life, most of us don’t get handouts!

Slight tangent, but semi related and as I recently came across this old pic...

The start of our Patagonia leg. I could barely close my money belt.

I remember the relief when we hit the break even point of our savings from buying Blue Dollars, so being robbed was less of a concern.

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I took £14k in cash on a train to go and buy a car, when the owner refused any other payment method. The bag kept close that day, although it was Lichfield which I think is largely OK.

This LFGSS golf club bar doubles down because of not only the £14k cash but because Lichfield is actually quite posh

I could barely close my money belt.

I took £14k in cash on a train to go and buy a car

I could barely close my money belt

I bought lots more than I needed.

When I was in Somaliland, there were these guys every few yards down the main street. You gave them $5 and got a 2 inch thick wad of local currency for the day's meals:

£14k in cash on a train to go and buy a car

Gutted

Brings back memories of 2 months in Argentina and Chile (although this was back in 2008 when the currency was slightly less fucked).

Asking the hostel "Where is the best place to change some US Dollars?" often got some very favourable rates from people at the hostel or friends thereof.

Back when I used to work in hospitality we banked with the Post Office.

What this meant was that on the Tuesday following a long bank holiday weekend you'd have 45-50 thousand pounds in tens and twenties that needed to be taken to the Post Office, once you'd counted it all and done the bundles up with whatever elastic bands you could find in the kitchen.

You were meant to go with someone else - but you also were not given the budget to have a second person on site when you needed to go, so you went on your own.

I'd put the money inside my jacket and put some folded up newspaper in cash-bags inside a rucksack that I then carried with me - my thinking being that if someone planned to rob me on the way then they'd not stop and open the cash bags prior to buggering off at speed.

I was personally liable for the entire amount, which at the time was significantly more than twice my annual salary.

This would have been 2015 in Bariloche. It was the best rate we ever got - I want to say ~$14 vs $8 at the official rate.

We were quite picky about the quality of the notes, as in some countries people are fussy and we didn't want to get fucked over. The guys looked bumused, but humoured us. Later when someone gave us $2 in change which was a celotaped $1 with a $1 coin celotaped to that I realised why we must have seemed so odd.

The very first time we bought Blue Dollars it was off the back of trying to buy legit ones from the bank and the queue being out the door. With every other person offering them, buying at the official rate seemed like a really shit way to spend the afternoon.

How could they make you personally liable?

Billions of years ago I did various temping jobs in a year off from Uni (skint so had to work for a year to be able to afford to go back).

One of the temp jobs was as a receptionist for a hair and beauty product company in Essex. (That alone has won me many games of bluff.)

One thing I had to book was the taxi for the weekly bank run to get the money for the factory workers who were paid in cash:

• Same cab company
  
• Same day of the week
  
• Same time
  
• Same "collect from <factory>, take to <bank>, wait and return" instructions
  
  

Blank stares when I suggested it might be an idea to mix it up a bit.

I also used to do this for a retail bakery that ended up being absorbed into the Gregg's empire.

I used to walk down to the bank on the high street in a busy Midlands market town with several thousand pounds in a couple of carrier bags every Saturday, at more or less the same time of day. If only the various small-time criminals of the town knew what was right under their noses

Bariloche

My avatar on this forum was from a pic taken at the top of Cerro Otto in Bariloche.

Amazing place. I'd love to go back there.