The first day of Fall

The changing of the season brings thoughts of other changes and Fall is an appropriate time to think of the American dollar.

In the late '90s I was working in Canada but being paid in U.S. dollars. The lowest exchange rate I got was $1.25 for each American dollar, $1.54 was the highest. My son still talks about the wonderful five-course meals we would get at Paul & Olivier, a bistro in Hull, for $15 American dollars. Yesterday, the dollars were at parity.

Five years ago we rented a villa outside of Florence for $1500 per week; the euro was worth about eighty cents. Now that the euro has topped $1.40 I wonder how much that villa would cost.

Me complain? Heck, no as our president tells me things are great here.