Thread: General Info
+
Add Report
Results 361 to 375 of 435
-
01-31-07 21:39 #75
Posts: 698Coin Shortage Means a Penny Could Be Worth 5 Cents
Have some bad news for all us Ecuador mongers. Because of a coin shortage, the penny could be worth five cents soon! I wonder if this will affect prices?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,247479,00.html
A potential shortage of coins in the United States could mean all those pennies in your piggy bank could be worth five times their current value soon, says an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Sharply rising prices of metals such as copper and nickel have meant the face value of pennies and nickels are worth less than the material that they are made of, increasing the risk that speculators could melt the coins and sell them for a profit.
Such a risk spurred the U.S. Mint last month to issue regulations limiting melting and exporting of the coins.
But Francois Velde, senior economist at the Chicago Fed, argued in a recent research note that prohibitions by the Mint would unlikely deter serious speculators who already have piled up the coinage.
The best solution, Velde said, would be to "rebase" the penny by making it worth five cents rather than one cent. Doing so would increase the amount of five-cent coins in circulation and do away with the almost worthless one cent coin.
"History shows that when coins are worth melting, they disappear," Velde wrote.
"Rebasing the penny would ... debase the five-cent piece and put it safely away from its melting point," he added.
Raw material prices in general have skyrocketed in the last five years, sending copper prices to record highs of $4.16 a pound in May. Copper pennies number 154 to a pound. Prices have since come down from that peak but could still trek higher, Velde said.
Since 1982, the Mint began making copper-coated zinc pennies to prevent metals speculators from taking advantage of lofty base metal prices. Though the penny is losing its importance — it is worth only four seconds of the average American's work time, assuming a 40-hour workweek — the Mint is making more and more pennies.
Velde said that since 1982 the Mint has produced 910 pennies for every American. Last year there were 8.23 billion pennies in circulation, according to the Mint.
"These factors suggest that, sooner or later, the penny will join the farthing (one-quarter of a penny) and the hapenny (one-half of a penny) in coin museums," he said.
-
01-23-07 23:20 #74
Posts: 35Generic Viagra
Originally Posted by Globe Trotter
Later,
SB
-
12-16-06 01:59 #73
Posts: 190Thanks for the reply, Ezinho. Sorry, I should have been more clear. I'm coming from the US with dollars.
I just thought that maybe if the dollar gets too weak, the girls would bump the prices up some from the current $7, $15, and $20 structure.
-
12-15-06 21:30 #72
Posts: 679Currency Re-Evaluation
Originally Posted by Shekwan
(This is a new denomination with an exchange rate of $7 per ficha!)
:-)
Polvo
-
12-15-06 00:27 #71
Posts: 19Planning my first trip to Ecuador.
Since the US dollar is their official currency, what kind of change do they give?
Quarters, nickels, dimes?
-
12-12-06 04:39 #70
Posts: 698I don't think so
Originally Posted by Long Stroker
If anything, if you're coming from Europe, Ecuador pussy should be even cheaper. For example, the pound is almost 2-1 against the dollar now, so a 15 min session could cost as low as 3.5 Quid if you're British!
What I would be a little more concerned about is the new President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. He has always been opposed to the dollar being the official currency of Ecuador, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years with this new President. Who knows what will happen if he gets his way...
-
12-12-06 03:26 #69
Posts: 190Question about currency
As the US dollar continues its slow decline against the Euro, the pound, and other major world currencies, will that have any impact on the price of pussy in Ecuador, given the fact that their currency is indeed the US dollar?
I'm planning a visit to Ecuador in March of next year.
-
11-29-06 02:27 #68
Posts: 14I'll second that on the dry weekend....
I was down this weekend for business but tried to do some partying in the evening... Major bummer.
I am friendly with the lady who runs 270 La Nina so she did serve me and I took one of the Quitenas there. Fairly decent. All the other places I could find weren't even open.
-
11-28-06 03:40 #67
Posts: 279Yeah, it's was a dry weekend most places.
-
11-27-06 08:25 #66
Posts: 679Ley Seco
Originally Posted by Bobisee
Did they have Ley Seco (no alcohol sales) during the election period there - similar to Peru?
Polvo
-
11-27-06 03:29 #65
Posts: 279Today's election
It appears as though another Latin American country has chosen to move away from the US orbit as the election results show that a leftist named Rafael Correa has won.
The other candidate, a US-backed bible-toting billionare bananaman named Alvaro Naboa from what I heard is likely to scream fraud.
I was walking the street earlier this evening and witnessed thousands on the streets smiling, cheering, singing, waving flags, blowing horns, etc.
Indeed a very interesting experience
-
11-23-06 19:23 #64
Posts: 279Cell phones & making contact
Hey Artisttyp,
I'm sorry about the phone problems & that we missed each other,
but it I'm glad nevertheless that you enjoyed your time here.
Mongerers who want meet up with me or others here Quito when they get here, I recommend activating your PM services by paying Jackson's small fee. I will post some info privately that I won't post publicly for fairly obvious reasons. One of those things is my cell number.
For you guys coming to Quito or Ecuador & may want to have cellular access, I will suggest a few things.
First, it will be cheaper to buy or bring a cheap model cellular from the US or outside Ecuador.
I brought a cheap Nokia 6010 which I had been using in San Diego's T-Mobile network
and Tijuana's Telcel network. Therefore, the Movistar network in Ecuador worked fine for me.
Their offices which are all over will sell you a chip, card, number, & minutes for as little as $3.
That $3 is only an introductory offer, but lasts for over a month. While it won't last long for talking,
most people do text messeging as it's much cheaper. Then buy $10 cards as their expiration dates far exceed the cheaper cards. There also exists Porta and another for cell service, but I don't know much about them.
BTW, texting is also better if your spanish isn't very good, but you still want to communicate with the local girls.
Trying to comprehend listening to them by phone can be difficult & costly in minutes.
Those who won't have cellulars in Ecuador should make use of the cabinas found most everywhere here for making calls both locally and beyond. Don't be timid to ask them for assistance if neccessary as dialing local land lines or cellulars might require using some extra digits.
-
11-23-06 14:49 #63
Posts: 3851Bits and Pieces
Ok well Im back on lock down status here in new york. I promised to share a few bits of information. Here they are numbered as they pop out of my head.
1. If you have alot of stuff to take home arrive at the airport three hours ahead. I got nailed for my first time. They also saw a mountain of condoms and asked me questions whether I had a girlfriend in quito etc. I told them I always travel with condoms.
2. Bring small bills
3. Lan airlines was really fair. It cost me $50 to change dates coming and only $77 if I wanted to go home early ( I wasnt feeling well). The airplane going home had TV screens in front of every seat with various programming movies, games,tv etc. * The seats reclined like a lazy boy chair with leg and head reclining abilities. I will not go on american airlines again if I can help it.
4. www.realaudiencia.com or hotel san francisco right around the corner for hotels in centro historico. $26 a night with tax and breakfast. I stayed the first 8 days in the old town and was glad I did. I really enjoyed waking up to a gothic enviorment with no tourists and a feeling for history. Dont stay there for the first few days till your breathing becomes better (many hills).
5. Indio Inn (not hotel) otovalo $30 with bfkfast accepts credit card rooms very nice quite hotel with rooms sourrounded by a courtyard. Very pleasant when you want to get away from the buying and selling of plaza de los ponchos.
6. Cotacatchi- buy bags and wallets like there is no tommorow...fantastic most people accept credit card but bring some cash you'll want it. Dont buy jackets in cotocatchi.
7. Leather Jackets- Go to a town called quisapincha 20 minutes from ambato $40/$50 for something they will charge $120 for in quito or cotacatchi. Its a little hike out there 3/4 hrs. Go to terminal terreste in quito ask for service to ambato (every 15 minutes) then ask for either a bus or cab from ambato bus terminal or side of the road as you enter ambato to quisapincha bus 25 cents cab $4 - $6. They accept credit cards in many but not all of the places.
8. In quito try Siam-thaifood
Rincon de guacho-Steak
Breakfast at the magin bean hostal (bring a huge appetite)
*All located in the mariscal foch gringolandia
9. Hotel rincon escandinavo baquerizo moreno and 6 de deciembre look for the yellow sign with a blue viking hat on it. This is the second time Ive stayed here. $25 with balcony quite cable tv with movie channels and very comfortable. Single rooms for $16. The only set back is you need to cross a few lonley streets at night. Take a cab if your worried. * You may be allowed to bring in a girl. The guy that worked the night shift last year said yes I didnt ask this time.
10. Dont expect much from the girls go to different casas for a variety of service. You get what you get so enjoy it.
11. Exit tax is $31.70 the most Ive ever paid anywhere. It was raised from $25 8 months ago.
-
11-13-06 23:56 #62
Posts: 3851guajira
I finally enjoyed myself and had the time to take off my pants without worrying.
Chicas cost $15 for 30 minutes which is what Im looking for. The girl was really pretty and I thought I made the mistake of choosing a ***** but she wound up giving a really good covered blowjob which is hard to do and she finished me off with a handjob no rubber. I havent gotten that here yet.
I tipped her $5 so the next time she knows there is a good tip coming to her if she treats me right. I want to go down on her for sure but I didnt have my mouthwash.
Tommorow I will try masajes medallin. Until then.
Artisttyp
-
11-13-06 14:56 #61
Posts: 59Didn't mean to upset anyone-
Hi guys,
Sorry, but I did not mean to upset everyone with my comments about screaming like a "Loco Gringo" maybe it was a bad choice of words.
But being a business owner here and having to deal with a daily load of BS from various customers & public service companies, it is not easy to just wash your hands and accept customers that owe you $25,000-$50,000 and do not want to pay or when Andinatel & TV cable cut off your service even though you paid on time, just because they do not have the internal systems to properly monitor their customers. Or when customs (Aduana) here wants to charge you 30-40% of the value of the goods you are importing (when the published rate is 5%) just because one of the customs agents reviewing your cargo needs additional income to pay his own expenses (don't forget, Ecuador was rated the 3'rd most corrupt country in the world). Or when a Hospital purchasing agent has the "BALLS" to ask for a 50% Bribe to give you a $100,000 order when he is being paid by the state to do his job properly, if I paid that who do you think pays the ultimate price-- The Ecuadoran People, that's who.. and I do not think that is fair....
I have tried for over 2 years to be tolerant, understanding and accepting, but NO MORE, sorry but if you all had a business here, and not just visiting for a short time, you would totally understand what I am referring to. Every time I have done things the way it is done in the States, I have had shit piled on top of me, since I adopted the Loco Gringo attitude, my business has prospered because my customers know I mean business and that we are a serious and professional company that will not tolerate CORRUPTION, LIES, & TOTALLY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Make no mistake, I respect the Ecuadoran people otherwise I would not remain here, but I will not be trampled upon nor will I accept things because that is the "WAY IT IS DONE" when it is my livelyhood and that of my employees at stake, I have not run numerous successfull businesses in Latin America by acting that way, No Risk No Gain Guys.
Again, my appologies if I have offended anyone on the board.