Puzzle: Numismatism – of a slightly different ilk
After putting all those currency notes under the table glass top, I had thought of sitting down and trying to learn all the modern currencies of the world. This has turned out to be much easier than remembering capital names and much much easier than flags (which I am still working on at a slow pace).
See how many of these you can answer. Since the definition of “country” can be a bit subjective, the scope of these questions are the 195 countries in the UN (193 members, 2 observers).
1. What is the currency used by the most number of countries? (US and Canada both use dollars – but they are different currencies with different paper bills – US Dollars and Canadian dollars)
2. If you found the above easy – try this: which is the second one?
3. A surprising number of countries have “dollars” in their currency names (e.g. Canadian dollars). Can you take a rough guess how many of them have it?
4. What would be your guess as the next common word in currency name? How many countries would you guess? I am talking of same currency name but differentiated by its region or country name. e.g. “rupee” is used by both Pakistan (Pakistani rupee) and India (Indian rupee)
5. Speaking of the rupee, and this surprised me – how many countries have the word “rupee” (or its close derivative) in its name?
6. There are many countries which have its own currency – but also use US Dollars (e.g. the Bahamas). But there are other countries than the US that use US Dollars as the only currency. Take a guess how many and who are they?
7. What would be your guess as the shortest currency name (without attaching the country name in it)? How many letters? How many of them would you guess are there?
8. This might be a hint to the previous question. How many countries have currencies that are only 4 letters?
You can find the answers here.

A quarter century and half a million miles later
That should do it!
The DC sky wore a beautiful look this morning
5K run in one of my old time routes
In fact, this goes back fifteen years – around the time I had just started running. Running in Dallas area felt surprisingly easier than in Atlanta area. I am sure the flatness of the land had a lot to do with it. My guess is checking out all the new buildings that have cropped up kept me distracted from feeling tired too!

It is becoming a February thing!
Last February, I went for a run in Dallas area in front of the building that I used to work in back in the 90s! This year, I went for a run in front of the building that I used to work in just before moving to that building. This is in Las Colinas. Same company – i2 !
Boy, has this area changed or what?

Seeing that airport always brings back some sweet memories from the past
None sweeter than those of Sunday mornings when Natasha was a preschooler and I would bundle her up in the car, take her to the airport and standing against those giant glass windows next to the gates watch the planes take off and land. Those days, you did not need a boarding pass to get thru security. We would visit the American Airlines Admirals club where she would always drink some orange juice and then head out to the train that would take us from terminal to terminal for some free ride.
Best couple of hours in an airport for me.
Best couple of dollars for parking I have ever spent!

Breakfast with retired Lt. Gen. Twitty
There are very few things as delightful to me as having a breakfast with this much decorated Lieutenant General. Most of our time was spent discussing geopolitics – from the two conflagrations in the Middle East to the Ukraine war which the American psyche seems to have already forgotten and the cooling down of the sabre rattling between China and America. We also exchanged points of views on where America is headed in the global stage what kind of America our kids are likely to see when they get to our age!
Given his service across all the continents, there is always new angles and nuances I pick up in geopolitics that otherwise would have escaped me.
Can’t wait to come back and have another couple of hours with him again!





