CovenantJr wrote:Puzzled by billions. Apprently the short scale billion (1000,000,000) has been in official use in the UK for some time. I was raised with the long scale billion (1000,000,000,000). Short scale makes no sense.

I was raised with the short scale billion, and first heard about the long scale billion less than a year ago. To me, a million is a thousand thousands and a billion is a thousand millions. I guess to you a billion is a million millions?
To all who are feeling under the weather, get well soon!
This evening my orchestra group (really just a small string ensemble with a couple of flutes and some drums) did a gig at an art gallery opening. We were short our drummer, and some of our favorite songs to play at these gigs really need a drum (or at least a strong supporting beat). We tried to play them anyway, with varying amounts of success. I think that overall we still sounded okay, but we would have been a LOT better with the drums. We must have sounded really good to the other people there, because at the end, when we started clearing out our stuff, the husband of one of the featured artists came up to us and said he wanted to give us a tip. He handed me a pile of cash--$140. There were 7 of us, and we each got $20! Because we are there as part of a class, we usually don't get anything for playing (maybe the occasional piece of chocolate or a thank you note, but not money). $20 is a lot of money to me (probably because money is not something I usually have in abundance). I am stunned and grateful.
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