fubar57
General
Not shown are these countries, Belize, Bermuda, Jamaica, Palau and U.S. territories.
Geo
Geo
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To all you guys 'n' gals in the USA
- Thread starter Geedee
- Start date
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You see, you guys are a minority here 
T Bolt
Colonel
I can just about guarantee that it won't change. They've been trying to get people to change here for over 40 years. 15 of 20 years ago the government (not sure if it was just State of Federal) mandated that all the transportation contracts be in metric. That meant all dimensions, weights volumes, rebar sizes. everything. It was a nightmare. Everyone had to get new equipment. The only big advantage of the metric system, ease of calculation, didn't even apply to us as we already had thrown out inches and did everything in tenths of feet. After 5 years or so when people were starting to get use to it, they changes back to the old system. God knows how many millions of dollars were waisted on that fiasco. I still have metric rulers and tape measures in my basement collecting dust.
And you know how much trouble that causes for the rest of the world?
50mm pipe IS NOT 50mm, it's 50.8mm (2")
1mm thick sheet IS NOT 1mm, it's 0.9mm (0.040")
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
fubar57
General
Geo
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
Just today I was talking to a co-worker about the old days and car engine sizes. I told him "Doesn't it sound much better when you say 'My car has a 440 Six pack under the hood.' instead of saying 'My car has a 3.0.'
I think the 440 or 351 or 289 sound so much meaner and manly!
I think the 440 or 351 or 289 sound so much meaner and manly!
mikewint
Captain
While I totally agree that metric measurements for length (meter), mass (Kilogram), and volume ( actually the meter cubed but we'll use the derived unit Liter) along with their base 10 sub-units are excellent, there are things tat do not lend themselves to metrication. The Fahrenheit scale is more "user friendly" with smaller degree intervals and seldom used negative temperatures. Making zero the freezing point of water is simply too warm a temp for the northern hemisphere leading to the constant use of negative numbers.
Time will also nver be metric and for the same reasons. Our choice is a 10 hour or 100 hour "day". Neither is usable on a human scale
Time will also nver be metric and for the same reasons. Our choice is a 10 hour or 100 hour "day". Neither is usable on a human scale
fubar57
General
I was lucky, doing the change over in 1970 and I still use miles and feet, cubic inches and gallons, depending on the age of person I am talking to.
Geo
Geo
T Bolt
Colonel
The thing that I really couldn't get use to in those years when we were building everything in metric was that even though I had been doing it for years my mind never really switched over. I can look down a curb line and see a catch basin down the way and say pretty accurately that its 175 feet away. How far is it in meters? I have no fricken clue.
mikewint
Captain
Poor grandpa Simpson, he'd better be a Saudi Prince to afford that. He must be driving a German Maus.
The English ROD is related to the Pike (weapon) and is a survey tool, even today. It is 16.5 ft long (5.03m). An English ACRE generally measured 40 x 4 rods or 160 sq rods. So 40 rods is 660 ft (201.17 m) or 1/8 of an English mile or for you horse racers a furlong (furrow long or time to turn the oxen around).
Now hogshead is quite equivocal as there are 3, a wine hogshead, a brewery hogshead, and a tobacco hogshead (should actually be OX-head but you know those Englishers and how funny they talk). A wine hogshead is 63 gallons (238.5L), a brewery hogshead is 54 gallons (204.4L) and a tobacco hogshead 145 gallons (550L)
So assuming the smallest hogshead we get 432 gallons (1635L) per mile
Glenn, that's because you have your measuring unit with you at all times, i.e. your FOOT. The average PACE is 5ft which is why a MIL-Pace or MILE is 1000 paces or 5000 ft (the extra 280 added by the horse-racing English Queen so that the standard 8 furlong race became a MILE by law (called a statute) hence Statute Mile.
The English ROD is related to the Pike (weapon) and is a survey tool, even today. It is 16.5 ft long (5.03m). An English ACRE generally measured 40 x 4 rods or 160 sq rods. So 40 rods is 660 ft (201.17 m) or 1/8 of an English mile or for you horse racers a furlong (furrow long or time to turn the oxen around).
Now hogshead is quite equivocal as there are 3, a wine hogshead, a brewery hogshead, and a tobacco hogshead (should actually be OX-head but you know those Englishers and how funny they talk). A wine hogshead is 63 gallons (238.5L), a brewery hogshead is 54 gallons (204.4L) and a tobacco hogshead 145 gallons (550L)
So assuming the smallest hogshead we get 432 gallons (1635L) per mile
Glenn, that's because you have your measuring unit with you at all times, i.e. your FOOT. The average PACE is 5ft which is why a MIL-Pace or MILE is 1000 paces or 5000 ft (the extra 280 added by the horse-racing English Queen so that the standard 8 furlong race became a MILE by law (called a statute) hence Statute Mile.
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Crimea_River
Marshal
Major snow in Calgary again today. That's 97cm so far this season (38 inches to y'all down south) and we're only half way through with our traditionally snowiest months yet to come. Sounds like a record year.
keep that shovel close Andy!
T Bolt
Colonel
Temps on their way down again and more of the white stuff on the way. I guess those few days of false spring are over.
Well I don't know, depends on what you're used to. The change from postitive to negative numbers is a very visual way to indicate a border, a change. For me negative numbers is an easy way to see that it is freezing. It's a nice border which shows instantly when to drive more carefully and to expect snow and slippery roads. -17C as your 0 point is still to high for keeping the numbers positive duriong. Even we with our moderate winters do encounter the -20C. And -17 doesn't mean anything for me. There is no significant change between 0F(-17.7C) and -1F(-18.3C) while 0C and -1C makes all the difference temperature-wise. So for me, taking the freezing temperature as the 0 point makes much sense. But as I said it is just what you're used to and prefer.
Crimea_River
Marshal
That would be Chillaxing...right?
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
That would be, "Waiting for my Meds."
bobbysocks
Chief Master Sergeant
You see, you guys are a minority here
no...we are just leading the way...lol. and...belize temp is in F.
mikewint
Captain
As I said before, the metric system, which by the way no longer exists (as of October 1960), is a far superior system, in most respects, to the old English system. However many disiplines, for convenience, have retained non-SI units/derived units because they are more "user friendly". In a past post I mentioned TIME (hours, minutes, seconds). Additionally we have ANGULAR measurements (degrees, minutes, and seconds of arc), the TONNE for mass, the HECTARE for area, the LITRE for volume, the BAR for pressure. Atomic, nuclear physics, and astronomy have retained units like the DALTON, ELECTRON VOLT, LIGHTYEAR, PARSEC and ANGSTROM. Those who use the seas retain units like the NAUTICAL MILE and KNOTS.
While again the adoption of strict SI rules was needed as the Metric System by the 19th century had become a mess of "convenience" units which no one understood unless you were a member of that disipline, like the HENRY for example. As with the English system, if you were a member of the proper Guild you knew immediately what a TUN was and what it measured.
Strict following of SI rules and base units lead to, in many cases, non-human-user-friendly measurements like the PASCAL for pressure (Newtons/meter cubed) or DENSITY in kilograms/meter cubed
While again the adoption of strict SI rules was needed as the Metric System by the 19th century had become a mess of "convenience" units which no one understood unless you were a member of that disipline, like the HENRY for example. As with the English system, if you were a member of the proper Guild you knew immediately what a TUN was and what it measured.
Strict following of SI rules and base units lead to, in many cases, non-human-user-friendly measurements like the PASCAL for pressure (Newtons/meter cubed) or DENSITY in kilograms/meter cubed
