We went metric in the 70's, can't remember when, just remember not
finding a 6pence in my christmas pud!.

Celcius being metric, mence the change

Clifford

Also, you can't get away with claiming that we foisted these
measurements on you. At the time fahrenheit was the accepted scale.
Times changed and so did we. Your lot made the choice to stick with
it - no fault of ours.

Well, you know how it is. All you guys had to do is change maybe 58
or so road signs, while we would have had to change perhaps 16 MILLION
of them, all the while combating the many diehard shotgun wielding
truck drivers who make a habit of blasting any road sign that shows
kilometers. I kid you not.

At least here in our state (Ohio) the government tried changing over in
the 1970's, starting to put up signs that had kilometers listed first,
then miles. All of the signs were constantly removed by folks who
consider the Metric system a product for the mathematically challenged.
(ok, that part is a joke, for those who don't like doing fractions in
their heads)

So yes, a lot of this is due to the fact that Americans happen to be a
stubborn lot. We get ****ed off when we go to the supermarket and find
a new computer system there telling us to choose between English and
Spanish before proceeding at the checkout. I guess there is a history
to this stubbornness. It all started back when some Brits told us we
would have to pay too much for tea, and we dumped it all in the harbor
instead. About the same time, those same Brits said that only writings
on the officially stamped, high priced imported paper were valid.
Later, they told us at gunpoint that we were going to lick their boots
and like it. And thus, the whole glorification of civil disobedience
began in our culture.

Frankly, at times I wish it hadn't gone that way. If the colonists had
been respected and treated better, we'd probably all be using the
Metric system right now.

"slugbug" wrote in message
oups.com...
Also, you can't get away with claiming that we foisted these
measurements on you. At the time fahrenheit was the accepted scale.
Times changed and so did we. Your lot made the choice to stick with
it - no fault of ours.

Well, you know how it is. All you guys had to do is change maybe 58
or so road signs, while we would have had to change perhaps 16 MILLION
of them, all the while combating the many diehard shotgun wielding
truck drivers who make a habit of blasting any road sign that shows
kilometers. I kid you not.

At least here in our state (Ohio) the government tried changing over in
the 1970's, starting to put up signs that had kilometers listed first,
then miles. All of the signs were constantly removed by folks who
consider the Metric system a product for the mathematically challenged.
(ok, that part is a joke, for those who don't like doing fractions in
their heads)

So yes, a lot of this is due to the fact that Americans happen to be a
stubborn lot. We get ****ed off when we go to the supermarket and find
a new computer system there telling us to choose between English and
Spanish before proceeding at the checkout. I guess there is a history
to this stubbornness. It all started back when some Brits told us we
would have to pay too much for tea, and we dumped it all in the harbor
instead. About the same time, those same Brits said that only writings
on the officially stamped, high priced imported paper were valid.
Later, they told us at gunpoint that we were going to lick their boots
and like it. And thus, the whole glorification of civil disobedience
began in our culture.

Frankly, at times I wish it hadn't gone that way. If the colonists had
been respected and treated better, we'd probably all be using the
Metric system right now.

Now look here Slubug it just isn't cricket for you to post humorous comments
in this group. You can not be a true Yank with your sense of humour.
Was it you who decided on 8 bits to a Byte?

Good luck with the seed trading let us know what's available.

The message .com
from "slugbug" contains these words:

So yes, a lot of this is due to the fact that Americans happen to be a
stubborn lot. We get ****ed off when we go to the supermarket and find
a new computer system there telling us to choose between English and
Spanish before proceeding at the checkout.

Well, maybe you could become bilingual and give yourselves free choice?
In my supermarket, everything is in English and Gaelic. So are all
the roadsigns. shrug.

I guess there is a history
to this stubbornness. It all started back when some Brits told us we
would have to pay too much for tea, and we dumped it all in the harbor
instead. About the same time, those same Brits said that only writings
on the officially stamped, high priced imported paper were valid.
Later, they told us at gunpoint that we were going to lick their boots
and like it. And thus, the whole glorification of civil disobedience
began in our culture.

Only, the mental inflexibility which leaves you collectively stuck in
a rut from the past, is about sheep-like conformity. The very opposite
of revolutionary thinking or civil disobedience.

Janet

"slugbug" wrote in message
oups.com...
The UK uses Celcius not Fahrenheit.

I understand that. Unfortunately, you Britons foisted Miles and
Fahrenheit on us back when we were getting started, and we've been
stuck with them ever since. Now if we ever switched over, it would be
a catastrophe! Just think:

1) We would have to throw out all of our mercury thermometers, creating
an environmental armageddon

2) All of the roads in Ohio and the majority of states are marked off
in 1 mile squares. This means you come to an intersection of another
road each mile down the road, which lets you figure how far you have
driven with no problems. Think of all the math we'd have to use if we
switched to kilometers! (what is that, something like 1.4 km x however
many roads we've passed...)

---------------------------------------------

Dollars are Metric, ergo American money is in Metric

Just about every country in the world uses Metric, Canada went
Celsius/Metric in the 1970s, here is a fabulous URL on the topic, check out
the graph:

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/internat.htm

When exporting to Metric countries, products from the USA are commonly
produced with metric figures.

Universities, labs, medical, engineering, architecture, many other
professions/advanced education in the USA are increasingly Metric.

One significant obstacle to the USA going metric is the general public, many
who don't appreciate the value of Metrication.

Cost savings galore, tho calculator sales will diminish, since much of
Metric is easy to do in the head, very simple.

Here is another URL for you, this one's about Metric 'n stuff:

http://www.fordhamprep.com/gcurran/s...s/lesson29.htm

As a teacher during the times of conversion up here - which is a process,
still going on, some just don't get it, it's a bit of a study - I found the
most effective way to get thinking in terms of Kilometres (some spell
Kilometers), was to go for a 1k walk. Soon you can eyeball a kilometre.

Shorter distances memorize 15 cm = 1 foot

It seems that if one ***has not*** memorized the number of feet and yards in
a mile, one will not come to understand Metric distances...

Everybody shd grow some grapes in containers!

bg
www.lchb.ca

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 04:35:45 GMT, "**bg**"
wrote:

snip
As a teacher during the times of conversion up here - which is a process,
still going on, some just don't get it, it's a bit of a study - I found the
most effective way to get thinking in terms of Kilometres (some spell
Kilometers), was to go for a 1k walk. Soon you can eyeball a kilometre.

Shorter distances memorize 15 cm = 1 foot

Jolly small feet over there!

It seems that if one ***has not*** memorized the number of feet and yards in
a mile, one will not come to understand Metric distances...

Everybody shd grow some grapes in containers!

bg
www.lchb.ca






--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

The message BQGwf.169996$2k.135925@pd7tw1no
from "**bg**" contains these words:


Dollars are Metric, ergo American money is in Metric

Decimal, not metric. Decimal is a number base system, metric is a
measurement system.

As a teacher during the times of conversion up here - which is a process,
still going on, some just don't get it,

including you, it seems

Shorter distances memorize 15 cm = 1 foot

No, it doesn't. However many children have you misinformed ?

Janet.




Janet

Chris Hogg wrote:

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 04:35:45 GMT, "**bg**"
wrote:
Shorter distances memorize 15 cm = 1 foot

Jolly small feet over there!

You know!! He's given me a headache! Not only it took me 25 years to
learn that damn inch, oz, pint, foot and pound ... I'm so glad we're
going metric. Sorry for you folks but as bg said, and he's got a point,
you need to visualise it for sure. Studying horticulture has given it a
new angle - now we've got both measurement methods given, and that very
much confuses everybody (

Oops, too funny, typo

Shd read 30 cm to 1 foot

Have a nice day to all ngns

Keep yer toes tappin'

RjC
www.lchb.ca

On the subject, this might be interesting to some. A NASA Mars lander crashed a few years ago because one lab used imperial and another one used metric and they got the conversions wrong when they joined the data together.

http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/space/99...ars.metric.02/

Darren

Following up to "**bg**" :

2) All of the roads in Ohio and the majority of states are marked off
in 1 mile squares.

You have bloody wide roads in Ohio.
--
Tim C.

Following up to "La Puce" :

now we've got both measurement methods given, and that very
much confuses everybody

Doesn't confuse me. I only have trouble nowadays with Fahrenheit.
--
Tim C.

Following up to "**bg**" :

Unfortunately, you Britons foisted Miles and
Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit was German.

--
Tim C.

djhughes wrote:

On the subject, this might be interesting to some. A NASA Mars lander
crashed a few years ago because one lab used imperial and another one
used metric and they got the conversions wrong when they joined the
data together.

See!!! Confusing as I said. Now, I'm not learning rocket science but ...

"Tim C." wrote in message
...
Following up to "**bg**" :

2) All of the roads in Ohio and the majority of states are marked off
in 1 mile squares.

You have bloody wide roads in Ohio.
--
Tim C.

____________________________________________

Hey Tim, that's funny, good one!

RjC
www.lchb.ca