In article ,
Steve Barker wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:

9/10???? Where the hell is that on your fractional ruler? See, you're
lapsing into the metric system without even realizing it. Must've been
something you ate.

actually there are dozens of tapes in tenths. Can't hardly do stair
stringers without one.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Survey/Me...825IE#features

steve

Ah, thanks for the info. And that's more proof that metric is easier
than fractions.

In the machine shop, everything is thousandths, even if it has a
fractional equivalent. So 3/8" is "375." So it's metric, it's just inch
metric instead of millimeter metric.

Disc brakes;
Radial tires;
Robertson screws;
Socialism;
Gun control.
..
Agreed.
..
To which one could add.
Seat belts.
Universal health care.
Banking legislation and enforcement. Including credit?
Registration and control of lobbyists.
Consumer protection legislation (For example 'Fitness for use' laws/
regulations).
better control of the use of Tazers? Too many deaths!
Freedom from unlawful arrest/detention.
No torture.
Effective federal leadership and assistance for the public during/
arising from emergencies.
..
There WAS a time when even windshield wipers were considered rather
'sissy'; and as for heaters in cars in a North American winter, they
were considered unecessary. Remember those bulldozers and snow ploughs
with the driver merely protected by a canvas dodger around his waist?
Heated/air conditioned cabs???? What do you want them for?

It IS also rather amazing that in recent years the usage of certain
terms has been perverted and are now often used negatively.

As was the word 'Communist/Commie' was back in the 50s! (In other
countries (with democratic systems) a few Communists even got elected;
at least one knew who they were and what/who they stood for)?
..
These now negatively charged words now include 'liberal' (small L) the
true meaning of which is broad-minded, willing to consider other
points of view, generous etc.
..
Also the word 'Socialist' which some will argue as espousing the very
Christian values of equal treatment, the support of one's community,
responsibility to it etc.

Strange world. Eh?

Han wrote:

"Lynn" wrote
"Terry" wrote in message

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.

and you waste your time thinking about what measurement system a bunch
of fat, lazy, burger eating, bible thumping, hypocritical, cowardly
morons use?

Hou je mond dicht, of was hem/haar eerst uit met groene zeep.

Is that Dutch or Double Dutch ?

Graham

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Steve Barker wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:

9/10???? Where the hell is that on your fractional ruler? See, you're
lapsing into the metric system without even realizing it. Must've been
something you ate.
actually there are dozens of tapes in tenths. Can't hardly do stair
stringers without one.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Survey/Me...825IE#features

steve

Ah, thanks for the info. And that's more proof that metric is easier
than fractions.

In the machine shop, everything is thousandths, even if it has a
fractional equivalent. So 3/8" is "375." So it's metric, it's just inch
metric instead of millimeter metric.

I thought something like .375 inch was called "decimal equivalent"?
I'm no expert machinist although I've repaired some CNC machinery.

TDD

Eeyore wrote in
:



Han wrote:

"Lynn" wrote
"Terry" wrote in message

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of
doing things.

and you waste your time thinking about what measurement system a
bunch of fat, lazy, burger eating, bible thumping, hypocritical,
cowardly morons use?

Hou je mond dicht, of was hem/haar eerst uit met groene zeep.

Is that Dutch or Double Dutch ?

Graham

"Shut up (your mouth), or first wash it out with green (lye) soap"
I'm Dutch by birth, but this outcry was out of line, even though the
sentiment may be OK.

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

Han wrote:
Eeyore wrote in
:


Han wrote:

"Lynn" wrote
"Terry" wrote in message

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of
doing things.
and you waste your time thinking about what measurement system a
bunch of fat, lazy, burger eating, bible thumping, hypocritical,
cowardly morons use?
Hou je mond dicht, of was hem/haar eerst uit met groene zeep.
Is that Dutch or Double Dutch ?

Graham

"Shut up (your mouth), or first wash it out with green (lye) soap"
I'm Dutch by birth, but this outcry was out of line, even though the
sentiment may be OK.


I have a friend from Rotterdam who's name is Hans.
The Dutch are pretty cool folks in my opinion.

TDD

In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Steve Barker wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:

9/10???? Where the hell is that on your fractional ruler? See, you're
lapsing into the metric system without even realizing it. Must've been
something you ate.
actually there are dozens of tapes in tenths. Can't hardly do stair
stringers without one.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Survey/Me...825IE#features

steve

Ah, thanks for the info. And that's more proof that metric is easier
than fractions.

In the machine shop, everything is thousandths, even if it has a
fractional equivalent. So 3/8" is "375." So it's metric, it's just inch
metric instead of millimeter metric.

I thought something like .375 inch was called "decimal equivalent"?
I'm no expert machinist although I've repaired some CNC machinery.

TDD

Sure, .375 *is* the decimal equivalent of 3/8", but the point is, as
soon as you walk into the shop, 3/8 becomes 375. Not "point three seven
five" or even "three hundred and seventy five thousandths," but just
"three seventy five." You hear fractions sometimes, sure, but it's far
more common to speak in thousandths.

Above an inch, fractional references are even more rare. 1 1/4" is
called "an inch two fifty." The exceptions would be stock (material)
sizes which are still called out as fractional, and drill sizes which
are usually referred to by letter, number, or fraction. But everyone
knows the common ones, like a #7 drill is .201 and a #F is .257
(tap drill and clearance drill, respectively, for a 1/4" screw.)

Han wrote:

it wouldn't be the first (or last) time a
product or service was kept out of a particular market for
contractual or legal reasons.

Misconception. Or is contractual or legal newspeak for marketing?

If someone controls the rights to sell a product but won't do a deal until
he's paid the amount of money he demands, how is assigning that situation to
contractual or legal reasons a misconception? Ditto with a foreign product
which is kept out because a company is able to persuade the govt. it
violates their patent or copyright or trade dress or whatever but perhaps
really because the foreign company won't cut them in on the action. Or when
someone won't spend the money to jump through various regulatory hoops to be
allowed to sell a product in the U.S. (or anywhere else)--don't all these
answer to the description of either contractual or legal reasons?

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Steve Barker wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
9/10???? Where the hell is that on your fractional ruler? See, you're
lapsing into the metric system without even realizing it. Must've been
something you ate.
actually there are dozens of tapes in tenths. Can't hardly do stair
stringers without one.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Survey/Me...825IE#features

steve
Ah, thanks for the info. And that's more proof that metric is easier
than fractions.

In the machine shop, everything is thousandths, even if it has a
fractional equivalent. So 3/8" is "375." So it's metric, it's just inch
metric instead of millimeter metric.
I thought something like .375 inch was called "decimal equivalent"?
I'm no expert machinist although I've repaired some CNC machinery.

TDD

Sure, .375 *is* the decimal equivalent of 3/8", but the point is, as
soon as you walk into the shop, 3/8 becomes 375. Not "point three seven
five" or even "three hundred and seventy five thousandths," but just
"three seventy five." You hear fractions sometimes, sure, but it's far
more common to speak in thousandths.

Above an inch, fractional references are even more rare. 1 1/4" is
called "an inch two fifty." The exceptions would be stock (material)
sizes which are still called out as fractional, and drill sizes which
are usually referred to by letter, number, or fraction. But everyone
knows the common ones, like a #7 drill is .201 and a #F is .257
(tap drill and clearance drill, respectively, for a 1/4" screw.)

I always think of .375 as three hundred and seventy five
thousandths of anything. I suppose the greater precision
required in a machine shop environment will lead to a
different way of looking at things.

TDD

Ralph Mowery wrote:
"aemeijers" wrote in message
news
right now. Some stuff (like spark plug threads) always was metric. In



The spark plugs are a real funny thing. Metric threads and English wrench
to take them out.



Gee Ralph, you must not be olde enough to remember when spark plugs had
NPT threads. G

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/jeff/plug.html

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

aemeijers wrote:

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

"Smitty Two" wrote in message

Hard to argue with that much illogic! Working with decimals is ten times
(!) as easy as working with fractions, which is exactly the OP's point.


When our company bought a machine that was all metric, I though it
would be a PITA. A few months after working with it on a regular
basis, I think we should have changed to metric 100 years ago. I can
also think in terms of bars for pressure too, not to mention grams per
liter for density. I even buy my soda by the liter.

Don't look now, but this country DID officially switch, several decades
ago. They just never enforced it, other than for the size of booze
bottles and dosages for meds, and some other stuff I can't remember
right now.

One of them was highway speed limit signs in KPH, posted alongside (or
right under) the MPH ones. They disappeared a few years after they went
up, at least they did here in Red Sox Nation.

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Some stuff (like spark plug threads) always was metric. In
formerly non-metric countries, English measurements are still common. Go
up to Canada and buy a sheet of plywood- you'll see. Some old property
records are neither- how many people know how long a chain and a rod are
without looking it up? Half and half products are a real pain. Remember
the Pinto? It had a German-design engine, with US parts hung off it. Try
finding metric bolts with English heads these days.

Once the last manufacturing plant in CONUS closes up shop, it'll all be
a moot point anyway.

--
aem sends...

Terry wrote:

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.


I think the "rejection" has a lot to do with how olde you are and what
you learned during your formative years.

I can certainly appreciate the computational advantages of the metric
system and am not adverse to using it when it makes a job easier, i.e. I
don't convert metric dimensions to english ones before I do the math.

But, until our hired hands in Washington (As Will Rogers called them.)
get tough about enforcing a change to "all metric", maybe even outlawing
the production and sales of measuring devices and product containers
using english units, etc, we'll probably go on using (and thinking) what
we learned as kids.

And I ain't ready to give up my current sig line yet either!

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...
Han wrote:
Eeyore wrote in
:

Han wrote:

"Lynn" wrote
"Terry" wrote in message

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of
doing things.
and you waste your time thinking about what measurement system a
bunch of fat, lazy, burger eating, bible thumping, hypocritical,
cowardly morons use?
Hou je mond dicht, of was hem/haar eerst uit met groene zeep.
Is that Dutch or Double Dutch ?

Graham

"Shut up (your mouth), or first wash it out with green (lye) soap"
I'm Dutch by birth, but this outcry was out of line, even though the
sentiment may be OK.

I have a friend from Rotterdam who's name is Hans.
The Dutch are pretty cool folks in my opinion.

TDD

I guess that any country that isn't a bunch of overmedicated, debt ridden,
dysfunctional wannabes are pretty cool folks in my opinion.

"Han" wrote in message
...
Eeyore wrote in
:



Han wrote:

"Lynn" wrote
"Terry" wrote in message

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of
doing things.

and you waste your time thinking about what measurement system a
bunch of fat, lazy, burger eating, bible thumping, hypocritical,
cowardly morons use?

Hou je mond dicht, of was hem/haar eerst uit met groene zeep.

Is that Dutch or Double Dutch ?

Graham

"Shut up (your mouth), or first wash it out with green (lye) soap"
I'm Dutch by birth, but this outcry was out of line, even though the
sentiment may be OK.


You want me to shut my mouth?

I guess AmeriKKKans can't handle the truth.

"DGDevin" wrote in
:

Han wrote:

it wouldn't be the first (or last) time a
product or service was kept out of a particular market for
contractual or legal reasons.

Misconception. Or is contractual or legal newspeak for marketing?

If someone controls the rights to sell a product but won't do a deal
until he's paid the amount of money he demands, how is assigning that
situation to contractual or legal reasons a misconception? Ditto with
a foreign product which is kept out because a company is able to
persuade the govt. it violates their patent or copyright or trade
dress or whatever but perhaps really because the foreign company won't
cut them in on the action. Or when someone won't spend the money to
jump through various regulatory hoops to be allowed to sell a product
in the U.S. (or anywhere else)--don't all these answer to the
description of either contractual or legal reasons?

You're right. Those things happen(ed). One thing wqas with a
prescription medication I forgot the name of. Available with prescription
anywhere in Europe (and I believe Canada), but not approved in the US.
Janssen (Belgian?) didn'twant to do the clinical trials demanded by the
FDA for this fairly cheap stuff, so it wasn't available here. Why can't
I remember the name?


--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

Lynn wrote:
"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...
Han wrote:
Eeyore wrote in
:
Han wrote:

"Lynn" wrote
"Terry" wrote in message

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of
doing things.
and you waste your time thinking about what measurement system a
bunch of fat, lazy, burger eating, bible thumping, hypocritical,
cowardly morons use?
Hou je mond dicht, of was hem/haar eerst uit met groene zeep.
Is that Dutch or Double Dutch ?

Graham
"Shut up (your mouth), or first wash it out with green (lye) soap"
I'm Dutch by birth, but this outcry was out of line, even though the
sentiment may be OK.
I have a friend from Rotterdam who's name is Hans.
The Dutch are pretty cool folks in my opinion.

TDD

I guess that any country that isn't a bunch of overmedicated, debt ridden,
dysfunctional wannabes are pretty cool folks in my opinion.


I have found in my travels both physically and via
The Internet that most people are basically the same.
They have the same wants and needs. Most people are
good but sometimes extreme hardship can either change
them for the worst or make them shine. I learned a
long time ago not to prejudge a people via second hand
information or anyone's propaganda. It is said of my
fellow Southerners that we hate groups but love individuals,
in some ways that is true of all people. Be careful with
your characterizations, they can return to leave teeth marks
on your backside.

TDD

"jeff_wisnia" wrote in message
...
Ralph Mowery wrote:
"aemeijers" wrote in message
news
right now. Some stuff (like spark plug threads) always was metric. In



The spark plugs are a real funny thing. Metric threads and English
wrench to take them out.



Gee Ralph, you must not be olde enough to remember when spark plugs had
NPT threads. G

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/jeff/plug.html

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

I am not even old enought to remember washing machines with gas motors..
Think God.. My parents had the wringer type with an electric motor. Got the
'modern' one without the wringer when I was about 6 years old in the 50's.

Mom used it to about 1980 when they built a new house. Dad kept it for some
reason but never used it, They bought a new one with dryer for the new
house. I had to get it out of the basement when they passed away a few
years ago. Had to drag it up about 12 steps. Man that thing was heavy.
They don't build them like that any more. It was a Frigidair (sp?) . I
bought one on dad's recommendation (he was an appliance repairman for a
store) when I got married in 1973. That thing was a piece of junk. Didn't
last but about 5 years. Their quality must have went way down hill. Wrong
thred for this I guess as somewhere on here someone asked for
recommendations.

de KU4PT

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:54:35 -0700, Tony Hwang
wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

That said, the metric system is not always easier. When measuring
distance, for instance, it's a lot easier to use inches than mm. reason
being fractions of an inch are expressed just that way, as fractions,
while fractions of a mm are expressed decimally.

Hard to argue with that much illogic! Working with decimals is ten times
(!) as easy as working with fractions, which is exactly the OP's point.
Hi,
Maybe he has 12 fingers or toes?

For the feet & inches, for the yards & feet he'd need 3, for the
gallons and quarts he'd need 4, and for the pounds and ounces he'd
need 16. We won't get into miles. ;-)

No, the 12 is more like his IQ.

"Raymond J. Johnson, Jr." wrote in message
...
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Steve Barker wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
9/10???? Where the hell is that on your fractional ruler? See, you're
lapsing into the metric system without even realizing it. Must've
been something you ate.
actually there are dozens of tapes in tenths. Can't hardly do stair
stringers without one.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Survey/Me...825IE#features

steve
Ah, thanks for the info. And that's more proof that metric is easier
than fractions.

In the machine shop, everything is thousandths, even if it has a
fractional equivalent. So 3/8" is "375." So it's metric, it's just inch
metric instead of millimeter metric.
I thought something like .375 inch was called "decimal equivalent"?
I'm no expert machinist although I've repaired some CNC machinery.

TDD

Sure, .375 *is* the decimal equivalent of 3/8", but the point is, as soon
as you walk into the shop, 3/8 becomes 375. Not "point three seven five"
or even "three hundred and seventy five thousandths," but just "three
seventy five." You hear fractions sometimes, sure, but it's far more
common to speak in thousandths.

Above an inch, fractional references are even more rare. 1 1/4" is called
"an inch two fifty." The exceptions would be stock (material) sizes which
are still called out as fractional, and drill sizes which are usually
referred to by letter, number, or fraction. But everyone knows the common
ones, like a #7 drill is .201 and a #F is .257
(tap drill and clearance drill, respectively, for a 1/4" screw.)

And .0001" is referred to as "one tenth," which sort scuttles your theory.

Not really. I think the poster is indicating that the common 'speak' is to
say everything in 'thousandths'. So a tenth is simply a tenth of a
'thousandth'.
Finish carpentry (house construction, trim work) is often reduced down to
eights of an inch. So one would yell to the guy at the chop saw "cut me 37
and three". Meaning 37 and three eights of an inch. If they need a finer
increment (sixteenths) it becomes "cut me 37 and three large (or small).

Again the above usages are simply crutches to make our poorly cobbled
together system workable.

Ivan Vegvary

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:06:18 +0000 (UTC), G. Morgan
wrote:

Terry wrote:

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.

Read the story about the QUERTY keyboard and there you will have your answer.
The other answer is that we're not changing the way things are measured
because some EuroTard says it's easier.

Sad but true. At one time the US was a progressive country.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:32:32 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Terry wrote:
American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.

Smiley aside, **** you.

That said, the metric system is not always easier. When measuring
distance, for instance, it's a lot easier to use inches than mm. reason
being fractions of an inch are expressed just that way, as fractions,
while fractions of a mm are expressed decimally.


Do you really believe that?


When it gets down to machinists' tolerances, it really makes no difference.

Now I'll grant you, trying to learn physics in traditional units is more
difficult than in metric...

nate

"Raymond J. Johnson, Jr." wrote in
:

And .0001" is referred to as "one tenth," which sort scuttles your
theory.

And a millimeter is 0.001 meter, the official standard, so 0.1 mm is the
same as 0.0001 m. Supports the thesis that specifying units is important
if people MIGHT not know what you are talking about.

One of the Mars landers crashed on Mars because someone had forgotten to
specify the units properly (or someone else misunderstood). IIRC, this a
failure to communicate that there is a difference between metric and US
units.

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

"DGDevin" wrote in
m:

Han wrote:

You're right. Those things happen(ed). One thing wqas with a
prescription medication I forgot the name of. Available with
prescription anywhere in Europe (and I believe Canada), but not
approved in the US. Janssen (Belgian?) didn'twant to do the clinical
trials demanded by the FDA for this fairly cheap stuff, so it wasn't
available here. Why can't I remember the name?

Was it an anti-Alzheimer's drug? ;~) I have moments when I think I
should be looking into something along those lines.

The FDA cracks me up, they demand long R&D processes for some drugs so
Americans are the last people on earth to benefit from them, then they
approve drugs like Vioxx or Paxil that kill a bunch of folks because
the makers managed to keep quiet studies that showed they were sorta
dangerous. There's an agency that needs a good shakeup from top to
bottom.

Vioxx kills wice as many people as other drugs in common use for a very
long time already. Something like 2 in 10,000 rather than 1 in 10,000.
Statistically HIGHLY significant, but still a fairly small number. The
"interesting" point is that a rather convoluted theory was needed to
explain this, a theory that is highly likely correct, but it could also
be incorrect.

Do you gamble, like buying a lottery ticket? Chances of winning are
slim, like 1 in a million. In biomedicine something is called
statistically significant if there is less than 5% chance that the result
is simple coincidence. But there may be a more than 4% chance that it is
coincidence.

I need a beer.

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

In article ,
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote:

"jeff_wisnia" wrote in message

One of them was highway speed limit signs in KPH, posted alongside (or
right under) the MPH ones. They disappeared a few years after they went
up, at least they did here in Red Sox Nation.

Jeff

I remember them on the Interstates in the 70s as part of a big push to
change to metric. Then they gave up.

The biggest problem with switching to metric was the ridiculous notion
that everyone had to learn how to convert one unit to another. If we all
just woke up one day and every car speedometer had nothing but
kilometers per hour and all the speed limits were posted that way, no
conversion would ever be needed.

Same with rulers. Pull every yardstick off the shelves, and replace them
all with metersticks. It doesn't take long to get used to a new system
if you throw the old one completely out the window instead of trying to
think in both at the same time.

In article ,
"Raymond J. Johnson, Jr." wrote:


And .0001" is referred to as "one tenth," which sort scuttles your theory.

Doesn't scuttle it in the least, merely extends it. If .001 is "one"
(which it is,) then .0001 is "one tenth." The only thing you're doing in
both cases is dropping the implied "thousandth." Makes perfect sense and
is completely consistent.

Americans are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.

Sure..like the weatherman said, "the (metric) temperature yesterday reached
a high of 15.7 degrees at the airport"
WTH is that ? I'm glad it didn't make 15.9 or I'd have to take my jacket
off.

That's not an apostrophe. It's a knife in your back.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Gary H" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:46:48 -0400, Terry

wrote:

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way
of doing
things.

I'm an American, and I prefer the metric system.

Also, I don't use inappropriate apostrophes.

And I'm seriously proud to be born a fat, lazy, burger
eating, bible thumping, hypocritical, cowardly morons.
Paraphrasing Bruce Springsteen. Moron in the USA!


--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Lynn" wrote in message
...

and you waste your time thinking about what measurement
system a bunch of
fat, lazy, burger eating, bible thumping, hypocritical,
cowardly morons use?

wrote in
:

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:06:53 -0700, "Rudy"
wrote:

Americans are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.

Sure..like the weatherman said, "the (metric) temperature yesterday
reached a high of 15.7 degrees at the airport"
WTH is that ? I'm glad it didn't make 15.9 or I'd have to take my
jacket off.


I have a celsius pool thermometer. It is the way we are metricat'n.
I am a 28 guy, my wife won't put a toe in if it is less than 30.
The latin Americans probably understand, the Canadians are saying
"water gets 30?"

I never went into the pool (or the North Sea) unless it was at least 17C.
Don't think the sea ever got much above 20. The pool in the park here is
kept at 80 (F) or above, and that's good ...


--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

"Rudy" wrote in
:

Americans are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.

Sure..like the weatherman said, "the (metric) temperature yesterday
reached a high of 15.7 degrees at the airport"
WTH is that ? I'm glad it didn't make 15.9 or I'd have to take my
jacket off.

50=10
60=~15.5
68=20

However, I like nowadays the weatherforecast etter. It is easier to
understand low 70s as nice, low 80s as pretty warm and 90 and above as hot.
(Taking the East coast humidity into account - desert temps are much higher
but morebearable degree for degree).

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

Tony Hwang wrote:
Terry wrote:
American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.
Hi,
You are not an American?

Well, he IS using a newsreader with a vaguely "French-sounding" name...

jeff_wisnia wrote:

One of them was highway speed limit signs in KPH, posted alongside (or
right under) the MPH ones. They disappeared a few years after they
went up, at least they did here in Red Sox Nation.



Some were waiting for the stimulus money.

"[ARIZONA, Apr 26, 2009] The state Transportation Department is getting
ready to spend $1.5 million replacing metric signs along Interstate 19 with
mileage signs."

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/290334

DGDevin wrote:

Intelligence has nothing to do with it, how well people are taught to
use whichever system is the issue. People using supposedly inferior
and obsolete non-metric systems of weights and measures built much of
the world you know, so it would seem that the system employed is not
responsible for the quality achieved. If you were as smart as me
you'd see that. [That last bit is a joke BTW].

Right on! There was a time, not so very long ago, when, with every tolling
of the hour by Big Ben, the British Ensign was being raised over some
benighted spot on the globe.

Today, with every tick of the atomic clock at the National Bureau of
Standards, Microsoft Windows is booting up somewhere on the planet (often
for the fourth time today).

borealbushman wrote:
Terry made his point ... many unthinking Americans have their heads in
the sand. Think of the good ideas they oppose simply because
BigBusiness tells them to:

Disc brakes;
Radial tires;
Robertson screws;
Socialism;
Gun control.

Some narrow-minded Americans continue to think that the American Way
is the ONLY WAY without considering better
options developed elsewhere! No wonder Americans are generally
believed to be uncouth and backward throughout much of the world.


And this is considered a bad thing exactly why?

Personally, I am indifferent to whether the rest of the world thinks we're
uncouth or backward. To some people, however, whether they are admired -
singly or collectively - is a matter of some importance to their sense of
self-worth.

Pity, really.

Han wrote:
Gary H wrote in
:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:46:48 -0400, Terry
wrote:

American's are so stupid that they reject a much easier way of doing
things.

I'm an American, and I prefer the metric system.

Also, I don't use inappropriate apostrophes.

As a non-native american I do have difficulties with apostrophes at
times. Especially when the exceptions become the rule.

There's only one exception: it's and its - the latter is the possessive, the
former is the contraction.

But not to worry: There is the Law of Apostrophe Conservation which states
that every apostrophe used properly is off-set by one used wrongly.

And, to some, a "non-native american [sic]" is an American who is not an
Indian.

Lynn wrote:

"Shut up (your mouth), or first wash it out with green (lye) soap"
I'm Dutch by birth, but this outcry was out of line, even though the
sentiment may be OK.


You want me to shut my mouth?

I guess AmeriKKKans can't handle the truth.

Said the brave soul posting through an anonymizer.

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:52:08 -0700, "Ivan Vegvary"
wrote:
Not really. I think the poster is indicating that the common 'speak' is to
say everything in 'thousandths'. So a tenth is simply a tenth of a
'thousandth'.
Finish carpentry (house construction, trim work) is often reduced down to
eights of an inch. So one would yell to the guy at the chop saw "cut me 37
and three". Meaning 37 and three eights of an inch. If they need a finer
increment (sixteenths) it becomes "cut me 37 and three large (or small).


Accurate drywall measurements sound like........That's a heavy 3/8s.
For electricians, it's.......a short mark past 3/8s.

On Apr 26, 9:34*am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
*The Daring Dufas wrote:





Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
*Steve Barker wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:

9/10???? Where the hell is that on your fractional ruler? See, you're
lapsing into the metric system without even realizing it. Must've been
something you ate.
actually there are dozens of tapes in tenths. *Can't hardly do stair
stringers without one.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Survey/Me...825IE#features

steve

Ah, thanks for the info. And that's more proof that metric is easier
than fractions.

In the machine shop, everything is thousandths, even if it has a
fractional equivalent. So 3/8" is "375." So it's metric, it's just inch
metric instead of millimeter metric.

I thought something like .375 inch was called "decimal equivalent"?
I'm no expert machinist although I've repaired some CNC machinery.

TDD

Sure, .375 *is* the decimal equivalent of 3/8", but the point is, as
soon as you walk into the shop, 3/8 becomes 375. Not "point three seven
five" or even "three hundred and seventy five thousandths," but just
"three seventy five." You hear fractions sometimes, sure, but it's far
more common to speak in thousandths.

Above an inch, fractional references are even more rare. 1 1/4" is
called "an inch two fifty." The exceptions would be stock (material)
sizes which are still called out as fractional, and drill sizes which
are usually referred to by letter, number, or fraction. But everyone
knows the common ones, like a #7 drill is .201 and a #F is .257
(tap drill and clearance drill, respectively, for a 1/4" screw.)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

One of the stupidest arguments against metric (surprised it hasn't
surfaced here) is:
"I'd have to look at the wrenches to get the right size." - nope, you
would do the same as now 'grab 'that size wrench'. Even as rarely as
I do nut-n-bolting' now, I still reach for a wrench 'that size' not a
"9/16".
It would be the same in metric except you would have considerably
fewer wrenches to fiddle with.

For a time to be a mechanice in the US when working on cars, a
mechanic had to maintain 3 sets of tools, US, Whitworth, Metric.

Harry K

"HeyBub" wrote in message

Today, with every tick of the atomic clock at the National Bureau of
Standards, Microsoft Windows is booting up somewhere on the planet (often
for the fourth time today).

As long as we are making changes, let's go to the 24 hour clock. No
confusion about AM or PM when the clock strikes 1800 hours.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message
Today, with every tick of the atomic clock at the National Bureau of
Standards, Microsoft Windows is booting up somewhere on the planet (often
for the fourth time today).

As long as we are making changes, let's go to the 24 hour clock. No
confusion about AM or PM when the clock strikes 1800 hours.


A pilot was getting a physical exam when the
doctor asked him, "When was the last time you
had sex?" the pilot replied "1959" the doc,
somewhat taken aback said, "That long ago?"
the pilot looked at his watch and said, "It's
only 0835 now". I know, old joke.

TDD