From: Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ> Subject: Re: Metric this, metric that >Sure, plywood that is 2.5m x 5m???? That is what, eight feet x fifteen? >Sorry Florian, but you've just proved my point! Not at all... that must be an error. Here in NZ the standard sheet is 2.4x1.2m. -- Regards Andrew
It's kind of funny how arrogant US citizens are regarding their vaunted weights and measures. I was out in the garage the other day and a neighbor came over and was watching me work on my vanagon. A GM products wannabe mechanic for the last 40 years, he laughed and laughed at my metric wrenches all lined up on a backingboard at the back of my workbench. He called out "6, 7,8, 9 mm" in mock German, as if there was something funny about integral increments in numbers for different sized wrenches, and said he much preferred 7/16, 21/32, 5/8 inches for measurements, although he had difficulty in expressing himself as to why that was to be preferred. One of the shameful failures that will eventually come back to haunt us will be our unwillingness to convert to metrics. It's already cost us billions in lost sales to a world which is largely metric. For me, it's symptomatic of a country that can do no wrong,and that attitude gets us into a lot of trouble. Don |
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