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Date:         Mon, 30 Jan 2006 19:28:17 -0800
Reply-To:     David Marshall <mailinglist@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Marshall <mailinglist@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Organization: Fast Forward Automotive
Subject:      Re: If you can count money, you can use metric.
Comments: To: Zoltan <zolo@FOXINTERNET.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <015c01c6260f$48ebb690$2f01a8c0@FirstLaptop>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Unfortunately this has nothing to do with Vanagons, but I figure I should chime in a bit here.

I started school in 1976 when Canada switched over to the metric system. I still remember the ads on TV saying that 55mph is now 90km/h and the freezing point of water is 0 not 32.

Anyhow, I think the metric system in Canada is a love hate relation ship. I use and understand both even though the imperial system was never once taught to me in school. I go to home depot and but some 8 foot 2x4s and 4x8' sheets of plywood, even though the plywood plant in town makes two runs of plywood. 4x8' for North America and 1x2m for Japan. Because of the "elephant next door" we have to know both. I routinely use liters per 100km and know that my 8.5L/100km that my TDI Vanagon (there's the Vanagon content!) is about 28mpg (US that is). My turbo boost gauge reads 1.2 bar but I know that it is around 18 or so PSI. I know conversions like crazy - 2.54cm = 1 inch, 1.0 bar = 14.7 PSI, 55mph is 90km/h. I welcome both systems, but when it comes down to it, I use metric. The width of a Vanagon engine bay between the frame rails is 116cm - the distance from the flat spot on a Syncro bell housing to the engine cover lid is 24.5cm. Still 1320 feet is a quarter mile and for some reason a mile on the ocean is more than on the land. Americans have skimpier gallons than the rest of the world. The last probe that failed to go to Mars got filled with liters when it should have been gallons...

Just so we all know, once upon a time and no soooo long ago there were Pounds, Shillings and Pence. One Pound was 20 Shillings, One Shilling was 12 pence, four farthings was one pence. So 240 pence made one Pound... now make change for someone using that system!

David Marshall

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Zoltan Sent: January 30, 2006 18:38 To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: If you can count money, you can use metric.

As I remember, way back when I was learning about these in school, the plumbing and the tire sizes were kept in inches and all the others were made into metric the whole world over. Except, like the driving on the lefte side in England, we Americans being so isolated from the world and almost disconnected too, kept the American system (I almost wrote "imperial"). I was tought the metric and lived in a country where they were just abandoning the imperial system and they forbid the stores to sell any measuring equipment that did not have metric on it, and 'cold turkey' they just started metric. In less than five years you could not hear any more inch, foot, yard, mile, gallon, etc. from anyone. Today they don't even know how long a yard is. And really have a hard time with all the great variations of the threadings in a machine shop or work out the fractions into 'mm'. It is not an accident why the metric was chosen by the world. Neither it is why the American military, scientific community, medical science, and even the auto industry went metric years ago, leaving the public to play with the inches themselves. They know how tough it is to change old habits. But they also know the cost of keeping with the old, impractical ways. No matter how imbedded it maybe. What really puzzles me is, that if I ask a person who really into the old system, he can't tell me how many yards or foot is a mile, never mind inches. Yet any kid in any country can tell how many meter is a kilometer. It is in the name, just to give anyone a clue. I understand that the division is more accurate in the fraction way, but the calamity of numbers make one get lost within and find it easier to follow 10, 13, 15,17 a lot more simple. There is no rush, but it will happen without presidential power. North and South we are surrounded by metric, all our imports are metric, and they are numerous. Now, if we sell something to other countries they have to be metric too. So, there is no way out of changing it, no matter how much one is comfortable with it. It is not like learning an other language. If you can count money, you can use metric. Sorry to rattle on this so long. Zoltan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Florian Speier" <groups.florian@GMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 1:24 PM Subject: Re: Metric this, metric that

jake,

as an architect i hope you are joking. simplle question: if your architect/builder/whatever hands you an 1:1 model, how many times smaller is it than what you finally get?

answer: 12 times. 1:1 means 1 foot=1inch....... so, how many times smaller is a 1:3/4 model/plan?

car example. wrench sizes 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8........ isnt it easier to say 12, 13, 14, 15?

coming to your playwood example: true, if you keep the same size. but just cut them 2.5m x 5m

welcome to the new tire thread. hope this doesnt dissolve into US vs the rest of the world......

florian

On 1/30/06, Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com> wrote: > > Worse than that Kim, they use kilopascals, and I'll send you one if you > really want one! I still don't know whether the barometric pressure is > fair > or foul! > If you think the metric system is cool, try living with the stuff. It is > completely non-intuitive and indeed was designed by the French to be that > way! A 4 x 8 sheet of plywood is theoretically 2440 x 4880 mm. No way. If > you ask someone to show you with their hands what 2 feet looks like, most > people get pretty close - ask them to show you 60 centimeters and they're > stumped. With feet and inches I can divide a foot by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and > 12. > With metric, you can only use 1, 2, 5 and 10, making it much more > difficult > to use in construction. The CBC, because it is funded by the Canadian > Government, had to convert all its scenery to metric! Cost a lot for zero > gain. > > I'm surprised that I am still so pissed off that we went Metric, but > really, there is no good reason to use it in your daily life. I already > have > tons of wrenches in Imperial and Metric, and that's where it should have > stopped. > > Sorry for the tirade. I feel calmer now. > > Feet and inches, chains and rods, gallons and miles forever! > > On 1/30/06, Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@mac.com> wrote: > > > > Okay, for all you folk that are so high on converting to the metric > > system....what's the pressure in your tires? Uh, huh. What's that PSI > > thing again? > > > > So, let's see would that be 2.75 bar in my tires...or 3.3 when fully > > loaded. Bah, let's use hectopascals instead. 2750 or 3300 (roughly). > > > > Hmm, I wonder where I can get a tire gauge that measures in > > hectopascals. > > > > > > -- > Jake > 1984 Vanagon GL > 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie" > www.crescentbeachguitar.com >

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