Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 21:50:31 -0700
Reply-To: David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: metric system
In-Reply-To: <2E529439-7261-4624-9C21-6E85423C93CB@telus.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Well, for temperature, it seems that C makes a lot more sense than F, given
that few people are prone to dumping salt in water, making sure it is
saturated, then determining how cold that feels at freezing in order to
have a reference point.
For all the other things, tens are easier to keep straight than a bunch of
strange convertors. The original references don't really matter, King's
arm length (now really, was he that long-armed?) or some number of
wavelengths of some particular light. But that multiplier x10, that is
great.
But oh, well. The U.S. failed to follow its founder's preference (that
would be TJ) 250 years ago, and probably will be stuck with ounces, rods,
furlongs, and drams forever.
But I just wanted to see how Canadians on this list felt.
On Fri, Sep 17, 2021 at 8:50 PM Don Spence <dkspence@telus.net> wrote:
> Metric is far better once you get used to it. 0 is freezing point makes a
> lot of sense. Anything 0 or below is bloody cold. Where I live that counts.
> Maybe less so in Arizona… But what does +32 mean, really…
>
>
> > On Sep 17, 2021, at 8:36 PM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > All true enough. Except for temperature. Fahrenheit, which takes the
> coldest and hottest average European temperatures and divide them
> hundred-scale. It is easier to deduce where you are on that human-factor
> comparison than the same scale suspended between the states of a liquid no
> matter how common the liquid might be.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >> On Sep 17, 2021, at 9:27 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
> >>
> >> David,
> >>
> >> I was born in Scotland, first 12 years of my life there. There was
> metric lessons. In Canada, early 70s, was metric in school. Later in
> university , and for the next couple or three decades in lab , all metric .
> >>
> >> But…
> >>
> >> I worked construction too. And that was all imperial measure building
> supplies.
> >> Now for the last decade , in metal work and cnc machining, it’s all
> imperial. Oh I get drawings and computer models of parts to make, in
> metric. But I convert to imperial as we have mostly imperial tooling.
> >> Now, in machining, it doesn’t make any diff to me if measured in mm or
> thou of inch. At this point it’s just numbers. Decimal inches just as
> understandable and logical as metric measurement .
> >>
> >> All this background means a pretty mixed up view of measuring
> >>
> >> Speeds…. Driving etc… all metric
> >> Volumes…. All metric ( it’s a no brainer )
> >> Lengths… human scale… equal metric imperial
> >> Lengths smaller than one inch… equal metric imperial. Really small all
> metric
> >> Mass/weight… weighing myself is imperial , everything else metric
> >> Fasteners, nuts bolts… equal metric imperial
> >>
> >> So mostly metric with exceptions. Anything scientific it’s metric.
> Machining it’s , as explained , imperial decimal .
> >>
> >> Alistair
> >>
> >>> On Sep 17, 2021, at 4:01 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Well, it is Friday, though to me, this is Vanagon related, since our
> beasts
> >>> have metric fasteners. I thought I had a link to an opinion piece
> about
> >>> the metric system and Canadians dislike of it, but it seems to have
> gotten
> >>> lost. But, maybe you guys can respond anyway. Do Canadians dislike
> the
> >>> metric system? The article claimed so, based on the fact that
> retailers
> >>> advertise prices for items giving both metric and English weights and
> >>> measures.
> >>>
> >>> So, Alistair, Bruce, other Maple Leaf types: Care to comment on this?
> >>> Politics aside, which seems to be a part of it, what do Canadians
> generally
> >>> think of being metric? Since anyone younger than 45 and Canadian
> could not
> >>> possibly remember when the King's system was the norm, I guess it
> would be
> >>> older folks who might have some objection. Personally, I wish the U.S.
> >>> were on the metric system, since it is so much simpler than what we
> have to
> >>> put up with, and I would not have to worry about conversions when
> traveling.
> >>>
> >>> mcneely
>
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