New here :-)

----- Original Message ----- From: "Edwin P. Groot" <epgroot(a)ucdavis.edu> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2001 1:57 PM Subject: Re: New here :-) weights Hmph. Too Democratic? Contradiction in terms. I think the lobbyists just have more power. it went We had the same experience down under. Like or not, here it is. To preserve my sanity I retained my familiarity with the imperial weights and measures I learnt in Primary (er, grade school to you Yanks,) combined it with the metric stuff they taught us in High School, coupled with conversion factors to go readily from one to the other, this allows me to think/visualise in my preferred units (depending on the circumstance) then spit out the correct (politically or otherwise) units to those that only speak one system. (Virtually anyone in Oz under the age of 30 or over the age of 50.) Personally the most annoying conversion is the metric equivalent of Miles to the Gallon for fuel consumption. I will volunteer for the firing squad for whatever idiot decided that Litres per 100Km was the proper subtitute. 4.454 litres to the (British Imperial not US) gallon and .621 British (not US) Statute miles to the Kilometre. Yech. Add to this the fact that certain industries (aviation for instance) regularly use elements of both. We still measure altitude in feet, but ACFT weights in kilo's, runway lengths in metres, navigational distances in Nautical miles (they are stuck with that for all time, since a nautical mile is 1/60th of a degree of latitude. ie 1 Minute). I feel inclined to add that despite the interim headaches, we are ultimately better off with Metric. I felt a bit the same at the change in currency from Pounds shillings and pence to dollars. Well, paranoid is a bit strong, however they do seem to show a tendency to regard anything that has A) Originated elsewhere or B) Not been in use in the US for 100 years or more As "unAmerican". Apart from it's local 'mods', like the US mile, US ton, US gallon - we used the slightly larger, Genuine, Unadulterated Imperial measures, 5,280 ft or 1,760 yards to the mile, and 2,240 pounds to the ton - the US system is what the British left them in the first place. Cheers Geoff Roberts Computer Systems Manager Saint Mark's College Port Pirie, South Australia geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au netcafe(a)tell.net.au ICQ: 1970476