Why I 'don't like' Metric

[gareth19 (imported)]

Now, are you referring to the kind of nuts that fit on bolts or some of the nuts that we have in the Archive?

Some of the people in the archive don't have their nuts anymore.

[kristoff]

Some of the people in the archive don't have their nuts anymore.

But some are quite nuts...

[Dave (imported)]

Moi, I feel your pain, this weekend I bought a 3 liter can of olive oil, I poured some in a 1 cup measuring cup, then transferred it to a bottle that I just finished which said 12 oz. My son questioned if I had made a good purchase and I said I had, 5 dollars a liter, is better then 7 dollars for 12 oz.

So Moi, how many oz in 3 liters, or how many refills will I get before I need to buy another 3 liter can of olive oil?

Come on now Moi, you should be able to do this in your head.

River

I call the olive oil aisle in the supermarket the "advanced" math aisle.

First, you must accept that the 3 liter tin of olive oil is the standard olive oil container. If you want good olive oil, it is sold in 3 liter tins.

Second, 3 liters is about 101 ounces

Third, it is better to buy the 3 liter tin for $30 than a smaller 500 ml bottle for $8.00 ? however, Many people spend the cheaper $8 on one day because $30 is a big chunk of $$ showing up on their register slip.

Fourth, US bottlers have entered the scene with quart bottles. AS it was pointed out, there are 32 ounces in a quart and 32+32+32 is 96 which is real close to 101 (3 liters). So if an American company offers a lesser quality, golden-green olive oil for $9 a quart and a foreign, very green and fragrant olive oil at $10 a liter, which is a better buy?

that depends on your taste and how you cook with olive oil.

Beware those little bottles of really green olive oil that sell for $10 and $12 and more per bottle. You might be paying the equivalent of $45 to $60 a 3 liter tin. IT might be well worth your while to get 3 liters for $30 a tin.

Depends on how much you use it and for what...

Thus ends the "olive oil" lecture on mathematics.

[rickardia (imported)]

The mechanic who worked on my ancient Alfa also worked on vintage English cars. He said he had to keep three sets of wrenches: American, metric and Whitworth which was used on old MGs and Morrises. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Whitworth

Transward

I was in the official pres Clinton staff to convert all American Tool Design into metric. No other country on earth uses the American system except Burma, now Myanmar, because of the Burma Road in WWII, and a communist country. I was actually employed by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin aerospace corp. Upon 2 years and more intense study, it was determined that there is way too much infrasructure within the USA to convert everything, it cannot be done, but to prove to the world that we know more than any of them.

[Dave (imported)]

I...

Upon 2 years and more intense study, it was determined that there is way too much infrasructure within the USA to convert everything, it cannot be done, but to prove to the world that we know more than any of them.

I do remember when the 55 mph speed limit was lifter on the highways and thousands upon thousands of speed limit signs appeared form the jaws of magical and enchanted factories within weeks.

The USA could not change over to kilometers because it would take years to produce all the signs but the instant the speed limits went up those signs appeared in two weeks.

Must have been magic, harry potter magic, or a miracle. It couldn't just be JINGO-ISTIC Horseshit! oh could it? please tell me otherwise... I"m getting disillusioned.

Could it be that Voldemort exists?

[moi621 (imported)]

Dear Metrics and Advocates

Joyeau ala Calendar Metric

Tridi, 13 Prairial 219

or

Tridi, 13 Prairial CCXIX

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar

The Emperor thought it wise to preserve Roman Numerals. Go figure.

I purchase my Canadian Maple Leaf silver and gold in "ounce" coins.

It is time for the Russians to get their calendar right and the world to appreciate gallons/miles/pounds.

Somethings just fit and some don't.

So, Happy Tridi, 13 Prairial y'all.

[Origen (imported)]

When I used to drive up and down the I-5, idly observing the irrigation of the Central Valley and thinking about the water politics of California, I would sometimes try and calculate in my head how many cubic meters of water there are in an "acre-foot" (one of the odder non-metric measurement units). Dont think I ever got the same answer twice, even using the rough and ready euivalence of 10 sq ft =±1sq m, but it kept my mind awake for miles.... A thousand liters = 1 cubic meter, right?

[Losethem (imported)]

1-acre foot = enough water/fluid to cover 1 acre of land to a depth of 1 foot.

It's approximately 1,233,482 litres, 325,851 US gallons, or 271,328 UK gallons.

There is a lake near where I live that holds 782,042,400,000 US gallons of water when it's full.

--LT

[Riverwind (imported)]

We have a couple of those lakes near me, but I think they hold a lot more, they measure the water in miles.

River

[Losethem (imported)]

We have a couple of those lakes near me, but I think they hold a lot more, they measure the water in miles.

River

The lake I have in mind is also miles and you once lived very close to it.