From: "Gary Wiltshire" 

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 21:10:44 -0500, Steve Ewing  wrote:

> On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:19:48 -0500, Gary Wiltshire  wrote:
>
>> I was watching a program on NASA TV, detailing the history of the two
>> most recent successfulMars missions.  They were giving temperatures at
>> the surface in Celsius but windspeeds inmiles per hour.
>
> They really screwed up the metric conversion, by treating it as a
> conversion at all.  How many people can realistically hold out their
> hands and say, "this is a yard"?   They'd do just as well in saying, a
> meter is about *this* long.  It's all the conversion stuff: a meter is
> 39.X inches, a quart is 1.x liters, and so on, just confuses people and
> makes it seem harder than it is.
>
> Ask my wife what 8 fluid ounces is, and she'll say, fill the measuring
> cup to here.  It's not too hard to do the same with ml.
>
> Everyone knows what 2 liters is: because the manufacturers just went out
> and made the bottles that size.  Every mechanic works with metric
> wrenches, and probably is not complaining too much: gee, what size is
> between 7mm and 9mm, compared to calculating the size between 1/4 inch
> and 5/16 inch?  I say, if they are going to switch (and I am in favor of
> it) then just do it.  Put road signs in km, and if you don't know how
> far it is when it says "Next Exit 15km", by God you will once you get
> there.
>
> I do use fathoms a lot, when running cable: outstretched arms is a
> fathom=6 feet, but that's two meters, close enough for government work.
>

Yup I have no particular problem switching to metric, except that there IS
one nice thing about Fahrenheit.  While 0-100 degrees Celsius spans the
freezing-boiling range of water at sea level neatly, I find that 0-100
degrees Fahrenheit neatly spans my comfort range in temperatures.  I don't
really feel cold outside until it's below 0F - which is about the point
where my breath freezes in my moustache and my nostrils feel
"crinkly" inside.  Likewise 100F begins real discomfort for me.

--
Gary Wiltshire

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