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+-- Thread: I am totally embarrassed (/showthread.php?tid=7350698)
RE: I am totally embarrassed - TomFromStLouis - 10-11-2019
My dad was a structural engineer who had a sense of what seemed about right in imperial terms. He convinced me that a change to metric would have to be a multi-generational effort. Why we did not start the effort back in the 70s when this was a hot topic I do not know.
I frequently convert my imperial to decimal numbers but rarely ever to the metric equivalent.
RE: I am totally embarrassed - MidwestMan - 10-11-2019
I'm glad that sort of thing never happens to me.
RE: I am totally embarrassed - RonL - 10-11-2019
I have never done anything like that, at least since earlier this morning. ?
RonL
RE: I am totally embarrassed - goaliedad - 10-11-2019
Stoppy- one of the best things about woodworking is I have never had a failed project. Some, however have been repurposed into firewood.
RE: I am totally embarrassed - Wild Turkey - 10-11-2019
When I was teaching middle school science and the students griped about using metric I would challenge them to calculate the weight of a 1" rain on a football field or a 2.5cm rain on a soccer field.
after converting yards to inches, inches to cubic feet, then cubic feet cubic feet to pounds I would show them the metric calculations that just involved moving decimals and they would decide "being bilingual" wasn't so bad
I blame part of the problem on teachers who "Taught the metric system" by insisting students memorize all the prefixes, especially those that are rarely used, instead of showing practical applications.
kinda like why many males hate poetry because female English teachers always spent so much time of the romantics and so little time on good stuff like Kipling
RE: I am totally embarrassed - Wild Turkey - 10-11-2019
Measure twice
cut once
test fit
Better to have one scrap piece than several.
Better yet, test on the last "oops" piece from the firewood pile before continuing!
RE: I am totally embarrassed - tnff - 10-12-2019
(10-11-2019, 08:26 AM)vernonator Wrote: Its slowly getting there - however the cost to FORCE the issue would be huge. You want to pay higher taxes just to change EVERY road sign and mile mark IN THE COUNTRY? That would just be the tip of the iceberg - its all about $$$$ and who gets the bill.
We actually did have road signs that give distance and speed in both back in the 70s. We were headed down the path to metric and somewhere in the 80s got lost. I work in a lab where most of the scientists work in SI. But the dang engineers refuse to change and still work in horrible units like BTU per pound mass.
RE: I am totally embarrassed - fredhargis - 10-13-2019
(10-12-2019, 08:00 PM)tnff Wrote: We actually did have road signs that give distance and speed in both back in the 70s. We were headed down the path to metric and somewhere in the 80s got lost.
I remember those signs, and at the time was wondering how that would play out. The resistance to change in this country is overwhelming. Eventually, as those signs were replaced they dropped the kilometer measurements.
RE: I am totally embarrassed - iublue - 10-13-2019
(10-12-2019, 08:00 PM)tnff Wrote: We actually did have road signs that give distance and speed in both back in the 70s. We were headed down the path to metric and somewhere in the 80s got lost. I work in a lab where most of the scientists work in SI. But the dang engineers refuse to change and still work in horrible units like BTU per pound mass.
Yep, on my way to IU there was a sign on the south side of Indy that gave, IIRC, both miles and kilometers to Bloomington. I am not sure when it was taken down but it has been since then (70's) that I have seen a metric road sign in this area.
RE: I am totally embarrassed - goaliedad - 10-13-2019
I had a chance to do a major house remodel with a Canadian, the house is here in Michigan. Strange how Canada is on the metric system, but all building material is still imperial. He had no issues with being bilingual at all. His explanation is that the Canadian mills sell so much in the US they are pretty much forced to keep the inches and feet thing going