Sunday, July 27 2008, 12:00 AM
Bottomless CL Day!
Sick deals back to back all day long.
Perhaps, but the main high school running events have been metric based (100m, 200m, 1600m, 3200m, etc) for as long as I can remember.
Odd, 'cause the physical fitness test is still on running/walking a mile.
We could just send anyone that wants to be on the metric system to Canada.
They have a population deficit in many areas and are on the metric system.
And they call their dollar coins looonies.
We'll send Hijo there.
I think any high school tracks built in the last twenty years are on the metric system, but, yes, there would be a capital outlay to move to the metric system.
It would crack me up if they had to rip up all high school tracks and put in metric ones.
Why spend money educating kids when we must enforce the metric system on the field!
Yep, those are the internal approximations I'm talking about. Certainly, I would create new internal approximations within the confines of the metric system, but it would be an adjustment. Volume measurements are easy enough -- I think temp and distance are harder. I guess I could put my cyclometer on kms and celsius and get started on that. :)
Nicole, we don't let him out much, he just gets in trouble and sticks his foot in his mouth a lot.
You'll be happy to know I solved my chainsuck problem by buying a litespeed obed.
Which is hopefully chainsuckless. On city streets, it definitely is
Oh, so it seems you've never been to North or South Dakota. ;)
Nah, we'll just conquer the rest of the world and force them to use our system. 1st Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Iran, and then the world.
If you tell me an inch, I know the length between my thumb knuckle and the end of it is roughly an inch.
If you say cms, I do the "okay, that's 2.5 cms from that distance)
If you say a foot, I know a foot is roughly my foot + yeah big.
If you say a yard, I hold my arms out yay big, and that's my yard.
If you say a mile, I go 4 laps around my high school track.
The fact that a meter is a length of something to do with lightspeed whatever means absolutely nothing to me.
" I find a 0 = freezing, 100 = boiling scale of temperature too constrictive for everyday weather."
I'm not sure I follow. How is that too construictive? Everday weather doesn't range beyond those limits in my neighborhood... I knew it. Which circle of Hell are you from, Kat?
Cross post. Yes, you're absolutely right, and me too! That's the same reason lots of Irish and British people still give their weight in stone. Because it's familiar, it's there frame of reference, and it means something to them.
That said, somoone somewhere really oughta just bite the bullet for the benefit of future generations...
I googled it. Without copying and pasting any of the explanations which are missing here. these are 3 good reasons.
1.One unit of measurement for each physical quantity.
2.Scalability by prefixes
3.Decimal system
http://www.metric4us.com/why.html
Hijo,
I use the metric system everyday. I've no desire to try to figure out a nano-ounce concentration.
However, if you tell me that it is 75 degrees outside - I know what temperature that is. If you tell me it's 14.6 degrees celcius - I have no idea without doubling it and adding 32. Which is close enough. I find a 0 = freezing, 100 = boiling scale of temperature too constrictive for everyday weather.
Kat, surely you must use metric measurements in the lab? All of Science use the Metric System, and there are very good reasons for that...
Okay, I'm officially giving up on finding the US Olympic cycling team kit.
I like my fahrenheit. More gradations. And I like my gallons and miles. Wtf is a kilometer and why is that supposed to mean something to me?
Ah, yes, the Metric Conversion Act of 1975. It passed but the 10 year deadline was dropped by the final version of the bill. Thus, no real impetus to move along the conversion and the established board was disbanded by Reagan.
More info at: http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/history.htm
I show my support with a "Go Metric" magnet in my office. :)
I think the hard part of a conversion now would be reestablishing my internal approximations.
I had to look it up. I remember a time when it was said that the US would transition into full adoptation of the Metric System of Measurement. WTH happened to that? It's just completely ridiculous that the US clings to such an arcane system. Conversion shouldn't be an issue because we should all use the system that makes sense.