Imperial cf Metric

[Frances]

You just never know which threads are going to take off, or how.

Jeff, your suggestion would make my life a bit easier, too. But in the end it comes down to the question of who turns on the converter/calculator - the person writing the contribution or the one reading it...

[jeff]

You got that right Frances. Reckon I'll pull me head in for a bit, eh.
Mate, despite Beginner's Luck with the oven, I've run crook tucker two nights in a row. Wrong temps. Still edible but......

May our Lord forgive me Frances, I just can't help myself it seems. I reckon I'll fit vertically rotating doors to the front arch. Combined with a chimney damper, that's got to aid heat retention, don't you reckon? And that Can't be controversial. (Can it?)
You stay safe mate.
Ludd the Jeffite.

[Frances]

ooooh, well Jeff, I dunno... Heat retention, eh?

Strikes me you're asking for it, but don't let me stop you. Go on, fling another stone in the behive.

About the cooking, I've had my share of trial and error sessions. Just hang in there, it'll all work out in the end.

[Archena]

I really haven't got the emotional investment in the danged thing people seem to think I have. What I reacted to - possibly having incorrectly interpreted it - was the hysterical backlash I saw against a silly joke. That was it. Why it is so important to people that the US convert their entire system when we can simply make conversions as necessary (which isn't often necessary unless you happen to deal with overseas manufacturers frequently) beats me. We did try it - and didn't like it. Even if it is 'simpler' the conversion cost just wasn't worth it both in financial, political, public policy (replacing all road signs in a nation this big is horrendously expensive - another reason for the negative response to metric) and social terms.

As to what may happen in the future, well, I doubt the US will make any official conversion in the foreseeable future and am dubious it will happen in my lifetime. Those things mentioned that have adopted metric measures are still the exception and many of them are intermittent within themselves (only 2 and 3 liter bottles of soda are metric - the rest are measured in ounces and the intro of the 1 liter flopped horribly). At the moment the American market is still too large to be ignored - companies/governments who decline to trade with us because they prefer metric slit their own throats to spite there faces - here the advantage is to those that can adapt to the Imperial system - and I see no good indication of that changing any time soon.

Sigh - I really didn't come back to this to debate that (obviously, that didn't stop me). I came back to apologize. I don't know who was right - I'm not rereading it because I'll only get angry again. But maybe I misunderstood - I'm perfectly willing to concede that possibility especially since I'm of the impression that I was misunderstood. I have a dry and somewhat weird sense of humor and it doesn't always translate well - it was not my intention to 'jump' on anyone.

What I'm trying (and failing) to say is that if I was out of line, I genuinely apologize.

[gjbingham]

Archena,
Bygone's buddy. Let 'em be.

It's easy for misunderstandings in a written forum. Few chances along the way for immediate feedback to the speaker. No one ever says: "are you saying....", we just jump in with our own viewpoints, which can occasionally lead to firery results.

As everyone knows, opinions are like AHs, everyone's got one, and nobody thinks their's stinks (though I have strong suspicion that mine are occasionally quite odiferous).
George

[carioca]

Originally Posted by jeff

J...
Mate, I try to go empirical for USA, but use metric in other threads.
Hope it's possible.
...
Jeff.

Jeff, don't want to barge into the metric vs imperial debate, just say that I'm with you on being 'empirical' for the US readers :-)

So in my posts you'll find, more often than not, that I supply both the metric and the imperial measurements - same on my picasaweb albums.

C'mon, Aussie, c'mon!

Take care,

LMH

[jeff]

Thanks Carioca.
Hey Fellers, I reckon that since I initiated this debacle, maybe I can cast a vote in favour of it's demise'n cremation: ( *F or *C: I no longer give a rats, eh.)
Next thread is in Hints and Mind/Minefields, (distant, rather shy 'hahaha' on that one).
Topic?
Heat retention. Boringly non-controversial. Whew!
Stay gentle eh you mob.
The Jeffite Ludd.