Do You Think In Kilometres And Degrees C?

About a year ago I went into a Beer Store (in Ontario Canada beer, wine and liquor is sold via a Communist model - as is the case in Florida with ABC).

I asked the girl for a case of beer, in 12 ounce cans. She looked at me quizzically (summer student) and it took me a few moments to realize that she didn't know anything about ounces and didn't want to know.

So, I sort of laughed briefly and said 355 millilitres please.

Similarly, I used to feel temperatures emotionally - 70 was OK - 80 was a bit warm - 90 was hot and 100 was off the charts (eastern Canada)

However, 20, 30, 40 don't cut it. I feel nothing when I see those numbers. I have to go - 9x20 = 180 - divide by 5 = 36 + 32 = 68.

I can do this fast but it's mathematical, not emotional, and frankly just pisses me off.

Why did Canada adopt a metric system, suddenly - out of the blue, when I was working offshore back in the 80s or 90s), when it's larges trading partner, the US was based on a modified Imperial system but - unlike Texas - using smaller quantities for pints quarts and gallons.?

Is anyone else annoyed by metric (other than in the lab) or am I an outlier suffering from GOMS

 

In britain (since we are quite quirky I suppose) we tend to use both metric & imperial..like in bodyweight most brits talk about their weight in stones, in distance we think in miles, in running races usually it's usually metric & in food stuff that's very much generational ie, lots of people over the age of sixty have no idea how much 200gs is but they are very conversant with pounds and ounces etc. I know if went to america and someone told me..'yeah, so last night I drank 50ounces of beer I'd have little to no idea how much that is' I'd need it in pints or millitres etc

 

I can do both but prefer the metric system so it annoys the Americans. =p

 

I prefer the metric system because that's the one I grew up with. It seems the most practical system to me in any way. That it annoys americans is just an extra benefit :-D

 

lol and how is something like two and three quarter inches a fucking measurement? Just say it's 15mm or whatever. lol.

 

Imperial? That is what it is called??? Isn't that just the American education for ya! Use it, but don't even know what it's called! Geez!

It's funny. I was just asking my "roommate" how many cups are in a quart or something, and he said "don't know and never will!" And that's when I remembered he's also used to metric. (Thing is, he is so American in almost every way, that I completely forgot this!) So I'm like, "Oh, right. Millimeters!" So, as an American, I am even more determined to learn, since, you know, the rest of the world uses this.

Millimeters I am learning from my dreadlocks stuff. Hehe measuring out the washing ingredients. Oh! And centimeters too! (Most folks measure length in cm, Canadian and European...well, pretty much everyone else! Lol Australian too! )

Celcius-i have switched my mobile to read that instead of F. (Oddly tho, I could still use F with the roommate, but I am curious.) I now know 32 is 90F and pretty hot, which is funny because 32F is freezing, literally, although I don't mind the cold weather so much these days. Yeah, lower 70sF is like my sweet spot, and that is like 20...C?? Or is it in the teens, my sweet spot. Hehe I do remember a day few months back, we went from 24 and dipped to 14 in the night. That is a pretty drastic drop, right? (10degrees C is more than 10degrees F)

Grams and kg are another. I use this in cooking a lot. We have a scale for food and a lot of the recipes I get are in grams. It's pretty easy once you get the basics. I forget how many grams to an ounce, but it's like 2.5lbs (pounds) to a kg. So... yea, oh I weighed myself the other day in kg. I lost some weight, but as I was mentally doing the conversion just now, I only doubled the number. Oops! Nope! Didn't lose that much! Lol yeah, I weigh a lot in kgs, because many folks I know using the system forget to consider muscle weight (right, right, that's why I weigh more oh wait! No, I just forgot that Americans are fat. Lol I tease I tease, but I guess it is kinda true or at least a well known assumption. Think we are finally getting more educated now...maybe. I know I am! )

Anyway, what else? Long distance measurements. Yes, well, haven't really used kilometers much. So that kinda escapes me, atm.

 

Crap! Accidentally liked that. I mean, well, on the point, I actually like these measurements for what's it, wrenches?? Yea socket wrenches (ok, clearly I don't really use them, but used to seeing them this way. Imperial?? Or is Imperial just for ...i dunno!)

But if I had learned mm, sooner, that'd be easier. This reminds me! I'm converting Imperial (no, no, I think just a made up system tbh) from crochet/knitting needles, into mm. Yea, mm makes so much more sense that way. Like, how the he'll much is "H"?? "H" is not an amount!! Sheesh!

Haha mobile won't let me use he'll. Damnit! See??

 

There are like three countries that still use the imperial system, so it's not like some radical thing, to use the metric system.

 

I think it's time to retire stones and 'nought', often mis-spelled as naught [which has a similar but different meaning)

A stone is 14 pounds but no one west of Rockall knows that and doesn't want to.

Miles are good though. I wish we had them

I used to think metric was for French people and scientists. Perhaps that's because it was for French people and scientists

 

Thing is - the US is Canada's major trading partner so why piss them off with measures.

Also, I challenge anyone on the planet to understand how big a piece of furniture is when it's:

987mm wide
1236mm high, and
643mm deep

That is just INSANE.

At some point some guys were drinking heavily and one said we measure things in inches and feet and the other guy said - "got you way beat on that - we use units that are only tiny tiny fractions of those. You should try them."

grrrrrrrr, gnasssssshhhhhhhhhhh, rend garment etc

 

well - true - however, most of them always did so people didn't have to learn a brand new one after schooldays and become sort of schioid, bitter, twisted, eccentric, obsessive - er, where was I

 

I don't quite understand what you mean??

do you know both imperial and metric? I have only ever known the metric system, and I have not had any issues.

 

Nah, I think in minutes. "I'm just five minutes past the junk yard down Nut Wack road". Yeah, we got crazy names for shit hear. Also, it's either cold as ice or warm as piss or hotter than balls.

 

I grew up with imperial measurements but spent years in countries that use the metric system so I am pretty much a bi-measurer

 

Gotta watch for the monologue in the middle of the song, Arlo explains the problem with the metric system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QTj45cTB4U

 

Imperial! I was just trying to remember what this system was called the other day. I really don't understand how they can teach us this in school but never tell us what it's called.

*shakes head*

 

I go back and forth between English and metric system all the time. Don’t bother me a bit.

 

I don’t ever think in Celsius or kilometers but all the eights at the gym I go to are in kilograms so I have adapted to think in kg

 

I was good with that in school but don't use it so I don't remember.