Some good, some not so good

[JerryBaumchen 1,076]

Hi folks,


As with most politicians, there are some things I agree with them on & some things I don't:

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/lincoln-chafee-calls-peace-metric-system-2016-announcement-n369361

I agree with:

1. He also said Edward Snowden should be allowed to come home

2. and the U.S. should rethink the war on drugs.

3. Chafee proposed the U.S. switch to the metric system.

You folks????????

Jerry Baumchen

[BartsDaddy 4]

JerryBaumchen

Hi folks,


As with most politicians, there are some things I agree with them on & some things I don't:

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/lincoln-chafee-calls-peace-metric-system-2016-announcement-n369361

I agree with:

1. He also said Edward Snowden should be allowed to come home

2. and the U.S. should rethink the war on drugs.

3. Chafee proposed the U.S. switch to the metric system.

You folks????????

Jerry Baumchen

1 Hell no

2 Hell yes

3 I don't know who Chaffee is but I own too many tools to vote to change.

Handguns are only used to fight your way to a good rifle

[billvon 2,466]

>3 I don't know who Chaffee is but I own too many tools to vote to change.

I own too many tools to NOT want to change. The current system is absurd.

[aphid 0]

billvon

>3 I don't know who Chaffee is but I own too many tools to vote to change.
I own too many tools to NOT want to change.

A couple of dual-scaled tape measures?

Up here, we're pretty much all Metric but stick/frame construction remains mired in Imperial, largely as a concession to the single largest customer of our lumber exports, the USA.

But even here domestically, a 4x8 sheet of plywood still measures 48x96" (121.9x243.8mm) and a 2x4 nominal (1.5x3.5" actual)- remains as always (38x89mm)

[billvon 2,466]

>A couple of dual-scaled tape measures?

And dual scale micrometers. And two sets of:
wrenches
taps and dies
hex keys
thread testers
sockets

And two big boxes of screws, nuts and bolts - one metric, one SAE. With of course the occasional illegal immigrant from one to the other, and since some threads and diameters ALMOST match, the occasional requirement to drill out and re-tap something when the wrong screw gets jammed in the wrong hole.

And of course we lost a space probe over the confusion as well.

[JerryBaumchen 1,076]

Hi bill,

Quote

And two sets of:

Well, ~40 yrs ago we used to occasionally come across the Whitworth system also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Whitworth

One down, one to go.

Jerry Baumchen

[champu 1]

billvon

And of course we lost a space probe over the confusion as well.

The moral is to label your shit. Somewhat recently I saw installation torque specified (by a European aerospace company that shall remain nameless) without any units. Somewhat suspicious of the value, I dug through some additional documentation to find they were using daN-cm.

[x] metric system
[ ] labeled
[x] total bullshit

That said, I like the idea of a candidate running with "go metric" on his or her platform if for no other reason than the fun it will be to constantly hear from people who have no reason to give a crap why it's a great idea and why it's a terrible idea for a year and a half straight.

[Amazon 7]

JerryBaumchen

Hi bill,

Quote

And two sets of:

Well, ~40 yrs ago we used to occasionally come across the Whitworth system also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Whitworth

One down, one to go.

Jerry Baumchen

With rounded threads ... damn near impossible to keep the valves set in my TR 3A for more than 30 days Loctitie did not help either

[ryoder 1,406]

I once owned a Plymouth Horizon TC3.
For those who may not know, the engine was a Volkswagen I-4.
So the engine was metric, and the rest of the car was SAE.
What an aggravating PITA to work on.

I currently have 4 bicycles and one motorcycle, and all are metric.
So I use metric tools a hell of a lot more than SAE.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[JerryBaumchen 1,076]

Hi ryoder,

Quote

I once owned a . . .

I once owned a '75 Volvo. Some things on the engine were metric & some SAE; complete inconsistency.



Jerry Baumchen

[jgoose71 0]

billion

..... With of course the occasional illegal immigrant from one to the other,........

HA!!!!! Cracking down on Illegal Immigrants now, are ya?

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
Life, the Universe, and Everything

[winsor 189]

JerryBaumchen

Hi folks,


As with most politicians, there are some things I agree with them on & some things I don't:

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/lincoln-chafee-calls-peace-metric-system-2016-announcement-n369361

I agree with:

1. He also said Edward Snowden should be allowed to come home

2. and the U.S. should rethink the war on drugs.

3. Chafee proposed the U.S. switch to the metric system.

You folks????????

Jerry Baumchen

My problem with this guy is one of priorities. While I agree with all the above (after a fashion - Snowden should have his wrist slapped at the very least), I do not think any of this addresses the underlying problems we face.

Like the influence of humans on climate - while I agree that it is a given to one extent or another, I think that anyone who rates it as one of the top problems faced by humanity is a fucking moron (see "Al Gore"). It is a symptom, not a problem, and self-correcting in the long run.

The fact that we are using the body parts of dead royals as a standard is absurd, but reflects more on the fact that we, as a people (more or less) don't get it.

The war on drugs? Drugs won. I think that the narcotic free-for-all that existed in the U.S. in the 1890s left much to be desired, but the system of prohibition we have imposed to address the issue is an order of magnitude worse. While I have no use for booze, I think anyone who thinks Prohibition was a good idea is retarded.

The issues we face include overpopulation, underwriting the reproduction of the indigent, commitment to massive debt and dependence on finite and dwindling natural resources - largely possessed by other nations.

This economy is set to implode, and the fact that it has not already is amazing. When it does, as is inevitable, it will be interesting in the sense of the Chinese curse.


BSBD,

Winsor

[wmw999 2,166]

I had one of those, too. My favorite part was how the carb was mounted on a rubber block. Gasoline eats rubber, right?

But when it was flooded to the seat bottoms, I was able to just dry it out, change the fluids, and continue to drive it for a couple more years. It smelled kind of funky, but the price was right by then.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[BIGUN 1,098]

Quote

The issues we face include overpopulation, underwriting the reproduction of the indigent, commitment to massive debt and dependence on finite and dwindling natural resources - largely possessed by other nations.

I don't think people will pull their heads outta their asses about the real problems until water costs more than a gallon of gas.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[winsor 189]

BIGUN

Quote

The issues we face include overpopulation, underwriting the reproduction of the indigent, commitment to massive debt and dependence on finite and dwindling natural resources - largely possessed by other nations.

I don't think people will pull their heads outta their asses about the real problems until water costs more than a gallon of gas.

I suggest that at that point people will ram their heads even deeper.

If they were willing and able to figure out the obvious, they would have done so by now. When things go to hell, they will simply look for someone to blame.

I wish I was wrong.

[turtlespeed 212]

BIGUN

Quote

The issues we face include overpopulation, underwriting the reproduction of the indigent, commitment to massive debt and dependence on finite and dwindling natural resources - largely possessed by other nations.

I don't think people will pull their heads outta their asses about the real problems until water costs more than a gallon of gas.

Really? Don't tell me . . . Were you joking?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Voss-Still-Water-51-fl-oz-Pack-of-6/37182173

16.3 cents per oz = $20.86/gallon

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[billvon 2,466]

>I don't think people will pull their heads outta their asses about the real problems until
>water costs more than a gallon of gas.

That will probably never happen - even though water prices are going to climb dramatically in the near future. Gas will just rise faster.

[BIGUN 1,098]

Meant tap water.

Ask California farmers what they're paying for groundwater these days.

IOW... the difference between "choice" of vs. Have to have.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[RMK 3]

1) yes
2) yes
3) yes

Do most Americans even realise you are one of only three countries not on the metric system? Other two are Liberia & Myanmar (Burma).

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[JerryBaumchen 1,076]

Hi RMK,

Quote

Do most Americans even realise . . .

I have said this many times: The average American voter is uninformed and prefers to stay that way.



Jerry Baumchen

[cvfd1399 0]

Who cares if we know or not, what does that change? Is there a special magic that happens if everyone knows we switch to metric instantly?

[wmw999 2,166]

I grew up in a metric country. The imperial system is stupid and arbitrary. It costs money (double learning because metric is needed for more and more, as well as making up for translation mistakes), and it's harder to learn (think of tax dollars saved).

There is nothing to recommend it other than that there is a unit called the slug.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[cvfd1399 0]

No argument here Wendy. I frequently have to check a printed spreadsheet to convert between the two when building model airplanes.