"Danny" <drmckee@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Yz2ek.1$KC4.0@newsfe06.lga...
> Well put, Gregory. As a USA educated citizen, I must say that when I
> piddled with my mower engine or my auto engine, it was a lot easier to use
> metric wrenches . . . 10mm too small, then it must be 11mm. Whereas if
> 3/16" is too small, I always had to stop and think would I need a 7/32" or
> 1/4" and so on. But now, when I hear distance reported as being 17
> kilometers, I still have no idea how far that is. I know a meter and a
> yard is approximately the same (39" and 36") so I can eventually come to
> some kind of answer that is reasonably correct. I am, however, looking
> for a left hand, metric, adjustable wrench.
> Danny
>
If this helps with your issue of conversion:
10 miles is about 16 kilometers.
20 minutes to walk a mile, 12 minutes to walk a kilometer.
100 kph is about 62.5 mph.
As I have to live with both, I don't try to convert it in my head.
Whether the measurement is metric or imperial, I use the appropriate tool.
The Gimli Glider is one example of mixing the two, and vehicles manufactured
for Canada, which may also use both. The only facet of industry which has
not seen much change is lumber: it's still mostly in fractional
measurements.
Cheers,
John
>
> "Gregory" <flightsim.maps@bkwds.comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:a9ah745i5pmcmojjn605t9265dsg1hf199@4ax.com...
>> On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:23:46 +0200, Marcel Kuijper
>> <zoepetier_nothing_here@hotmail.com> brought the following:
>>
>>>/BEGIN RANT/
>>>
>>>Can people please stop using the Imperial System??
>>>
>>>I was reading an article of the Airliners.net forum on another near miss
>>>mid-air collision during a perpendicular take-off at JFK.
>>>
>>>One guy said :"They spoke of 500 feet seperation."
>>>
>>>Another guy replied :"I heard it was more like half a mile."
>>>
>>>Now here, with the metric system, when someone says "half a kilometer",
>>>everyone else knows it's 500 meters, because 1 kilometer is 1000 meters.
>>>It's a nice round number.
>>>
>>>Metric System
>>>----------------------
>>>10 millimeters = 1 centimeter
>>>100 centimeters = 1 meter
>>>1000 meters = 1 kilometer
>>>
>>>
>>>Imperial System
>>>------------------------
>>>100 inches = 8.33 feet
>>>1000 inches = 27 yards
>>>1 mile = 5.280 feet
>>>1 mile = 1.760 yards
>>>
>>>Half a mile = 880 yards or 2.640 feet.
>>>
>>>I'm sorry, but this system just makes no sense. Where's the logic?
>>>
>>>Or is my vision towards the Imperial System just slightly skewed?
>>>Cos it's giving me a headache everytime.
>>
>>
>> Easy to explain.. we use inches to make things in the shop.
>> Everything is inches and thousandth of an inch (1 mil). A part
>> could be 3.75" x .75" x 0.188" think. Ex: last cut on the milling
>> machine is 2-1/2 thousandth. Also for objects that fit inside a
>> room, like a 42" diagonal video screen and a 10" cooking skillet,
>> a 6" long adjustable wrench. :))
>>
>> Feet are used for both indoor and outdoor projects. :-]
>>
>> Yards are for use in sports like football.. no, not footie ball!!
>>
>> Miles are for our motorcars. Miles of road, Miles per Gallon of GAS,
>> sorry not petrol!!
>>
>> -G
>>
>>
>
