On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:37:00 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:

>
>Does anyone really say "klick" for kilometers? "Three klicks down the 
>road" I've read in fiction books, but never heard outside of that.

In Australia I've heard people sat Kays as in 8 Kays down the road 
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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andrel wrote:
> My best estimate is that by cutting a meter in thirds would give three 
> pieces of about 33.2 cm. I might be missing the point, however.

That 100 cm doesn't divide evenly by threes? And if you made something 
in multiple of 40 cm, and you had 100cm boards, you'd be wasting large 
amounts of wood?

Just saying what I read in an interview with carpenters in places they 
use metric: They still use metric, but they don't buy wood in multiples 
of meters, because you can't chop it into anything but halves and fifths.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> That makes it *really* difficult to figure out fuel efficiency if you 
> don't have a computer to do that in your car.

Oh, my observation is that in the US, odometers (distance measures in 
the dashboard) read in tenths of miles, permanent signs are in halves 
and quarters of miles (as in, "next exit 2 1/2 miles") and temporary 
signs are in thousands of feet (as in "road construction 2000 feet").

That *does* make it a bit difficult to figure out wtf is going on. :-)

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)

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On 14-Oct-08 21:17, Darren New wrote:
> andrel wrote:
>> My best estimate is that by cutting a meter in thirds would give three 
>> pieces of about 33.2 cm. I might be missing the point, however.
> 
> That 100 cm doesn't divide evenly by threes? And if you made something 
> in multiple of 40 cm, and you had 100cm boards, you'd be wasting large 
> amounts of wood?

Whereas if you made something in multiples of 32 you'd be wasting a lot 
when using 120cm. So your point is that as soon as men defines a measure 
only small integers and powers of 10 times that unit are allowed?

> Just saying what I read in an interview with carpenters in places they 
> use metric: They still use metric, but they don't buy wood in multiples 
> of meters, because you can't chop it into anything but halves and fifths.

IIRC we used to have doors of 2.05m, I think that is now upgraded to 
2.15 or so to accommodate the ever growing Dutchman. I don't think that 
supports your point. Anyway a good carpenter seldom measures what he is 
making. If it has to fit somewhere you transfer that measure directly 
without interference of converting it into numbers. Or where that the 
carpenters of last generation?

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"Stephen" <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom> wrote in message 
news:ggr9f4le7317k0dgv92kodesk2l4058iif@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:37:00 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>
>>
>>Does anyone really say "klick" for kilometers? "Three klicks down the
>>road" I've read in fiction books, but never heard outside of that.
>
> In Australia I've heard people sat Kays as in 8 Kays down the road

That's the usage here too.

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48f4bc3f$1@news.povray.org...
>>> I know I'm 6'2" tall (to the nearest 1/16"), but I have no idea what 
>>> that is in metric. (Very roughly 1.5m, AFAIK.)
>>
>> No that would be 1.88m. Your estimation is more like 5'2", maybe you 
>> computed that a few years ago ;-)
>
> By "very roughly" I mean "it's nearer to 1.5m than it is to 6m or 1m". ;-)

1.88-1.5=0.38
That's more than 1 foot (0.30m) difference :-)

Marc

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andrel wrote:
> Whereas if you made something in multiples of 32 you'd be wasting a lot 
> when using 120cm. So your point is that as soon as men defines a measure 
> only small integers and powers of 10 times that unit are allowed?

Um, no. My point is that 12 has many more divisors than 10 does. Why 
would you have multiples of 32 of something?

> I don't think that supports your point. 

You seem to think it's I who is arguing with you. I'm just relating what 
I read, in an interview with some carpenters. Whether you think it's 
logical or not is your call.


-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)

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On 14-Oct-08 22:51, Darren New wrote:
> andrel wrote:
>> Whereas if you made something in multiples of 32 you'd be wasting a 
>> lot when using 120cm. So your point is that as soon as men defines a 
>> measure only small integers and powers of 10 times that unit are allowed?
> 
> Um, no. My point is that 12 has many more divisors than 10 does. Why 
> would you have multiples of 32 of something?

why not? very dividable by powers of two.

> 
>> I don't think that supports your point. 
> 
> You seem to think it's I who is arguing with you. I'm just relating what 
> I read, in an interview with some carpenters.

I know. What made you think I didn't?

> Whether you think it's logical or not is your call.

indeed, and I think it is totally nonsense. It may be true for some 
class of carpenters. Mainly for those with no relevant education and no 
skills in carpentry. Either the lowest ranking on the job or the 
manager. I'll probably see my uncle (who was a good carpenter) in two 
weeks time and ask him what he thinks about it. I might change my mind 
if he confirms.

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Darren New wrote:
> Oh, my observation is that in the US, odometers (distance measures in
> the dashboard) read in tenths of miles, permanent signs are in halves
> and quarters of miles (as in, "next exit 2 1/2 miles") and temporary
> signs are in thousands of feet (as in "road construction 2000 feet").

What the FUCK

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Warp wrote:
>   The only things which are measured by imperial units here, for some
> reason, are display screen sizes (monitors, LCDs, plasma TVs...), ie. by
> inches. I guess this is true for most if not all of Europe.

I think that's true for the whole world actually...

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