Just for those who never grew up around explosive barrels...

The barrels in things like HL2 are what Americans call "55 gallon drums." 
It's how things like grease or oil for your automobile gets shipped to 
retailers like service stations or auto dealers.

55 gallons is the amount of oil in a "barrel of oil."

So when you hear on the news that some country is exporting 2 million 
barrels a day of oil or something, you have an idea what they mean. A barrel 
of oil is the size of one of the barrels in HL2 (or most other games, for 
that matter), aka a "55-gallon drum."

Impress your metric friends with this obscure knowledge, brought to you by 
someone whose dad owned a gas station for many years.
-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   How come I never get only one kudo?

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On 03/10/2011 5:13 PM, Darren New wrote:
> Impress your metric friends with this obscure knowledge,

Impress them even more. ;-)

1 Imperial beer barrel = 240 real pints = 288 US pints.


-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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On Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:38:18 +0100, Stephen wrote:

> On 03/10/2011 5:13 PM, Darren New wrote:
>> Impress your metric friends with this obscure knowledge,
> 
> Impress them even more. ;-)
> 
> 1 Imperial beer barrel = 240 real pints = 288 US pints.

Nah, even more impressive:

1 cup:

"Standard" in the US:  237 ml
"Nutrition Label" in the US:  240 ml
In the UK:  284 ml

Or in answer to the question:  Which weighs more, an ounce of feathers or 
an ounce of gold?

(Answer:  an ounce of gold, because it's a troy ounce, not a 'normal' 
ounce)

Jim

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On 03/10/2011 08:17 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:

> Or in answer to the question:  Which weighs more, an ounce of feathers or
> an ounce of gold?
>
> (Answer:  an ounce of gold, because it's a troy ounce, not a 'normal'
> ounce)

Never mind that. WTF is "a wee dram" of whiskey??

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Le 2011/10/03 12:13, Darren New a écrit :
> Just for those who never grew up around explosive barrels...
>
> The barrels in things like HL2 are what Americans call "55 gallon
> drums." It's how things like grease or oil for your automobile gets
> shipped to retailers like service stations or auto dealers.
>
> 55 gallons is the amount of oil in a "barrel of oil."
>
> So when you hear on the news that some country is exporting 2 million
> barrels a day of oil or something, you have an idea what they mean. A
> barrel of oil is the size of one of the barrels in HL2 (or most other
> games, for that matter), aka a "55-gallon drum."
>
> Impress your metric friends with this obscure knowledge, brought to you
> by someone whose dad owned a gas station for many years.

And, outside the USA, they are 40 /imperial/ gallons drums, not 55 /US/ 
gallons.

One of the reasons behind the secession was the systematic shortchanging 
imposed by England.
They sold you goods using the US gallon, but bought goods using the 
bigger Imperial Gallons.
The dollar is also a colonial curency. Originaly, it's value was $1 = 
1£, then got depreciated down to 1£ = $2.

I always wonder WHY the USA kept that colonial mesurment system. The 
metric system did exist at that time. Back then, it would have been easy 
to adopt the metric system and ditch the hated imperial system.


Alain

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Le 2011/10/03 15:25, Orchid XP v8 a écrit :
> On 03/10/2011 08:17 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>
>> Or in answer to the question: Which weighs more, an ounce of feathers or
>> an ounce of gold?
>>
>> (Answer: an ounce of gold, because it's a troy ounce, not a 'normal'
>> ounce)
>
> Never mind that. WTF is "a wee dram" of whiskey??
>

Also spelled «drachm»

1 greek drachm = 4.37 g
1 Roman drachm = 3.41 g
As a mass unit:
Now, it's 1/16 ounce, or 875/32 grains or 1.771 845 195 312 5 g

BUT, for an apothecair, it's double that, or 3 scrupules.

As a volume unit:
3.696691 ml (USA) or 3.551632 ml (Commonhealth and Ireland)

In a bar, it's 330 ml of whisky...

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On 03/10/2011 9:21 PM, Alain wrote:
> Le 2011/10/03 15:25, Orchid XP v8 a écrit :

>>
>> Never mind that. WTF is "a wee dram" of whiskey??
>>
>
> Also spelled «drachm»
>

[Snip]
>
> In a bar, it's 330 ml of whisky...

"A wee dram" is a colloquial term used in Scotland often not wee at all. 
It is one of those phrases that travelled with the diaspora, like “the 
wee sma’ hours”. It just means a glass of whisky. Today it is thought of 
as a 1/4 of a gill (imperial) although I think of it as a 1/3. It used 
to be a half gill, hence the phrase a half and a half (hauf n a hauf) 
for a half pint of beer and a whisky.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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Le 03/10/2011 22:11, Alain a écrit :
> I always wonder WHY the USA kept that colonial mesurment system. The
> metric system did exist at that time. Back then, it would have been easy
> to adopt the metric system and ditch the hated imperial system.

The "Not made here" syndrom.
USA is proud of its own system. It's not imperial (yet looks
traditional), not metric, but their very own. That's also help to be
"protective" on commerce while shouting out loud about "free commerce,
no regulation".

(when the foreign sellers of good have to waste time doing conversion or
changing measurement tools (at their own expense), it becomes also a
competitive advantage for the local sellers...))

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On 04/10/2011 10:47 AM, Le_Forgeron wrote:
> Le 03/10/2011 22:11, Alain a écrit :
>> I always wonder WHY the USA kept that colonial mesurment system.
>
> The "Not made here" syndrom.
> USA is proud of its own system.

Ah. Is /that/ why they're the only country on Earth who can't write the 
date in any consistent order?

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On 04/10/2011 10:01 AM, Stephen wrote:

> "A wee dram" is a colloquial term used in Scotland often not wee at all.
> It is one of those phrases that travelled with the diaspora, like “the
> wee sma’ hours”. It just means a glass of whisky. Today it is thought of
> as a 1/4 of a gill (imperial) although I think of it as a 1/3. It used
> to be a half gill, hence the phrase a half and a half (hauf n a hauf)
> for a half pint of beer and a whisky.

One time I was offered a wee dram of whisky. Fortunately, it was very 
small. Like, he got a glass and poured in almost enough liquid to cover 
the bottom of the glass. (Apparently Glenmorangie is expensive or 
something.) Which is just as well, because I couldn't even drink that 
much. It tasted so disgusting...

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