Only three countries

[martinw-48]

Haven't adopted the metric system.
USA
Liberia
Burma
Burma is converting
Gerald Ford signed into legislation in 1975 metric conversion but it is voluntary
About time they joined the rest of the world

[tasfleur]

"I go back that far I still use cubits"

             

[domino-710]

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@domino-710 wrote:

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@myoclon1cjerk wrote:
I go back that far I still use cubits. 😄

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So - how are you coming along with the Ark. lol

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Just a small favour - could you cancel the visas of the Mynah Birds & the Snails.

[lyhargr_0]

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@domino-710 wrote:

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@domino-710 wrote:

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@myoclon1cjerk wrote:
I go back that far I still use cubits. 😄

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So - how are you coming along with the Ark. lol

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Just a small favour - could you cancel the visas of the Mynah Birds & the Snails.

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'n the hairy ones with eight legs

[domino-710]

Sorry - the birds - the snails - & anything with more than 4 legs. TIA.

[lyndal1838]

In the early 80s my young 20s daughter and a friend went touring in the USA driving a Kombi.

Neither daughter nor friend had ever used the imperial system so it came to pass that they were caught speeding in Texas.

As the driver, my daughter was quite prepared to pay the expected fine immediately it was issued.   But no, she was arrested, her drivers licence and passport both confiscated and she spent the night in the local lockup.  The next morning she was escorted by 2 armed officers (in handcuffs) to the local court house.  When the fine was issued the 2 officers escorted her to the bank then back to the courthouse to pay the fine.

In the meantime her friend was left to fend for herself.   She had no idea of accommodation in the area as they were not planning on staying there.   She asked the police for advice and let's say they were less than helpful.

As she left the building a young girl handed her a slip of paper with an address and told her to go there.  It turns out that she was a civilian employee with the police who had heard everything going on,   Her parents happened to own a caravan park.  They took her in like she was a family member, invited her to dinner and refused all payment.

What a difference in treatment.

[zanadoo_56]

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@tasfleur wrote:

I always use the imperial system when designing and constructing my art quilts, but when it comes to purchasing the fabrics, it has to be by metric measurement in Australia of course, but imperial for USA fabric.

It's become second nature to me to use both systems automatically all the time even when cooking .. I don't know why, but I would find it hard to only think in just one system, it has to be both thought equally .. 

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I was taught the imperial system at school.  When I left school and went to TAFE everything was metric.  I knew so little about the metric system that I didn't know millimetres were smaller than metres in the first place. 🙂

I used to make my own clothes - originally I would buy the fabric in yards but then it changed and I had to think in metres.  Now it's a mix.  I do crafts and I can order items in metric or imperial measurements, seams and edging are stitched in metric but I still measure hems in inches. LOL  Added to that is the confusion of using centimetres.  In the building world you only use metres and millimetres (I was a draftsperson for many years) but crafts also use centimetres.  I find myself converting small measurements to millimetres.

It all takes me back to when shops in Canberra virtually went metric overnight.  I remember standing in the butcher shop wondering how many chops would I get if I ordered a kg rather than a pound.  I hadn't a clue.

I still remember all the imperial measurement tables I had to learn at school.  Someone in this discussion mentioned furlongs.  I don't know how a furlong translates to a km but I do know that 8 furlongs = I mile so maybe someone can work it out from there. 😉 

I think because America still hasn't made the change, it's an advantage to be able to think in metric and imperial when it comes to purchasing from US.  But just in case I can't be bothered dealing with the maths of converting I still keep an old ruler, sewing tape measure and a 5m builders tape measure handy - all of which have measurements in metric AND imperial.

[*kazumi*]

people who have problems understanding the metric system can just order 10 sausages rather than pound.  But the Imperial system is so cumbersome; in metrics everything is in multiples of 10. 
Did not America lose a space probe/rocket because somebody made calculations in Imperial instead of metric?

[ecar3483]

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@domino-710 wrote:

Sorry - the birds - the snails - & anything with more than 4 legs. TIA.

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I see.. How very Orwellian of you... Four legs good, more legs bad... ha ha...

🙂