An Interesting Map

[Robo]

Can we please stop all this confusing talk of 'miles'.........and lbs

Hardly anyone understands it

 

[Darby67]

Amen.

Growing up in Hawai'i we were perhaps the last vestige of the metric system in the US for consumers...my first job was pumping gas in the early 1980s and we pumped in liters. For my job I use metric and have driven many an employee crazy when I 'request' all the thermostats on wine tanks be set to Celsius. Metric makes everything easy.

Don't Commonwealth countries still work with or understand stone?

 

[Robo]

Amen.

Growing up in Hawai'i we were perhaps the last vestige of the metric system in the US for consumers...my first job was pumping gas in the early 1980s and we pumped in liters. For my job I use metric and have driven many an employee crazy when I 'request' all the thermostats on wine tanks be set to Celsius. Metric makes everything easy.

Don't Commonwealth countries still work with or understand stone?

I think in the UK (as least when I last lived there) people tend to talk about body weight in 'stones'.
Australia has been fully metric for a long time.......

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Can we please stop all this confusing talk of 'miles'.........and lbs

Hardly anyone understands it


View attachment 64313

I am one of the chosen few.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I think in the UK (as least when I last lived there) people tend to talk about body weight in 'stones'.
Australia has been fully metric for a long time.......

I weigh 8.5 rocks.

 

[VNwalking]

Growing up in Hawai'i we were perhaps the last vestige of the metric system in the US for consumers.

Really? That wasn't my experience.
I remember in grade school we had to learn the metric system (this would have been the mid-60s), because there was supposed to be a transition to it - but in the end nothing ever happened.
Gas has always been in gallons when I grew up and wherever I've lived there (Honolulu and Hilo).

And funny about where I live now. Fabric is in yards, roads are measured in both miles and kms...and there are right-hand drive cars driving on the right! Go figure.

 

[C clearly]

Don't Commonwealth countries still work with or understand stone?

Only the UK, I think. "Stone" has not been a unit of weight in Canada in my lifetime. I have to google it every time there is a reference to it.

We are officially metric but use a mixture of units in practice - depending on the age of the user, and the thing that is being measured. Our body heights and weights tend to be imperial (but the doctors write them down in metric), weather temperatures are always metric, driving distances are metric, people over a certain age use inches and feet for the smaller lengths. Weighing meat at the butcher could be either. House lots are square feet. Televisions and monitors are in inches.

Good practice for the brain.

 

[VNwalking]

In NZ people still use stone (never plural), at least the older generations. As well as an eclectic mix of units - similar to what you describe for Canada, @C clearly - again, often depending on age...

 

[Chris Gi]

Can we please stop all this confusing talk of 'miles'.........and lbs

Hardly anyone understands it


View attachment 64313

You forgot to mention “stones” for weight

 

[K Turner]

I don't have "stones" down, I admit. I made the change to km pretty quickly a couple weeks ago when I started my Camino, and thankfully it comes easier than I expected. Then again, I live in the only part of the USA that still has km road markers from the failed attempt to convert!

 

[bbates225]

Can we please stop all this confusing talk of 'miles'.........and lbs

Hardly anyone understands it


View attachment 64313

I'm one of those in that big red map to the left... when I did my Camino in 2017 I made a list of a few converted miles to kilometers and Fahrenheit to Celsius and taped it in the back of my journal. I just wanted to relate metric to what I knew. Kilometers became easier but I could never conquer the temperatures. Conversions helped.

 

[peregrina2000]

Kilometers became easier but I could never conquer the temperatures. Conversions helped.

You know, I think that doing the conversion just makes it harder to learn. At least for me.

I have walked so many times that I now think in kms; in fact, if I see the distance in miles, I have to convert it to kms to understand it.

But for temps, I have been less successful. I have three conversions that I memorized so that I always have an approximate idea.

16 degrees C is 61 degrees F
28 degrees C is 82 degrees F
40 degrees C is 104 degrees F

I really think I would be much further ahead in my quest to internalize centigrade temperatures if I had just stopped the conversion and started paying attention to those signs flashing outside the pharmacies!

 

[Tincatinker]

I have never understood the confusions- a mile is 1.6 Km so if you are walking 10 of one you're walking 16 of the other but you are still walking the same distance and whether you walk at 4mph or 6.5 kph it'll still take you the same time to get there. 85F is too hot for this old Tink to walk in but so is 30C. I'll seek shade and a cold beer on either scale.

I think in miles.My legs know how long a mile is and how long it'll take to walk it. If a guide book or the sacred Gronze or a smiley Hospi tells me I've got a 30km day then I know and my legs know that thats just an easy 19 miles and we can do that comfy (So long as its not 85/30 in the shade)

 

[Jeff Crawley]

You know, I think that doing the conversion just makes it harder to learn. At least for me.

I have walked so many times that I now think in kms; in fact, if I see the distance in miles, I have to convert it to kms to understand it.

But for temps, I have been less successful. I have three conversions that I memorized so that I always have an approximate idea.

16 degrees C is 61 degrees F
28 degrees C is 82 degrees F
40 degrees C is 104 degrees F

I really think I would be much further ahead in my quest to internalize centigrade temperatures if I had just stopped the conversion and started paying attention to those signs flashing outside the pharmacies!

0 is cold
10 is not
20 is warm
30 is HOT

(old time, Canadian rhyme)

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I have never understood the confusions- a mile is 1.6 Km so if you are walking 10 of one your walking 16 of the other but you are still walking the same distance and whether you walk at 4mph or 6.5 kph it'll still take you the same time to get there. 85F is too hot for this old Tink to walk in but so is 30C. I'll seek shade and a cold beer on either scale.

I think in miles.My legs know how long a mile is and how long it'll take to walk it. If a guide book or the sacred Gronze or a smiley Hospi tells me I've got a 30km day then I know and my legs know that thats just an easy 19 miles and we can do that comfy (So long as its not 85/30 in the shade)

An "easy" 19 miles? That's my upper limit and I don't like doing it! 20-25k for this lady is my personal preference. I don't have a camino tat although I've walked various caminos 5 times. Maybe I need that tattoo to get my future mojo on...come April on the Vdlp!

 

[Gary Martin]

Can we please stop all this confusing talk of 'miles'.........and lbs

Hardly anyone understands it


View attachment 64313

Amen! Our kids are burdened with another layer of complexity when training in any technical profession. And just this morning I again had to awkwardly extract myself from under a machine when I guessed wrong on needed wrench. End the madness!!

 

[Darby67]

Really? That wasn't my experience.
I remember in grade school we had to learn the metric system (this would have been the mid-60s), because there was supposed to be a transition to it - but in the end nothing ever happened.
Gas has always been in gallons when I grew up and wherever I've lived there (Honolulu and Hilo).

I don't remember when gas stations made the change but as far as I can remember it was really only service stations that changed. Guessing it was sometime in the late 70s a couple of years after they started trying to roll it out on the mainland. I moved away in 1987 a year after graduating high school but returned for summers for a handful of years. Guessing the experiment ended sometime in the late 80s - mid 90's. Here is a clipping from the July 4, 1985 Star Bulletin. The gas price on the sign is what it was in liters and that was how it was measured at the pump. I bet you could't wait to know what the gas prices in liters were near the 4th of July in 1985...

 

[VNwalking]

Wow, haha, Darby, the SB! A blast from da past. Love it.
Gee, maybe I'm just blanking it? That's definitely a possibility. Interesting is that the story refers to prices in gallons, though the sign in the pic is in liters. Maybe that's why I'm remembering the gallons, because even the papers weren't taking liters seriously.
Bottom line is that now we've all given up and the imperial measurements seem entrenched.

Sigh.

 

[Darby67]

Yes, it was strange. I just found another clip giving an indication of it's demise, this one from Jan. 19, 1988. I really am not sure I ever would have remembered this if I hadn't been pumping the stuff as a teenager. I just asked a couple of buddies that didn't pump gas and they don't remember it all either. I think it was really only relative to a few of us that were smelling the fumes all day when we should have been out surfing at Tongs.

 

[dougfitz]

Interesting that this has been raised again, hopefully with somewhat more of the OP's tongue planted in his cheek than the last round of this discussion.

As for the imperial system being misunderstood, I have always taken references by those who use imperial measures as part of the wonderful patina of the many differences we have built up over our common enthusiasm for the Camino. It is not all that much different to the smile I get when someone from the US or Canada starts to discuss fanny packs and bonking without realising how different their meanings are to many of the rest of us on the forum.

 

[Robo]

Interesting that this has been raised again, hopefully with somewhat more of the OP's tongue planted in his cheek than the last round of this discussion.

As for the imperial system being misunderstood, I have always taken references by those who use imperial measures as part of the wonderful patina of the many differences we have built up over our common enthusiasm for the Camino. It is not all that much different to the smile I get when someone from the US or Canada starts to discuss fanny packs and bonking without realising how different their meanings are to many of the rest of us on the forum.

OMG @dougfitz What other meaning does 'Bonking' have
As for the other term........I won't even go there through fear of causing offence

 

[Jeff Crawley]

OMG @dougfitz What other meaning does 'Bonking' have
As for the other term........I won't even go there through fear of causing offence

Bonking: def - the sound a bed's headboard makes during repetative contact with the wall behind.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Wow, haha, Darby, the SB! A blast from da past. Love it.
Gee, maybe I'm just blanking it? That's definitely a possibility. Interesting is that the story refers to prices in gallons, though the sign in the pic is in liters. Maybe that's why I'm remembering the gallons, because even the papers weren't taking liters seriously.
Bottom line is that now we've all given up and the imperial measurements seem entrenched.
Sigh.

And France. The French still use inches. Le pouce. Abbreviation po

 

[Robo]

Bonking: def - the sound a bed's headboard makes during repetative contact with the wall behind.

Exactly! What else does it mean ?

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Exactly! What else does it mean ?

Oh! Penny drops!

 

[dougfitz]

OMG @dougfitz What other meaning does 'Bonking' have

This was discussed here a few years ago when someone used it in a very specialised way. Or more recently, at this link.

 

[henrythedog]

Can we please stop all this confusing talk of 'miles'.........and lbs

Hardly anyone understands it


View attachment 64313

A UK perspective which I don’t think is unique I’m in my mid 50s, so decimalised.

I buy fuel in litres, but think fuel economy in miles per gallon

I drive in miles (all the road signed are in miles) but walk in kilometres (all the maps are in 1km grids)

I buy wine in litres (0.75 usually) and beer in pints.

My height is in feet and inches, my weight in kilos (probably an even split on this - many still in stone and pounds)

I have never got to grips with temperature other than that if it’s close to zero (C) it’s cold, but has to be in the 80s(F) to be hot.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Bonking: def - the sound a bed's headboard makes during repetative contact with the wall behind.

You must be using the Urban dictionary, Jeff...everything's naughty in there.

 

[Davey Boyd]

I'm English and ex Army. The army uses km instead of miles so I am used to that. Rifle ranges are in metres, but effective ranges were in yards when taught by NCO's in the classroom (no clue what a yard is)!

But as Henrythedog said, when driving in the UK I use miles (road signs are in miles), when walking I think in Km (UK Ordnance Survey maps use grids in km, I think because they were military based).

I am a tiny bloke, I weigh 8.8 Stone (not stones). I am 5foot 6inches tall (according to the cops).

Using spanners I get totally confused, was taught both at school by different teachers and never got either.

But I use litres, unless I am drinking beer, that's definitely pints.

Sausages come in pounds weight in my mind and in proper butchers!

I guess I am totally confused,

But at least I don't wear my pants as an outer layer, and would probably get arrested if I did!

Davey

 

[Camino Chrissy]

A UK perspective which I don’t think is unique I’m in my mid 50s, so decimalised.

I buy fuel in litres, but think fuel economy in miles per gallon

I drive in miles (all the road signed are in miles) but walk in kilometres (all the maps are in 1km grids)

I buy wine in litres (0.75 usually) and beer in pints.

My height is in feet and inches, my weight in kilos (probably an even split on this - many still in stone and pounds)

I have never got to grips with temperature other than that if it’s close to zero (C) it’s cold, but has to be in the 80s(F) to be hot.

I'm really glad I'm one of the chosen few.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I'm English and ex Army. The army uses km instead of miles so I am used to that. Rifle ranges are in metres, but effective ranges were in yards when taught by NCO's in the classroom (no clue what a yard is)!

But as Henrythedog said, when driving in the UK I use miles (road signs are in miles), when walking I think in Km (UK Ordnance Survey maps use grids in km, I think because they were military based).

I am a tiny bloke, I weigh 8.8 Stone (not stones). I am 5foot 6inches tall (according to the cops).

Using spanners I get totally confused, was taught both at school by different teachers and never got either.

But I use litres, unless I am drinking beer, that's definitely pints.

Sausages come in pounds weight in my mind and in proper butchers!

I guess I am totally confused,

But at least I don't wear my pants as an outer layer, and would probably get arrested if I did!

Davey

Some of you peeps are making my head spin!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I am a tiny bloke, I weigh 8.8 Stone (not stones). I am 5foot 6inches tall (according to the cops).

Davey, you only weigh a tad more than me and I'm considered rather slim at 5'4". If your weight is not a typo, you need to stop walking so much! Lucky you to not have to worry about weight gain even when you enjoy your beer so much.
BTW... a yard equals 3 feet.
A yard is also the plot of land around a residence, usually less than one acre...at least how I see it where I live.

 

[Davey Boyd]

Davey, you only weigh a tad more than me and I'm considered rather slim at 5'4". If your weight is not a typo, you need to stop walking so much! Lucky you to not have to worry about weight gain even when you enjoy your beer so much.
BTW... a yard equals 3 feet.
A yard is also the plot of land around a residence, usually less than one acre...at least how I see it where I live.

That is right, it is not a typo! In the army I was nicknamed the 'racing snake', little, skinny and fast! I am really tiny and slim, I have been the same weight since I was 16, now I am 53. I can eat whatever I like, it never changes. I did get heavier in the Army though, but that was probably muscle.

Though small I carry 16 kilo when on camino just fine, though of course I walk for a long time (over 5 months each) and sleep outdoors a lot so take more kit.

A yard is also a piece of land here too, 'your backyard' for instance, but can be anysize. It is also a measure of distance.

Davey

 

[henrythedog]

I'm English and ex Army. The army uses km instead of miles so I am used to that. Rifle ranges are in metres, but effective ranges were in yards when taught by NCO's in the classroom (no clue what a yard is)!

But as Henrythedog said, when driving in the UK I use miles (road signs are in miles), when walking I think in Km (UK Ordnance Survey maps use grids in km, I think because they were military based).

I am a tiny bloke, I weigh 8.8 Stone (not stones). I am 5foot 6inches tall (according to the cops).

Using spanners I get totally confused, was taught both at school by different teachers and never got either.

But I use litres, unless I am drinking beer, that's definitely pints.

Sausages come in pounds weight in my mind and in proper butchers!

I guess I am totally confused,

But at least I don't wear my pants as an outer layer, and would probably get arrested if I did!

Davey

I am also ex army.

When the UK purported to switch to metric the 300 yard ranges changed to 300 meter (ditto all the others.

The firing points and butts did not change.

I still shoot and it amuses me to talk to the precision shooters who obsess about grouping and minutes of angle when I know the stated range is 10% out!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I'm English and ex Army. The army uses km instead of miles so I am used to that. Rifle ranges are in metres, but effective ranges were in yards when taught by NCO's in the classroom (no clue what a yard is)!

But as Henrythedog said, when driving in the UK I use miles (road signs are in miles), when walking I think in Km (UK Ordnance Survey maps use grids in km, I think because they were military based).

I am a tiny bloke, I weigh 8.8 Stone (not stones). I am 5foot 6inches tall (according to the cops).

Using spanners I get totally confused, was taught both at school by different teachers and never got either.

But I use litres, unless I am drinking beer, that's definitely pints.

Sausages come in pounds weight in my mind and in proper butchers!

I guess I am totally confused,

But at least I don't wear my pants as an outer layer, and would probably get arrested if I did!

Davey

The UK started to metricate in 1971 (at least in engineering and building) and it led to some very strange conversations:

In a timber yard - "I'd like some 4 by 2"

"Sorry, it's now metric, you now get 100 by 50. How much?"

Quickly metricating 8 feet . . . "2440mm please"

"So, 8 feet of 100 by 50? How many?"

In about 1973 one of my lecturers at the Poly brought in a magazine article about the Danish Standards Organisation. There were suggestions that the millimetre was too small a measurement for ordinary building so they proposed a measure of 300mm divided into 12 equal units . . .

As I said above, the French (who gave us the metric/SI system) still use inches so what hope for the rest of the world?

 

[GPeachy]

When I moved to Italy, I found it difficult to convert from one system to the other (not a math person). It was easier to learn what 200 grams to 1 liter or 16 km, or 16 degrees looked like or felt like. A fellow ex-pat who lives in England gave me a simple way to figure out the approximate F temp from C. Double the C temperature and add 30 to it. (not exact but close enough).

 

[Jeff Crawley]

A UK perspective which I don’t think is unique I’m in my mid 50s, so decimalised.

I buy fuel in litres, but think fuel economy in miles per gallon

I drive in miles (all the road signed are in miles) but walk in kilometres (all the maps are in 1km grids)

I buy wine in litres (0.75 usually) and beer in pints.

My height is in feet and inches, my weight in kilos (probably an even split on this - many still in stone and pounds)

I have never got to grips with temperature other than that if it’s close to zero (C) it’s cold, but has to be in the 80s(F) to be hot.

You are not alone!

As an engineer I used to divide measurements into BM and PM - before and after metrication: a 6" pipe is a 6" pipe is a 6" pipe - it will never be 150mm (unless you use an adaptor).

In the UK all official road signs have to be in miles by law - you can put it in metres/kilometres as well but not instead. It's weird if you drive the Irish/Northern Ireland border. The roads cross the border like a snake: one minute the directions and distances are Metric, turn the bend and they're Imperial!

During metrication in Ireland for a while the distances were Kilometres but the speed restrictions were in MPH!

 

[André Walker]

I weigh 8.5 rocks.
[/QUOTE}
I only weigh 1 stone. It's a large and heavy one, but nonetheless only 1.
Or, as a member of a metric-country, I'm misunderstanding something.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

My rocks are really in my head. My reply was said tongue in cheek...like this one!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I'm confused. I measured myself in both feet and meters and I discovered that I'm still the same height. Would that change if I measured myself in feet and metres? How about meters and metres?

 

[Anniesantiago]

I don't know much about the metric system except for kilometers.
When I'm on the Camino, or planning for a Camino, I think in kilometers.
When someone asks me, 'How many MILES is that?" I have to get out a calculator, b/c I really don't know.
It's like when someone asks what day it is when you're walking the Camino...

 

[André Walker]

It's like when someone asks what day it is when you're walking the Camino...

I always answer "today".

Or, as someone in a bar replied when I asked what the weather would be like today:
he just looked through the window and said: "Something like this."

 

[alhartman]

At least quintal never made the weight standards!!

 

[Darby67]

At least quintal never made the weight standards!!

Oh it’s still used I’m guessing in certain circles. I was given rates in quintals in the late 90’s...had to look that one up.

 

[Moorwalker]

I always loved Slugs as a unit of measurement, being a derived unit of mass.

For most purposes I can think in imperial or metric, having grown up in the UK back in the far distant past when we still used imperial, and converting to metric while I was still at school. Working in engineering we always used metric measurements of course, it makes far more sense. My feet still know what a mile feels like though, and beer definitely comes in pints.

My pet hate is US recipes, I simply cannot deal with cup measures not least because they are soinaccurate, I struggle to convert their pints to ours, and being told to use 9 tablespoons of butter as a recipe I found the other day did has me looking for another recipe which gives sensible measurements.

 

[Tincatinker]

I purchased a "Genuine American Cup" measure, I can't remember why but it probably seemed a good idea at the time. Post luncheon shopping has its hazards.

I found it just now after considerable rummaging. The patina makes it look quite antique

 

[alexwalker]

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/can-we-please-talk-kilometres-litres-celsius-right-side-driving-etc.59831/

 

[Tincatinker]

@alexwalker you know that just like the next Camino everything comes around again

 

[Anik2001]

A coworker just posted that on Facebook today. Quite accurate!

 

[Saint Mike II]

I weigh 8.5 rocks.

You are asking for this : are they in your head????

 

[Camino Chrissy]

You are asking for this : are they in your head????

Possibly it is full of very "dense" gray matter.

 

[Moorwalker]

I purchased a "Genuine American Cup" measure, I can't remember why but it probably seemed a good idea at the time. Post luncheon shopping has its hazards.

I found it just now after considerable rummaging. The patina makes it look quite antique

My main dislike of using volume measures is that they are highly inaccurate and depend on skill to get the correct measure. I did some experiments once and depending on how you you fill the cup (sift it, spoon it or scoop it) flour can vary around 20% in weight, and soft brown sugar as much as 35%. And how on Earth do you measure things like grated cheese? Or chopped fruit or egetables where the size of the pieces can make a huge difference. As for giving butter measurements in tablespoons, that is bizarre. Just get some scales, recipe writers.

 

[hel&scott]

One of the books I read and carried on a Camino was The Measure of the World it was about the French team who set off to measure the earths meridian so they could use it as a basis for the meter. A fascinating story which finally made triangulation interesting to me. I have forgotten where I left the book, but not forgotten this gem about the history of the metric system. I am so glad that I am a child of the metric age and never had to worry about pounds in weight or money.

Move over miles, I have meters to travel before I sleep.

 

[camino-david]

Davey Boyd was 6 feet (or 183cms) before he started walking, but he quickly wore down

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Davey Boyd was 6 feet (or 183cms) before he started walking, but he quickly wore down

Then he shrank into about the same proportions as a yard to a meter; 11/12ths.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

My main dislike of using volume measures is that they are highly inaccurate and depend on skill to get the correct measure. I did some experiments once and depending on how you you fill the cup (sift it, spoon it or scoop it) flour can vary around 20% in weight, and soft brown sugar as much as 35%. And how on Earth do you measure things like grated cheese? Or chopped fruit or egetables where the size of the pieces can make a huge difference. As for giving butter measurements in tablespoons, that is bizarre. Just get some scales, recipe writers.

Some US cooking shows recommend weighing flour. All the American store-bought butter I've seen is sold by the pound with four wrapped sticks inside and the wrapping is measured so you can cut tablespoons out of it. There may be other measurements printed on the wrapper too.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Some US cooking shows recommend weighing flour. All the American store-bought butter I've seen is sold by the pound with four wrapped sticks inside and the wrapping is measured so you can cut tablespoons out of it. There may be other measurements printed on the wrapper too.

I don't have time to watch cooking shows. I'm way too busy reading and tapping.

 

[Davey Boyd]

Davey Boyd was 6 feet (or 183cms) before he started walking, but he quickly wore down

My boots did!

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

I think in the UK (as least when I last lived there) people tend to talk about body weight in 'stones'.
Australia has been fully metric for a long time.......

Canada has never used "stones," as far as I know! (

Only the UK, I think. "Stone" has not been a unit of weight in Canada in my lifetime. I have to google it every time there is a reference to it.

We are officially metric but use a mixture of units in practice - depending on the age of the user, and the thing that is being measured. Our body heights and weights tend to be imperial (but the doctors write them down in metric), weather temperatures are always metric, driving distances are metric, people over a certain age use inches and feet for the smaller lengths. Weighing meat at the butcher could be either. House lots are square feet. Televisions and monitors are in inches.

Good practice for the brain.

Second this!

 

[C clearly]

View attachment 64410 A coworker just posted that on Facebook today. Quite accurate!

That is very clever and very accurate in my experience, EXCEPT the last one "Is it related to work?" That question would need another dozen (or maybe 10) steps to get the answers.

 

[bobbogram]

As for the other term........I won't even go there through fear of causing offence
[/QUOTE]

I think during the Carter years, they began a metric transition but failed. I traveled internationally for 50 years, so I don’t think too much about the metric and currency transitions that much.

“Fanny” has two considerably different meanings in England and the US as does “bloody”. I have two dictionaries - American/England and American/Kiwi which are hilarious. And those are the “same” language.

In the US, we have even hijacked the term “American” from our northern and southern neighbors, and everyone seems to be participating worldwide.

The more dangerous distinction is driving on the other side of the road which I’ve done in Scotland, England, Japan, NZ, and Ireland. The few car accidents I witnessed seemed to be with non-locals. The transition must be interesting when driving through the Chunnel, on either end. I just road last month on the ferry for the Via Francigena across the English , and the disembarking traffic had to be ready.

So if you just stay out of “America” then you’ll be just fine on the “mile” thing.

 

[bobbogram]

One of the books I read and carried on a Camino was The Measure of the World it was about the French team who set off to measure the earths meridian so they could use it as a basis for the meter.

As an airline pilot instructor, one of the novel Boeing 777 demonstrations for the navigation system was to circumnavigate the Earth Via the Poles vs the Equator. I’ve been retired for awhile, but they are not equal - that is the Earth is not really “round”, it’s roundish. It’s fatter at the Equator indicating that the Earth is middle aged. So we are still living in the Middle Ages.

 

[Bradypus]

The more dangerous distinction is driving on the other side of the road which I’ve done in Scotland, England, Japan, NZ, and Ireland. The few car accidents I witnessed seemed to be with non-locals.

In the 1980s I worked in a Scottish hotel whose main customers were American golfers on package holidays which included a rental car. They were suddenly faced with a car with manual gears and clutch (which most had never used before) and a steering wheel on the "wrong" side. They then had to leave the airport on the "wrong" side of the road and were immediately faced with a roundabout which I am told is a very rare thing in the USA. Do you go clockwise or anticlockwise? They didn't all get that one right.... Amazing that any of them ever made it across the country in one piece

 

[bobbogram]

View attachment 64410 A coworker just posted that on Facebook today. Quite accurate!

A few years ago, a Canadian commercial aircraft had an inoperative fuel quantity indicator, so they just metered in “gallons” and took off. In cruise, both engines failed from fuel exhaustion and the pilot glided down and landed on a drag race strip, a former Air Force runway the pilot had flown out of in his previous career. The was an “imperial” error.

 

[newfydog]

Fahrenheit is a nice scale. 0 is simply too cold, 100 is simply to hot. 50 is perfect for hiking.

Speed, I only think in furlongs per fortnight.

 

[Marcus-UK]

I am one of the chosen few.

In the UK there has been a migration away from Imperial measurements to Metric. For many years there was a forced metrication system for weights and measures to be used in shops but the older generation preferred pounds and ounces. This resulted in shops being prosecuted for selling in imperial weights. After some consideration the UK now allows shops to sell in pounds and ounces again. However all weighing machines are calibrated in metric.
However when you are walking along you Camino route in Spain and you are looking for the Roman mile posts set at approximately 1500 metre intervals and the original Metric Kilo standard (held in France) was cast in pounds and ounces by an English company and both the french and Germans still use the pound (Livre and Pfund) when ordering meat from their butcher. No one has fully transitioned to the Metric system

 

[hel&scott]

In the US, we have even hijacked the term “American” from our northern and southern neighbors, and everyone seems to be participating worldwide.

The more dangerous distinction is driving on the other side of the road which I’ve done in Scotland, England, Japan, NZ, and Ireland. The few car accidents I witnessed seemed to be with non-locals. The transition must be interesting when driving through the Chunnel, on either end. I just road last month on the ferry for the Via Francigena across the English , and the disembarking traffic had to be ready.

So if you just stay out of “America” then you’ll be just fine on the “mile” thing.

Having once spent 5 months driving from LA to Panama I can assure you that your southern neighbours are definitely not in accord with you claiming American as your own and have set of another names for you. Likewise friends from Canada and South America are also very clear that USA does not stand for the United States of America as it doesn't included the bulk of the Americas.

Never really had problems driving on the wrong side of the road, but in my years of working in South East Asia I used to frustrate my local drivers who would insist on opening a door for me... As a kiwi female I wasn't used to this so assumed they were getting in in that side and then open opened the other door for myself, as it was the drivers door I got in and drove and asumed that they were the local guide / navigator.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Fahrenheit is a nice scale. 0 is simply too cold, 100 is simply to hot. 50 is perfect for hiking.

Speed, I only think in furlongs per fortnight.

I like your thoughts on fahrenheit.

 

[hel&scott]

Scott once spent a long and wasted afternoon explaining to me why he had to have three sets of tools, one in metric, one in UK standard imperial and another in US imperial. He then got out the tables to explain the difference in converting between them. I just used an adjustable spanner.

 

[Marcus-UK]

As for the other term........I won't even go there through fear of causing offence

“Fanny” has two considerably different meanings in England and the US as does “bloody”. I have two dictionaries - American/England and American/Kiwi which are hilarious. And those are the “same” language.

The more dangerous distinction is driving on the other side of the road which I’ve done in Scotland, England, Japan, NZ, and Ireland. The few car accidents I witnessed seemed to be with non-locals. The transition must be interesting when driving through the Chunnel, on either end. I just road last month on the ferry for the Via Francigena across the English , and the disembarking traffic had to be ready.

So if you just stay out of “America” then you’ll be just fine on the “mile” thing.
[/QUOTE]

Fanny in British Royal naval parlance is the pot you make your Hot Chocolate (Kai or Coco) in

Miles for road distance and Pints for beer are exempt under British metrication Laws.

I think the shortest distance a European Driver/Rider has done before crashing on the wrong side of the road is less than 100 yards. I saw this happen as the motorcyclist in front of me came down the ramp of the Isle of Man Steampacket and accelerated away on the wrong side of the road. During TT week in 1978/9 I think.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

It has been too long ago for me to be accurate on this story but I heard that sometime soon after the metrification of Australia, and on April Fools Day, a radio station caused a panic when they announced something like "Today marks the start of metric time in Australia. When you hear the tone it will be 75 minutes past 36 o'clock."

 

[bobbogram]

Having once spent 5 months driving from LA to Panama I can assure you that your southern neighbours are definitely not in accord with you claiming American as your own and have set of another names for you. Likewise friends from Canada and South America are also very clear that USA does not stand for the United States of America as it doesn't included the bulk of the Americas.

Away from the US, other nationalities confirm that I am an “American” from the USA by my accent. If someone spoke Spanish or Portuguese, I’m not sure they would ask the same question.

Friends in Portugal and NZ refer to movies and TV shows from the USA as American products. My wife is Canadian so it seems they have no problem there. My son-in-law is British and now an “ American” citizen, an identity shared by his British family members. I visited a half dozen WWI gravesites in France on the Via Francigena, a few were labeled Canadian, not American. The migrants trying to escape Central “American” countries are seeking refuge in “America”. I’m not swimming against the tide.

It’s the default label - no one deliberately chose it, certainly not me. I don’t know if French toast was invented in France either.

 

[GinaMarie]

I am Canadian & "of an age" where I still remember using the Imperial system. But I studied science at university & the work was all in metric so it was easy for me to convert when metric came in.
Still, the most challenging units conversion we face (IMO) is when we cross the border into the USA, perhaps for a day of shopping, & have to decide whether or not it is economically a good idea to buy gas [petrol] there. Here are the considerations:

• starting points: in Canada we buy gas in liters, with Canadian dollars; in the USA, gas is sold in gallons & paid for with US dollars
• first we have to convert the gallons to liters. BUT us oldtimers have to remind ourselves that an American gallon (4 quarts) is smaller than a Canadian gallon (Canadian quart = 40 oz.; US quart = 32 oz.) so we do that conversion
• then we have to figure out the currency conversion (e.g. today $1 CAN = $0.76 USD)
• more math, more scrap paper, usually have to start over at least once ...

As you can see, the calculations get pretty ugly pretty fast & usually -- unless the tank is almost dry -- we just head back north over the border & buy gas at home when we run out.

Metric is soooo much easier once you get used to it!!!

 

[Peregrinopaul]

My favourite is (are) foot pounds.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

As you can see, the calculations get pretty ugly pretty fast & usually -- unless the tank is almost dry -- we just head back north over the border & buy gas at home when we run out.

You'll pay about a 30% premium in Canada for the same amount of fuel. See

Gas Price Comparison For Canadians

A simple formula to compare the USA gas price to Canadian.

www.frugal-rv-travel.com

Because gasoline is cheaper in the US, filling my car's empty tank in Canada would cost me about $17 Canadian more than if I filled it before crossing the border. The double conversion (volume & currency) makes it hard to see that.

 

[Marcus-UK]

I am Canadian & "of an age" where I still remember using the Imperial system. But I studied science at university & the work was all in metric so it was easy for me to convert when metric came in.
Still, the most challenging units conversion we face (IMO) is when we cross the border into the USA, perhaps for a day of shopping, & have to decide whether or not it is economically a good idea to buy gas [petrol] there. Here are the considerations:

• starting points: in Canada we buy gas in liters, with Canadian dollars; in the USA, gas is sold in gallons & paid for with US dollars
• first we have to convert the gallons to liters. BUT us oldtimers have to remind ourselves that an American gallon (4 quarts) is smaller than a Canadian gallon (Canadian quart = 40 oz.; US quart = 32 oz.) so we do that conversion
• then we have to figure out the currency conversion (e.g. today $1 CAN = $0.76 USD)
• more math, more scrap paper, usually have to start over at least once ...

As you can see, the calculations get pretty ugly pretty fast & usually -- unless the tank is almost dry -- we just head back north over the border & buy gas at home when we run out.

Metric is soooo much easier once you get used to it!!!

With the metric system I cannot get used to the Litres per 100KM compared to Miles per Gallon in the imperial system. My mind seems to be hardwired to dividing the distance by MPG to see how much fuel I need to put into my car.
BTW the US gallon was a legal imperial measurement and shock horror is probably the correct one for petroleum spirit!!!! To confuse everyone there used to be a number of different Gallon measurements descendant upon what was being measured. The US gallon of 3.84 litres is the Spirit Gallon which allows for evaporation of the spirit during storage. The UK Standard Gallon of 4.54 litres is an absolute measure that does not allow any loss.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I did a bit of checking. Unless I messed up royally, currently the yard in the US is defined in terms of a fraction of a meter and it means that an inch is exactly 2.54 cm and a gallon is defined in terms of cubic inches (231?) and so it is based on a metric measurement as well. Sigh, if only it was the same metric system as the rest of the world and using 10s. I'm tired of divisions by 12, 36, 16, 640, 80, etc. I've had to do some work in chains and rods and I rather be hung up in chains and beaten on my feet with a rod than do that again.

 

[Moorwalker]

Some US cooking shows recommend weighing flour. All the American store-bought butter I've seen is sold by the pound with four wrapped sticks inside and the wrapping is measured so you can cut tablespoons out of it. There may be other measurements printed on the wrapper too.

That would explain the butter, it makes sense now. Our butter here (UK) comes in 250g blocks of varying shapes because we usually weigh our ingredients so instructions for using several tablespoons of butter sounds bizarre to us and is highly impractical.

I can understand the reason why US recipes use volumes, if you were trecking across the country carrying all of your belongings with you scales would have been bulky and fragile, so recipes which told you to use your ordinary teacup as abasic measure made a lot of sense.

 

[Anamya]

When English is your second language and you always lived in metric places... This happened to... a friend of a friend

"How many feet are you? Five-two?"
"Two, yeah, like most people, I suppose".
"Nah, people here are tall, so it is more."
"They have MORE FEET?"

 

[Former member 35551]

Five years ago, on my first camino (chemin, actually. No other Americans), I was constantly converting back and forth from km, m and C to miles, ft and F. I carried this on for about 3 or 4 days after which I switched all my relevant apps to metric and communicated only in metric, including with family and friends back home. I found it much easier. Once I return home, I switch back. Going back and forth has been surprisingly easy.

 

[Telboyo]

The "best" Albergue /bar in any village is always advertised as 3km away until.you have walked another 4km then it is advertised as still 1 km to go.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

When English is your second language and you always lived in metric places... This happened to... a friend of a friend

"How many feet are you? Five-two?"
"Two, yeah, like most people, I suppose".
"Nah, people here are tall, so it is more."
"They have MORE FEET?"

There's a scene in an old (and very corny) British movie where a young soldier unwraps a parcel from home to find his mother has sent him three hand knitted socks. It turns out that he'd told her he'd grown another foot since joining the army . . . .

 

[Robo]

The "best" Albergue /bar in any village is always advertised as 3km away until.you have walked another 4km then it is advertised as still 1 km to go.

Very true.

Like those cafe signs. Yummy looking cooked breakfast for only 5 Euros. 100 metres this way!
If I can't see it from the trail.........I keep on going.........been caught before.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Very true.

Like those cafe signs. Yummy looking cooked breakfast for only 5 Euros. 100 metres this way!
If I can't see it from the trail.........I keep on going.........been caught before.

Like driving up Interstate 35 towards Duluth and seeing a sign saying "EATS" and a big arrow followed by another and yet another.
Ended up in a pretty little town with a white, clapboard church and a demolition site . . .
Little old lady in white socks came over: "I've never been to Canada (our car had Ontario plates) but I hear it's lovely and I just wanted to say 'Hi!' "
"Where was the diner?"
"Oh, they pulled that place down years ago . . . "

 

[VNwalking]

I'm lazy so have never converted, but just get to know what feels hot what feels comfortable and what feels cold. And kms have never been a mystery because I used to run in road races - so 5K, 10K, and 15K are all familiar distances. 21K is roughly half a marathon and 42K a whole one.
When I moved to NZ, stone was a mystery and remains so. My weight is the same regardless of what units it gets measured in, alas: just a bit too much.

 

[Glenshiro]

The thing is, we in the UK have been around for so long that we have had time to standardise all our stones....

 

[Dawsie]

One of the very best things that I heard which was introduced by the BBC many years ago when the UK weather forecasting changed from mostly Farenheit to Centigrade scale was this simple little rhyme:

Five, ten, and twenty one
Winter, Spring and Summer sun

Add in the very well known temperatures of Zero for freezing and 100 for boiling
Plus 37 degrees as blood heat and 60 degrees as too hot to touch

 

[AlwynWellington]

Bonking: def - the sound a bed's headboard makes during repetative contact with the wall behind.

Exactly! What else does it mean ?

Is this called a double entendre?

Some of you peeps are making my head spin!

My solution: with all your family, friends and neighbours, join the rest of the world!

How about meters and metres?

liters

gasoline

@Robo , three more windmills to tilt at!

My weight is the same regardless of what units it gets measured in, alas: just a bit too much.

@VNwalking , kia ora and my solution: begin long distance walking Kia kaha.