[USMA:14110] Re: Decimal point or decimal comma?
2001-06-30 But, isn't (wasn't) the British point not on the line as the American point is now, but at the vertical centre of the number? Something like: 3.14159? I think the hand-held calculator (not the PC) are all made with points, not commas. Even in countries that use commas. This coupled with the wide use of English world-wide might through a process of evolution cause the comma to be displaced by the point. John Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrtümlich glaubt frei zu sein. There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they are free! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) - Original Message - From: Joseph B. Reid [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: U.S. Metric Association [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, 2001-06-29 21:51 Subject: [USMA:14106] Decimal point or decimal comma? Decimal notation was proposed by Juan of Seville in the 12th century. He would have written pi as 3-1416/1 (I can't format this in Eudora). In 1585 the Dutchman, Simon Stevin proposed 3(0)1(1)4(2)1(3)6(4). This was simplified by Frençois Viète of France to 3|1416, which in continental European languages became 3,1416 (the comma is virgule in French, Komma in German, coma in Spanish, komma in Dutch and Swedish, còmma in Italian). Albert Mettler's metric survey of 1975 found that 24 counteries of continental Europe use the comma as decimal marker. In Britain John Napier of Edinburgh in 1617 decided to use the point or period as his decimal marker, and it has spread throughout the English-speaking world, as well as in several Asian countries. Joseph B. Reid 17 Glebe Road West TorontoM5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
[USMA:14111] Re: Euro logistics
2001-06-30 Business Week is an American publication. Don't expect them to be Europhiles. I remember when the Euro was first introduced in 1999 and the American media hype against it. This same hype is going to resurface in the next 6 months as the Euro comes into full force. Keep in mind, that the American Economic gurus are afraid of the Euro. They know that as long as the dollar stands alone and the world supports it, American abuses of resources and cash can continue unabated. The US should have been bankrupt long ago, but constant investment by foreigners keeps America's debt burden from overpowering and destroying America. The moment that investment is withdrawn into something else, there will chaos in the American markets as the debt shield crumbles. The only thing that can take away from the dollar is a currency that has the potential to rival the dollar in power. And that currency is the Euro. It is in America's interest to play up the fears of E-day in the hopes of keeping the Euro from ever challenging the dollar. But, Everyone knows, that once the conversion date passes and the Euro markets destabilise, it will be a dawn for the Euro and dusk for the dollar. And what will be said in the next year about Europe was able to convert their entire economy from 10 different currencies to 1, and American can't even make a simple switch in measuring systems? Where will world confidence turn when people realise who the real achievers in the world are? John Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrtümlich glaubt frei zu sein. There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they are free! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) - Original Message - From: Louis JOURDAN [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: U.S. Metric Association [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, 2001-06-29 17:07 Subject: [USMA:14109] Re: Euro logistics At 16:09 -0400 01/06/29, Nat Hager III wrote: Interesting article on the logistics of Euro-conversion, from next week's Business Week International. Makes US metric conversion look like a walk in the park. Yeah... At least Euro-conversion is thoroughly prepared, whilst the US metric conversion... Seriously, don't give too much credit to this article. Euro is already a reality for many people, and conversion will go smoothly. If some journalists want to make it a nightmare, that is their problem. Interesting : do you know how I get the euro symbol ¤ with my new MacOS (9.1) ? by typing option-$. In other words the euro is just an alternative to the dollar ? Louis
[USMA:14112] Willkommen bei euro-aktuell - dem Infodienst der Sparkassen und des Wirtschafts
2001-06-30 Countdown to the Euro page. http://www.euro-aktuell.de/ begin 666 Willkommen bei euro-aktuell - dem Infodienst der Sparkassen und des Wirtschaftsmagazins DM.url M6T1%1D%53%1=#0I05-%55),/6AT=' Z+R]W=WN975R;RUA:W1U96QL+F1E M+PT*#0I;26YT97)N9713:]R=-U=%T-E523#UH='1P.B\O=W=W+F5UF\M J86MT=65L;YD92\-DUO9EF:65D/30P1C5$030Y,SP,4,Q,#$U,@T* ` end
[USMA:14115] http://www.aktion-euro.de/html/
14. Wie lange gelten die DM-Briefmarken? Die Briefmarken werden seit Herbst 2000 bis zur Einführung des Euro-Bargelds schrittweise mit doppelter Währungsauszeichnung herausgegeben. Ab dem 1.1.2002 werden die Briefmarken generell in Cent ausgezeichnet. Die auf Deutsche Pfennig lautenden Briefmarken bleiben bis zum 30.6.2002 gültig, können also bis zu diesem Datum verwendet werden. Danach können diese Briefmarken gegen solche mit Cent umgetauscht werden. Eine Rücknahme gegen Bargeld ist allerdings nicht vorgesehen. Die Umtauschaktion liegt im Zuständigkeitsbereich der Deutschen Post. Nähere Einzelheiten beantwortet das Kundentelefon der Deutschen Post: 0 18 02 / 33 33. Die Vielfalt der Briefmarken wird sich in Euroland nicht ändern. Die deutschen Briefmarken werden weiterhin die Herkunftsangabe Deutschland tragen. 26. Ist der Euro trotz des starken Dollars eine stabile Währung? Auch der Wechselkurs zwischen D-Mark und US-Dollar unterlag in früheren Jahren immer wieder starken Schwankungen. Weil die Inflationsraten niedrig waren und damit die Kaufkraft in Deutschland erhalten blieb, war die D-Mark dennoch eine stabile Währung. Auch die Inflationsrate im Euroland liegt auf einem historisch niedrigen Niveau. Das bedeutet: Der Wert des Geldes bleibt erhalten. Diese innere Stabilität zählt für den Verbraucher und den Sparer. From: http://www.aktion-euro.de/html/ John Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrtümlich glaubt frei zu sein. There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they are free! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
[USMA:14118] RE: Rules of thumb 3
In the US a bushel is 4 pecks and a peck is 8 dry quarts. Also, a US bushel is 2150.42 in3 (~35.239 07 L) in contrast to the Imperial bushel of 2219.36 in3. In the US the dry quart (~1.101 L) is larger than the liquid quart (~0.946 L), whereas the Imperial quart (1.136 L) is the same for both dry and liquid. So, neither of our quarts is an imperial measure. Having said all that, many commodities have specific bushels that are actually defined in terms of weight (mass, actually). A bushel of oats is neither the same volume nor the same mass as a bushel of soybeans. I don't know if this is true of apples or not, but that information might be available via USDA's web site or in one of the NCWM handbooks on my shelf if you desparately need it. Why don't I believe Smithsonian, et al., when they say Americans understand this better than SI? Jim Stephen C. Gallagher wrote: Cider: Thirty litres of apples will make about ten litres of cider. I've never seen apples priced by volume. Shouldn't that be 30 kg? Aren't bushels volume measurements? They're ifp, of course, but I have seen apples sold using that unit. Don't ask me how big it is. Stephen Gallagher -- Metric Methods(SM) Don't be late to metricate! James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/ 10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
[USMA:14119] Re: Euro logistics
Unfortunately, Louis, the euro symbol did not display properly in either Netscape nor in Kmail on my linux system. I see your message was sent in ISO 8859-1 but both programs show me a strange symbol (circle with four radiating lines at 045, 135, 225, and 315 degrees). The message source says that the character that was sent was =A4. I notice that $ is a shift-4 on my US keyboard and wonder if that's what A4 indicates? Jim On Friday 29 June 2001 1707, Louis JOURDAN wrote: At 16:09 -0400 01/06/29, Nat Hager III wrote: Interesting article on the logistics of Euro-conversion, from next week's Business Week International. Makes US metric conversion look like a walk in the park. Yeah... At least Euro-conversion is thoroughly prepared, whilst the US metric conversion... Seriously, don't give too much credit to this article. Euro is already a reality for many people, and conversion will go smoothly. If some journalists want to make it a nightmare, that is their problem. Interesting : do you know how I get the euro symbol ¤ with my new MacOS (9.1) ? by typing option-$. In other words the euro is just an alternative to the dollar ? Louis -- James R. Frysinger University/College of Charleston 10 Captiva Row Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Charleston, SC 2940766 George Street 843.225.0805Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cert. Adv. Metrication Specialist 843.953.7644
[USMA:14121] SI Names and Symbols (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 23:37:41 -0500 (CDT) From: Gene Mechtly [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Ian Mills [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Martin, Peter [EMAIL PROTECTED], Quinn [EMAIL PROTECTED], Taylor, Barry N. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: SI Names and Symbols On Thu, 28 Jun 2001, Ian Mills wrote: ... The proposal for the alternative symbols D, H and K to be allowed in parallel with the existing symbols da, h and k was discussed, and the decision was taken to make no change in the current rules for prefixes. ... But the EU Directive already prescribes *only* H and K (retaining da). How is that divergence to be resolved? ... The reason for making no change was that the CCU is strongly of the opinion that making many small changes to the SI will lead to confusion, and hence that it is better to make no changes unless we feel the case to be overwhelming. Was the need compelling for the alternative L for l ?No! Spelling the quantity name in full or ml are unambiguous in all cases. It is not for me to detail who spoke which way on issues of this kind. The members of the CCU are there as representatives of their supporting institutions, ... they are not present in a personal capacity. Are CCU members (persons) publicly accountable (on record) for advocating or opposing specific proposals? Are institutional positions on each proposal matters of public record? In my last message I also mentioned the problem of the two alternative names SI units and units of the SI, ... we felt ourselves forced to make a change for two reasons... Second, ... almost all folk ... find it extraordinary to be told ... that the kilometre, the centimetre, and the millimetre are not SI units. It seems to violate common understanding. SI is not yet commonly understood or even taught. However, it is very easy to teach any intelligent and attentive person that there is only one SI unit for each physical quantity (and that decimal multiples and submultiples are formed by application of SI prefixes), in accord with the statement in the BIPM Brochure It is important to emphasize that each physical quantity has only one SI unit, ... (Page 92, 1998) We therefore decided to make the change ... SI units and units of the SI may both be taken to refer to all the units with or without prefixes. My hope remains that the CIPM, the CGPM, and the BIPM will reject this distortion of the concept of coherent SI units. Eugene A. (Gene) Mechtly
[USMA:14120] Re: Symbols for SI Prefixes (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001 15:56:14 +0200 From: Terry Quinn [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Ian Mills [EMAIL PROTECTED], Gene Mechtly [EMAIL PROTECTED], Martin, Peter [EMAIL PROTECTED], Taylor, Barry N. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Symbols for SI Prefixes Dear Ian Symbols for SI prefixes. I have recently been informed by the European Commission that the apparent acceptance in a European Directive of the symbols D, H, and K is now recognized as having been a simple mistake and that steps are being taken to rectify it. With best regards Terry At 12:27 28/06/2001 +0100, Ian Mills wrote: Dear Gene, I am sorry to have been so slow in replying to your last email. For various reasons it did not get an immediate reply, and then it got lost in the press of other matters that I have had to deal with. However I have little to add, in reply to your questions, to the information that I reported in my last message to you. The proposal for the alternative symbols D, H and K to be allowed in parallel with the existing symbols da, h and k was discussed, and the decision was taken to make no change in the current rules for prefixes. We did not actually vote because the decision was essentially unanimous. The reason for making no change was that the CCU is strongly of the opinion that making many small changes to the SI will lead to confusion, and hence that it is better to make no changes unless we feel the case to be overwhelming. In this case the meeting did not feel that the case was so strong. The CCU receives many proposals for small changes to the SI, and generally these are not accepted, even though many of them have some logical support. It is not for me to detail who spoke which way on issues of this kind. The members of the CCU are there as representatives of their supporting institutions, such as the NIST, the NPL, the IUPAP, and the IUPAC; they are not present in a personal capacity. Thus you should lobby your representative from one of these bodies if you wish to express a view. In my last message I also mentioned the problem of the two alternative names SI units and units of the SI, which have been given different meanings in the ruling of the CCU in recent years. In this case we again considered the alternative of making no change, for the reasons mentioned above, but we felt ourselves forced to make a change for two reasons. First, it is a violation of the English language to attach different meanings to the phrases SI units and units of the SI. That was put to us by several people, and it seemed a compelling reason for making a change. Second, it was also put to us that most ordinary folk, indeed almost all folk whether or not they are trained scientists, find it extraordinary to be told (for example) that the kilometre, the centimetre, and the millimetre are not SI units. It seems to violate common understanding. We therefore decided to make the change that I believe I described briefly in my last message, namely that one should use the phrase coherent SI units to refer to only the SI base units and the coherent derived units (i.e. those without prefixes, excluding the exceptional case of the kilogram). Then the phrases SI units and units of the SI may both be taken to refer to all the units with or without prefixes. I am sorry to disappoint you. With my best wishes, Ian Mills - from: Ian Mills, President of the CCU Department of Chemistry University of Reading Reading RG6 6AD U.K. phone: +44 (0)118 931 8456 fax: +44 (0)118 931 1610 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.chem.rdg.ac.uk//dept/staff/phys/imm.html
[USMA:14122] Re: Euro logistics
I should have included here that the fonts used by my Netscape and Kmail preferences at the moment are (Adobe) Times and (Adobe) Courier for proportional and fixed font spacings, respectively. Perhaps a change or upgrade to my fonts would solve the problem. Jim James R. Frysinger wrote: Unfortunately, Louis, the euro symbol did not display properly in either Netscape nor in Kmail on my linux system. I see your message was sent in ISO 8859-1 but both programs show me a strange symbol (circle with four radiating lines at 045, 135, 225, and 315 degrees). The message source says that the character that was sent was =A4. I notice that $ is a shift-4 on my US keyboard and wonder if that's what A4 indicates? Jim On Friday 29 June 2001 1707, Louis JOURDAN wrote: At 16:09 -0400 01/06/29, Nat Hager III wrote: Interesting article on the logistics of Euro-conversion, from next week's Business Week International. Makes US metric conversion look like a walk in the park. Yeah... At least Euro-conversion is thoroughly prepared, whilst the US metric conversion... Seriously, don't give too much credit to this article. Euro is already a reality for many people, and conversion will go smoothly. If some journalists want to make it a nightmare, that is their problem. Interesting : do you know how I get the euro symbol ¤ with my new MacOS (9.1) ? by typing option-$. In other words the euro is just an alternative to the dollar ? Louis -- James R. Frysinger University/College of Charleston 10 Captiva Row Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Charleston, SC 2940766 George Street 843.225.0805Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cert. Adv. Metrication Specialist 843.953.7644 -- Metric Methods(SM) Don't be late to metricate! James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/ 10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
[USMA:14123] Decimal point or decimal comma?
In my message USMA 14106 I forgot to mention that Simon Stevin also recommended the use of decimal divisions of the degree of angle instead of minutes and seconds. This still has not been universally adopted but ISO has recommended it. Joseph B. Reid 17 Glebe Road West TorontoM5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
[USMA:14124] Inching forward to defeat
Editor Washington Post Washington, DC Dear Editor: The reporter, Jeannine Aversa, whose article Economy Grows at 1.2 Percent Rate appeared last evening on the AP wire, may have written something more significant than she realizes. The lead paragraph reads: The U.S. economy barely inched forward in the first three months of the year and President Bush's chief economist said that growth in the current quarter was likely even worse. Yes, we are only inching forward. In the U.S. - now the only non-metric country in the world - industry is shriveling so fast that our export profile is shifting from goods to information and services and our share of world trade has declined for several years. Our government's foolish foot-dragging in metricating the U.S. cannot be helping our trade situation. With the vast majority of consumers in the world thinking in terms of metric units, why do we work inefficiently in inches and market offensively in ounces? That seems rather pound-foolish to me. Who's side is our government on? The side of the people or the side of internationally owned big businesses who will survive when domestically owned smaller businesses go six feet under? James R. Frysinger copy to: feedback, Associated Press wire (please pass to Jeannine Aversa) -- James R. Frysinger University/College of Charleston 10 Captiva Row Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Charleston, SC 2940766 George Street 843.225.0805Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cert. Adv. Metrication Specialist 843.953.7644
[USMA:14125] VIRUS probably still on Stanley Doores computer!
The message USMA 13778 from Stanley Doore: Weatheroffice site HAS ifp option is probably still contaminated weith a virus attachment! [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There IS and Imperial option on this site. See my message 13766 and 13769: snip Take a look to the attachment Attachment: 2 images.pif application/octet-streamm 17.79 KB Han
[USMA:14126] Re: Euro logistics
Same on my PC. James R. Frysinger wrote: Unfortunately, Louis, the euro symbol did not display properly in either Netscape nor in Kmail on my linux system. I see your message was sent in ISO 8859-1 but both programs show me a strange symbol (circle with four radiating lines at 045, 135, 225, and 315 degrees). The message source says that the character that was sent was =A4. I notice that $ is a shift-4 on my US keyboard and wonder if that's what A4 indicates? Jim On Friday 29 June 2001 1707, Louis JOURDAN wrote: At 16:09 -0400 01/06/29, Nat Hager III wrote: Interesting article on the logistics of Euro-conversion, from next week's Business Week International. Makes US metric conversion look like a walk in the park. Yeah... At least Euro-conversion is thoroughly prepared, whilst the US metric conversion... Seriously, don't give too much credit to this article. Euro is already a reality for many people, and conversion will go smoothly. If some journalists want to make it a nightmare, that is their problem. Interesting : do you know how I get the euro symbol ¤ with my new MacOS (9.1) ? by typing option-$. In other words the euro is just an alternative to the dollar ? Louis -- James R. Frysinger University/College of Charleston 10 Captiva Row Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Charleston, SC 2940766 George Street 843.225.0805Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cert. Adv. Metrication Specialist 843.953.7644 -- Paul Trusten, R.Ph. 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apt. 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 USA (915)-694-6208 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[USMA:14127] Re: Euro logistics
2001-06-30 Gleichfalls John Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrtümlich glaubt frei zu sein. There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they are free! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) - Original Message - From: Paul Trusten [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: U.S. Metric Association [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: U.S. Metric Association [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, 2001-06-30 13:34 Subject: [USMA:14126] Re: Euro logistics Same on my PC. James R. Frysinger wrote: Unfortunately, Louis, the euro symbol did not display properly in either Netscape nor in Kmail on my linux system. I see your message was sent in ISO 8859-1 but both programs show me a strange symbol (circle with four radiating lines at 045, 135, 225, and 315 degrees). The message source says that the character that was sent was =A4. I notice that $ is a shift-4 on my US keyboard and wonder if that's what A4 indicates? Jim On Friday 29 June 2001 1707, Louis JOURDAN wrote: At 16:09 -0400 01/06/29, Nat Hager III wrote: Interesting article on the logistics of Euro-conversion, from next week's Business Week International. Makes US metric conversion look like a walk in the park. Yeah... At least Euro-conversion is thoroughly prepared, whilst the US metric conversion... Seriously, don't give too much credit to this article. Euro is already a reality for many people, and conversion will go smoothly. If some journalists want to make it a nightmare, that is their problem. Interesting : do you know how I get the euro symbol ¤ with my new MacOS (9.1) ? by typing option-$. In other words the euro is just an alternative to the dollar ? Louis -- James R. Frysinger University/College of Charleston 10 Captiva Row Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Charleston, SC 2940766 George Street 843.225.0805Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cert. Adv. Metrication Specialist 843.953.7644 -- Paul Trusten, R.Ph. 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apt. 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 USA (915)-694-6208 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[USMA:14128] RE: Rules of thumb 3
Stephen: I'll stand by my statement that I've never SEEN apples priced by volume. Your note reminds me, though, that I have HEARD of it. g Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Stephen C. Gallagher Sent: June 30, 2001 04:30 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:14117] RE: Rules of thumb 3 Cider: Thirty litres of apples will make about ten litres of cider. I've never seen apples priced by volume. Shouldn't that be 30 kg? Aren't bushels volume measurements? They're ifp, of course, but I have seen apples sold using that unit. Don't ask me how big it is. Stephen Gallagher
[USMA:14131] Re: Euro logistics
At 10:15 -0400 01/06/30, James R. Frysinger wrote: I should have included here that the fonts used by my Netscape and Kmail preferences at the moment are (Adobe) Times and (Adobe) Courier for proportional and fixed font spacings, respectively. Perhaps a change or upgrade to my fonts would solve the problem. Not sure : my combination of keys alt-$ to get the euro symbol works with most of my fonts, including Times and Courier - but not with AvantGarde, Bodoni, Bookman, Hobo, Lucida, Mishiwaka, ... Who can explain ? Louis
[USMA:14132] Re: Euro logistics
Louis Jourdan wrote: Not sure : my combination of keys alt-$ to get the euro symbol works with most of my fonts, including Times and Courier - but not with AvantGarde, Bodoni, Bookman, Hobo, Lucida, Mishiwaka, ... My computers are configured for the U.S. International keyboard. With that, the keystroke for the euro symbol (?) is Ctr-Alt-5. Alt-$ would, of course, apply only to a French keyboard (yours, for example), as it's the only one for which the numerals require the shift key and the special characters are unshifted. On other keyboards, it would be Alt-Shift-4, which, on my keyboard, yields the generic currency symbol ($ - spiky circle). Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator]
[USMA:14135] Re: Euro logistics
On Sat, 30 Jun 2001 20:32:33 +0200, Louis JOURDAN [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 10:15 -0400 01/06/30, James R. Frysinger wrote: I should have included here that the fonts used by my Netscape and Kmail preferences at the moment are (Adobe) Times and (Adobe) Courier for proportional and fixed font spacings, respectively. Perhaps a change or upgrade to my fonts would solve the problem. Not sure : my combination of keys alt-$ to get the euro symbol works with most of my fonts, including Times and Courier - but not with AvantGarde, Bodoni, Bookman, Hobo, Lucida, Mishiwaka, ... Who can explain ? I use Alt Gr+4 to get the euro symbol. Works (on a UK keyboard) in all apps I've tried it in (except using the Fixed Font here in Agent - selecting Arial works OK). Switching to French keyboard: Alt Gr+E gives the euro symbol. Chris -- UK Metrication Association: http://www.metric.org.uk/
[USMA:14136] Re: (no subject)
I've more than heard of bushel baskets; I've toted many of them. Yes, apples and many other items were commonly sold by the bushel, the half-bushel (there were baskets for those, too), and the peck (ditto). The baskets were made of very thin slices of wood that radiated out from the center of the bottom and then were molded upward to form the sides. Other slats were banded around the top and middle to hold them together. Fasteners were generally staples. Two wire handles were attached for carrying. I suppose that they don't make those anymore and that people now use cardboard boxes. Bushel baskets also saw uses as laundry baskets, storage baskets, and basketball hoops (with the bottoms knocked out). Crates were sturdier and were a great source of wood for kids for building all sorts of projects. Either type of container served admirally in providing splinters for nearly everyone's fingers. Jim Joseph B. Reid wrote: I have heard of a bushel basket. I suspect that a bushel of apples is a bushel basket of apples, more or less full. -- Metric Methods(SM) Don't be late to metricate! James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/ 10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
[USMA:14137] Fwd: Inching forward to defeat
Spelling correction: Please correct the spelling from who's to whose in the last paragraph, as shown below. Thank you. James R. Frysinger -- Forwarded Message -- Subject: Inching forward to defeat Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 11:21:38 -0400 From: James R. Frysinger [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Editor Washington Post Washington, DC Dear Editor: The reporter, Jeannine Aversa, whose article Economy Grows at 1.2 Percent Rate appeared last evening on the AP wire, may have written something more significant than she realizes. The lead paragraph reads: The U.S. economy barely inched forward in the first three months of the year and President Bush's chief economist said that growth in the current quarter was likely even worse. Yes, we are only inching forward. In the U.S. - now the only non-metric country in the world - industry is shriveling so fast that our export profile is shifting from goods to information and services and our share of world trade has declined for several years. Our government's foolish foot-dragging in metricating the U.S. cannot be helping our trade situation. With the vast majority of consumers in the world thinking in terms of metric units, why do we work inefficiently in inches and market offensively in ounces? That seems rather pound-foolish to me. Whose side is our government on? The side of the people or the side of internationally owned big businesses who will survive when domestically owned smaller businesses go six feet under? James R. Frysinger copy to: feedback, Associated Press wire (please pass to Jeannine Aversa) -- James R. Frysinger University/College of Charleston 10 Captiva Row Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Charleston, SC 2940766 George Street 843.225.0805Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cert. Adv. Metrication Specialist 843.953.7644 --- -- James R. Frysinger University/College of Charleston 10 Captiva Row Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Charleston, SC 2940766 George Street 843.225.0805Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cert. Adv. Metrication Specialist 843.953.7644
