2000-12-24 Time to catch up to the rest of the world 2000 ---> 2001 People who celebrated the arrival of the "new century" on 2000-01-01, were one year ahead of time and should consider it a dress rehearsal for the real one a year later. The zeros following the No. 2 affected only our computers, and this was expected. We are still living in the 20-th century, and here is a logical explanation for this statement: The first century started with the year one, not with the year zero. Year 100 was the last year of that century. The start of the second century was the year 101 and ended with 200, and so on... Our 20-th century started on 1901-01-01 and will end at midnight on 2000-12-31. Are we behind the time? Yes, very much so. Let the arrival of the new century and, this time, also the new millennium, give us a wake-up call to start dismantling our awkward system of weights and measurements. Why do we hang on to it so stubbornly for so long? The whole world is using the international metric system, which is based on decimals and is far superior to our. It is logical, simple and precise. And, finally, since the day has 24 hours, let us join the rest of the world once more by adopting the 24-hour time schedule on all important time-related activities such as travel schedules, appointments, meetings, programs, etc. There is no need for splitting the day into a.m. and p.m. hours. Numbers alone are sufficient to identify the correct time. Our military uses the 24-hour time schedule for a good reason. It has less chance for errors. Like the metric system, it is simple and precise. Fred N. Helm Strongsville Why don't we flood the Plain Dealer with letters supporting Fred's views, as they are our own. Maybe some will get printed. We can give examples where using FFU caused us costly mistakes, or missed connections because of confusion over the 24-hour/12-hour clock. Write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or to the editorial page editor, Mr. Brent Larkin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Happy holidays! John Keiner ist hoffnungsloser versklavt als derjenige, der irrt�mlich glaubt frei zu sein. There are none more hopelessly enslaved then those who falsely believe they are free! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
