Effective 2001-01-07, the US basic postage of a
domestic letter up to 1 ounce (28 g) will hike from
0.33 USD to 0.34 USD. Many (not all) other postages
and fees are to be changed as well, but not necessary
hikes. Unfortunately, there is still no provision on
US postal metrication. The news release is at
http://www.usps.com/news/2001rate.htm . Postal books
are usually in WOMBAT only, seldom in WOMBAT (SI).
Also, I wonder if some would think that use of
am/pm in time prevents excessively large numbers, such
as 20s. Similarly, in my workplace, Mid-Island P&DC
(Processing and Distribution Center), Melville NY
11805, there are 31 letter-size mail sorting machines,
but after major replacement of many of them, new
numbers were assigned, but old ones remain
indefinitely, causing confusions. The 31 machines are:
DBCS (Delivery Barcode Sorter) #1 to #12: unchanged
OCR (Optical Character Reader)#1 (old #) = 13** (new
#)
OCR #2* = #14,
OCR #3 = #15, and so on until
OCR #6 = #18
OCR #7*/*** = #19
BCS (Barcode Sorter) #1 = #20
BCS/OSS #2 = #21, and so on until
BCS/OSS #7 = #26
BCS/OSS #8**** = (now) OCR #7 (or 27***)
Relocated OCR #2 (or 28***)
BCS/OSS #9, #10, #11 (# unchanged)
*old machine relocated
**not marked on the spot
***duplicate OCR #7
****old machine removed
Within OCR's, usually old # + 12 = new #; BCS's,
usually old # +19 = new #. But both #19 and #27 can be
called "OCR #7"; both #14 and #28 can be called "OCR
#2". New numbers are often marked alone, but many
people, even supervisors, still prefer old #. I doubt
if they do not like excessively large numbers, as in
the am/pm case. The mixture of 2 sets of numbers are
so stupid, comparable to mixture of the SI & WOMBAT;
and mixture of 24 h time & am/pm (some even convert by
adding/subtracting 10 rather than 12, e.g., 15:00 =
5pm? Wrong!). These require avoidable conversions. I
doubt what kind of education level they have received.
When I said a new machine number, someone asked
me, "Old?" I refused to answer and let him figure out.
Similarly, if I say SI and 24 h time and others ask me
their equivalents in WOMBAT or am/pm, I may want to
refuse to accomodate them and let them find out
themselves. If they do not understand, they are not
smart enough and need refreshment. That's all.
Sincerely,
Justin JIH
US postal clerk
Mid-Island P&DC
Melville NY 11805
=====
Justin JIH URL: http://www.geocities.com/jusjih/
<< Vive le Syst�me international d'unit�s! >>
"Long live the International System of Units!"
To visit or join "anti-conscription" in eGroups, go to
http://www.egroups.com/group/anti-conscription .
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/
