Very nice review, John. I agree with the conclusion. As I said previously even if the conversion is not complete the battle is won once the population's mentality has switched. Or, if you ask any Canadian, Canada is metric despite the miles or feet for the personal height that may appear in *some* conversations. I say "some", because in Ontario, I found very few people doing that. It's a done deal. Adrian ------Original Message------ From: "kilopascal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: April 23, 2001 11:21:36 PM GMT Subject: [USMA:12415] Canada Metric 2001-04-23 I recently spent this past Friday and Saturday in Calgary, Alberta. While there, I had the opportunity to visit 2 grocery stores. One was called Safeway and the other Superstore. I went up and down each aisle and looked quickly at the products on the shelves. From what I saw, about 95 % of the packages were metric only, maybe about half rational. Those not rational appeared to be equivalents to US sizes. But, only the metric amount was shown. The shelves were all marked with unit price stickers either per 100 g or per 100 mL. No imperial at all. In the produce section, prices were mostly in each (ea.) or per pound predominate with per kilogram in small font. There was always a per kilogram price. If the produce was pre-weighed and sealed, the amount on the label was in grams only. All the bulk foods, that the customer weighs out by him/herself were priced in per 100 g units only. No pounds to be found. In the Safeway, the scales used to approximate the fill were dual. There were about 5, and they were table models, but, they were all damaged as none pointed to zero when there was no produce on them. Obviously, these scales had been knocked to the floor more times then once. The Superstore had scales in grams only and they were suspended from a pole. They were in good condition and obviously of high quality. At the deli/meat counter, where the legal scales were located all the prices were per 100 g, with NO pound pricing to be seen. None what so ever. Conclusion: These two stores were virtually 95 % metric only. The only place pounds were found, were with heavy items that were to large to advertise in 100 g units. So, they were in kilograms, but because the kilogram prices looked too high compared to the pound pricing, the pound pricing seemed to predominate. But, pound pricing was very minimal to say the least. I did notice in Alberta, that Coke products, plus some others, used the 591 mL bottle (marked only as 591 mL) instead of the 600 mL. Coke products sold in vending machines at Toronto airport were in 600 mL bottles. Go figure! The people I talked with freely used metric to describe the heights of mountain passes (never feet, only metres) and the temperature in degree Celsius. However, they always gave distances in miles. I asked two guys how they could do this if their only means to measure distances, their car/truck odometers, were calibrated only in kilometres. I got two different answers. One guy, who was 38, said he remembers his school was EXACTLY 1/2 mile from his home and he relates everything to this. I found this explanation a bit far fetched, but I didn't challenge him on it, since he was paying for dinner. The other guy, 44 (actually two months older than me), said the roads in Alberta are laid out in 1 mile squares, except where they bend around rivers and depressions. And, so you can judge the distances by this. When I asked if this mile pattern is still followed as the city expands and builds new roads, he wasn't sure, but he did admit they use metric and not imperial. I later checked a map, and saw more roads with bends then straight. I think this mile pattern is seldom followed. When the 38 year old asked me about how far it was from Cleveland to Cincinnati, I responded about 500 km. Quickly he asked me if that was 320 miles. I answered "I guess so". I base my distances on time. I use 100 km/h as a base, and if the driving time is about 5 h, then it is about 500 km distance. I haven't been to Cincinnati in a long time, so I just guessed at the 500 km distance, thinking it took 5 h driving time. Canada allows supplemental units on packages, but does not require them. As a result, very few, <5 % use them. I'd bet, if they were made illegal, no one but the TABD would notice or complain. Just my 2 day experience in Calgary, Alberta proved more positive then I thought. For a person that wants to use metric, Canada is very metric friendly. For a person who wants to use imperial, they have to go to the trouble of mentally back converting. Canada may not be 100 % metric, but more so than not. 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) ______________________________________________ FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com Sign up at http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup
