A railroad-oriented discussion list got onto the topic of timetable mistakes caused by using am and pm, and the thread evolved to the following, all by itself. Interesting.
Carleton
In a message dated 2003-10-23 23:54:31 Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
(previous curmudgeon, not rmadisonwi)
> And one other thought, there were comments that because England and
> others use the 24 hour clock and the metric system while we use the
> am/pm clock and the reliable inch, foot, mile system, that we haven't
> grown up. Bladerdash I say. Why should we change our system it is
> perfectly good, -they should change there system back to the way we
> do
> things---so there!
How many (fluid) ounces in a gallon? How many cups in a quart. How
many tablespoons in a pint? How many yards in a mile (statute or
nautical?)? How many inches in a furlong? What the heck *IS* a
furlong? How many ounces in a ton? Soooooo much junk to remember,
soooooooo many calculations to do. Conversion is a
headache...sometimes a nightmare. And that's just if you're staying
within the same measurement system (let alone trying to communicate
with the rest of the world).
You can convert between any units in the metric system just by
multiplying by a power of 10. Because of our decimal numbering system,
all we have to do is move the decimal point. Easy as that.
=====
Robert Madison
Vancouver, BC
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