This e-mail contains a reply to a few postings that appeared in the Digest version of the listserver.
The local Office Depot store in Oregon, USA has a semi-self-service UPS shipping counter. The scale on the counter has pounds and kilograms printed on it. Pressing a button switches the display between pounds and kilograms. The digital public scale in local US Post Office only has pounds and ounces printed onto it and there is no way to change the display to metric units (the display shows the weight in pounds and ounces (in 0.1 ounce increments) only). The self-service compter terminal at the Office Deport UPS shipping counter is internet based. The internet interface on the computer allows customers to enter dimensions in inches or metric and enter weight/mass in pounds or metric. All of my shipping boxes have the size only in inches stamped onto them, along with the maximum weight capacity printed only in pounds. I have not been able to find shipping boxes with metric sizes or even metric units dual labeled on the boxes. I have called several shipping box wholesalers for them to sell boxes with metric untis printed on them. I thought about having my UPS shipment submitted with metric units entered into computer screen but I decided not to do so. That was because I would have to ask the clerk for a metric tape measure and then measure the box, rather than simply read the measurement already printed onto the box (or I would have to use a calculator to convert the measurements to metric). I could have easily entered the weight/mass in kilograms, but my only scales at home are in pounds and ounces. Thus when I "weigh" packages at home, I would to convert them into metric in order for me to estimate shipping costs for items that I later ship using metric measurements. To me that is unnecessary work. Since my scale at home and shipping boxes are indicated in strictly non-metric units, I have decided for know to continue shipping packages with the receipts being in US Customary units. My use of metric is in those areas of my life where it is easier to go againt the flow of the predominant USA measurement system. An example is when I have to make numerous calculations in a science or engineering situation. Another reason why I did not process the shipment in metric is the clerk has to verify what I entered before she prints the receipt. I didn't want to confuse her since she is used to reading the scale and computer screen in US Customary units and might get momentarily puzzeled if the numbers were in metric. I'm sure she could cope with the metric units, but explaining to her what I did would be one more extra step in processing my shipment. I do believe that if I had entered the mass and dimensions in metric, it would printed as such on the receipt. I am on the lookout for inexpensive (preferably used) dual unit tape measures and scales. One time I purchased a used digital metric scale that was made in Mexico by a Mexican manufacturer, but unfortunately it did not work properly because it was too old. Maybe I will start telling the FedEx shipping clerks to enter the numbers in metric, simply to increase the clerk's awareness of metric. >Hello in the States if you go to UPS or fedex and you want to send a package to >Europe or any other metric country wouldn't they weigh the package in lbs >because the country of origin is the states and they use pounds for weighing >packages? I get regular shipments of computer equipment from the US by Fedex, and the forms attached always show the weight in lbs, which is presumably what was entered at the US end. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie EuroKom | X400: g=tom;s=wade;o=eurokom;p=eurokom; Unit A2 | a=eirmail400;c=ie Nutgrove Office Park | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 Rathfarnham | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Dublin 14 | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Ireland | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" Gavin Young http://www.xprt.net/~hightech , http://www.renewableelectricity.com, http://www.electric-automobile.com
