In statics class today, we had several problems involving conversion of units (but not the one asking me to convert my measurements). I converted various quantities from pounds-force to newtons using two long numbers built into the calculator, and various other factors for the feet, tons, and inches. I heard two people behind me discussing the problems. The boy said "I can do SI blindfolded but don't know customary at all." The prof asked where he's from; he's lived all his life in the US and all he learned was metric. The girl was figuring "There are 100 centimeters in a meter, and 100 millimeters in a centimeter..." and we set her straight. I told her we use only powers of 1000. She came from Russia, apparently when her head was soft, as she didn't have any Russian accent that I could tell.
Pierre
