Bill, My MGA Mark II had two six volt systems and all of the wiring was red. I was told that BL probably ran out of wire and used what they had. When I had an electrical problem in the car (which is inevitable in a 60's British car) I hadn't a clue which was positive, negative or ground!
If you had followed this group for any length of time you would realize that this is all done with tongue frimly planted in cheek for a bit of playful ribbing.
Well, not always so playful :-)
At least no one in the group came in this time to state that the metric system is not a wine issue and is therefore off topic and we please return to wine!!!!
If you had followed this group for any length of time you would realize that this is all done with tongue frimly planted in cheek for a bit of playful ribbing.
"Richard Neidich" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
Which is thankfully in 750ml for the norm and other metric. remember when things came in 5ths? now that was a measure.
"Zane" wrote ........
Lord St.Helier to you !
I think that I am entitled to a little respect !!!
;-)
"Richard Neidich" wrote .....
Was that the crack about Jewish Negro?
At the very least, this kiwi can take a ribbing as well as dish it out.
Don't take life too seriously: you never get out alive !
;-)
"Joseph Coulter" .....
1/5 of a US gallon = 757.1mlBy using 750ml bottles, big business gets away with a 1% volume reduction without corresponding reduction in price.
You were robbed !
;-)
Bi > My MGA Mark II had two six volt systems and all of the wiring was red. I was told that BL probably ran out of wire and used what they had. When I had an electrical problem in the car (which is inevitable in a 60's British car) I hadn't a clue which was positive, negative or BI > ground!
Ah, the good old days of impressively engineered automobiles produced by under-financed companies struggling to survive and other suppliers, like Lucas who for many years successfully sold electrical equipment that was unreliable in wet weather (an amazing thing for a British company.)
There were other British companies that did not seem to be much interested or could not afford designers given the amateurish appearance of their products. I remember the last car produced by Singer Company (no relation to sewing machines that I know of). The angular lines of their previous model had been smoothed a bit and the pathetic result was described as a "masterpiece of traditional British design" by a British newspaper writer!
There were some cars I would have liked: Triumph, Jaguar, Rover, Morgan and Lotus but finding service in the US was difficult and usually cost an arm and a leg. However, the last two are still in business under their original owners aren't they?
James Silverton Potomac, Maryland
E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
Does it really matter what it is called as long as it's the size and price and quality you wanted to pay for it.
of human experience...
Hear hear! Ditto English spelling, which carries with it the richness of the words' origins.
There is an internet page somewhere (I looked but was unable to find it) that went into why we have the measures we do (the page centered around the surveyers chain and units derived from that) but in failing to find it, I came across many other interesting tidbits about "odd" units. It's worth perusing over a glass of Cabernet Franc.
The real issue is not that base 10 is better (which is true), but that base ten is worse (which is also true). Because we have ten fingers, we settled on a =number= system where 10=ten. A much better system would have 10=twelve. We'd need two new symbols, and it would finally let "new math" live up to its name, but if 10=twelve we'd have many of the benefits of "organic" measuring systems in the metric one.
But since computers insist that 10=two (or sometimes sixteen), even if the idea gained traction, it would not be the panacea it appears.
Jose
Zane: you can abbreviate to
Lord St. Hell!!!
oh year, include the :-)
Not sure about Morgan but Lotus has been sold a couple of times over the years. My MG came with a case of ether in the trunk for starting in wet weather complements of the previous owner. Perhaps the worst bit of British engineering was found in a 1961 XKE that I owned that had the brake master cylinder mounted on top of the engine block. The incredible heat from the engine would cause the brake fluid to boil causing the brakes to lock-up without warning which was quite un- nerving when driving on the freeway at 70mph! Probably a metric thing.
"Richard Neidich" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
When I did the liquor stores in Idaho didn't seem to know the diff between a 1/10 and a pint, Priced the pints like tenths and produced the best deals going on JW Dant bottled in bond.
Not quite. We (U.S.A.) measure our larger armaments in metric (millimeters).
I've been watching a number of videos from Apache Helicoptors Iraq showing destruction of the bad guys in very graphic detail (e.g. burning exploding flesh tracked by Infrared sensors).
There have been raging debates going on as to whether these bad guys' bodies are being converted to "Red Mist" by *20mm* rounds of depleted uranium, or by *30mm* rounds of high exposive anti-personell ordinance.
So you can't claim that the USA is standing alone in not going with the rest of the "metric world".
Also even the metric system as used in science has changed in my lifetime. When I started college, we used the cgs(centimeter, gram, second) system of units. However for a long time now, the mks(meter, kilogram, second) system of units has become official for scientific publication. While this may seem trivial since the two systems are related by multiples of 10, it is not so trivial when you have to use derived constants that can differ greatly in the two systems. Massive tables of these had to be republished, etc. My early scientific publications are in cgs units. Today a journal would return your paper for revision before review if you used cgs units.
Also some of the trades still use special units. One speaks of a 10 penny nail. At one time boards were measured in feet for length and inches for width and thickness. For instance one might have a board 10 feet long and 3 x 4 inches. However today a 3x4 board is considerably less than 3x4 inches. I have an older house, and one has to cut down some over-sized modern boards to make them fit for repairs. Then wires are often sold by gauge, and on and on.
Another complication, for either English or metric units, is that prices of food often are increased by making the volume or weight less so that customers, hopefully, will not notice the price increase. Thus you may have a 13 1/2 oz package of something.
Actually in the US, spirits were long sold in fifths ( 1/5 of a US gallon). I do not know the history of why this unit was used. I still have a few bottles of older spirits in fifths. This measure was so common, that there was a cartoon of a drunk in a grocery store asking for a fifth of milk(milk then was sold in pints, quarts, gallons etc).
And finally two methods of expressing temperature are used. One may use F in English and C in metric systems. However in much scientific work, one uses absolute temperature which has zero at the lowest possible temperature which is much lower than the 0 point in either the F or C units. More than a few beginning students in the sciences have used C units by mistake in an equation that requires absolute temperature.
cwdjrxyz wrote on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:00:48 -0800 (PST):
??>> Speaking as someone who was in high school during the ??>> Carter administration's ill-advised attempt to nudge us ??>> into the metric system, I would add that the major error ??>> was in attempting to teach the metric system as a series ??>> of conversion factors from our old units rather than just ??>> taking a "bottom-up" approach (i.e., this is a metre, this ??>> is a gram, this is a litre). IMO, that approach was ??>> doomed from the start.
c> Also some of the trades still use special units. One speaks c> of a 10 penny nail. At one time boards were measured in feet c> for length and inches for width and thickness. For instance c> one might have a board 10 feet long and 3 x 4 inches. c> However today a 3x4 board is considerably less than 3x4 c> inches. I have an older house, and one has to cut down some c> over-sized modern boards to make them fit for repairs. Then c> wires are often sold by gauge, and on and on.
c> Another complication, for either English or metric units, is c> that prices of food often are increased by making the volume c> or weight less so that customers, hopefully, will not notice c> the price increase. Thus you may have a 13 1/2 oz package of c> something.
I haven't been there lately but what's the situation in Canada? Beer from Canada can be in bottles that are sometimes 12 floz, but often use the sneaky 1/3 litre, or more likely 330ml! Did you ever see a standard size that went to a larger value on going metric? A fifth is a little more than 750ml. However, it can be remarkable how the old units survive even in countries that use the metric system. I had seen "livre" and "pfund" in Europe, even if they referred to 500g. I know "pfund" is still around but I don't recall "livre" recently.
James Silverton, an enthusiast for the metric system since seeing a table on the back of an exercise book while a
10-year-old suffering thro rods, poles and perches!Potomac, Maryland
E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
Surprised that in this mostly dimensionless (heh) discussion no one has remembered the lost Mars Orbiter spacecraft. In this case the units issue cost dearly:
Of course aside from the generally useful Kelvin scale there are other units of temperature. I remember a few (aside from electron volts and Planck units from old physics uni days) and found there is a quite good wikipedia article on temperature:
On topic had a very nice VdN from La Soumade, 2006 rouge, last night. A little softer than the usual offering, surprising since the 06 southern Rhone seems well structured. It was very cold so we warmed it to around 120 D (the Delisle scale, apparently used in Russia for almost a century, decreases with rising temperature) next to the wood stove. Chilly hear in Normandy.
-E
Coincidentally enough, I just saw it for sale near to where I'll be come New Year's. Is something that I should seek out? There are several other (potentially) good Champagnes for sale there, from Jacquesson (Cuvée 732) and Larmandier-Bernier. All are selling for ~$40/750 mL BTW.
Mark Lipton
Hi Mark Lipton,
on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:58:20 -0500, you said:-
Well, I've not tasted it yet, but based, among other comments, on this review (in French, I'm afraid)
I do all Remy's translations into English for his web sites, and he- while visiting the domain for "Ch Loisel" - talked about a web presence, which led to a commission and therefore a translation for me. He rates them as arguably one of the top five small companies specialising in blancs de blanc.
Not exactly the answer to your question, but if memory serves me right, when Europe went to 750ml as a standard wine bottle size, Austria and Germany quit 700ml, Bordeaux (or was it Italy) 720ml, Italy (or was it Bordeaux?) 730ml - some 15 or 20 years back.
Switzerland, however, stayed with 700ml, which means that 99% of its production (excluding Ticino adopting 750ml) cannot legally be exported to the EU.
M.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required