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Metric or U.S. Customary, what is your preference?
I prefer metric
53%
 53%  [ 21 ]
I prefer U.S. Customary/Imperial
25%
 25%  [ 10 ]
I prefer butter to Imperial, I know that much
5%
 5%  [ 2 ]
When going uphill I prefer miles, downhill, kilometers are okay
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
I converted to metric, and then I coverted back. Now my calculator does this for me.
5%
 5%  [ 2 ]
Once again you failed to list my option
10%
 10%  [ 4 ]
Total Votes : 39

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touron
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PostWed Mar 11, 2015 8:48 pm 
Which system of measurement do you prefer? Metric U.S. Customary

Touron is a nougat of Arabic origin made with almonds and honey or sugar, without which it would just not be Christmas in Spain.
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nuclear_eggset
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PostWed Mar 11, 2015 9:05 pm 
Metric. Then the damn units are consistent. Physics is so much easier with consistent units.

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Ski
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PostWed Mar 11, 2015 10:12 pm 
sure sure... metric might well be a better method, and we're the only place on the planet where things are still measured in inches and feet and miles.... but: there's just something wrong with - "that Camaro will do the .402336 kilometers in 11.26 seconds" - "give 'em a centimeter and they'll take a kilometer" - "walk a kilometer in my shoes" besides, we'd have to replace every road sign across the continent. think about it: if the opposite of "pro" is "con", then the opposite of "progress" must be "Congress". you really think they'd pass a funding appropriation bill to pay for all those new signs? we'd be 99 years getting them all updated. if it ain't broke, nothing good can come from getting drunk and trying to fix it.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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kawi_200
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PostWed Mar 11, 2015 10:14 pm 
I prefer the metric system, especially for working on my cars. 10mm, 14mm, 17mm makes much more sense to me than 9/32 and 5/16. But I've gotten very used to US Customary since we were raised on it. Miles, weight, and temperature make much more sense to me in Us than Metric. But If I was raised on Metric, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I keep my phone's temp set to C and usually respond with the C temp when people ask biggrin.gif

Wait, there is a 6am?!?!
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ejain
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PostWed Mar 11, 2015 10:22 pm 
Ski wrote:
we'd have to replace every road sign
Not on I-19...

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Daryl
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 7:29 am 
metric is much easier, but I'm more familiar with what we have. I do think it would be easier long term if we made the switch, but most people don't like change and don't want to re-learn, so i doubt it will ever happen.

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tigermn
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 8:32 am 
I seem to remember back in the 70's it was said that in X years the US would be all metric... Yea right... It won't happen at least in my lifetime. I have no desire to see it. I think in the current way. I have no desire to have to change the way I think to metric. It's OK for tools, nuts and bolts though since I really don't care about the actual measurements. It would just be nice for consistency. Of course then the tool makers couldn't sell you twice as many tools. We spent a week in the Banff area. Towards the end I actually did change my hiking GPS over to metric, just because I got tired of doing conversions in my head since all the signs are in metric.

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Malachai Constant
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 9:01 am 
Most all industries have already changed over except construction. I was in Australia teaching during the transition and it was not such a big thing. A liter is about a quart, a meter is about a yard, and a kilo is about two pounds. The rest of the world thinks we are quaint.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Ski
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 9:08 am 
kawi_200 wrote:
I prefer the metric system, especially for working on my cars. 10mm, 14mm, 17mm makes much more sense to me than 9/32 and 5/16.
okay really... when's the last time you had to dig in the drawer for a 9/32" wrench? or maybe you're regularly changing the points in that old Ford, right? and on tigermn's statement above about the tools: bad enough we had to go out and buy full sets of metric wrenches and metric sockets, but that wasn't enough.... then they decided that we had to have 6-point and 12-point sockets as well, in both shallow and deep-well, if we wanted to do any work on our own cars. I think the tool and fastener manufacturers are in cahoots with each other: as though the SAE/metric thing weren't enough, they had to come up with stuff like "Torx" fasteners. one of the things I recall from my youth was that I could still pick up my tool box. now it's so jammed with crap I practically need a dolly to move it.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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DIYSteve
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 9:19 am 
Malachai Constant wrote:
Most all industries have already changed over except construction.
Yup, a couple decades ago. Most of the world has been metric since the 1960s. British Empire adopted metric nation-by-nation between mid-1960s and early 1970s. Politics ban prohibits us from fully discussing how a certain U.S. president shut down the metric conversion/teaching in the name of U. S. exceptionalism. Market eventually forced U.S. industry to go metric lest they would have become irrelevant as the British did in the 1950s-60s when their ignorant hubris made them stick with Imperial/Whitworth, which is way stoopider than SAE. I got comfy with metric as a bicycle mechanic and framebuilder in the 1970s, but we also sold Raleigh, which was converting from Whitworth to metric. Re hiking, I still think in elevation in terms of feet above SL cuz that's what's on the USGS map data base. But USGS maps have metric distance grid -- U.S. military has used metric distance since the 1960s -- so I do all my mapping distance in kilometers, .e.g., my GPS is set to read distance in metric. (Some USGS maps >7.5' show metric elevations.) I also measure my sewing, metalwork and other projects in metric when possible because it's so much easier and more logical than SAE/Imperial.

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Schroder
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 9:33 am 
Malachai Constant wrote:
Most all industries have already changed over except construction
Not true. Process Industries continue to use flow measurements in US gallons per minute and pounds per hour. I've seen quite a few in Canada that use mixed metric and imperial.

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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 9:45 am 
True re process industries and some (but not all) ag industries, but Mal said "most. . . except construction," which is a true statement because Mal did not limit his statement to the U.S. Even had he done so he would likely be correct that most non-construction U.S. industry has gone metric, e.g., medical (e.g., medicine dosage has been measured metric for decades), virtually all scientific industries, GM, Ford, Chrysler, all bicycles, nearly all non-construction engineering, Ingersol-Rand, Caterpillar, Kodak, IBM, John Deere, Xerox, Black & Decker, Proctor & Gamble, etc., etc., etc. More food for thought: Cost of Non-Metrication

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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 10:58 am 
excellent article, Steve, although I honestly think his numbers are underestimating the actual net cost of continuing to use both SAE and metric, because: stop and consider how many hardware stores we have in this country. let's just take one: Ace Hardware. of the 4077 stores worldwide, about 1200 are in the US. I haven't been in every one of them, but the one just up the street has two aisles of nuts and bolts and screws (and other fasteners). each aisle is about 40 feet long. one side is SAE, the other side is metric. now toss in Home Depot and Lowes. then add Tacoma Screw, Fastenal, and all the other fastener retailers and wholesalers. how many dollars do you suppose are tied up in inventory because they have to all stock both SAE and metric? then stop for a moment and factor in your loss factor due to shrinkage/obsolescence. the number is unfathomable. and we're just talking nuts and bolts here. it's insane that we are still using SAE and didn't convert to metric along with the rest of the world.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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DIYSteve
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 11:13 am 
Another beautiful thing about the metric system is the seamless interplay between different measurements, e.g., 1 calorie is the energy required to heat 1 gram of water 1 decree Celsius at 1 atmosphere of pressure. That metric bolts and nuts have cost more in the U.S. pisses me off, but that will soon be a non-issue.

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kawi_200
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PostThu Mar 12, 2015 11:30 am 
Ski wrote:
kawi_200 wrote:
I prefer the metric system, especially for working on my cars. 10mm, 14mm, 17mm makes much more sense to me than 9/32 and 5/16.
okay really... when's the last time you had to dig in the drawer for a 9/32" wrench? or maybe you're regularly changing the points in that old Ford, right?
To be fair, I was just pulling fractions out of my bum. I don't know the common sizes used in a socket or wrench set. I didn't actually stop to think how small 9/32 actually is haha.

Wait, there is a 6am?!?!
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