WC 1M Post Challenge - You Ready?!

[Laura Knotek]

Part of my training was to have the instructor give an impromptu course change and you had to figure out the correct compass heading by computing the wind on your new path. Those circular slide rules as I called them were quite easy to work with one-handed. Gotta give it to the designer. Oh yes if you were wondering, all this while keeping straight and level flight. Texting and driving is for amateurs.

I know how to use a regular slide rule, but that circular one would give me fits, especially if I had to use it while flying a plane!

Kudos to you for mastering that.

 

[worldspy99]

It makes $$$, not sense. We're being transitioned fully to working remote. Got many different thoughts about this that will be left offline.

We had a survey to fill out. They're going to keep the social distancing rules at work for a while and create Agile workspaces which means no one has a cubicle anymore. Looks like July 19 is return to work date for me. Also our paycut goes away starting that day. Full travel ban is still in force so that is good at least from the family's perspective.

 

[worldspy99]

I was comfortable going to grad school in USA where in my field there weren't too many textbooks with examples in metric units. Things might have changed after a quarter century but I have switched fields now. But since I grew up in a country where metric was the de facto standard I'm quite proficient in both systems. And yes metric makes a ton more sense but you aren't going to convince the 'Don't tread on me' crowd in this country. Although people happily buy 2L soda bottles and 16.9 oz or half liter water bottles without thinking twice.

 

[raycpl]

I grew up with a mishmash of a imperial, local and Chinese measuring system.. which was fine until we converted to metric.... We had maths quizzes for converting x units of furlongs to metres .... I have been oblivious to how successful our conversion is. Until I realise some young staff in my old work place, doesn't know how many inches there is in a foot.

A friend of mine loves to collect old Chinese weighing scales, from small ones for herbs and precious metals to huge ones used by butcher.

.. yes, those bigger bell like counterweight are heavy

 

[Laura Knotek]

I grew up with a mishmash of a imperial, local and Chinese measuring system.. which was fine until we converted to metric.... We had maths quizzes for converting x units of furlongs to metres .... I have been oblivious to how successful our conversion is. Until I realise some young staff in my old work place, doesn't know how many inches there is in a foot.

A friend of mine loves to collect old Chinese weighing scales, from small ones for herbs and precious metals to huge ones used by butcher.

Those antique scales are cool!

at furlongs. I didn't think those units are used for anything besides horse racing.

 

[Rose640]

The one measurement that is easiest to me is 24 hour time. I use it because it avoids any mixups. There is no way to confuse 06:30 and 18:30.

As you could have guessed, we use 24 hour time in Europe as well. But the twist in my country is ridiculous. We actually write it as 24 hour, but read as 12 hour. Context is clear in most of the occasions because of the language, but not always, so it still adds a level of confusion.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I was comfortable going to grad school in USA where in my field there weren't too many textbooks with examples in metric units. Things might have changed after a quarter century but I have switched fields now. But since I grew up in a country where metric was the de facto standard I'm quite proficient in both systems. And yes metric makes a ton more sense but you aren't going to convince the 'Don't tread on me' crowd in this country. Although people happily buy 2L soda bottles and 16.9 oz or half liter water bottles without thinking twice.

I'm familiar with metric units, since I majored in biology and worked in chemistry for 11 years. All science courses and work used SI units of measurement.

The medical profession uses SI or SI derived units as well. Blood pressure has always been measured in mm Hg. Volume of liquid medication is in cc, aka ml. Mass of solid medication is in mg. When I go to my GP, body mass is noted in kg and temperature is noted in °C.

 

[Rose640]

I grew up with a mishmash of a imperial, local and Chinese measuring system.. which was fine until we converted to metric.... We had maths quizzes for converting x units of furlongs to metres .... I have been oblivious to how successful our conversion is. Until I realise some young staff in my old work place, doesn't know how many inches there is in a foot.

A friend of mine loves to collect old Chinese weighing scales, from small ones for herbs and precious metals to huge ones used by butcher.

.. yes, those bigger bell like counterweight are heavy

We have something similar, it's based on leveling a weight on a piece of bar and it's hell of a innaccurate.

 

[Laura Knotek]

As you could have guessed, we use 24 hour time in Europe as well. But the twist in my country is ridiculous. We actually write it as 24 hour, but read as 12 hour. Context is clear in most of the occasions because of the language, but not always, so it still adds a level of confusion.

That's weird that your country reads time differently than it is written.

 

[Rose640]

That's weird that your country reads time differently than it is written.

It is, a lot of things are. But you get used to it.

 

[Rose640]

I don't think you understood the point I was trying to make. I can divide 12 (inches) by 2, 3, 4 and 6. Divide 10? 2 and 5, that's it. Things rarely come in nice tidy measurements or volumes.

I actually do understand, but was just making a point that in metric system everything has a base of 10, so it's convenient to divide by 10.

And wtf, there are UK and US imperial sizes? Dear lord.

 

[Laura Knotek]

It is, a lot of things are. But you get used to it.

That's true. I get used to the imperial measurements and 12 hour time here, even though I prefer metric units and 24 hour time.

The other weird thing in the USA is how dates are written. This is June 3, 2020 here. Everywhere else that uses the gregorian calendar would write the date as 3 June 2020.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I actually do understand, but was just making a point that in metric system everything has a base of 10, so it's convenient to divide by 10.

And wtf, there are UK and US imperial sizes? Dear lord.

Yes. That is more confusing. A pint of beer is bigger in the UK than in the USA.

 

[raycpl]

We have something similar, it's based on leveling a weight on a piece of bar and it's hell of a innaccurate.

Haha. The inaccuracy benefits the traders!! it was so easy to 'calibrate' these scales.

 

[raycpl]

Yes. That is more confusing. A pint of beer is bigger in the UK than in the USA.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Both are useless. Because there's 'Murica, they have to keep the one they liked.

Actually, only volume is different in the USA compared to the UK. Distance, etc are all the same.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I don't think you understood the point I was trying to make. I can divide 12 (inches) by 2, 3, 4 and 6. Divide 10? 2 and 5, that's it. Things rarely come in nice tidy measurements or volumes.

That's a false equivalence.

If you design something to those dimensions then you'll have them.

If something is in imperial use an imperial measuring device. If it's in metric use metric.

If I'm designing something and it's in metric, I don't expect someone to use an inch tape measure.

One millimetre is a fairly small unit and unless you're designing something that precise 5 and 10 will suit most situations.

Most machining operations go into micro and nano millimetres now.

Pretty much all sciences have converted to the metric system simply because it's easier to use and makes sense.

The metric system is based on some level of science. The imperial system evolved over time and became popular because of the British Empire who standardized it.

 

[Rose640]

Yes. That is more confusing. A pint of beer is bigger in the UK than in the USA.

That's the thing I hate the most. I love watching car shows. And on the car shows they have to provide you the details of how much gas the car spends and similar. Most of the channels are UK and US based, so they both use gallons, which aren't the same.

To add the salt to the wound, they don't use l/100km, but miles/gallon.

 

[Rose640]

Haha. The inaccuracy benefits the traders!! it was so easy to 'calibrate' these scales.

The worst thing is that people still use them to this date for weighing larger quantities, such as huge piece of meat.

There are also those, I really don't know what they're called, like pulling scales, that relly on a spring to the job. Problem with that is that it's very sensitive to temperature changes. So the weight on 0°C and 30°C can be significant.

 

[Rose640]

Finnished all my written exams in this telecommunications course. This is probably one of those courses that I liked the least.

Now waiting for the results. If I get enough points I won't have to do the final test. That's what I'm hoping for.