Why Not Convert to Metric?

[Tony Zona]

Driving on the right in Ireland for ten days was not difficult at all.

I made only one mistake that I know of and it resulted in a courteous little horn toot, not a blaring horn. I love the Irish, so warm and courteous even when I messed up on that four lane road.

In Rome, the driving didn't seem all that difficult. We took only buses and cabs, though. The tough part would have been parking. They park everywhere, even on corners. On the Amalfi Coast I inquired and parking there was 40 Euros an hour. We were in a bus.

In Rome, we mostly walked and took trains.

[Wayne Lomman]

Got me there! The usual insult I get as a Tasmanian is having 2 heads (the main land states use this on us all the time). To all the comedians, I should have said fingers and thumbs! Cheers.

[Jim Becker]

Driving on the right in Ireland for ten days was not difficult at all.

I did the same a number of years ago for nearly a week. The most challenging part was roundabouts and making sure that "correct lane" was where I was after any kind of intersection. By the end of a day or two, it got a lot more "natural"...

[Rich Riddle]

Driving on the left in Ireland a few years ago wasn't the problem, but when turning I wanted to turn into the right lane despite the rental car indicating they drove on the left. Shifting with the left hand left a bit to be desired as well. They don't get to touch tools in the stores over there. They seemed shocked when I told them that one could handle the tools in the stores in the USA. Standing behind a rope and gawking at tools didn't do much for me.

[John K Jordan]

Shifting with the left hand left a bit to be desired as well.

In the Cayman Islands many people, tourists included, drove motor scooters. Scooter + tourist + left-side-driving + too many vehicles = a bunch of "black spot" markers on the sides of the roads. A local told me each black spot marked a fatality. Truth or fiction?

Last time I was in Great Britain I got a very nice diesel auto with a stick shift. Between the shifting on with the left hand, the 4-lane roundabouts full of impatient drivers in London, some insanely obscure road signs, and the tight streets in the little towns, I was a basket case the first day. I adapted and did OK the rest of the week. A GPS is helpful.

Italy is actually more challenging. Although they drive on the "correct" side of the road, they do it very quickly and tailgating must be required by law on the autostrade. It almost looked like they picked random village names for the signs in the mountains so getting lost was part of the fun. And in far northern Italy all the signs are in both German and Italian. Can't wait to go back next year!!

JKJ

[Allan Speers]

In the Cayman Islands many people, tourists included, drove motor scooters. Scooter + tourist + left-side-driving + too many vehicles = a bunch of "black spot" markers on the sides of the roads. A local told me each black spot marked a fatality. Truth or fiction?
JKJ

I dunno about the Caymans, or black marks, but I was working in Bermuda once for about 8 months, and sort of dated a female doctor. She told me the number of such fatalities and it was astronomical. (All those drunken Americans on tiny scooters.) - But the government does everything it can to keep the public from knowing, as it would harm tourism.

I personally came within a mosquito's whisker of joining those statistics one night, literally scraped between a stone wall and a truck coming at me around a curve. Me having taken that rt-hand curve, at high speed, on the right side of the road.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

That imperial/metric map makes me just proud to be an American (USA).

...or Burmese.

[Rod Sheridan]

...or Burmese.

LOL...............A few years ago I did a pipe design for my brothers

I reprinted the drawing in imperial units, and in the scale box wrote "Imperial, just like Botswana"

We still laugh about that when we get together..............Rod.

[Rich Riddle]

I just changed the oil on my F150. The drain plug was 14mm. Seems like car manufacturers made the change more than I thought.

[Frank Drew]

just for fun...don't get your knickers in a twist...

That's funny, Shawn!

Reminds me of the old song lyric, "I want an ounce of weed and a quart of beer, and I want 'em measured right!"

(And I could add, "Get off my lawn, you damn kids!!")

It's funny that some here are using 2x4s as an example of a familiar measurement that they don't want to have to convert since, as has been pointed out, it's been years and years since they've actually been two inches by four inches. I started woodworking in 1971 and since then I've only seen actual 2x4s a couple of times, and those were pre-existing in old buildings being remodeled (or torn down).

The song lyric above notwithstanding, a lot of the opposition to metric seems simply like old fuddy-duddyism. And I don't think it's going to take anything like two centuries to make the switch pretty much complete.

[Bill Gugel]

There are two types of countries. Those that use the metric system and those that have put men on the moon.

[Chuck Wintle]

There are two types of countries. Those that use the metric system and those that have put men on the moon.

Good point! although I am willing to bet the metric system would be used for any future moon landings?

[Keith Outten]

Fuddy Duddy = Old Fart

Its true but I'm not alone

Its not you hobby guys who are the holdup converting from Imperial to Metric, its power plants, dams, huge earth moving machines, shipyards, etc, etc.
I've seen micrometers so big they had to be handled with a crane, metal lathes that are close to 75 yards long and boring mills that just fifty years ago were the largest mills in the world. Huge industries that were built on the Imperial system that cannot be changed in a century, they may never change to the metric system. They manufacture and install boilers that weigh more than a house, reactor vessels, steam generators, and pumps so large that the average person can't even imagine their size. The ships and machines will be in service for over fifty years in some cases, some machines over a century (think Hover Dam). You have to maintain the necessary equipment and expertise to be able to rebuild or replace this stuff.

Once the Imperial system takes a back seat to Metric Imperial fasteners, simple lead screws and other mechanical parts will all have to be custom made. The cost will skyrocket. In some cases it won't be feasible financially to replace the machines that are necessary to provide new parts. I know that a machinist can generally produce metric parts on an Imperial lathe but that isn't always the case. Mathematical conversions can also be very difficult as well in some types of industries and the probability of making a mistake increases.

This is a VERY BIG issue, its way more complicated than a woodworker using a 20 dollar caliper in his home shop. Even the automotive industry is minor in comparison. Have you ever used a drill bit that is so small you can't see it? They are very expensive.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Here is a question- Why do some metric socket sets skip the 16mm? I have also seen them skip the 18mm, i.e. The set has 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19...

[Jerome Stanek]

Here is a question- Why do some metric socket sets skip the 16mm? I have also seen them skip the 18mm, i.e. The set has 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19...

I know about that as I had to go and get one that was missed in the set I think it was the 18mm