Hilarious,A barleycorn question. Was the Traffic song "John Barleycorn Must Die" actually a plea for metric shoe sizes?
I’m going to have another listen to that tune
Hilarious,A barleycorn question. Was the Traffic song "John Barleycorn Must Die" actually a plea for metric shoe sizes?
Oh boy, I’d be locked out too!Damnit, I knew forgetting all this would eventually catch up with me.
Engineering site reCAPTCHA?
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A barleycorn question. Was the Traffic song "John Barleycorn Must Die" actually a plea for metric shoe sizes?
Speaking of the metric system, did anyone catch Nate Bargatze on SNL doing a skit where George Washington tells his soldiers his dream for the country? His dream being our very own system of weights and measurements?
I vaguely recall a history lecture somewhen back in the fog of the 70s, in which the story of the Founders' adoption of the metric system was dependent upon the cross Atlantic voyage of the a big shot metric guru carrying the physical reference standards. As the story goes, he was waylaid by Barbary pirates and held until it was too late, the die was cast, and the country adopted the English system.
Now, dammit, I have to go look it up.
That’s it!!! It is a conspiracy between the tool suppliers (Matco, Mac Tools, Snap On, et al) to sell more tools. Mu ha ha ha… we can make the suckers buy double of everything.As an Auto Tech I was PO'd that we did not adopt the metric system under Nixon or Ford or? So, I had/have way too many sockets & wrenches in my toolbox. Oh Well (PartII)
But then 30 years later my wife brings home some surplus European woodworking Magazines and in an article I see something like, "As the board is 19CM (7.48031in) wide, center the router bit at 9.5CM (3.74016in) and my head exploded.
That’s it!!! It is a conspiracy between the tool suppliers (Matco, Mac Tools, Snap On et al) to sell more tools. Mu ha ha ha… we can make the suckers buy double of everything.
Yeah, many pro sheet goods are thickness spec'd in mm, but L and W spec'd in inches. Some, like Corian, were once in fractional inches, but switched to mm.As an Auto Tech I was PO'd that we did not adopt the metric system under Nixon or Ford or? So, I had/have way too many sockets & wrenches in my toolbox. Oh Well (PartII)
But then 30 years later my wife brings home some surplus European woodworking Magazines and in an article I see something like, "As the board is 19CM (7.48031in) wide, center the router bit at 9.5CM (3.74016in) and my head exploded.
Wasn't that the Carter administration, re: metric ?Yeah, many pro sheet goods are thickness spec'd in mm, but L and W spec'd in inches. Some, like Corian, were once in fractional inches, but switched to mm.
I worked on a job with a great custom cabinet shop in Ketchum that had switched all of thier work to metric. I've mulled that with envy, but our customers want to see drawings in inches - which is another kind of pita because builders and architects work in feet, inches. So 8'1", while we millwork guys work entirely in inches to avoid errors.
I recall the attempted conversion, Nixon or earlier? Seemed to me the resistance came from the teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, pint, quart folks. The remnant of that is the replacement if the fifth/quart/half gallon spec for booze with 750ml, 1L,1.75L spec. Jeeze!
Reminds me of some GM metrics of that period.....As an Auto Tech I was PO'd that we did not adopt the metric system under Nixon or Ford or? So, I had/have way too many sockets & wrenches in my toolbox. Oh Well (PartII)
But then 30 years later my wife brings home some surplus European woodworking Magazines and in an article I see something like, "As the board is 19CM (7.48031in) wide, center the router bit at 9.5CM (3.74016in) and my head exploded.
Nope, it was Ford. Had something to do with him playing college Football and not wearing a helmet.Wasn't that the Carter administration, re: metric ?
Reminds me of some GM metrics of that period.....
Bolts with metric heads and standard threads instead of retooling to have metrics threads in transmission cases, etc.
Double?
Ha, a friend's father gave me a bunch of Imperial Wrenches when he retired and then moved south. Short squat wrenches that might make it nearly impossible to over-torque any nut.
Progress?
Would have come in handy for me a while back. I had to cut a combination wrench in half to get it short enough to remove the high pressure hose off the power steering pump on my truck. Even at that I could only turn it 60° at a time. Tried using a crowsfoot on a wobbly on the end of a 12" extension and failed miserably.