Jerra Posted May 23, 2021 Report Share Posted May 23, 2021 5 minutes ago, dixi188 said: In 1969 I started my apprenticeship and a very nice Mr Ratcliffe at Poole Technical College told me that after 1971 I would never use imperial tools or measurement again. I retired in September 2019 after 50 years in aircraft engineering and was still using AF spanners and occationally even Whitworth ones on some pipe fittings. Some rivets had gone metric but even then they were really imperial as in 3.2 mm (1/8in), 4mm (5/32in) 4.8mm (3/16). This has been a complaint of mine all my life, instead of metricating properly we have merely metricated old measurements e.g. a jar of chutney at 360g when 350g would be a much more sensible measure in keeping with a metric measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted May 23, 2021 Report Share Posted May 23, 2021 24 minutes ago, Jerra said: This has been a complaint of mine all my life, instead of metricating properly we have merely metricated old measurements e.g. a jar of chutney at 360g when 350g would be a much more sensible measure in keeping with a metric measure. At the time it would have cost a fortune to re machine everything, jars, bottles etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerra Posted May 23, 2021 Report Share Posted May 23, 2021 Just now, ditchcrawler said: At the time it would have cost a fortune to re machine everything, jars, bottles etc. It isn't a question of remachining we are almost 50 years since "metrication" in actual fact almost 55 since the government declared we are going to metricate. How many places are still suing machines etc which are 50+ years old. As time has gone by things should have been slowly changing until nobody thought or used imperial any more. It was after all a ridiculous system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo47 Posted May 23, 2021 Report Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) I understand that the metric system has been legal to use for commerce in parallel with imperial (except for beer and some other things) since Victorian times, something to do with Prince Albert's influence. There was also a Victorian proposal to change to decimal currency, dividing the pound into 1,000 mils, approximately the number (960) of farthings in a pound.This is why the 2/- piece, or florin (originally marked "one tenth of a pound") was introduced, with minting of half crowns being suspended. After decimal currency plans were abandoned, the minting of 2/6d coins resumed, but 2/- coins continued to be minted as well. The Fahrenheit scale was originally a "centigrade" scale, with zero as the coldest temperature achievable with an ice-salt freezing bath, and 100 as blood temperature. Around 20 years ago, we used to go on holiday with our children to Ibiza in August. I was starting to learn Spanish at the time and used to buy the local daily newspaper. One year we had a real cloudburst. While the newsaper reported the rainfall in metric (over 50mm in 2 hours), reports of local floodwater depth were only given in terms of "manos" (hands: 4"), "palmas" (palms: 3") , and "pulgadas" (thumbs: inches), not mm or cm. Going back to the original topic, I well remember that it snowed over much of England in early June 1975 (June 2nd I think). It was several inches deep in Yorkshire, and in Essex, blizzard conditions brought the cricket match at Essex's Chelmsford ground to a halt. That I think was the Monday. By the Friday it was sweltering and the start of that year's long hot summer. A friend was working in the London office of a Norwegian shipping company at the time, said that one of their Norwegian managers who was temporararily based there, remarked that he now understood why the British always talked about the weather! Edited May 24, 2021 by Ronaldo47 typos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Todd Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 14 hours ago, Cheshire cat said: Last time I tried to pay in groats they were declined Last time I tried to pay with any coins they were declined. I still have the same to paper notes an a few coins that I had at the start of the first lockdown! The pound coin has had a few outings with supermarket trolleys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 17 hours ago, Jerra said: It isn't a question of remachining we are almost 50 years since "metrication" in actual fact almost 55 since the government declared we are going to metricate. How many places are still suing machines etc which are 50+ years old. As time has gone by things should have been slowly changing until nobody thought or used imperial any more. It was after all a ridiculous system. I did say "at the time" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo47 Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 My local shops are fine with cash. The local chippy still only takes cash. The self-service machines at the local supermarkets accept notes and coins as well as cards. The last time we visited B&Q, communications problems meant that they only had one till that would accept cards, so we were able to go from the back of a long queue to a queue-less till that accepted cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerra Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 I haven't used money (notes or coins)since February 2020. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 9 minutes ago, Jerra said: I haven't used money (notes or coins)since February 2020. I pay the window cleaner and grass cutting man in cash. even the charity shops want card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerra Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said: I pay the window cleaner and grass cutting man in cash. even the charity shops want card We pay our window cleaner by bank transfer, likewise the milk lady etc. Nobody has offered to pay me for cutting the grass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 9 minutes ago, Jerra said: We pay our window cleaner by bank transfer, likewise the milk lady etc. Nobody has offered to pay me for cutting the grass. It grows while I am boating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUMPY Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 19 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said: I pay the window cleaner and grass cutting man in cash. even the charity shops want card Both of ours are paid by bank transfer. The grass man forgets to invoice me, I ended up paying last years in Feb this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanderer Vagabond Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 35 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said: It grows while I am boating Yes, we found that, we called it 're-wilding' the lawn. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maffi Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 (edited) Is it too late to mention Kelvins!? Edited May 24, 2021 by Lord Maffi of Oxford There's always a smart ar53 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 3 minutes ago, Lord Maffi of Oxford said: Is it too late to mention Degrees Kelvin!? Don't you have to start them on petrol ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machpoint005 Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 1 hour ago, Lord Maffi of Oxford said: Is it too late to mention Degrees Kelvin!? No such thing. The unit is the Kelvin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo47 Posted May 24, 2021 Report Share Posted May 24, 2021 And the Fahreneit equivalent is Rankine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted May 25, 2021 Report Share Posted May 25, 2021 Can we just say its bloody cold for the time of year. do we need any unit more defined than that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmelly Posted May 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2021 13 hours ago, Ronaldo47 said: My local shops are fine with cash. The local chippy still only takes cash. The self-service machines at the local supermarkets accept notes and coins as well as cards. The last time we visited B&Q, communications problems meant that they only had one till that would accept cards, so we were able to go from the back of a long queue to a queue-less till that accepted cash. I use cash daily. The cafe we have just had brekky in ONLY accepts cash, no cards and was again packed as its good. We accept cash at the pig place or plastic. The pubs we use all accept cash as does my lads pub. In fact everywhere takes cash. If you are unsure re that statement then go to somewhere that says at payment that they only accept card payment and hand you the 200 pound bill for food you have already eaten and pull the cash out of your pocket a completely legal payment method and state thats all you have, your choice and see wether they accept cash or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frangar Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 Just decided it’s fire lighting time again….this time last year was sleeping with the slide open! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty40s Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 3 hours ago, frangar said: Just decided it’s fire lighting time again….this time last year was sleeping with the slide open! Ours will go out Saturday for the last time until late Sept/Oct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 I've just realised that our central heating is still on in the house. I'm sure I've usually turned it off by this time of the year. I haven't looked at any comparative statistics, but I suspect that this spring has been quite a bit cooler than average. Nonetheless, the first roses in the garden managed to come out last weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUMPY Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 5 minutes ago, Athy said: I've just realised that our central heating is still on in the house. I'm sure I've usually turned it off by this time of the year. Never manually turn mine off, if it's warm enough it doesn't come on, controlled by a thermostat. ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen-in-Wellies Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 On 23/05/2021 at 23:15, Jerra said: This has been a complaint of mine all my life, instead of metricating properly we have merely metricated old measurements e.g. a jar of chutney at 360g when 350g would be a much more sensible measure in keeping with a metric measure. You want 10g less chutney in the jar? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DandV Posted May 26, 2021 Report Share Posted May 26, 2021 22 hours ago, mrsmelly said: I use cash daily. The cafe we have just had brekky in ONLY accepts cash, no cards and was again packed as its good. We accept cash at the pig place or plastic. The pubs we use all accept cash as does my lads pub. In fact everywhere takes cash. If you are unsure re that statement then go to somewhere that says at payment that they only accept card payment and hand you the 200 pound bill for food you have already eaten and pull the cash out of your pocket a completely legal payment method and state thats all you have, your choice and see wether they accept cash or not. Because of Covid I have not been a tourist in a foreign country for well over a year now. But before that, making purchases when out of my home country were restricted to using Visa, which my NZ bank charged a not inconsiderable fee per transaction plus a crap exchange rate, and the vendor added yet another credit card fee, or using my normal bank card, to withdraw a decent amount of cash, suffering the same fixed transaction fee and crap exchange rate, but that fixed transaction fee was then spread over a large number of minor transactions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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