Are we sleep-walking out of Europe ?

Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.

thebigfredc posted:

Imperial versus Metric, 

both have their merits. Decimal has an obvious advantage in so much as base 10 is easier to add, divide etc but in some instances the unit itself seems too small, or big or just plain wrong. For example, when travelling on the motorway the kilometres count down too quickly compared with miles. I can never remember my height or weight in metric and I have noticed this trait with other people too, not all of them old duffers like me.

At least we didn’t abandon the mile - though sometimes road signs are mixed, giving 100m to something - and it is quite a surprise when you whizz past it a moment later, having thought it wound be best part of an hour and a half...

thebigfredc posted:

Imperial versus Metric, 

both have their merits. Decimal has an obvious advantage in so much as base 10 is easier to add, divide etc but in some instances the unit itself seems too small, or big or just plain wrong. For example, when travelling on the motorway the kilometres count down too quickly compared with miles. I can never remember my height or weight in metric and I have noticed this trait with other people too, not all of them old duffers like me.

I agree.  Though I know the metric stuff, there are still many things that just seem right to express in imperial units e.g. height (6ft rather than 1.8m), an person's weight) as opposed to food products), buying beer in pubs, mpg, football ('the six yard box', distance of the shot, how far the wall has to stand back etc) , cricket.   

Innocent Bystander posted:

thebigfredc posted:

Imperial versus Metric, 

both have their merits. Decimal has an obvious advantage in so much as base 10 is easier to add, divide etc but in some instances the unit itself seems too small, or big or just plain wrong. For example, when travelling on the motorway the kilometres count down too quickly compared with miles. I can never remember my height or weight in metric and I have noticed this trait with other people too, not all of them old duffers like me.

At least we didn’t abandon the mile - though sometimes road signs are mixed, giving 100m to something - and it is quite a surprise when you whizz past it a moment later, having thought it wound be best part of an hour and a half...

I guess the speed limit road signs have to be on a consistent basis otherwise a mix would provide something of a defence for speeding motorists who are prosecuted

In the UK we enjoy a mix of units, Imperial and metric. It doesn't really matter which, so long as we remain consistent. I have one friend in her fifties who swears that she doesn't understand imperial units. When I refer to a distance in yards, she asks, "What is that in metres?" She buys fabric in metres, vegetables in kilograms. Yet when I ask her how tall she is, she answers in feet and inches. She does, however, quote her weight (mass) in kg. She argued recently that milk is sold in litres. Of course, she is right: I buy milk in bottles of 2.272 litres - a nice round number, which just happens to be 4 pints.

I just love going to the timber yard to buy a two metre length of four by two and an eight by four sheet of 12mm plywood.

Draught beer sold by the pint, bottles in millilitres....

I don’t know if it is just the age group I am in, having grown up initially imperial but change starting while O was still at school, and possibly aided by my science education, but I am almost completely ambi-unit. When doing DiY things, one moment I will measure in cm/mm, the next in ft/in/fractions, typically depending on which one has the convenient number to remember. I know my weight in st/lb and kg, though I only remember my height in ft/in. I’m happy with food recipes in either metric or avoirdupois, teaspoons and tablespoons, but struggle with cups and, and the American short-change pint is irritating!

notnaim man posted:

I just love going to the timber yard to buy a two metre length of four by two and an eight by four sheet of 12mm plywood.

Draught beer sold by the pint, bottles in millilitres....

My local timber yard used to sell timber in lengths which were multiples of one foot. Now it sells in multiples not of 0.5m, which would have made sense, but 0.3m, which is about the same as one foot.

But. If you buy 50mm x 50mm PAR timber, it will actually be approximately 45mm x 45mm.

Go Figure.

which is just over 1 3/4"

Well I'm seeing one benefit of Brexit today. What with it's loss of purpose and the shambolic leadership position, it looks like UKIP isn't going to last much longer. Even the out-going leader is describing it as not fit for purpose.  

MDS posted:

Well I'm seeing one benefit of Brexit today. What with it's loss of purpose and the shambolic leadership position, it looks like UKIP isn't going to last much longer. Even the out-going leader is describing it as not fit for purpose.  

Didn’t UKIP automatically do themselves out of a purpose and individual members out of jobs by the very action of winning the Brexit vote, however much of a farce it was?

I assumed that was why Farrage subsequently appeared prancing around the he-who-shall-not-be-named orange one, trying to find some other place to play (notwithstanding his apparent participation on this forum to maintain his diatribe against those not of his persuasion).

thebigfredc posted:

Imperial versus Metric, 

both have their merits. Decimal has an obvious advantage in so much as base 10 is easier to add, divide etc but in some instances the unit itself seems too small, or big or just plain wrong. For example, when travelling on the motorway the kilometres count down too quickly compared with miles. I can never remember my height or weight in metric and I have noticed this trait with other people too, not all of them old duffers like me.

We've left imperial long ago in Canada, but even after moving to the UK almost 14 years ago now, I still can't get used to measuring in feet... Who's foot? As I've noticed not all feet are the same. Or weighing in stones... How big are these stones anyway? ;-)

Luckly when I speak to people in the  timber yard they do understand when I ask them for a 1.5m lenght board. most are probably from Europe anyway...

I changed to metric units ages ago........

....the metric Chain being 20m long and there being 80 of them in the metric Mile (1,600m)

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

Our fleet of American aeroplanes have Moment Arms in good old inches and weights (who cares about Mass) in old fashioned lbs. We buy our fuel in Litres but the operating handbooks show consumption rates in Gallons per hour (US gallons, none of your Imperial gallons !). Take-off and Landing distances are graphed in feet, but all our airport charts show Take-off run and Take-off distance in metres. Distances in Nautical miles and speeds in Knots. Visibility in metres and altitude in feet or Flight Levels. Atmospheric Pressure in hecto-Pascals..........

Don Atkinson posted:

I changed to metric units ages ago........

....the metric Chain being 20m long and there being 80 of them in the metric Mile (1,600m)

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

Our fleet of American aeroplanes have Moment Arms in good old inches and weights (who cares about Mass) in old fashioned lbs. We buy our fuel in Litres but the operating handbooks show consumption rates in Gallons per hour (US gallons, none of your Imperial gallons !). Take-off and Landing distances are graphed in feet, but all our airport charts show Take-off run and Take-off distance in metres. Distances in Nautical miles and speeds in Knots. Visibility in metres and altitude in feet or Flight Levels. Atmospheric Pressure in hecto-Pascals..........

Don, I'm glad they've kept it simple for you and not over complicated matters !!!

Oh ! UK pilot licences have been gradually phased out these past 15 years or so and effectively vanish on 8th April this year. We all have (and most of us for some time) European licences and these will be the only really useful ones from April 2018 going forward ........... well, until the end of March next year when I guess we might see the return of..........it's a bl**dy joke ! IMHO of course !

Pcd posted:

Don Atkinson posted:

I changed to metric units ages ago........

....the metric Chain being 20m long and there being 80 of them in the metric Mile (1,600m)

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

Our fleet of American aeroplanes have Moment Arms in good old inches and weights (who cares about Mass) in old fashioned lbs. We buy our fuel in Litres but the operating handbooks show consumption rates in Gallons per hour (US gallons, none of your Imperial gallons !). Take-off and Landing distances are graphed in feet, but all our airport charts show Take-off run and Take-off distance in metres. Distances in Nautical miles and speeds in Knots. Visibility in metres and altitude in feet or Flight Levels. Atmospheric Pressure in hecto-Pascals..........

Don, I'm glad they've kept it simple for you and not over complicated matters !!!

Funnily enough, you do actually get used to it all !

Well, most of the time !

Don Atkinson posted:

I changed to metric units ages ago........

....the metric Chain being 20m long and there being 80 of them in the metric Mile (1,600m)

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

Our fleet of American aeroplanes have Moment Arms in good old inches and weights (who cares about Mass) in old fashioned lbs. We buy our fuel in Litres but the operating handbooks show consumption rates in Gallons per hour (US gallons, none of your Imperial gallons !). Take-off and Landing distances are graphed in feet, but all our airport charts show Take-off run and Take-off distance in metres. Distances in Nautical miles and speeds in Knots. Visibility in metres and altitude in feet or Flight Levels. Atmospheric Pressure in hecto-Pascals..........

Yet some countries complicate matters by using metric flight levels, e.g. Russia. 

Don Atkinson posted:

Pcd posted:

Don Atkinson posted:

I changed to metric units ages ago........

....the metric Chain being 20m long and there being 80 of them in the metric Mile (1,600m)

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

Our fleet of American aeroplanes have Moment Arms in good old inches and weights (who cares about Mass) in old fashioned lbs. We buy our fuel in Litres but the operating handbooks show consumption rates in Gallons per hour (US gallons, none of your Imperial gallons !). Take-off and Landing distances are graphed in feet, but all our airport charts show Take-off run and Take-off distance in metres. Distances in Nautical miles and speeds in Knots. Visibility in metres and altitude in feet or Flight Levels. Atmospheric Pressure in hecto-Pascals..........

Don, I'm glad they've kept it simple for you and not over complicated matters !!!

Funnily enough, you do actually get used to it all !

Well, most of the time !

No wonder you are good at the Brain-teasers, Don.

Clive B posted:

Don Atkinson posted:

I changed to metric units ages ago........

....the metric Chain being 20m long and there being 80 of them in the metric Mile (1,600m)

Can't see what all the fuss is about.

Our fleet of American aeroplanes have Moment Arms in good old inches and weights (who cares about Mass) in old fashioned lbs. We buy our fuel in Litres but the operating handbooks show consumption rates in Gallons per hour (US gallons, none of your Imperial gallons !). Take-off and Landing distances are graphed in feet, but all our airport charts show Take-off run and Take-off distance in metres. Distances in Nautical miles and speeds in Knots. Visibility in metres and altitude in feet or Flight Levels. Atmospheric Pressure in hecto-Pascals..........

Yet some countries complicate matters by using metric flight levels, e.g. Russia. 

Yes ! Add in QNH, QFE, Density Altitude, North American 29.92, our 1013,25 cold weather corrections etc it’s a minefield for potential errors or mishaps!

A friend of mine flies for a Chinese airline with destinations in Europe, Russia and China. He would like to see a lot more standardisation, especially with altimeter settings.

Looks like the Labour party is shaping up to state a policy on Brexit that will create clear blue-water between themselves and the current HMG position.  Corbyn's speech on Monday will now be interesting. If Labour states that it wants to stay in the (or a) customs union, and perhaps the single market, it could attract a fair bit of support from the soft-Brexit/remainer MPs in the Conservative party, as well as support from UK businesses. Brexiteers will likely howl about 'betrayal' of the people's decision in the referendum  but the Parliamentary arithmetic weighs heavily against them.

MDS posted:

Looks like the Labour party is shaping up to state a policy on Brexit:::

  

Good. 

I agree it's about time, Strat. Now we just need a Brexit policy from the Conservatives 

We have a Brexit policy from the Conservatives:

...  "We will deliver Brexit and it will be fantastic."

You couldn't make this up: the Goverment will continue to propogate Brexit despite the PM voting Remain during the referendum; the Opposition will presumably take a stance wanting us to continue in the EU despite their so called leader being a life-long advocate of us leaving. It's a funny old game this politics.