metric

[DJE]

Yes, my education has included the SI system, as well as FPS (foot, pound, second), MKS (metre, kilogramme, second) and CGS (centimetre, gram, second). My favourite is FFF though, where all measurements are related back to furlongs, firkins and fortnights. That means, for instance, that the unit of measurement for acceleration is furlongs per square fortnight.

Love it...............But the pedant in me has to point out that the firkin is a unit of volume not mass. It's about 0.0000000050252 cubic furlongs! A better system would be the FFS system using furlongs, fortnights and sacks! Where (as I'm sure you know) 1 Sack = 26 st = 364 lb ≈ 165 kg.

And the acceleration due to gravity is about 71,326,000,000 furlongs per square fortnight!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I reckon Capricious' length is 0.04697 furlongs. Do you reckon the marina would accept that number for the calculation of berthing charges? I reckon I'd pay about £5.30 per year! I mean, I'd still pay if they made the charging period a fortnight - even rounding up it would be less than £140!

 

[status]

Quite correct. But which metres? This year's next year's or wait until someone finds out that caesium isn'r caesium any more.?

It doen't matter, I still end up paying more for my mooring each year!

 

[Quandary]

Dimensional tolerance

When Kvaerner took over the Harland and Wolff Yard they immediately started staff training/indoctrination, on the second day the fitters were assembled around a new milling machine and the Norwegian was proudly explaining that it could be set to 0.01 of a micron (or something similar, I have never met a micron) the guys standing around did not seem sufficently impressed so he asked them why. 'Aw now, said one, that's OK but in this yard we have to be spot on.'

Mind you, exactly the same thing occurred when Bombardier took over Shorts.