I am so angry right now


MarginOfError
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6 hours ago, jerome1232 said:

When I'm measuring small things I dive straight for the metric side of the ruler. Fractions of an inch can die in a firey hell for all I care.

Who knows how many feet are in a mile without looking it up? That's right, no one does. Because it's a stupid odd number.

5280 and I didn't look it up.  It's something I learned years ago in school.  

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13 minutes ago, jerome1232 said:

Now quick, yards!

haha I'd need a calculator for that one.  But speaking of yards.  Working at Hobby Lobby part time in the fabric department, I am blown away every single time I work by the number of people that have no idea how many inches are in a yard or how many feet are in a yard.  I don't know how you get through life without knowing that.  It's something I've had to use a lot during my life,  

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1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

Now, the Philippines, of course, is the only country that uses both metric and demonic standards.  For example, when you go to the doctor, they measure your weight in kilograms and your height in feet and your temperature in Celsius and print it on Legal-sized paper.

 

This is how we know the Phillippines is a nation that has mastered the art of bureaucracy.  :animatedthumbsup:

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4 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

Please tell me that you are joking. 😐

No.

When I go elsewhere outside the US, the cost of gas shoots up drastically, even in some nations that have lower taxes on fuel.  Some of those areas have just as close connections to refineries as the US.  Because it is sold in smaller increments it is easier to hide how much they are charging. 

A prime example...in the US you may get a gallon of gasoline for $3 a gallon.

Then I go to...let's say France.  They charge 1.45 EUR per liter. 

Great!  You think...that's a LOT cheaper...right?

That's only $1.68 per liter.

It takes 3.78 (rnd down) liters per gallon, meaing you are actually paying around $6.30 per gallon in France, over two times the amount in the US.

However, France is far removed from the Oil industry so let's go somewhat closer.  In the Ukraine you may pay around .85 Eur per liter (current cost hovers around .88).

That's around $1 per liter.

So, even then, being that close to the oil, you still are paying around $3.79 USD per gallon of fuel.

Let's do a comparison of Ontario to Minnesota. 

As per a quick look up the price of fuel currently averages around $2.26 in Minnesota.

In Toronto, Ontario the prices range from a low of 1.12 per liter to 1.20 per liter (CAN).

Going at an average of 1.15 per liter that is around .89 USD per liter.

That is around $3.36 per gallon.  It seems that it is thus around $1.10 USD or $1.43 CAN more in Ontario than it is in Minnesota.

This is common when you break things down into smaller units.  The overall price may seem smaller at first glance, but this illusion is used to actually jack the price up.

 

Why do Auto companies play into this.  For a company that sells trucks and is one of their main selling items (for example I drive a truck that gets around 15-18 mpg), they also want the illusion of better numbers.  MPG can be a lot better looking than KM Per Liter when talking about those numbers [20 MPG looks better than something like 8 KM per liter for example].

In addition, people tend to buy MORE trucks that use more fuel when the price of fuel is lower than when it gets higher in price.  Thus, it is in their best interest to keep it as much the status quo as possible if they want to sell more trucks.

I don't think it's the only reason at all, but possibly ONE item which would prove a STRONG incentive for auto companies to push for not changing the US measurement standards.

 

Edited by JohnsonJones
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13 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

No.

When I go elsewhere outside the US, the cost of gas shoots up drastically, even in some nations that have lower taxes on fuel.  Some of those areas have just as close connections to refineries as the US.  Because it is sold in smaller increments it is easier to hide how much they are charging. 

A prime example...in the US you may get a gallon of gasoline for $3 a gallon.

Then I go to...let's say France.  They charge 1.45 EUR per liter. 

Great!  You think...that's a LOT cheaper...right?

That's only $1.68 per liter.

It takes 3.78 (rnd down) liters per gallon, meaing you are actually paying around $6.30 per gallon in France, over two times the amount in the US.

However, France is far removed from the Oil industry so let's go somewhat closer.  In the Ukraine you may pay around .85 Eur per liter (current cost hovers around .88).

That's around $1 per liter.

So, even then, being that close to the oil, you still are paying around $3.79 USD per gallon of fuel.

Let's do a comparison of Ontario to Minnesota. 

As per a quick look up the price of fuel currently averages around $2.26 in Minnesota.

In Toronto, Ontario the prices range from a low of 1.12 per liter to 1.20 per liter (CAN).

Going at an average of 1.15 per liter that is around .89 USD per liter.

That is around $3.36 per gallon.  It seems that it is thus around $1.10 USD or $1.43 CAN more in Ontario than it is in Minnesota.

This is common when you break things down into smaller units.  The overall price may seem smaller at first glance, but this illusion is used to actually jack the price up.

 

Why do Auto companies play into this.  For a company that sells trucks and is one of their main selling items (for example I drive a truck that gets around 15-18 mpg), they also want the illusion of better numbers.  MPG can be a lot better looking than KM Per Liter when talking about those numbers [20 MPG looks better than something like 8 KM per liter for example].

I don't think it's the only reason at all, but possibly ONE item which would prove a STRONG incentive for auto companies to push for not changing the US measurement standards.

 

No, dude.  This is silly.

I live in the Philppines.  Gas is in Pesos per liter.  That's what EVERYBODY is used to  They don't go see the US price per gallon and think... ohh... our gas is cheaper!  That's ridiculous.  Same thing, they don't look at Singapore Dollars per liter and think... oh that's super expensive!  Uhm... no.  We know the difference between Singapore Dollar and Australian Dollar and US Dollar and Canadian Dollar and Mexican Pesos and Liter versus Gallon.  And we're Filipinos - supposedly some unsophisticated 3rd worlders.

It would be SUPER STUPID for Americans - who have the means to travel a lot more than Filipinos, especially with the size and reach of their military - to not be cognizant of what Filipinos are completely aware of.

Edited by anatess2
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1 minute ago, anatess2 said:

No, dude.  This is silly.

I live in the Philppines.  Gas is in Pesos per liter.  That's what EVERYBODY is used to  They don't go see the US price per gallon and think... ohh... our gas is cheaper!  That's ridiculous.  Same thing, they don't look at Singapore Dollars per liter and think... oh that's super expensive!  Uhm... no.  We know the difference between Singapore Dollar and Australian Dollar and US Dollar and Canadian Dollar and Mexican Pesos and Liter versus Gallon.  And we're Filipinos - supposedly some unsophisticated 3rd worlders.

It would be SUPER STUPID for Americans to not be cognizant of what Filipinos are completely aware of.

Most Americans probably aren't even aware of the price of fuel in other nations, but you can rest assured, the Auto companies probably keep a very close tally on it.

I use the USD because it is the easiest to use as a comparison for the actual values (it could have easily been done in EUR or CAN instead, but most understand what the USD is). 

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1 minute ago, JohnsonJones said:

Most Americans probably aren't even aware of the price of fuel in other nations, but you can rest assured, the Auto companies probably keep a very close tally on it.

I use the USD because it is the easiest to use as a comparison for the actual values (it could have easily been done in EUR or CAN instead, but most understand what the USD is). 

Yes.  But American truckers don't look at the mpg or ppg in Canada to determine their truck efficiency.  And neither do Europeans.

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Just now, anatess2 said:

Yes.  But American truckers don't look at the mpg or ppg in Canada to determine their truck efficiency.  And neither do Europeans.

??

Why would an American trucker look at the MPG unless they were crossing the border...but those that do...you better believe they know where to buy fuel the cheapest.

Some Europeans notice the difference and have written various articles about it.  Sometimes they even protest the amount they pay for fuel.  This was (years ago) actually how I first learned about the way oil companies sneak in the differences in charges.  Their was a row about it in Europe about how much more they were charging under the auspices of litre's verses other measurements.  I'd say Europeans may be far more aware of fuel prices and differences than much of the rest of the world.

I don't know about the Philippines though.  I have no idea what the thinking is there as I really don't visit there.  I have no real experience in the Philippines to know about their thoughts on fuel prices.

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14 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

??

Why would an American trucker look at the MPG unless they were crossing the border...but those that do...you better believe they know where to buy fuel the cheapest.

Some Europeans notice the difference and have written various articles about it.  Sometimes they even protest the amount they pay for fuel.  This was (years ago) actually how I first learned about the way oil companies sneak in the differences in charges.  Their was a row about it in Europe about how much more they were charging under the auspices of litre's verses other measurements.  I'd say Europeans may be far more aware of fuel prices and differences than much of the rest of the world.

You're not making any sense.  Let's rewind.

You said that Auto companies, especially truck ones, use Standard Measurements to give the illusion of better efficiency.  This is silly.  Non-Americans are not so ignorant as to see MPG and not know the difference or even know how it relates to Metric in the same manner that Americans see ppl in Europe and understand it is a much smaller measurement than gallons.  And this is not counting the fact that American Imports into other countries sell in that country's units of measure.  So a Ford Ranger in Europe (like it is in the Philippines) is not rated at mpg but kmpl.

 

14 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

I don't know about the Philippines though.  I have no idea what the thinking is there as I really don't visit there.  I have no real experience in the Philippines to know about their thoughts on fuel prices.

Filipinos are just like everyone else in the planet.  They know Americans use Standard Measurements while most of the rest of the world use Metric.  They know what an mpg is and how it relates to kmpl.  They know what USD means and how it relates to PhP, etc. etc.  So it is silly to think that American Car Companies can 'trick us" by keeping measurements in Standard form.

And as far as oil prices go... most of the planet do not get their oil from the US.  Asians mostly get their oil from OPEC.  Which is in metric.

Edited by anatess2
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It's kind of hard to compare gas prices across countries without first understanding the costs associated with distribution, taxes, and demand. While the price of the oil barrel is the most visible variable in the cost of gasoline, the more stable factors probably contribute the majority of what we pay at the pump, such as property taxes on the gas station, state, federal and local taxes. 

If you want to compare prices across countries, you would need to look at the contribution to cost of the oil itself, which I would guess is probably fairly stable.

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6 minutes ago, MarginOfError said:

It's kind of hard to compare gas prices across countries without first understanding the costs associated with distribution, taxes, and demand. While the price of the oil barrel is the most visible variable in the cost of gasoline, the more stable factors probably contribute the majority of what we pay at the pump, such as property taxes on the gas station, state, federal and local taxes. 

If you want to compare prices across countries, you would need to look at the contribution to cost of the oil itself, which I would guess is probably fairly stable.

This is the same for everything else.

Even though a McDonald's burger pretty much costs the same in the Philippines as it is in the US, this is mainly because McDonald's in the Philippines is considered more in the line of "fancy restaurant" than the corner food that it is in the US.

But when you import something rather than get it local, prices swing far and wide between countries depending on things such as trade agreements and the like in addition to the supply chain.

Imported things in the Philippines, for example, are guaranteed to be super expensive than their neighbors because of the challenges of the supply chain in an archipelago in much the same way that Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Guam have the same challenges even as they are a commonwealth of the USA and don't have trade barriers.

Edited by anatess2
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6 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

I am willing to bet that NASA uses metric.

CNN) -- NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used English units of measurement while the agency's team used the more conventional metric system for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released Thursday

From CNN Sept 30 1999

http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/

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I have been a mechanical engineer working in the auto industry for 20 years.   Everything that I have designed for work has been in metric.  I prefer designing in metric.

When it comes to everyday things in life, I really don't care which system.  Does it really matter if you get a gallon of milk or 4 liters of milk?

You can convert to the metric system, but there is so so much legacy things that it really doesn't make sense to.

All buildings are done in feet and inches.  All plumbing is done in feet and inches.  If you want your metric pipe to connect to a pipe in inches, you have to have an adapter.  And for what purpose?  So you can be in metric?

If you are doing chemistry, yes, there is a great benefit.  Even in cooking it is a decent benefit.  Converting temps to metric is pretty much pointless.   If you are doing science experiments, celsius is ok, not great, but ok, for everyday things, it has very little advantage over fahrenheit.   Think about it.  What temp do you like to bathe at?  Don't know?  guess it doesn't matter.  What temperature do you like to cook cookies at?  You don't know?  guess it really doesn't matter.

How much liquid does your favorite cup hold?  Don't know? guess it doesn't really matter?  

In most daily activities, it really doesn't matter.  Only when you have a discussion does it seem to matter.  But then after the discussion  you couldn't care less until the next discussion.

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9 minutes ago, Lost Boy said:

In most daily activities, it really doesn't matter.  Only when you have a discussion does it seem to matter.  But then after the discussion  you couldn't care less until the next discussion.

Spatial awareness matters.  For example, my son is hopeless when it comes to his sense of direction as well as spatial awareness.  So, I would tell him, get that piece of lumber in the garage, the 6-foot long one.  That completely goes over his head unless he gets a measuring tape and measures it.  So, if he ever gets lost and he has to give me directions to where he's at, forget it.  He can't guesstimate miles to yards to feet, let alone to meters and kilometers if he ever gets stranded in the Philippines.  So, he's talking to his cousin in the Philippines prepping for a trip and his cousin would go it's 40 degrees here so pack appropriately.  My son would be completely clueless if he needs to bring or leave his jacket.

There was this university lecture after 9/11.  They have this lecture of over 100 students, the lecturer was opening the topic when a person walked right infront of everybody and out the door.  The lecturer then asked the group, what can you tell us about that person - how tall was he?  Not many people can gauge how tall the guy was.  But they were able to tell that he was a black man wearing a blue hat and a black jacket.

So, anyway, I think it's important to at least know measurements in relation to others.  Like, for example, if I were to walk in a room I'd have an idea of how big the room is so I'd know that a standard piano (5 feet long) would fit on a wall.  And usually, the way I know is because my wing-span between the tips of my middle fingers is exactly 5 feet long and approximately a meter and a half and I can kinda gauge something in relation to my wingspan.  Also, I know my armpits when I'm not sick is 98F or 37C so I can kinda tell room temps in relation to my armpit.  Hah hah.

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