Why mention miles when Europe uses km's ?

[Thornley]

Just to stir up Henry Ford's mob .

I cannot understand how people mention miles to walk each day when every sign they will come across on any camino in France or Spain have distance in km's.

Hey Falcon old mate, do you think they alter the MMDD pages into miles from km's before arriving?

Buen Camino to all

 

[mralisn]

Perhaps more avid travelers would make comments in kilometers while those new to travel with much less experience might not.

We were all "new" once, right?

 

[pattymo97206]

In 2012, I spent 3 weeks walking the Camino. During the first week, I was busy converting kilometers into miles....the second week, I didn’t convert kilometers into miles...I walked kilometers....the third week, I didn’t keep track of kilometers...I just walked the distance I walked. This time, I”ll skip the conversion part all together and by the end, I most likely won’t even keep track of the number of kilometers...I”ll just walk.

 

[Thornley]

I never thought you would be the first mralisn as i have loved your input over the years.
As long as you know this was posted with tongue in cheek.
The following i was taught at a young age by a Buddist mate when i was missing the "sunday family ritual"of going to mass ;
Still missing 80%

*Primum non nocere [ as in the hippocratic oath] ......in Oz mate it means..... **Harm none or Do no Harm.............and non was intended when discussion was posted.

 

[Kiwi-family]

It may have been a jestish thread, but I can think of a plausible reason......you *understand* what is familiar to you. When I read a book or blogpost that says "we walked thirty gruelling miles today" I have to think of it in terms of nearly 50km before I realise how hard it may have been. Same with fahrenheit to celsius.

 

[alexwalker]

Well, miles, inches, farhenheit etc. are dying measures. Better convert to the right stuff as soon as possible.

They cause all kinds of problems. A spacecraft was lost because some of the measures were in cms and other in inches. Most of the world is using cms and kgs. Get used to it ;-) We are winning.

 

[Phillypilgrim]

Old Dog, New Tricks? Maybe not, at least not so much for this old dog.

 

[alexwalker]

It is true. One cannot teach an old dog to sit. But he should, in order to rest and get it right.

 

[itsjann]

This fact makes me a little crazy! I grew up in America, but I travel a bit, and I lived outside my own country for 3 years and I was confused the whole time between miles vs kilometers and pounds vs kilograms and Fahrenheit vs Celsius etc.
Seriously America ....I love you but get with the program!

 

[mralisn]

I never thought you would be the first mralisn as i have loved your input over the years.
As long as you know this was posted with tongue in cheek.
The following i was taught at a young age by a Buddist mate when i was missing the "sunday family ritual"of going to mass ;
Still missing 80%

*Primum non nocere [ as in the hippocratic oath] ......in Oz mate it means..... **Harm none or Do no Harm.............and non was intended when discussion was posted.

Hi Thornley.

Sorry to have let you down. No harm received.

Thank you for the words. I really do appreciate the kindness of you and others.

Keep a smile,
Simeon

 

[alexwalker]

...pounds vs kilograms...

Ahh I forgot. And then you have English pounds and foot, American pounds and foot, etc. etc. Small feet/big feet/yards, fathoms, etc... No wonder we miss the planets! Come into the comfortable fold where all is equal!

 

[Saint Mike II]

Well, miles, inches, farhenheit etc. are dying measures. Better convert to the right stuff as soon as possible.

They cause all kinds of problems. A spacecraft was lost because some of the measures were in cms and other in inches. Most of the world is using cms and kgs. Get used to it ;-) We are winning.

Unfortunately for the rest of the world there is a domestic market of over 300 millions so the girls and boys from the "good old USofA" don't really care that much - until they go to Canada or Mexico and find everything changed. Still the more educated/widely travel citizens do know what KGs/KMs are and usually start thinking in these units when "in country". Cheers

 

[itsjann]

Ahh I forgot. And then you have English pounds and foot, American pounds and foot, etc. etc. Small feet/big feet/yards, fathoms, etc... No wonder we miss the planets! Come into the comfortable fold where all is equal!

Agreed, American are at a real disadvantage in this area....and nothing is changing, they are still not teaching metrics to kids in school here. I mean there is a chapter in the books about it but it's more to make kids aware there is another way, but the kids don't really have to learn it or even know how to convert it. Thank goodness for conversion calculators or we would all be lost!!

 

[alexwalker]

Dear itsjann,

This is the beauty of travelling, seeing other lands and cultures, and especially the Camino: Get out of your comfort/delution zone and into the world. I have high hopes for you: You have seen it, I think. Hope to see you on the Way.

 

[Deleted member 22638]

Does that mean we will lose the venerable Foot_Pound_Slug?

Reminds me of this calamity:

Mars Climate Orbiter Lost

"findings indicate that one team used English units (e.g., inches, feet and pounds) while the other used metric units for a key spacecraft operation. "

Ooops!

 

[Thornley]

Unfortunately for the rest of the world there is a domestic market of over 300 millions so the girls and boys from the "good old USofA" don't really care that much - until they go to Canada or Mexico and find everything changed. Still the more educated/widely travel citizens do know what KGs/KMs are and usually start thinking in these units when "in country". Cheers

Last time i looked Mike there was 2.2 -2.4 billion people in India and China and they went Metric 40 years ago ?
Had a laugh when posted and Alex has the best of humour ....would be good company on the camino but he keeps getting lost.

 

[annakappa]

Agreed, American are at a real disadvantage in this area....and nothing is changing, they are still not teaching metrics to kids in school here. I mean there is a chapter in the books about it but it's more to make kids aware there is another way, but the kids don't really have to learn it or even know how to convert it. Thank goodness for conversion calculators or we would all be lost!!

Just recently I opted to do a questionnaire about cancer research started in the US.
All was fine replying to the basic questions; age, place of birth, etc. Then came the problematic questions: weight and height. There was a box to give my statistics in feet and inches and pounds. I was working on my IPad and had to my computer to find a conversion table. I sent off the completed form and "complained" about the short sightedness of not giving the rest of the World the possibility to have at least a metric box to mark. It wouldn't have been so difficult to add another box. So a couple of days later, came the next questionnaire. Same problem. And then the third questionnaire, with obviously, the same problem. Again I pointed out the inconvenience that other volunteers out of the US have to come up against. I think they took offence, because, unfortunately, as it is a really worthwhile study, I haven-t received any more questionnaires and I believe that there are about 12.
Now, I was raised in England, home to the Imperial system, but fortunately, some time back the British Isles modernized their approach to measurements! Anne

 

[Deleted member 22638]

Now, I was raised in England, home to the Imperial system, but fortunately, some time back the British Isles modernized their approach to measurements! Anne

Happily not all ;

 

[Saint Mike II]

Last time i looked Mike there was 2.2 -2.4 billion people in India and China and they went Metric 40 years ago ?

As I live in the Asian hemisphere I am aware of these two "little!!??" countries - but I think you missed my point. The US domestic market is far more important to local producers than the international one. I see tools produced in Taiwan, obviously for the US market, that are marked in ft/inches & metres/mm. So I don't think there is going to be a significant change until the rest of the world demands that ALL products; documents; treaties only refer to metric measurements. But I am not holding my breath. Please don't get me wrong - I have family in Ohio - it just the way they think!!

 

[Kitsambler]

Furlongs per fortnight.

 

[Espero]

We're afraid if we give 2.54cm they'll take 1.609km.

 

[xin loi]

US Military has used Metric for at least 60 years--all artillery is metric. And "Burma" also uses "US" (Un -Scientific) system, so it does not matter who else does not use it..Guatemala uses metric for linear measurements and US system for Vertical, i.e. a volcano 5 kilometers away is 5,000 feet high.

 

[Stacey Wittig]

Just to stir up Henry Ford's mob .

I cannot understand how people mention miles to walk each day when every sign they will come across on any camino in France or Spain have distance in km's.

Hey Falcon old mate, do you think they alter the MMDD pages into miles from km's before arriving?

Buen Camino to all

It always cracks me up when I get home after Camino and my non-pilgrim friends want to know "How many miles did you walk each day?" "Where are your photos?" They just don't understand that it is not about mileage or bringing home mementos. It's a heart thing.

 

[newfydog]

I think much better in km's myself. now those degrees C, well the fahrenheit, system is pretty good, because 0 is just too cold. and 100 is just too hot.

 

[Thornley]

US Military has used Metric for at least 60 years--all artillery is metric. And "Burma" also uses "US" (Un -Scientific) system, so it does not matter who else does not use it..Guatemala uses metric for linear measurements and US system for Vertical, i.e. a volcano 5 kilometers away is 5,000 feet high.

Thanks for the help Xin Loi

No worries Mike , i got your point.
Just letting people know 330 million is a long way behind 2.4 billion.
Have a sense of humour mate and start one about the french in Paris and the english language.....better still wait till we finish" Plantagenet "from Mont St Michel next month.
Good luck /health in August , it will be hot on the Via de la Plata

 

[StuartM]

I remember going to Ireland a few years ago and on the roads distance signs were in km but speed limit signs were in mph

[Edited, Doh dont know my miles from metric!]

 

[clearskiescamino]

I remember going to Ireland a few years ago and on the roads distance signs were in km but speed limit signs were in km/h.

That's right. Up until recently road signs were in miles per hour and the switchover took a bit of time to get used to.

 

[weekjchammings]

That's right. Up until recently road signs were in miles per hour and the switchover took a bit of time to get used to.

Possibly a little too much of the black stuff at midday clouding your vision.

 

[rector]

You all think you have problems in Northern Ireland we have a semi imperial system with bits of metric, but as we drive along the road, we can, with no real warning, because there is no real border, find ourselves in metric land (the Irish Republic) and I can tell you that 120kph is not the same as 120mph! And £DOES NOT=€ which all makes for people who are great at mental arithmetic

 

[clearskiescamino]

Possibly a little too much of the black stuff at midday clouding your vision.

Lol sure the majority of us are up in St James Gate collecting our credecials and then buying a cheeky pint.

But moving on..

 

[bystander]

"Just to stir up Henry Ford's mob ." Which I take to mean our colonial cousins.
It will, no doubt, gratify you, Thornley, to know that here in Old Blighty your stirring is working well!!
Little ole GB's population is just over one fifth of "Henry Ford's" mob (in one thirty-ninth of the area!) and we like our miles and we are doing our best to hang on to the tattered remnants of our once glorious confusing Imperial system despite all the efforts of that upstart johnny-come-lately lot called the European Union!
But incursion to our isle's esoteric system of measurements has happened.
However it has to confessed we are rather confused in our use of Napoleon's blasted artificial and un-anthropomorphic metric system.
For example when it is a hot day we talk of the temperature in Fahrenheit ("phew, high 80's today") but when cold in Centigrade (brr, minus 3 today).
Horse races are run here and in Europe over furlongs (one eighth of a mile) and horses are sold in guineas (21 shillings or in modern money 1 pound 5 pence)
Petrol/gas is sold in litres but we buy it in pounds sterling "I put £20 of petrol in the car today"
Builders use a mongrel mix of metric and imperial "Can I have 4.5 metres of 4 by 2", plywood sheets (here and Europe) are sold in Imperial disguised as metric 2440 x 4880 i.e. 4' x 8'
Pubs sell beer in pints (here 20fl oz) and you can still buy pints in some parts of France, Germany and Switzerland....
....and as to shoe sizes..... (an American shoe size unit is equal to one barleycorn!)

Now as to the Camino Frances - I know it is 500 miles but 800 kilometres sounds a lot further doesn't it?

 

[Jochen-Schmidtke]

Just to stir up Henry Ford's mob .
I cannot understand how people mention miles to walk each day when every sign they will come across on any camino in France or Spain have distance in km's.
Hey Falcon old mate, do you think they alter the MMDD pages into miles from km's before arriving?
Buen Camino to all

Left/right hand traffic:
See here.
Buen Camino
Jochen

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Everyone is wrong. The Nautical Mile is one minute of arc, therefore perfect for measuring distance as it relates to our globe. Don't forget the cubit. Three hundred of them get you the other ark, and even Emma Watson and Russell Crowe.

 

[rector]

Everyone is wrong. The Nautical Mile is one minute of arc, therefore perfect for measuring distance as it relates to our globe. Don't forget the cubit. Three hundred of them get you the other ark, and even Emma Watson and Russell Crowe.

If I were you Falcon I would be worried you have just said that everyone is wrong. You do know what that is the first sign off?

 

[Diogo92]

If I were you Falcon I would be worried you have just said that everyone is wrong. You do know what that is the first sign off?

Diluvium?

 

[Diogo92]

Happily not all ;
View attachment 9226

Ahoy to that!

 

[William Marques]

Curious facts about the metric system in the USA:
1866 – Congress legalized the use of the metric system.

1893 -- The United States adopts metric measurement standards for length and mass. The foot, pound, quart, etc., have been defined in relation to the meter and kilogram ever since.

1902 – Legislation requiring the federal government to use metric exclusively was defeated by a single vote.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

If I were you Falcon I would be worried you have just said that everyone is wrong. You do know what that is the first sign of?

Knowing that I am wrong, too?

 

[Brendan Dawson]

Winning ?

Kind of pathetic, wouldn't you say?

Potato/potato......Tomato/tomato, etc (I am sure that someone can explain it to you!

Go Walk !


Sent from my iPad using Camino de Santiago Forum
Walkdontrun

 

[Kanga]

If we couldn't measure it, would distance matter? If we didn't have words to describe distance, would we still have the concept?

 

[Brendan Dawson]

I am kind of with you, Kanga.........It seems to me that the Camino is more about doing "it" rather than how far!!!


Sent from my iPad using Camino de Santiago Forum
Walkdontrun

 

[Thornley]

Everyone is wrong. The Nautical Mile is one minute of arc, therefore perfect for measuring distance as it relates to our globe. Don't forget the cubit. Three hundred of them get you the other ark, and even Emma Watson and Russell Crowe.

You were very late in replying Falcon , but answer up to standard

 

[Travellingman]

"Just to stir up Henry Ford's mob ." Which I take to mean our colonial cousins.
It will, no doubt, gratify you, Thornley, to know that here in Old Blighty your stirring is working well!!
Little ole GB's population is just over one fifth of "Henry Ford's" mob (in one thirty-ninth of the area!) and we like our miles and we are doing our best to hang on to the tattered remnants of our once glorious confusing Imperial system despite all the efforts of that upstart johnny-come-lately lot called the European Union!
But incursion to our isle's esoteric system of measurements has happened.
However it has to confessed we are rather confused in our use of Napoleon's blasted artificial and un-anthropomorphic metric system.
For example when it is a hot day we talk of the temperature in Fahrenheit ("phew, high 80's today") but when cold in Centigrade (brr, minus 3 today).
Horse races are run here and in Europe over furlongs (one eighth of a mile) and horses are sold in guineas (21 shillings or in modern money 1 pound 5 pence)
Petrol/gas is sold in litres but we buy it in pounds sterling "I put £20 of petrol in the car today"
Builders use a mongrel mix of metric and imperial "Can I have 4.5 metres of 4 by 2", plywood sheets (here and Europe) are sold in Imperial disguised as metric 2440 x 4880 i.e. 4' x 8'
Pubs sell beer in pints (here 20fl oz) and you can still buy pints in some parts of France, Germany and Switzerland....
....and as to shoe sizes..... (an American shoe size unit is equal to one barleycorn!)

Now as to the Camino Frances - I know it is 500 miles but 800 kilometres sounds a lot further doesn't it?

C'mon, lets have a shout for "rod, pole, and perch" - still used when measuring allotment sizes.....

 

[WycombeMan]

C'mon, lets have a shout for "rod, pole, and perch" - still used when measuring allotment sizes.....

indeed my allotment is 10 rod or to those outside the allotment world here in the uk about 250sq meters, I was told by a fellow gardener the way they measure a rod/perch etc is reputedly the distance from the back of the plough to the nose of the oxen..

 

[jpflavin1]

There is about as much chance of the U.S. changing to the metric system as the world changing to a common language and currency.

Is a cubit an accurate form of measurement? I believe it is from ones elbow to the tip of the middle finger (18-21 inches) Oooooops (45cm's - 52.5cm's) approximately.

I believe people mention miles because it is a form of measurement they are more comfortable with. Ooooooops ended a sentence with a preposition.

Ultreya ,

 

[bystander]

Yes, let's hear it for the rod and the furlong.
After all an acre is one furlong by 4 rods.
And more importantly 4 rods equals 1 chain which is the distance between the stumps on a cricket pitch.
Metrication has no humour or poetry to it!

Or maybe by my comments I've put my 305mm in it, after all give a man 25.4mm and he'll take 1,609.344 meters!

 

[Mark Lee]

"tomato, tomato......potato, potato"
Doesn't really make a difference I suppose as long as you get to where you are going.
When I was walking the Camino I would always convert real quick in my head using 5 km=3 mi (approximate). I would then convert that in a tangible distance by thinking about how many times around the running path at the public park I run at that would be. One time around the park is 2 miles, so I knew that 5 km was about 1-1/2 times around the park.

 

[mmm042]

When I was in grade school (maybe 5th or 6th grade) in the 1970s, we learned the metric system because, our teachers said, the U.S. was going to be switching over very soon. Ha! They also told us all schools were soon going to be teaching everyone Spanish starting in 1st grade. If I had to pick, though, I'd go for being bilingual over switching to the metric system.

 

[annakappa]

When Britain switched over to metric I lived in Sardinia, Italy. My mother who would always spend a month with us ( Sardinia was a little bit more attractive for a summer holiday, compared to Manchester), would say thing like" your 350 grams, your one an half Kms", etc. she had a great mental blockage to make the change. I used to say to her, just accept that your packet of sugar now weighs a kilo and there you are.
BTW, she would also call garlic " your garlic", because her British palate back then didn't manage to acquire the taste! Anne

 

[tploomis]

All that converting in our heads keeps our American brains nice and nimble.

 

[DeadFred]

My feet won't feel any better walking in km or miles ,, I use both miles/feet/inches/yards /gallons/quarts /pints when talking to friends & family , kg, grams, liters , kl ,ml when at work . Awhile back I remember a commercial airliner went down because the the person that fueled it use liters instead of gallons or something like that . oops .

 

[alexwalker]

There is about as much chance of the U.S. changing to the metric system as the world changing to a common language and currency.

English? Euro?

 

[JohnMcM]

Well, miles, inches, farhenheit etc. are dying measures. Better convert to the right stuff as soon as possible.

They cause all kinds of problems. A spacecraft was lost because some of the measures were in cms and other in inches. Most of the world is using cms and kgs. Get used to it ;-) We are winning.

You can take our gold!
You can take our treasures!
You can take our men, women and children!
You can take our freedom!
You can take our politicians (please)
You can fight us on the beaches!
But you will never take our inches, feet, yards, furlongs and miles!

 

[alexwalker]

Rods, furlongs... Sounds like you are beating up some hairy animal, instead of doing serious measures?

 

[Stefania13/14]

Well, miles, inches, farhenheit etc. are dying measures. Better convert to the right stuff as soon as possible.

They cause all kinds of problems. A spacecraft was lost because some of the measures were in cms and other in inches. Most of the world is using cms and kgs. Get used to it ;-) We are winning.

Alexwalker, I agree. I have been practicing with metrics and temperature since the start of my journey (getting ready for the camino). I wish we had changed over to metric a long time ago. I don't know why we haven't but I suspect the cost of changing over equipment in manufacturing, etc. is the reason. But I don't hear any talk of changing over these days.
Stefania

 

[jpflavin1]

English? Euro?

The Chinese among others might not agree.

 

[Former member 12499]

Centigrade (brr, minus 3 today).
Builders use a mongrel mix of metric and imperial "Can I have 4.5 metres of 4 by 2", plywood sheets (here and Europe) are sold in Imperial disguised as metric 2440 x 4880 i.e. 4' x 8'

Bystander you are dead right.
Many's the time I have been into a DIY shop and wanted a piece of wood '4 by 2 by 6 foot', meaning lumber 4” x 2” X 6'.
The DIY shop have given me the equivalent of 4” x 2” X 2 METERS. I kid you not. The World's gone mad!

Also when new born babies are weighed here in the UK, as far as I know, they still give the weight in Imperial measurement. Ie, 7lb 2 oz.

Charlie

 

[Tincatinker]

The simple matter for me is that, having walked miles all my life I know when I have walked a mile. I know how long a mile takes on flat tarmac, on heathered moor, in snow, in mud, when carrying 30k of gear, food and water or just a fishing rod, net and a few feathers. My head measures a mile as I walk it. This means that I always know where I am when navigating by dead-reckonong in un-tracked country without being reliant on some expensive electronic gizmo, satellite link-up or whatever. It takes me a conscious effort to adjust to walking in kilometres, but that is all it requires, a little attention to terrain, environment and pace to know whether I have walked 1k or 0.625 miles.

That issue aside it doesn't really seem to matter if I walk to Santiago in miles or kilometres. I will start from where I start and I will get to Santiago and I will have walked the same distance, whether I have done it at a rate of 4 or 6.4 / 24ths of a day doesn't seem to matter much.

 

[rector]

May I confuse the issue further by saying that in our part of the world we have clatters and weens both meaning a vague number. These expressions are used by older country folk and there is a debate as to whether a ween is greater than a clatter. If you were asking a country man how far it was to Santiago he would say its a ween of miles down that road and you would only know that it was more than two, but if you were near the border he might tell you that it was a clatter of kilometres down the road in the Irish Republic which might mean, because a kilometre is less than a mile, it is not so far, but that would depend on how big his clatters were. Three weeks from now I will be sleeping in St Jean and heading off for forty days of peace perhaps I will return feeling better!

 

[bystander]

Yes Charlie (chas999)
"Also when new born babies are weighed here in the UK, as far as I know, they still give the weight in Imperial measurement. Ie, 7lb 2 oz."

And who, in the UK, knows their height etc in metric? And their clothes sizes? Me? 42L jacket size, trousers 34 x 34, weight 10stone 12 oz..........

hmmm, I wonder what my age would be in metric according to the French Republican Calendar (the original source of all this confusion)

"Each day in the Republican Calendar was divided into ten hours, each hour into 100 decimal minutes, and each decimal minute into 100 decimal seconds."

Go figure....!

 

[indyrem]

I was born & raised in Manila, the Philippines which uses the metric system so we were taught the metric system in school. Then my family migrated to the U.S. in 1971. Needless to say I was so confused to find out that the "good old U.S. of A " uses the English system & it took me a while to get used to it. Then we toured Europe in the 80's-so back to the metric system again which wasn't so bad 'cause I could still remember my metric conversions. Then I got old and "set in my ways" so when I walked the Camino Frances last year I made sure I had the conversion app in my iPhone to use when needed. Thank God for it! I can still hear my phone conversation with my sister who is Canadian just this past winter about how cold it was that day in Indianapolis -5 degrees below zero with a wind chill of 30 degrees below zero. She'd say "it's cold here in Toronto also-& oh, by the way, what's that in Celsius?" to which I'd reply " I'm not gonna convert that to Celsius-it's VERY COLD, ok ? She would crack up laughing. Anyway I remember way back when there was a movement to change to the metric system & keep up with the majority of the rest of the world but unfortunately it lost I think in Congress. So someday maybe & hopefully in my lifetime. Anyway it made my Camino more interesting trying to convert my English system "State of Mind" to the metric system.

 

[Diogo92]

One of the "worst" things that I say that exist on the Camino, are those plates saying "x km to SdC". It makes it even harder. So, I stopped checking them. On the Portuguese, most of the km plates have been stolen. I guess it was the first time, that I thanked a robber.

 

[Kanga]

Metric is just so much easier. There is no way I would ever want to go back to imperial. Australia converted its currency, weights, measures and temperature ratings when I was a young adult. So I've lived with both. It was one of the good and rather brave things that our politicians did. The only thing I still find slightly difficult is envisaging someone's height when described (usually in police media) in centimetres instead of feet and inches. I know someone at 6 foot is tall, but I'd have to convert that to get the metric equivalent.

 

[DeadFred]

If , someday , the US changes over to metric I hope we change the TIME designations also ... instead of Years ( Like in 68 years Old ) I would be only 42 kilo-yrs . instead of 68 years 8 months , I would be 42 kilo-yrs , 5 cm-ths .. wow , now that sounds like something I could live with

 

[AJ]

Looks like some people on this forum don't have anything real to do. I fear I might be one of them!

 

[peregrina2000]

I think much better in km's myself. now those degrees C, well the fahrenheit, system is pretty good, because 0 is just too cold. and 100 is just too hot.

For some reason, like some of the other posters, I've gotten to the point that I don't even translate kms and kilos/grams into miles and pounds/ounces, but centigrade is much harder for me. For years I've relied on the following two pairs of degree correspondence to help me through. 16 centigrade is 61 F, and 28 centigrade is 82 F. From there I go up and down and muddle through.

 

[Saint Mike II]

indeed my allotment is 10 rod or to those outside the allotment world here in the uk about 250sq meters, I was told by a fellow gardener the way they measure a rod/perch etc is reputedly the distance from the back of the plough to the nose of the oxen..

So where are you going to get a single furrow plough and 1 oxen? But don't worry about your allotment our "deep north" state of Queensland still measures domestic house blocks in "perches" - which I think is around 5.3 square metres, whil the rest of the county converted to "just" square metres about 10-15-20 years ago. Hope your allotment is productive this summer - nothing tastes better than home grown tomatoes.

 

[Saint Mike II]

For some reason, like some of the other posters, I've gotten to the point that I don't even translate kms and kilos/grams into miles and pounds/ounces, but centigrade is much harder for me. For years I've relied on the following two pairs of degree correspondence to help me through. 16 centigrade is 61 F, and 28 centigrade is 82 F. From there I go up and down and muddle through.

To add to your vast knowledge (sincerely) - 30C = 86F. But if your are in Minnesota on a warm January morning -40C = -40F. Cheers

 

[WycombeMan]

So where are you going to get a single furrow plough and 1 oxen? But don't worry about your allotment our "deep north" state of Queensland still measures domestic house blocks in "perches" - which I think is around 5.3 square metres, whil the rest of the county converted to "just" square metres about 10-15-20 years ago. Hope your allotment is productive this summer - nothing tastes better than home grown tomatoes.

I like how we measure differently its what makes our countries/regions etc unique, Well i'm leaving my allotment in the capable hands of my Father and Sister(and my collie) as i'm away for at least 3 months on the Camino and some travelling down to Portugal afterwards , so hopefully I will be home just in time to start pickling and preserving with most of the hard work all done for me...

 

[Pelegrin]

In Galicia we have the "ferrado". A ferrado is variable between 400 and 600 square metres, depending on the places.

Farmers use almost always "ferrados" instead of square metres when speaking about the surface of their fields. Actually many of them don't even know their surface in square metres.

 

[tploomis]

The United States was planning to go metric in the 70's when Jimmy Carter was President. I remember practicing thinking in metric in preparation for the conversion. That all got stopped when Ronald Reagan was elected. Of course the scientific community in the US uses the metric system exclusively. When we were preparing to convert to metric, I remember having a hard time guessing air temperature in centigrade, until somebody explained that 30 degrees C. was "pretty hot" and 20 degrees C. was "kind of cool." Then it all made sense!

 

[Cambridge Pilgrim]

For some reason, like some of the other posters, I've gotten to the point that I don't even translate kms and kilos/grams into miles and pounds/ounces, but centigrade is much harder for me. For years I've relied on the following two pairs of degree correspondence to help me through. 16 centigrade is 61 F, and 28 centigrade is 82 F. From there I go up and down and muddle through.

Well I'm English and a physicist by degree so am happy to work in F or C.... or even K if needs be... but it's definitely "got" and not "gotten" over here!

"Got" is imperial. Multiply by "ten" for US.

All is forgiven though for pointing out your excellent mode of conversion; fine parameters for a basis of muddling through and ones that I shall definitively adopt!

 

[Jamilla's mum]

Rough conversion - Centigrade to Farenheit - you can do in your head: double the figure and add 30. This works to within a degree or two within the 'weather' range of temperatures.

 

[Patch]

We went metric in 1970 for measurements and 1971 decimalisation for our currency. Never have any problem with any of it metric, pound shillings and pence, kg pounds etc. But....great sadness that we have lost a link with our past that went back 2000 years.
Sorry, I am from the UK where we drive on the left as well (well at the moment anyhow).

 

[freescot]

If "Camino" has an opposite, for me it is "IKEA". When I am dragged to Ikea I walk for miles going nowhere, looking for shortcuts. It exhausts me: I long for the great horizons of the Camino.
Why speak of IKEA in this thread - because they have just changed their kitchen range entirely, and are in the process of altering all the sizes on their cheap "Billy" range of bookshelves - and why? Well, so I believe, it is because they want to globalise their measurements according to the IKEA fans page (http://www.ikeafans.com/forums/kitchen-planning/63602-metod-replacing-akurum-too-3.html). "It's my understanding that the reason
we got Akuruminstead of Faktum in Canada was to help spread out Ikea' cost of producing cabinets with imperial measurements for the US market, even though we've been metric for over 35 years.
Hopefully Metod will be truly international."
So thanks you all for reminding us of furlongs and rods and nautical miles which take my thoughts far away from IKEA. By the way, the Via de La Plata is still marked by mile posts in many places - Roman miles - a bit short of a UK mile, but familiar territory for the Brits.

 

[Patch]

Just to add my little bit;-) its not a UK mile but an imperial one as the Scottish, Irish and English are all different - just so happens that the English mile is the same as the imperial one.
Thanks for supporting the Brits about their long held belief that the UK is not part of Europe.

 

[Former member 19626]

Really?? I did not know that!

 

[Saint Mike II]

I think the "mille (sic)" on the VDLP were around 1461 metres - so about 150 metres shorter than the standard miles (5280 ft / 1760 yards / 1609 metres). Buen Camino

 

[ManyMiles2Go]

I think the confusion of the conversion really helped my wife last year when we walked the camino. If she was having a rough day of walking, I would tell her "Well we already walked 20 km today and only have 5 miles to go". I don't think she ever caught on, and it helped her keep going

 

[Patch]

The USA had a different length mile as well and it only adopted the imperial one in 1959 on a treaty that standardised miles and lbs (but not the gallon which is different to this day). The old USA mile is still in use and is referred to as a survey mile ( not 100% sure if the name is correct though) - I guess changing all the maps was to be expensive.

 

[Rambler]

Sorry, I am from the UK where we drive on the left as well (well at the moment anyhow).

And our commonwealth colleagues are complaining about US not getting with the program!!!

Rambler
Not budging an inch...

 

[rector]

And our commonwealth colleagues are complaining about US not getting with the program!!!

Rambler
Not budging an inch...

Not budging 25.4mm

 

[Saint Mike II]

And our commonwealth colleagues are complaining about US not getting with the program!!!

Only the UK based ones - the rest of us - India/NZ/Canada/Aust are all fully metricated. Those in the "old dart" have to have a foot in each camp. Under EU rules their road speed signs are in both Miles and KMs; their food scales (in delis/butchers etc) are in both lbs and kilos. AND!. I understand you can now import a "left-hand" drive car, you just have to drive on the left hand side of the road!! Keep taking those 25.4 mm!!!!

 

[William Marques]

No. Our road signs are solely in mph and direction signs in miles, we let the rest of the continent do what they wish. They have on the other hand won on the food front as all items are sold in kg or litres though as mentioned above some of the sizes are suspiciously similar to old imperial measures and many shops show a cost per lb as well as cost per kg.

 

[Rambler]

Only the UK based ones - the rest of us - India/NZ/Canada/Aust are all fully metricated. AND!. I understand you can now import a "left-hand" drive car, you just have to drive on the left hand side of the road!! Keep taking those 25.4 mm!!!!

Yes, I was referring to the driving on the left and sitting on the right. In Burma, they switched driving lanes for a few years and then switched back so the old buses now let people out into moving traffic!!!

Let's make a deal...When You Brits switch to the "right" side of the road, we Yanks will measure our Cokes in mls, not ounces.

Rambler

 

[Patch]

Reminds me of a Swedish joke about when they swapped from left to right. The car drivers did it on the Friday and the lorry (truck) drivers did it on the Sunday.
Not sure how true this is but supposedly in the early days of cars....Italians drove on one side in the town and the other side in the country!

 

[David]

Let us remember that the metric system came from the French! As an Englishman I need say no more, well, alright then ..... not only from the French but at a particularly weird time in France, the Revolution, when they killed their king and cut the heads off tens of thousands of people. They also introduced the metric system, a ten day week, each day made of ten hours, with 100 minutes in each hour and 100 seconds in each minute - a new 'logical' religion, re-started the calendar at Year One, then they attacked every European country they could think of, including making the extremely foolish mistake of declaring war on England. When the era ended at Waterloo and supposedly normality took over (this is French normality) they banned women from wearing trousers for over two centuries and just a few decades after Waterloo they decided to attack Germany, which was the most armed and war ready country in the world at that time, the late 19th century (apart from Britain of course, but they chose to leave us alone - very sensible, possibly because we told them that we still had longbows stored in our cupboards).

Now - I would remind you that it is they who invented this metric system. Why? I think because at that period they had guillotined all the educated citizens and they were left with counting on their fingers - hence the base of ten .....

now, in civilised countries of the world we use Imperial .. a mile is 1760 yards - to calculate fractions of a mile (remember fractions?) you have to be able to think, to do mental arithmetic .. it leads to brain growth, to a more supple mind - unlike this awful base ten and decimals of ten ..... also, a mile is an exact fraction of the circumference of this planet .. it makes sense, it is the micro of the macro - speed of light is measured in miles, no one speaks it in kms (well, the French might of course).

True, our mistaken membership of the EU has meant that the undemocratic Brussels government has enforced some metric in Britain - but we will soon be out of that mad club and back to being a sovereign nation again (we might even take America back - but not Detroit).

So - why think in miles rather than kms? Because it is correct and civilised thing to do - don't you think?

 

[hampshire!tim]

Let's make a deal...When You Brits switch to the "right" side of the road, we Yanks will measure our Cokes in mls, not ounces.

"We Brits" are very comfortable with fl.oz. - it's mainland Europe who want mls, so we'll stick with the correct side ;-)

 

[Alyssa]

Just to stir up Henry Ford's mob .

I cannot understand how people mention miles to walk each day when every sign they will come across on any camino in France or Spain have distance in km's.

Hey Falcon old mate, do you think they alter the MMDD pages into miles from km's before arriving?

Buen Camino to all

Hey Thornley, great question (and great thread). Although I know it's meant to be "tongue and cheek, I will offer up the following reply including a quote from Wikipedia, which (sadly) speaks to both my experience as a classroom teacher in the U.S. and my own experience growing up in the U.S.:

"Most students [in the U.S.] are taught the metric system in elementary, middle, and high school.[citation needed] ... The metric system is not reinforced much outside the classroom due to lack of popular metric use. Consequently, while students may understand some of the concepts underlying the metric system, they do not necessarily have an intuitive sense of the value of the units."​

For better or worse, I automatically think of distance in terms of miles, height in terms of feet and inches, dry and wet volume quantities (i.e. for baking) in terms of cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons, and temperature in terms of degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, while participating in this forum, I find myself constantly Googling things like, "555 grams to ounces" to get a quick conversion, lol.

Yours truly,
Henry Ford's great-great-great granddaughter, Alyssa

Agreed, American are at a real disadvantage in this area....and nothing is changing, they are still not teaching metrics to kids in school here. I mean there is a chapter in the books about it but it's more to make kids aware there is another way, but the kids don't really have to learn it or even know how to convert it. Thank goodness for conversion calculators or we would all be lost!!

Itsjann, we actually spend a great deal of time teaching metric units and conversions to the students in public schools; see above! : )

Metric is just so much easier. There is no way I would ever want to go back to imperial. Australia converted its currency, weights, measures and temperature ratings when I was a young adult. So I've lived with both. It was one of the good and rather brave things that our politicians did. The only thing I still find slightly difficult is envisaging someone's height when described (usually in police media) in centimetres instead of feet and inches. I know someone at 6 foot is tall, but I'd have to convert that to get the metric equivalent.

What I love about the metric vs. imperial system is that is in base 10, which is much simpler, (in my opinion). However, Greg Grothaus makes a wonderful argument for why using a base 12 system would be even simpler.

May I confuse the issue further by saying that in our part of the world we have clatters and weens both meaning a vague number. These expressions are used by older country folk and there is a debate as to whether a ween is greater than a clatter. If you were asking a country man how far it was to Santiago he would say its a ween of miles down that road and you would only know that it was more than two, but if you were near the border he might tell you that it was a clatter of kilometres down the road in the Irish Republic which might mean, because a kilometre is less than a mile, it is not so far, but that would depend on how big his clatters were. Three weeks from now I will be sleeping in St Jean and heading off for forty days of peace perhaps I will return feeling better!

Rector, you just made my day! I hadn't giggled like a school girl in years. And then I read your post.

As I live in the Asian hemisphere I am aware of these two "little!!??" countries - but I think you missed my point. The US domestic market is far more important to local producers than the international one. I see tools produced in Taiwan, obviously for the US market, that are marked in ft/inches & metres/mm. So I don't think there is going to be a significant change until the rest of the world demands that ALL products; documents; treaties only refer to metric measurements. But I am not holding my breath. Please don't get me wrong - I have family in Ohio - it just the way they think!!

St. Mike, I don't know how accurate the following is but the author(s) of this site stated (and I think it speaks to what you wrote):

"Almost all types of industry in India operate exclusively in metric units. However a handful of industries like the construction and the real estate industry still use both the metric and the Imperial system probably because of their continued reliance on designs originating in the U.S. These will probably complete their conversion to metric when the U.S. does."

​

If I were you Falcon I would be worried you have just said that everyone is wrong. You do know what that is the first sign off?

Rector, if Falcon's Forum username has anything to do with military brevity codes, I suspect he won't be the least bit worried that he just said everyone is wrong!

 

[oursonpolaire]

Obviously, it's habit, but a bit confusing as (e.g., I walked with an Australian pilgrim who said miles, but meant km-- she also called euros dollars). Having grown up just north of the US border and helping out my father in his pharmacy during the dying days of metric, I was greatful that I no longer had to worry about US, imperial, troy, avoirdupois or fluid ounces. Preparing official correpsondence complaining about the metric system in Canada, I discovered that the US had adopted it for 3 years in the 1970s, but then gave up on it and reverted, in most consumer sectors, to their former system. By that time, too many companies had adjusted to metric for a second set of retooling, so much manufacturing in the US is done in metric, but sold in their semi-imperial system. I once had my height measured in metric inches (also known as centimetres).

 

[Saint Mike II]

Let's make a deal...When You Brits switch to the "right" side of the road, we Yanks will measure our Cokes in mls, not ounces.

BUT! I am not British - 5th or 6th generation Australian borne - 3/4 Irish!!

 

[Rambler]

BUT! I am not British - 5th or 6th generation Australian borne - 3/4 Irish!!

I should say that is Brits and colonists that didn't revolt...
You still drive on the wrong side of the road.
Poor Canadians drove left hand drive cars on the right till WWII (so I am told).

Where is my yardstick so I can hit you over the head!
He he...
All in jest. I sit next to an Aussie at work and he is planning a big party for ANZAC day. Vegemite and beer...

Rambler

 

[Rambler]

"We Brits" are very comfortable with fl.oz. - it's mainland Europe who want mls, so we'll stick with the correct side ;-)

I can't win for losing...

Rambler

 

[ksam]

If we couldn't measure it, would distance matter? If we didn't have words to describe distance, would we still have the concept?

We'd probably describe the Camino as a long walk, taking bout a month or more. Or perhaps 1.5 moons!!

 

[bystander]

Trouble with metric - a lot is lost in transalation
viz:
Just a small 3.55ml before you leave
just doesn't sound as inviting as
Just a wee dram afore ye gae !

 

[mspath]

We'd probably describe the Camino as a long walk, taking bout a month or more. Or perhaps 1.5 moons!!

Distance like so much in life is often relative to how it is perceived. As Sir Fred Hoyle noted
“Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight up.”

On a personal level I still (at 75!) mentally "measure" distance walked on the camino by distances I walked or biked long ago as a child. Kindergarten was 1 mile from home, high school 2 miles, and grandma's house just over 12 miles. Hence each camino day I aim "to walk to grandma's".

MM

 

[koilife]

(we might even take America back - but not Detroit).

Only if we get to speak with cool accents! And get to lift 20 oz pints instead of 16 oz pints. I always thought the US pint was cheated by comparison to the 1/2 litre, until I read this thread and realized that being Imperial was even better!

What I love about the metric vs. imperial system is that is in base 10, which is much simpler, (in my opinion). However, Greg Grothaus makes a wonderful argument for why using a base 12 system would be even simpler.

Personally, I would lobby for use of base 16 hexidecimal so as to align our material world and the digital world, and we can all become cybernetic members of the Borg hive collective mind. Perhaps resistance is futile . . .

 

[koilife]

I think the confusion of the conversion really helped my wife last year when we walked the camino. If she was having a rough day of walking, I would tell her "Well we already walked 20 km today and only have 5 miles to go". I don't think she ever caught on, and it helped her keep going

Vive la difference!

 

[bystander]

"Vive la difference!"
Those damn froggies strike yet again!!

 

[Alyssa]

Personally, I would lobby for use of base 16 hexidecimal so as to align our material world and the digital world, and we can all become cybernetic members of the Borg hive collective mind. Perhaps resistance is futile . . .

Hee hee.

 

[Saint Mike II]

All in jest. I sit next to an Aussie at work and he is planning a big party for ANZAC day. Vegemite and beer...

Rambler

Today is ANZAC Day.
Yes this morning we have already had our "dawn services" - held to mark the time that the first Australian and New Zealand men came ashore on the Gallipoli Penisula in Turkey on 25 April 1915. In Sydney the crowd was over 10,000 (in light rain) whilst in Canberra the crowd was estimated at 36,000. We may be strange to put a yeast extract on our morning toast and we definitely enjoy a beer - but not together.
Thanks for remembering.

Mike

 

[David]

and then there is binary - do you know that there are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

 

[tallrobert]

and then there is binary - do you know that there are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Hilarious!! :-D

 

[Alyssa]

and then there is binary - do you know that there are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Ha ha, you are cracking me up! But wait, I thought there were 11 types of people in binary: those who understand binary, those who don't, and those who don't care. (Is this off-topic? Oh wait, it was a tongue-in-cheek thread anyway!)