Text 16398, 59 rader
Skriven 2008-11-14 06:42:58 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: CELCIUS 81113
=====================
GJ> What is good in a system which uses different portions of a 
GJ> dead king's anatomy as measurement standards?  

Hahahaha, silly Glen.  We don't use "imperial" measurements.  We
use "US" measurements.  No Kings were harmed in the formation of
our ounces.

DS> In the meantime, cups and quarts and bushels and pecks are
DS> just fine with me.
 
GJ> Maybe, but you are of an older generation, who has had to learn all
GJ> those achaic measures, and now want to justify that learning. 

We still teach real measurements in school, where our kids aren't too 
lazy to learn more than one system.

DS> It would cost average Joes millions of dollars, because the bastards
DS> would round everything up.
 
GJ> The way around that, which works, is to round totals to the nearest 5
GJ> cents.  The cash register does it automagically.  In fact, Joe can make
GJ> a small gain if he wishes.  Shelf prices are shown as, "$2.99" each, so
GJ> if Joe buys 2 of them, the $5.98 total is rounded to $6.00 and he would
GJ> lose 2c.  Otoh, if he buys 3 of 'em, the $8.97 is rounded to $8.95 and
GJ> he comes out 2c to the better.  In practice, very few people bother to
GJ> do that, over a mere 2c per total purchase.

In the US, $8.97 would get rounded UP to $9.00 - consumers would
WANT to round down, but businesses and tax collectors etc. would
universally round UP.  You can call it a "mere" 2c per total 
purchase if you want, but that's just a lawyerly red herring to
distract from the real issue, which is: Multiply that 2c by a few
million transactions, and Average Joe is out millions of dollars.

Do you ever get headaches from those rose-colored glasses?

-> BTW, recently, in the Portugese town of Evora, I came across a simple
-> device which I have not seen elsewhere, but deserves to be used
-> everywhere that people eat olives.  The local potters make olive bowls,
-> which are shallow bowls, pear shaped in plan, with a division between
-> the smaller end and the larger part, so that the two compartments are
-> in the ratio 4:1.  Their application is immediately obvious, as olives
-> are put in the larger section, and the stones put back in the small
-> part.  In an olive-eating society, that solves the problem of what to
-> do with your stones.  If you have any potter friends, they might be
-> interested in making some, which would make ideal Christmas gifts.

It is traditional in America to stealthily secret one's olive stones
in the host's houseplants, atop tall furniture, beneath uneaten
vegetables, &c.

---
http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/ - Dave's Cupboard - Food and 
Restaurant Reviews; If I post it here in NCE, you'll find it 
blogged with photos at Dave's Cupboard.

http://bacon-labels.blogspot.com/ - A gallery of bacon package labels.
(The extra shelf in Dave's Cupboard.
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)