• visiblink@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I’m a Canadian who started school when the change happened. Grade two, 1977: new rulers!

    I think it’s fair to say that we all ended up hybridized. Some things I measure intuitively in metric, others in imperial.

    People’s height? feet and inches.

    Grocery weights? pounds. If it’s in Kilograms, I quickly convert it.

    Grocery volumes (Milk, dairy products, shampoo, basically anything purchased in a container)? litres.

    Gasoline? Gallons or litres. Either is fine. But fuel economy is mpg.

    Temperature? Celsius outdoors, Fahrenheit indoors. We had an old thermostat when I was growing up.

    Carpentry measurements? Inches.

    Wrenches? whatever fits!

    Distances? It took a long time, probably fifteen years, but at some point, I stopped converting kilometres to miles. Now I just think in kilometres.

    • grue@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      > Grocery volumes (Milk, dairy products, shampoo, basically anything purchased in a container)? litres.

      Meanwhile, here in the US, we’ve got soda in liters but milk in gallons. Udder madness!

      > Carpentry measurements? Inches.

      It amuses me that in metric countries, construction materials like plywood are often standardized to strange non-rounded measurements like 1220 x 2440 x 13mm because it’s actually just 4’ x 8’ x 1/2" in disguise.

      > Wrenches? whatever fits!

      Interestingly, I can’t remember the last time I needed SAE wrenches. Even my old '96 Ford Ranger is metric, I think.

      • bpm@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

        Cars have been all metric since the mid-80s IIRC, to better standardise them for international sales. The Ranger was really a Mazda B-series, so it’s definitely metric.