So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[LizzieMaine]

I can do all of those except converting lbs to kgs. Anything that involves mathematical calculation of any kind is completely beyond me.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

But think on his: Parents get put in jail sometimes f they let kids go down to the local park. And now they can't have recess at school. And in this era where it's considered child abuse to let kids go and play on their own, can we be shocked that so many are obese? People talk about kids like they all lazy. Some are, no doubt, but can this possibly be a reason why we have generation of kids who are already obese? What options do they have to exercise anymore?

Sadly, kids today seem to depend more on their parents to chauffeur them wherever they need to go because as population increased so has distances. What used to be within easy walking or biking distance when we were kids can now be a major trek, including going to school. Though in recent years I've seen a resurgence of kids riding bikes which seems to coincide with the rise in gas prices when the parents realized that they couldn't afford to drive the kids all over the place anymore like they used to.

 

[p51]

I can do all of those except converting lbs to kgs. Anything that involves mathematical calculation of any kind is completely beyond me.

Yeah, I don't remember that ever being a skill that people were good at.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yeah, I don't remember that ever being a skill that people were good at.

And really, today or thirty years ago, how often did you need to do that anyway?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sadly, kids today seem to depend more on their parents to chauffeur them wherever they need to go because as population increased so has distances. What used to be within easy walking or biking distance when we were kids can now be a major trek, including going to school. Though in recent years I've seen a resurgence of kids riding bikes which seems to coincide with the rise in gas prices when the parents realized that they couldn't afford to drive the kids all over the place anymore like they used to.

Yeah, I never lived any further than three-quarters of a mile from school in all the years of my education, and I always walked or rode a bike. I never knew a single kid, ever, who was driven to school or school functions by a parent. The buses were for kids who lived in the outlying towns of the district -- there was one bus that served in-town, but it was unpopular because it was always the first one in the morning and the last one in the afternoon. If you wanted to take it, you had to get up at 530 AM, and you didn't get home until almost 5PM. That was the administration's passive-aggressive way of saying YOU STUPID KIDS SHOULD BE WALKING.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And really, today or thirty years ago, how often did you need to do that anyway?

I don't think I ever needed to do it. The only things around here that are sold by the kilo are illegal drugs.

 

[Fading Fast]

I don't think I ever needed to do it. The only things around here that are sold by the kilo are illegal drugs.

And you know this how? (Just kidding)

Growing up, for several years in grammar school we were told that "by the time you are adults, we'll have converted to the metric system" so they jammed it down our throats for a few years and then, magically, it stopped. It was - my unstudied hindsight guess - an educational fad for a few years. Anyone know why it took of as an educational fad?

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Yeah, I never lived any further than three-quarters of a mile from school in all the years of my education, and I always walked or rode a bike. I never knew a single kid, ever, who was driven to school or school functions by a parent. The buses were for kids who lived in the outlying towns of the district -- there was one bus that served in-town, but it was unpopular because it was always the first one in the morning and the last one in the afternoon. If you wanted to take it, you had to get up at 530 AM, and you didn't get home until almost 5PM. That was the administration's passive-aggressive way of saying YOU STUPID KIDS SHOULD BE WALKING.

When I attended private school we were bussed to school. Unfortunately I lived right at the beginning of that particular bus route which also made me the last to be dropped off at the end of the day. I had to be ready at 6:00 AM and often didn't get home until 4:00 or 5:00 PM. I later found out that the school was only a twenty minute drive from where we lived! :doh:

And now fast forward to the present. The local school bus stop in my neighborhood is right in front of my house and in the mornings there's a small crowd of kids and their parents congregating on the sidewalk waiting for the bus.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And you know this how? (Just kidding)

Growing up, for several years in grammar school we were told that "by the time you are adults, we'll have converted to the metric system" so they jammed it down our throats for a few years and then, magically, it stopped. It was - my unstudied hindsight guess - an educational fad for a few years. Anyone know why it took of as an educational fad?

Probably as part of the Cold War era emphasis on math and science -- the idea being that metrics were the universal standard in such fields, and we needed to keep up. It didn't explain why we needed to buy cucumbers by the kilo instead of the pound, or measure soda by milliliters rather than ounces, but I suspect that had more to do with "free trade" agendas than anything else.

 

[Fading Fast]

Probably as part of the Cold War era emphasis on math and science -- the idea being that metrics were the universal standard in such fields, and we needed to keep up. It didn't explain why we needed to buy cucumbers by the kilo instead of the pound, or measure soda by milliliters rather than ounces, but I suspect that had more to do with "free trade" agendas than anything else.

It was "so" important for a few years and, then, poof, never heard about it in school again. And today, for whatever reason (could be a trade thing - don't know), we have a mishmash of liters and ounces in soda and water that is uselessly confusing.

And apropos of the thread's theme: it drives me crazy when companies sneak in smaller packaging (12oz very quietly becomes 11oz) at the same price. I don't remember the company, but one CEO had the audacity to say - when a news person cornered him - that they did this to "help our customers" as they knew that money was tight and the company didn't want to raise its prices. One, you did raise your prices. And, two, did you pro-actively tell your customers how "helpful" you were being by advertising "same great price but now with less contents."

If you need to raise your price do so and announce it - have some character, some honesty, some integrity. I am constantly amazed at how businesses and government will tell these blatant lies or try to hide their venal behavior and think it will help them.

On the government side, I recently moved and had to change my address. Instead of just sending a new license or a sticker to put over your old address (which is how it used to be), I was now charged for a new license. But of course, this being the government, I had to go on line to a very clunky website, put in all my information and, then, be told that for "this transaction you need to call." After a series of push one, push two menus, I waited on hold 45 minutes (I know because phones now show you that number) only to have someone take down manually all the info I had already entered. But of course, the website advertised how easy it was to "change your drivers license on line - no hassles" (or something close to that). I changed my address at over 20 places and the only one that was a brutal challenge was the government site.

This breeds the cynicism we were talking about yesterday - business or government - there is no honor, integrity or character. And to add insult to injury, their little tricks and lies become transparent and make them look like bugs scurry when the lights go on.

 

[HudsonHawk]

And you know this how? (Just kidding)

Growing up, for several years in grammar school we were told that "by the time you are adults, we'll have converted to the metric system" so they jammed it down our throats for a few years and then, magically, it stopped. It was - my unstudied hindsight guess - an educational fad for a few years. Anyone know why it took of as an educational fad?

The metric system isn't really a "fad", it's the standard for pretty much the rest of the world. We were told either learn it, or you'll silly in front of the rest of the world. We said "OK, we'll look silly". People take this inordinate pride in sticking by our system, even though most people are pretty ignorant of it and can't tell you how many square feet are in an acre or even what the measurement unit for mass is.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Boys From Marketing discovered in the early sixties that you could sell people thirteen ounces of coffee in a can taller but smaller in diameter than the one they were accustomed to buy containing a full pound, at the same price as a full pound, and it created the illusion of "more for the money" even though it was three ounces less. The success of that bit of psychological manipulation opened the door to many, many others in the decades since.

And the unit of mass is a "slug," a term also used by some to describe a fifty-dollar gold piece and others to describe a token used in some areas to activate a payphone.

As far as measurements go, what I always find confusing is the Imperial quart versus the American quart. I drive a Canadian-made car, which calls for five Imperial quarts of oil in the engine, but when you fill it with five American quarts it isn't enough. I'm always forgetting I need to add a little less than one quart more to top it off.

 

[ingineer]

The liquor industry was quick to change from fifths to 750 ml , that was an instant 1% increase in their profits.
The whole aspect of change is not going to happen in this country when the teachers don't understand it.
OK i'll take off my 37 liter hat and say remember
28.35 grams of prevention is worth 0.454 kilograms of cure.
Well, don't have to worry about Chains and rods and furlongs anymore

 

[Fading Fast]

The metric system isn't really a "fad", it's the standard for pretty much the rest of the world. We were told either learn it, or you'll silly in front of the rest of the world. We said "OK, we'll look silly". People take this inordinate pride in sticking by our system, even though most people are pretty ignorant of it and can't tell you how many square feet are in an acre or even what the measurement unit for mass is.

The fad was the intense pressure to teach it in school for a few years and, then, it completely stopped. I understand that the system itself is the standard for most of the rest of the world. I personally don't care which system we use, but if we, collectively as a country, choose not to switch, which so far we have, then it's one of the perks of being a the world's largest economy - you can do some things your own way.

 

[p51]

I never knew a single kid, ever, who was driven to school or school functions by a parent.

I grew up way out in the middle of nowhere, and the elementary school was 10 miles beyond that. The road we lived on was the diving line between school zones. Our side went to the rural school and across the street they all went to a school in town. I'm glad we went to the school we went to, as it was in a 1920s building. It was a good school and I have fond memories of the place. Middle school stunk as we were bussed to the not-so-desirable portion of town, to a school that was as close to an 'inner city' school as the county had. I wouldn't repeat those three years for any amount of money.

But growing up, we all lived so far in the middle of nowhere, you couldn't ride your bikes to any businesses other than a convenience store, unless you had most of the day to do it. Nobody I knew had any jobs until high school and even then, few did because none of us could afford a car and it was too far to go anywhere else otherwise.

 

[HudsonHawk]

As far as measurements go, what I always find confusing is the Imperial quart versus the American quart. I drive a Canadian-made car, which calls for five Imperial quarts of oil in the engine, but when you fill it with five American quarts it isn't enough. I'm always forgetting I need to add a little less than one quart more to top it off.

Just remember...one US quart is 8 gills and there are 252 quarts in a hogshead.

 

[EliasRDA]

Try where I live its a pretty good distance for most kids to their schools, unlike when I was a kid but then again I didn't live in a rural area then, I was in a small village in new England & my elementary school was there, the jr high a bit further (I could bike to both, walk to the elementary) but my high/trade school was too far to walk (I did it twice when I missed the bus when I was a freshman/sophomore) or bike so I bussed for some of 9th grade when my brother couldn't drive us. We both went to the same school so I was a fresh & he was a sr. But had to bus most of my sophomore yr when my mom couldn't drop me off, but my jr & sr yrs I could drive.

Now for the schools here I don't mind the buses, to an extent. I peeves me off greatly when they wont let a line of cars pass them, I've been in lines 20+ cars long & they'll just poke along. It used to be a law here that they had to let lines pass when it got to 3 or more but they ignored it for the most part. And the other irrating part is when the parents wait in the cars with the kids on nice 60 & 70 degree days, heck I used to walk to school in snow & ice, & when the kid hops out the parent pulls out in front of the bus, at some developments here its 10-15 cars & it holds the bus up.
I hated it & would curse up a storm when I worked a real job with a time clock if I couldn't adjust my schedule to avoid the bus times, now it only irrates me when I have doctors appts, so I usually either schedule them for after 9 or leave a hr early for a 15 mn drive.

Oh well, it could be worse, I could be stuck in Long Island expressway summer weekend sit-in-a-giant-parking-lot traffic headed to the east end. [huh]

 

[Zombie_61]

...And apropos of the thread's theme: it drives me crazy when companies sneak in smaller packaging (12oz very quietly becomes 11oz) at the same price. I don't remember the company, but one CEO had the audacity to say - when a news person cornered him - that they did this to "help our customers" as they knew that money was tight and the company didn't want to raise its prices. One, you did raise your prices. And, two, did you pro-actively tell your customers how "helpful" you were being by advertising "same great price but now with less contents."...

A perfect example of this is bar soap. I don't know anyone who had difficulty handling the traditionally-shaped rectangular bars of soap, but suddenly all of the soap-producing companies started making them curvy and bent and more rounded and explained that they were "ergonomically shaped". Lies. All they did was figure out that they could re-shape them and give their customers at least 25% less soap for the same price.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's why I miss Octagon bar soap. It had no markings, no indentations, no shape at all other than a thick sided rectangular solid that looked like it had been sliced off a huge soap loaf. Probably the last true honest measure soap product, so of course they had to discontinue it.

 

[2jakes]

I rarely go to the major grocery chain stores.

This is a local shoe factory that besides producing their own shoes,
they have various house products which are sold in plain paper.
I usually buy the square soap bars that have the same aroma that my grandmother used to make.
In the surrounding small towns are hardware stores that also cater to products from the past.
From the moment I open the front wooden screen door & I hear the jingling of the little bell on the door
and walk on wooden floors...
I’m back in time.