Text 16378, 108 rader
Skriven 2008-11-13 10:01:30 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Dave Sacerdote
Ärende: CELCIUS 81113
=====================
 -=> Quoting Dave Sacerdote to Glen Jamieson <=-

 GJ> Do you ever feel under pressure from all your surrounding 
 GJ> countries to return to the idea of sensible metrication?  
 DS> No.
 DS> Take a look at our packaging sometime.  Everything is already
 DS> marked in metric.  We have the best of both worlds.

What is good in a system which uses different portions of a dead king's
anatomy as measurement standards?  Ask any young Canuk if they wanted
to learn conversions of Imperial miles, ounces and pints.
 
 GJ> You may wish to raise that point with your new government.
 DS> President Obama is going to have his hands full undoing the

So far, so good.  Ask him a few years down the track.  The metricated
rest of world is on his side, and could offer to assist.

 DS> In the meantime, cups and quarts and bushels and pecks are
 DS> just fine with me.

Maybe, but you are of an older generation, who has had to learn all
those achaic measures, and now want to justify that learning.  It is
unfair, however, making young kids waste time learning those units, and
how to convert one to another, when a much simpler system exists.


 GJ> (While you are about it, you could get
 GJ> rid of that useless 1 cent coin and go to 5 cents rounding up and down.
 GJ> Just think how much time that would save!)

 DS> It would cost average Joes millions of dollars, because the bastards
 DS> would round everything up.

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

In the Philippines, when 1 centavo coins were being phased out of
circulation, as the cost of aluminium to make them was greater than 1c,
the banks still used them, giving them in change to customer who were
changing foreign money.  On the counter, near the tellers, a charity
collection box was placed, where the otherwise useless coins could be
left and fed back to the bank in exchange for useful stuff.  Hopefully
the charity was genuine.

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.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Assam Pedas Tenggiri
 Categories: Malay, Central dis, Fish, Curry
      Yield: 4 servings
 
    500 g  Mackerel, sliced and
           ; seasoned to taste with
           ; salt and pepper
      2    Stalks lemongrass;
      2    Sprigs polygonum
           ;(daun kesom)
    1/2 ts Maggi belacan granules
    1/2 c  Tamarind juice
           -; (A) pound finely
     12    Red chillies; >15
     10    Shallots
      2    Cloves garlic
      1    Fresh tumeric, 1.5cm
           -; Seasoning
           Salt
           Sugar; to taste
           Dash of pepper
           -; Garnishing
      1    Bunga kantan; sliced thinly
 
  Deep fry fish in hot oil until lightly brown. Remove fish and drain
  well. Leave two to three tablespoons of oil in the pan. Add lemon
  grass and ground ingredients. Fry until aromatic.
  
  Add daun kesom and tamarind juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat
  and simmer for five minutes. Add seasoning and fish.
  
  Simmer until gravy is according to desired thickness. Scoop into a
  serving bowl and garnish.
  
  Serve hot with rice.
  
  Recipe by Amy Beh
 
MMMMM
 

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)