Send Parents Back to School
I was at an event yesterday for someone running for school board. Most of the other people there were parents of young children. At one point some of them were talking about birth weight of their children, and some of them were decimalizing (for lack of a better word) the weight. Worse, I think they were putting the ounces in full after the decimal place. 8.11 pounds would mean 8 pounds 1.76 ounces in my view of the world (I think there are 16 ounces in a pound), but I think they really meant 8 pounds 11 ounces. It is taking a flawed system and making it even worse.
I have finally started reading "The World is Flat" Thomas Friedman mentions a few times that having standard protocols (mainly for computers) has been important part of flattening the world. I keep hoping that he will come back and say "this is why America needs to move to SI*" but he hasn't so far.
-- Andy
*Système International d'Unités
I have finally started reading "The World is Flat" Thomas Friedman mentions a few times that having standard protocols (mainly for computers) has been important part of flattening the world. I keep hoping that he will come back and say "this is why America needs to move to SI*" but he hasn't so far.
-- Andy
*Système International d'Unités
posted by Andy Weaver at 21:34
2 Comments:
Just happened across your blog and had to comment…the pounds ounces thing made me laugh. I hear people do that all the time.
I wanted to say I completely agree about the train system. We have been using Amtrak heavily for the past year and it is really an underrated way to go. I am traveling with small children, and it is so much better. It’s cheaper, more convenient, more efficient…the list goes on…than air travel. Plus you really get to meet some interesting people.
I constantly reel about our inability to plan ahead as a nation, especially when it comes to our dependence on oil/gas.
(oh, I teach in a rural area, and the septic tank well thing is a complete necessity. While most of us may live in more urban/suburban areas, most of the country is still pretty rural. You can see it just by traveling on a train for any distance. I am afraid rid-X is here to stay)
Thank you for your wonderful comments.
I wanted to expand on the discussion of Rid-X just briefly.
I agree that in rural areas septic tanks are how waste water is treated. My concern is that if it is showing up in TV ads in a very urban area like DC, then maybe their audience is shifting. My fear is that sprawl, rather than true rural life, could be increasing the septic tank business.
I know that sometimes cities and towns do not want to expand their sewer system out to the newest subdivision. Expanding a sewer system is a costly proposal. It is one of those factors, which can make new development cost a city more than they will bring in from the increased property tax revenue.
If developers (of sprawl)are saying "don't worry about that cost, we will just install septic tanks" then I am concerned.
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