h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah, but not always.

Quick looks:

One of Ms Stress's NZ cookbooks seems to use tsp, cup etc and I can't find the one that I think is fairly recent.

In the larder, one product's recipe was decimal, another imperial (same manufacturer name).
Most do seem to be imperial. A couple are mixed - 1 tablespoon of this... 500ml of that.

Ah. correct my last >>A couple are mixed - 1 tablespoon of this... 500ml of that.<<

Just had a thought & checked the kitchen measures -
A teaspoon is 5ml ... cup is 240ml. So, not so strange in these examples.

Which begs the question: where did those measures originate?

I was watching Annabel Langbein on Saturday, and she was definitely in her cups.

Also, you only get 4/5ths of a pint in the pub.

RF

but in most metric countries you get the screw thing - even here in efficient Germanland. And we also use tbsp/tsp etc alongside metric measurements.

You can also go to, say, the butcher, and get a pfund (pound) of mince. Sometimes it's 450gr and sometimes it's 500gr - but you pay in kilos anyway...

That seems curious, Sho - when did Germany go metric and what was it before?

I think it went Metric at the time the rest of Europe did? Round about Napoleon time?

No idea...

Hmf.

You can say that again!

Mixed measures -- sounds like a divide and conquer technique to me, to bring down civilization! Particularly the short measures on ...

21:00 and a fairly clear night - at least in the area of the path I'd expect to see Orion.

No Orion. I really must look it up...

No, don't tell me. Wrong thinking again, dammit. Realisation came while attending to a call ten mins agor ago.

He's there, 05:50, closer to North & higher.

please, no agor

Did you get that quake at about 04:30?

Things falling off things, drawers opening, and breathing short. It'll be interesting to read about it.

then a few little ones,then a mild one about 04:40, afew little ones and another mild one about 04:55.

(all times approximate) 05:15, 05:25 another one or two then 06:15.

In between times there were quite a few littler ones, some of which I may have imagined - but maybe not, as Stillapup didn't settle at all. Nessun Dorma.

(Stillapup is definitely Ms Stress's dog, but she came to me for reassurance...)

Another at 07:07, perhaps a bit stronger than the previous little ones.
Stillapup yapped seconds before I felt it.


Oh, shut up, Rod.

No sign of it here in Wellington.

RF

Napoleon forced Germany to go metric. Before that we had Heller, Batzen, Taler, Kreuzer, Gulden :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreuzer#South_Germany_1837.E2.80.931873

We had miles and Zoll (inches, which is still a valid measure for some things), foot and Ellen (cubit) - and so on.

Blimey, Bel and we thought imperial was a mess!