Thanks for reminding me of that poem, Joe. My eighth-grade civics
teacher used it to show us how St. Paul's streets were laid out, as
opposed to Minneapolis' grid system. To this day I get lost whenever I
am in St. Paul. In one three block stretch of a perfectly straight
street, without making any turns, right out in front of the capital
building, you can look up at the street signs and it says you are on 3rd
Street for the first block, 4th street for the second block, and 5th
street for the third block. Then as you continue along the same street,
you are now on 7th Avenue.
I go to church in St. Paul every Sunday, but I never, ever deviate from
the same route. If I did I would never find my way home again. I think
this is what the pastor meant when he told us not to stray from the
narrow path, as it leads to wandering in purgatory, otherwise known as
St. Paul.
Please excuse my rant also.
-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe Fjelstad
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] European Union Council Directive 80/181/EEC (Metric
Directive)
This is has been a sore spot for me for some years. Actually, the
Metric
Convention was signed in Paris on May 20, 1875 by 17 countries,
including
the USA and we continue to move toward its adoption "inch by inch" ;-)
Actually we have been backsliding and future generation will suffer as
a result,
especially the fields of science and engineering. There is a beauty and
logic to the metric system with interrelated units of measurement rather
than
disparate and arcane units of ancient origins.
The metric system makes sense where all the others are rooted in
nonsense.... furlongs per fortnight? And who can fathom the fathom?
(actually it is
from the old English "faethem" which means
outstretched arms hence the length of the outstretched arms now taken
as 6
feet but it only applies to depth in water [sigh] )
There is a timeless poem by Sam Walter Foss called The Calf Path
(http://www.holyjoe.net/poetry/foss3.htm) that is worth reading and
pondering. This
is especially the case when one thinks about the increasingly outdated
measurement system we continue to cling to in the states like some sort
of
security blanket. Unfortunately, a security blanket won't help when
your
sinking into the fathoms as our children will. And so it goes...
Excuse the rant.
Joe
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