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 This is especially the case when one thinks about the increasingly outdated measurement system we continue to cling to in the states like some sort of security blanket.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 **************Why pay full price? Check out this month's deals on the new AOL Shopping. (http://shopping.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntinstor00000001) --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------