"Bob Bain" wrote in message
...
| On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 09:49:05 +0000 (UTC), "parr\(*"
| wrote in message id
| :
|
| Mistake No. 2:
| In North America, the # (hash) symbol means pounds weight. We
write
| 18 lbs,they write 18#. So you asked them to say 'under 18 lbs'.
|
| But they shouldn't should they ? Perusing the net I discover that
| Canada is a "metric country" which is seemingly disputed at:-
|
| http://members.shaw.ca/gw.peterson/metrication.html

Canada is as metric as Oz. However, Canada is part of North America
too. Which means that they (excluding Quebeckers) have adopted
almost all of their southern neighbour's computer standards.

| In Canada's case I would suggest that the answer might be
| "francophobia"

I suggest you go to Canada's capital, Ottawa/Hull, and shout this
loudly on both sides of the Ottawa river.

| "In January 1983 two Toronto gas station owners, Jack Halpert and
Ray
| Christianson, were charged under the Weights and Measures Act for

Last month, someone was prosecuted in the UK for using old lbs/oz
scales for their sales. And so they should be. Such scales can not
be tested anymore with standard test weights. Mid you, they decided
to make an example of themselves for some reason. There are many
small businesses, especially farm shops, who still use such scales.
And even supermarkets still show prices in lbs as well as kilos, and
sell minced beef by the 458 grammes.

| It's also a multi-lingual country BUT there are people known to
| censor out the French from packets of cornflakes on the basis it
that
| it might corrupt their children.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, there was great sadness when HP sauce (HP
= Hpuses of Parliament = Big Ben) lost its French description of the
sauce (".. un melange des fruits et des epices.." I seem to
remember).

| Australia however changed to metric currency from pounds
| shillings and pence and the country still
| has ties with the "old country" so the currency symbol is very
| familiar. An Australian dollar is effectively 10 shillings and 20
| shillings (10 cent pieces) still make a pound (two Australian
| dollars). A five cent piece isn't a nickel. It's sixpence.

Dreamtime stuff. An Australian Dollar is worth about 40 UK pence,
theoretically eight bob in old parlance, but if fact equivalent to
about a pre-decimal tanner, or sixpence if you must.

And talking of dreamtime, prices are still shown as Aus $9.99, etc
despite the cent having died the death and all sales totals being
rounded to the nearest 5 cents.

| One day (real soon now) the United States of America being almost
the
| only country in the world not to contemplate metrication (apart
from
| the currency)

Unknown to you, the USA have been toying with metrication for
decades. And toying is an apt description. And they never did
metricate their currency, they adopted a decimal currency yet still
call their cents 'pennies'.

--
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