Brexit - was it worth it? (Vol. 2)

[loafer123]

Stolen from Reddit;

[Mortarboard]

jsf said:

No its not.

1 thou is simply 1/1000 of an inch. 0.001"

A mil is one thou of thickness.



M.

[anonymous-user]

Tell a machinist you want one mil clearance when you mean one thou and it's going to be a tad sloppy.

[Mortarboard]

jsf said:

Tell a machinist you want one mil clearance when you mean one thou and it's going to be a tad sloppy.

Like these machinists?
https://ludeca.com/blog/alignment/8332/is-a-mil-or...

M.

[paul0843]

skwdenyer said:

paul0843 said:

Just been speaking to a friend of mine who was at the Southampton boat show.
Apparently now that we are outside of Europe,we can keep a boat in Europe without paying the vat.
Where he was looking at buying a £7-£800k boat,all of a sudden he is looking at £1m boats.
Must admit if your in that world it’s definitely a benefit,and the 1st one I have seen.
All the others constantly being quoted about self governance etc are just a load of boxxocks IMO.
Paul

I'm sure your friend, if well-off enough to look at a £1m boat, has done his homework. But quite how he is intending to buy a boat and not pay VAT on it I'd love to hear.

Many boats advertised vat paid or vat not paid.
Apparently a bit of paperwork to be sorted,but definitely as a uk tax payer you can keep a vat free boat in European waters.

[anonymous-user]

Mortarboard said:

Like these machinists?
https://ludeca.com/blog/alignment/8332/is-a-mil-or...

M.

Enjoy your sloppy fitting UK machined parts.

[FazerBoy]

loafer123 said:

Stolen from Reddit;

Very good!

[Tuna]

skwdenyer said:

Tuna said:

Ahonen said:

Oilchange said:

Interesting you mention an Americans feelings on Brexit.

Ask any American if they would vote to join an organisation like the EU with all its Commission and laws and stuff and they'd run a mile. Actually they'd run several and probably drop dead from exhaustion.

Arguably they are already in one. A collection of states, each with their own local laws, with a flag containing one star for each of them...

The notable difference is the Federal State has central control over taxation, and the individual members have maintained the right to bear arms - which is specifically about the right to oppose "the Feds" (theoretical, of course, but there's a reason American's cling to their guns). The relationship between individual states in the US and the USA as a whole is an entire world away from the relationship between the EU members and the EC.

Of course, there are people who see the superficial resemblance, and ask silly questions like "Why can't we be like that"

I don't see it as especially silly to wonder what the benefits of a more federal Europe might be. Why do you think it silly?

If you don't understand how deep the structural differences go, you're not going to understand the problems with implementing Federalisation in a post-hoc manner for a collection of modern countries.

Sure, you can expound the benefits of a united planet, but that doesn't mean it's practically realisable, or even ultimately desirable.

[Earthdweller]

Yet the French still sell wine by the “bottle” not by the litre

A “bottle” being enough to serve two people and an old imperial measurement of a “fifth” of a gallon

And when you see a ruler used by kids all over the metric world it’s not a metre long it’s a foot long

Horses are still measured in hands not metres

Etc

[Mortarboard]

And probably no more than coincidence, metric ton and "long" ton actually almost the same (1.6% difference)

But don't get me started on the US gallon.

M.

[jurbie]

loafer123 said:

Stolen from Reddit;

The bit on temperature isn't entirely accurate. There should be options for "Is it cold? - Celsius, Is it hot? - Fahrenheit".

[Iminquarantine]

Earthdweller said:

Yet the French still sell wine by the “bottle” not by the litre

A “bottle” being enough to serve two people and an old imperial measurement of a “fifth” of a gallon

And when you see a ruler used by kids all over the metric world it’s not a metre long it’s a foot long

Horses are still measured in hands not metres

Etc

The 750mL standard bottle size approximates a fifth, but it isn't a fifth, it's 750mL. For historical reasons it may be that amount, but most people have no idea what a fifth is, but know what 750mL is.

Meter long rulers aren't particularly practical; I have a couple but it isn't the first thing I would pull out if I was trying to draw a straight line on a piece of paper.

Horses.... well I had to look that up but it looks like the hand of 4 feet is used mostly in English speaking countries, with centimetres being commonly used and compulsory in competitions run by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.

Imperial units suck. I've had to do calculations with them in the past. It's confirmed, they suck.

[Sway]

They have their place. Being wholly divisible by 2/4/6 instead of 2/5 is handy at times.

Building materials, whilst sold in mm, are essentially still rooted heavily in imperial bases.

Giving retailers a choice of units to use is a commercial decision - if it's bloody awkward, they won't do it.

[Tuna]

Sway said:

Giving retailers a choice of units to use is a commercial decision - if it's bloody awkward, they won't do it.

Indeed. It's not a mandate, and metric units still exist. Amazing how upset some people are about relaxing a few rules.

[Murph7355]

Tuna said:

Sway said:

Giving retailers a choice of units to use is a commercial decision - if it's bloody awkward, they won't do it.

Indeed. It's not a mandate, and metric units still exist. Amazing how upset some people are about relaxing a few rules.

I suspect an equal and opposite number to those who got upset when the EU rules came in

Politicians playing games.

[Iminquarantine]

Sway said:

They have their place. Being wholly divisible by 2/4/6 instead of 2/5 is handy at times.

10 is wholly divisible by 2. For 4 and 6. Only some imperial measurements are. There is no easily divisible number of pounds in a stone. The number of fluid ounces in a pint is not even consistent between the UK and US; the fluid ounces themselves are a different size. There is no useful number of pounds in a hundredweight and it isn't 100 anyway. I doubt anybody could divide the number of feet or yards in a mile by 2, 4 or 6 without thinking hard about it.

This rather funny Brexit dividend (which was possible anyway) will only appeal to geriatrics and Reece-Mogg.

I actually think we should ditch decimal currency and go back to pounds, shillings and pence for more laughs. We would have to issue new pounds, so 1 new pound is like 20 current pounds and 1 shilling would be like £1 now. This would be great laughs.

[don'tbesilly]

Tuna said:

Sway said:

Giving retailers a choice of units to use is a commercial decision - if it's bloody awkward, they won't do it.

Indeed. It's not a mandate, and metric units still exist. Amazing how upset some people are about relaxing a few rules.

[Sway]

Iminquarantine said:

Sway said:

They have their place. Being wholly divisible by 2/4/6 instead of 2/5 is handy at times.

10 is wholly divisible by 2. For 4 and 6. Only some imperial measurements are. There is no easily divisible number of pounds in a stone. The number of fluid ounces in a pint is not even consistent between the UK and US; the fluid ounces themselves are a different size. There is no useful number of pounds in a hundredweight and it isn't 100 anyway. I doubt anybody could divide the number of feet or yards in a mile by 2, 4 or 6 without thinking hard about it.

This rather funny Brexit dividend (which was possible anyway) will only appeal to geriatrics and Reece-Mogg.

I actually think we should ditch decimal currency and go back to pounds, shillings and pence for more laughs. We would have to issue new pounds, so 1 new pound is like 20 current pounds and 1 shilling would be like £1 now. This would be great laughs.

I know 10 is divisible by 2 (and also 5) - I specifically refer to that.

The imperial measures which have stood the test of time are divisible by 2/4/6. Stones divide by 2 and 7, the same number of factors as 10.

I really don't see why adding flexibility is a bad thing. I'm 39, but work in feet/inches for 'large' building stuff (1/8" is fine for most tolerances), swapping seamlessly to mm for fine work. Timber is much easier to 'handle' in feet/inches, having to convert from awkward mm planed/rough measurements.

I measure height in feet/inches, weight in kgs apart from cooking where it's mostly lb/oz. I travel in miles and feet (altitude).

[Iminquarantine]

Sway said:

Stones divide by 2 and 7, the same number of factors as 10.

The number of convenient factors ends there with stones. 10kg divides into integer numbers of kilograms with 2 and 5. But then you could divide it by 10, 50, 500, 20, 200 or multiple it by 200,000 or 50 and it would still be a simple calculation which would have you giving the answer in kg, tonnes or grams in seconds.

You will be giving up and using Google to give you the answer in imperial units.

[Sway]

Iminquarantine said:

Sway said:

Stones divide by 2 and 7, the same number of factors as 10.

The number of convenient factors ends there with stones. 10kg divides into integer numbers of kilograms with 2 and 5. But then you could divide it by 10, 50, 500, 20, 200 or multiple it by 200,000 or 50 and it would still be a simple calculation which would have you giving the answer in kg, tonnes or grams in seconds.

You will be giving up and using Google to give you the answer in imperial units.

I get that - I made it clear I swap between imperial and metric routinely, seamlessly where necessary to swap 'half way', and wholly in one system or another depending on what's being measured.

As I say, in some contexts imperial is easier. Others (the majority), metric. Having the choice for either to be the 'lead' measure, but entirely at the choice of the retailer (and therefore market) is hardly a bad thing however you phrase it.