Dates send me crazy

[Nebr.cruiser]

Double the Centigrade and add 30. It's only rough, but gives you a quick idea.

 

Thanks! I've heard this before; need to write it down.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I finally worked this out. Rather than doing the 5/9 (or is it 9/5) plus or minus 32 :eek:....I just remember

 

0 C = 32 F and each 10 degrees C is then 18 degrees F, so 50, 68, 86, 104.....and it's easy to figure within a degree when the C is somewhere between the 10 degrees.

 

FYI, -40 C and -40 F is the same temperature and I don't care to experience either!!! :D

 

Great way to figure it, but I'll never remember it!

[Erik101]

I find this thread quite comical! Maybe it's because I'm one of the handful of Americans who understands the metric and measurement systems not commonly used in the States. I view the temperature in Celsius, I prefer to have the clocks in military time and I look at my weight in kilograms. It's not that difficult to understand!

 

And in my opinion, having the day first, followed by the month and year is more accurate than stating the month first then day. I mean, we're always asking ourselves what the day is. We never ask ourselves what month it is and if you constantly do, then you have a bigger problem! :p

[michmike]

seems to me when I was in the US military back in the late 60s (rice paddies anyone?) they standardly did the 2 July 1968 thing. Not sure if that is still the case these days.

[LHT28]

There you go--now if I can just remember that! I have figured out that somewhere in the 20C-30C is pretty nice.

 

But I like fahrenheit--much more detailed gradiations as to temp. Of course, that's what I grew up with. I do understand the logic behind Celcius, but each degree has such a large temperature gradiet from the one before.

I grew up with Fahrenheit as well so when Canada went Metric it was & still is a challenge for me :D

 

I deal in pounds & ounces as well as Fahrenheit ..I have to go online & check the conversions sometimes;)

[calliopecruiser]

For a lot of Canadians of "a certain age" who went through the transition, there are still some things that they use Imperial units and some things they use metric units for. My own body dimensions, for instance, I think of in pounds and feet/inches, but the weight of things at work I think of in kilos and metres/centimetres (since I grew up in Imperial but went to university in metric). Temperature is usually in Celsius, and because my father was a pilot, I prefer a 24h clock.

[bus man]

I have been in North America a long time, but the numerical writing of a date over here still sends me crazy. Quick what day is 02/02/02?

I was always tought smallest first, Day/Month/Year. So simple.

Over the course of the past 12 months I have been told which number to put into which box, and I have every combination presented to me.

Can't wait for 12/12/12.:)

 

john

 

Your example is too easy. 02/02/02 is February 2, 2002, no matter what system you're using.

 

But I'm totally with you on this; writing dates with just numbers is just asking for trouble. For example, what date is 07/08/09?

 

July 8, 2009

7 August 2009

2007 August 9

 

I suppose it's all what you're used to. For me, it would be the one in July; but other people would come to different conclusions. That's why I always just write out the whole thing.

 

On a related matter, I hope the U.S. never shifts from miles to kilometers. Yes, I realize the logic of the base-10 metric system; but when you're traveling at 60 mph, which is a somewhat-normal speed on an interstate highway, you know that you're traveling at the rate of one mile per minute, and it's very easy to convert distance to time. Thus, if you see a sign that says, for example, LAS VEGAS 45, you know right away that you'll be in Sin City in 45 minutes.

[bus man]

For a lot of Canadians of "a certain age" who went through the transition, there are still some things that they use Imperial units and some things they use metric units for. My own body dimensions, for instance, I think of in pounds and feet/inches, but the weight of things at work I think of in kilos and metres/centimetres (since I grew up in Imperial but went to university in metric). Temperature is usually in Celsius, and because my father was a pilot, I prefer a 24h clock.

 

I volunteer teach English as a Second Language, and my students all originated in various Asian countries. Once or twice I've asked them to describe my height and weight. Since they're used to thinking in metric units, they'll almost always tell me that I'm so-and-so meters tall, and weigh such-and-such kilograms. I tell them that this won't work here in America; they have to adjust their thinking to Imperial units, so that they may make themselves understood to the Americans around them.

[John Bull]

 

But I'm totally with you on this; writing dates with just numbers is just asking for trouble. For example, what date is 07/08/09?

 

July 8, 2009

7 August 2009

2007 August 9

 

I suppose it's all what you're used to. For me, it would be the one in July; but other people would come to different conclusions. That's why I always just write out the whole thing.

 

On a related matter, I hope the U.S. never shifts from miles to kilometers. Yes, I realize the logic of the base-10 metric system; but when you're traveling at 60 mph, which is a somewhat-normal speed on an interstate highway, you know that you're traveling at the rate of one mile per minute, and it's very easy to convert distance to time. Thus, if you see a sign that says, for example, LAS VEGAS 45, you know right away that you'll be in Sin City in 45 minutes.

 

Read the thread, but still can't understand the logic of putting the day between month & year.:confused:

 

Other posts about saying out loud "8th July" rather than "August 7th" don't come into it - I'll say it out loud either way but nobody says "8th of 7" or "7 of 8th" :rolleyes:

 

Whatever, it does make life difficult to find a RollCall when someone who starts one uses numbers rather than words.

 

Your logic on 60mph actually works for metric just as well.

60mph is 100 kph, so Vegas is 75k and it'll take you 0.75 hrs/three-quarters of an hour.

 

Now, does anyone want to get started on gallons vs litres? :)

Ooops - before that we need to sort out US gals & imp. gals :D

Then miles to the gallon or kilometers to the litre.:rolleyes:

 

JB :)

[hazeleyez3]

My husband's birthday is April 30th 1977.

 

We went over to Germany last year, and although I already knew it, my husband kept reminding me (over and over) that the dates are written as day/month/year.

 

Once we landed we went over to Budget to pick-up our car. Woman asked for his birthday, to which he said "4/30/77." The lady looked confused. I rolled my eyes, shook my head, and said "he means 30/4/77".

 

I then mocked him (and snickered) all the way to the car..."now remember honey, they say day, month, year. Don't use month, day, year". "Do as the Germans do", etc.

 

My mother is Vietnamese. They have the year first 2012/07/23

My father is French. They have the day first 23/07/2012

I live in the US. We have the month first 07/23/2012

 

This I go a good chuckle out of. You ever get confused and use the French with the Vietnamese or vice versa?

[PennyAgain]

I travel so much that I keep my iPhone, iPad and watch on military time. Yes, I wear a watch when traveling as I can use it in flight when iPad and iPhone have to be turned off.

 

In my company we refer to the current year as 2-12. It started out back in 2-0 and followed up to now. I assume that in 2020, they will just say '20' but I'll be retired by then.

 

I'm fine when at work or talking with co-workers but the wheels fall off the wagen when I'm with other folks.

[fleckle]

Most of you reading this are living in a country where they sell hot dogs in packages of 12 and hot dog buns in packages of 8.

Figure that one out......................................

Oh, that one is very easy to explain.

It was obviously designed for my family where two people like to put their hot dogs in a bun and the third one always eats hot dogs without a bun. :D

[beachbum53]

I am not a mechanic by profession, but rather what many refer to as a "shade tree" mechanic. It can be extremely frustrating at times to work on a car that has been built with both standard AND metric nuts and bolts! "Hmmm. Is that a 10mm nut, or 7/16 ?" I know all of you do-it-yourselfers know what I'm talking about.:) Also, my DW has a heck of a time with "military" time. Her boss often uses this. I've tried many times explaining to her, "If the (time) number is greater than 1200, such as 1400, subtract 1200, and that will give you the standard time, which would be 2:00 p.m. If the number is less than 1200, or has a zero in front of it, such as 0800, the time would be in the a.m. Just drop the front zero. 0800 is 8:00 a.m."

 

And don't even get me started on decimals and fractions!:eek:

[Jimnbigd]

USA is usually mm/dd/yy (or mm-dd-yy). So why is the USA customs form date in dd-mm-yy format. I always seem to mess up when first filling these out the last day of my cruise. Sigh.

By the way, I'm a computer programmer. From a computer viewpoint, yyyy-mm-dd is best, since this can be sorted.

[dobiemom]

Take it the next step and wait for 12:12AM on 12/12/12. ;)

12:12AM military time is 0012. Wait until the afternoon, 1212 military time on 12/12/12. ;)

[Angelatr91]

USA is going to finish ????

[lady_cruiser]

I have been in North America a long time, but the numerical writing of a date over here still sends me crazy. Quick what day is 02/02/02?

I was always tought smallest first, Day/Month/Year. So simple.

Over the course of the past 12 months I have been told which number to put into which box, and I have every combination presented to me.

Can't wait for 12/12/12.:)

 

john

I think of it this way, if someone asks me what day my birth date is I'll say February 26, 1949 - hence the reasoning behind 2/26/49. I won't say my birthday is on the 26th of February in the year 1949:p