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Do you ever learn something that has puzzled you for years, resulting in that eureka moment ?

Well......sometime ago I discovered that two ply tissue that becomes misaligned can be sorted out by taking one layer and unwinding it until the perforations realign.

No big deal you may think , but I was also over the moon when Lars said that putting kitchen roll on the plate before your toast stops the toast sweating and making it soggy.

Now.....I want to know why it is more uncomfortable when hot weather combines with high humidity ?

Give me another eureka moment please.

Take a body at a healthy temperature.

Assume hot weather makes everything around the body become warmer than the body.

The body is using energy and it's going to get naturally hotter of its own accord, but there's nowhere for this internal heat to go. The body will overheat.

Except, the body is wet inside. If the wet coats the skin and lungs then it can evaporate and leave the surface dry again. The surface from which it evaporated will become cooler, and blood passing through will transfer that coolness throughout the body. The body might like a refreshing pint every now and then to make up the missing liquid, hence summer afternoons being better spent at a pub on a village green watching cricket.

If the wet can't evaporate because the air is already saturated, no cooling happens. The body just stays wet on the outside. Eww. Over-warm wet body. More uncomfortable. People die of this in tropical heatwaves.

I got it.

Just to reiterate.......................on a word budget.

If perspiration is unable to evaporate due to climatic humidity (dampness) the natural process for body cooling (perspiration) doesn't work affectively.

I thought that was the reason, thanks for confirmation.

Trust me - the temp & humidity is horrible.

strange to explain - but it makes you come out of your skin.:wah:

I have @ 3 more weeks of this heat & humidity.

Patsy

OK - next question

Bruv;1500360 wrote: I got it.

Just to reiterate.......................on a word budget.

If perspiration is unable to evaporate due to climatic humidity (dampness) the natural process for body cooling (perspiration) doesn't work effectively.

I thought that was the reason, thanks for confirmation.


So, when that is the case, one is required to cool the inside by consuming very cold alcoholic beverages, This forces the body heat out through the pores. This has been developed to a fine art in The South.

fascinating.

Always enjoyable to learn new things

Minksy, I doubt very much whether it's is a problem you'll face often, what with living in America's equivalent of Siberia. Your tundra isn't ever warm enough to get you out of your furs.

:driving:Actually studies show that cold liquid is not as good as warmer liquid to cool down. This depends somewhat on the humidity also. I never drink ice water in my home in the desert and if I'm in a restaurant I ask for no ice in my water because it affects digestion. Here is a link to an article:

Science says you should drink hot drinks to cool down in warm weather — Quartz

Really, Patsy? Only 3 more weeks, huh? Ok, I'm counting on you but if it's still triple digits here in the SoCal desert I'll be heading to Phoenix! :-6 :driving:

ZAP;1500372 wrote: if it's still triple digits here in the SoCal desert As a minor interjection of randomly strange questioning, why is it that Americans prefer their local variant of Imperial measurements to Metric?

Zap

It's @ 3 more weeks of the Humidity - we're still triple digits.

Lifetime of heat..:yh_rotfl

Patsy

spot;1500373 wrote: As a minor interjection of randomly strange questioning, why is it that Americans prefer their local variant of Imperial measurements to Metric?


I don't understand metric. If I'm in Mexico I have to convert kilometers to miles, etc. But I now know how much a stone is.

LarsMac;1500362 wrote: So, when that is the case, one is required to cool the inside by consuming very cold alcoholic beverages, This forces the body heat out through the pores. This has been developed to a fine art in The South.


But alcohol is supposed to dehydrate you...............but ....but....thats another question for another day.

ZAP;1500376 wrote: I don't understand metric. If I'm in Mexico I have to convert kilometers to miles, etc. But I now know how much a stone is.


I am of the age that I was taught imperial, but have had to get used to metric, so I don't understand either.

I am also of the age that this hot humid temperatures we have been enjoying in the UK, has nearly laid me out.

I don't like the cold either.

I think I just like to complain.

Bruv;1500379 wrote: I am of the age that I was taught imperial, but have had to get used to metric, so I don't understand either.

I am also of the age that this hot humid temperatures we have been enjoying in the UK, has nearly laid me out.

I don't like the cold either.

I think I just like to complain.


What can I say? Maybe get some cut-off bib overalls and listen to Hayseed Dixie and chill out.

spot;1500373 wrote: As a minor interjection of randomly strange questioning, why is it that Americans prefer their local variant of Imperial measurements to Metric?


Metric, it seems, was somehow tied to Socialism back in the 60s so the effort to convert got torpedoed. We now have quite a confusing mix to deal with. Some things are measured in liters, others in US Gallons and quarts. The occasional Pint creeps in, as well. And pounds are so much easier to figure than Kilograms. And Miles are so much simpler than kilometers.

The projection is that we will be very nearly fully converted in the next century or so.

The key in humid hot weather is the circulation of air around the body. Humidity makes the surrounding air damp.so use a fan and not air con.

Your body temp likes to be between 33 and 38 degrees cel. Humidity doesnt make things hotter but does stop the circulation of air around the skin area of your body.

Tea has a component in it that cools your body. NEVER drink a very hot or very cold drink on hot humid days. Your body automatically works to adjust hot and cold foriegn bodys to its core temperture creating exertion of your body.

Youll notice people in the emerites and indies drink lots of tea.

LarsMac;1500382 wrote: Metric, it seems, was somehow tied to Socialism back in the 60s so the effort to convert got torpedoed. We now have quite a confusing mix to deal with. Some things are measured in liters, others in US Gallons and quarts. The occasional Pint creeps in, as well. And pounds are so much easier to figure than Kilograms. And Miles are so much simpler than kilometers.

The projection is that we will be very nearly fully converted in the next century or so.


Miles and pounds makes no sense to me. A bit like old english and latin

How the connection with socialism ?........It's the paranoia thing again isn't it ?

Anyway it's a litre not a liter, my spell checker tells me I'm wrong......because it's American......but I know I'm right.

An imperial gallon isn't good enough either is it ? You have to have your own.

And the culinary measurement of cups ? Have you standardised cup sizes now ? (no Zee for me.....and it's zed, thanks anyway)

I believe you have your own tonne or is it ton too.

How can imperial be easier than a system based on multiples of ten, which is basically ones with zeros ?

magentaflame;1500383 wrote: Your body temp likes to be between 33 and 38 degrees cel.Your body temperature might. My body temperature prefers to be around 16 degrees Celcius, though I do sometimes have to lie out on a rock for the first couple of hours before finding breakfast.

Thats a question........ why is it that when someone takes your temperuture they always say....."oooh youve got a bit of a temperuture".....did you not have a temperuture before? ....which is impossible because even 0 is a temperuture.

spot;1500387 wrote: Your body temperature might. My body temperature prefers to be around 16 degrees Celcius, though I do sometimes have to lie out on a rock for the first couple of hours before finding breakfast.


Hmmmm........ could i borrow you during summer? Lots of frogs around, which will mean lots of snakes......a couple of blue tongue lizards around tje place would keep them at bay

Mmm. Frogs.

Bruv;1500385 wrote: How the connection with socialism ?........It's the paranoia thing again isn't it ?

Anyway it's a litre not a liter, my spell checker tells me I'm wrong......because it's American......but I know I'm right.

An imperial gallon isn't good enough either is it ? You have to have your own.

And the culinary measurement of cups ? Have you standardised cup sizes now ? (no Zee for me.....and it's zed, thanks anyway)

I believe you have your own tonne or is it ton too.

How can imperial be easier than a system based on multiples of ten, which is basically ones with zeros ?


Oh, in those days, anything that suggested changing how things are done, or thought about had a link to Socialism/Communism. "Leave things the way God made, folks would say.

(I got thumped when I pointed out that back the the God days, they used Cubits, rather than feet, however.)

Christ! Id be a very unwelcome person in the states. Im a socialist and an athiest. Although at leadt im not a fanatical religious capitalist terrorist.

magentaflame;1500398 wrote: Christ! Id be a very unwelcome person in the states. Im a socialist and an athiest. Although at leadt im not a fanatical religious capitalist terrorist.


You'd be fine, now. There's plenty of Atheists, and Socialists, these days. Come on out.

LarsMac;1500382 wrote: Metric, it seems, was somehow tied to Socialism back in the 60s so the effort to convert got torpedoed. We now have quite a confusing mix to deal with. Some things are measured in liters, others in US Gallons and quarts. The occasional Pint creeps in, as well. And pounds are so much easier to figure than Kilograms. And Miles are so much simpler than kilometers.

The projection is that we will be very nearly fully converted in the next century or so.Here is what I posted several months ago on a different thread:

I am always amused by such discussions because the Metric System has been the official measuring system of the USA since 1893, and that is not likely to change. I don't know of any retail store in this city (Champaign, Illinois) where I can walk in and buy an ordinary ruler or tape measure that does not have both metric and "English" measurements. I don't know of any hardware store in this city that sells wrenches in "English" measurements but none in metric. I don't know of any radio or television station in this country that measures its broadcast frequency in anything other than metric numbers. That many Americans prefer the "English" system...for whatever reason...well, hey, it's a free country.



I never heard anything about a tie to socialism in the 1960's. By then metric was firmly established as the USA's official system and I know of no effort to revert to English. But maybe you know something that I don't - do you have a source for your claim?

Why do you refer to an "English" system ?

England is officially metric, it is illegal to sell anything in Imperial measurements other than beer as far as I know.

And of course we still use miles rather than Kilometers, our money is metric too.

Bruv;1500415 wrote: Why do you refer to an "English" system ?Because that's how it's commonly referred to in the USA. Bro't over from England by the early settlers don'cha know.

Mark Aspam;1500422 wrote: Because that's how it's commonly referred to in the USA. Bro't over from England by the early settlers don'cha know.


So.....you kept that, but look what you did to the English language

Mark Aspam;1500411 wrote: Here is what I posted several months ago on a different thread:

I am always amused by such discussions because the Metric System has been the official measuring system of the USA since 1893, and that is not likely to change. I don't know of any retail store in this city (Champaign, Illinois) where I can walk in and buy an ordinary ruler or tape measure that does not have both metric and "English" measurements. I don't know of any hardware store in this city that sells wrenches in "English" measurements but none in metric. I don't know of any radio or television station in this country that measures its broadcast frequency in anything other than metric numbers. That many Americans prefer the "English" system...for whatever reason...well, hey, it's a free country.



I never heard anything about a tie to socialism in the 1960's. By then metric was firmly established as the USA's official system and I know of no effort to revert to English. But maybe you know something that I don't - do you have a source for your claim?


So, how do you explain that we still measure most distances in Feet, Yards, and Miles? Or that we still measure most liquids in Gallons, Quarts, Pints and Ounces? Or, most solid weights are still in Ounces, Pounds, and Tons? Our Traffic speeds are measured in Miles per hour.

Radio Frequencies are measured in Hertz (Cycles per second) a fairly global concept that has nothing to do with metric vs. Imperial.

And tools? Well, my wrenches were all in SAE which was standard for the automobile and appliance industry for ages. When we were young, only geeky guys who had English or European cars and motorcycles had a supply of Metric tools. I got my set of Metric after I bought and old Jaguar from a friend of my dad in the mid sixties. My buddy who owned a Triumph Bonneville was the only other guy who had a Metric tool set back then.

So, no, we have not Always been Metric in this country.

LarsMac;1500425 wrote: So, how do you explain that we still measure most distances in Feet, Yards, and Miles? Or that we still measure most liquids in Gallons, Quarts, Pints and Ounces? Or, most solid weights are still in Ounces, Pounds, and Tons? Our Traffic speeds are measured in Miles per hour.

Radio Frequencies are measured in Hertz (Cycles per second) a fairly global concept that has nothing to do with metric vs. Imperial.

And tools? Well, my wrenches were all in SAE which was standard for the automobile and appliance industry for ages. When we were young, only geeky guys who had English or European cars and motorcycles had a supply of Metric tools. I got my set of Metric after I bought and old Jaguar from a friend of my dad in the mid sixties. My buddy who owned a Triumph Bonneville was the only other guy who had a Metric tool set back then.

So, no, we have not Always been Metric in this country.I didn't claim that. I said that the Metric System has been the official measuring system of the USA since 1893, and that is not likely to change.

Regarding radio frequencies, they were previously measured in "meters", and some radio "hams" still use this designation.

Mark Aspam;1500427 wrote: I didn't claim that. I said that the Metric System has been the official measuring system of the USA since 1893, and that is not likely to change.

Regarding radio frequencies, they were previously measured in "meters", and some radio "hams" still use this designation.


Well, yes, Wavelengths are generally measured in meters.

Please do tell where the US uses metric measurements "officially"

Just curious.

LarsMac;1500429 wrote: Well, yes, Wavelengths are generally measured in meters.

Please do tell where the US uses metric measurements "officially"

Just curious.Well, if you're an American I shouldn't have to do that. You can Google "Mendenhall Order" and get the information online. Here is an excerpt from one source:

The Mendenhall Order marked a decision to change the fundamental standards of length and mass of the United States from the customary standards based on those of England to metric standards. It was issued on April 5, 1893, by Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, with the approval of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, John Griffin Carlisle. The order was issued as the Survey's Bulletin No. 26 - Fundamental Standards of Length and Mass.

As far as I know the order is still in effect. If you have information to the contrary, please let us know.

Well.....it's taking you a long time to implement it then.

The UK went decimal on February 15, 1971 and apart from our traffic signs and beer.......and of course imported American stuff, we are totally metricated.

It's only you and a couple of other 3rd world countries that rock the international boat......so to speak.

There are some that still 'think' in imperial, like myself, still haven't got my head around Celsius, or how to convert it......no use telling me either.....I am numerically dyslexic.

Bruv;1500433 wrote: Well.....it's taking you a long time to implement it then.


I think we've reached the "going around in circles" point here. I posted earlier (in first another and then this discussion):

I don't know of any retail store in this city (Champaign, Illinois) where I can walk in and buy an ordinary ruler or tape measure that does not have both metric and "English" measurements. I don't know of any hardware store in this city that sells wrenches in "English" measurements but none in metric. I don't know of any radio or television station in this country that measures its broadcast frequency in anything other than metric numbers. That many Americans prefer the "English" system...for whatever reason...well, hey, it's a free country.



It's not a matter of implementation but of free choice. Metric is the official US measurement system, and has been since 1893. Other systems, particularly the so-called "English", are tolerated.

Mark Aspam;1500432 wrote: Well, if you're an American I shouldn't have to do that. You can Google "Mendenhall Order" and get the information online. Here is an excerpt from one source:

The Mendenhall Order marked a decision to change the fundamental standards of length and mass of the United States from the customary standards based on those of England to metric standards. It was issued on April 5, 1893, by Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, with the approval of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, John Griffin Carlisle. The order was issued as the Survey's Bulletin No. 26 - Fundamental Standards of Length and Mass.

As far as I know the order is still in effect. If you have information to the contrary, please let us know.


I suggest that you spend a little time reading up on the Mendenhall order and later attempts to standardize the US commerce on the metric system.

Let's just say that while Mendenhall may have started the ball rolling in the right direction, his order actually had no teeth.

And while converting to the metric system has been in the planning stages for a long time, it was the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 that actually began kicking the ball in the right direction.

However, the most significant evidence of the act is that in most food and beverage products available today, the measurements can be seen in both Metric, and US standard weights and volumes.

We are not there yet, and won't be for a fairly long time. (Don't give up those Yardsticks, just yet.)

What the heck is a VMA ? And why does it entail fake breasted half naked women smashing cameras with baseball bats and touching their genitalia on stage?

It strikes me that the Mendenhall Order was in fact fully implemented at the time it was issued. It was an order describing the new definition of the units of mass and distance in the USA - the foot, yard, mile, pound, stone, ton - when the existing physical standards for the pound and the yard were found to be degenerating. The standards were physical things, the new standards were physical things, there were conversion factors between the new Metric standard physical things and "English" units and nobody had the slightest intention back in 1893 to change the units in use in America. Just the physical standards against which the units were compared when checking accuracy.

We in England never refer to "English" units, of course - we call them Imperial units. I can understand why Americans would be reluctant to admit they were using Imperial measures.

If I remember correctly, the standard yard which was destroyed in the Westminster fire in 1834 was a copy of a copy of a physical measurement taken from the living body of Henry the First around 1100 - there's a discussion of the yard standard at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yard detailing even earlier physical yard standards accepted by English law as definitive for the time.

I would have thought that back into pre-history - Stonehenge times - an engineer would be recognizable from always carrying his own yardstick which he'd copied either from another engineer or from the Standard Yard itself, and that nobody knows now where the Standard Yard was physically kept. If anyone ever notices two ancient bronze studs or even chisel marks on a cromlech, dolmen or other surviving Megalithic standing stone, and they're about an arm's-length apart, they'll have discovered one of the regional Standards. I probably got the idea from Alexander Thom's book from the 1960s.

I wonder how much the use of two or more systems of measurement costs industries.

My job requires me to use Allan or Hex keys and spanners sometimes, but the need to carry both Imperial and Metric makes a simple job harder.

I fail to see why the world doesn't standardise, it's only America and a few other strange places that holds us back.

spot;1500449 wrote: ...nobody had the slightest intention back in 1893 to change the units in use in America. Just the physical standards against which the units were compared when checking accuracy.It just so happens that right this minute I have on my desk a bottle of STP Fuel Injector Cleaner, great stuff! The label says "5.25 FL. OZ. - 155ml.".

In my desk drawer I have a dark chocolate candy bar - also great stuff and much tastier than the Fuel Cleaner - It says on the label "NET WT. 3.5 OZ - 100g".

I don't know what the hoo-hah is about - it's hard to find ANY PRODUCT in the USA that doesn't have the weight or other specs listed in Metric.

Any country which marks its roads in miles while designing its GPS in meters is just inviting calamity.

I expect your dual labeling of consumables means the products can legally be sold abroad without producing an export version.

spot;1500455 wrote: Any country which marks its roads in miles while designing its GPS in meters is just inviting calamity.

I expect your dual labeling of consumables means the products can legally be sold abroad without producing an export version.Spot, while frequently disagreeing with you I've always respected your intelligence. But you are really off your feed here.

My GPS reads out in miles, I'm not aware that it can be set to read out in meters, I'd have to check in the instruction manual.

Regarding the dual labels, the first figure is traditional, the second is official. I've just rummaged through my wife's pantry, every single can or package that I found there has both numbers, I seriously doubt that MANY of these items are exported (some might be) as they are common food items that one would assume are produced more or less worldwide.

ADDED LATER: Surprise, surprise! I was just in my bathroom and happened to notice, my bottle of SCOPE mouthwash has the metric first - "1L (33.8 FL. OZ.)". Hadn't noticed that before. THEN I noticed that my TRIPLE LANOLIN Hand and Body Lotion says "170mL e 6 fl. oz.". So it seems that the order of the specs is more or less left to the manufacturer, though most seem to have the traditional first.

Mark Aspam;1500456 wrote: My GPS reads out in miles, I'm not aware that it can be set to read out in meters, I'd have to check in the instruction manual.
I was referring to the software in the satellites working entirely in meters, not the user display. The internal GPS grid is not in Survey Miles (unike the current datum points of your national geographic survey), it's in SI units.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/news/mco990930.html gives a hint of the occasional problem this approach can lead to.

Your Survey Miles, incidentally, are not the same length as the ones you mark on your roads.

Well, this thread has been worth a few laughs.

No, Mark, we (the US) have not converted to the metric system, yet. The US Libya, and Myanmar are the three nations in the world who have yet to make the conversion. Though Myanmar has declared their intention for complete the conversion soon.

We still use the Imperial based system for principal measurements, though we do list the metric equivalent of most items, on the label.

For the last 20 years or so, nearly every car has a switch that allows the driver to change the speedometer/odometer to read either miles or kilometers. Also, I have several beer cans in my collection that date back to pre-1975. they show the contents in ounces. Others from the mid-70s show contents in ounces, with the metric - ml quantity in parentheses. Newer containers show the metric quantity first, with imperial value in parentheses. At some point, when the conversion is completed, only the metric value will be shown.

That will be when you know we have become completely metric.

Oh. Yes, Mark, you GPS has a setting that can change your display to show kilometers, rather than miles.

As for resistance to metrification, most of the British commonwealth nations have met resistance. In the US, the John Birch society published a number of documents protesting the changes. I still have one of them. Perhaps when I have time, I can scan and share.

LarsMac;1500458 wrote: Well, this thread has been worth a few laughs. Well, you can laugh all you want, the nitty-what-you-call-yo-gritty is this (from Wikipedia):

Under the Mendenhall Order in 1893, metric standards, developed through international cooperation under the auspices of BIPM, were adopted as the fundamental standards for length and mass in the United States. The definitions of United States customary units, such as the foot and pound, have been based on metric units ever since.



That pretty much says it all. The US is not going to go totally metric any time soon, Americans don't want that, nor is there any need for it.

I did say, they're the standards - NOT the units of measurement legally in use - those being the "United States customary units" in your quoted text. I did say, they're two entirely different things. I'm not sure you saw that bit.

The standards are blocks of metal. Since 1893 the US used metric blocks of metal to define their pound and yard by way of conversion factors, until the standards changed yet again to a more reproducible standard meter and standard kilogram which don't involve blocks of metal any more.

spot;1500462 wrote: I did say, they're the standards - NOT the units of measurement legally in use - those being the "United States customary units" in your quoted text. I did say, they're two entirely different things. I'm not sure you saw that bit.

The standards are blocks of metal. Since 1893 the US used metric blocks of metal to define their pound and yard by way of conversion factors, until the standards changed yet again to a more reproducible standard meter and standard kilogram which don't involve blocks of metal any more.I don't dispute any of that, and thanks for the additional information. So I guess the only one laughing is Lars.

Considering the opening post, I am now wondering how they measure humidity.......is it metric or imperial ?

Bruv;1500464 wrote: Considering the opening post, I am now wondering how they measure humidity.......The old-fashioned way to do it was to put a mirror in front of your face and hum a ditty. That's why it's called humidity.

Spot!!! we get summer minutes

Actually this summer we had so much rain we now all have webbed feet. ;P