Stranger in a Strange Land

[Michael Ventura 6,097]

33 minutes ago, Alex Ramsay said:

 

Buying timber gives you the best of both worlds - a 3.6m length of 2"x4", anyone?

 

Alex

 

And to make matters worse, a 2x4 is not really 2" by 4"....it is 1½ x 3½ inches.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Michael Ventura

[spacecadet 4,068]

1 hour ago, Robert M Estall said:

 

That's how we first learned that Americans were weird. Why would they have a smaller gallon? You can explain it as many times as you like, but it's still weird in my simple little mind. It didn't matter much as Canadians and Americans always pull into a gas station and say "Fill her up"  In France they mostly Fill her up but I have to watch them carefully as nobody in their right mind would drive a Petrol VW Van. Ah but wait, I was right now that we have come to realise Diesel is evil 

Well you could ask why we would have a larger one? At least a U.S. pint has the same number of ounces as a pound.

Edited August 17, 2020 by spacecadet

[Cecile Marion 196]

From 1992 until 2006, I taught math and science to advanced students, ages 6 - 10. One unit on metric measurement was always included in the textbook series we used, but it always seemed so odd to me that we never incorporated metric measurement into everyday life here in the US. Not having grown up using metric measurement, I actually had to teach myself before I could present the information to my students. 

[Allan Bell 2,621]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

It's true that Ronnie killed off the metric system, but he created things too. He created the American homeless. 

 

Careful! Edging towards politics.🥴

 

Allan

 

[Mr Standfast 723]

Went to by a 0.6m lintel and was told they only had 60cm ones...I have a witness!!!  🙃

Edited August 17, 2020 by Mr Standfast
spelling

[spacecadet 4,068]

15 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said:

Went to by a 0.6m lintel and was told they only had 60cm ones...I have a witness!!!  🙃

Oh come on, it's perfectly simple. A metre is 1/299792458 of the distance travelled by light in one second, which is of course 9192631770 times the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom.

Edited August 17, 2020 by spacecadet

[John Mitchell 4,954]

1 hour ago, Cecile Marion said:

From 1992 until 2006, I taught math and science to advanced students, ages 6 - 10. One unit on metric measurement was always included in the textbook series we used, but it always seemed so odd to me that we never incorporated metric measurement into everyday life here in the US. Not having grown up using metric measurement, I actually had to teach myself before I could present the information to my students. 

 

Interesting to hear that. Canada went metric in 1976. I tutor high school kids in math, and most of them couldn't tell you how many inches there are in a foot or how many ounces in a pound. However, if you ask them how tall they are, they will inevitably answer in feet and inches, which are easier to visualize than centimetres. They will also probably give their weight in pounds rather than kilos. Imperial units still seem to have a place here when it comes to everyday, practical measurements.

 

I don't think that the US will ever go metric. There would be a revolution first. You guys will probably never give up pennies either, as Canada did a number of years ago without too much fuss, even though it apparently now costs almost two cents to make each penny.

Edited August 17, 2020 by John Mitchell

[Ed Rooney 4,052]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

Oh come on, it's perfectly simple. A metre is 1/299792458 of the distance travelled by light in one second, which is of course 9192631770 times the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom.

 

I was gonna say that, Mark—but I got a fingernail stuck in my calculator. Very painful. 

[John Mitchell 4,954]

2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Oh come on, it's perfectly simple. A metre is 1/299792458 of the distance travelled by light in one second, which is of course 9192631770 times the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom.

 

I tend to think of a metre as 1650763.73 wavelengths in a vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the 2p^10 and 5d^5 quantum levels of the krypton-86 atom. It's much more convenient, I find. 🤓

 

P.S. About the length of a baseball bat also works well. Not sure how long a cricket bat is. It has been awhile...

Edited August 17, 2020 by John Mitchell

[John Morrison 4,335]

7 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

I tend to think of a metre as 1650763.73 wavelengths in a vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the 2p^10 and 5d^5 quantum levels of the krypton-86 atom.

 

Or the distance between my arse and my elbow...

[Avpics 1,700]

2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Oh come on, it's perfectly simple. A metre is 1/299792458 of the distance travelled by light in one second, which is of course 9192631770 times the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom.

Is that faster than a mile per minute?

 

As someone whose 'real' working life has mostly involved quoting prices for areas, weights and volumes I can't imagine how difficult that would be before metric, but I do cling on to miles when guesstimating the time to make a journey sans satnav. 60mph equating to a mile per minute is really useful.

[Bryan 15,150]

Despite using the SI system professionally (and it does simplify calculations) for years, when it comes to making stuff for my allotment, or planting out, I always measure in Imperial units. My trusty home made  allotment measuring stick is calibrated in ft and inches. However working with our son on his house renovation I noticed that all measurements were in SI, so I guess  I'm part of a dying breed. Further, he uses a crafty laser measuring gadget, no rules or tapes involved. Maybe the allotment gardeners of the future will be positioning their cabbages and leeks electronically?

[John Mitchell 4,954]

On 17/08/2020 at 13:12, John Morrison said:

 

Or the distance between my arse and my elbow...

 

 I'd say that's a bit of a stretch. 😆

[spacecadet 4,068]

On 18/08/2020 at 03:31, Bryan said:

Maybe the allotment gardeners of the future will be positioning their cabbages and leeks electronically?

GPS.

[Jose Decio Molaro 34]

On 09/01/2020 at 08:22, Ed Rooney said:

Não, não estou me referindo a ser um ianque no oeste da Inglaterra. Eu sou isso, mas já morei na Inglaterra antes e morei na Europa por 20 anos. 

 

Quero dizer que sou um estranho do século vinte que se encontra neste lugar muito estranho - o século vinte e um, onde parece que assim que consigo aprender algo, eles mudam. Atualizando eles chamam. Todo mundo quer senhas mais fortes, números PIN e o nome de solteira do cachorro da minha mãe. Estou afundando sob a carga. 

 

E há muito mais coisas estranhas: modas mod com tinta no corpo, piercings, cores de cabelo selvagens, roupas semidestruídas. Há comida rápida e não saudável, pessoas vivendo nas ruas, política da Nova Direita e da Extrema Esquerda, burocracias intermináveis e inúteis, e assim por diante. Isso é Liverpool? O Reino Unido? Europa? Ou o mundo? 

 

Suponho que poderia tentar capturar essas coisas para material editorial. . . talvez uma foto de alguém falando ou enviando mensagens de texto em um smartphone? Ou isso já foi feito? 

 

Edo

come to Brazil and you will see what the end of the world is !!!

[Ed Rooney 4,052]

I've been to many places in Brazil many times, Jose. But not recently. 

[MizBrown 635]

Nicaragua uses kilometers for distances and mpk, pounds rather than kilograms and grams for food, and may or may not be on 24 hour time depending.  Gasoline and diesel is sold by the liter because the price looks so much lower that way.

[gvallee 3,614]

Edo, I've just updated my blog on blogger about the trip I've just done. I was forcibly moved to the latest version. What a nightmare!! Full of bugs! It took me several hours to get the images in the right place. Shame on you Google!! How are you coping or are you still on the previous version?

[Ed Rooney 4,052]

1 hour ago, gvallee said:

Edo, I've just updated my blog on blogger about the trip I've just done. I was forcibly moved to the latest version. What a nightmare!! Full of bugs! It took me several hours to get the images in the right place. Shame on you Google!! How are you coping or are you still on the previous version?

 

Oh my. The title of my blog refers to all the constant digital problems I (we) are forced to deal with. I think I'm on the latest Google update. ??? Gen, I can't find your blog. Would you put in a link, please?

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/08/editorial-stock.html

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by Ed Rooney

[gvallee 3,614]

9 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Oh my. The title of my blog refers to all the constant digital problems I (we) are forced to deal with. I think I'm on the latest Google update. ??? 

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/08/editorial-stock.html

 

 

 

Very good blog entry as ever Edo. Very true. 

 

After some googling, I found that many other people were having the problems as I do. I had to disable a Chrome extension to force the blog to place the images where the cursor was. I had 56 to cut and paste in the right place before finding this workaround. I actually had to take some Panadol afterwards. I hope you have no problems.

[Robert M Estall 339]

Will some publishing client please buy a licence to use Edo's St Peter's Basilica? It's clearly getting to him! When I had started getting the hang of this stock photography thing I used to advise photographers wanting to have a crack at it to start with Niagara Falls or Stonehenge or some such prime example, do a really good job of it and move outwards from there. That's the worst advice possible these days, there are just too many good shots in the collection and no matter how good your ratings are, the algorithm will not rescue you. Years ago I was lucky enough to find myself at Stonehenge with really dramatic conditions and we were still allowed inside the circle. The shots sold a lot! Now we have little choice but to sell through a big collection such as Alamy and I think I have sold just one Stonehenge shot out of close edit in the 15 years I've been here. That's not a complaint, that's just where we are.

 

Our garden is frequently visited by hedgehogs and last summer they were so hungry, they came out in the daylight sometimes. Each time I would go for the camera, they'd moved off by the time I had geared up. They move faster than you might think!

Edited August 23, 2020 by Robert M Estall

[Mr Standfast 723]

 

Edo nice blog as always.

 

The competition for the big subjects is incredible these days. Quality images get lost; the buyer has too much choice! I think it's because of that I don't bother to compete for the main picture but I'll always look for a "filler" picture. If the buyer is looking for St Peter's Basilica he'll get 35,000 hits but a search for something quirky like St Peter's Basilica sign post gets 2 hits...

 

We used to be able to get right in amongst the stones at Stonehenge when I was a kid. Ancient neolithic monument? Yup fallen off that !

 

Cheers! 👍

 

 

 

[Ed Rooney 4,052]

LOL, Robert—but you're right; I'm not rational about the Basilica in Rome, in Vatican City. My frustration is based on the fact that in the fall of 2008 I was there visiting an old friend who lived just outside the piazza. So I could and did shoot images of the Basilica and around it for 10 days. I snapped away at dawn and dusk. I do make a number of sales from that trip—my farewell to my friend and the Eternal City—but I can't give away those of Saint Peter's. Domani forse, per un sacco di soldi.

 

I too visited Stonehenge when we could walk among the stones—a thrilling sense of ancient worlds. Never been to Niagagra Falls, although it's in my home state. 

[Robert M Estall 339]

My last shoot at Stonehenge, there was the usual morning gang of a couple of dozen visitors. A violent hail storm hit and everybody scarpered to the car park, while I hunkered down in the lea of one of the stones. It was a little uncomfortable but I stuck it out. As fast as it struck, the storm finished and the black clouds parted and everything glistened. The sky was amazing and I had the whole thing to myself  for perhaps ten minutes. Magical! 

[geogphotos 3,130]

Stonehenge is very far from being the only important neolithic monument even in just that small area of Wessex. 

 

I have realised that there are loads of very interesting, important sites of all historic periods that are well worth visiting and photographing even if not in peak demand. 

 

There is an amazing neolithic long barrow that I know. It could be a national and International destination but the land owners do not want that. There are no facilities, nowhere to park, when you knock on the farmhouse door and ask permission they at first say 'no'.  When they gave permission to me I had to promise not to put the pics on social media. 

 

So, I try to seek out the obscure. And at Stonehenge ( for example) take pictures of the incidental rather than the obvious.

Edited August 23, 2020 by geogphotos