The UK decided to go metric in 1965, but somehow did not pass a law until 1985 to push the actual conversion. As a result, living here, I find myself constantly doing math. When I started to write this it explained why I am so tired at the end of the week. Now that I've finished the blog entry, I am ready for bed! My head hurts!
Driving
I have no idea how big my tank is in my car, but I know that last year I was spending 75 pounds to fill it up. When the exchange rate was nearly $2 USD : 1 GBP, I kept thinking in my head that I was spending $150 to fill my tank, and the only thing that made me feel a little better is that the computer in the dash of my car told me that I was getting 42.5 mpg. Miles per gallon? Well, I buy petrol [in my case, diesel] in litres, so is that good or bad?
Okay so do the math: 1 gallon = 3.79 litres.
Price of diesel 2008: 1.89 GPB / litre
So for 75 GBP, I was buying 39.68 litres of diesel which equals 10.47 gallons.
The car also tells me when I need to buy more diesel by telling me how many miles I have to go before I run out of fuel ... which means I get 11.21 mile per litre, by the way.
Currency
For the most part, forget the exchange rate [which is currently $1.43 to 1 GPB]. Except for a few items, things cost the same. A Diet Coke is 1.10 dollars or pounds. A BMW is 30,000 dollars or pounds. And a pint of beer is 2.40 GBP in Britain and $6.00 in Britt's Pub in Minneapolis ... oh wait! Beer is definitely cheaper here. So is golf.
The real challenge is traveling to "the Continent" [to Europe; I love saying that!]. As I get paid in US Dollars, which cash card should I use: the US or the UK?
USD : GBP
0.69 : 1.00 for 69 cents, I get 1 pound
USD: EUR
0.74 : 1.00 ... this one! for 74 cents, I get 1 Euro
GBP : EUR
1.07 : 1.00 for 1 pound 7 pence, I get 1 Euro
The Gym
Well, I did belong to a gym when I lived in Bristol, but not anymore. Anyway, you have to weigh in. Nice. Okay, I know what I weigh in pounds, but I have no idea what I weighed in kilograms. For the sake of this entry, let's say I weigh 145 pounds. That's 65.77 kilograms. That sounds better, doesn't it? Now lose some weight. Suddenly, losing a kilogram [2.2 pounds] doesn't sound like such a big deal. And so in true UK tradition, they revert back to what they like: the stone. It is the more accepted way to describe one's weight. One stone equals 14 pounds [6.35 kilograms] which means I weigh 10 stone 5 [pounds].
On the treadmill, I was truly lost. The treadmill measured speed in kilometres per hour. If I ran 9 miles per hour [or 6.6 minute miles; I never did that]. That means I'm running 14.48 kilometres per hour [kph]. I don't think I every did that either. Was afraid I'd fall off. Why do we run in KPH, but drive in MPH?
When you run a road race in the US, you run in kilometres for distance [5K, 10K], but you line up for your speed [9 minute miles].
Cooking
Which I do a lot of ... really.
LIQUIDS - my measuring cup has both ounces and millilitres. However, you buy milk in pints [primarily] and some quarts. It's all about your tea. You need milk for your tea.
In the pub, you buy beer or bitters in pints, or a glass [half-pint]. Wine comes in a small glass [125ml] or a large glass [250ml] which is 1/3 bottle [750ml].
MEASURING SPOONS - 1.6 Tablespoon = 25 millilitres. In the case of butter, this is marked on the package, so instead of having a pound [weight] of butter with four sticks with teaspoons [volume] marked, you have 250 grams of butter [yes, that's weight], or 0.55 pounds with markings for millilitres [yes, that's volume].
BAKING - Your cooker [oven] is either gas or electric. If it's gas, it has "marks". When you buy a pizza, it tells you to cook it on "Gas Mark 6" which is 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius. You don't even have to think. Even your Sunday roast or whole chicken has instructions, "cook 30 min for every 500 kilograms at gas mark 4". Not only that, but the packaging introduces you to the farmer that raised the cow or the pig that you are getting ready to put in your cooker. Really. "This is Liam Mulroy. His family has been farming in Swindon for three generations raising Black Herefords..." [Seriously, I can't make this up!]. The food, meat or vegetable, is always designated as British or Scottish or Irish or Kenyan, etc.
For an electric cooker, I just have to learn the conversions. For the most part, Celsius is one-half of Fahrenheit. 350 degrees F equals 180 degrees C. 400 degrees F equals 200 degrees C. This is all good until you get to the weather.
Weather
In school, I learned that to get from Fahrenheit [F] to Celsius [C], I had to take the F temperature ... let's say 85 degrees F ... subtract 32 [53] ... divide by 9 [5.89] ... then multiply by 5 ... and you get 29 degrees C.
Fortunately, I don't have to do that here because we have temperature in Celsius. So right now, it is 9 C. So follow the same conversion with some inversions. So, begin with the 9C and multiply by 9 [81] ... then divide by 5 [16.2] ... then add 32 ... and you get 48 degrees F.
Forget that! My friend Jyl told me to take the Celsius temperature [9 C], multiply by 2 [18 C] and add 30 [48 C] and you're close enough! Amen sister!!!
By the way, I heard on BBC2 a few months ago: there's no such thing as bad weather; just the wrong clothing.
Time
Greenwich Mean Time [as in Greenwich, London] is zero. From here, everything is tracked, so Eastern Standard time is -5, which means five hours behind London. When the US moved to Daylight Savings time [pushing their clocks forward one hour], then Eastern DAYLIGHT time is -4, which means four hours behind London. The UK moved to SUMMER TIME this weekend, pushing their clocks ahead. Now we're back to being 5 hours ahead of the Eastern seaboard in the US.
Okay, see why my head hurts? Cheers!
