Dillards 72: Peak Pathetic

[StraightOuttaArkansas]

Re food scales: I have one and live in Europe. I am totally the opposite, I use my measuring cups and more or less eyeball it unless the recipe is really one of those that requires the weight to be exact. I think I am just really lazy about it though and assume that 250 ml is one cup (I know it is not really, but works most of the time).

Re metric system: I moved to Europe at 18 and had to learn the metric system from scratch. That was like 13 years ago and honestly I prefer it now, but temperature is the really tough one. I appreciated using Celsius while studying science, but for knowing how to dress I need to convert still. I know a few temps/ranges, but it is not the same for me. I am not sure I will ever get used to Celsius. As for the US changing to metric. I think that would be great and remember my mom telling me she learned metric in school because the US was supposed to convert at some point (lol). They could do a duel system like seems to be a thing in the UK (or is it not officially?). What is great fun is driving from Belfast to Dublin and the signs changing from miles to kilometers. It is strange the first few times and my husband pointed out that 120 km/h is not actually 70 mph (as if I was doing that math in my head) and it annoys him.

Re eating healthy: I agree that Jill should care, but likely does not because she doesn't have to (yet). I actually see this with my sister and my mom. My mom used to eat super healthy when I was little and tried to teach me, but as she had more kids and life was happening she just let me have what I wanted and gave up on my brothers and honestly by the time my sister came around she like "yeah whatever". I left home at 18 and was always very chubby, but I knew that my eating habits were bad coupled with not having a great metabolism ever (seriously I have always been overweight). I wanted better for my son and by extension myself so I worked hard at it. My habits are still not the best, but miles better than before and my son is really a healthy eater, to the point that I think he is a bit underweight (teenage boys grow way too fast). The think is my mom has not really changed her habits until a health scare earlier this year and is finally listening to me. My sister on the other hand is the big issue. She has not memory of a positive example (e.g. mine is: my mom was a total babe at 25 when she had me and ate a ton of salad, so I will do that) and is only 19. She has always been skinny, never had to try, and is in total denial now about how unhealthy her choices are, how hard it will be as she gets older to change, and (no shame meant) the fact that she has put on a few pounds. She is really really short so it is totally noticeable and while I am sure she is still a healthy weight, she cannot make the connection as to why her clothes are tighter. She complains about it and dismisses me when I point out "hey maybe have some veggies with those chicken nuggets instead of fries?" All that to say I agree that Joy and Jessa care more because they have made the connection between food choice and weight gain, but Jill likely has not and not needed to yet. I think it is sad because eating healthy is about so much more than your weight and even though the other two eat better, it all about their looks and not their health (speculation). I hope that is wrong and they know more than I think they do.

[Marly]

My SO is a type 1 diabetic so I always use a food scale when I cook so we can count his carb intake.
Before he was diagnosed I usualy eyeballed, and I still do that when I cook for myself, unsless it's a recipe I've never used before. If it's the first time I try a certain recipe I always stick to the measurements. }For baking cookies/cake/pie I also always use a scale. For pizza dough and naan bread I measure the initial amount of flour, which is somehow never enough, and then keep adding small amounts while kneading the dough untill it feels good. Because this is rather imprecise, I usually only make this for myself, since I don't need to count the carbs. I prefer to buy pre-made flour-based products for my SO because the packaging states exactly how many carbs it contains. If I make it for both of us, the first couple of times I make it I will measure exactly how much flour I add so I can count the carbs. After those first couple of times I get the feel of it, I know how much I usually add to get the perfect dough, and then I add the extra flour without measuring. 

Edit: question for the British members: how much is a stone? And is there a difference in using stone for people's weight and for food?

[HarleyQuinn]

6 hours ago, TeaELSee said:

I scrolled back and couldn’t find reference to this, what happened?

It's a video he posted on her IG live because they found a mouse in their kitchen and he felt the need to record that. Jill was obviously really bothered and was talking about it ran into her foot, and Wreck was condescending her saying "Well you're wearing boots so it didn't run into your foot" etc. He was also gaslighting her when she was asking if he was recording live and he was responding with things like "Well, I'm taking a video so...is it live?" 

Really he was just being a gross prick. 

[Glasgowghirl]

Here in the UK the metric system was adopted over 50 years ago and yet people still tend to use the imperial system a lot. At school was I was taught the metric system but most people around me were still using the old system for weights and measures. Road signs were never changed to the metric system due either. 

[Cheetah]

Totally 3rd or 4th hand (I could google this I'm sure but I'm lazy ;-))...  several of us 'of a certain age' who are saying we were taught metric in school and told that the US was planning to turn metric 'soon' back in the 70s and then we never did... my impression is that we were headed that way under the Carter administration and then Reagan caved to pressure from the manufacturing industry, for whom it would have been very expensive to retool everything.  It wasn't just about people having to relearn km vs miles, it's about owning thousands of lathes that cut in fractions of inches that suddenly are worthless, etc.  That sort of thing.  

Which makes one wonder... now that 40 years have gone by and a lot of that manufacturing is global anyway... would it be such a big issue anymore?

[Bobology]

^^ Yep, I was a young teacher when all that happened. There were staff development 'workshops' for staff and coursework ready to be bought and taught. I attended, liked it, learned it, and after it all fell apart I totally forgot all the metrics I knew. 

[adidas]

12 hours ago, Marly said:

Edit: question for the British members: how much is a stone? And is there a difference in using stone for people's weight and for food?

I’m not British but a stone is 6.35 kilograms or 14 pounds. The only time I ever hear it being used (Australia) is when older people discuss their weight, eg “I’ve gained a stone” or “I was 3 stone lighter before I had kids”.

It is on my body weight scales but I never look at that bit, I just look at the dial to see kg.

It could all be totally different in the UK but I thought I’d throw in my experience. 

[PennySycamore]

@adidas,  I think the stone is the same in both the UK and Australia.  I sometimes hear the term on British TV or films.  And I think I heard it used once on The Jeffersons when Mr Bentley was talking about George's weight being perfect to walk on his aching back.

 

[Markie]

21 hours ago, StraightOuttaArkansas said:

 

Re metric system: I moved to Europe at 18 and had to learn the metric system from scratch. That was like 13 years ago and honestly I prefer it now, but temperature is the really tough one. I appreciated using Celsius while studying science, but for knowing how to dress I need to convert still. I know a few temps/ranges, but it is not the same for me. I am not sure I will ever get used to Celsius. 

A conversion guide I use to compare Metric and Imperial temperatures is:16*C = 61*F and 28*C = 82*F. They are palindromes. You can estimate how to dress if you know these two benchmarks, along with 0*C = 32 *F. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

13 hours ago, Cheetah said:

Totally 3rd or 4th hand (I could google this I'm sure but I'm lazy ;-))...  several of us 'of a certain age' who are saying we were taught metric in school and told that the US was planning to turn metric 'soon' back in the 70s and then we never did... my impression is that we were headed that way under the Carter administration and then Reagan caved to pressure from the manufacturing industry, for whom it would have been very expensive to retool everything.  It wasn't just about people having to relearn km vs miles, it's about owning thousands of lathes that cut in fractions of inches that suddenly are worthless, etc.  That sort of thing.  

Which makes one wonder... now that 40 years have gone by and a lot of that manufacturing is global anyway... would it be such a big issue anymore?

I have vague memories of them talking about the metric system and learning it. I would have been in lower elementary grades  when Carter was in office, and I'm sure my staunchly conservative parents wanted NOTHING to do with that foreign metric system .

[StraightOuttaArkansas]

@Markie That is amazing and super helpful. I making myself a note of it to hang by my closet and front front door! Thank you!!

[adidas]

1 hour ago, Markie said:

A conversion guide I use to compare Metric and Imperial temperatures is:16*C = 61*F and 28*C = 82*F. They are palindromes. You can estimate how to dress if you know these two benchmarks, along with 0*C = 32 *F. 

That is so good! It will definitely help me. I will be honest, Fahrenheit really confuses me, any time someone mentions weather in F, I have to use google to convert. 

Just FYI it got to 122f in some parts of my state today. Usually when people say ‘gee it’s hot’ I have no sympathy. No shit - it’s January and you’re in Australia. Of course it’s hot. But the current weather is pretty brutal and the majority of my diet today consisted of Zooper Doopers. I’m not even joking (and I love hot weather).

[Someone Out There]

13 minutes ago, adidas said:

Just FYI it got to 122f in some parts of my state today. Usually when people say ‘gee it’s hot’ I have no sympathy. No shit - it’s January and you’re in Australia. Of course it’s hot. But the current weather is pretty brutal and the majority of my diet today consisted of Zooper Doopers. I’m not even joking (and I love hot weather).

I have an ice crushing machine! Just add ice cubes, put the lid down, hold it down to crush, add to a bowl/glass and add cordial and you have your home made snow cone.

[SorenaJ]

How do physics classes work in US if everything is imperial? Wouldn't that be confusing? What about at university and high school? A lot of things in the UK are imperial, but all university physics is taught in metric units. 

[Timetostoplurking]

1 hour ago, SorenaJ said:

How do physics classes work in US if everything is imperial? Wouldn't that be confusing? What about at university and high school? A lot of things in the UK are imperial, but all university physics is taught in metric units. 

In my experience, in university in the 80’s.  Science classes were all taught in metric.   As I said, in my experience, most Americans have had exposure to the metric systems, we just don’t use it for daily life.

[apandaaries]

18 minutes ago, Timetostoplurking said:

In my experience, in university in the 80’s.  Science classes were all taught in metric.   As I said, in my experience, most Americans have had exposure to the metric systems, we just don’t use it for daily life.

My college experience with science classes in the late 90s was the same. Most notebooks would have conversion tables in the front and back, and we were expected to use metric. In high school, we would occasionally convert back to imperial, but I think that was due to teachers trying to help us connect with the numbers. Or maybe they had spare time in class? Either way, most science, ime, is done in metric.

[Alisamer]

16 minutes ago, Timetostoplurking said:

In my experience, in university in the 80’s.  Science classes were all taught in metric.   As I said, in my experience, most Americans have had exposure to the metric systems, we just don’t use it for daily life.

Same in the 90's for me - though I only took two chemistry classes and that was the extent of my science there. My dad is a mechanic, and he has both metric and imperial sets of sockets and stuff. The thing that would help me most is if we had consistent paper sizes! Some of my customers are from international companies, and so their files are set up for non-American size papers. Which would be fine - the machines and software are set up to handle either - except we apparently can't get the European size paper. It'd still be fine, if I could get the salespeople and bindery to use centimeters for the stuff that came from overseas, but they won't. So we get measurements with four decimal places instead of a nice round metric number. I just need to know what size it is - I don't care what unit you use to describe it.

On the plus side, the printing industry used to have it's OWN measurements, on top of metric and imperial. Luckily points and picas are very rarely used these days. 

[SilverBeach]

No one system is better than any other. Whatever system you are familiar with that allows you to function in the world is good. I'm American and can't relate to metric although being based on units of ten makes sense. I also can only relate to Fahrenheit. It's all good.

[ViolaSebastian]

The first and only time I took physics, during my junior year of high school, we had to start out every problem by converting everything to metric. It was just built in as part of the problem-solving process we had to do. 

[Lisafer]

3 minutes ago, SilverBeach said:

No one system is better than any other. Whatever system you are familiar with that allows you to function in the world is good. I'm American and can't relate to metric although being based on units of ten makes sense. I also can only relate to Fahrenheit. It's all good.

Thank you. I admit being a little upset to read a couple posts bashing Americans for being lazy, fat, and stupid for not using metric. Makes me sad. There's lazy people everywhere, not just in the US. The expense of changing, as PPs pointed out, is a more believable roadblock to using metric. 

[nausicaa]

5 hours ago, adidas said:

the majority of my diet today consisted of Zooper Doopers. 

I have no idea what these are, but this reminded me of how much Australia's snack food naming skills are seriously on point. 

[Cheetah]

50 minutes ago, Timetostoplurking said:

In my experience, in university in the 80’s.  Science classes were all taught in metric.   As I said, in my experience, most Americans have had exposure to the metric systems, we just don’t use it for daily life.

 This.  Physics is taught in MKS (metric) here but at the intro levels, especially in high school, there's time spent on learning unit conversions.  We are completely conversant with what the units are in metric, especially if we've taken a lot of science classes, we just can't remember that 15C is cool enough for a sweatshirt.

[PennySycamore]

I used to be able to derive the formulae for converting Fahrenheit to Celsius and vice versa.  I haven't done it in years, but I think  it might be fun to see if I can still do it.

ETA:  I've become too calculator dependent.

[TuringMachine]

I'm just gonna leave this xkcd comic here:

[church_of_dog]

1 hour ago, TuringMachine said:

I'm just gonna leave this xkcd comic here:

LOL!  I think I would've opted for Kelvin.  Oh wait -- is kilocalories an option?