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Old May 4th 04, 12:33 PM
OM
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On Mon, 03 May 2004 23:16:22 -0700, Mary Shafer
wrote:

On Tue, 04 May 2004 03:20:35 GMT, "Greg D. Moore \(Killfiled Idiot\)"
wrote:

"Neil Gerace" wrote in message
. au...

Another benefit of decimal currency over Lsd (money, that is) is that
suddenly three quarters of the time spent in school on maths could be used
for something other than money sums.


That reminds me of a system we all use that's not base 10...

Time.

I mean come on... 24 hour days? 60 minutes to an hour... 60 seconds, but
powers of 10 for subsecond intervals.

Oh and 7 days in week?

Geesh, who thunk those up!


The Babylonians or someone, as I recall.

And you know what, we seem to manage for the most part.


You've got to admit that 60 is evenly divisible by a lot of numbers.


....On the other hand, the Frogs proposed some years ago to change to
something like a 20-hour system with 100-minute hours, or some
quasi-metric concoction. The idea was to link this in with running the
country with no demarkation in labor or living routines with regards
to the day-night cycle. From an energy use standpoint, it would allow
power generation to maintain a steady rate throughout the entire
day-night cycle as opposed to the normal use rates of 180-185% higher
during the day than during the night, and thus cut energy costs
significantly where fuel oil is concerned. From a lifestyle and
economic standpoint, it would be a blessing and a cluster**** at the
same time. The Frogs who were pushing for this back in the 70's when
OPEC was screwing the world over (*) called for both work and
lifestyles to adjust to this new way, which would abandon any
consideration of whether it was day or night. Businesses would be open
perpetually, as would government offices and facilities, and work
schedules would be spread out so to cover accordingly. Even school
kids would even be adjusted so that their schedules fit those of their
parents, and the schools would be open 24 hours a day. Needless to
say, the idea went absolutely nowhere, which was surprising
considering how goofy the Frogs tend to be with crazy ideas.

....Ironically, thanks to most Wal-Marts being 24 hours, the issue of
not being able to get what you need if you don't get off work before
Midnight or you need it before sunup is no longer an issue, and may be
an excuse to give Sam Walton a nod towards sainthood. After my being
able to pick up an emergency pair of pants(**) last month while out
of town just before having to photograph a stripper contest in San
Antonio, the man deserves it.

(*) And they all should have been given the choice of either dropping
the price of crude back to pre-embargo extortion levels, or facing
Mecca while standing in the middle of glassed-over parking lots with
the Cherenkov effect lighting the way.

(**) After getting out of the car, I brushed up next to an old
piece-of-**** Datsun with a jagged edge from a fender-bender. It
snagged the right pocket and slit right down the side seam so that my
entire right leg and skivvies were visible to all. Wal-Mart happened
to have three pairs of pants just my size, and I bought all three and
managed to change pants with about 20 minutes to spare. AFAIK, the
whole world needs to run 24 hours and to hell with closing after dark!

OM

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