Sounds like we have some car enthusiasts on the list :-D
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:37:31 -0700 To: usma@colostate.edu From: br...@bjwhite.net Subject: [USMA:43668] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. Funny. All of my cars have been manual transmissions (including my Audi Allroad and my BMW 540i...both 6-speed manuals). It took me getting a British vehicle to have an automatic. :) (A Range Rover Classic I picked up for $500, fixed it up a little bit and have since put 16,000km on it since I bought it a year ago.) I wish it was a manual transmission, but they never imported manuals to the US. But, I have 7 other cars, and they are all manual transmissions.... At 20:24 2009-03-10, Carleton MacDonald wrote: I’ve actually driven a manual transmission car most of my life: MG 1100, VW Beetle, two Rabbits, two Saab 900s (and two motorcycles mixed in). The car I have now (and have had since 2002), a 1999 Saab 9-5, is the first automatic I’ve ever owned. Metric related: Unlike most American cars, the km markings on the speedometer of the 9-5, inside the mile ones, are lit at night and can be read. Carleton From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [ mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 05:50 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:43627] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. Congrats are due to you for mastering the use of a manual gearbox! I think that's more of an achievement than road placement (based upon most Americans driving Automatics). > From: carlet...@comcast.net > To: usma@colostate.edu > Subject: [USMA:43622] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish > sales in the UK. > Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:18:29 -0400 > > > I remember the first time I rented a car in the UK. October 1982, > Edinburgh, Scotland, British Rail Waverley Station. > > Left my wife Susan at the bed and breakfast, took a bus downtown, went to > the station, to the Godfrey Davis office. A kind, pretty young woman (I was > young then too) had me fill out the paperwork then gave me the keys. I > thanked her, opened the door, got in, and sat down. On the left side. > Where's the steering wheel? Oh, right. Got out, closed the door, glanced > at the booth: she was inside, hand on her mouth, suppressing a laugh. > Walked round the back of the car, got in the right side, sat down, felt the > shift with my left hand, started the car, said a very significant Anglican > prayer, put the car in gear, and headed out, saying to myself, "Drive on the > left. Drive on the left. Drive on the left. Drive on the left ..." Headed > back to the bed and breakfast, scared to death. Picked up Susan, headed out > of town toward the bridge over the Firth of Forth. Stopped, took picture of > the famous railway bridge. Started up again, found myself making a left > turn to the right side of the intersecting road, corrected quickly, too > quickly, hit a stone kerb, blew out the left front tire, stopped to change > it. > > Somehow we got through the three days without hitting anything, and it even > included a distillery tour, a steam train ride, and a night in Glencoe, > where my ancestors got massacred in 1692. > > Carleton > > P.S. When we got back to San Francisco we went to the store and Susan > bought soup; I told her to put the Campbell's soup back on the shelf! > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [ mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf > Of Paul Trusten, R.Ph. > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 21:02 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Cc: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:43620] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish > sales in the UK. > > > Ah, but the rule of the road is in the eye of the beholder. Left-siders must > think the rest of the world has it backwards. > > Quoting Brian J White <br...@bjwhite.net>: > > > > > I think you brits should also fix your cars and > > roads so you drive on the correct side of the road. But that's just me. > :) > > > > > > At 15:54 2009-03-09, Stephen Humphreys wrote: > > >Sorry  - I think you might have the wrong person. > > >I'm not anti-metric - I'm a pro-choicer. > > > > > >The most 'extreme' views I hold on the subject regards safety. > > > > > >I have always said and always been firm that: > > > > > >1) Road signs should stay imperial > > >2) Medicines and chemist goods should always be metric > > > > > >Both of these relate to safety concerns. > > > > > >For most other things (in fact prob all) I > > >prefer the dual route or a flexible degree of choice. > > > > > >This may put me at odds with many on this list > > >but I'm always truthful and up front about it > > >and as many many have said it is healthy to have > > >a contrary view here for purposes of debate. > > > > > >With regards to the USA - I actually believe it > > >should be more metric than it is. > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Paul Trusten, R.Ph. > Public Relations Director > U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc. > www.metric.org > 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122 > Midland TX 79707-2872 US > +1(432)528-7724 > mailto:trus...@grandecom.net > Beyond Hotmail see what else you can do with Windows Live. 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