A few months ago due to a misunderstanding we ordered a box (10 reams) of A4 paper. I thought one of our consultants needed it so I ordered it from our office supply house. It was Hammermill paper and it came a day after ordering.
It turns out he didn't need it, so it sat in my cubicle for months. My boss, a somewhat parental/pragmatic person, was frustrated. A week ago, the other part of our group on the other side of the building got a new Lanier copier, the same one we have on our side. It's not just a copier, but also a fax machine, a scanner, and a network printer. >From time to time they get documents from overseas consultants formatted for A4 paper, and they had a devil of a time printing them. The file didn't like the US Customary "letter" size and they either had to reformat the document or do something else equally obtuse and difficult. So the fellow over there asked if he could have some of our A4 paper, so when the file comes, it will just print. I thought that was a good idea, and I put a ream in one of the four drawers of our copier/printer, too. The drawers hold, in order: US "letter", US "legal", A4, and 11 x 17. Most of the other people in our office thought that made sense, except for my boss, who thought I was weird. Carleton From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of John Frewen-Lord Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 02:09 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:46268] Re: black n red in the USA I think that Americans can thank their Northern neighbours for the invention of Letter and Legal paper sizes - for once the Canadians got it wrong. Some years ago, one of my clients, an architectural firm in Toronto, tried to switch to 'metric' sized paper, as they called it. I didn't realise it at the time, but they were probably talking about A-series sizes. They had to give it up, as a lot of their printers in those days (mid/late 1980s) couldn't handle it as they switched from typewriters to word processors, and the shops that initially stocked it gave up, as demand was so tiny. Time perhaps for North America to once again look at how smart it is in being out of step with the rest of the world. John F-L ----- Original Message ----- From: LPS <mailto:lpswe...@comcast.net> To: U.S. Metric <mailto:usma@colostate.edu> Association Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 12:00 AM Subject: [USMA:46266] black n red in the USA I was shopping for a few items today and came across a hard bound set of writing paper. The company that makes the hardbound writing paper is black n Red. I saw that the size was in old style measurements, but I then realised that I was looking at A4 and A5 formatted paper! Here in north America at a Walmart! Anyway, I picked up two and took them home for my note taking. interestingly enough I also saw a separate product called Pink and Black (breast cancer research) spiral bound set in A4 and A5+ with tear outs and the two holes for A5 and 4 holes for A4. I got those for my daughters. What a day. I have only one A4 binder for the 4 hole punched paper. I would like to see that set of products continue to reach our shores. :) LPS here is the link: http://www.blacknred.com I wrote them a thank you for A4 and A5 formats here in the USA.
