Wednesday 21 January 2009

He who throws the first stone....

Yes I've done it! 16 days and I've lost a stone - the plateau has ended!

A stone is such a bizarrely random unit of weight. 14 pounds. Why on earth would a system develop where each 14 pounds is a special unit?

I always feel a bit dumb using stones and pounds - a total anachronism in the modern world - quite why the USA still uses pounds and pints I don't get. Since 1973 the UK has adopted the metric system which is far more logical and the use of some imperial measurements for trade has been outlawed but, sadly, there are some small-minded Little Englanders who clutch to the past and want to retain the nonsense of the imperial system. Why? Are they idiots?

When we went metric we should have totally gone over to Kgs, Kms, etc. Currently we have tqo systems running side by side: time, money and irritation is expended converting between the two. The government should insist that everything changes and we use a single system taht is easy to understand.

A stone is a unit from the imperial measurement system which was and, perhaps sadly, is still, used in the UK and was spread around the world by the British Empire. It is 14 pounds which is the same as 62.3 Newtons or 6.35 kilos.

Historically a stone has meant different amounts in deifferent trades and professions: in the 18th century a stone of beef was 8 pounds in weight, a stone of sugar is 12 pounds, etc.

Anyhow, I've lost a stone. And I'm chuffed.

Onwards and upwards - or downwards!

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