Since we here in the USA don’t know the #metric system, we need to learn more units for this weekend

@dianea overconfident dudes hate this one weird trick

@cR0w @dianea You said I'd get a dollar...this can't be more than a snickers.

@dianea

So we are expecting about $2 of snow?

@dianea

I have a 10 cm tattoo on my arm marked on every half cm (because at this accuracy 2.5cm=1inch is more than good enough approximation) and it has done so much good for figuring out what different sizes are.

@dianea My phone's screen is 1 dollar in size.

@gbargoud @dianea
I was just thinking of approaches like this! ️ I use my fingers, hand, and arm, as you said, it's more than good enough

@dianea I can understand most of them, but a Snicker's and whether the ends are pulled out or not? That doesn't seem like a consistent size since you could confuse the various sizes it's sold in. If you're going to do something that most people are going to have a fairly consistent point of reference to, just say the height of a normal coffee mug for 4"

@dianea @almonds

My wife (who has the same name as you) got one first for knitting. She got a few on her fingers marking 1 and 2 inches so she can easily see when something is long enough.

As an aside: I didn't realize that MIT has an official mastodon instance, that's pretty cool

@dianea This is so quintessentially USian. thanks thanks for sharing!

@gbargoud
That's so lovely - and yeah, this instance is maintained by our student computing club, SIPB

@oldguy52

be assured we are going to be taxed on every dollar of snow!

@dianea You lose quarters, dollars, your debit card, and ruin batteries measuring snow like this, but bonus: you get frozen Snickers and Coke slushies!!

"Hey, honey, would you grab a pack of soda and go out to measure the snow depth on the driveway? Thanks."

@dianea If you think US measurements are bizarre (and they are), wait until you hear about the confused mess that is British measurements.

@dianea Plus there's like a whole generation or two of people who have no idea what a 9v battery is

@dianea

Credit cards are 3.375 inches wide by 2.125 inches high.

What are they even doing there? You'd be better off with the height of a credit card for 2" and find something else for 3"

@dianea those are definitely not hot dogs or footballs

@JessTheUnstill

It's like most people never heard of a "transistor battery" and would it work in flashlights

@dianea width of a USBC plug is about 1/3". Just measure in USBC plugs

@dianea America refused to go to the metric system. I believe there was a push for it in the 70s, most of the world was already on it. So now in order to work on things, I have to have two sets of wrenches one in inches, one in millimeters.
Thank you, America. (Sarcasm)