I blame the Romans, who devised some of the systems of measurement that are still in use in the US.

The inch and ounce both derive from uncia, the Latin name for the fraction 1/12. The foot (Latin pes) still has 12 inches, but over time the pound came to have 16 ounces. The inch and ounce are both similar in size to the equivalent Roman measurements.

The mile comes from the Latin mille passus, or thousand paces. A pace (Latin passus) was two steps, and was equal to five Roman feet. Thus, a mille passus had 5,000 Roman feet, which is similar to the 5,280 feet in a mile.

12 inches form one foot because the Romans had no way of representing arbitrary fractions. The Romans used 12 for their fractions (each fraction of 12 even has its own one-word name in Latin) because 2, 3, 4 and 6 all divide evenly into 12.

Nuh-uh! Don't blame him on us, he's one of yours I think.

Good for the spelling Nazi. If you want people to take you seriously you learn to spell.

It really bites my crank that people get bent out of shape because someone called them on an error. Can't you just say "my bad" or better yet, ignore it? Do they have to become a 'nazi' in your eyes? :cool:

I was in the process of creating a new thread, then decided to make sure it hadn't already been done. Of course it had and this thread is it.

Here is what I was going to post:

A) What is your home thermostat setting (heating season)?
B) Are you comfortable at that setting?

I'm just trying to figure out where other people set their thermostats. For me, the answer is complicated because we have seven thermostats, four of which are programmable. But generally the temperature is set at 62°F when we are awake and around, and 48-54° when we're sleeping or not home. If we're going to be home all day I'll turn it up to 64°.

I'm generally comfortable in this range, except when I have to get up at 3 AM to use the bathroom.

My wife is often cold, but she doesn't overtly complain.

Unfortunately, this poll is closed so I can't vote.

How big is your house? :eek:

We generally keep it to 65 when at home. 62 at night or when gone.

Our house isn't that big (maybe 3,000 square feet), but we have hot-water baseboard heat (four zones), a pellet stove with thermostat, and electric heat in some rooms, left over from the time before the gas lines were run (another two or three thermostats). We rarely use the electric heat.

I think that's a good range.

My room is currently 18 (64)

funny, feels cooler - probably because 1) there's a draught and 2) I am lying here moving nothing but my fingers

I have cat-warmed feet though

Depends on Summer vs. Winter. Summer 75, Winter 68.

I don't do F and can't be arsed to convert to C... 18 C in the bedroom and approx. 20 C elsewhere.

It rarely gets too hot in Finland, but we do need heating for at least 6 months of the year.

Converting temperature:

http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm

http://www.aaastudy.com/mea414x2.htm