Either you can’t see the label, or the numbers are upside-down. The manufacturer was obviously not thinking of photograpy!
That’s my tape measure. 8 meters is roughly 26-1/4 feet. I have it because I bought a barn door to install in an upstairs suite (in Las Vegas) and the instructions were only in centimeters (!). Converting makes for some really odd fractions, so I ordered that device from Amazon and used it to install the door. And, it was so much easier than fractional measurements that in all future home projects, I kept right on using my metric tape measure, which I brought with me to France in my luggage. Just landed (I hope) in Rotterdam are our household goods, which include some more tape measures with both scales on them. I haven’t rejected US Customary measure (not the same as Imperial, but similar) and even in France not everything is metric. For instance, socket wrench sockets come in 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 drive. Yes, folks, your ratchet or breaker bar will be compatible with any sockets you buy here. My biggest project using centimeters was to build a base for a new shed. I followed the directions carefully and, boy howdy, the shed fit perfectly. No messing up how many eights in a half or that sort of thing. 235 is 235 (unspecified it always means centimeters) to use a quick example. So, yes, folks, metric is easier to use for construction.
And for distance, honestly, how far is a mile? Don’t give me any other measure to answer because that’s just putting off the inevitable. How long is a foot? How wide is an inch? What’s 3/8 inch plus 5/16th? It always gets messy. And I’m not saying that kilometers are superior to miles. But, honestly, it takes maybe a day or two driving using metric and you figure out how far a kilometer is the same way you figured out how far a mile it. You just know it. I can’t tell you how long a kilometer is without referring to another measure,* the same problem as I’d have with a mile. Honestly, it’s not worth worrying about. Ask a Canadian, you just do it.
Weight? Well, I still say that I weight 192. That’s 87 kilos, or kilograms, but somehow 87 doesn’t mean as much to me. But for buying stuff, half a kilo is a tad over a pound, so that’s how much butter I buy at once. I have a kitchen scale that does grams, and a bathroom scale that would give me kilos or stone if I set it to, so it doesn’t matter. I’ll no doubt flip my scale to kilos at some point, but I haven’t done it yet.
Volume is easier than you’d think. 5 ml to the teaspoon, and you can run that right up if you’re cooking. It varies some with larger amounts, but how much buttermilk are you putting in those biscuits anyway? The trouble in cooking is that in Europe everything is by weight, which some say is more precise, and they may be right, but cooking isn’t a precise art because one must allow for ambient temperature and humidity in many cases. I have standard US measuring cups and spoons, and a scale in grams, so I’m good either way.
The one thing that I am reluctant about, for some reason, is temperature. Fahrenheit, with narrower degrees, gives a closer look at the temperature. Mid-80s says more than Mid 20s, and I like that. I’m okay with hearing Celsius because I’ve lived with it long enough to get it, but, really, I prefer Fahrenheit for determining comfort levels. Pauvre moi, huh?
You might be interested to know that, as of 2021, about one-third of US manufacturers were fully metric, one-third were partially metric, and one-third used no metric measures. If you want to sell at export, you have to be, it’s as simple as that. Also things like lumber dimensions are metric even though they rarely say so on their labels. Sneaky, those decimals!
The truth about metric is that you’re most comfortable with what you’re most used to, and it takes very little time to get used to a different system of measurement. Honestly, it doesn’t bother me a bit. For building something, I highly recommend it. For driving, so long as your speedometer and the speed limit signs use the same system, who cares? For cooking, well, whatever works for you. Now I’m gonna take my 87 kilos and move on. Later, Gator!
*Well, I kind of can, because originally a meter was one ten-millionth of the distance between the equator and the north pole along a line passing through Paris, France. Okay, I had to use the size of the planet for a reference. Ignore me!
