Just been to my local sandwich shop and the young and well spoken lad that served me had to use a calculator to add up £4.50 and 80p.
Bloody hell, I was really shocked
Edited to correct my terrible mistake in the title....
[Edited on 4/7/13 by Jasper]
More to the point, why are you spending nearly a fiver on a sandwich!
quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
More to the point, why are you spending nearly a fiver on a sandwich!
I've had a graduate engineer reply to an exhaust lagging supplier "I think you have specified too high a temperature range, and you please
quote for 80-100 degrees" .
- Supplier had quoted for a 650deg product
- The lagging goes with in 6 inches of the manifold
- Ambient air temp is circa 50deg, underbonnet, could more like 70
I asked him what would happen if you threw water on the exhaust, expecting to talk him through the explanation that it must be over 100deg, he just
said he didnt know.
Now admittedly this is not within the UK, but equally, he claims 6 years engineering experience.
Daniel
Sorry, that should have been £3.50 for the sandwich Free range chicken!!
You can't deny that there is some considerable irony in you missing the word "in" from your topic title.
[Edited on 4/7/13 by TimC]
quote:
Originally posted by TimC
You can't deny that there is some considerable irony in you missing the word "in" from your topic title.
[Edited on 4/7/13 by TimC]
Maybe he was dyslexic? Or perhaps he had made a mistake earlier and had another grumpy customer having a go at him? Or maybe he just not very good at
maths in his head?
I cant really see how you have managed to jump from someone you know nothing about needing to use a calculator to blaming the schools system.
or perhaps he was Mr Tim, Nice but Dim...
When I'm interviewing for engineering positions (civil / industrial) its pretty clear that the applicants know nothing outside of the course and
even then its vague. Most refer to "I don't recall that, but I covered it in coursework" or "I'd just check on the
internet".
My humble and limited experience leads me to conclude that they don't commit anything to memory and only know enough to pass a test that poorly
reflects real world applications.
Its great knowing loads of algebra and getting an A in geography and media studies, but most don't even know imperial dimensions and are unable
to think on their feet. Oh well.
quote:
Originally posted by iank
quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
More to the point, why are you spending nearly a fiver on a sandwich!
Brighton prices
Yeah yeah, ok, so I was so surprised I couldn't type properly......
I have just noticed a lot of this lately in shops with younger staff. This guy sounded well educated and the shop was very quiet, so not under any
pressure. In fact he did the calculation twice just to make sure....
As I fast two days a week it's just not worth me making sarnies ......
[Edited on 4/7/13 by Jasper]
quote:
Originally posted by deezee
most don't even know imperial dimensions
I'm always surprised when people (it was my FD this week) can't 'annualise' weekly figures in their head. Seriously, how hard is it to add two naughts, divide by two and then add twice the number that you started with?
quote:
Originally posted by jps
quote:
Originally posted by deezee
most don't even know imperial dimensions
Now I don't work in an engineering scenario - so this is an honest question - but is anyone still working to imperial dimensions in the UK in manufacturing/engineering?
A few years ago I worked in a warehouse for a few months picking loads for DIY stores - and 8'x4' was 'actually' 2440mm X 1220mm....
I often check very simple calculations in my calculator despite having multiple degrees in engineering and plenty of practical experience. It's
more natural to do that because usually the calculations are a lot more complex than X+Y but the habit rolls over. But maybe this guy just struggled
with quick maths in his head.
I have a friend who can multiply two 6 figure numbers in his head while having a conversation. He might ask why we're all so stupid that we
can't do that, but he's no good at engineering!
quote:
Yes, if you work with any American company in engineering then thats all they work in. Boeing in particular...
quote:well I've just done a job were the civil engineers (big national company) claimed not to be able to calculate the load that was goint to be applied to there new bases so I got the job to do the calc for them....
Originally posted by deezee
When I'm interviewing for engineering positions (civil / industrial) its pretty clear that the applicants know nothing outside of the course and even then its vague.
quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
quote:
Originally posted by iank
quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
More to the point, why are you spending nearly a fiver on a sandwich!
Brighton prices
Him or me?
I make my sandwiches, or if I am a good boy the lady wife makes them.
I take a flask when working on site too. Or teabags when working in school.
Me. tight? You bet when it comes to lunch.
That's usually done when the person who "can't" just doesn't want to, or hasn't budgeted the time to. Or thinks the assumption of static wind loading in the environment required is possibly an under-simplification and doesn't want to get into the detailed design but also doesn't want to accept the liability for the design.
I always find it amusing (sad) when you hand a shop assistant the extra change when purchasing something - i.e. you buy an item for £4.20, and pay them a fiver, and 20p piece. They they count out the 80p change, and hand you back the 20p.... Genius.
quote:
Originally posted by twybrow
I always find it amusing (sad) when you hand a shop assistant the extra change when purchasing something - i.e. you buy an item for £4.20, and pay them a fiver, and 20p piece. They they count out the 80p change, and hand you back the 20p.... Genius.
sorry Chapps going to have to stick up for the teachers a little SWMBO is one.
In the my wifes old school she spent most of here time teaching them English before she could get to the maths !!!
The one that could speak a little english were taught how to get the good test scores for the league tables !!
ATB Agriv8
quote:
Originally posted by jps
....is anyone still working to imperial dimensions in the UK in manufacturing/engineering?
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
That's usually done when the person who "can't" just doesn't want to, or hasn't budgeted the time to. Or thinks the assumption of static wind loading in the environment required is possibly an under-simplification and doesn't want to get into the detailed design but also doesn't want to accept the liability for the design.
Oh dear. That doesn't sound good!
quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
Just been to my local sandwich shop and the young and well spoken lad that served me had to use a calculator to add up £4.50 and 80p.
Bloody hell, I was really shocked
Edited to correct my terrible mistake in the title....
[Edited on 4/7/13 by Jasper]
The oil industry work in API unit or US units so it's feet, inches, lbs, gallons etc.
I have a Lufkin tape measure marked up in feet, with inches on one side and metric feet on the other (1ft split in 10). Useful for measuring
pipes and then adding the lengths up. like 30.75 ft + 31.15 ft.
As said a lot of industry is in imperial, but its something you can pickup on the job, teaching time is precious so its a waste to use it teaching how to use the many non SI systems. The current system is more weighted to looking things up than committing to memory but this isn't a bad thing if done properly so they learn the correct process for finding things out. I've worked with a lot of people who've caused serious problems because they though they knew best rather than looking things up.
quote:
Originally posted by jps
Now I don't work in an engineering scenario - so this is an honest question - but is anyone still working to imperial dimensions in the UK in manufacturing/engineering?
A few years ago I worked in a warehouse for a few months picking loads for DIY stores - and 8'x4' was 'actually' 2440mm X 1220mm....
quote:
Originally posted by deezee
My humble and limited experience leads me to conclude that they don't commit anything to memory and only know enough to pass a test that poorly reflects real world applications.
Its great knowing loads of algebra and getting an A in geography and media studies, but most don't even know imperial dimensions and are unable to think on their feet. Oh well.
quote:well put, and if anyone thinks it sounds crazy then you should see what the americans have come up with
Originally posted by deezee
I don't have to work in imperial, I prefer metric (don't like fractions). But I need to appreciate that pretty much the whole UK is still designed in imperial sizes, its just marked up in metric because it has to be.
What's fun is if say you and a young engineer are discussing a sample part or piece of material and someone asks exactly what a particular
dimension is, as they look for the tape or rule you squint at the part and say for example, "recon that's 76mm" and when they measure
it they are amazed it is exactly that. Of course it was just a good guess that the original design dimension was 3"
Cheers
Fred W B
quote:
Originally posted by tims31
quote:
Originally posted by jps
quote:
Originally posted by deezee
most don't even know imperial dimensions
Now I don't work in an engineering scenario - so this is an honest question - but is anyone still working to imperial dimensions in the UK in manufacturing/engineering?
A few years ago I worked in a warehouse for a few months picking loads for DIY stores - and 8'x4' was 'actually' 2440mm X 1220mm....
Yes, if you work with any American company in engineering then thats all they work in. Boeing in particular...
quote:
Originally posted by Vindi_andy
This was the cause of a very close call a few years ago when a british company sent drawings in metric and the american company building the product were working in imperial.
quote:
Originally posted by jps
Now I don't work in an engineering scenario - so this is an honest question - but is anyone still working to imperial dimensions in the UK in manufacturing/engineering?
A few years ago I worked in a warehouse for a few months picking loads for DIY stores - and 8'x4' was 'actually' 2440mm X 1220mm....
quote:
Originally posted by twybrow
I always find it amusing when you hand a shop assistant the extra change when purchasing something ....
They they count out the 80p change, and hand you back the 20p.... Genius.
quote:
Originally posted by TimC people can't 'annualise' weekly figures
quote:
Originally posted by me!As a recent-ish (2007) graduate, this is about spot on. I realised that as the world and his wife were doing degrees, I needed to stand out a bit. So to me this meant a) MEng rather than BEng and b) I had to get a first.
My favorite moment was in a final year advanced combustion chemistry lecture, one lad put his hand up and asked what a reciprocating engine was. I nearly crapped myself laughing.
quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
I have to admit, as someone who graduated in 2010 (fractionally more recently) and who also went got the M.Eng, partly to 'stand out' , partly to make employment abroad easier, and partly to simplify the route to being chartered, I went for the the 'Get a middle of the road 2:1' approach
When i was in school here in Canada all i was taught was Metric, at home though everything was in Imperial. When i went to a technical school
following highschool we were taught both Imperial and SI (mm not centimetres). Following techinical school all i used was Imperial as i was working
with pre-1980 British sports cars. Now i'm working for an Engineering firm and we have to produce drawings to the clients specifications, some
clients want Imperial, some want SI, and some of the clients with older buildings and equipment will request imperial even thought their design
standards call for metric. The odd thing for me is, i cant show you with my hands how long 150mm is, yet i can for anything in imperial. Luckily, as
its been stated earlier in this thread, most if not all steel sizes we use are hard converted from imperial to metric, and all piping is made to
imperial sizes, even though it would be called up on drawing as metic (ie 80mm sch 40 pipe would be the same as 3" sch 40).
I would honestly like to get back into using metric as its easier to add up, but i just cant for the life of me look at something and tell you how
long it is in SI.
My mum says her sewing teacher said "the difference between a metre and a yard is the length of the frills on a french girls skirt" just for
a bizare way of remembering which was longer, and that was quite a few years ago given I have just turned 40. She said at the time it made her
jealous because it meant french girls had 3 inches more of frills.
Sorry ill let this thread get back on track now