dates, driving and money

Hello Ken,

  I think that here in the "colonies" we just randomly rejected stuff that came from the UK out of spite (hangover from the Revolution and all).  In Europe dates are in Day-Month-Year, and we do it backwards because it has always been so, although we have mellowed through the generations and decipher the alternatives anyway.

  Driving on the Right or Left I think was the result of some Auto manufacturer trying to avoid stepping on someone else's Patent (?) but it does make sense to pass oncoming traffic on the side you are sitting on, as the natural tendency is to keep your head as far away from the point of impact as possible.  When driving on narrow un-lined roads fewer collisions are a good thing.... so why do we still kill so many on the highways annually?  Even though there are four or more lanes divided and all going the same direction?

  Here in the States, there are a few "Traffic Circles" (Roundabouts), mostly in the Eastern States, but there are a few cropping up here in the West also.  Supposedly to improve the flow of traffic.... more of a "bottleneck" actually.  Mine is a University town and we have a large Foreign Student Population, so at least some drivers get around them easily..... the majority are clueless and have trouble getting in and out without threatening life and property (mostly the natives).  I'm thinking that is is cheaper to sweep up broken glass than install traffic lights.

  Then again, while I'm on a rant here.... We will let anyone drive it seems!  last time I was down at the Department Of Motor Vehicles to renew my license, there were a couple of fellows at the counter next to me explaining to the clerk that "I must go with my friend to take the written part of the test to translate the questions.".  Oh Yeah, we will even let folks loose on the streets who cannot even READ the Road Signs!  Only In America!!

  Now on the money thing... Pound Sterling was the value of a pound of Silver, and the note was supported by reserves of the metal.  The American Dollar is supported by reserves of Gold.  We however had a bunch of Silver in the ground, and when the value of Silver on the American market dropped to around two cents an ounce, President Roosevelt ordered the Silver mines closed and backfilled.  For awhile there were Dollars backed by Silver Reserves and marked "Silver Certificate".  A large number of the old Silver Mines have never been reopened, because the costs of resuming operations exceeded the value of the metal therein.  Gold is still the International standard of commerce, but the metal never moves around.... only the paper representing it.

Hope that was all "clearer than mud".

Take Care and Rest Easy;
Doug

Doug,
Thanks Fantastic reply.
I never really thought about this pound steling thing being linked with silver and dollars linked to gold. This makes a lot of sense now, or more than it did before. But gold is worth more than silver so why do you get more $$$'s for the £ ?

lol.

the roundabouts here are slowly getting traffic lights at them to control the traffic more. Sometimes I think this is good but defeats the purpose of them in the first place.
We are getting more and more mini roundabouts that really are a waste of time in my view as folk just drive straight over them and do not treat them as a roundabout.

As for the "colonies" rejecting anything that was from the UK, I dont blame them , I am still rejecting Uk things and I am in the UK

OZ

Doug -

Gold hasn't been the backing for U.S. money for almost 100 years.  The only thing backing U.S. money is the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. government.  And then they wonder why it's not holding it's value. 

- Zurf

Ken as I understand it the majority of drivers in the world drive on the left hand side of the road, South Africa, Japan and (I think) China. The idea for driving on this side came from the days when we wore a sword and rode a horse, it was easier (for the right handed) to draw your sword and defend yourself if you passed this way.

When it comes to roundabouts I am sure that there must be a EEC grant for them. They are springing up all over Portugal. Quartiera, a town I know well had a main road through it about 1.5 km long with one set of traffic lights in it 3 years ago. Now there are no lights but 7 roundabouts and it is far worse to navigate particularly as there are zebra crossings on each road just as you approach them.

What I find very confusing in Portugal is the seperation of numbers they use commas where we use full stops and vice versa. So three thousand euros and 50 cents would be written €3.000,50.

Roger

Thanks Roger,
that would make sense about the sword wielding thing on horseback.
Also a bit of useless info is train tracks.......they are this wide because of horse and carriages too. When the horses pulled the carts on a dirt track they created ruts in the ground, these ruts are the same width of railway lines, There is a bit more to it. You will have to watch " how do they do that" or how did they make that" or something likie that on discovery.

I never realised so many drove on the left hand side which I consider to be the right side

Jerome thanks.
So the military in America do this date way too but the rest dont. Weird!!
and I agree with the O's and 0's I usually say zero all the time when meaning a zero and say oh when spelling something.
But I find myself when saying my phone number starting with "oh one three eight nine" I never say "zero one three eight nine". No idea why, maybe it rolls of the tongue easier to start with OH?
I have seen a lot of the time zeros being slashed but I dont think they do this all the time         (maybe just in the military?) So I think the slash should be in the zero all the time, even on keyboards then there would be no mistakes with those security things you have to copy into the bozes sometimes. It is hard enough to work out what letters are sometimes because they are distorted so much.

Ken

As a nurse I'm used to military time.  It's standard op. procedure when doing paperwork.