Much fuss is being made about proposals that we return to imperial measures. When did we really stop? Everyone I know orders pints or half pints in the pub. We still have speed limit signs in miles per hour on our roads. So what is all the fuss about?
It really doesn’t bother me that my bag of caster sugar says it contains 500 grams or that my bag of self-raising flour contains 1.5 kilos. When I bake I weigh the ingredients on my scales in pounds and ounces. And if my recipe is in metric I can switch the scales to metric. Besides I have a rough rule of thumb (out that in metric!) that tells me that 100g is more or less 4oz. Sometimes my recipes call for “cups” of this and that. Maybe Mr Johnson should propose a crockery system of measuring for the UK!
As regards inches to centimetres, knitting patterns always recommend you do a “tension square” - to make sure you don’t need to adjust your needle size - of a certain number of stitches and a certain number of rows to produce a 10 centimetre or 4 inch square. I confess to still finding it hard to visualise the length of something in centimetres. I prefer inches. So if a length is only given in centimetres and I want to be able to visualise it I do a quick calculation: divide by 10 and multiply by 4.
I have a similar calculation for kilometres to miles: divide by 8 and mulriply by 5.
A little bit of mental arithmetic does a person no harm; indeed it might help stave off age and decrepitude.
Of course, if my collection of recipes gets passed on to one or other the grandchildren, probably one of the granddaughters who both cook and bake, they too will need to work out a system to transfer imperial to metric as they have been brought up metric. My oldest grandson, by the way, is perfectly capable of cooking and baking, having done GCSE Home Economics, but does not regard it as a leisure pursuit as his older sisters do. Indeed, since passing the exam he seems not to have cooked anything.
I have read a number of things about warmer nights causing sleep problems. This sort of thing:
“The spring and summer months can make sleep feel impossible, with everything from sweltering temperatures and noisy late-night barbecues to rowdy birdsong and early sunrises to contend with. Numerous studies have shown that our sleep changes for the worse when spring arrives.”
Personally I haven’t been finding the nights particularly warm as yet. Indeed, my sleep is more likely to be disturbed by my feet being too cold!
Some people, however, have been prompted to write letters to the newspapers about it, such as this:
If we are to endure hotter nights, it might help to end our love affair with the duvet. Even a low-tog duvet is unsuitable for a hot night, but try taking a summer break in the UK and finding a hotel, B&B or Airbnb with any alternative, even on request. The return of the pre-duvet sheet and blanket is surely the answer? Endlessly adjustable and suitable for all seasons.
David Bauckham
Charlton, London
That letter led to some replies:
I suggest that David Bauckham takes a suitable sheet on his travels, in case the duvet cover in his hotel room can’t be removed and used as a sheet. I usually take a lightweight shower handset and hose to temporarily replace the fixed shower heads used in so many hotels.
Stephen Ingamells
Ilford, London
Re David Bauckham’s letter, I invested in a wool-filled duvet earlier this year. It has kept me warm during the cold nights and I haven’t overheated on the couple of warm nights that we have had so far this year, so I am hoping that I have solved the problem.
Diane Woodley
Westgate-on-Sea, Kent
Anyone needing advice on how to get a better night’s sleep might want to read this article.
Meanwhile, columnist Arwa Mahdawi has a different sleep problem!
“For a while, I thought a new baby might mean a new and improved me. Since you can’t hit the snooze button on a child, I assumed I’d be forced to become one of those people who jumps out of bed at the crack of dawn ready to seize the day. After a year of tough scientific study, however, I have discovered that eliteness eludes me. Being someone who is forced to get up early in the morning, it turns out, is very different from being a Morning Person.”
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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