And while you're at it, can you multiply 2 by 2 and tell me what you get? Thanks.

This amused me. It's an email I got from one of my editors yesterday while waiting for him to edit a story. He rushed me to get it to him (and I ended up just leaving my crappy lede just to get it in to him by the afternoon) and now it's just sitting in his inbox. Why? Because he's a procrastinator and hasn't finished his own full length piece for the next issue (I even transcribed his taped interviews for him for this story weeks ago and he still hasn't finished it. He's not my favorite person to work with). Anyway...

"Hi, I’m racing like a demon to push my feature over the finish line, which needs to happen today. In the meantime, can you convert the numbers highlighted below to americanese...thanks, K


Its thick masonry walls curve nearly 60 meters across the front.

Spielman and other experts have wondered if the structure served more as means to provide an early warning of danger, since a large pueblo containing at least 50 rooms is one kilometer away."

Okay first of all, anyone should be able to do those conversions if they have the math skills of a 7th grader (which isn't too much to ask, is it?). Secondly, Google does this type of shit for you. All you have to do is ask "60 meters in feet," and it does the conversion for you to like 4 decimals. DUH! The research skills of aging journalists are this scary. And I still can't find a job? *sigh*