units for the layman -- the houseboat

It is so hard for the ordinary man to comprehend the vast distances between the planets, or even the heights of great buildings.  It would be so much easier if we were given distances in terms of something familiar to all of us:  the houseboat (hb).  How tall is the mighty Empire State Building?  That thing is an amazing 82 houseboats high!

>>17
I'm not saying they are not, but to have the metric system shoved up my ass every time i go the supermarket or try and buy some wood or follow a recipe i want easy units suited to these general non-precision tasks