Not only that, but it's a Starrett caliper: the kind of pricey, high quality tool that I drool over.
...and about the only interesting part of the article. I enjoy cooking and I love potatoes; I even have a dozen or so potato plants/tubers/whatever growing in the garden. But even I realized years ago that the key to good french fries with low effort is to buy the OreIda "fast food" fries and cook them myself in the fat of my choice.
I've tried all the methods I read about and still the premade ones are better. Something I've never been able to say about any other food I cook.
My dad the machinist prefers Brown & Sharpe or Fowler (depending on the particular tool) to Starrett. Styling mostly; it seems like Starrett stuff has the old fashioned look and typefaces, whereas the B&S has a more 60s clean and simple hi-tech look.
I actually have the same model Starrett dial caliper pictured in the link.
If you liked all that, you'd probably enjoy the tv show "In search of perfection" by Heston Blumenthal, which is all about optimising common recipes (supposedly in a manner reproducible in a domestic kitchen, although I'm often a bit skeptical about that part).
The first episode I saw was on fish and chips too.
