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8:24 AM
9 hours of nonusage
 
8:38 AM
hello
 
9:04 AM
How are you
Oct 20 at 3:28, by Mahnax
Just a minor announcement, for those who care: I am now registered for my first year of a Bachelor of Science Honours in Chemistry!
Which school? Congrats by the way. @Mahnax
 
Anonymous
9:58 AM
knock knock
 
11:02 AM
@MattЭллен How are you holding out?
They're expecting wind force 12 here.
Several people have been killed by trees, public transport has more or less ceased to operate, and the fire department is telling everybody to stay inside.
They say "it's too dangerous outside".
 
@Cerberus no problems so far. a few branches have fallen off trees around here, but I got to work without incident, and relatively dry
 
Oh, I see.
But it is getting worse, so perhaps it is worse now than at 9 o' clock?
 
apparently 2 people have died
 
In Oxford?
Or in all of Britain?
 
in all of southern Britain. killed by trees
 
11:09 AM
The worst is expected between 11 and 1 here.
@MattЭллен Ah OK. Then we have more deaths, several per city.
 
> UK Energy Networks, which represents power companies across the UK, confirmed 220,000 homes are without power.
 
Mostly trees, and one guy who decided now was a good time to fly a kite. Or maybe he was only wounded.
@MattЭллен Do you have above-ground power lines?
 
Ah OK.
 
3 houses have collapsed, apparently
 
11:11 AM
We have power, but many trains do not (trains get their power above ground).
Oh, dear, collapsed houses? Haven't heard of that happening.
 
after a gas explosion caused by a fellen tree
 
Oh, OK, I see.
 
Our trains are even worse than normal
 
Heh.
Amsterdam Centraal is now officially inaccessible to trains, it seems.
 
according to the Met office, the worst of the winds have come and gone
 
11:14 AM
Oh, I see.
OK we're closing shop here, or rather, we won't open today.
 
Uhuh.
 
11:30 AM
looks like there will still be a fair amount of wind, although probably not damaging, for the next few days.
 
Hmm we can deal with that, can't we?
We're used to wind?
 
Yeah. I don't think it'll be a problem.
 
Right.
 
11:48 AM
Falling tree. On cars.
 
12:16 PM
OMG
What's going on Euorpeans?
I hope it's not a major catastrophe.
 
I think all the politicians started talking at once, releasing a lot of hot air.
 
lol
 
@Noah It's not major. But a nuisance, and people should stay inside for a couple of hours.
 
@MattЭллен Hope it's not election time. 'coz Cameron might freak out.
 
No, no elections around here for a while
 
12:19 PM
@Cerberus Umm. Stay inside and stay cool. A good execuse to stay out of school and work.
 
Yeah we've cancelled work.
 
I dont think there have been elections anywhere in the world for a while, at least real elections.
Just a thought though.
Had an interview and the guy was a total freak.
 
Our next big election will be May 7th 2015
Our next local council elections will be May 2014
 
He talked about a guy I know on and on and was totally freaking out trying to accuse him of lying and deceit.
How would you guys feel if you met a guy like that in an interview?
 
was it true
 
12:24 PM
you were interviewed by someone who was trying to accuse someone you know of being a liar?
 
Yeah.
 
No. @skullpatrol, I dont think so. I mean this guy for sure had a big mouth but he was more like an arrogant asshole.
 
@Noah Georgian elections were this weekend...
 
I don't really like being interviewed by aggressive people
 
12:26 PM
Presidential elections.
 
@Cerberus But you are not from Georgia. I think those guys are doing much better than us.
 
not that I've been interviewed a lot
certainly not by the media
 
@Noah Uhh are they? I for one am glad I'm not living in Georgia...
@MattЭллен OMG why not, what happened?
 
@MattЭллен Funny thing was. He doesnt seem to have done anything of value while the other guy is a known scholar.
 
@Cerberus why haven't I been interviewed a lot? because I'm not prominent on the world stage I guess :D
 
12:28 PM
@Cerberus I dont know much about that place. Sorry, thought it was a nice place. That came as a random thought.
@MattЭллен No, beucase you have a good job I guess and dont have to jump here and there.
 
you are prominent on this stage ;-)
 
@MattЭллен I am baffled at this injustice.
@Noah It's not terrible, but not great either.
 
@Cerberus true, people should have recognised my genius by now. c'est la vie
 
It is continually threatened by Russia, and no doubt a lot more corrupt than the West. And poorer.
 
time for lunch!
 
12:29 PM
Bai.
 
@Cerberus Is it in South America?
@MattЭллен Don;t eat much.
Just a few burgers might suffice.
 
No, it's in the Caucasus. Russia is not in South America.
 
I am totally pissed off by this guy. I dont know why he wanted to release all his anger about that guy in front of me.
@Cerberus Sorry. That's one of the disadvantages of living in the states.
We think the world consist of two places only. North America, South America.
And we do know a little about the MIddle East.
 
what about the rest?
 
Haha.
@Noah Who is this guy? Do we know him?
 
12:34 PM
@Cerberus No, we don't. And I dont want to disclose his name here.
Am glad we don't.
 
OK understandable.
 
I think Mahnax is going to university.
He made a minor announcement.
 
Well, I live in the States and I know for a fact that there aren't any other places.
 
Not even the moon?
 
Hell yeah, the Moon! That's one of our colonies.
We put a flag on it. That means it is ours.
 
12:36 PM
So it doesn't count.
 
And Walmart. @KitFox
 
@Cerberus Oh man. That's scary.
Look at the lawn.
May God bless you guys.
 
Yeah there will be considerable damage.
Like the English, we want our lawns crisp and clean.
 
And weak.
 
12:42 PM
Weak?
 
Yeah.
If it wasnt weak, I dont think the wind could have uprooted it.
Maybe weak is not a good word for it.
 
It's the trees that destroy the lawn, and trees are heavy. Not even houses can withstand trees properly.
 
The soil is probably really wet there, so it doesn't matter how good the roots are.
 
But if they are properly rooted, I dont think the wind can uproot them.
@KitFox That could be true.
 
The wind can uproot any mid-sized tree if it reaches wind force 12. It happens both on sand and on clay.
In fact, the top soil may be looser on sand...
I guess rocky grounds may be firmer.
 
12:47 PM
Then why doesnt it uproot trees in countries with many jungles.
 
Who says it doesn't?
But a very large tree may be too heavy to be uprooted.
And many trees close together protect each other.
 
I haven't heard about a single incident where it did.
 
And yet there are millions.
 
Yeah that could be true.
 
How is force 12 wind going to push against a tree in the middle of a jungle?
 
12:49 PM
I gotta pray. Will be back.
 
Bai.
1 min ago, by Cerberus
And many trees close together protect each other.
Poor temple.
 
> 1251: A crane has been brought in to remove a crane that has collapsed onto the roof of the Cabinet Office in central London. However, it was reportedly too windy for the crane to begin the removal work.
sending in good cranes after bad
 
Ah, yes, I read about that.
 
Hahaha
 
1:04 PM
mornin' @KitFox
 
Afternoon @Matt
How's tricks?
 
Pretty good. Someone might test my software today!
How are your tricks?
 
meh. usual.
I went to a fun dress-up party this weekend.
I had some ideas about the November novel.
I don't think I'm going to be able to write it this year though.
We are so very, very busy.
And stuff continues to be broken.
 
will you try anyway?
@KitFox what did you dress up as?
 
Yeah, I will try. I like the idea.
@MattЭллен Um, well, I decided that I was Zoë Washburn in fancy dress.
Not sure where the umlaut goes in that name.
Zoë.
Zöe.
 
1:16 PM
over the e
like in coördination
to make sure you pronounce it
 
I had a nice red shirt with a black satin corset over it and a black dancing skirt with a satin hem and my old knee-high lace up boots that I'd totally forgotten I owned.
If I'd known we were going to be invited to a party, I probably would've tried to make a steampunk costume. Of course, there's never enough time for that anymore.
Maybe next year.
 
cool! that sounds great
I want to make a steam punk costume, too
 
I could be Agatha Heterodyne and my husband could be Gil or maybe Tarvek.
My other thought was Alice's steamdress from Madness Returns.
Or the hatdress. That was cool too.
Except I don't have black hair, but then again, I'm not black and I dressed as Zoë Washburn, so.
@MattЭллен I bet you would make some awesome steampunk gear.
 
I'm never sure what direction to go in
 
Up.
ftfy
 
1:23 PM
ah! of course
 
I think I will go ahead and ask about the English prefix s-.
Easy reps.
 
Morning, @Reg.
 
Helloes Foxy.
 
My bot never got anyone who gave anywhere near an answer for the 'pull to'/'came to' question. Everyone who answered gave me a definition, which is not what I asked for, and also what I had already written in the question.
I feel like that has happened for the last few questions I asked on the site, not that there have been many in the last year or so.
Except during hat season.
 
Probably because the answerers are bots as well.
 
1:27 PM
Could be.
 
!!define bot
 
@MattЭллен bot The larva of a bot fly, which infests the skin of various mammals, producing warbles, or the nasal passage of sheep, or the stomach of horses.
 
interesting
!!define warbles
 
@MattЭллен warble (transitive) to modulate a tone's frequency
@MattЭллен warbles Plural form of
 
I put together some duplo train tracks yesterday. I think the eventual layout offered a bit too much choice for the toddler I put it together for
IMO a regular figure of eight track needs more sidings.
 
1:36 PM
Agreed.
Before we were married, we had Christmas with my husband's brother. My two-year-old nephew and I were playing with his wooden Thomas the tank engine set, and I kept making it bigger and bigger, taking over the whole living room.
He eventually looked at me and said "Auntie, that's big enough."
 
He was only just taking the train up the lava hill and making it blow up anyway.
 
The little one tried to adjust the layout, but the track is not quite bendy enough to go where he wanted
 
Bummer.
Did he have fun playing with you though?
 
Yeah, I think so :D
 
1:40 PM
Trains are the bomb-diggity.
 
except the strength with which he would tug my beard grew and became painfull, so that had to stop, which was difficult for him to understand
 
Ah, beard pulling. You must always nip that in the bud.
 
indeed, so I have learned
 
Kids have no idea that they are strong enough to hurt big people.
 
1:42 PM
Oh! I signed my eldest up for Destination Imagination (DI) which is the new name for Odyssey of the Mind which was the new name for Olympics of the Mind.
Which you probably don't have in the UK.
 
nope :D
 
So you won't know why that's exciting.
 
sounds exciting though
just from the name
 
It's a problem-solving challenge.
With teams of kids.
 
1:43 PM
math problems?
 
Except for K-2. For the wee ones, it's just a performance without any winning.
@skullpatrol Not exactly.
There are different kinds of challenges. The most popular one is the Structure challenge.
 
building stuff!
 
When I was a kid, that one involved building a bridge and hanging weights off it.
 
it's just a jump to the left
 
You were scored on the presentation (some kind of skit to bring it in and set it up), how much weight it held, etc.
 
1:45 PM
@MετάEd and then a fall from a height
 
I usually participated in the ... I can't remember the name of it. It was a creative challenge.
 
sounds good
 
You had a three-minute skit (or some time-limited) to present, for instance, the seven wonders of the world and then what you thought ought to be the eighth.
(That was one year, we didn't do so good.)
 
@KitSox she can't leave us hanging like that. Plural form of what?
 
@KitFox what happened?
 
1:48 PM
The year we won the creativity prize, the challenge was to present a Greek myth and have an advert for something that was somehow related to it.
 
have you guys heard of the 8 blunders of the world?
 
You mean Nicolas Cage?
 
I only ever heard of Nicolas Cage, sorry.
 
@KitFox sounds good. what was your advert for?
 
1:48 PM
Ghandi
 
@MattЭллен Oh nothing amazing. We just had a stupid sketch that was like a game show or something, and our eighth wonder was "time". Really? Time? Stupid.
 
@MattЭллен Your very own Pandora's box.
 
ohhhhhhhhh. I want one
 
The Seven Social Sins, sometimes called the Seven Blunders of the World, is a list that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi published in his weekly newspaper Young India on October 22, 1925. Later, he gave this same list to his grandson Arun Gandhi, written on a piece of paper, on their final day together, shortly before his assassination. The seven sins or blunders are: *Wealth without work. *Pleasure without conscience. *Knowledge without character. *Commerce without morality. *Science without humanity. *Worship without sacrifice. *Politics without principle. History and influence The list was f...
 
1:51 PM
The first one we ever did was an invention challenge. There was a marked out area on the floor, and you had to get two people along a path without touching the floor with your body. The whole invention for doing so had to fit in a suitcase. Also, a creative sketch to go with it.
 
sounds complicated
 
@skullpatrol bah. "Random word without random other word".
 
Way too complicated for us. I think I was 9 or 10.
Our "invention" was a mechanic's dolly with a toilet plunger to push ourselves along.
 
Juice without Napalm
 
Which was really difficult to maneuver.
Kit without Sox.
 
1:53 PM
@KitFox nice :D
 
I did get to wear a cape though.
 
@MattЭллен well I'm serious. "Politics without principle" is bad, but "politics without morality" or "politics without humanity" is not. So you can make inhumanity your principle and then your politics are A-okay.
 
With a carrot painted on it.
Peanut butter without jelly.
 
humanity without humans
 
@RegDwigнt that does seem short sighted
 
1:55 PM
Likewise for science. Or really any other pair on that list. You can couple them every which way.
 
Killing without remorse.
 
Remorse without killing
 
Indeed.
Oh. Wait.
 
indeed without deed = in
 
Never mind.
 
1:56 PM
Science without mice
 
And the more overarching thing is of course, who says those things are bad. Obviously these things are a) intrinsic to humans, and b) got us to where we are now. And I don't know about you, but my life is frigging great. Who guarantees it would have been better, or even anywhere as good, without Ghengis Khan and Hitler?
Those idiots killed millions so I can have Internet and candy.
 
also, these seem to talk in absolute terms
 
People are fuzzy.
The world is fuzzy.
 
Fuzzy without people.
 

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