Randomness - vol. IV

[Kalah]

There's some flooding in Norway because of heavy rain, so the contry is cut in two. Roads are washed away and the biggest cell phone network is down. Basically, one of the alledgedly most modern countries in the world has been flummoxed by a few days of rain, and the Government is going completely ape.

[Ethric]

The government has been ape for nearly 6 years, nothing new there.

[ThunderTitan]

Is your country prone to flooding? If so why aren't the road above ground already?

[Kalah]

It's not really prone to flooding, it's just that some years there are really hot springs, and the snow melts quickly which results in some rivers breaking their banks. Everywhere else (away from the rivers) is fine, because of the hilly terrain.

[ThunderTitan]

"Some years" seem to imply is common enough... and if it's just some regions then it's just some places that need high roads... money saved that.

[Kalah]

Well, in theory you're right, and it's not like Norway's a poor country ... but in practice, people all over the world are regularly surprised by the power of natural forces. We might think that we have enough failsafes and contingencies, but then there's a tsunami, or a flood bigger than people expected, a powerful tornado etc ...

[Gaidal Cain]

it's not like Norway's a poor country ...

Understatement of the year?

[Pol]

@Ethric
Our too. I think, it's global. Worse than E.Colli in effect.

[ThunderTitan]

but in practice, people all over the world are regularly surprised by the power of natural forces. We might think that we have enough failsafes and contingencies, but then there's a tsunami, or a flood bigger than people expected, a powerful tornado etc ...

Well why do you think nature does it... to remind us that in the end we're still her b*tch... no matter how often we think we're not.

[Kalah]

It's hybris to think that we can safeguard against all forces of nature. Thankfully, no lives have been lost in these floods, which are actually turning out to be quite bad now. We're talking real 50-year-flood kind. The most important thing is that people are okay; houses have been evac'ed and several ones destroyed ... but houses can be rebuilt.

[Kristo]

The Mississippi River in the USA has a complicated series of dams and spillways that are used to divert flood waters away from populated areas. Basically, we flood farmland on purpose to save lives and property. Nature had its own way of doing that already of course, but we went and built big cities in those places. Sucks to be you if you live downstream from a major levee.

[Kalah]

We just got the data back from a national poll, which asked all the college students (age 15-18) a number of questions regarding how they like their schools; everything from academic achievement and quality of the teaching, to social life and environment. Naturally, the results were good, but we didn't expect them to be this good.

We are the best school in the country.

[Mirez]

15 year old college students?

[hatsforclowns]

15 year old college students?

At least in Finland it's structured as:

Primary education = 7-15
College = 15-18 (or 19)
University = 19- (or 20-)

Probably quite similar in the rest of Scandinavia as well. Or maybe we're talking about different things...?

[Ethric]

We just got the data back from a national poll, which asked all the college students (age 15-18) a number of questions regarding how they like their schools; everything from academic achievement and quality of the teaching, to social life and environment. Naturally, the results were good, but we didn't expect them to be this good.

We are the best school in the country.

Congrats on picking and being part of the winning team

Is there a link to an announcemnt or a newsitem?

[Kalah]

Well, the results are out on this page, but there's no comparable statistics put out there yet. Our boss did that; collected all the numbers and sorted them in an Excel file. If you want to do that, be my guest.

And yes, Mirez - hatsforclowns is right. We call it "college" here.

[Ethric]

Had to cut out a tooth yesterday, one of the ones that come creeping up to cause trouble at the back of the mouth as one gets older. An experienced surgeon had to cut off meat, shave off bone, and drill, crack and wrench the tooth into little pieces to get it out (he made a small opening to avoid having to cut off too much bone). Now my left side is so swollen I look like I'm part hamster, and all of it topped of by a medium-strenght cold.

Now I ask you, how did people cope with this before modern surgery? No blacksmith's tong could have pulled out this tooth without also taking my jaw off (the surgeon commented after the procedure that this was no "rookie tooth"). I guess they simply walked around in pain until they died from infection, blood poisoning and gangrene...

[Kalah]

Didn't you play Caesar III? You know those guys had dentists waaay back in the day.

[Ethric]

Scary reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_molar

On the complication dry socket:

Smoking, blowing one's nose, spitting, or drinking with a straw in disregard to the surgeon's instructions can cause this, along with other activities that change the pressure inside of the mouth, such as sneezing or playing a musical instrument.

I've suffered from a terrible cold all day, and the marked activities have been my main occupation. I'm screwed...

[Kalah]

Yeah, it's no fun being ill ...