[Leave your Cats on the Floor] General Discussion - Page 28

I was awoken by Slang's notification.

So did any of you dudes hear about the floods ripping through Queensland? I'm sure you did Peek, since nothing interesting ever happens where you live anyway. It's pretty crazy, our state's capital city has been partially wiped out and they reckon it is going to take several years and billions of dollars to get the city functioning again. The most surreal part is that all this happened not 20 minutes away from where I live (although luckily my home was totally unaffected).

I've been volunteering nearly all week, and it's been really amazing to see the community spirit it's brought out. People are coming from all over to help those affected, and you can literally just walk into some random person's house and as long as you've got some form of cleaning equipment with you then you're welcomed with open arms. I've just been driving my truck around, with a generator, water blaster, and a bunch of my mates in the back, and helping randoms clean thick layers of mud out of their homes.

A mate of mine pointed out how different our reaction to disaster has been compared to what went on after Hurricane Katrina in the US, where after the flood everything and everyone just kind of imploded. Seeing wave after wave of voluneteers flooding in (poor word choice maybe), giving up their time for weeks on end to help those affected - and in such large volumes that they've actually had to start turning volunteers away! - has made me so much prouder to be an Australian and to be part of the amazing spirit and community we've got going on over here.

Also Slang, what are you doing in New Zealand? Did the plane just overshoot Australia or something?

There hasn't been much fuss about disease, except for anything carried by mosquitos (since those assholes are out in force now that there's so much water around). We've been pretty lucky in that respect I suppose.

That's cool about New Zealand, it's a pretty nice place to visit really but I don't think I could live there, personally. If you do end up staying there for a year then make sure you take the time to visit us living across the Tasman!

I was actually going to shoot you a PM asking Barmy, had I not heard from you soon. After a couple of years of no contact, you were still one of the first things I thought when I heard the headline as I know you're around Brisbane. Glad to hear you're house was unaffected and that the floods, terrible as they are, have at least brought a sense of national unity.

I think Katrina had a similar response in some sense, not as effective as the Australian effort (probably because the region most affected was one already impoverished), but was largely ignored by the media. I know quite a few people who traveled across country to volunteer in New Orleans. But yeah, its a shame it wasn't more of a unified and widespread phenomenon where the people volunteering were sorta against the govt instead of behind them.

Slang, exciting stuff. Best of luck getting into that school, if/when you do, lets hear more about it, yeah? Studying abroad is really exceptional; I wish I could do it every semester. Does this mean you're not gonna be in Vancouver anymore? It's a shame I never made it up from Portland.

Hey guys, thought i'd drop by and say hello seeing as i'm feeling very nostalgic today (and i don't like seeing this thread so dried up). Even though i don't post very often i'm always lurking the lot of you.

It's T0a5t3r, by the way. I remembered the password for my original account (this one) and was smacked in the head by the realisation that i'd finally be able to see what was going on in the Oldies Lounge.

Good to hear you survived the floods Barmy! Hows everything going in Queensland? We never get any grand-scale flooding in Britain (well we do, but not in my area). I'm never really sure how quickly everything gets fixed up again post-flood.

well now thats just not very nice.

Guitarman91? Never heard of him, but the more the merrier in this barren wasteland of lost souls.

Now for a serious question. How do you guys handle potato chip cravings? I'm all for keeping fit and healthy and such, but just one look at a bag of Doritos and I almost lose myself to a fleeting moment of indiscretion and empty calories.

Good call, and actually I've found snacking on roasted unsalted almonds helps with this as well. I also try to limit my junk to a 'once a month and during a good movie' kind of deal.