Inclemency

In class this morning one of the instructors could be heard remarking to another, "It's raining like crazy out there!"

Yes, it's a very rainy day in San Diego. 

Wendy loves the rain, she really craves it.  I think it can be cool, and fun, too, as long as the roof or the window isn't leaking.  Sometimes I wonder why Wendy thirsts so much for rain.  Perhaps it's because she grew up in England where rain is really common.  In San Diego rain is not quite as common, and out here in El Cajon it's really dry.

This morning I left my bike at home and walked the long block to my bus stop.  Wearing my backpack in front so it wouldn't get soaked without my knowledge, I carried a couple of umbrellas, my old favorite "No This" one from New York City, and one of Wendy's old "Felix The Cat" umbrellas which I broke the handle off while twisting it to shake the rain off.  The idea was to be able to share the broken one with some ill-prepared unfortunate soul who might be in danger of getting soaked.

The friendly bus driver lady commented on the rain, and I asked her if she enjoyed driving in it.  The answer was a resounding "Oh, no!  Everything changes in the rain."  Later I asked her what she didn't like about driving in the rain, and she mentioned how it takes longer to stop, just like a car, and also people tend to pull in front of her at the last minute, because "no one wants to be stuck behind a bus".

Rain always fascinated me as a child, and really, it's still pretty amazing.  Even though we all know about the water cycle and how water evaporates from the oceans and is carried over the land by clouds, it's still really awe-inspiring that water, which is really heavy, comes falling out of the sky like that.

That reminds me of the whole "water being composed of two gases" thing that just trips me out to no end.

One of the vehicles that passed near the bus stop this morning was a Smart Car.  I've always liked Smart Cars, but a few weeks ago I was riding my bicycle in a parking lot and a Smart Car drove past at close range.

It sounded like a lawn mower.

So after that I changed my feelings on Smart Cars.  It sounded cheap and small and unsafe.  Come to think of it, several years ago there was a lot of talk in the media about "crumple zone" and how in a collision the engine compartment would compress and absorb the force of the crash before it reached the passenger compartment.  It would appear that the "crumple zone" on a Smart Car extends through the cabin and perhaps even beyond the rear of the vehicle.

Of course if someone gave me a Smart Car I would happily accept and just drive really carefully.