tales from an ordinary world

2000-10-19

At lunchtime, it rained like nothing else. A mini-tornado near Geelong, apparently. 19mm of rain within 18 minutes. Raining like old times, like other places, like how rocking-chair bound people would tell you it used to be. We had to get back from lunch by a particular time though, so while others stood around the foyer watching the rain, I opened my umbrella and jogged to the restaurant - possibly the most strenous exercise I'd had in ages. My shoes filled with water...

...back in first year uni, 1991, I wore a hat for much of the time, perhaps to substitute for the lack of personality. Or something. But yes. In a laboratory full of white-coated first-year chemistry students, I wore my black hat. It was something to do. One afternoon, when Mum used to work just up the road, I remember walking up in the middle of a huge rainstorm, and by the time I got to her office my shoes and socks were drenched. Fortunately my hat was dry, since it was so close to the umbrella at all times. We have to be thankful for small mercies. Nevertheless, my shoes filled with water...