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You're happy cause you're cozy and the rain comes rattling in
by jean at 04:51 AM on February 21, 2005
It's been raining a lot here in Los Angeles. On behalf of Southern California, I'd like to apologize to Snaggle. Snaggle, if it's not like this again next year, then it shouldn't rain like this again for several years.
It's been raining so much here that I'm really tempted to buy a raincoat, but if I get one, it's very possible that it wouldn't get used more than 20 times in the next four years. I have a beautiful and expensive umbrella that my little sister gave me for my birthday five years ago, and it's gotten more use this season than it has in all the years I've owned it-- combined. I'm not kidding. Just a few years ago, Los Angeles went more than 300 days without rain. I repeat: this season is quite unusual.
Well, the season is unusual unless it's an El Nino season. Which it may be. It's strange; local news reports usually obsess every year about whether there will be an El Nino, but this year, when there has been enough rain for an El Nino, I haven't heard a peep about it. As they say, El Nino events bring "torrential rains". The name means "The Child," as in Jesus Christ. I don't remember why that is. They come something like once every seven or nine years, and I've lived through two so far. The rains really are torrential. They pour and pour until the ground saturates and water doesn't run off anywhere... it just pools where it falls. My last year at college there was El Nino, and by March there were two inches of running water on the north end of campus, several buildings had their basements and ground floors flooded, and school had to be shut down for a few days. Kids were getting so wet walking to class that most finally just put on shorts and Teva sandals, and toweled themselves off once they got into the lecture halls. Ah, memories.
I don't really have a point here. I'm just saying that it's rained a ton. The ABC station here recently installed one of the world's most expensive Doppler weather observation systems, and everyone knew that it would almost never be used. I used to watch the live results on ABC's spare television feed (I think you get it if you have a high-definition TV receiver) and laugh because there was nothing there. But now, it's a tie-dyed colorfest of storm activity. I love it!
comments (7)
Maybe it was 1998. Dan Rather, without fail, would adopt his sky-is-falling scowl and give us the latest bad news about El Nino. I never had a clue what he was talking about. Still don't. Some weather thing perhaps.
by anna at February 21, 2005 7:48 AM
Jean, thank you for that - I busted a gut laughing and it made my day.
Now we all have to hope and pray and sacrifice small animals to the El Niño deities that the rain stops by the time it comes time to move (aka within the week.)
by snaggle at February 21, 2005 1:51 PM
They're having a field day with your plight on the East Coast local news channels.
by anna at February 21, 2005 5:58 PM
Yay! Thanks Snaggle! I think the rain is supposed to stop Wednesday, but who knows? Where are you moving to?
by jean at February 21, 2005 8:59 PM
I saw a shot on the news of house where the waters/mud swepy an entire in-ground swimming pool away. Crazy. Why would anyone want to live in California? Between mudslides, forest fires, earthquakes, and the Oscars, you might as well be living in Iraq.
by mg at February 22, 2005 11:43 PM
Ah I saw that, too. That happened in Bel Air. Bel Air is built all on hillsides... it's directly north of the UCLA campus. I lived in the dorms for three years and could see Bel Air outside my window. Some of the residents like to use the dorm area as a shortcut to their houses. They drive 40 miles an hour on the little hilly driveways and students have to dodge their expensive cars. You drive past gates with guard booths to get into Bel Air. So I couldn't help laughing about the pool.
I was interested to see that the lady that the pool belonged to looked pretty calm when the news interviewed her, while the homeowners in Orange County who lost their million-dollar homes to landslides were freaking out on camera. I figure it just goes to show that you can get some of the trappings, but there's still a difference between being only a little rich and being very rich.
About natural disasters... I suppose you could say that about any location. Florida has hurricanes, and the Midwest has tornadoes. Imagine how America looks to other countries! I know of one person in Sweden who swears he's never coming to the United States because almost every kind of natural disaster exists here. Meanwhile, Sweden only has snow.
by jean at February 23, 2005 5:04 AM
That loud dark haired pudgy faced guy on FOX who likes to talk when other people are trying to speak, said it's nigh on impossible to get insurance on those houses because, "You're only a bush fire or a mud slide away from losing your home." They look nice though.
Can't beat Britain for lack of dangerous stuff. No poisonous creatures walking around as In Aussie and other countries, no earthquakes, no torrential rain, well, not all the time, no major blizzards, no tornados, no volcanoes... Aah... How very... Uh... British. Sometimes get the odd flood, but that could be handled with tidal barriers, like the huge one in my city, but I suppose some city and county councils would rather tackle things like Tea House maintenance, than useful stuff.
by Ex Crimson Guard NCO at February 23, 2005 8:49 AM