I've Been Initiated

Apparently. I got splashed by a car on my way to work this morning, leaving me pretty much SOAKED. Getting to work with wet socks, soaked jeans, and damp hair just isn't all that fun when you know you can't change and get dry for hours. When I mentioned this drive-by assault, I was told that I am now initiated into Scotland. I guess I should be grateful, but it was awfully cold.

It's been raining so much that I was tired of never having dry feet. I noticed a pair of wellies on sale for only £5 at Shelter, a charity shop, so I stopped in and bought them. Funnily enough, another lady had the same idea, and we both got the same pair. The cashier thought this was hilarious, then preceded to ask me if I was going to be wearing them out of the store. By this point, I was on my way home from work, and Shelter is only about 3 blocks from my flat, so I kind of thought it would be ridiculous for me to wear them out. Plus, I was soaked already anyway, no point of sticking wet jeans and socks into dry boots. But I did wear them to class tonight, and I'm glad. My top is covered with my water-proof jacket and umbrella. Calves down are now covered. If only there was some way to keep my jeans and purse from getting soaked when I go outside over the next few days.

Another frustrating thing about all this rain is the flooding. I live on the hill, so I'm not terribly worried about house flooding or anything. As far as I know, there isn't that much flooding in Stirling, but I know there are several places farther south that are having a horrible time of it. And the rain's supposed to continue basically non-stop until next Monday at least.

But it's making the buses run much slower because the roads are filling with water. Tonight, when I got out of class, the bus was over ten minutes late. If I get out right at 9, I can run down the hill to catch the bus. But if we go slightly past 9, then I've got to wait until 9:30 for the next set. There's usually two or three that come around the same time, one of which was unusually absent tonight. I wonder if they've pulled that line altogether. It's just the Uni Link, which serves from the city center to the university, so they might have let the other lines pick up the slack for the night. And apparently, the road is flooded by some of the postgraduate housing, so the bus driver had to go down a side street and shout out to let these kids know they'd have to walk from there. Yuck.

I have to say, I knew about the rain here. That's one reason I love it. I love rain. But I didn't really realize how much it can upset the daily routines and lives of people in the UK. I just kind of thought that they were used to it and it wouldn't affect things like bus schedules. Goes to show how little I know!

I have to say, I'm looking forward to seeing some sun when I get home in about 2 1/2 weeks!