Thunderstorms and Whatnot...

What do you do when you wake up and realize you have no one to drive you to work, and a thunderstorm is (and has been all night) pounding your roof to smithereens? Well, I think the question would be better put, "What does the Koala do in such circumstances?" Because the Koala has proper protocols to follow in dangerous situations.

This morning I woke up at six thirty, and after a few phone calls, I found out the only way to get to work was to bike to work. The realization that most likely the place where I work would be locked only added to the mystery. Of course, the Koala is always ready for an adventure, and she dutifully decided to go ahead with a very interesting one; bike the three miles to work in the pouring rain.

I grabbed my heavy book-bag, which also included my laptop and cellphone, hopped on the family bike and glided off into the downpour. I had no raincoat, but my hat - a lovely farmer-y canvas thingy - kept my head dry for several minutes. And I did think to bring a change of clothes. Incidentally, they weren't really dry by the time I reached work, fifteen minutes later. Some of it had to do with my bag getting fairly wet, and some of it had to do with me using the shirt to mop off my laptop, who was getting a sprinkling. I should've known better than to not cover my lovely laptop with a plastic bag, but - alas! - but that is for later.

I rode through puddle after puddle, and was thoroughly wet by the time I got undercover at my job fifteen minutes later. I sat and rested on the front porch for twenty minutes until my Mom and co-worker got there, and unlocked the doors. In the bathroom I hurriedly changed, my hair, socks, underclothes and new, clean clothes all either damp or sopping. I consider it an adventure of the highest kind, but I learned one thing; not all adventures turn out like books. See, my poor old laptop somehow got quite wet. I tried to keep it dry, but it did wet itself. And it won't turn on. I was sort of worried, but my co-worker said that if I cover it with rice, it will dry out. So I have hope. And.... I will be a little smarter on that next time. And I learned, too, that all the bad things that come in adventures aren't always scary or disgusting or romantically sad (or just plain romantic)

 No, often, they're just inconvenient.