a van morrison morning for sure.

oh, the water
oh the water
oh the water
hope it don't rain all day

well, it didn't, but definitely the song to have in my head all day long. think this morning's weather was worse than a week ago, but for other reasons. wind was not as strong, but steadier - and it seemed to be plenty strong just as it was. i was getting a waver effect on the bridge whenever a big truck went by and cut it for a couple seconds, and about 20% of those raindrops stung like standing over an open deep-fryer and catching splatter. i don't know why the little tiny drops sting worse than the big heavy ones, but they do. today's rain was a really rich, varied mix of all the different kinds, falling from all different heights at once with different closenesses to terminal velocity. something for everyone, and all at the same time. and i'm pretty sure it was colder. i think i'm going to have to use those silk jumpsuits, no matter how dorky they look. got cold enough earlier this week that i used one of my silk shirts today, left over from the odd time i've had to dress up for work, and that part of me was just fine. i tell you, silk rocks. amazing stuff.

crazy, but being more or less defended against the weather, i liked the morning ride. it was raining hard enough this morning that you got that visibility thing - where there's no fog, but you can't really tell what kind of geography you're living in because everything except the near foreground is just a wash of the same grey colour - such a neat visual trick, and if you looked at the greyness it was actually full of plenty of light. went through the giant lake on the pre-bridge bike path again, and found out my hikers are only for show. they have a padded tongue that's just made for sponging up half a gallon, and lord i was glad i hadn't put on the open-mesh runners today. the very next morning i get where it's clear, i'm going to find that storm drain and stop to drag the leaves out of it.

coming home it had cleared again, enough to kind of see a moon through the haze, and be getting colder. my stuff was still all sodden-wet from this morning, so i was glad not to have to put it all back on. rode home in my work clothes with snowboarder's gloves and a fuzzy to keep me warm. the only worrying thing is my hands. i couldn't close the brake levers on the way home, it just hurt too much to hold that kind of pressure for long. if i go get more pads this weekend it should get easier again and i should be able to manage it.

the senior dev lead on this project bikes to work too! not only that, but if i hadn't met him down by the bike racks and got into a discussion about how soggy each of us still was from the morning that led to introductions and handshakes, we'd still neither of us have a clue that we're in the same handbasket here. i don't know if that testifies how weird this company's team layout is or how unifying bike commuting can be, but at least it means i can hold conspiracies with him down in the dungeons if necessary. heh heh. senior management don't ride their bikes.

remembrance day tomorrow. going to the cenotaph. not going to work.