Tuesday morning, at about 9 AM, it began to rain. Then it continued to rain. Then it rained some more. I think by Wednesday morning our area had had just over 3.5 inches which, for people who don’t live 50 years ago, is about 90 mm. You can see the weather map below. What surprised me was how persistent it was. It rained CONSTANTLY for about ten hours! So everything is wet and humid right now. It is cool, basically jumper weather, but the second you exert yourself (i.e. ride a bike or walk to university) you get hot and sweaty.Today I visited ‘Seeds’ , which is a community garden center in a dodgy neighborhood in downtown Durham. The garden is used by the local community and ‘disadvantaged’ children. The people there were friendly and welcoming. Since I am fit and have background in plant sciences they were really keen to meet me I have volunteered to work there a few days each week. Duke University is a bit insular and most people I have met so far are students, so I am looking forward to meeting some Durham locals.
Yesterday I was stuck at home whilst it was raining so I decided to watch a bit of US TV. I felt dirty afterwards but there were some channels worth noting. There is a 24-hour local news channel that is actually fairly good. Of course there isn’t that much news in North Carolina so it gives the latest news and weather and repeats again about 15 minutes later. There is also an amusing channel that is all in Spanish. Most of the shows are Neighbours-like but involve fat ugly men and young women with lots of cleavage, short skirts and knee-high boots. Sal has also finally got me to watch the Daily Show . Apparently we do get it in Australia but I had never seen it. It is some of the finest political/social/media commentary/comedy I have ever seen. It is similar to the Chaser or CNNNN.
There was a problem with our car so we won’t get a chance to pick it up until the end of the week. Our computer arrived early so hopefully we will have it set up by the end of the week (fingers crossed) and we will be able to skype you.
Nic
1 comment:
Try moving to Vancouver. It rains 390 days a year. But at least at the moment there is a little reprieve. SE Qld has been getting a little bit of moisture, but nothing significant for the long term.
How about those mid-terms eh? Seems like the predictable happened - Rumsfeld quits moments after the Democrats have a senate / house majority which would allow them to grill him about the illegal, immoral and wholly disasterous Iraq adventure. Maybe Bush getting ousted repairs my faith in democracy, but it's a pity it takes so long to happen.
Wonder what Johnny has to say about all this. Looks like his neo-con buddies are copping what they deserve, and he's left trying to justify his position. Jerk. The sooner we have a new government the better.
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