It has just stopped raining here. It rained non-stop, and torrentially, for 27 hours. Now, that's just a spit, compared to some places in the world, but here, it can be a problem - there are parts of south-west England that are still drying out after the floods at Christmas. However, this is May, soon to be June, and when what passes for summer here slouches round the corner, you can guarantee, despite all the lovely rain we've had [yes, I am a Pluviophile], some cocking jobsworth in London will, after two days of hazy sunshine, declare a hosepipe ban. Just what do they do to the water that fell from the sky in great abundance? Is there a huge plant that converts the water back into Oxygen and Hydrogen? Has somebody built a huge sandcastle in a desert somewhere, and men from the UK water companies are pumping vast amounts of our water into a poorly designed moat, and are laughing maniacally as it drains away? Whatever, whenever we have 'Summer' [three afternoons in July, a Saturday in August, and a bit of a Wednesday in September], there never seems to be any water. I cycled home through the rain on Tuesday [May 27], and got so wet, that I could, and did, pour water out of my DM's like they were a pair of leather jugs. As I cycled down the road, a silver BMW came past me doing at least 60mph. I was overjoyed, then, a bit further on, to find the road flooded to the depth of slightly under a metre - and the silver BMW being pushed out of the flood by it's driver and passenger. I cycled through the flood, being so wet now, a bit more moisture didn't matter.' Schadenfreude'. What a wonderful word. 'To laugh at the misfortune of others'. Thank you, Germany, for that. I got home, showered, dried off, sat down in the living room, and thought: 'Gemutlichkeit', the cosy feeling of being in welcoming surroundings. I had a beer, and went to bed. Yes. beer for breakfast, and why the hell not? [only 'cos I had run out of Bombay Sapphire, though].
