little bitty girl

Everywhere I go it's rain, rain and more rain. Luckily, despite it all I have somehow managed to go without an umbrella because I have been in the car for most of the rainy parts. Some of the rivers in the Calgary area was looking pretty full so needless to say I was happy to make it north, thinking I would avoid the rain. Little did I know.

I have to first say that I really like highway driving because you can just chill and listen to your tunes. I am loving the new toys I bought for my ipod - the Griffin itrip and car charger. For some reason, the monotony of driving on such a flat makes me supremely sleepy even if I have had a good night's rest. So being able to groove to music that I like to groove to helps a lot.

Thank goodness also for the GPS system in my rental car because Edmonton roads can be a little tricky sometimes. I have to confess that despite the "never lost" idea, I have still managed to get a little lost. I have an issue with judging distances so when the voice tells me that there is a turn 3.7 km ahead, really it means nothing to me.

Red Deer was a little weird for me. Actually, any place or small town where I am the obvious minority and people openly stare at me agog always makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I forget sometimes living in such a diverse city, that I am not of the norm in some places. I was at the local Chapters to use the loo and noticed that there was a girl there who had used the facilities as well but did not wash her hands. Do you know that the average percentage of people of wash their hands after using the washroom is merely 50%? G-R-O-S-S! And guess what was even grosser? I went to get tea after and noticed Dirty Hands worked at the Starbucks and had put a bag of tea in for someone else. Shudder! Luckily, her associate served me... but who's to know that she also washes her hands? Food for thought...

Then I may have lost a good 10 YEARS OF MY LIFE, on the remaining drive on the way into Edmonton, because of the treacharous rain. Whenever we think that we've conquered this world, Mother Nature always does something to show you that you have no control. Thunderstorms in the Prairies are quite the awesome sight.

At first, I was in awe of the huge black clouds as I coming in. It literally was as if someone was turning the dimmer off and these massive, black clouds were just billowing in and then lighting started flashing across the empty fields. I kept thinking how it must suck to be some small critter chilling out on that field.

Then the rain started coming down, really hard. I come from Asia where monsoon seasons are a pretty devastating thing but the rain this time around was just as bad. Cars were stopping at the side because there literally was zero visibility. I was completely freaked out especially since all these asshole SUV drivers didn't slow down at all and their water wake was making all the smaller, compact cars spin. Talk about irresponsible! One would think in conditions like that you would take more caution towards your fellow drivers. By the time I got to the hotel, I had had enough of the car and opted for valet service. For the extra three dollars it cost, it was absolutely worth it.

On a lighter note, why do the biggest, grossest bugs always decide to commit suicide on my window shield? Is there an invisible sign that says "Please kill yourself here?" The one good thing about the heavy rains was that they managed to unstick the gooey bug parts that usually needs a little elbow grease. There's always a little rainbow at the end of the rain.