The cost of living hasn't affected its popularity

Who says it never rains in So Cal? It does rain here, just once or twice a year and then it rains with a vengeance. We've had three solid days of rain. So far our winter rains have provided us with 2.5 inches of landscape saving moisture. The downpours can cause some problems though. The other day, the first day of the storms, I was driving through Malibu on PCH behind two snow plows. No, it wasn't snowing, but the area is prone to rock and mud slides that often close the highway. So I guess they weren't snow plows so much as mud and rock and flood water plows.

The one thing that IS true is that Angelinos can't drive in the rain which is why I was on the 1 and not the 405. The 10, the 405 the 101 and many other freeways and surface streets were virtual parking lots due to accidents . In all fairness it's not really poor driving skills that cause these accidents, or rather not primarily poor driving skills. The fact is that it rains so little that rubber, and oil and other substances accumulate on the roadways during the dry seasons to such a degree that the first few hours of rain can't really get them all washed off. Combined with rain water these substances turn into the So Cal version of black ice. Then moronic drivers, forgetting that they don't know how to drive in rain, drive too fast and try to stop too suddenly and end up upside down on the concrete center divider, causing the rest of us to curse them. Yes, it's cruel and vindictive and bad karma to curse the injured, but when it's taken you an hour and a half to travel the half mile to your escape route, you tend to lose all perspective.

Along with the rain the temperatures have dropped into the 50's (brrrrr) and I forgot that I'd left my coat at the cleaners. I dropped it off over a month ago when the temperatures had sored into the 80's and I was sure that spring had sprung early. Now I'm going to have to pick up the coat to wear and then have it cleaned again in a week when it warms back up. Life in Cali just sucks doesn't it?

..............................

In other news my friend Maggie is getting married in Toulouse and Sean and I are going out for the wedding. We've had thousands and thousands of airline miles burning wholes in our pockets for two years now, and just as they're set to expire we were given the perfect excuse to use them. Funny how these things always work out.

We will be there only a week and we are like kids in a candy store trying to cram as much into that short week as possible. We've got lists and maps and stuff piling up on the dining table to take with us and the trip is a month away. We're not at all excited about going back to France.

We've got lists of places to go, lists of what to take, lists of what to bring back, lists of people to visit and a list of lists to keep it all straight...