Rain

The drought is over. We had significant rain on Friday. This is good, because it means snow is falling in the mountains, but it is bad because it screws with the minds of California drivers. It is also bad because the infrastructure here apparently isn't build to withstand any rain beyond a few drops.

What am I talking about? Well, it rained most of the night on Thursday and it still rained on Friday morning. As a result, part of the 101 freeway near Menlo Park was flooded. About two lanes of the four-lane freeway could not be used and had to be "flared off" by the California Highway Patrol.

For those not familiar with the Bay Area, Highway 101 is Silicon Valley's main artery. I drive it every day from Burlingame to work in Santa Clara. And every day I encounter some traffic, though I wouldn't yet compare it to the constant gridlock folks in the Netherlands face.

Friday's mess, however, was worse. My 30 mile commute normally takes about 45 minutes door-to-door. It took double that on Friday, thanks to no drainage and thanks to California drivers not knowing how to drive on a wet street. People, it is not that big of a deal, just keep going :-)