Wet & Wintry

In the 3+ years we have been here, we have never seen the amount of rain we have in just the last 10 days or so. In rapid succession, 5 storms hit California bringing a steady stream of rain. Not the heavy but short lived thunderstorms or even the monsoonal type of rain we are so used to in near the equator but rain more like what I was so used to in Vancouver in Fall and winter when the wet comes down for hours in a steady drizzle. Maybe not quite as relentless as in Vanouver where the rain can last without a break for days or even weeks. The rain we have had is more intermittent - hours on end with some breaks in between for maybe an hour or two.

So different. But defintely much more than I have ever seen in California which is perpetually parched.

Despite the lightness compared to the afternoon thunderstorms common in Singapore, the rains caused a fair amount of damage. Thousands of people lost power to their homes, not a nice thing considering it is winter.

The really bad damage, however, has been at Pacifica where for months, the high surfs California has been getting in recent months have been serously eroding the cliffs on which some apartment blocks sit. The tenants there have been watching their hillsides crumbling into the ocean for a few months and some significant efforts have been made to try and curb the erosion by plunkiing down tons of large boulders to weaken the force of the waves. But to little avail. Last two nights' news show at least one of the blocks teethering inches from the sheer drop into the ocean. From some of the apartments, the balconies were even starting to tumble in pieces down the cliffs. Scary. The die hard tenants are finally admitting defeat and moving out but the company that owns the apartments still maintains it can salvage the complex. Unbelievably many of the tenants are staying put. Somehow, it all seems so futile.

And today, a tornado warning was issued for Contra Costa county where we live after some funnels were spotted at Brentwood where UJ, YY went for a long drive with us to look at some beautiful homes just a year ago almost to the day.

On a lighter note, we are all about done with the seasonal flu. It has been a really rough couple of weeks battling the cough. I am so paying the price now for the two weeks away from the office. Catch up time.

And my eyesight is now so much better. The lasik done in December has really made a difference, especially to my bad right eye that used to be just a haze of blurry objects. What is surprising is that immediately after the lasik, I could actually read easily wiithout my reading glasses. As the weeks went by, however, I am gradually losing that. My right eye is now 20/20 and my left eye is slowly catching up but as the doctor warned, the lasik is to help with normal vision, and I will still need reading glasses. But truth is I can read without glasses now and I love it. I am typing this long blog right now on my laptop without them.

'Cept now, of course, I have no glasses to help cover up the bags and dark circles. Oh well.

And in another half hour or so, the Lai's and the Tan's will be here for dinner. Lay Keow has been having this craving for the bak kut teh since the countdown party and finally pluck up the courage to cajole me into getting the Man to cook it for a small gathering. She said she had not craved anything like that since her last pregnancy which would be Mason who is all of 14 years old!

And to end this, I love that the days are getting longer again. It is 5:35 and the day is slowing dying but at least it is dusk, A month ago, it would have been dark already.