Just a carry on from yesterday. It started sometime in the early hours, and kept up all day. It was a misty, drizzly kind of rain most of the time... the kind of rain that is not really rain, but enough to be annoying. I managed to check the rain guage during a bit of a lull at about 5 pm, and we'd had eleven and a half mls. I just went out again, and we had another eighteen mls overnight. Almost thirty mls in just over 24 hours, that's not bad... especially for an area like this. Rain is usually much needed in these parts. Being a warmer and drier area, it's usually welcomed with open arms... unless you're a goat. Then it's time to hide. I don't blame them either. Have you ever smelled wet goat?
A bit of a puddle on our driveway...
Raindrops on a leaf in the puddle...
My footprint...
And nature's jewels...
But I just saw my daughter off to work, so I have that slight feeling of concern. Not because of her driving... I know that she's a good driver. She's also aware of how much I worry about her, and she keeps that in mind when she drives, bless her little heart. It's just the 'she's my daughter and she's out there driving a car in the rain' thing. My mind is racing (could it be lack of sleep? Maybe) in a thousand different directions, and I just thought I'd let some of it out.
Our road, as I've mentioned before, is a dirt road. Well actually, it's mostly clay, which is nearly as good as tarmac to drive on... when it's dry. It's damned slippery when it's as soaked as it is at the moment. I've already driven on it today... I had to drop Gryph off to work earlier... so I guess the memory's a bit clearer at the moment. Do any of you remember those little round boat-type efforts that you steer with a joystick in the middle of the boat. I remember when I was a kid, that we used to visit this little water park on the Sunshine Coast that had them. I don't remember what the place was called... and that's not the point anyway. They were near on impossible to steer in a straight line... and our road makes me think of them. That's what it's like to drive on it while it's wet. All four wheels want to go their own way. It's kind of scary.
Anyway, I'll be back... I have to take LM8 to school. Don't go away.
Slip-slidin' away... slip-slidin' awa-a-a-ay....
Well, I didn't see M18's car along the way, so at least I know that she made it past the dirt. Besides, I rang her when she didn't text me (hmm... yes dear, you bad). That's a weight off my shoulders. I took a quick photo on the way to school to show you what our road looks like when it's been raining. This is the view down the road from on top of the hill in front of our place. You can also see where someone's already gone off the side of the road this morning... those tracks weren't there when I came back through early this morning.
From the other side... There's no wreckage, and you can see that they've come straight
back onto the road... so that's good. Goes to show how slippery it is
though.
I'm wondering who it was (yeah, I know... I'm a big Dorrie). The only people who drive on this road are us, our neighbours, our other neighbours (the bigger kids going down to the bus stop) and the postie. It wasn't the postie, because he drives a 4WD (you can see his tracks, they're the thicker ones). It got me thinking that it might have been the kid from up the road. I suppose it would be a learning experience though, wouldn't it? Whoever it was I'll bet they left tracks... and I'm not talking about on the road. They would have seen that
guide post coming towards them, and their little heart would have been
fluttering. And that in turn got me thinking about a recent post that Ninja put up about safe driving. Being that I used to work in the driver training industry, I made a couple of comments about my ideas on learning to drive. The system just doesn't sufficiently prepare young drivers for emergency situations like this. I have always strongly advocated for it to become mandatory for learner drivers to complete a defensive driving course before they take their practical driving test. That would improve the standard of driving by allowing them more practical experiences to relate to. Oh, there's so many ways we could improve the system... and I don't feel like typing all of that again... Have a read here.
Anyway... daughter's safely at work, and all is good with the world.
Apart from the things that I need to do... sorting, packing, cleaning, etc. Speaking of which... I think I've put it off for long enough now. I promised myself that I would knuckle down today, so I'm off. Toodles.
*Mumbling* Oh joy, oh joy. Now where is that Greenday CD... I need some working music.
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• Friday 1 September 2006 - daughters driving