&#034It is easier to fake intelligence than virginity.&#034 -Sir Alexander King

I nearly got caught in the rain again today. When I left for work, I was running late, and though I forgot my keys and locked myself out, I remembered my umbrella. Since the husband is off work today, I called home to make sure he was here and not out shopping, then I came home over lunch to get my keys. When I returned here, I decided, &#034Dammit, it&#039s really hot out and it&#039s really sunny, so I&#039m going to leave this stupid umbrella home for the afternoon.&#034

Have I ever mentioned how stupid I am?

I mean, you&#039d think that I&#039d&#039ve learned by now that being both Irish and descended from Murphys, that I&#039d know better than to ever leave without my umbrella in the spring. I must have opened one too many umbrellas indoors to get such terrible luck, because at about a quarter to two when I was getting ready to go to the library for the Support Staff Awards (one of my supervisors got nominated), I looked out the window to see dark, looming, lightning-streaked clouds. No rain yet, but you could tell it wasn&#039t long coming.

Soooo… I took Brad&#039s umbrella with me, hoping I wouldn&#039t have to open it because it&#039s one of those with a huge metal tip (not that I think my luck is bad enough to get struck by lightning, but the thought is still there). I was about thirty feet from the covered walkway that leads up to the library door when it began coming down in torrents. <Phew!> I opened the umbrella for the remaining yards to keep from having to run, and it wasn&#039t raining when I left the library to go back to work in the SASC. Yay!

So, maybe my luck isn&#039t as bad as it could be, being both Irish and of Murphy stock, but it sure makes me question my luck with umbrellas and this weather. I really ought to get one of those little ones you can stow in a purse or something, just for emergencies like this. Hmm. I think it&#039s raining now; I just heard the thunder rolling yet again. Fun.

Oh, and happy birthday, Mom!

Posted: June 17, 2004, at uh, something five-ish in the afternoon or so.