So here I sit....

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I was just getting ready to leave when we had a major lightning strike or something (we're having thunderstorms pass through). All the lights flashed off, the radio blinks off, the copier freaks out and shuts off - and then all of a sudden everything comes back on again! My computer is fine because I have a battery back-up thingy, but my bosses computer kinda freaked out and tried to restart. So I was futzing with that, trying to get it to restart - just got it up and going....and the sky just dumped! I don't think I've ever seen it rain so hard! So I figure I'll sit here for awhile and check out PT - I mean really, what better is there to do when you're stuck at work waiting for the rain to abate so you can go home? ;) :D Well, not quite so fast! My dsl won't work - might have blown the modem out. So I get on dial up and everything is fine, but really, really s...l...o...w. ;)

So I took some pics of the rain. Of course you can't get the full effect, but I just don't think I've ever seen it rain this hard! At one point I could barely see across the street!

This first one I took through the window.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid69/pa42315076039e796877afc00acf7b094/fba53c43.jpg
You can see the vertical rain and the drops it's making on the street. This would definitely be a time when your car would hydro-plane because the street is like a river!

And this one I opened the door, so if you can feel a spray of water as you look at the pic, you'll get a better feel for it. ;)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid69/p732983b673aabd1824c6187cfd90ff58/fba53c3e.jpg
It had already started to lighten up a bit when I took these because it was black as night earlier.

I'm going to have a tough time getting home because when it rains this hard in Chicago, streets and low underpasses flood, and that's what I have to go through. I'm sure the highways are a mess too - ugh!

Well, in the 5 minutes it took me to download the pics and get them posted here, it looks like the rain has dramatically let up, so I'm going to go brave the elements and try and get home. Probably be there in 1 1/2....if I'm lucky that is. :rolleyes:

PS - and I even won at the spider solitaire game I was playing!!!

PPS or PSS - Update 6:10 DSL is working again! Yipee!! It's still kinda geeky though. Hopefully it'll work better tomorrow. See you then! :D

[slick]

Holy raindrops Batman.....where's all your traffic????? You'd never, ever see a street that barren where I come from......

[zippy-kat]

There's a little bit of a rainbow in that second pic! (lower left hand corner)

Hope you made it home ok! :)

[jenluckenbach]

I'd hate to be stuck at work due to the rain...........no computer............no pet talk.:(
Did you play spider solitaire with 4 suits? I love that game. (I just found it recently. For a long time I was afraid to look at it because it has Spider in the name.:p )

[Airedalekisses]

boy we in the midwest have really been getting the rain! No more, please! at least for a while!!I'm getting pruney:) Watch out for the worms they stick to everything in Chicago in this weather!

[mugsy]

Yeah, no more rain for the Hoosier state for awhile. The sandbags are still out along the roads here in Ft. Wayne, from the last round of rain. My cousin lives in a small down south of here and she may lose her entire house....it may have to be torn down. They have water damage 4 feet up the walls on the first floor and of course the basement was filled. They had to take all the furniture, appliances, etc out to the middle of their street for the bulldozers to come through and pick up all the stuff.

Nice shots of the rain though....I can never get the raindrops to show up!!

[allanimalswelcome]

Wow those pics look A LOT like downtown norwich!

~Rachel

[Tonya]

I can't freakin imagine rain right now! It's 106 right now here! I wish rain would come! Send some my way!!!!!

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

Looks familiar!!

It has been raining sooooo much here lately!! Whenever a storm hits my job all the warehouse lights can go out but the office is run on "super duper generator" that lasts for 6 - 8 hours.. so I will always be able to do my job ....... GOODY GOODY!

Hope you had a safe drive home!!

[Vio&Juni]

For the last two weeks we had rain like that EVERYDAY! It just rained some minutes ago. They promised it's only until Sunday, frankly, I am tired of so much rain.


Originally posted by jenluckenbach
I'd hate to be stuck at work due to the rain...........no computer............no pet talk.:(
Did you play spider solitaire with 4 suits? I love that game. (I just found it recently. For a long time I was afraid to look at it because it has Spider in the name.:p )

I have that at home, and only after I paid for the Internet huge amounts for the last few months, I decided to start playing cards instead surfing the web, I discovered I have this and loved it. I also play the Russian cube.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by slick
Holy raindrops Batman.....where's all your traffic????? You'd never, ever see a street that barren where I come from......

Actually I was amazed, it seemed like with the rain, the traffic disappeared! Although it must have been hard to see while driving with the rain being that hard. And trust me, as soon as the rain disappeared the traffic was back - in force. :rolleyes:

When I finally left (about 6:10 - 1 hour and 10 minutes late) and I walked past the art studio on the corner, I didn't see Snowy at first. Thought he might have been afraid with all the thunder and lightning. Then I saw this...
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid70/p8481a9dd66cf5b07f461d9150d95b1ad/fba3dd6b.jpg
His dad must have been re-arranging the art on the walls and of course, Snowy had to help. :D So much for being afraid of the thunder and lightning. :rolleyes:

Then as I turned the corner, I saw my car in the middle of a big puddle.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid70/p2157b16aa2467a0e51e1b72868262227/fba3dd66.jpg

My car wasn't flooded out by any means, but considering that it had stopped raining at least 10 minutes before I left, I thought there was still a lot of water standing around this particular spot. It was probably about 2 inches deep at this point, and must have been deeper during the rain.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid70/p5515d45b31795465afafe0b8cf8ccc7b/fba3dd63.jpg

It only took me an hour to get home. I only had to detour 3 times to avoid flooded underpasses. Thank goodness the main ones have recently been re-done and were passable, although one of them I don't know if I would have attempted it in a car. Since I sit higher with the 4 wheel drive, it was a piece of cake.

Oh, and when I got home, it hadn't even rained there! :eek: Although it did come a little later, and just as hard, with hail even. So the city is still drying out and the South suburbs are still waiting for their power to come back on.

Thanks everyone. Just another eventful day in the big city. :rolleyes: :cool: :D

[Pam]

My first thought was the same as Slick's - where was the traffic! LOL! Glad you got home safe and sound even if a bit delayed by the detours!

I am so glad you had your camera with you. I have started to take mine with me more than I usually do. Sometimes there are every day happenings that you would just like to save to re-live again. I will have to show this picture of Snowy to Andy! Andy is afraid of his shadow, let alone a big storm! Maybe this will boost his confidence in the future. LOL!