Fuck you rain and wind. I feel like I’m getting tag-teamed by the elements every time I walk outside. Getting to class has gone from a bike ride that wasn’t too bad to hell. The weather these days has been very mercurial. Sunny in the morning, rainy as shit in the evening. As a result of this weather I think I’ve gone through two different pairs of shoes that are completely soaked. Needless to say, I want the rain and wind to go away.

Biking to class in the sun runs you the gambit of biking back in the rain. Of course, right when I get out of my last class for the day it starts raining. I have to run to my bike, unlock it and then bike like hell to get back home. I wish it would either rain all day or just not rain.

Everyone deals with the rain differently. Some wear rain boots and rain jackets. Some wear trash bags and ponchos. There is nothing like seeing someone running through the campus with a huge black trash bag covering them. Then again maybe it’s worth it to sacrifice looks for warmth. Personally I just wore a sweatshirt, put my backpack on, and then put on my snow jacket to keep my backpack from getting wet. I took the whole turtle approach. Sitting in lecture with wet pants and wet shoes sucks. I witnessed more than a few people drying their coats or pants on the chair next to them in Campbell Hall or Buchanan Hall. My friend went to the store to buy some rain boots and lo and behold they’re all sold out. Coming from Sacramento I’m used to the rain, but it sucks a lot more when you have to bike in it.

Last Wednesday, I foolishly decided to bike to class in the rain. I didn’t feel like riding the bus. By the time I got to class I was drenched. I packed extra clothes in my backpack however, so that I would have something dry to sit in. Biking back it was raining harder than when I biked to campus. The underpasses were flooded, requiring me to bike even more. I saw about three other people on the bike path the entire day. Needless to say, I was one of the few idiots that people pointed at and remarked, “Dumbass.” Watching the news later that night the meteorologist said that that was the most rain we’ve seen since the early 1990s.

Besides the rain trampling my spirit, the wind also decided to join in with its own brand of torment. Biking to class in the wind makes you peddle that much harder. Now when I get on my bike I feel like I’m doing the Tour de France. My legs are like linguini, and I’m somehow sweaty when I get to class. Nothing is worse than coming to class sweaty. How the hell am I going to sit down next to some hottie and try and strike up a conversation with her when it looks like I was just at the gym? The answer: I’m not.

I can’t even escape the wind when I’m inside. The window of my room has a hole of some sort, or there is something wrong. The wind howls and whistles all day long. It woke me up at 8 the other morning and I was very unhappy. It kept howling, which prevented me from even falling asleep. My grades are going to start suffering as a result of falling asleep in class because the wind won’t let me sleep.

The weather, however, is somewhat laughable. I saw more than a few tour groups in a tight circle, listening intently to the tour guide trying to ignore the wind, the rain or the luminous clouds hanging overhead. They sure did pick a bad week to come out and look at the campus. Our usual haven of sunshine has been invaded by Mother Nature.

Nothing is worse than when it is rainy and windy. Umbrellas fly up, becoming useless, hoods fly off, the rain pelts you in the face and you start cursing under your breath. I saw someone in the full-on bright yellow rain gear. Cheers to you, I think you might have been one of the only people to stay dry.