November 14th, 2007
Salted
I know to a lot of outsiders that it seems to rain a lot over here… and it’s true, it does, but I fear that some people are missing out on the subtlety of British weather, you see, we have many different kinds of rain.
There’s the type that just hangs in the air – This one, despite its apparent harmlessness, drenches you.
There’s the type that seems to come at you sideways – effortlessly by-passing the umbrella.
Then there’s the sluggy type of rain – Usually fat, heavy droplets that chill you to the bone, and for some unknown reason encourage slugs to cover the ground. This type of rain is particularly unpleasant whilst cycling.
I think it is the variety in our weather that makes us Brits talk about it so much.
Philip J Schadenfreude on 
hahahahahaha
I guess it is like it gets hot here, hot and dry, hot and humid, hot and still, hot and windy, hot and with flies, hot and raining, etc.
Anyway, isn’t whinging a British past time? lol
I’ve never posted before, but I was so outraged by the suggestion that we Brits whinge all the time that I just had to reply and complain.
Wait a minute…
I’m glad you’ve decided to post… welcome onboard.
I fear there is no defence for us and that the stereotype of the British as whining weather worshipers is indeed founded on fact.
You know, the last time I was in England, the weather was mostly beautiful for the whole week. Little rain early on, but blue skies, bit chilly, and windy, but that was fine weather for what we were doing. Anyone else ever been out to Avebury?
Oddly enough I studied ‘Megalithic Science’ in my final year of school for extra credit.
One of my physics teachers was very much into his cup and rings and standing stones…
… so, whilst I have never been there, I know Avebury like the back of my hand.
It was that same physics teacher who gave me my epitaph of ‘When present seemed interested’.
Ah, that one! What an interesting thing to study for extra credit. Must’ve been a right odd physics teacher.
I went to Avebury and Stonehenge on the same day, and I must say, Stonehenge was cool, but Avebury was awe inspire. The scale! The proportions! And the henge! Dug out with animals shoulder-blades for shovels? Damn religious people, those ancients were. Dedicated, stubborn religious people.
ING. Awe inspiring.
Wow, nested comments are confusing…
lol
I have always equated religion with a special form of lower intelligence, like having an invisible friend, or believing that gambling really does pay off.
I can understand that interpretation of religion. I wouldn’t necessarily consider it true for all religions, but there are some where I can definitely look at it that way.
that sounds fun, we don’t even get different seasons here, i call it permasummer.
i love slugs, i don’t know why
Ooh, I would really hate not having seasons. I love changes in the weather. I also love rain. I’ve actually been considering moving to the Washington area just because it rains so much there. That would be nice. =)
Gee, until you said you were a Brit, I thought you must be from here in the Seattle area, whining as usual about the Rain-RAIN-rain (”we don’t tan, we rust”, “I’ve got webbed feet”, “nobody panic, that thing in the sky is the sun”) and the monstrous slugs.
As for whining being the British pastime, I actually think whining is *everybody’s* pastime. Most people seem to enjoy so much….
You’re not wrong there, whining could be an olympic sport…
I’ve never heard the ‘we don’t tan, we rust’ thing before, I like it a lot.
However, I had heard that Seattle has more than its fair share of rain… It sounds like somewhere I could holiday.
I agree with RowanAC. whining is everyone’s pastime.
I whine a lot about the weather. Mostly, I whine about the very hot weather we have in these parts of the world.
As for the rain.. you’ll never hear me whine about it
(In fact, as I type this, it’s raining like crazy over here - and i love it!)
im really impressed with the way you drew that pile of salt. that would be quite a task for me.
i hate summer
I hate the thought of killing slugs with salt.
It’s cruel. How would you like if somebody
put salt in your shorts, and you shriveled
up from dehydration? It’s a terrible death.
i prefer to stay indoors when it rains. and watch live feeds of the splashes from the computor screen.
Ah.
it’s everyone’s pastime to complain. but it’s the Brits’ pastime to complain about the weather.
I would’ve thought everyone would know that, if they’d met a Brit or seen our weather.
Saying that, though, I don’t actually tend to complain about the weather. i love snow, i love rain on occassion and i love sun. but if it’s cold, i wear 6 of everything! typical Maddie logic, eh? cos if you think about it..that much clothing would stop me from moving, and not moving would make me cold. *smacks forehead* i really do have no common sense…
but the weather. however, oh she’ll be a mean one forever, to glum little Brits in the rain. we’ll just keep on moaning, and griping and groaning, cos all people do is complain. And then that old devil, the weather herself, will rain down again, just to get us to shut our complaning mouths.
:p
I live in the UK and love the rain…maybe it’s because I’m from America. I live in Scarborough where the beauty isn’t dependent on the weather. The only time I moan about the weather is when it’s sunny for more than a few days in a row. When I lived in California the sun nearly drove me mad.
Mmm, Scarborough vs. California… they’re pretty different places.
So, how did you end up exiled to one of the UK’s finest seaside resorts?
You live almost directly at the opposite side of the country to me, as it happens, lucky you like the rain.
Well, the place I’d consider “home” in the states is Juneau, Alaska so…not so different. California is so varied that many places along it’s coast and even inland bear resemblance to many other places. So much of America is that way though so it hardly even bears saying. Juneau is on the water, is only accessible by boat or plane, has a large enough of a population to support a relatively nice commercial centre, and is by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever laid eyes on.
“Why am I in England instead of there?” is perhaps the question that should be answered. Strangely enough I came to the United Kingdom to raise my son for his first six or so years. We do a lot of traveling and England provides a good base for that sort of thing. I wanted him to grow up in a society where (when traveling) he felt compelled to understand more than a single language. So far (he is nearly 4) it’s been a good thing.
For all the traveling we have done very little of it has been in England. I’ve yet to see any of its western coastline. I hope to change that soon.
Happy to stumble into your little corner of the web, your comics make me smile and that is not such an easy thing me having been nearly 20 days away from my boy whilst I sort my visa situation.
You know, if I am gonna have a kid (slight possibility of that being true soon), that is kinda how I would want to raise it.
A multicultural environment is very important for young minds.
I see so much racism here in this town, from ppl who have never travelled far from here, or have only accepted cultures that their parents said were ok. I hear PoV’s that I thought died out soon after WWII, but are still alive and strong here in T-ba. You wouldn’t want to be a gay chinese guy around here.
I admire the dedication to your son and the effort that you are prepared to go to, to give him the best upbringing.
hmm. weird. i started singing “california” about two seconds before i read your comment…coincidence? i think not :p
There are no coincidences, only synchronicities.
*blinks* Synchronicities? once again, I feel stupid. whats one of those?
The simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.
That is the Oxford American dictionary’s definition though I put a lot more value into the word. I don’t think they are random, for example, while that definition doesn’t exclude that possibility. Often synchronicities are the result of zeitgeist when found in large scale but smaller, more individual ones can be found in personal divination techniques: I-Ching, tarot, tea leaves, etc…
A personal favorite book of mine is by a student of Jung: Marie-Louise von Franz. ” On Divination and Synchronicity: The Psychology of Meaningful Chance” is a terrific explanation of synchronicity and methods of divination as they relate to psychology.
And btw, one should never feel stupid by asking a question. Stupidity is a result of NOT asking questions.
That’s pretty much the motto here… there’s no shame in not knowing something, only in not wanting to know.
Ah, thankyou for explaining that Kel. it’s good to learn a new word!
And thank you, adam and kel, for proving i am slightly less stupid than appears!
Slugs don’t have a waterproof coating. So when you pour salt on them, the water in their body tries to balance out the salt by diluting it. Making them lose all of the water in their system. Same thing would happen if you poured salt on your eyeball.
Yup.