Rain rain go away

So the ride in to work this morning was eventful.

Thunder storms through the night meant we didn't get much sleep. My Wife was wide awake from around 2.30am and the dogs were soon knocking on the bedroom door when the rain started. The lightning was actually so bright and constant it was like strobe lighting at an eighties disco.

I had a meeting at 8am so to make sure I got to the office in time, and knowing how the locals can't seem to drive in wet weather I left home at 5am. Our street and the neighbourhood were pretty bad, with around one and a half feet of water. It was a shrewd move to take the Expedition today!

I managed to get on the Beltway and things were running smoothly until we came to a bit where the road dipped under an overpass. All the water obviously ran to this point and the 5 lane road suddenly reduced to one very slow moving lane.

Once I got through that I came off at my usual exit only to find the feeder road flooded and a long line of cars stopped, pondering their next move. One guy kept on getting out of his car telling people the road was closed and to reverse back where we had come from (back on the Beltway!). He reversed right up to my car but I wasn't going anywhere just yet. At this point, a couple of trucks made a run for it and tried to get through the water. When I saw they had made it, I moved around the crazy reversing guy and went for it.

I managed to get across the intersection but then the road ahead was even worse so I got back on the Beltway. This may or may not have been a mistake as it was closed from the next exit and all cars were being forced onto the feeder.

Now, all of the rush hour traffic had been forced onto the few roads that were still passable, only the traffic wasn't going anywhere. Just the section of road we were all stranded on was passable but there was nowhere to go.

I'd had to go passed the exit I needed for the office as there was no way to get across to the street I needed so now I had to somehow get across to the north bound feeder and either try and get to the office or head home.

The embankment down to the Beltway, usually plush green grass with the odd row of butchered oleander trees now resembled Niagara falls. The water was gushing down from the streets onto the road below.

Two hours after exiting the Beltway, I made it to the office. The carpark was almost completely deserted (and mostly underwater). A few people finally trickled in but most people didn't make it.

The reservoirs close to our house caused flooding of over 8 feet in places. More rain is expected tonight but I hope it clears by morning.

Whoever designed the City of Houston deserves a medal. He must be the biggest muppet outside of Fozzy and friends. Great idea guys...we have a city that is built on marsh land, and has a history of severe flooding, lets build all of our roads, down under ground level so that any torrential rain showers bring the city to a stand still. I know, let's also throw in regular dips in the roads so instead of all of the water spreading evenly over the surface, it gets deeper in certain places and makes them completely impassable.

Houston is known as the Bayou City. There's a clue in the title guys. THERE ARE LOTS OF BAYOUS IN HOUSTON! Not to mention all the smaller creeks. These will flood if roads are built next to them, and over them, and nature's own drainage system is not replaced.

Hillbilly Hackers

This weekend, I made my debut appearance at a golf tournament commonly known as the Hillbilly Hackers.

It's basically a group of about 30 teams (each comprising 4 members) of varying levels of competence trying to hit a ball straight while consuming increasing amounts of alcohol.

To be honest, I wasn't that bothered about taking part, I've only ever played one round of golf, last November on my stag weekend but my Dad plays every year and it would be a good chance to spend some time with him. I could never claim to be a natural golfer. I don't have a handicap, I'm just not very good so it was good that we were playing as a team. All four members of the team take a shot, then you choose the best shot and all four play from there.

Now, for the last two days, Houston has been under heavy rainfall so when I was picked up at 6.30am I was half expecting it to be a wasted journey. Tee time was 8am, right about when the thunder storms were due to hit.

Once we arrived at the course, we found our assigned golf carts with everyone else and stood chatting for a few minutes. All of a sudden, we heard a loud bang. The organiser of the day, dressed in his best hillbilly uniform of ripped dungarees and not a lot else and brought out his shotgun to get everyone's attention.

Once the formalities were done with, every set off to play their first hole. Each team was assigned a hole to start on and from their would play the full 18 holes. This was a relief to me as I had visions of making a fool of myself on the first tee watched by 60-70 people!

By this time, the rain had started but wasn't too heavy. After a couple of shots we put on jackets to fend off some of the rain and carried on. A kind young lady appeared with a cooler of beer on the back of her cart and the festivities truly began.

After the 6th hole, the rain started getting heavier and there was a lot more water on the course than would normally be playable but everyone carried on regardless. My team had started on the tenth hole so our ninth hole was the 18th which we found to be almost completely under water. On some shots it was hard to get a good grip on the club as you were so wet.

The rain was pretty relentless now and it wasn't quite as much fun as a few holes back when the rain was much lighter. Luckily, the 18th green is right by the covered area where the BBQ was due to be held and we saw a number of teams had decided to call it a day and take advantage of the coolers filled with cold beer.

This was a good chance to catch up with a few friends who were on other teams and the food was pretty good. I didn't realise how hungry I was until I took the first mouthful and it was just what the doctor ordered.

There were prizes for the winning teams, and when they went up to collect it, one of them announced they 'had a good pencil', which shows that it's not necessarily the best team who wins, but more the most creative score keepers!

Around the course there were chances to win big with a hole in one on the Par 3's, as well as prizes for the shot closest to the pin and the longest drive. Ours was 45 minutes from my house but someone must've come further. Maybe that was why the course was way out in the sticks!

Just kidding, of course the longest drive is for the shot that lands furthest from the tee, as long as it lands on the fairway. The prizes for a hole in one included a Dell computer system, Bose speaker system, and $10,000 cash.

The organiser did a great job and I really enjoyed myself. As usual, it's more the unknown that I tend to dread and usually end up having a better time than I expect. It was fun being out in the rain, before it got too heavy anyway.

I will definitely play again if asked, but I will be sure to get some proper golf shoes next time.