Rain!

So, we've finally got that rain. At least a little bit: 1.25" in the last day, which still leaves us several inches behind, but there you go.

And Kimberly and I managed to be out right in the middle of it last night. You see, we've been trying out getting groceries on Friday night rather than Saturday, and it does seem to make the weekend less hectic. Despite light drizzle, we thus decided to head out for dinner and groceries last night.

Dinner was at Oscar's and from there we went to the North Berkeley Safeway, which isn't our usual grocery stop, but we've been trying to coordinate dinner with nearby grocers, so it made sense. On the ride out to Safeway, the rain started coming down harder, a sign of things to come.

Well, first up, we discovered that the North Berkeley Safeway sucks. There were no usable bike racks in front of the store, so I had to park my bike way out on the street in the pitch dark (and the increasingly pouring rain). Then we found the shelves generally half empty, as if they only bother to restock a couple of times a week. The aisles were also overly cramped. There was one that we just skipped because a couple of students in the aisle made it look totally mobbed. We were also somewhat surprised to see a security guard roaming the aisles. 

No security guard in the Oakland Safeway, but one in North Berkeley? Go figure.

Anyway, the North Berkeley Safeway made me remember why I had a bad impression of Safeways as low-class grocery stores. It's because we used to shop at this one sometimes when we lived in North Berkeley ('lo these many years ago).

On the plus side, there were no lines at any of the registers, so we walked up then out.

And the rain had gotten a lot worse while we were shopping. And the winds were southernly which means we rode right into them. My jeans were absolutely entirely 100% soaked by the time I got home.

On the plus side, I got to try out my wet weather gear. My new waterproof windbreaker was great. It totally kept the rain off me and is comfortable to wear. I've never had a rain coat that met both those criteria. The rainproof panniers also seemed to largely do their job. The frozen dinners picked up some condensation, but that was all.

Which means that I feel better about biking in the rain now (though not necessarily the pouring, dark, windy, poor visibility rain, like last night).

And Kimberly and I mostly just laughed about the soaking when we got home.

(After changing into drier clothes.)