half past nomad

I recently had to hike across campus to attend something. I am not being vague on purpose; I said attend “something” because I didn’t know at the time (nor do I still really know) what the event was about. Actually the conversation which led to even going to this event went like this:

Lab mate: Hey! There’s like a reception or something at Wean Hall, want to go?
Me: Argh…
Lab mate: Uh What?
Me: Sorry I was thinking about being a pirate …

(awkward pause)

Lab mate: Hey, so there’s like a reception or something at Wean Hall, want to go?
Me: Well I have 3 weeks of work to catch up on. I think I’ll just stay here and work.
Lab mate: I think they’re serving dinner-
Me: -Ready!

In my defense I had to yell “Ready” because I was actually outside running and shouting my reply to my labmate over my shoulder. In retrospect repeatedly shouting “I said, ‘I am Ready’!” while running across campus wasn’t probably the best of ideas…

Regardless, as you can see, the place and occasion of such events is unimportant as long as there is dinner involved. For all I know, it could have been the annual Women in Science and Engineering dinner.

But, back to the point of this post .. it was raining. And herein lies the tragedy:

My lab mate and I both took the same route to the dinner. We both had umbrellas. However, I arrived nearly soaking whereas he had hardly any contact with rain. This happens to me every time; I can’t explain it. And I don’t jump in puddles. (At least I don’t anymore). Seriously, how or why I am so inept with an umbrella is remarkable to even me. I don’t understand how I can get so wet USING AN UMRELLA. It’s not like my body mass is greater than the diameter of the umbrella.

Nevertheless, and unfortunately, the rumors of a dinner were greatly exaggerated, and I left shortly after arriving. I don’t know if it was hunger induced but as I left, I decided I needed to figure out why I can’t use my umbrella correctly. So, I’ve decided to research this vigorously. I plan to follow a scientific procedure. That is: Get dressed and stand in the shower with an umbrella. I will then change the direction and intensity of the shower head to determine how I should position the umbrella relative to the simulated rain. Finally, to plan for wind affects I plan to bring a fan into the shower.

I just need someone to record the data.

Waleed?

This entry was posted on Monday, April 24th, 2006 at 4:54 am and is filed under General Lee.