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I was reminded by the woot podcast song today that today is July 1st and that means that June is over. But somehow it is still raining in Boston! It has literally been raining for the entire month of June, and somehow I, and everyone else thought that July 1 would be like the second coming of the sun and our collective depression over a summer wasted would be relived. I can’t find an updated article, but just last week it was reported that the so far June 2009 was the least second least sunny June recorded in Boston since 1885. Only 32% of the daily possible sunshine actually reached the ground for the month. The lowest record was in 1903 with 25% and the highest was in 1971 with 77%. Average is apparently 55%. All of that and more can be found in the fancy chart on the Boston.com story.

It seems like bad form to complain about the weather, especially to dedicate an entire post to it, but this is seriously a 100 year lack of sun event! Anyways now that it’s July and its not sunny I feel totally justified. That said, I just picked up some cheap Red Sox tickets for Friday from someone who apparently decided they didn’t want to bother going it if was expected to rain, which it is. Although, these days 30% chance of thunderstorms is starting to mean the sunniest day of the week.

This just in: Also from the Boston Globe, How to Build an Ark in five steps.

Updated stats:from the Boston Metro on the lack of sunshine. Who said that rag wasn’t good for anything. Also from the Metro, how it is making us feel. I certainly think that “reading and writing about the bad weather” should be added to their list of things people are doing after this much rain that don’t help a darn bit. At least the Globe ended their bit with a rainbow, even if it is a painted rainbow hanging in Cooperstown.

I don’t tend to remember my dreams very often, so when I do I get excited and write them down as quickly as possible. Then I decided it might be fun to let my subconscious lose on the net. Anyways, this may be a fun story, but um don’t try to read too much into it:

We were at some sort of huge mall complex. So huge that it has a green line like, light rail in the parking lot, that sort of just goes around to all the different buildings. It circles the parking, not the building, there are multiple buildings, but all around the central parking. It is night. I am on the train. I am not headed anywhere in particular. I have some friends with me as I am not alone, but they do not feature prominently. I am wearing my Halloween costume, it may be Halloween, I’m not sure, but it is perfectly normal for me to be wearing it. Other people may, or may not be in costume. I am on the train when costume attacks the attention of a blogger girl who is clearly a hybrid between iJustine, and this girl who was dressed as sexy Darth Vadar at the party I was at last night, but she is not wearing the Darth Vadar mask, or the over sized sunglasses iJustine often wears. She has a fancy bound notebook which reinforces the blogger thing, which is not a costume. She writes her blogs/ takes notes in it. We talk over many stops, this mall place must be huge because we don’t go around in a circle, and it’s a long time. Now waking the conversation escapes me, but its engaging and eventually she’s snuggling me like a cat which feels great in her silk costume. (Ok clearly I thought this girl had a great costume)

Shortly after a large frat boy type, clearly not yet a man, gets on and sits down. In the train car there are doors that can section off different parts (unlike the green line). The doors must be left open (and tucked into the walls) at all times so the driver can see the whole train car and watch for misconduct. The frat boy’s costume or whatever involved showing off his boxers way too much, and makes it problematic for him to keep his pants on, but while hes sitting it’s not a problem, and while crude it is not out of place. He has a friend who sits across from him who does not feature prominently. After a few stops he starts to fiddle around with some things. He does so discreetly, the driver can’t see, but I can. I am sitting closer to the front of the train and the driver than he is. He is on the other side of one of the doors. At the next stop he pulls one of the doors half out and begins rolling a joint behind it, possibly out of view of the driver. This is ballsy, in my mind, and stupid, but befitting his character. (I guess maybe this is on my mind due to the decriminalization of marijuana ballot questions coming up, who knows, there was not any pot at the party, that’s for sure.) He gets pretty far along with his joint rolling, possibly done, and may have handed it clear across the aisle to his friend, but he makes a lot of motion getting to the materials to make another one in his mostly not on pants. He begins rolling, but at this point we’re at a stop and the driver notices. He comes rushing back to put a stop to the illegal activity and takes the two boys off the train and to the mall police immediately. Leaving the rest of us on the train, with nothing to do.

This is the end of the line. The track stops, sort of, it just goes under some legally parked cars. It does eventually stop beyond them, without looping. The driver failed to properly park the train, so it begins to roll forward. Slowly at first, but then fast enough that we notice. The train has emptied more now but my friends and the blogger are still on it now wondering what to do. First how to stop it for our own sake. I take charge since I’m wearing my Redline costume with a T logo, and this is essentially the green line, its certainly operated by the T, and the costume makes me most qualified. We’re futzing around in the divers area, we find the throttle, but its all the way off. We can’t figure out what you have to do to put it into reverse. We try pulling backwards, but it won’t budge. We need to also hold a button or something. We’re getting closer to the cars, about one car length back it dawns on me. Break peddle! I lean over to look for one, it is there, and I begin to push it with my hands. It is really hard to push with my hands, but we’re maybe starting to slow down. We plow into the first of the parallel parked cars, leaving a large dent on the bumper. It in turn hits the next one and a chain of bangs is heard, but we’re slowing. Possibly due to the collision or maybe my breaking efforts. Eventually a occupied parked car moves to avoid being part of the fender bender and the bangs stop. The train is literally going like 3 miles an hour or less here, so its all in slow motion, not intentionally slow, actually slow due to the speed involved. Before hitting anything else we come to a stop.

Having witnessed the crash (the train is perfectly unharmed) some of the observers come running over to help. Most of them are gawkers. One of them is a girl who apparently works for the train line. She is most helpful. She knows how to operate the train and make it go backwards. She backs up the train back to the last stop, which is maybe 100 feet back on the track. She applies the parking break. She is emotionally wrought. Apparently it is her job to take care of the trains at the end of the line, but she was goofing off and now there is property damage. This is a bad night for her now, but she keeps a light spirit. With her, we leave the train, we head to her boss to make a report. He is in a kiosk sort of back around the last curve before the stop. Maybe 200 yards away, but his view of the last stop is hidden by a mall building. There is grass over by the kiosk. We must have made the report, and we’re all milling about in the grass, keeping the T girl happy, and generally having a fine little time. She is not losing her job, she thinks me the hero, I bring up how incapable I was at actually stopping the train. I cite how long it took me to think of a break peddle and then my inability to actuate it for some time. Despite my objections she has described me as the hero to her boss, who later comes out with some sort of rewards sheet where you circle the reward you’d like. It has a bunch of logos and names of famous people you can meet and other sponsors who’ll give you free stuff, none of which I’ve heard of at all. Eventually I notice in the right side middle of the page is the American League Baseball logo. Its a free trip to an AL game, which somehow guarantees that it is a Red Sox game, despite that their logo is not present. It’s unclear if they will be good seats, but I select that. At this point I wake up and the dream is over.

And that’s the story. I definitely want to goto a sox game, I didn’t make it again this year, so free tickets qualify as a happy ending