Well summer has finally struck south Louisiana. I have been grateful that we had been mostly spared the truly brutal heat up until this point. But summer is now definitely here, and by 11am today it was 97 degrees, and about 90% humidity. I made a traffic stop on a kid today because I saw that his inspection sticker had expired about a year and a half ago, and after stopping him I discovered that he had no insurance, no registration papers in the vehicle, he had an out-of-state driver's license even though he'd admitted to having been a resident here for over a year, and his driver's side mirror was hanging by a piece of electrical tape. However, the poor kid was totally drenched in sweat--he told me he'd been doing some sort of construction work in an attic--and I was beginning to get similarly drenched as I ran his vehicle and looked through what little paperwork he did posess. So I took pity on him and merely gave him a notice of violation for the lack of insurance and took his license plate. I did not tow his car (which is totally within my rights to do in Louisiana for not having proof of insurance.) I finished up quickly and got back in my air conditioning.

And then the ubiquitous afternoon thunderstorm struck. Normally I am grateful to the afternoon thunderstorms, because they really cool things off. Unfortunately, I was working during this one, and doubly unfortunately, I came across an accident in a busy intersection, and even though it was in the city and the report had to be made by city PD, I still had to stand by and direct traffic around the mess--in the torrential rain, with lightning flashing all around. I was soaked from my knees down in a matter of seconds. (My rain slicker actually protected the rest of me fairly well.) When I finally left the scene, it was about 3pm, and I didn't figure it was worth going home to change into dry socks with only two hours left on the shift (especially since it was still raining, with no let-up in sight.) So for the next two hours I squished.

Tomorrow I'm putting a spare pair of dry socks in my car.