I've said before that for now I want to write less here about global stuff, where extremism seems to be having a field day - cf. developments in Britain in recent weeks, e.g. - so what else is there currently to write about?

Well, we had a bit of a calamity here in Kreuzberg and surrounding quarters of Berlin today and especially yesterday.

It's the all-new Monsoon time of year in Berlin, apparently!

Here's a - trending! - video clip shot by a colleague yesterday afternoon, when he was returning from lunch:

In the evening of that day that U-Bahn metro station was out of commission, as well as 2-3 near it. So I had to get home another way...

On an overfull bus nearby, by now pretty wet, a big lady, even wetter because she did not have an umbrella, blocked the stairs to the top storey, so a whole lot of people, also mesome, could not get on, after all. She, looking drenched and decidedly inclement, wouldn't budge.

I had to walk/wait in the rain for another half-hour before getting on another less popular bus to a remote U-Bahn station, from which I then could ride another 6 stations, including one line change, to my home one. All-in-all it took 3 times as long to get home from work compared to other days. I arrived wet & tired.

No great adventure feeling there. Rather thoughts of southern Asia where monsoon seasons last weeks! Much respect was gained...

Then, yesterday, after constant lesser rain for over 30 hours, after I'd left home for a meeting with friends, this time armed with a light, but long-armed jacket, somewhat waterproof, but no umbrella (!), after 5 minutes on foot on the road, the monsoon-grade deluge began again. I managed to duck into another U-Bahn station, and got to the café more or less dry. Lucky escape!

This, however, left me thinking about the unwitting rain god in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide epos (beginning of the third book?) - and whether I perhaps share one or other eccentric chromosome with him?!