Kernmantle

Who uses it: Mountain climbers, firemen and window washers
What it means: A type of rope used for climbing and rappelling. "Kernmantle" comes from a German word that describes the rope's construction, a cover (mantel) around a core (kern). An ordinary rope will fray or break, if pulled too strongly around a sharp corner; kernmantles are designed not to.
How you can use it: When you don't trust the protection you have, and need something a little stronger.

It's raining hard here, and will be for the rest of the week. No field hockey this morning. Dizzy agreed to walk almost an entire block, but turned around before the corner: too windy, too wet, too miserable, and his best dog friend, Casey, who lives three doors up from us, was not coming out to play.

I had a bad moment yesterday afternoon in the parking lot of the Regal Theaters in Brunswick, where I met Jen and four small children to see the Wallace & Gromit movie (brilliant; I may see it again in a week or two, and I definitely need to own it). It had been pouring rain all day, and the parking lot was full of puddles; I drove through one, and suddenly found my car in about three inches of water. If it had been four inches, I'd have been swamped. As it was, my engine light came on, but I managed to drive through to higher ground.

It's been a lovely nine months or so without car trouble, and I hope to make it a lovely ten months... I'd like to go up to Waterville this afternoon, but it might be more prudent to stay home.