My go-box is packed. It just needs to be put in the car. My board needs to be strapped to the top of the car. I will be going to bed early tonight and getting up in the wee hours of the morning. I will be picking up Inky and then, THE COAST!  Looks like it's going to be pretty damn awesome.  I'll have good company and there are snacks for after throwing myself into the ocean.  

Tomorrow's Surf Report for Westport:

Tides

	WIND	Swell
6am	SE 1mph	W 5.3 ft @ 9sec
9am	SE 1mph	W 5.0 ft @ 9sec
12pm	WSW 1mph	W 4.8 ft @ 9sec
3pm	SSW 4mph	W 4.6 ft @ 9sec

... and you all know who you are -- and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I feel rested today, if not a bit groggy. And this is good.

Friday I was a bit stressed and panicky because of the car. I had work to do from home on Saturday which involved needing to talk to saladofdoom, who inquired about said car. After he and I took care of the work-related items, he arrived and did his saladofdoom magic over my car and it is working again. This was a HUGE relief and caused my stress level to drop.

Unfortunately, this caused me to miss going to winneganfake's place. I will have to make that up to him sometime, and to myself. I was really looking forward to going and connecting with more people in the area. This helps me avoid becoming a hermit, which I am like to do on occasion and is not really good for me.

Because of the timing of the car fix, this did allow me to head out and see the spectacle that was The Rites of Mercury. solcita was fantastic in the show. There were MANY wonderful people attending and I felt part of the community. It was great to see inkygrrl again. It's been too long.

After the after-show party, many of us, including damiana_swan and satyrblade trekked over to The Night Kitchen for food and enthusiastic conversation. I made connections with people I'd only known peripherally and with ones I'd never met before. As I realized earlier with the issues of the car, I had not properly given offerings to Coyote since moving to the area, I had an order of onion rings delivered to another table with instructions to enjoy in Coyote's name. While I may have a few fewer dollars to work with this month because of that, it wouldn't be a sacrifice / offering if it didn't cost me something. And to keep on Coyote's good side, I'd say it was worthwhile.

I stayed a bit after many others had left and was rewarded by getting to visit with inaurolillium which was one of the many highlights of a great night.

To sum up Saturday, it was good and healthy for my spirit.

Sunday brought me to a mix of calm/soothing work on photos and agitation at the football game, and finishing up work-related things leftover from Saturday. After the photos had all been processed and the game had been lost in a spectacularly pathetic fashion, I headed out for grocery shopping / exploring around the Renton area. I found a discount market and got some good deals there. I then found a dollar store, and as I have been looking for one for about a week this was a good thing. Dangerously, the dollar store I found is VERY close to an Asian market. I added mental notes to go exploring there when the budget isn't as tight as it is.

So, with groceries procured, I returned home and made myself something to eat. Now, I have been not sleeping as well as I could over this last week, so I took a little something to help both my shoulder (which I have done some damage to somehow) and to help me sleep. And that seemed to do the trick.

I feel rested today, if not a bit groggy. And this is good.

I have pictures I haven't processed yet, but I thought I'd give y'all a little something to look at.

Okay - so all the schools around me are closed. The snow has started falling again here on and off. There's still ice on the road. Good thing I took my work laptop home. I'm officially "working from home". I'm watching my work e-mail closely and have my work cell phone in case I need to get hold of people. I'm so not feeling like sliding around to get to work, and I'm glad I don't have to.

Everyone who doesn't have that choice, please be as safe as possible.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
309 PM PST TUE DEC 16 2008

...WINTER WEATHER WILL RETURN EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY TO SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON...

.A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL DROP DOWN FROM THE NORTH BRINGING A MIX OF WINTER WEATHER HAZARDS TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. PRECIPITATION MAINLY IN THE FORM OF SNOW WILL BEGIN SPREADING OVER SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING AND THEN INTENSIFY AS IT CONTINUES SOUTH THROUGH THE DAY. WITH THE SURFACE LOW REMAINING TO OUR NORTH...A SOUTHERLY WIND FLOW WILL DEVELOP WEDNESDAY THAT WILL LIKELY CHANGE THE LOW LEVEL SNOW TO RAIN...FREEZING RAIN...OR A MIX AT BOTH THE COAST AND IN THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY. FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE BRIEFLY DURING THE TRANSITION...AS WELL AS IN ANY SHELTERED AND PROTECTED VALLEYS IN THE COAST RANGE. COLDER AIR BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WILL LIKELY AGAIN DROP SNOW LEVELS TO NEAR SEA LEVEL WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. THE SNOW WILL DECREASE THURSDAY NIGHT AS THE SYSTEM MOVES OFF TO THE SOUTH AND EAST.

ORZ005-006-WAZ022-039-171400-
/O.UPG.KPQR.WS.A.0012.081217T1200Z-081217T2300Z/
/O.NEW.KPQR.WS.W.0009.081217T1400Z-081218T1800Z/
LOWER COLUMBIA-GREATER PORTLAND METRO AREA-I- 5 CORRIDOR IN COWLITZ COUNTY-GREATER VANCOUVER AREA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ST. HELENS...CLATSKANIE...HILLSBORO... PORTLAND...OREGON CITY...GRESHAM...LONGVIEW...KELSO... CASTLE ROCK...VANCOUVER...BATTLE GROUND...WASHOUGAL
309 PM PST TUE DEC 16 2008

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 10 AM PST THURSDAY FOR THE INTERSTATE 5 CORRIDOR OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND THE GREATER PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER AREAS...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW AND BRIEF FREEZING RAIN...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 10 AM PST THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

A FRONTAL SYSTEM DROPPING DOWN FROM THE NORTH WILL BRING LIGHT SNOW TO THE AREA BEGINNING AROUND 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY THROUGH THE DAY WITH 2 TO 4 INCHES BY MID AFTERNOON. HIGHER ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES WILL OCCUR IN THE WASHINGTON INTERIOR LOW LANDS. SNOW MAY BRIEFLY MIX WITH RAIN OR FREEZING RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON IN SOUTHERN AREAS BUT WILL SWITCH BACK TO ALL SNOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 4 INCHES IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MIDDAY THURSDAY BUT WILL BE SPOTTIER AS THE SNOW WILL BE MORE SHOWERY IN NATURE. SNOW SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT... FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

Okay - so one of the things I forgot to say last night (because it really is not easy to make a long post on an iPhone) is that the doctor said that soaking my finger in salt water would be a very important thing to ensure there would be no serious infection. So copperwise very kindly made me a cup of hot salt water to soak my finger in. I'm not sure, exactly, when I realized I'd be putting my finger, with OPEN WOUNDS, into salt water, but I suspect it was somewhere right after I did, and then exclaimed, "OH! HOLY $#!*". After a while it stopped hurting all that much though.

Today, it is feeling much better. I have feeling in the tip of my finger again, which I consider to be a very good sign that we won't have to cut it off or anything. And, as I'm actually quite fond of that finger, well - all of them really, this gives me a happy.

I'm headed northward for the weekend, and will be leaving right after work. I'm currently hoping that I manage to make it to my destination, housecerulia, before the weather gets too nasty and the traffic gets even worse. Being from the Pacific Northwest, I am very familiar with the fact that people around these parts don't seem to know how to drive in snow and ice conditions around here. I very much have confidence in my abilities to drive in such adverse conditions, but I do worry about those around me who do not have such abilities.

But, all in all, I'm very much looking forward to this weekend with libraryraven.