There Shall Come Harder Rain

I've had better commutes to work, but it wasn't a particularly unsafe one. (My company hasn't shut down. More scarily, the training across town for tomorrow has not as yet shut down. That's going to be during the thick of it.)

Anyway, I've told one and all that I'm here for half a day or until the winds pick up, whichever comes first, which seems to be everyone's philosophy. According to the weather reports, things should hold wet but steady until mid-afternoon - time enough for us to get home safely.

The car has less gas than I'd like to see in it during an emergency - I'm going to try to gas up on the way back.

Glimmers of sanity

Work is shutting at noon and staying shut tomorrow. The training has been rescheduled for Weds-Fri, which is during the storm wind-down and mop-up instead of the heart of darkness. When I get home, I'm staying there until Tuesday night, come hell or high water. Literally.

At home

The drive home occasionally got more exciting than necessary, but all's well that ends well. My tiny car is shoved into the garage, I've got hot food from the local diner (which was full to the brim). I think I'm going to be obligated to clean up my bedroom a bit simply because I have no excuse not to during this unscheduled time off!

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Wind is picking up from heavy to occasionally scary now, and it's another 4 hours to when the worst is supposed to hit.

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Wind at less than half of the worst to expect and it's already unnerving me. Have jammed the storm doors shut so they won't flap around.

Hope for the best. Expect the worst.

Power has held with only the occasional brownout flicker so far, but the worst of the storm hasn't hit. I hear Sandy's been downgraded to a tropical storm, but that still means 70+ mph winds howling over us starting in about an hour. I'm going to assume the worst; it's easier to dismantle preparations than pull them together.

I'm probably going to shut this laptop down and go quiet in the next 30 minutes or so; I want the battery to be at full strength if our power goes down. Not so I can use it -- the router will go the way of all flesh without power -- but so I can jack into it via usb cord and drain the battery to keep the cell phone up and running. My little netbook has been plugged in for the first time in ages for the same reason.

There's an oil lamp in a clear bowl in the bathroom. (The bowl is to help keep the flame isolated if I light it.) The freezer in the basement has been packed to capacity with the food we want to keep and the nooks and crannies filled with baggies of ice. Untouched, it should hold the cold for two days.

redpanda13's hubby and I have been keeping an eye on each other's situation online and via the phone. We'll be checking in with each other in the morning as well.

I WANT BATTERY CANDLES AND A CRANK USB CHARGER FOR CHRISTMAS!