I don’t know how much press this is getting elsewhere, but they’re saying this storm that’s coming is a real monster (you should have seen the line today of people waiting at Ace to buy batteries, lanterns, etc!).
We should be fine here, unless our neighbor’s 200-foot Doug Fir decides to pick this year to come crashing down…we’re not in a flood plain or on an unstable slope. Hope the rest of you all have those hatches battened down!
Redwolf
I be thinking about you, Redwolf. I hope that you and your loved ones stay safe as the storm passes.
Hang in there, Red!
Er, Katy, Bar the Door!
Cross threader!!! 
I’ll be thinking about you, Red, and everyone over your way. I hope all goes well, and it doesn’t end up being as bad as predicted.
We need the rain. We don’t need the wind.
gee around here, people buy bread and milk (Tom buys beer).
Good thoughts, Red and Weeks.
I remember that from North Carolina. At the first hint of the word “snow,” every supermarket in the state would suddenly empty of milk and bread. It always puzzled me…"you’re going to lose power, perhaps for days, and you’re stocking up on PERISHABLES???’ It was almost funny…when we learned that Hurricane Fran was going to come over the top of us, I was able to buy all kinds of useful goodies…a nice Coleman stove, lanterns and mantles, etc., candles, batteries, ice, water, canned soup and chili, oatmeal, and other non-perishable foodstuffs…even (get this!) powdered milk! But if I’d have needed a pint of fresh milk to save my life, I would have died! There was no milk, eggs or bread to be had anywhere. That may be why we weathered a week without electricity (or a gas-guzzling generator) a lot better than some of our neighbors.
Weeks is right…we do need the water, though we’d be better off getting it over a period of days, and without the wind. I’m just glad right now that we don’t have one of those houses with a picturesque location on the banks of the San Lorenzo…those folks are going to be sandbagging by tomorrow night, at the latest.
Redwolf
Hmmm…I was under the impression that all of California was one or the other. 
Hang in there. Or get on your skateboard, hoist a bedsheet, and you’ll be at Wilson Manor in time for breakfast.
Tom
I got a call from our town’s automated emergency system (that was installed after the flooding we had two winters ago) telling us to prepare for possible floods again, and I already got my free sandbags, too.
The last report said we can expect up to 8 inches of rain in the next 24 hours in my area of Marin County. Two winters ago, 8 inches of rain fell in 24 hours here, and my house filled with about four feet of muddy brown water. That sucked. (Story of that event here.)
We’re hoping that, since the ground is relatively dry from lack of rain, that more of the water will be absorbed into the soil and less will end up feeding the river, so that it won’t overflow its banks. But I’m working from home tomorrow, just in case I have to frantically try to lift all my furniture up off the ground and save what I bought to replace everything I lost last time. I don’t really look forward to replacing 80-90% of my stuff for the second time in two years . . . Oy!
Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.
Oh, I remember the flooding in Marin County that winter! Knock wood and cross fingers that it won’t be that bad this year!
They’re already telling us to expect flooding on the San Lorenzo.
I think most people here are going to be working from home tomorrow too. In fact, when my husband left work, his manager said “see you Monday!”
Redwolf
Hope it doesn’t cause much trouble, and that everyone gets through it well.
Good luck to you foks up north. Down here people who live below the hillsides just ravaged by fire are nervous, and rightly so. In my case, we live in a man made harbor and the seawalls will take seven foot plus tides (and have done so in the 30 some years we have lived in our charming abode) so if the winds and the runoff aren’t too great we should be o.k. Tides will be less than 5 feet for the next few days.
We have floating docks out front (yes, I know, all docks should float 
but these rise and fall with the tide) and new ones were just installed last year. Might be a good test for them.
A few years ago we had an earthquake in the middle of the night and in the surge one of the docklines on my trawler tore the cleat out of the dock. I had to race down the gangway in my sleeping apparel to perform a clumsy rescue mission. Good thing no one had a camera handy. 
Anyway, all’s well . . . ., etc etc etc and I hope it will be this time for everyone,
Sandy
What I keep wondering is how many surfers are going to rush down to the bay tomorrow to catch the 20-foot swells.
Redwolf
This is about as close as we get to something like a hurricane. Not as warm, but plenty of rain blowing horizontally as well as vertically. I’m sitting in a “cell” that is supposedly getting 2" per hour. I heard that 6" fell overnight in Marin. It’s a miracle that the power is still on. It’s supposed to let up some by noon.
Hasn’t gotten down here yet but it is dark. When I started swimming this morning at 6:45 there were blue skies with broken clouds. When I finished an hour later it had clouded up. As I look out the window the wind has started. As Ms Bobbitt said, it won’t be long now.
Glad to hear the power is still on for you up north,
Sandy
Still waiting down here. The sun is peeking out, but it’s getting cloudy. LA radar shows scatter, but nothing here yet. We’ve had a total of 2" rainfall since July, and could get that much in one day now. We’re about 1000 feet up, so no danger of flooding. But plenty of shallow-rooted eucalyptus trees to come crashing down.
The wind has been incredible here. Power’s off and on (on right now, obviously), but trees are falling all over. It’s loud: a series of small explosions as branches pop. And at least five trucks have been blown over on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge here, closing the bridge entirely. Stay off the roads, if you live in the area! Between falling trees and flipping trucks, it’s not a fun time.
The flood sirens went off in town here a few minutes ago – and boy, did they choose a spooky sound for the things, like a choir of baritone banshees – but more as a warning, as the river is still a couple feet below its banks (or was when I checked a little while ago). Then again, yesterday the river was about fifteen feet below its banks, so I dunno. But we’re hopeful the storm will pass in the next couple of hours, and escape the kind of flooding we had almost exactly two years ago.
Hope I didn’t just jinx us!
Also got another call from our automated emergency notification system, and it included a nice touch at the end: “And please check on and help your neighbors.” Aw. I kinda liked that.
Good luck, Californians, and stay dry.
Here’s what’s going on in our neck of the woods:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
The wind is rather scary. So far we haven’t lost power, but I’ve been hearing transformers go in the distance all day, and ours keeps flickering.
Stay warm, stay dry, and stay off the roads if you can, y’all.
Redwolf
Was watching the news this noon, and they’re asking people who don’t have to go out to please stay home. PG&E (our utility company) has pulled its crews out of the mountains until the worst of this is over, for safety reasons. Both our most direct routes into Santa Cruz are cut off, though we could still get there, if we had to, via Scotts Valley and Highway 17 (I’d have to be pretty desperate to drive in these winds, though!). I called Tony and suggested he come home to work, lest he get stranded in Scotts Valley…he’s safely here now. I called Fr. Joel and asked to reschedule Johanna’s play practice…it’s just not safe to go out in this. In fact, the San Rafael bridge, just north of San Francisco, was closed earlier today because two big rigs were actually blown over on their sides by the storm!
Up in the Sierra, they’re telling people not to even think of venturing into the passes today. In fact, they’re saying it’s a matter of life or death, as the plows will NOT be able to get up there until the storms are over, and anyone who gets stuck could be in serious danger.
So tonight I’ll just make a big pot of chickpea and kale soup (I love my gas stove, which keeps working away, even when the power is out!) and we’ll settle in for the duration.
On the upside, I’ve gotten in two hours of harp practice so far today!
Redwolf
I am sitting at my desk with a portable heater underneath it, trying to dry out my boots, socks and pants. I had to move my Highlander because the parking lot flooded to the running boards and the drains were clogged. I ended up moving the bosses car, but by them the maintenance guys took over and moved all the cars out of the lot. So much water coming that the drains are full so no water is leaving. It’s like having a lake out front.
Still have juice, tho.