Meanwhile, my most up-to-date info on how New York, New Jersey and the rest of the Northeast are are experiencing the storm is from Twitter. Some really scary images (storm surges, the dangling construction crane in Manhattan, the building whose full front facade fell off, at least one apparently real and not Photoshopped picture of a shark in a street, like in New Orleans in 2005 when the federal levees failed), sobering updates (I just learned the NYSE floor is under three feet of water [Update: This apparently is false]), and -- Twitter reminding us that "wit" is in its name -- some genuinely hilarious doom-humor. Twitter's good at that.
I'm glad I'm following there. I had TV news on from about 5:00 to 5:15 and changed the channel when a local news station aired a segment on makeup tips. Seriously? I had it on and off sporadically until 5:40, but then turned it off. Not in the mood.
Again, I'm hoping everyone I know over there is as safe as they can be.
Meanwhile, of course life and work go on. For me, that included taking a different combination of morning buses to get to work, because my usual first bus never showed. I improvised a route that I'm glad to say got me there before start time, which was a relief. And then after work, as Portland was blessed with sunlight, I didn't go home right away but instead went over to the site of the new inner SE "super pod" where my friends at Big-Ass Sandwiches have moved their food cart. Lisa, Brian and their crew spent the day setting up; they were gone by the time I visited, but their cart was there, along with two others (satellite locations for Koi Fusion, a Korean BBQ place, and Potato Champion). This is going to happen. I want that to go really, really well for them. Then home, then news, and all along hoping that as many people can stay safe as possible.
I still feel a little weird posting about my life as all this is happening, but at least I'm okay with feeling weird.