Day 14: That's the view from here. Western Washington is swimming in its first atmospheric river of the season, with something close to an inch having fallen in the last 24 hours at my house. I suppose I should be thankful I don't live in Jamaica, because they're expected to get 30-50 inches of rain over the next two or three days, courtesy of Hurricane Melissa. Melissa is exhibiting behaviours not seen in a hurricane for at least a century, according to one source, and it is guaranteed to bring catastrophic flooding and landslides to the island. On this end, though, I'm dealing with the "first-world problem" of not having adequate heat, and I'm getting no action from any of the companies I've contacted with respect to getting hard copies of estimates to submit to the PUD in the hopes of qualifying for a low-income grant. In fact, I have not even received the application forms from the PUD, and it's been almost a week since I requested them. Meanwhile, I'm using a wall heater which is barely up to the task of keeping the living room warm. But unlike the unfortunate residents of Jamaica, I can put on another layer of fleece, grab and blanket and a cat, and a cup of hot tea. At least I still have power (she says, knocking firmly on wood).
