Snow, computers, and dogs

First a word on the snow possibilities at the end of the week: the GFS, NOGAPS, and CMC are all hinting at possible precip Fri/Sat, but as always questions remain. QPF amounts vary from about 0.1" to 0.5", and 1000-500 mb thicknesses range from well below 540 dm to well above 540 dm (the 540 dm is a rough rain-snow line proxy). It doesn't give me much confidence that the only models runs that consistently indicate heavier precip in colder air are the 'off-synoptic time' runs (06/18Z); the synoptic-time runs (00/12Z) are drier and warmer in their solutions. Considering this is in the 120-hr time-frame, there is still plenty of time to see what ends up happening.

This afternoon I went over to my friend Oscar's house to help him configure his computer for internet. I got the internet working, and then proceeded to start uninstalling spam programs... and ended up causing his machine to not work at all: neither internet nor anything else. I'm now back here at my apt, with his laptop, and am looking at a multi-hour job to restore it back to at least marginal working condition. Ugh, that's how things go when you are smart enough to know get yourself into trouble but not smart enough to fix your own problems. I think this is called "teenager". (Doesn't help that his machine is riddled with viruses and the power cord is marginally-functiona....)

Finally, the other beagle dog that my family had while we were growing up, Penny, is on her last leg. She's 15.5 yrs old, which is quite old for any dog, and her health is finally catching up with her: she can't hear, can see only short distances, has various (cancerous?) growths on her limbs, and has stopped eating. On top of this, her heart has been weak for several years, and she's not taking any more medicine for it. This week she'll either die on her own or my parents will take her to be put down. Penny, thanks for a great 15+ years! We'll miss you and Springer!