The weather outside is frightful.

For those of you unfamiliar with the West-of-the-Casdades Pacific Northwest, there are a few different standard, set storms we have. Drizzle rain. Heavy rain. Wind. Light-ish snow. And the odd cold snap.

At the moment we are seeing an unpleasant combo of the Wind, Light-ish Snow, and Cold Snap varieties. I love my dog. I wouldn't want any other dog in his place, and I prefer him to a cat. (For the record, I like cats. I also like breathing, and unfortunately the two can only coexist with the help of strong drugs, which I try to avoid.)

However, cats are litterbox trained. At 11:45pm, 25 degrees fahrenheit, wind chill lowing that to a perceived 8 degrees fahrenheit, when said wind is blasting one with tiny shards of snow, taking a shivering dog out to do his business really, really sucks.

( Kinda scenic by day, though. )

Wrecked 'im? It damn near killed him!

My wife was driving home the other evening and some yahoo decided to spare his brake pads by using the rear bumper of her car to come to a full and complete stop.

My wife, less than pleased with his logic, expressed her desire to discuss the matter by pulling over to the side of the road. The yahoo, deciding awkward conversations ought to be avoided, took a right just behind her car onto a side street.

After a brief pursuit the yahoo lost my wife by pulling onto I-5 South, whereupon my wife called both me and the Police. On doctor's orders we took her to the Urgent Care clinic to make sure her interior passenger was okay, which he was. (Moving around with such vigor the tech initially couldn't get a heartbeat, but we weren't fazed. He did that at the last OB/GYN appointment, too.)

Sadly, the yahoo managed to stay far enough away from my wife that the license was unreadable, and she's not a car person, so the police only got "white sedan, looked American, last five years" as a description.

Saturn bumpers have a flexible plastic body, so the damage was visually minimal. Upon low-speed collisions, the sides just pop back out. And here's where I wish I were a CSI tech: The yahoo's front bumper and license plate left an extremely partial impression on the Saturn's rear bumper. It's driving me nuts. Just enough there that you feel like you could read it, but not enough to gather more than one or two numbers.

( Evidence hidden here! )