Clear and kind of cold this early Friday morning — at least for the next several days, the northern coast of California should be under a good-weather watch and rain-free.
After a week of harsh, windy and wet this will be a snap.

And once again we’re at the precipice of the weekend, waiting with baited-breath for today to finish when it ain’t even started!
Come on, two-day joy dip:
You know you gotta serve, you know you gotta please
My baby puts my mind at ease
Friday comes n’ I’m thinkin’ of you
‘Cause at five o’clock, they’re gonna set me loose

If unrestrained, whatcha gonna do?
Maybe filibuster your own self: “What we have is here a case of Republicans not taking yes for an answer.”

(Illustration found here).

Just to keep everybody settled in their rightful place, Friday’s can be horrific — Japan felt a 7.3 earthquake this morning near-about the same place as the 9.0 in March 2011 (also a Friday), which caused a nasty bit of trouble at the Fukushima nuclear plant, but not much damage off this one.
However, one coastal resident did say: “It shook for such a long time.”
There was a small tsunami, but again not much in its wake.

Closer to home, the US jobs report is due on today, and according to the Washington Post, the thing is going to be “…a giant mess.”
Why:

Economist Julia Coronado notes that her week forecast is “entirely attributable to disruptions associated with Hurricane Sandy,” which could bode well for the longer-term, as the impacts of the storm on the job market seem to be reversing quickly.
…
It will be possible to filter out the effects of the storm and glean what happened in the economy more broadly last month, but not until December 21.
That is when the Labor Department releases state jobs numbers; a data set that is often overlooked, it will be parsed to filter out the effect of job losses in New Jersey, New York, and other affected places.

And of course, Dec. 21, another Friday and two weeks from today, the end of civilization, at least in the fevered mental pining of the ancient Mayans.
The Chinese know how to deal with such a grave matter — go on holiday.
Via The Atlantic:

There’s a silver lining: If you work at Chengdu Higgses Internet Technology Company, you will be given a two-day “Doomsday vacation” on December 20 and 21.
The unverified office memo, now making the rounds on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, reminds all of the company’s “comrades-in-arms” to take safety precautions like fireproofing and watching out for looters.
The memo also encourages the employees to spend their “final” days with their loved ones and wished everyone a meaningful Doomsday.

And the official announcement advises: We wish everyone a meaningful “doomsday.”

Well, first we’ve got the weekend.