Of penguins and backups

My characters are misbehaving.  The geologist started out as an

annoying egomaniac, turns out he's recovering from depression and has a decent side.  The two pilots were having an affair and didn't tell me, and my secondary character has elbowed her way into top billing.  I have no idea what these people get up to when my back is turned.  And somehow I have to fit penguins in there.  Not the battle penguins of yore that belong in Josh's fantasy novel, but a real live Rockhopper or a Humboldt.  Has anyone else noticed that the Humboldt penguins at St Louis Zoo are complete camera hogs?  First sign of a camera flash and they start pushing to the front and flapping their wings.

If I can maintain the 2500 words a day pace I've set, I should finish the day after Thanksgiving.  Sooner if I can do a few good days.  I wasn't planning on aiming for the finish line, especially after starting four days late, but I've got the bug now.  Hubby's progress chart is a huge help and motivator.  I've gone from being over 6700 words behind to a mere 1900 down.  I'm hoping to catch up this weekend.  I really like this story, I do much better at sci-fi with occasional humour than chick lit and trying to be funny the whole time.

For those doing NaNo, back the novel up today.  Dump it in a web mail account, put it on a thumb drive, multiple backups are not just good, they're a requirement for getting this thing done.  I have word count to do...