Preparing for NaNoWriMo

October is racing by and the thought of November approaching is leaving me feeling both eagerly excited and heart-stoppingly terrified! Naturally, being a somewhat obsessive planner, I have decided to do everything I can to prepare myself.
This is how I am going about it:

Getting other obligations out of the way
For me this means:
- Making sure that I am ahead of schedule with my studying so that I can borrow some study time for writing during November.
- Making sure that the cupboards and freezer are well stocked in order to minimize the number of shopping trips I'll need to do.

Organising the writing environment
I am making sure that I have plentiful supplies of any stationery that I might need, that my computer is running well, that my desk is tidy and organised and that I have a good supply of quick and easy healthy, energy boosting snacks to hand (but not too closely to hand - I'm seriously hoping to become so engrossed in writing that I forget all about food!).

Building a support structure
I am familiarising myself with the NaNoWriMo forums and starting to look for writing buddies. I am trying to prepare my unfortunate loved ones for the emotional devastation and neglect that they will have to face, and asking them if they can find it in their hearts to bear with me during this trying time.

Planning my time
If I write every single day in November without fail I will need to write 1667 words a day. Since I realise that this is probably quite unlikely, I am going to aim for around 2000 words a day so that I have a few days to play around with. Apparently Stephen King writes 2500 words a day every day of the year, so I guess it is humanly possible!

Story preparation
I have created a plot outline to hopefully stop me from getting lost and going off on a tangent too often. Next I will be working on breaking it up into chapters so that I can keep an eye on my pace. I have already been working on developing my main characters but there are some secondary characters who need to be developed further and given more of a role in the story. I am also working on my settings and doing as much research as possible now, although I'm sure the need for more will come up once I start writing.

I would really love to hear what others are doing to prepare, whether you are a fresh newbie like me or an old hand with much need advice to offer.