So you want to participate in the Washington State presidential caucuses on Saturday, February 7. Don't worry--it's not as mysterious as it sounds.

The caucuses, at 10:00 a.m., are your chance to weigh in on who the Democratic presidential nominee should be. It's essentially a neighborhood meeting, held in each voting precinct around the state. You have to attend the one in the precinct in which you reside, and you have to be a registered voter. (If you aren't currently registered, there's no problem. You can register at your site on the day of.) To find out where your caucus is meeting, check the state Dems' website--www.wa-democrats.org--or call 583-0664 for instructions.

Show up on time. The meeting--at least the presidential part--will take an hour. First, you'll declare yourself a Democrat, and check off which candidate you support. At 10:30 a.m., the number of supporters for each candidate is announced. To win any delegates at all, a candidate must have the support of at least 15 percent of caucusgoers in the room. If candidates who fail to meet the threshold can't draw in enough new supporters from other candidates to reach 15 percent, they are knocked off the list and their supporters can switch their allegiance to another Dem. Of course, the candidates who do initially make the first cut will be trying to lure supporters from other camps to up their candidate's percentage and lower the percentages of rivals. By 11:00 a.m., the horse-trading is over. The delegates that your precinct controls will be divvied up according to the percentages each candidate receives at your caucus. Having dealt with more math than you have since studying for the SATs, you're free to go get a drink.