update docs

docs/launch-node-from-local.md

@@ -19,16 +19,33 @@ Choose your configuration options, then click the "Launch Your Bubble!" button k
 The screen will refresh and show a progress meter. A typical launch will take about 10 minutes.
 
 ## Your Very First Bubble
-The very first Bubble you launch will build a [Packer](https://packer.io) image that will be used for this and
-subsequent launches.
+The very first Bubble you launch will use a [packer image](packer.md) that was created
+during [activation](activation.md).
 
-This process adds about 20-25 minutes to the launch process.
+### Packer Image Creation
+Normally the packer images are created during activation, and are generally available within about 20 minutes.
 
-While the packer image is building, the progress meter will appear to be "stuck" at 1%. This is normal.
-If you're curious, you can observe the packer image being built in your Bubble logs.
+If the required packer image is still being built when you launch your first Bubble, it's OK,
+the launcher will wait for the packer image to be ready.
 
-This only happens the first time you launch a Bubble.
-Later launches can skip this step, because Bubble will detect that the packer image already exists.
+If for some reason the packer image does not exist and is not currently being built,
+then the launcher will start building the packer image right then.
+This process adds about 20 minutes to the launch process.
+ 
+When launching a Bubble and the required packer image is still being built,
+the progress meter will appear to be "stuck" at 1% until the image is ready. This is normal.
+
+If you're running the launcher from a [binary](run-binary.md) or [source](dev.md) Bubble distribution,
+you can check the status of the packer jobs by running
+```shell script
+pack_status
+```
+
+If you're running the launcher from using the [Bubble Docker Launcher](docker-launcher.md),
+you can observe output of the packer image being built in your Bubble logs.
+
+More details on packer and the `pack_status` command are available in
+the [Bubble packer documentation](packer.md).
 
 ## Install Bubble Apps
 While your Bubble is launching, take a moment to

docs/packer.md

@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 # Bubble Packer Images
-A [packer image](https://packer.io) is way to initialize a new cloud system with an operating system and
+A [packer](https://packer.io) image is way to initialize a new cloud system with an operating system and
 software and files pre-installed. This is an oversimplified explanation but will suffice for our current needs.
  
-Before packer images, we launched Bubbles onto "blank" Ubuntu systems and then did
+Before packer images, we launched Bubbles starting with "blank" Ubuntu systems and then did
 tons of installation and configuration. It took 20+ minutes to launch a new Bubble.
 
 We decided we could do better. Packer allows us to create Ubuntu images that already have 
 PostgreSQL, Redis and nginx installed and configured, and lots more.
 
-Launching a Bubble is now faster (usually 10 minutes or less) because all the standard software
+Launching a Bubble is now faster (usually under 10 minutes) because all the standard software
 and configs are already present on the packer image that each launch starts with.
 
-We can make it even faster, but getting a new Bubble launched in under 10 minutes is a real accomplishment,
-and Packer makes it possible. 
+We can make it even faster, and we plan to, but getting a new Bubble launched in less than 10 minutes
+is a real accomplishment, and Packer makes it possible. 
 
 ## Image Types
 There are two types of packer images: `sage` and `node`