High

If you zoom in, you will see this is a picture of a duck swimming on a sidewalk. (No, a real one. And, no, it isn't wearing sunglasses.) The Columbia River was up 16.6 feet on Tuesday. It is predicted to get as high as 17.3 feet today. (This article shows you a picture of the same scene from the other direction.)

If you zoom in on the next one, you will see a tug pushing a barge under a lifted span of the Interstate Bridge. The river is now at flood stage (which is reached at 16 feet) and there is not only less room for boats to pass under the bridge but currents are faster, both of which result in more bridge lifts which now average nearly 2 per day. The span, which provides 176 feet of river clearance when open, is usually raised 10-20 times per month. (The bridge celebrates its 100th birthday this year.)

Also, new fun fact, the Columbia River is tidal, meaning, it has tides. I've noticed the river is higher or lower on any given day but I imagined that was a result of either the tides of the Pacific Ocean somehow reaching us 150 miles upstream or the operation of the Bonneville Dam another 45 miles upstream. But, as you can see here, the river can rise and fall 3.5 feet per day.

It'll be interesting to see what remains of our beach. Should we ever see it again.

Who's ready for summer?

Slept until 8 a.m.

Next sleep break won't be until April 19th. And I'll be on a plane to somewhere by then.

I'm so confused.

Swastika found in bathroom of D.C.’s School Without Walls High School

" Administrators at School Without Walls High School in D.C. are investigating an incident involving “inappropriate language” and a swastika drawn on the wall of a boy’s restroom earlier this week. "

We assume they mean the drone.

Crashing Drones Into Test Dummies for Safety

" When small consumer drones made of plastic strike an object like a human head, they tend to break apart . . . . "

Either way, it's annoying.

All my t shirts suddenly have holes in them. Even brand new, only worn once ones. Tiny holes all in a nickel-sized cluster located a few inches below my belly button. Either I have a very specific moth living in my t shirt drawer or I have a pair of jeans with something sharp poking out of its waistband.

My next sleep break is scheduled for March 25.

I'll do it!

2 accountants in Oscars envelope mix-up won’t be back

I just happen to know of an accounting firm that

1. can count.
2. is not in L.A. land.
3. can prepare 1099s for all those swag bags.

I watch a lot of comedies this time of year. 

I thought about running and pulled a muscle.

I don't know which is more disturbing

Just How Much Pee Is In That Pool?

Or:

" . . . up until now, just how much urine has been difficult to measure, says chemist Xing-Fang Li of the University of Alberta. Li and her colleagues report they can now tell roughly how much pee is in a pool by measuring the artificial sweeteners carried in most people's urine. "

I wake up to an alarm clock that simulates sunrise and the soft chirping of birds. Only now can I wake up to actual sunrise and birds.

That will all change in a couple of weeks and I'll be in the dark again.