The sun has dropped below the horizon and it's getting darker rather rapidly.

Where did the day go?--Or, more to the point, how did the day slip by with so little accomplished?

Well, I spent better than an hour watching the opening of the dam (aka Bonne Carre Spillway) holding the overblown Mississippi back from Lake Pontchartrain.

The "dam" is made of timber posts (called needles), which can be lifted out of their (?)cradle(?) to let some water go into Lake Pontchartrain, instead of piling up more and more and REALLY stressing the channel and levees by New Orleans.

The diverted water will have an effect on Lake Pontchartrain--it's got a higher salinity than the river.

Based on current levels coming downstream, it should reduce the projected crest at New Orleans by about two feet.

If more relief is needed, more river water will be diverted, this time to the west of the river. This, however, will have a significant impact on a lot of land that will get a "bath."

I did go out this afternoon--a couple of errands and Arby's for supper.

The trays at Arby's now have a flyer offering a $25 gift certificate for anyone who gives blood at the Ochsner (big name hospital) blood bank. It gets credited to an Arby's employee needing a liver transplant.

And that reminds me that I shall probably get a phone call any day now "reminding" me that I'm eligible to donate platelets again. (The last time I tried my blood wasn't red enough.)

Enough blither for today. Time to dull the mind with the TV offerings.