Every day now, the floors start to rise up to meet us at work at least three or four times a day. If you’re wise, you’ll stop looking at your computer monitor when the shaking starts – the shimmying picture that results has already felled at least one co-worker reeling from motion sickness. And the noise – that dull, leaden, rhythmic THUNK? It’s the worst kind of earworm of all.

Yes, the Big Pipe drilling has now finally reached our block in inner SE. We’ve felt the distant rumblings draw nearer and nearer and nearer – and now, they’re definitely Here.

From what we’re told, they’ll be there for a while yet – it takes a long time to drill 20 feet down into the ground to reach whatever it is they’re reaching down there. And that doesn’t include stopping to deal with backfill, I guess.

We’re doing our best to endure, knowing that our sacrifices now only benefit us all when we flush later – we’ll no longer (God willing) spill raw sewage into the Willamette after every little sprinkle.

But lordy, December’s certainly going to be a painful month at the office…!