We’ll start off today’s lunchtime post with a bunch of flood news. Volunteers are needed to fill sandbags in the Pyramid’s parking lot. If you can help out, join them between noon and 6 PM today, and 9 AM and 6 PM tomorrow. If you have a shovel, bring it.
Flood waters have reached 46′ and have lapped over Riverside onto Beale. See a photo in the Memphis Flyer’s City Beat blog. For those worried the Downtown core is in danger, don’t. The crest is expected two feet higher at 48′. The intersection of Front and Union sits at 78′.
MPD has closed Island Drive on Mud Island to non-resident traffic. The reason was because flood tourism was clogging traffic on the island. With parking lots under water, people were parking right on Island Drive and getting out to take photos. Question: What about non-Island residents who want to shop at Miss Cordelia’s, eat at Movie & Pizza or Little Cafe Eclectic, etc.? Are we allowed to come over?
My favorite weatherman, Erik Proseus, is the featured Memphian on Kerry’s I Love Memphis Blog today. Erik runs the excellent MemphisWeather.net website, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and iPhone and Android apps.
Bardog has announced specials for Cinco de Mayo tonight. $5 margaritas and $6 mojitos. The chef will be cooking up something special in the kitchen as well.
The Silly Goose will have a Cinco party as well. $2 tacos (and if memory serves, their tacos are really good). $5 32 oz. margaritas in buckets you can keep. At 8 PM, there will be a taco eating contest. At 8:10 PM, the Nuh-Uh Girl will swoop in like a pigeon and eat the leftover tacos from the contest.
The Flying Saucer has changed their happy hour pricing. Up until this week, most draft beers cost the same during happy hour as during other times of the day, but were served in a 22 oz. glass rather than the standard 16 oz. pint glass. Now, beers are served in a 16 oz. pint glass all the time, but most drafts are $1 off during happy hour.
So, is this a win or a loss for customers? I got out a piece of paper and did the algebra. If the beer you drink sells for less than $3.67 full price, you’ll get more for your money with the new happy hour. If your beer’s full price is more than $3.67, you’ll get slightly less for your money than before. So, the moral of the story is, drink cheap, shitty beer like Coors Light. 
Really, the price difference is almost negligible. The Dos Equis Lager I usually drink ($4.50 full price) is about a penny per ounce more expensive with the new happy hour. That’s not exactly a budget-buster. I bet the true profit for the Saucer will come with not having to deal with those 22 oz. glasses anymore. They’ve got to be more expensive than standard pint glasses, and they’re easier to break too.
Tentative plan for tonight: A Dos Equis Lager with extra limes at the Saucer, then Kooky de Mayo, then rooftop. Silly Goose may very well end up in the mix too.