So I went to Green Bay last weekend and made a point of ordering butterburgers where possible. I have to say, though, overall they weren’t that good. They looked good. They even tasted alright. But they just weren’t enough to justify the added decadence of buttered burger and bun.

Photo that is self-explanatory, below, from the diner known as Kroll’s across the street from Packer’s Lambeau field. One question, though; why is this, of all things, still a regional phenomenon?

(UPDATED – 4th of July was fruitful) (UPDATED – August was very fruitful) That I would like to do this summer:

1. Set off fireworks (done)
2. Played Euchre (done)
3. Tried to get a greased watermelon out of a swimming pool.
4. Went Fishing and caught nothing
5. Went swimming in my clothes
6. Swam in a pond (done)
7. Swam in a lake (done)
8. Swam in a river (done)
9. Played around train tracks
10. Climbed under a train bridge
11. Got into a water gun fight (done)
12. Got into a water balloon fight
13. Played with silly string
14. Ate pizza at a pizza party (done)
15. Went to “top of the park” and watched the movie sporadically at best.
16. Played foursquare
17. Played “bloody murder”
18. Played “booger monster”
19. Played “nummernyots”
20. Played Super Mario Brothers
21. Watched any movie that was put in front of me unless it was specifically for adults with mature themes I couldn’t understand.(done)
22. Lit fireworks when I wasn’t supposed to (done)
23. Made home-made fireworks from duds (done)
24. Soldered things that didn’t need truly need any soldering.
25. Played games and changed the rules while playing depending on how things were going and what team I was on. Everything was a negotiation. Or whining. (done)

I’ve started walking home from work on a semi-regular basis . . . one to three times a week.  It’s about seven miles and usually takes about an hour and forty minutes to finish.  By the time I get home I’m usually drenched in sweat.  The sweating notwithstanding, there are a couple of things that I find interesting about it:

1. I’m never tired once I get home.
2. The pads of my feet are the only “damaged” part of my body.  Often covered in blisters.
3. It’s very easy to get into a comfortable zoned-out rhythm.  It’s a great after-work thing.
4. The walk over the Manhattan bridge is my favorite part because the view is so nice.  The deafening trains running by every 4 minutes, however, is not nice at all.  But, particularly after going through all of these topless street tunnels through the city, it’s nice to have a completely unobstructed view of the world.
5. Walking down Broadway is made so much nicer because of all the added “green” spaces that have been built.  Without those, I probably would have done it once and then never again.
6. Seeing how so many neighborhoods change week over week (and sometimes how little they change) is really nice.  You see the same people over and over.  You see the same scenes played out with different people in the touristy areas.  You see all the public art stuff that’s done in the city all the time.
7. And, finally, you get to really see how the place you live is geographically connected to the place that you work and that seven miles isn’t really so far at all.

The one bad thing (if there is one) is that you also realize how uncomfortable people are with seeing a full clothed person covered in sweat.  Once I hit Houston, there’s basically no turning back — my back, my front, and some of my pants are soaked with sweat and people definitely give you a stink-eye for that.  I guess it’d be different if I were in athletic clothes, but . . . you know, it’s the summer.  It’s hot.  I sweat.  I’m human.  What are you?

So, you know, yeah, there’s this new iPhone that came out and it seems pretty neat and all of that.  But it got me thinking about the fact that my phone is only about a year and a half old (technically it’s only 6 months old because it was replaced because of a cracked case) and that’s not a long time to own anything that seems like it’s so energy intensive to create.

I guess my questions are; how much energy (in raw materials, material delivery, material creation, parts assembly and ultimately delivery) does it take to build an iPhone?  And really any phone.  And then what happens to the phone that I stop using as a result of getting this new phone?  If disposed of properly, what parts are re-used?  Which parts are “destroyed?”  What parts end up in land fills? How much energy is consumed or wasted doing that?  What are the environmental effects of those parts?

All this frenzy for the new phone makes me think of what is said about buying the latest, greatest, “environmentally friendly” car; the best thing you can do if you’re going to use a car is to buy a used one.  I wonder if it’s the same for the phone.

Anyway, I’m not terribly militant on the subject or anything, but I do wonder . . . a lot of people are going to be throwing away phones for newer ones . . . what’s the real cost?

Just received this note from a friend in the Gambia . . .

“J. Jackson, the brother of Michael Jackson, is expected in Gambia, for a concert on Saturday. I’m surprised that the Govt, is to pay for all expenses (extended B/day of the president being celebrated the next two weeks) and that yesterday was a public holiday. Who the hell on earth would want to appear next to MJ, in large advert posters, but the head of state? I think MJ, had a bad reputation of molesting small children in USA…… “