Doug Henkle's Environmental Log

05-21-2007, 11:48 am (all times CST) (modified version of an E-Mail I sent to a friend)
          As the Green Apple concert season, UW Oshkosh Music Department and Student Recital concert season, and FCC Chancel Choir practice are over until Fall, and regular gas is $3.39/gal. in Oshkosh, WI, I have now switched into gas saving Summer mode, for the first time ever.

          The necessity of starting this log was the sticker shock resulting from the $178.16 gas credit card bill I just paid. That's unacceptable!

          Except for selected special concerts and festivals, all other musical events of any kind cost more in gas to get to than I care to spend until gas drops under $3.00 again, assuming that it ever does. I have no current plans of driving anywhere else this summer, except for my annual trip to the House on the Rock, date unknown at this time. To save on Motel bills I can't afford, I plan on sleeping in my Voyager over some music festival weekends.
      Additionally I plan on going to Fratello's occasionally, as it is the only venue within walking distance.

          Also, I probably will go to numerous Wednesday Noon Live at Lunch concerts downtown at Grand Opera House Square because I can take the City Bus there. Buses stop running at 6 pm, so I have no non-driving-my-own-car option to get to New Moon Cafe, Water City Grill, or Grand Opera House summer evening concerts. Other than the venues at UW Oshkosh shut down for the summer, these are the only non-smoking music venues in Oshkosh. In case you are wondering, I will also be taking the Bus to get my mail at the Post Office, the Appleton Post-Crescent on Thursdays, and grocery shopping.

          It is clearly evident that the primary resident of the White House, I forget what his name is (or at least wish I could), has no intention of doing a single thing to significantly affect global warming. Some things he could do, but never will do:

• Sign the Kyoto Treaty and have the Congress ratify it as United States of America official policy!

• Demand auto manufactures at least double current new car gas mileage standards within five years, and double it again in the five years after that, and do it in such a way that the order is impossible to rescind by Congress, our next President, or anyone else.

• Stop spending billions on Iraq and Afghanistan and spend the same amount of money on finding ways to totally replace environmentally disastrous oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear fuel with environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and eternally sustainable fuels.

• At the same time fund the development of ways to retrofit or modify every used car in the U.S. to match the same doubled, and doubled again, standards.

• Demand manufacturers decrease their smoke stack and water runoff pollution by 90%, and totally eliminate mercury pollution, within five years.

• Demand car pooling ... set up check points every 20 miles on every limited access highway in all 50 states that will stop and fine the driver of every vehicle that does not have two or more adults with drivers licenses in it.

          Until all the above happens, and it is pretty evident that neither the White House nor the U.S. Congress will EVER do anything to really help the environment, it is up to every citizen of the world to cut back on gas, and the earth destroying pollution that results from using it, in every way possible, even if it hurts. Humanity's future depends on it. My severely limited summer concert/festival schedule is my small personal attempt at doing just that. In case you think my schedule is not limited, last summer (between 5-20 and 8-30-2006) I attended 39 musical events, and I drove to them all, and the environment suffered accordingly, I am sorry about that.

SPECIAL NOTICE:
          07-15-2007: I will take all of my computers in for repair tomorrow. I bought a network router but I cannot get it to work. Like my Dial-Up situation for the past year, each computer only connects to the Internet when the Roadrunner Cable is plugged into it. I have not had both desktop computers on-line at the same time since June 2006. So sometime Monday morning I will go completely off-line again until they get everything working they way I need it to work.
          PS: I have no idea who really reads this page, but to those who have sent me E-Mail recently, even though I have been able to read E-mail at one of my temporary private E-Mail accounts since last Thursday night for the first time in two weeks, I have been unable to send new E-Mail or reply to any messages since June 26th so that they come from "henkle@pobox.com". Hopefully the repairers will fix that problem also.

11-10-2007: I have no proof that anyone in the world reads this page regularly. Nobody complained that I have not added anything in almost a month. Therefore there seems to be no point in my wasting my time continuing to log all the minutia data as above. Unless sombody objects, I will only log concerts and/or music festivals attended from now on. Now that most days are about 40 degrees fahrenheit or below that, long walks outside become more dangerous to life and limb. If the concert listing is followed by "- 0 mi.", then I walked or rode the bus, otherwise I drove.

10-19-2007 - UW Oshkosh Jazz Ensemble, Marty Robinson (Director, trumpet), and special guest David Bixler saxophone, Music Hall, UW Oshkosh
10-21-2007 - UW Oshkosh Choirs, Director: Carl Chapman, Music Hall, UW Oshkosh
10-27-2007 - The Moxie Chicks, Opener: Fritz Schuler, Woodland Dunes, Two Rivers
10-28-2007 - UW Oshkosh Wind Ensemble, UW Oshkosh Symphonic Band, Director: Rob McWilliams, Music Hall, UW Oshkosh

Trivia Note: As of 12-21-2007, I have attended 1,040 concerts and/or music festivals since 9-21-1991

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05-13-2008 - Gas: $3.79 x 15.5 gal. tank = $58.75 for a fill up. I'm sorry. but this is no longer acceptable on a frequent basis. I have been unable to attend any Fond du Lac concerts since 5-20-2007 because of gas prices. Now, as I go off the Green Apple Board, the Annual Meeting in September will be my final car trip to Appleton for any musical purpose I can foresee until gas gets back under $3.00, not likely any time soon. By restricting myself to musical events within the city limits of Oshkosh only, I may be able to afford to continue driving my car for other purposes. I do not want to ever be in the position where gas prices would force me to sell my car, and never be able to drive anywhere again. The Schedule below lists my only non-Oshkosh music related car trips for the foreseeable future. Carpooling is acceptable, and welcomed, but driving by myself to any other out of town musical event is no longer affordable.

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An alphabetical list of many of the artists/groups I have seen perform since 9-21-1991.

Gas purchased Log:

Bill Date		Bill Date		Bill Date
1-08-2007	$80.25	7-10-2007	$49.15	1-10-2008	$57.55
2-08-2007	$85.55	8-09-2007	$53.40	2-08-2008	$77.81
3-08-2007	$86.70	9-11-2007	$98.85	3-10-2008	$39.20
4-09-2007	$133.15	10-10-2007	$63.10	4-09-2008	$88.30
5-09-2007	$178.16	11-08-2007	$59.78	5-08-2008	$118.95
6-08-2007	$24.70	12-10-2007	$102.00

07-31-2007: Sad news for the planet! Although I have yet to hear from anyone via E-Mail in response to the above, I did meet a friend last week while I was out and about. After telling him why I was using the bus instead of my car for almost everything, I asked whether there was anything he could get to during the day via the bus instead of his car. His reply, "Yes, but I don't want to." It is sad that everyone is so tied to their car that the future doesn't matter. I sincerely expect that if I could return to Earth for a visit 75 years from now, I would not be surprised if his great-grandchildren and mine and everyone else in Oshkosh were all wearing gas masks 24 hours a day indoors and outdoors, that is, if the current dangerous trends in the pollution rates from oil, natural gas and coal haven't wiped out every living thing here, or if there isn't a single square inch of land anywhere that is not covered with nuclear waste.

      Venues within walking distance:
Fratello's Patio (summer only) and Lounge - Musi-Cal
UW Oshkosh Music Hall
UW Oshkosh, Reeve Union, Mi-Taza Coffeehouse
          "Live at Lunch" (Sept-May, every Mon. & Thur., Noon - 1 pm)
UW Oshkosh, Reeve Union, Titan Underground

      Venues via City Bus (M-Sat 6:15 am - 6:10 pm):
"Live at Lunch", Grand Opera House Square, - Musi-Cal
          June-August, every Wednesday 12 to 1 pm
"First Tuesdays at First Congregational" (Church), 137 Algoma Blvd.
          Tuesdays, 12 to 12:30 pm (lunch following), October 2, November 6, December 4, 2007 and February 5, March 4, April 1, 2008

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